GEMS IN GENEALOGY (PART 5)

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Reuben

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 sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel:

Hanok, Pallu, Hezron and Karmi.

The descendants of Joel:

Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria took into exile. Beerah was a leader of the Reubenites.

Their relatives by clans, listed according to their genealogical records:

Jeiel the chief, Zechariah, and Bela son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel. They settled in the area from Aroer to Nebo and Baal Meon. To the east they occupied the land up to the edge of the desert that extends to the Euphrates River, because their livestock had increased in Gilead.

During Saul’s reign they waged war against the Hagrites, who were defeated at their hands; they occupied the dwellings of the Hagrites throughout the entire region east of Gilead.

Gad

The Gadites lived next to them in Bashan, as far as Salekah:

Joel was the chief, Shapham the second, then Janai and Shaphat, in Bashan. Their relatives, by families, were:

Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jakan, Zia and Eber — seven in all.

These were the sons of Abihail son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz. Ahi son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was head of their family.

The Gadites lived in Gilead, in Bashan and its outlying villages, and on all the pasturelands of Sharon as far as they extended.

All these were entered in the genealogical records during the reigns of Jotham king of Judah and Jeroboam king of Israel.

The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 men ready for military service — able-bodied men who could handle shield and sword, who could use a bow, and who were trained for battle. They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish and Nodab. They were helped in fighting them, and God delivered the Hagrites and all their allies into their hands, because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him. They seized the livestock of the Hagrites — fifty thousand camels, two hundred fifty thousand sheep and two thousand donkeys. They also took one hundred thousand people captive, and many others fell slain, because the battle was God’s. And they occupied the land until the exile.

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh

The people of the half-tribe of Manasseh were numerous; they settled in the land from Bashan to Baal Hermon, that is, to Senir (Mount Hermon).

These were the heads of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah and Jahdiel. They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their families. But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria), who took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara and the river of Gozan, where they are to this day.

1 Chronicles 5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today is the fifth installment of Gems in Genealogy, a look at items of interest embedded within the lists compiled by the Chronicler. Today we look at the 5th chapter of 1 Chronicles which shines a bright spotlight on Reuben, first son born to Isaac’s son, Jacob. Our gems will be centered on him.

GEM 1

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 sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel.

If you had never heard of Reuben before and you read this opening to 1 Chronicles 5, you wouldn’t have a good first impression of him and the way he lived. His story is one that baffles as he was a man who had everything going for him but allowed sin to enter in and ruin not only his life but the lives of others he impacted. Let’s dig a little deeper into what led to Reuben to lose his firstborn rights.

You have to start with Jacob, the son of Isaac who deceived his father into giving him the birthright which rightfully belonged to his older brother Esau (Genesis 27). Esau was understandably angered by what Jacob had done and wanted to kill his brother. His mother Rebekah, who had assisted Jacob in his deception, urged him to flee to Harran and stay with his uncle Laban. And so this is what Jacob did.

When he arrived at Harran, Jacob met a woman, Rachel, who caught his eye. He fell in love and wished to marry her so when his uncle Laban asked him what wages he desired for the work he was performing, Jacob proposed that he would work for seven years if he could marry Rachel at the end of that time. Laban agreed.

And so the seven years went by and Jacob held up his side of the bargain, serving Laban faithfully during that time. The time had come for Laban to hold up his side.

And this is where things get very interesting.

You see, God has a funny way of teaching us lessons in life and Jacob was about to learn one.

Laban held a great feast for Jacob prior to him receiving Rachel as his wife. It was a time of joy and great celebration and Jacob must have had a really good time because when he was in bed, ready to consummate his relationship with Rachel, Laban instead placed his older daughter Leah in bed with him. Jacob didn’t realize he had been duped until the next morning when he awoke to find he had slept with Leah! (Genesis 29)

The deceiver had been deceived himself.

GEM 2

Jacob still wanted Rachel as his wife and so another deal was struck. Jacob would have to honor a bridal week married to Leah and then Laban vowed to give him Rachel as well in exchange for seven more years of labor. Jacob agreed to the arrangement.

And so Jacob ended up married to two sisters, Leah and Rachel. Scripture tells us that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah and had compassion for the older sister who Laban had used as a pawn. God allowed Leah to conceive while Rachel was kept barren and we learn at the end of Genesis, Chapter 29, that Leah would bear a child and name him Reuben saying:

“It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”

Leah would go on to have five other sons, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. You may recognize these sons as heading up four of the tribes of Israel with Reuben being the firstborn, the kind of place you would want to be – at the top of the Israelite genealogical hierarchy.

If only he had not blown it.

For Reuben’s desires became greater than his desires for God and his actions reflected this truth. He decided to sleep with his father’s concubine Bilhah and his father learned about the tryst. This led to Reuben losing his birthright as stated in this 5th Chapter of 1 Chronicles:

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).

As we can see, Reuben’s birthright was given to Joseph. And that leads to Gem 3.

GEM 3

How would you feel about a brother that ended up getting what was rightfully yours?

Reuben’s father had taken his brother Esau’s birthright and this led to Esau wanting to murder Jacob. Would history repeat itself with Reuben wanting to kill Joseph?

