‘the beginning of my strength’

Genesis 49:3

Jacob was very proud of his son. The beginning of my strength, he said of Reuben, the excellency of dignity, the excellency of power – this is how much he revered him.

Although Reuben suffered from his mother’s agony of spirit and envy from before and after he was born,  yet, like Judah, when his brothers manifested their murderous hatred and envy toward Joseph, he was repulsed.

Read Genesis 37:20-22

Here was this oldest brother, who, although affected by his brothers’ envy against Joseph, did not want him killed, but wanted to save him. That was a very commendable character trait.

Read Genesis 37:29-30 

Reuben was really distressed because he had come to secretly deliver Joseph from the pit and send him home.

They would have executed their purpose but for Reuben. He shrank from participating in the murder of his brother and proposed that Joseph be cast alive into a pit, and left there to perish; secretly intending, however, to rescue him and return him to his father. Having persuaded all to consent to this plan, Reuben left the company, fearing that he might fail to control his feelings, and that his real intentions would be discovered. {PP 211.1}

Reuben returned to the pit, but Joseph was not there. In alarm and self-reproach, he rent his garments, and sought his brothers, exclaiming, “The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?” Upon learning the fate of Joseph, and that it would now be impossible to recover him, Reuben was induced to unite with the rest in the attempt to conceal their guilt. Having killed a kid, they dipped Joseph’s coat in its blood, and took it to their father, telling him that they had found it in the fields, and that they feared it was their brother’s. {PP 212.1}

Although Reuben wanted to do what was right, when backed into a corner he went along with the crowd. He was not honest with his brothers from the beginning. If he had been the good older brother with a strong personality he would have said, ‘No, we will not do this wicked thing’. He could have saved Joseph, but no, his character was weak, and he was outwitted by events.

We now come to the events in Egypt where Joseph was governor. Had Reuben’s character developed and strengthened during the intervening years?

Read Genesis 42:21-23

Here is Reuben still smarting under the betrayal of Joseph and saying, ‘I told you so! Look what’s happening to us now! His blood is upon us.’

Read Genesis 30:14

What are mandrakes? The margin says Love apples, considered to be an aphrodisiac in the ancient world. Leah had stopped bearing children for a time, so it appears that Reuben gathered this gift for his mother knowing of her desire to have more children. He loved to make his mother happy. He was a beautiful young man. But we see here a mottled personality – beautiful, strong traits of character for good, but also very severe character deficiencies.

Because he was the older son, he should have received the birthright. Why then did he not receive the birthright? What was there in his behaviour that was a grievous sin?

Read Genesis 35:21-22 and 1 Chronicles 5:1

Not only did Jacob have Leah and Rachel, but he also had two concubines. Can you imagine how dysfunctional and torn apart this family must have been? And can you imagine the effect upon the children? The loose morality of the family, of which Jacob was a major player, had affected the character of Reuben and cost him the birthright blessing.

Judah was put in first place, and the birthright was transferred to Joseph. There was a splitting of benefits, but Reuben was entirely left out. Reuben lost it because of his grievous sin. How seriously does God regard this sin that Reuben committed – fornication?

They profess to be standing upon the elevated platform of eternal truth, keeping all of God’s commandments; therefore, if they indulge in sin, if they commit fornication and adultery, their crime is of tenfold greater magnitude than is that of the classes I have named, who do not acknowledge the law of God as binding upon them. In a peculiar sense do those who profess to keep God’s law dishonor Him and reproach the truth by transgressing its precepts. {2T 450 }

Fornication was Reuben’s serious sin, together with his shifty character, and lack of firmness – his instability. Here is an interesting statement of Reuben’s which shows the effect of sin upon him. It comes regarding this situation with Joseph.

Read Genesis 42:37-38

Jacob didn’t trust Reuben, but he trusted Judah when he said he would go surety for Benjamin. Judah was calm and rational. Reuben was rash and foolish. He claimed he was prepared to have his father slay his two sons. What sort of a father is that? Can you see how the mentality of sin affects people? It affects them to such a degree that they can make rash statements of this nature and be careless regarding the sanctity of life.

Reuben’s sin affected his offspring and all the tribe of Reuben thereafter. A tribal weakness was passed on because of Reuben’s example. “Every sinful gratification tends to benumb the faculties and deaden the mental and spiritual perceptions, and the word or the Spirit of God can make but a feeble impression upon the heart”. {GC 474.1}

Read Exodus 20:5 and Numbers 32:1-7

What are the Reubenites up to here? They have the same shifty personality that had been passed on to them by their forefather. “Let’s just stay here; we don’t want to go any further. This is good land, and comfortable here.” And how discouraging this must have been to the tribes who had to conquer the lands beyond the Jordan, the land promised to their forefathers - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? You see how sin ‘tends to benumb the faculties and deadens the mental and spiritual perceptions’. At the insistence of Moses, they did send their fighting men to help conquer Canaan, but not until they had settled their wives, children, and livestock in the land of Midian.

Look back at your past life and how it affects you now. Look back at your parents and how they have affected you. The consequence of inherited sinfulness is revealed by what happened to the tribe of Reuben.

