Title: Joseph's Two Sons
Contents
Today, on the last Sunday of this year, I want to bless our members by saying about the blessings given by the names of Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. As you know, Joseph, who was sold to Egypt at the time of his brothers, was victorious despite all kinds of hardships by the grace of God and became the prime minister of Egypt. He had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Grace to forget everything that should be forgotten
Verse 51 says, “Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh, because God has made me forget all my troubles and all my father’s household affairs.” Joseph named his eldest son like this because God made him forget all his sufferings and wounds. Also, in these words, we can see how much suffering and wounds Joseph had during that time.
According to the Bible, Joseph was a series of sufferings. At the age of 17, he was sold to jealousy and served as a slave and prisoner for 13 years. In an era when human rights were not guaranteed, they were not treated as human beings and suffered to death. Joseph's wounds are not the only ones. There were brothers who hated him and tried to kill him, just as it was said here, “My father's housework.” Unable to kill Reuben, they sold Joseph as a slave to a passing merchant. Joseph is also human, so how can he not have grudges? The Midrash tells us that Joseph begged for his life while he was being sold. Was that the only resentment Joseph had? There is also Potiphar's wife, who, when asked to sleep with her, was imprisoned for refusing to sleep. But when Joseph became prime minister of Egypt, he decided to forget everything and live and named his firstborn Manasseh.
Here you can see the great thing about Joseph. Now that you have succeeded, you can do whatever you want to solve your grudges. The prime minister of Egypt at that time was a man with great power that could even drop a flying bird. But Joseph decided to forget. He decided to forget him forever, so he named his son Manasseh to make it impossible again. We pray that God's grace will come to us, who will forget everything we will forget by God's grace.
It is reasonable to say that the year-end meeting is called year-end party. It means to forget everything. We must forget everything that hurt our hearts, upsets, and even our enemies in the past. That is, Manassehhashi. The reason I have to forget is because that's how I live. If I don't forget it, I will get sick because of it, and because of it, it will block me physically and mentally, and I will not be able to prosper. This is why we should Manasseh.