GRACE BEYOND SOCIETAL NORMS
SEPTEMBER 17, 2025
TEXT: Genesis 48:19 KJV
And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
Today, we shall be examining the nature and extent of divine elevation and how it supercedes normal societal norms and practices. In the text under consideration, Joseph took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to his father, Jacob, after being told that the latter was sick. Upon getting there, the father, whose eyes were already dim, caught wind of the children’s presence and directed their father to bring them closer for fatherly blessings. As expected traditionally, Joseph placed the elder son (Manasseh) towards his father’s right hand while he placed the younger (Ephraim) towards his father’s left hand. That was the custom, as it was generally believed that the right hand carried more potency and was more significant than the left hand. Shockingly, Jacob proceeded to cross his hands by placing the much-revered right hand on Ephraim’s head while the left hand rested on Manasseh’s head. Joseph, out of annoyance, directed his father to follow the generally-recognised culture in a circumstance like this, but the father simply replied thus: “I know it, my son; I know it. He too shall be a great nation, but verily I tell you, his younger brother shall be greater than him”.
The above scenario is a perfect reflection of God’s sovereignty when it comes to blessing mankind. Man looks at general societal pattern and tradition, but God has no specific formula. He chooses to bless who He desires and elevate people based on factors that are sometimes totally not in line with regular and conventional human patterns. Joseph himself expected his father to follow the normal biological pattern in releasing blessings upon the children. It is customarily expected that the elder child should definitely make more headway in the journey of life and should therefore get a lion’s share of the blessings, (Deuteronomy 21:17), but unfortunately, the ways of God are not the ways of man.
KEY FACTS
- God’s plans do not often tally with our plans or the plans of society. When God decides to lift a man from the dust or dungeon, He does so without having regard to the feelings and opinions of man. God was hell-bent on blessing Ephraim, and at that point, Joseph’s opinions no longer mattered.
- God’s choice for a man’s life may confuse even the smartest of men, to the point that even those that seemingly occupy the position of mentors and guardians decide unconsciously to stand in the way of God’s agenda. Joseph was the one trying to unconsciously hinder the flow of God’s grace upon his own son’s life, out of the sheer desire to align with cultural values. We must be very sensitive to the things of the Spirit so that we don’t find ourselves antagonising God’s plans just because such plans don’t seem to sit well with us culturally and societally.
- In Literature, there’s something we call “Situational irony”, which is a situation whereby events contradict general expectations in a play or a story. In the scripts of our lives being written by God, God can sometimes orchestrate events to occur contrary to general expectations.
SEARCHLIGHT:
God doesn’t work with formula. God can deposit a measure of grace upon a man’s life that defies societal principles and standards.
PRAYER:
O Lord, count me worthy to be a beneficiary of your divine grace and favour, in Jesus’ mighty name.
BIBLE READING: Jeremiah 31-33, Mark 8
PASTOR MICHAEL OMOLE
