Almost all oldest siblings would like to be the youngest ones, and the youngest wish they could be the oldest.
Can you imagine if the order could be changed?
In the Bible there are many cases in which that happened. Believe it or not, there are several biblical characters who were younger brothers, but they ended up receiving the benefits of the firstborn. Therefore, the roles were exchanged and the youngest became the ones with the most responsibility in the family.
One of those biblical characters was Ephraim. He was Joseph’s youngest son and Jacob’s grandson.
Do you remember the story of Joseph, when his brothers sold him to some merchants? Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt but ended up becoming the country’s prime minister. Then he married an Egyptian woman and had two children: Manasseh and Ephraim.
Although Manasseh was the eldest, his grandfather Jacob gave Ephraim the firstborn’s birthright. You can read how that happened in Genesis 48.
Both Manasseh and Ephraim became part of the tribes of Israel, because their grandfather Jacob adopted them as if they were his children. Jacob predicted that the descendants of Ephraim would be more important and more abundant.
Do you know any biblical character who was descended from the tribe of Ephraim? Investigate or ask an adult and write something about their life in your Prayer Journal.