Read 1 Chronicles 5:26 and Genesis 49:3-4.

Jacob’s prediction, while still in Egypt, was fulfilled.

Reuben, vacillating, tossed by the waves of popular opinion were among the first to be taken into captivity as the tribe which selfishly claimed the first land conquered when they came out of Egypt.

Letter 48, 1887 - “There are those to be met everywhere who have no fixed principles . . . They are like Reuben, unstable as water, having no inward rectitude, and like Reuben will never excel . . . That kind of easy good nature which can never nerve itself to give a decided refusal to any proposal that would injure his moral and religious influence is more under the control of Satan than the Spirit of God. They are led into evil very easily because they have a very accommodating disposition, and it hurts them to give a square ‘NO, I will not do this great wickedness and sin against God.”

What hope do the people with Reuben’s personality and sinful background have? What hope do they have of being a part of the 144,000?

When you read about the 144,000 and see that they are without fault before the throne of God; you think, ‘What hope have I got? What hope do people with Reuben’s personality have?’ Satan points out all your sins to you, all these ones he has tempted you to commit. He knows all about the past, and he says, ‘These people have no right to be among the 144,000.’

Reuben committed immorality which forever debarred him from receiving the birthright. There was no power within to do any good thing, but if such will search the heart and discover their own weakness, confessing their sins, God will deliver them. The tribe of Reuben produced no judge, prophet, or hero, but the name of Reuben will be immortalised on one of the gates of the New Jerusalem.  Why? “In the divisions of Reuben, there were great searchings of heart,” Judges 5:16.

Read Deuteronomy 33:1, 6

What a statement to make of a people with such a corrupt background! When God blessed Israel through Moses, He made a special point about Reuben. “Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.” So Reuben was to be blessed, and the Reubenites can be sealed no matter what their background has been.

“You are a young man of intelligence; you desire to make your life such as will fit you for heaven at last. You are often discouraged at finding yourself weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits and customs of your old life in sin. You find your emotional nature untrue to yourself, to your best resolutions, and to your most solemn pledges . . . Your promises are like ropes of sand, and you regard in the same unreal light the words and works of those in whom you should trust. 

You will be in constant peril until you understand the true force of the will. You may believe and promise all things, but your promises or your faith are of no value until you put your will on the side of faith and action. If you fight the fight of faith with all your will power, you will conquer. Your feelings, your impressions, your emotions, are not to be trusted, for they are not reliable, especially with your perverted ideas; and the knowledge of your broken promises and your forfeited pledges weakens your confidence in yourself, and the faith of others in you.

But you need not despair. You must be determined to believe, although nothing seems true and real to you.” {5T 513}

Can you identify with these words and find hope for your situation? You are not to despair although nothing seems true and real to you. This is our experience as we go forward to the time of Jacob’s trouble. Nothing will seem real to us anymore.

Can a person like Reuben be among the 144,000? Where is the answer? In the action of the will.

Some have no firmness of character. Their plans and purposes have no definite form and consistency. They are of but little practical use in the world. This weakness, indecision, and inefficiency should be overcome. {MH 498.1}

How? By the will. If we have been bequeathed this unstable character like the Reubenites, if we are not ready to give a firm ‘No, I am not going along with you in this wickedness,’ then this indecision, this unstable-as-water condition, this weakness, and inefficiency, must be overcome.

There is in true Christian character an indomitableness that cannot be moulded or subdued by adverse circumstances. We must have moral backbone, an integrity that cannot be flattered, bribed, or terrified. {Ibid.}

Reuben’s weakness can be overcome. Why are twelve thousand of the tribe of Reuben among the 144,000? Because they learned the lesson of surrendering their will to Christ. They realised that no matter how weak, pliable, and unstable their character might be, they can use the power of the promises in God’s Word to place their will on the side of God’s will. And God will transform them from within. We can conquer and overcome. It’s about where we place our will.

Judges 5:16 - For the divisions of Reuben [there were] great searchings of heart. 

Deep heart-searching, Reubenites, whatever your past has been, is the answer. Although he stood faithful in caring for his brother, and although he was a loving and lovable person, these other sins had so affected him as a legacy from his parents, that he didn’t look upon polygamy and adultery as such serious sins. All this could have prevented his tribe from being among the 144,000, but those who will search their hearts with diligence, can, by personal examination of their own souls, overcome. Is this not the promise given to Laodicea?

Revelation 3:21 - 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. 

Jesus became one with us. He had to struggle to overcome terrible sins that he didn’t practice but which were laid upon Him; and He conquered. And now He shows us that by exercising our will, we, even though we have been Reubenites, can overcome as He overcame.

O that you would search your hearts as with a lighted candle and discover and break the finest thread that binds you to worldly habits, which divert the mind from God! Plead with God to show you every practice that draws your thoughts and affections from Him. God has given His holy law to man as His measure of character. By this law you may see and overcome every defect in your character. You may sever yourself from every idol and link yourself to the throne of God by the golden chain of grace and truth. {2SM 318}