Our Allotment in the Promise Part 2 "Reuben"
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1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; And hearken unto Israel your father.
3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, My might, and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; Because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
Introduction
Introduction
We are dealing with Our Allotment in the Promise, and looking at the twelve sons of Jacob who became the twelve tribes given a portion of the land. We my take some together, just as the Lord leads.
Now, we find that when Joshua divided the inheritance to the people, each person was placed positionally, exactly the way these Hebrew mothers named those children, how they were placed in Palestine just at their place: Asher, Gad, and Naphtali, and each one, Judah; every one just placed in their position.
What a wonderful picture it gets us, because it’s a type of God placing in the Church, Himself, every member, every stone, every place, every Christian, to itself.
(Solomon’s temple. Odd rocks we don’t always understand)
And Joshua, by inspiration, not by just mathematics, he by…inspired by God he lotted each one of those patriarchs in their position, just exactly the way their name belongs. 62-1122 — Return And Jubilee
Sometimes it’s not immediately apparent how the name fits into the promise, or the allotment, but it does.
The first son born to Jacob was Reuben.
Reuben means “Behold! A Son!
32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
Remember there was favoritism in the family, Jacob loved Rachel, but he was tricked into marrying Leah.
Jacob never did treat Leah the same as Rachel, but Leah ended up buried with Jacob in Hebron, in the place of the resurrection.
Look! A Son! Speaks of an eldest son who is never really treated as the eldest son.
The very first thing Reuben was alloted was a name and a birth order, which gave him a position in the land, but what he did with that was up to him.
Bro. Branham teaches us that: “Grace is what God does for you; works is what you do for God.”
“Paul was speaking what God saw, and James was speaking what man saw.”
You are not helpless, you are a seed of Abraham, but now you have to overcome in your position.
“Your seed will possess the gate” who is doing the possessing? The seed. They will overcome.
In all seven church ages there was a promise given to the overcomer.
Ephesus
7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Smyrna
11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Pergamum
17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
Thyatira
26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
Sardis
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Philadelphia
12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Laodicea
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
These are cumulative. Every promise is to us.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
God’s way has never changed. You are His chosen Elected Bride, but you must make yourself ready.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
So many says, “If the Lord will take this evil spirit from me, from drinking, or from gambling, or from lying, or stealing, I’ll serve Him.”
But that’s up to you. See, you got to do something, too. “They that overcome shall inherit all things.” They that overcome. You have power to do it, but you must be willing to lay it down. See? “She has made Herself ready.” I like that Word.
(Not a self help program, but you must be willing. the battleground is your mind, faith or unbelief)
You see, God could not push us through a little pipe, pull us out on the other end, and then saying, “Blessed is he that overcometh.” You had nothing to overcome; He just pushed you through. But you’ve got to make decisions for yourself. I have to make decisions for myself. In doing that, we show our faith and respects to God.
Abraham was promised a child, but he must maintain this promise for twenty-five years, the ups-and-downs that he had, and temptations, in those twenty-five years. But he held to the word of the promise.
And Israel was promised a promised land, but they had to fight for every inch of it. “Wherever the soles of your foot treads upon, that have I given you,” God said to Joshua. It was all there. The land was there, and God gave it to them, but they must fight for it.
The same way it is about Divine healing. God has got the power to heal you, if you’ve got the courage to accept it, but you’ll fight every inch of the way.
God has got amazing grace to save you, and He will do it, but you’ll fight every inch of your way.
(All of Bro. Branham’s ministry he fought.)
“But we must fight if we must reign.” So we find out that the Bride has to make Herself ready. “Be willing to lay aside every weight that does so easily beset us, that we might run with patience the race that’s set before us.”
We must lay them aside, ourself. We can’t say, “God, You come, lay them aside for us.” We got to do that, ourselves. 62-0121E — The Marriage Of The Lamb
Lay it down so He can take it away.
How do we overcome?
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Reuben had to overcome his beginnings to become all that he could be.
It is possible to overcome, even when your name and birth path hinder you.
Illustrate: Jabez
9 And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
Reuben had some things to overcome.
Jacob, ion his deathbed, begins to pronounce blessings on his children.
3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, My might, and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
Reuben is feeling pretty good at this stage.
4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; Because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; Then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
You’ll find this mentioned in Genesis 35:22 how Jacob had left Bethel and while they were away from the land Reuben committed this terrible sin.
Unstable is literally “froth”.
Jacob said “Reuben, you are like boiling water, uncontrollable.”
What a dark moment, but it wasn’t the end of the story.
Are we just going to accept it? Or press forward.
Illustrate: Gentile woman who came to Jesus.
We are not defined by the worst thought we ever had, or even the worst action we ever took.
We may bear the consequences of it, we may have scars, but even a man locked up in prison with a life sentence can think on his ways.
You might say “I’m so glad I don’t have that problem”, I’m not like Reuben, I would never do that.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Reuben was a type of something.
10 On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.
Reuben was the head of three tribes “Reuben, Gad and Simeon”.
His standard was the face of a man.
Now, the Reuben was the man. He was the first one, the weakest one of the bunch.
Didn’t Jacob say so in Genesis 49? “Reuben, thou art the first of my strength; but like water, you went up on my couch and defiled my couch,” and lived with his father’s concubine.
