Genesis 41:30-41
39 “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
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Zaphnath-Paaneah. Kind of a strange name, isn’t it? 🤔 This is the name given to Joseph by the Egyptians and it is rich in meaning! ♥️
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Typology Of The Life Of Jesus.
As I have said before in this series, of all the people in the Old Testament, the life story of Joseph is the closest to that of our Lord Jesus. There are so many amazing parallels which we discussed in part 2. Another of the beautiful parts of his story is found the meaning of the names of the players, like the title of this article. What does it mean?
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As usual, our Master Storyteller, the Holy Spirit, Who loves to hide things for us to seek out, has deeper truths and meanings in the names of people and places, even numbers, and the typologies He has included. He wants to tell the matchless story of this wonderful Jesus and to warm and bless God’s people. Joseph’s story delivers!
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Troubling Dreams.


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50 “During this time {the 7 bumper-crop years}, before the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On.
51 Joseph named his older son “Manasseh,” for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.” 52 Joseph named his second son “Ephraim,” for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.”

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Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons.
Jacob, near the end of his life, blessed these two boys of Joseph. Normally, the first born blessing goes to the eldest child. However, instead of conferring the first-born blessing on Manasseh, Jacob, for some reason, crossed his hands. He gave that blessing to Ephraim, the younger son, putting his right hand on his head, and his left hand on Manasseh. You see, in Jewish culture, it is the right hand that conveys this blessing.
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Joseph was understandably upset with his father and tried to correct him. He was very old and nearly blind so he thought his father had made a mistake. But Jacob stopped him. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew that, prophetically, the younger son would be blessed above his elder brother. 😮
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Typology.
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(There is more great wisdom and prophetic significance hidden here in the story of these two boys. This is dealt with in another series of articles. You may follow the link below to part 1 if you’re interested:

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Because Jesus was rejected by his brethren, He has become the bread of life and Revealer of secrets, “Zaphnath-Paaneah,” to all “Egypt.” In other words, to the whole world, particularly the Gentiles: Non-Jews…..and He married a Gentile bride: It’s US, Church!
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His gentile bride, has been very fruitful during this 2,000-year-long period of rejection by His natural family. We have brought Him GREAT JOY AND BLESSING as well during our sojourn together here in Egypt, and have helped Him FORGET the great sorrow of His rejection in the “land of His grief.”
We, you and I Church, are the younger brother to our elder brother, “Israel,” who “Forgot” Jesus. As such, we are beneficiaries of all the first-born blessings for these last two centuries. Jesus is “first-born” of the dead yet, through His death, we get all of what rightfully belongs to Him.
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I am blessed and amazed that Jesus gets GREAT JOY AND BLESSING from us; from you and I, Church! We are His beloved and He is our wonderful Zaphnath-Paaneah!
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Please follow the link below to Part 4, where we’ll learn the meaning of the name, Goshen: