Stolen Blessings

         As I was reading and began to see the tradition of the fathers blessing their descendants in their final hours, I began to be intrigued by the way the normal expectations were being flipped around.

First we saw the story of the stolen blessing in Gen. chapter 27, where Jacob deceives his father Isaac into giving him Esau's blessing. (This is separate from Jacob trading Esau his birthright for his dinner.)

        In chapter 48 verses 17-20, when Jacob is dying, Joseph expects his oldest son to be blessed by Jacob's right hand, but Israel says this about Manessah instead, "However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."

        Genesis 49 depicts Jacob 'blessing' his twelve sons with his last breaths. For his eldest sons he bestows what seem like curses upon them, recounting their sins and prophesying about their heritage. Joseph on the other hand, his second youngest, the one we know Jacob favored, receives a long blessing in verses 22-26. "Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers." 

        I'm not sure if we see the origin of these blessings in Genesis, even though we know it's a part of Jewish history. If you think about it, it's really just typical. The eldest siblings often get the most rights and claims to their parent's inheritance, generally speaking. So why in this family, do we see it being flipped around? There is no recorded blessing of Abraham to Isaac, but I couldn't help but notice that Jacob's "stolen blessing" was manifested in his sons and grandsons-in the younger receiving the blessing of the elder. 

       What I am curious about is the authority behind these blessings. The first born couldn't help being the firstborn, so what makes him more worthy of a blessing than one born after him? Did Jacob have the gift of prophecy? Was he actually putting these curses on his sons, or simply revealing their character?

        My thoughts turned to the story of Odysseus, and the role of Fate in our lives. Why was Joseph chosen to save Egypt and his own people? Why the youngest? Why the outcast? Is it really God that bestows the "fate" of our lives? blessings? curses? Or do we have power to choose to follow a path for our life to take, and receive the goodness of opportunity that others before us miss?