We’ll see where it didn’t. In fact, Joseph would go on to owe his life to Reuben.

In Genesis, Chapter 37, we learn that Joseph’s brothers burned with jealousy for him because Jacob loved him more than any of them. They had a hatred for him and “could not speak a kind word to him.” His dreams revealing that they would one day bow down to him made them even angrier.

One day, Joseph traveled to near Dothan to meet up with his brothers and as he approached, they plotted to kill him saying:

“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.”

Things did not look good for Joseph.

But then something happened. Reuben intervened on Joseph’s behalf saying:

“Let’s not take his life. Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.”

Scripture tells us that Reuben said this to rescue Joseph from his brother and then return him to Jacob.

And so this is what happened, Joseph was stripped of his ornate robe and thrown into an empty cistern. It was then that a group of Midianite merchants approached, laden with expensive goods they were taking to Egypt. Joseph’s brother Judah saw this as an opportunity to get rid of Joseph without killing him saying:

“What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.”

All the brothers agreed that this was a better course of action and so they agreed to Judah’s proposal and Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers, taken away by the Midianites. It’s obvious that Reuben was not present when Joseph was sold because we read where he returned to the cistern where Joseph had been placed to help him escape and found him gone. Such was Reuben’s anguish that he tore his clothes.

Reuben had not been able to completely rescue Joseph but at least his brother was still alive. Later, Reuben would meet him again.

GEM 4

Fast forward to a time in famine in Canaan. Food was hard to come by and so Jacob sent all his sons with the exception of his youngest, Benjamin, to Egypt as he had heard they had plenty of grain to sell. He kept Benjamin home because he feared that the sons might encounter danger and did not want to lose all of them if that happened.

And so the ten brothers traveled to Egypt to buy grain and who would they have to visit? None other than a man named Joseph, now the governor of the land who was responsible for selling grain to the peoples (Genesis 42:6). Joseph recognized them clearly but the brothers did not recognize Joseph. Joseph did not reveal his identity and when his brothers came before him, scripture tells us they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

Guess dreams really do come true.

Well, Joseph asks his brothers what they were doing in Egypt and when they said they were looking for food, he acted as if he didn’t believe them, calling them spies. When they began to plead that they were simply from an Israelite family looking for food, Joseph refused to believe them. They then told him that they were ten of twelve brothers, telling Joseph that the youngest brother was with their father while the other brother had passed away. Of course, they had no idea that Joseph was indeed alive and speaking with them.

At this point, Joseph allows them to take food home on one condition: one of the brothers would have to remain behind incarcerated and would remain in prison until the youngest brother was brought to Joseph. Simeon was taken and bound. The rest of the brothers returned with grain and the silver they had originally brought to buy the grain.

When they arrived home, they shared their story with their father, Jacob who was deeply distressed saying:

“You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”

How would this matter get resolved? How would Jacob be convinced to allow Benjamin to be taken to Egypt?

Once again, we find Reuben stepping forward. He says to his father:

“You may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him back.”

Jacob would still not allow Benjamin to leave his side but we can’t fault Reuben for at least trying to do something. He could have remained silent but he didn’t and for that he should be commended. Eventually, the family ran out of food and Jacob relented as a matter of survival, allowing Judah to take Benjamin along to Egypt. The brothers returned, enjoyed a feast thrown for them by Joseph, were loaded up with food and sent on their way home, only to be brought back to Joseph with Benjamin accused of stealing a silver cup that belonged to Joseph (was actually planted there at Joseph’s command). The men begged Joseph for mercy because Joseph wanted to take Benjamin as his slave. Knowing how much Jacob was counting on Benjamin to not be harmed, the brothers begged to Joseph to reconsider.

It was in the midst of all this that Joseph decided the time had come to reveal who he was to his brothers. As he addressed them, he said these amazing words:

“Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”

“So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’”

“You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping.  And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.

Don’t you love stories that end happily ever after? I do, especially when God is at the center of the happy ending.

Two things to take away from this before we close and await tomorrow’s gems from Chapter 6:

1. You can always try and make amends for past mistakes.

Yes, Reuben had slept with his father’s concubine and yes he suffered harsh consequences as a result. But Reuben didn’t allow this to impact what he could do afterwards. He took it upon himself to do good and try and make a difference.

We can learn a lot from Reuben. We will make our own share of mistakes in life but we need not sit around and dwell on our errors. Instead, we should look for ways to improve the way we live, committing ourselves ever more to righteousness through selfless service to others.

2. God is always working in situations to teach us something.

Looking through this story, we see God’s fingerprints all over it. Everything happened for a reason, whether talking about Joseph or his brothers, and in the end, God’s will was revealed. It was only then that we could fully see His glory. Joseph’s family would have a land to live in with plenty of food to eat. He made sure of that. There was no retribution for the wrongs that had been committed against him. Rather, we see God’s grace and mercy and love on full display in the outcome.

Know that God is always working in your life situations, always working things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). He’s proven this as truth time and time and time again.

I hope you enjoyed today’s gems. Tomorrow we’ll look at Chapter 6.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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