In my quiet time, recently, I read a scripture in the book of 1st
Chronicles that talked about Reuben, the firstborn son of Jacob. I was intrigued
by his story and decided to do a few scriptural background checks on him. The
result gave me a humbling revelation. Reuben had it going well until lust had a
field day and ruined his portion. I will call this the way of Reuben.
We are told that Jacob has 12 sons. Jacob had four women in his
household. Two were wives, Rachel and Leah; the other two were concubines,
Bilhah and Zilpah. We won’t delve into his dramatic story. It’s the chic flic
of all time and it will take more seasons than Neighbours and the Bold and
the Beautiful combined to narrate. The only background I will tell is this:
Jacob’s other name was Israel. Often the scriptures call him Israel instead of Jacob.
So Jacob (Or Israel) had twelve sons:
Genesis 35:23-26 The
sons of Leah: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar
and Zebulun. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Rachel's
maidservant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Leah's maidservant
Zilpah: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob.
Prior to this, we are told of a distateful act by Reuben, the firstborn.
Observe what the scriptures say in Genesis
35:22 “While Israel was living in
that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.”
Reuben defiled his father’s bed by sleeping with the concubine. Bilhah
was his mother’s servant. Bilhah has sons who were Reuben’s brothers. From what
we know about sexual sin, it is true to say that Reuben must have been lusting
after Bilhah for a while and desired to sleep with her. It’s always a slow fade
with lust. When lust strikes, it is merely a manifestation of a sinful thought
that was practiced in the mind a long time ago. That is why Paul and Jesus warn
us about lustful thoughts and hints (Ephesians 5:3 and Matthew 5:28). We also
know that lust hides. Reuben must have gone into Bilhah’s tent thinking nobody was
watching him. But he was seen. In fact, it was even recorded in scripture for the
whole world to see and learn. The way of Reuben teaches us that sin in darkness
is always seen and always sin. We are not told of Jacob’s reaction. We are only
told that he heard of it. From what we know about lust though, we know that it
must have hurt him. Lust breaks the unions of love.
Several years go by and it seems as if Reuben gets away scot free. Time
has elapsed. The sons of Israel have sold one of their own, Joseph, into
slavery out of envy. Joseph is taken to Egypt and he becomes Prime Minister by
God’s favour, marries an Egyptian hottie, has two sons and even helps avert a grand
famine. The famine coerces Joseph’s family to go to Egypt in search of
nourishment. Jacob believes Joseph to be dead thanks to a lie the brothers
cooked. The brothers must have thought their brother was done for too. The shock
was on them to find that their bro is the Egyptian Kingpin. Joseph goes through
a dramatic family reunion and reconciles with his father and brothers. The
family even comes to live in Egypt. Jacob is now an old man and is about to die.
He decides to assemble the 12 sons before he goes on to the afterlife. As he
gathers the sons to speak about their futures, blessing are most likely
expected! This is what old men do when they are about to kick the bucket. Who
does he start with? Reuben, of course! The first born! The big fish! The
brother boss! The mayor! Baba yao! In fact in Israelite tradition, the first
born got great perks. If there was an inheritance, he’d get half of it and the
other half would be left for the rest of the siblings to pie chart. And so Jacob
calls Reuben and listen to what old man Israel has to say:
Genesis 49:1-3 “Then Jacob called for his sons and said:
"Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to
come."Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father
Israel. "Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my
strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
I can see Reuben flexing his biceps and saying to himself, “Oh yeah,
give it to me! Show me the blessing, daddy! Give me the power, baby!” "Reuben, you are my firstborn,(smiles,
camera, kaching!) my might, (smiles,
camera, kaching!) the first sign of
my strength, (smiles, camera, kaching!) excelling
in honor, (smiles, camera, kaching!) excelling in power ,(smiles,
camera, kaching!). His brothers are
probably looking at him and thinking, “Lucky guy! He gets firstborn privileges.”
And as Reuben is about to walk up the podium to take a selfie with Israel and then
give his acceptance speech, Israel concludes the blessing.
Genesis 49:4 “Turbulent as the waters, you will no
longer excel, for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch and defiled
it.”
