We have discussed the passing of the birthright from Avraham to Yitschaq, and from Yitschaq to Ya’aqov: However, is that the end of the passing of the birthright? No, it isn’t, as the blessings of Ya’akov, now Yisra’el, upon his twelve sons would come to define history for all of the seed of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’akov.

We begin with this significant passage in Bere’shiyth 48:

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 48:9-22

And Yoceph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom ELOHIYM has given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray you, unto me, and I will bless them. 10 Now the eyes of Yisra’el were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. 11 And Yisra’el said unto El-Yoceph, I had not thought to see your face: and, lo, ELOHIYM has showed me also your seed. 12 And Yoceph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Yoceph took them both, את (eth)-Ephrayim in his right hand toward Yisra’el's left hand, and את (eth)-Menashsheh in his left hand toward Yisra’el's right hand, and brought them near unto him. 14 And Yisra’el stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephrayim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Menashsheh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Menashsheh was the firstborn.

15 And he blessed את (eth)-Yoceph, and said, ELOHIYM, before whom my fathers Avraham and Yitschaq did walk, the ELOHIYM which fed me all my life long unto this day, 16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Avraham and Yitschaq; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. 17 And when Yoceph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephrayim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephrayim's head unto Menashsheh's head. 18 And Yoceph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put your right hand upon his head. 19 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. 20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In you shall Yisra’el bless, saying, ELOHIYM make you as Ephrayim and as Menashsheh: and he set את (eth)-Ephrayim before Menashsheh. 21 And Yisra’el said unto El-Yoceph, Behold, I die: but ELOHIYM shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Emoriy with my sword and with my bow.

There are so many things in this passage, all of which give a great clue as to who is Ephrayim and Menashsheh.  The blessing is given with crossed arms, blessing the second born (again) over the first born.  This symbol of arms being crossed is found in a flag which gives historic credence to this concept – namely the Union Jack flag of the British Empire; a flag which places the Christian cross in dominance of the X of the crossed arms of Yisra’el, signifying the houses of Ephrayim and Menashsheh.  This flag becomes even more pronounced as the Confederate flag.

While this is not the place for a discussion on the migration of the tribes of Yisra’el, it is noteworthy that Yisra’el claims that Ephrayim and Menashsheh would carry the name of Yitschaq with them, and so they have – as the Saaka, and later the Saxons (sons of Isaac).  There will be much more to come on this subject. 

Now, let us consider the twelve blessings:

Bere’shiyth (Genesis) 49

AND Ya`aqov called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you את (eth) that which shall befall you in the last days. 2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Ya`aqov; and hearken unto El-Yisra’el your father.

Re’uven

3 Re’uven, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed; then defiled it: he went up to my couch.

Here, Re’uven, the first born of Leah and Ya’aqov is denied the birthright because of his defiling of his father’s bed.

Shim’on and Leviy

5 Shim`on and Leviy are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 6 O my soul, come not into their secret; unto their assembly, my honour, be not united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they dug down a wall. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Ya`aqov, and scatter them in Yisra’el.

In these blogs, we discussed at length the question, who is Leviy? The study of Shim’on will also wait for a later day.  Leviy was indeed divided among Ya’aqov, and scattered among Yisra’el, even now.

Yahudah

8 Yahudah, you are he whom your brethren shall praise: your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father's children shall bow down before you. 9 Yahudah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, you are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 10 The sceptre shall not depart from Yahudah, nor a Torah giver from between his feet, until Shiyloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: 12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.

This too is an extremely important blessing, and one that continues to hold up even today.  First, it is the crouched lion that is the symbol of the House of Yahudah (Judah); the golden lion is the symbol of the line of Pheres, and the red lion is the symbol of the line of Zerrach (see, On the house of Judah, under the articles section of this website for a more complete review of this issue: https://www.cepher.net/on-the-house-of-judah.aspx

Importantly is the statement that the scepter shall not depart from Yahudah, nor a Torah giver from between his feet.  A cursory review of the leadership in the world and the world’s lawyers will prove this out.  Note also that it has been the house of Yahudah that has preserved the Torah and the Hebrew scriptures meticulously over all of these centuries.

The blessing goes on to say that unto him shall the gathering of the people be.  Compare with the statement in Yahuchanon (John) 4:22 - Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Yahudiym.

