# 397 God Has Removed All Our Toil!

The Book of Genesis

Day 397

Ge 41:47 Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly.  48 So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them.  49 Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.  50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.  51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house."

The years of plenty hit, the famine hits and Joseph puts his plan into action. During the years of plenty, God gives Joseph two sons. He names them Manasseh, and Ephraim. These are two very significant names. Let’s look at Manasseh first.

Manasseh so named because “God has made Joseph forget all his toil and all his father’s house!” The toil of course referring to his 13 years of slavery. The “forgetting of his father’s house,”  does not mean that he forgot his family completely, indeed, we shall see some very dear moments concerning his family in the next couple of chapters. The “forgetting” is the remitting or forgetting of his brother’s sins against him, which is no small task!

The name Manasseh has strong spiritual implications for you and I. It is a sermon  in and by itself!  Just by explaining the name “Manasseh, you could lead someone to Christ! Let’s break it down. “For God” indicates that salvation comes from Him alone. It is the gift of God! “Has made me forget,” is the equivalent of “has removed.” “All my toil,” (The Hebrew word for toil means, “all my wearing effort.” So God has removed all my wearing effort. This is what the gospel proclaims!

God has Manassehed us!  He has removed the wearing effort of man trying to save himself by keeping the Law! The name “Manasseh” can be summed up by the soothing words found in Eph 2:8,9 “ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

No longer toiling for our own forgiveness, we are now ready to remit the sins of those who have wronged us as well! We can be like Joseph, celebrating the freedom to forgive his brothers. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

May you and I experience Manasseh in our lives! No more wearing effort, just walking freely in grace!