A commentary has been prepared which goes through the entire chapter 48 of Genesis where Jacob proceeds to bless the sons of Joseph with the blessing of the firstborn son of the covenant of God, Ephraim given the actual position as the firstborn of Jacob in place of Reuben in the covenant promises of the fathers from God.

We have from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, additional information supplied concerning this blessing. In that additional information Joseph is told by Jacob that:

". . . thy brethren shall bow down . . . unto the fruit of thy loins for ever;" ~ JST Genesis 48:10

Now, who is the 'fruit of Joseph's loins' who we are to bow down to for ever? Consider this question in view of the basic commandments of God which we reviewed at the beginning of this section. And continue to consider this question as a discussion about what the covenant of the firstborn did include.

This 'covenant of the fathers' came down from the fathers from Adam. It was the covenant which was made by God unto us by the oath he swore unto us (see commentary on Paslms 110) in the preexistance, that He would provide a Savior for us as a means by which we might obtain eternal life and become even as God is. That covenant, Enoch did reconfirm to be bestowed upon man, that in the seed of Noah the Messiah would come to bless the earth unto eternal life (see: Moses 7:45-53).

"Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come;" ~ Moses 7:53

Now this is the covenant blessings of the fathers which Abraham did seek after and obtain (Abraham 1:2). This was the 'covenant of the firstborn' meaning the 'Firstborn Son of God' not the firstborn son of any particular man, Abraham received it and he was not the firstborn of his father. Isaac received it and he was not the firstborn of his father. Jacob received it and he was not the firstborn of his father. It was preserved through Joseph (D&C 27:10) and Joseph was not the firstborn of Jacob. Jacob would bestow it upon Ephraim and Ephraim was not the firstborn son of Joseph. The 'covenant of the firstborn', which included the right to ancestry of the Messiah, was not conveyed but by ordination of priesthood authority upon whom the Lord determined it. And this 'covenant of the firstborn' the 'covenant of Jehovah' was held in the relationship that the person was being 'blessed' the the descendant 'fruit of the loins' of the person being so blessed would be the ancestory to the Messiah. This was a critical part of the covenant blessings of the fathers. And it is what Jacob bestowed upon Ephraim. And it is why Ephraim was called by the Lord, 'his firstborn' (Jeremiah 31:9), because Ephraim was the son of the 'Covenant of the Firstborn' just as Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph had been.

When Abraham received that blessing of the fathers which came down from Adam (Abraham 1:3-4) the scipture gave reference to 'the seed' which Abraham's priesthood appointment of the blessings and the covenant of the fathers was concerned with. This is the blessing which Abraham had obtained. This 'seed' which it concerned was the same 'seed of the woman' spoken of in the book of Genesis 3:15 (note: JST renders it better). This seed, this fruit of the loins of the covenant bearers spoken of, was none other than the Redeemer of mankind, Christ the Messiah come to earth, even the great Jehovah. This was the 'seed' which Abraham's covenant blessing of the fathers, which Abraham had sought after and obtained. This was the 'Covenant of the Firstborn' which was passed on through Isaac to Jacob. And this was the 'Covenant of the Firstborn' which Jacob in Genesis 48 did bestow upon Ephraim, the son of Joseph, to be the 'Firstborn of Israel'.

Now again the question, "Who is the 'fruit of Joseph's loins' who we are to bow down to for ever?" Joseph's son Ephraim was blessed with the 'Covenant of the Firstborn'. Through his son Ephraim, Joseph was to be the ancestor of the promised 'Firstborn of God', the Messiah, Messiah ben Joseph. The 'fruit of Joseph's loins', his legal and rightful posterity of the 'Covenant of the Firstborn', would be Jesus Christ, Messiah ben Joseph. God commands that we bow down to none other than the God given us to worship. Jacob told Joseph that all of Israel, all of Joseph's brothers, would bow down to the 'fruit of Joseph's loins' for ever. This could only mean our God, whom we will bow down to forever and to none other as commanded by the very commandments of God.

After Jacob's blessing of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh as recorded in Genesis 48, Jacob called all his sons to him that he might bless them. In those blessings recorded in Genesis 49, understanding what had just occurred in Genesis 48 concerning the 'Covenant of the Firstborn', Jacob would clearly state that the promised Messiah, the shepherd and stone of Isreal, would come from Joseph. That is the next topic of discussion. It is somewhat shameful that the Jewish and most Christian sectarian scholars consider that in Joseph's blessing, Jacob referred to himself only upon this point as it was Joseph's blessing. But that is the next topic.

Now the 'House of Israel' or the descendants of Jacob and their tribes were divided into two Kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. Now certainly 'Judah' is of the House and descent of Jacob, Israel or of the House of Israel. But by their own distinction, they divided themselves from 'Israel'. Of course from the perspective of the Jews, Israel divided themselves from Judah, that is since the bulk of the tribes of Israel rejected Rehoboam and set Jeroboam to be their king in stead, the Jews state that 'Israel' broke off from them since Rehoboam was the grandson of King David and supposedly the 'rightful king'. But in fact the Lord and the Lord's prophet had set forth that Jeroboam would be the next rightful king of Israel, just as he had done in the time of Saul when Samuel named David to be King of Israel in the stead of Saul.

