Ephraim: The Tribe of Double Fruitfulness

**The Tribe of the Month: Ephraim**

Now we come to the tribe of the month, which is Ephraim — the tribe assigned to the month of Tishri on the Hebrew civil calendar. Ephraim was one of Joseph's two sons, the other being Manasseh. What is remarkable is that on the civil calendar, Ephraim comes first, just as Jacob prophesied, and next month Heshvan belongs to Manasseh — in the exact order of the blessings God ordained.

Joseph was the eleventh son of Jacob, born of Rachel along with Benjamin. He was in Egypt when both Ephraim and Manasseh were born. He named his second son Ephraim, saying, *"God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction."* That is a powerful anointing for this month. If you have been in a situation similar to Joseph — not necessarily in prison, but in your own kind of prison — pray this scripture. Let God cause you to be fruitful in the land of your affliction.

Just as we see repeatedly in Scripture — Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau — the younger brother received the firstborn blessing. The same pattern holds here. Ephraim received the double portion over Manasseh, and his name itself means fruitfulness — even a double fruitfulness.

Ephraim's descendants were prophesied to become a multitude of nations, which most understand to represent the born-again Gentile believers coming into the Commonwealth of Israel. Manasseh represents the remnant of the Jewish people. Together, they form one new man.

The story of Jacob blessing the two sons is remarkable. Joseph brought Ephraim and Manasseh — young men, likely in their thirties — to the aging Jacob, whose eyes were dim. Instead of placing his right hand on Manasseh the firstborn, Jacob crossed his hands and laid his right hand on Ephraim. When Joseph tried to correct him, Jacob said, *"I know what I am doing."* He declared that Ephraim would be the greater, a multitude of nations, and said of Ephraim: *"He is mine, just as Simeon and Reuben are mine."*

This shows us that even in Genesis, God always had a plan to bring the Gentiles into salvation. There was an order — He chose the Jewish people first — but He always intended to include the Gentiles. The crossed hands of Jacob are a prophetic picture of exactly that. It is the anointing of this month: double fruitfulness, double portion, double anointing of the Holy Spirit.

I pray that over you — over your finances, your home, your calling — to have that favor with God and with man this month of Tishri.

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