Genesis 49.1-4-Israel's Prophetic Anti-Blessing on Reuben
Sunday April 15, 2007
Genesis: Genesis 49:1-4-Israel’s Prophetic Anti-Blessing on Reuben
Tape # 313
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 49:1.
This morning we will begin a study of Genesis 49, which gives us the record of Jacob/Israel bestowing prophetic blessings and antiblessings upon his twelve sons as well as giving instructions for his burial and this chapter records his death.
Just as Jacob’s father Isaac had prophetically outlined the future of his two sons’ families in Genesis 27 so Jacob prophetically outlined the future of his twelve sons.
These prophecies cover the entire history of the nation of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the millennial reign of Christ.
Interestingly, these “blessings” as in the case of Reuben, Simeon and Levi are in actuality “antiblessings,” much like ones that Isaac bestowed upon Esau (See Genesis 27:30-40).
If you recall, since Isaac gave everything to Jacob, all he had to give Esau was an “antiblessing,” which is a parody on Jacob’s blessing and were also prophecies concerning the future of Esau’s descendants who were the Edomites.
In the same way, the “antiblessings” given to Reuben, Simeon and Levi are a parody of the blessings bestowed upon Jacob’s other nine sons and were also prophecies as well.
If you recall, Reuben was disqualified for leadership of the family because he had sex with his father’s concubine according to a comparison of Genesis 25:21-22 and 1 Chronicles 5:1-2.
Simeon and Levi were disqualified as a result of killing all the men of the city of Shechem in retaliation for the rape of their sister Dinah according to Genesis 34.
However, in relation to the nation of Israel’s destiny, these “antiblessings” are a blessing in the sense that Reuben did not have the capacity for leadership because of his moral instability and immoral degeneracy.
Therefore, Israel does the nation a favor and blesses the nation by promoting Judah rather than Reuben with his poor leadership abilities and in the same way, Israel protects the nation from the cruelty and violence of Simeon and Levi.
This morning we will concentrate on Genesis 49:1-4, which records Israel pronouncing an antiblessing on Reuben, his firstborn because Reuben committed adultery and incest with his concubine Bilhah.
Genesis 49:1, “Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, ‘Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come.’”
Genesis 49:2, “Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob and listen to Israel your father.”
The expression “assemble yourselves” demonstrates that unlike his father Isaac who blessed him in secret, Jacob publicly blesses his twelve sons.
Israel’s statement “That I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come” in the Hebrew literally reads, “I will tell to all of you what will happen to all of you in the last days.”
The prepositional phrase “in the days to come” or “in the last days” indicates to Jacob’s sons that the blessings he is about to give to them are also “prophetic” in nature demonstrating that like his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac, he is a prophet.
Israel is speaking to the individual tribes personified as his sons, thus this expression refers to both the near and distant future and covers the entire history of the nation of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the millennial reign of Christ.
By calling together his sons and commanding them to listen to what he is about to say to them, which concerns not only them but their future descendants, Israel is expressing his patriarchal authority as a father, a prophet of God and wise teacher who is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Genesis 49:3, “Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.”
“Reuben” (/b@War+) (re’uven) (reh-oo-vane) was the first son that Leah bore to Jacob while in Paddan Aram according to Genesis 29:32 and his name means, “the Lord has seen my affliction.”
The “firstborn” had a privileged status (See Genesis 43:33; 49:3) and the right of succession (2 Chronicles 21:3) and received a double portion of his father’s inheritance (Deut. 21:17).
As we noted in our study of Esau and Jacob, in the days of the patriarchs it was the custom of the day that the oldest son receive a double portion of the inheritance.
However, the father could change this if in his opinion it warranted it and so Jacob was perfectly within his rights to transfer the birthright from Reuben to Joseph since the latter demonstrated that he was better suited for the responsibility than the former.
Israel decided to bestow the double inheritance of the firstborn directly to Joseph’s sons rather than to Joseph himself and by adopting Joseph’s sons, Israel was making them of equal rank to Simeon and Levi.
In the book of Genesis, we have seen Cain lose his position because he murdered his brother Abel, Ishmael was the son of a concubine and not the son of the divine promise, Esau exchanged with Jacob his birthright for a bowl of red lintel soup expressing his negative attitude towards the promises of God.
“My might” means that the birth of Reuben demonstrated Israel’s virility or manly character and “the beginning of my strength” means that Reuben was the first demonstration of Israel’s generative power or ability to produce children.
“Preeminent in dignity” means that as the first-born, Reuben would have been first in rank and destined to inherit the patriarchal authority and “preeminent in power” means that he could have expected to possess power or authority associated with being the patriarch of the family.
Genesis 49:4, “Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it -- he went up to my couch.”
