As Jacob was dying, he worshipped God (47:31, LXX; Heb. 11:21). It is not an insignificant matter that a dying man would worship God. Jacob worshipped God on the head of his bed. As we have seen, his being confined to bed revealed that he had no more natural strength, that he could not move, and that his trust was completely in God. Hence, he worshipped God there.
The Septuagint translates the last part of 47:31 as "on the top of his staff." In writing Hebrews 11:21 Paul quoted, not the Hebrew text, but the Septuagint. Thus, Hebrews 11:21 says, "By faith Jacob, when dying..worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff." Spiritually speaking, this is very significant. The bed signifies that Jacob had no human strength, but the staff signifies that he was a person filled with the experience of God in his life. The staff was a symbol of Jacob's life of sojourning. In Genesis 32:10 Jacob said, "For with my staff I passed over this Jordan." Throughout his life of sojourning, God was continually with him. Therefore, at the end of his life, Jacob worshipped God on his bed, signifying that he had no strength, and on his staff, signifying that the God whom he worshipped had shepherded him throughout his life.
Jacob's worship of God was not without personal experience. He was not worshipping an objective God. When he was dying, he was worshipping the God whom he had experienced in a full way in a life of sojourning. This was a holy ending of such a matured sojourner. I hope that when we depart from this earth we shall worship God in this way, not worshipping One whom we have not experienced, but worshipping the One whom we have experienced throughout our lifetime. Jacob did not speak about God in a doctrinal way or worship Him in a formal way. He worshipped God according to his experience. The God whom Jacob worshipped was closely related to Jacob's staff, which was a testimony that Jacob was a sojourner on earth (Heb. 11:13) and that he was always under God's leading (Gen. 48:15). According to Hebrews 11:13, he was among those who died in faith expecting one day to enter into what God had promised.
To worship on the top of the staff requires putting the hands on the staff. Jacob asked Joseph to put his hand under his thigh, indicating that Jacob put his full trust in the hand of God's grace. But Jacob put his hands upon the staff, indicating that he recognized that he had always been under God's care of grace throughout his entire life.
In 48:7 we see that as Jacob was departing he remembered Rachel's sorrowful death. He was faithful to her in giving her son Joseph a double portion (48:5-8, 20, 22). What Jacob did with respect to Ephraim and Manasseh in chapter forty-eight was done in remembrance of Rachel. Jacob's first son was Reuben, and his second was Simeon. His eleventh son was Joseph, the first son born of Rachel. Jacob's twelfth son, Benjamin, was also born of Rachel, His first two sons were born of Leah. Jacob, however, desired to make the two sons of Joseph, who was born of Rachel, his first two sons to replace Reuben and Simeon. In Jacob's heart, Joseph's two sons became his first two sons. In chapter forty-eight Joseph presented his two sons to Jacob, and Jacob said, "And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine" (v. 5). In other words, they would replace Reuben and Simeon. Jacob seemed to be saying, "Joseph, your sons Ephraim and Manasseh are no longer for you; they are for me, and I am for Rachel." The birthright among Jacob's sons was shifted from Reuben to Joseph through Jacob's desire to remember Rachel, who was continually on his heart. By doing this, spontaneously Jacob made Rachel his genuine wife. God honored what Jacob did and made it a fact by the allotting of the land at the time the children of Israel entered the good land.
Today among the human race there is no faithfulness between men and women. But in the case of Jacob we see Jacob's faithfulness and honesty toward Rachel. From the day he first saw her, he fell in love with her, and his heart never changed. Jacob was faithful, and God honored this faithfulness. Jacob made Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, his first two sons years after Rachel's death. During all these years, Jacob never forgot her. He was still faithful in his love toward her. Genuine love between a man and woman is always honored by God. If you do not love a woman, you should not marry her. But if you marry her, you must love her, and love her with a love that is faithful and honest. In human society today, this kind of love has been lost. A man may love someone today and change a short time later. Nothing offends God's ordination more than such unfaithful love. If you marry a certain person, you must love her to the uttermost. How good it is to see a dying man who still remembered the one he loved! Jacob's love never changed. Some might have said to him, "Jacob, you are one hundred forty-seven years old, and you are about to die. Rachel has been dead for forty years. You don't need to be concerned about this. Why do you need to call Joseph in and ask him to give you his two sons to replace your first two sons? Jacob, simply rest on your bed until you die." Nevertheless, Jacob's faithfulness to Rachel in making Joseph's two sons his first two sons so that Joseph as his firstborn might inherit a double portion of the land is recorded in God's holy Word. Sovereignly, when the portions of the land were allotted under Joshua (Josh. 24), the portion Jacob gave to Joseph was allotted to Ephraim and Manasseh. This means that what Jacob did was honored by God. A husband should never change his love for his wife. If you are faithful in your love for her, God will honor that faithfulness. This is the highest morality.