The tape scratches! The biceps become flaccid! You can head the sad dying
trombone played in the background! “Wah wah wah wah.” (Click here to listen to the sad trombone if you’ve never heard it). Mouths are gaping! There is pin
drop silence. Dan and Naphtali are the most shocked. “Dude, you slept with our
mum!” Reuben grins hard and awkwardly; he is embarrassed to the bone. He takes a
step back from the spotlight and fades behind the Egyptian curtain. How did dad
know? How could he bring it up after all these years? Well, that’s mighty Christian
of him! If this was a soap opera, we’d be getting crazy ratings right about
this episode. But this is reality and it’s giving us something better than
ratings. It’s giving us wisdom. The way of Reuben teaches us that you cannot
cover your sin and get away with it, Beloved. “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses
and renounces them finds mercy.” Proverbs 28:13. Your sin will
always find you out (Numbers 32:23). Yes, even those fat cats who stole
millions and got away scot free because of diplomatic immunity haven’t really
escaped. Sin is a boomerang. You play with it and it comes back to hit you. So
who got the blessing? Who got the privileges? I stumbled on this verse in my
quiet time sometime last week:
1st Chronicles 5:1-2 “The sons of Reuben the firstborn of
Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father's marriage
bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of
Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance
with his birthright, and though Judah was the strongest of his
brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged
to Joseph)”
The underdog, Joseph, got the blessing. The kid they hated and even sold
into slavery got the prized blessing. And the Lord backed it up. Read Jeremiah 31:9 “They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where
they will not stumble, because I am Israel's father, and Ephraim is my
firstborn son.”
You may be asking, “Who is Ephraim?” Ephraim is Joseph’s son, Beloved. Now
you may be thinking, “What a way to discredit, Reuben!” But that’s not it,
Beloved. Some of Reuben’s brothers did bad things too. Simeon and Levi
slaughtered Shechemites in revenge of their raped sister. Judah slept with a prostitute and found out it
was his daughter in law and admitted fault in humility, “She is more righteous than I.” (Genesis 38:26). Perhaps on account
of humility, Judah being the strongest of his brothers (according to 1st Chronicles 5:1-2) received the grace of the messianic lineage. That is why we call the Lord
Jesus, The Lion of Judah. Perhaps it
would have been the Lion of Reuben. Perhaps; who knows?
But you see, the way of Reuben is not teaching us that Reuben was the
villain of the story. In fact Reuben acted more righteously than his brothers at
a crucial time. See Genesis 37:17b-22
"So Joseph went after his brothers
and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before
he reached them, they plotted to kill him. "Here comes that
dreamer!" they said to each other. "Come now, let's kill him and
throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured
him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams." When Reuben heard
this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his
life," he said. "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this
cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said
this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
But despite this act of goodness, his destiny was corrupted by his hidden
sin. The way of Reuben teaches me that good works do not cancel out the hidden sin.
Sin is forgiven through repentance not an outweighing of good deeds. Some
Jewish sources like the Midrash suggest that Reuben repented. However, I would
like to throw a spanner into the works and question whether it was godly sorrow
or worldly sorrow. 2nd Corinthians 7:10 says “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no
regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Or maybe he repented after
Genesis 49, when the blessings had already been dished out. Whichever the case, Reuben was the “good guy”
like you and I. But Reuben’s tragic play with hiding sin cost him (especially lust; that's the favourite sin to hide). I don’t know
what sin you may be flirting with, Beloved. You may think nobody’s watching and
you may think you will escape. You think you have outwitted the Lord of Hosts.
Beloved, cast away foolishness and abandon the way of Reuben. I suggest a more
excellent way. Humble yourself if you have erred and ask for forgiveness. Walk
in obedience and in purity. Trust in the Lord with all you heart. Be wise and
not otherwise. Sounds a bit familiar right? That’s because it is the way of the
cross. It’s the path that demands we deny ourselves to be true followers and
beneficiaries of the spiritual over the carnal. It is the way that is
vulnerable and leads to everlasting life. It is the way that knows that God’s
pleasures outweigh the immature carnal selfish that doesn’t know how to wait.
It is the way that promises that if we keep our eyes on the ultimate, we will
not be overcome by the immediate. It is the way, the truth and the life. It is
a person and his name is Jesus! He has forgiven us for every moment we have
walked in the way of Reuben. He has given us his grace and mercy to be forgiven
when we err. It says in Psalm 25:9 “He
guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” It says in
Proverbs 3:6 “in all your ways submit to
him, and he will make your paths straight” Beloved, Jesus Christ; this is
the way, walk ye in it.
Psalm 32:1-5: Blessed is he whose transgressions are
forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does
not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept
silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For
day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in
the heat of summer. "Selah" Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my
transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my
sin."Selah."