THESE next two verses tell us the word of God to Jacob's firstborn son, Reuben, who was born of Leah, the less favoured wife of Jacob. (Genesis 29: 32). Verse three records the privileges at birth of Reuben, and verse 4 records Reuben's character which led to his grievous sin, which ruined his life. Yet all was not wrong in the character of Reuben. We find him seeking to protect his brother Joseph from the anger of the other brothers, but was foiled when the other brothers sold Joseph into slavery with the Ishmaelites. (Genesis 37: 12-36).
Jacob first of all records the privileges with which Reuben was endowed as the firstborn son. Deuteronomy 21: 15-17 describes such a privilege - This son must not be deprived of his inheritance because he is the progeny from the less loved wife, and he must be given a double portion from his father. This is the right of the first born.
Then Reuben as the firstborn held a position of honour superiority over all the other sons of Jacob. This described by Jacob as 'excelling in honour'. This privilege of a firstborn son is something handed down almost in all cultures, even in the culture of England. The firstborn has privileges granted to him which other sons do not possess.
Then Reuben is described by Jacob as 'excelling in power'. This describes the authority which the firstborn son was endowed with in the family and over his brothers.
However with all these privileges Reuben is described by his father as 'turbulent as the waters'. This describes a passion and uncontrollable spirit, which leads a person into actions which are unreasonable and destructive. Such character is described in Isaiah 57: 20 - 'But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud'. This causes Jacob to declare prophetically that Reuben would no longer excel. In other words this passionate disposition would lead Reuben to action which would destroy his life.
This terrible action is described by Jacob in his declaration concerning Reuben. He says 'for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch and defiled it. This is recorded in Genesis 35: 22 - 'While Israel was living in the region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard it'.
Bilhah was Rachel's handmaiden and was the mother of Dan and Napthali. When Rachel was distraught at having no children by Jacob, with Leah, the less favoured wife of Jacob, having four sons by this time, Rachel persuaded Jacob to have children by her maid servant. So by this Bilhah became the wife of Jacob.
Such action was clearly pronounced as evil in Deuteronomy 27: 20 - 'Cursed is the man who sleeps with his father's wife, for he dishonours his father's bed'.
What may we learn from this sin of Reuben and the effect it had on the life of Reuben as recorded by Jacob's declaration concerning Reuben in verse 4 of Genesis 49 where he says 'you will no longer excel'.
From these two verses we are seeking to study, it is plain that Reuben's sin had a marked effect on Reuben's life. Although he would still retain the privileges of the first born, yet these privileges would not bring about the blessing they were meant to. The idea behind not excelling, at the least would indicate that Reuben's life would become of a mediocre experience, and perhaps destroy his potential in the future.
It is plain that Jacob still loved his first born son, and grieved at the ruinous nature of his character, but his sin could not be overlooked, and its consequences removed. It must have been hard for Reuben when he heard these words of his father. However we are not given any indication of any serious repentance on his behalf. Repentance may have been the result of his father's words, but we do not know.
In this life the consequences of grievous sin even in the believer are not necessarily removed. They may have to be lived with for the duration of earthly life. However, we are assured by the gospel that on true and deep repentance, forgiveness is granted and the joys of eternal salvation remain with assurance. We have this assurance in 1 John 2: 1-2 where John declares 'My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence - Jesus Christ, the righteous one. He is the one who turns aside God's wrath, taking away our sins, and not only ours but also of the whole world'.
Let us understand that this Gospel salvation is dependent on deep repentance and trust in Jesus alone as our Saviour. This is expressed in the Beatitudes which open Christ's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). The promise is that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled; but this is dependent of the character of true and deep repentance expressed in the first three Beatitudes. There must be found in the believer a poverty of spirit whereby we confess we are sinners and sinful, and because of this we mourn over our sin and sinfulness and confess all this, and are meek, which is the deep understanding that we have no merit or goodness with which to bring to God, but are dependent only on God's mercy and grace.