Genesis 49:1-4
Yesterday, I discussed how and where “the Blessing” came
from and it’s importance to the one being blessed, and today we see
Jacob/Israel blessing on his sons.
“Then Jacob called his sons and said,
“Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in
days to come.” (Genesis 49:1)
Henry M. Morris makes this statement on page 651 of the “Genesis Record”
“The discourse that follows is no ordinary conversation. It is in poetic form, and thus abounds
in imagery. Its very tone
manifests that, though Jacob is speaking, he is speaking “in the Spirit.” He is in full possession of his
faculties, even though at the point of death, noting many events which had been
carried in his memory for many years, and yet speaking in a manner very
different from his normal mode of speech, in poetry and symbol and
prophecy. The twelve brothers
could hardly fail to be soberly and indelibly impressed with the memory and
importance of their father’s words.”
This is what Israel had to say about his firstborn, the one
who should be the pride of his father.
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and
the first fruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in
power.” I bet Ruben is
feeling Ok about himself at this point, and he is hoping that dad has forgot
his act of adultery and incest with Bilhah. Picking up the story in verse 4, “Unstable
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!”
If you follow the tribe of Reuben, they never furnished a
leader for the nation as a whole.
And it is the tribe of Reuben that asks to settle and not cross over the
Jordan. Reuben was weak and unstable,
and did not control his lust, and his actions excluded him from the blessing of
the firstborn.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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