Finally, we have yet another prophecy that says: Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

Is this not a Messianic prophecy?  Consider the words of MASHIACH:

Yahuchanon (John) 15:5

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Zakaryahu (Zechariah) 9:9

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Yerushalayim: behold, your King comes unto you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

MASHIACH is then Ben Yoceph and Ben Yahudah (later we see He is also Ben David). Let’s continue with Yisra’el’s prophetic blessing:

Zevulun

13 Zevulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Tsiydon.

In our discussion of the Prince of Tyre (Tsor), we will look again as to who those people are that occupy the cities of Tsor and Tsiydon, and even Carmel.  Zevulun is a seafarer, and is part of the group that would come to be called Phoenicians.

Yissaskar

14 Yissaskar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: 15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

Yissaskar is believed to have migrated to two areas of Europe, namely Finland and Switzerland, where in both cases they crouch between two burdens – the dogmas of the Russian empire and its interface with the Protestant Scandinavian nations in the case of Finland, and the dogmas of the Germanic peoples in the interface with Anglican empire in Britain.

Dan

16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Yisra’el. 17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that bites the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. 18 I have waited for your YAHUSHA, O YAHUAH.

A word about Dan.  First, the name is pronounced Dawn (or Don), not Da-a-a-a-an.  Once this is understood, we discover that Dan has placed his name in several conspicuous places, namely all of the rivers which drain into the Black Sea – the Don, the Dnieper, the Dniester, and the Danube, and of course the land called Dan’s mark – Denmark.

Gad

19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.

Like Dan, the tribe of Gad is not pronounced G-a-a-d, but gawd.  That answers a lot of questions, does it not?  Gad, pronounced God, came to be spelled Gott and eventually Goth.  The tribe came to be known as the Visigoths (Western Goths) and the Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths).

Asher

20 Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Naphtaliy

21 Naphtaliy is a hind let loose: he gives goodly words.

Yoceph

22 Yoceph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: 23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: 24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty ELOHIYM of Ya`aqov; (from thence is The Shepherd, The Stone of Yisra’el:)

Let’s stop here for just a moment.  Here, the text reads from thence is The Shepherd (הער ra’ah), The Stone (ןבא eben) of Yisra’el (לארשׂי Yashar’el).  The passage is clear that the Shepherd and the Stone shall come from the house of Yoceph, which is to say Ben Yoceph.  Later, we shall see that the chief corner stone in Hebrew is the eben (stone) rosh (chief) pinna (corner).

25 Even by the ELOHIYM of your father, who shall help you; and by EL SHADDAI, who shall bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 26 The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Yoceph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.

Binyamiyn

27 Binyamiyn shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Yisra’el: and this is it that their father spoke unto them, and blessed them; everyone according to his blessing he blessed them.

And so the blessings of Avraham, Yitschaq, and Ya’akov descended upon Yoceph. The birthright of Re’uven the first born of Leah, passes to Yoceph, the first born of the beloved Rachel, and, in the presentation of Ephrayim and Menashsheh, pass over to the sons, Ephrayim being the most blessed between the two.

Dvrei Hayamiym (I Chronicles) 5:1-2

NOW the sons of Re’uven the firstborn of Yisra’el, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Yoceph the son of Yisra’el: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. 2 For Yahudah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Yoceph’s:)

Let us now conclude this matter.  The birthright of Avraham and the right to the possession of eretz Yisra’el passes as follows:  From YAHUAH to Avraham, from Avraham to Yitschaq, from Yitschaq ot Ya’aqov, from Ya’aqov to Yoceph, and to Ephrayim and Menashsheh – and from there the geneaology is not to be reckoned, even by Ezra in his histories as set forth Dvrei Hayamiym. 

However, it is noteworthy that Britain – if it is the house of Ephrayim – recaptured all of the land grant in 1917, with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following WWI.  It was Britain who articulated the Balfour Accords, and pushed for the division of eretz Yisra’el, the land east of the Yarden (Jordan River) for the indigenous Arab peoples, and the land west of the Yarden for the Yahudiym.  This is consistent with the prophecy that the tents of the Yahudiym would be first and would occupy the coastlands (Tsephanyahu 2:7 and Zakaryahu 12:7).  Yet, the birthright has not yet come home – but it is coming quickly.