LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB #66
written by: Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3567
LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB #66
JACOB'S PROPHECIES ABOUT THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL #1
And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
“Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,
And listen to Israel your father." ( Gen.49:1-27 ).
The Blessing of Jacob is a prophecy that mentions each of Jacob's twelve sons.
Genesis presents the prophecy as the last words of Jacob to his sons when he is about to die.
Jacob is not afraid to castigate some of the tribes, in particular, Reuben, Simeon, and Levi for the sins they have committed.
This is a partial explanation why each of the tribes suffered the fate they did, and thus explains the small territory of Reuben, the firstborn, compared to Judah, as being due to Reuben's incest
(mentioned in Genesis 35:22 and 49:3-4). As Simeon's territory was located completely within that of Judah, and Levi only had a few scattered cities, their fates were attributed to their wickedness.
Other tribes have an ascribed characteristic, whether it be seafaring or beautiful princesses.
Judah and the Joseph tribes both receive extensive blessings, suited to their pre-eminence, Judah's as the major component of the Kingdom of Judah, and the Joseph tribes, in particular Ephraim, as the pre-eminent group in the Kingdom of Israel.
For today's study, we shall focus on REUBEN.
GENESIS 49:3-4
Reuben: You shall not excel.
“Reuben, you are my firstborn,
My might and the beginning of my strength,
The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
Unstable as water, you shall not excel,
Because you went up to your father’s bed;
Then you defiled
it."
"He went up to my couch."
a. You are my firstborn: As the firstborn of the family, Reuben had a claim to the inheritance rights of the firstborn, but he forfeited it through pride (the excellency of dignity) and through immorality (you defiled it).
Reuben’s immorality with his father’s concubine Bilhah (the mother of his brothers Dan and Naphtali) is recorded in Genesis 35:22.
b. Unstable as water, you shall not excel: Because of Reuben’s instability, the birthright was divided.
Usually the firstborn was the spiritual and social leader of the clan; but among the sons of Israel, the rights of blessing,
the priesthood and ruling authority was divided among brothers rather than being centralized in one.
Though we see the great wisdom of God in decentralizing authority among the sons of Israel, Reuben paid a high price for his instability.
As much as anything, God looks for a stable character in those who will lead His people.
c. You shall not excel: The tribe of Reuben never did excel. No prophet, no judge, or no king that we know of came from the tribe of Reuben.
Reuben is an example of how the first can be last (Matthew 19:30).
“So a man may have great opportunities, and yet lose them. Uncontrolled passions may make him very little who otherwise might have been great.” (Spurgeon)
What does our study teach us today?
Let us be soberly aware that our sins will affect our family and loved ones in the future.
Let us, therefore, come before our Lord and truly repent to reverse the curse of sin upon us and them.
Reuben's name in Hebrew means
" Behold a son ". The name is made up of two halves; "re'u" means "look" or "see," and "ben" means "son."
Thus, the name "Reu-ben" expresses Leah's prayer for a firstborn son - that "re'u" - G‑d saw my needs, and therefore blessed me with "ben" - a son.
It is a sad reflection that - despite his mother's high hopes - he never lived up to his name as one who has a blessed awareness of the presence of his earthly father and God.