“Uncontrolled as water” means that just as water in unstable so Reuben was unstable in the sense that he was arrogant, reckless, impetuous and undisciplined as demonstrated by his committing adultery and incest with his father’s concubine out of love for his mother and rejection for his father’s authority.
This incident between Reuben and Jacob’s concubine, Bilhah was motivated by Reuben’s love for his mother Leah rather than sexual lust since by defiling Bilhah, he made certain that with Rachel’s death her maid could not supplant Leah as chief wife (Compare 2 Samuel 15:16; 16:22; 20:3).
Israel’s statement “you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father's bed” means that Reuben lost his status and position and privileges as the firstborn in the family by committing incest and adultery with his father’s concubine.
Deuteronomy 27:20, “Cursed is the man who sleeps with his father's wife, for he dishonors his father's bed.”
Israel’s statement “Then you defiled it” implies that the marriage bed is holy (See Hebrews 13:4) and that Reuben made it unholy by having sex with his concubine.
Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”
“You” indicates that Israel looked right at Reuben revealing to him for the first time that although he did not say anything to him at the time about his crime, he was not ignorant of it.
Genesis 35:22 records that Israel when he heard of Reuben having sex with his concubine Bilhah did not express verbally his moral outrage towards this incident but in Genesis 49:4 he does so.
Genesis 35:22, “It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it.”
“He went up to my couch” indicates that Israel turned from addressing Reuben to his other sons expressing is disgust with Reuben’s actions and that he was well aware of it even though he never said anything at the time.
Marriage was established by God in the Garden of Eden when He brought the Woman to Adam to be his helpmate (See Genesis 2:18-25) and so committing adultery would be sin against God because it would violate the divine institution of marriage.
The Word of God prohibits adultery.
Exodus 20:14, “You shall not commit adultery.”
Adultery begins in the heart.
Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
Matthew 5:27-28, “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
The act of adultery takes place when the thought of adultery is acted upon.
James 1:13, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”
James 1:14, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”
James 1:15, “Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”
Committing adultery is a manifestation of not loving your neighbor as yourself.
Romans 13:8, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”
Romans 13:9, “For this, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,’ and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’”
Romans 13:10, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
The Scriptures condemn adultery.
Proverbs 6:32, “The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; He who would destroy himself does it.”
Recovering from the sin of adultery demands the confession of the sin to the Father and then bringing one’s thoughts in obedience to Christ, which constitutes obeying the commands of Ephesians 5:18 to be influenced by means of the Spirit and Colossians 3:16 to let the Word of Christ richly dwell in your soul.
1 John 1:9, “If any of us does at any time confess our sins, then, He (God the Father) is faithful and just with the result that He forgives us our sins and purifies us from each and every wrongdoing.”
2 Corinthians 10:3-4, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”
2 Corinthians 10:5, “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
Ephesians 5:18: “And do not permit yourselves to get into the habit of being drunk with wine because that is non-sensical behavior, but rather permit yourselves on a habitual basis to be influenced by means of the Spirit.”
Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
The victim of adultery has two legitimate choices, forgiveness or divorce.
Ephesians 4:31-32, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
Not only did Reuben commit adultery but also incest, which the Mosaic Law prohibited because it dishonors the father and required the death penalty for both the man and the woman (See Leviticus 18:8; 20:11; Deuteronomy 22:30; 27:20).
Leviticus 20:11, “If there is a man who lies with his father's wife, he has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.”
Leviticus 20:12, “If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed incest, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.”
The fact that Reuben had sex with his father’s wife was not only the sin of dishonoring his father but also an act of rebellion against his father’s authority.
Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.”
1 Samuel 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.”
It is interesting that according to secular ancient Near Eastern culture, by having sex with his father’s concubine Reuben is attempting to usurp Jacob’s authority in his household (Compare 2 Samuel 3:7-8; 12:7-8; 16:21-22; 1 Kings 2:13-25).
Even though as the first-born, Reuben could have expected to possess the leadership of the tribes and the priesthood within the family and the double portion of the birthright, he forfeited these blessings by committing both incest and adultery with his father’s concubine.
Consequently, the leadership of the tribes was given to Judah and the priesthood to Levi eventually (See Exodus 32:25-29; Numbers 3:12-13), and the double portion to Joseph.
Henry M. Morris writes, “In the history of Israel, the tribe of Reuben never furnished a leader of any kind for the nation as a whole. In the later journeys to the promised land, the Reubenites were the first tribe to ask for a place to settle, not waiting to cross the Jordan with the others (Numbers 32). They participated in the erection of an unauthorized place of worship (Joshua 22:10-34). During the later wars with the Canaanites, in the days of Deborah and Barak, the tribe of Reuben failed to answer the call to arms (Judges 5:15-16). Jacob’s prophecy concerning Reuben has continued to be fulfilled ever since. Never has Reuben excelled in anything. (The Genesis Record, page 652, Baker Book House)