The Bible in 1 Kings chapter 11 sets out that the prophet Ahijah did set forth that Jeroboam was to the the 'king over Israel', leaving Rehoboam, for David's sake, to be left to be king over Judah, who David had chosen and Jerusalem to where David had removed the tabernacle of the Lord with the intent to build the Lord's temple there, which Solomon had done. But at the same time as the Lord through Ahijah states, 'they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.' (1 Kings 11:33). That is King Solomon had corrupted the people of Jerusalem into the worship of these stange Gods dispite the fact that he had built the temple of Jehovah as well.

It is not surprising that the Jewish recorded Bible will down play this and accuse 'Israel', that is the bulk of the tribes of Israel who followed after Jeroboam as God's true anointed King of Israel, as having forsaken Jehovah and the Temple at Jerusalem. True after a time, Jeroboam, like Saul, David and Solomon before does become a corrupt king and does lead the Kingdom of Israel into idolitry even as Solomon had done. But this does not make the Jews, who were guilty of the same better than Israel. And it was not Israel who did forsake God and God's King, Rehoboam. It was Rehoboam who did not follow the advice of his counselors and put the welfare of the people first. It was Rehoboam who did dismiss the old counsel and apoint those new who would support his intent of subjecting Israel to all manner of unjust treatment. Thus it was Rehoboam who did cut himself off from the people, all except those of Jerusalem who did support him as the 'Kingdom of Judah' and not as the King and Kingdom of Israel. Israel had chosen Jeroboam the true anointed King of God.

This is the proper historical perspective, but what else gave the right of Jeroboam and the ten tribes the right to call themselves the Kingdom of Israel? The fact is that Jeroboam was of the tribe of Ephraim, and it was Ephraim who was the head or the firstborn of Israel and who possessed the birthright of the covenant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In fact the name of Israel was placed upon Ephraim and thus those who were associated with the Kingdom of Ephraim were rightfully named by the name of Israel, they being of Ephraim, the House of Israel and his companions as it was stated in the book of Ezekiel 37:16. As already stated in 1 Chronicles 1:5, Joseph was the heir of the birthright and his two sons. In Genesis 48, Jacob adopted Joseph's to sons as his own, Ephriam being set in the place of Reuben as the firstborn of Israel, and Manasseh was set in the place Simeon as the second-born of Israel and the name of 'Israel' was placed upon Joseph and his two sons, Ephraim being the firstborn and heir of the covenant of Israel (Jacob), Isaac and Abraham. (See JST Genesis 48 for greatest clarification especially beginning with verse 5).

Thus the name of Israel was upon the head of Ephraim, the House of Israel and his companions as the Kingdom of Israel. The parallel irony between King David being the ancestor of Jesus as Jesus was the Son of David as will as being the Lord of David is quite obviously repeated and parallel with the fact that Ephraim was the firstborn of Israel, or of the Lord and the Lord was indeed he who was and is Messiah ben Ephraim.

Now when one asks just how it is that Jesus was both Lord of David and Ephraim, as well as being their Son, it is answered in a very unique manner which also parallels how it is that all may become sons and daughters of Christ. And that is by the process of legal and rightful priesthood ordinance adoption. Jesus taught Nicodemus that except a man be born of the water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. This 'rebirth' is a spiritual rebirth and is that priesthood ordiancne which all must comply with to become the sons and daughters of Christ whether of the House of Israel or Gentile by birth.

This is the same manner by which Jesus became the Son of Ephraim or Messiah ben Ephraim and Messiah ben Joseph. Boaz performed the vicarous performance of the kinsman redeemer when he took Ruth to wife and did raise up Obed to become the seed and heir of the dead, the dead being Mahlon who was the son and of the house hold of Elimelech, Ephrathites, meaning Ephraimites. In this Jesus is the Son of Ephraim or Messiah ben Ephraim. And so also is David of the tribe of Ephraim by legal right of inheritance as he is the grandson of Obed, the heir of the house of Ephraim, that is Elimelech. After David was personally cut off because of his own sins from being in the 'covenant' heirship of heaven, King David chose his bloodline in Judah rather than his 'Covenant Line' in Israel or Ephraim, even though by the Law of God, Israel had the greater claim in David than did the Jews.

And thus it is that Ephraim is 'Israel' and the heir of the Covenant of the Fathers, that everlasting covenant. And as Ephraim is the 'firstborn' of the covenant, having prevailed in the Lord as did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, so it is that Ephraim through the vicarious performance of another, become the rightful ancestor to the Messiah, even Messiah ben Ephraim who is the same as Messiah ben Joseph, who is the same as Messiah ben David though David lost his eternal position in the linage in the world to come.