See, that’s the immorals of the human being. You see? The animal don’t have them immorals, the lion, none of these things has that; 61-0108 — Revelation, Chapter Four Part III
Part of overcoming is realizing who you are.
Reuben, you’re a man. If you don’t learn to turn down the heat, your passions will boil over and destroy you.
A man is made in such a way that only the new birth will completely control this.
It’s why so many great men in the Old Testament fall in this way. David was a man. Samson was a man.
(Bro. Branham talks about a Lady coming down the street, twisting herself, and a curly headed young man watching her.)
A normal man will look and lust.
A man who is born again will still have thoughts, he’s still human, but he looks to the cross. he still has to fight, but if he keeps his eye on Calvary he can win that fight.
We don’t have to live immorally, just because we are men.
1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
We are sixteen elements of dirt.
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Your flesh, as far as your flesh, is no different from a horse, or from a cow, or anything else. It’s still just flesh.
And, boy, you glorify the flesh; but that spirit has a soul in there, my brother. That’s right. But your flesh is just dust of the earth, like the animal. Your flesh is no more than an animal.
And if you lust after the flesh and the thing you see, lust after women, lust after all these different things, it’s still animal.
That’s right. You shouldn’t do it. The Spirit of God will lead you on and put you on a higher plain than that. That’s exactly right. 57-0821 — Hebrews, Chapter One
I don’t say those things to condemn you, but we must always work to keep those spots covered. If you fall, get back up, repent, but aim for higher things.
Reuben is the firstborn, but he lost his birthright.
1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)
There were two famous men who thought they should lead Israel, Dathan and Abiram, who conspired with Korah against Moses.
(ref. Num 16:12)
They were direct descendants of Reuben. (ref. Deut 11:6) The earth swallowed them up with their families and tents.
Reuben was firstborn, but Levi was God’s choice.
Illustrate: Paul and Matthias
This isn’t the whole story of Reuben.
We like to treat it as if our heroes never do wrong and the bad guys never do right, but human being don’t work like that.
Even the best of us have two dogs fighting, good and bad, and the one we cater to the most is the one who wins.
It was Reuben who tried to get Joseph out of the pit.
21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
This is Reuben overcoming. Of all Jacob’s sons he should have been the one who wanted Joseph dead, but he stood in the gap.
Moses knew that, and God saw it.
6 Let Reuben live, and not die; And let not his men be few.
If you show mercy, mercy will be returned to you.
Reuben ended up not going all the way into the promised land.
(We’ll deal with this again because there were two and half tribes involved)
1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;
They looked at it like carnal men would. Gad was also under the banner of the face of a man.
Remember Reuben means “Look, a Son” or “Look, a man”.
Moses told them “You can stay but you have to fight with us”. They did, but there was always a division between them and the other tribes.
Whenever there is carnality and division it affects the way we fight.
They did not come fully into the love of God’s Word, yet they were a part of Israel.
It almost caused a war between them.
In Joshua 22 they built an altar, and the rest of the tribes took offense to it.
They had to explain that they built it so their children would know the Lord, and war was averted.
During the time of Deborah and Barak Reuben refused to come out and fight.
Deborah’s song:
16 Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, To hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart.
They were happy staying where they were, but being out of the land is a dangerous thing.
They began herding cattle, then they were shepherds, by the time of the New Testament the people on that side of the river kept hogs.
I want you to see that God is faithful.
Joshua divides the land of promise, but Ezekiel gives the allotment for the millennium.
6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
Ezekiel gives each tribe an equal allotment, and a portion is obtained in the land for Reuben.
Bro. Branham gives an answer about a wife who refused to serve the Lord, that if you have the wrong one now, you will have the right one in the millennium.
You just keep on going; all wrongs will be made right there. 64-0830M — Questions And Answers #3
All the maps are redrawn, and each one has their portion.
Where you are now is your fighting position.
Sometimes God purposely puts you in a place where you've got to fight to overcome.
That is why Moses didn’t just make them go on in to the land. They were preordained to be in that place, like Jonah running from God and ending up in the belly of the whale.
If your life hasn’t gone according to plan, maybe it was still His plan.
There were actually tribes that were supposed to be across the river. Not in God’s perfect will, but His permissive will.
But He has a permissive will. Now, there, where the trouble lays. We try to work on God’s permissive will, and He will permit it.
But also if we take His permissive will, though it’s not right, He will make His permissive will to work out, together, to glorify His perfect will. 65-0427 - “Does God Change His Mind?”
Each, the land was provided and divvied up by inspiration. And, each one, I could take the Scriptures and show it to you exactly, that he put them in the place where they was supposed to be, positionally, how that the two half tribes was to stay across the river, how that their mothers cried that in their birth, and how that each place was supposed to be.
(He had it all in control)
And now after you are in, that don’t mean that you’re out free from war. You still have to fight for every inch of ground you stand on. So, see, Canaan did not represent the great Heaven, because it’s war and troubles and killings and fightings, and so forth. But it did represent this, that it must be a perfect walk. 60-0515E — Adoption #1
God put them there for a reason, God put you here for a reason. Though it may be difficult, but that’s how He prepares us for our true purpose, over there.
We were born in sin by His permissive will, but we are born again by His perfect will, to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion
Conclusion
How many would say, “Let me have that perfect walk with you”. From this time on, let me be in your perfect will.
So Let me Walk with you Jesus
