Joshua 16: A Double Blessing

“So Manasseh and Ephraim, the descendants of Joseph, received their inheritance.” -Joshua 16:4

As Joshua divided the land for each tribe of Israel, chapter 16 highlights an unusual honor. Joseph, the son of Jacob, had two sons who each received their own portion. Why this double blessing?

The history of this blessing harkens back to Joseph’s life 400 years earlier. At the age 0f seventeen, his jealous brothers sold him to traders and told their dad he was eaten by an animal. While in Egypt, Joshua was blessed to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, became second in command of the nation, and was given an Egyptian wife through whom he had two sons.

When Joseph’s brothers arrived years later to buy food during a regionwide famine, the family was reunited, including Jacob seeing his father Jacob again. Before Jacob died, he gave a blessing upon his sons who would be especially blessed.

Jacob certainly had days when he wondered why God allowed him to be sold by his brothers, why he became a slave, and and why he ended up wrongfully put in jail. Yet God had a greater purpose for his life that involved a later, much greater blessing.

Sound familiar? Maybe the problems you are facing today will one day have a similar impact. Your double blessing may be in some distant day, but God has not forgotten you. Perhaps like Joseph, you too will one day be doubly blessed.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.