Deuteronomy 33:16 NKJV
“With the precious things of the earth and its fullness, and the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come ‘on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.'”
Among the various issues that Jacob’s sons got him into, Joseph’s ordeal left the biggest mark on his heart. Thankfully, after many years of mourning his supposedly ‘dead’ son Joseph, Jacob would set his eyes on him again, finding him alive and well. Around the time of his death, Jacob was moved to speak over his sons (Gen 49). His words over Joseph were exceptionally long; he said in part, “The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers” (Gen 49:26 NKJV).
The rendering of the foregoing text in the Amplified Classic version sheds more light: “The blessings of your father [on you] are GREATER than the blessings of my forefathers [Abraham and Isaac on me] and are as lasting as the bounties of the eternal hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was the CONSECRATED ONE and the one separated from his brethren and [the one who] is PRINCE among them” (Gen 49:26 AMPC). Hallelujah! Clearly, if there was a fourth person to be named in the list of the Patriarchs after Jacob, Joseph would be he. Notice, Jacob released a “greater” blessing on Joseph than the ones he himself had received from his forefathers!
That greater blessing would rest eternally on the “head” of Joseph, who is also referred to as the “consecrated one” and “prince”! Amazingly, so many years later, Moses was moved to speak similar things over Joseph’s descendants: “Let the blessing come ‘on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers”, as in our reference text. In many aspects here, Joseph foreshadowed Christ, who is the Holy One of God, the Prince of Peace, and “the head of the body, the church” (Col 1:18 NKJV). Hence, the eternal and greater blessing of God on Christ is to our advantage, that we might thrive in it to His glory.
Pst. Emmanuel
