ON THE VANGUARD

REUBEN’S LEGACY
“’Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’s bed, onto my couch and defiled it.’”
Genesis 49:3-4

Last night I was reading through the final words of Jacob in Genesis 49, and it didn’t take long for me to come to a point where God began speaking to me in detail. The night before I had had a dream where I was talking with someone about the legacy they were leaving for their family. In this dream he mentioned that he was unsure why he was living the lifestyle he had been, knowing that his son was in need of a positive role model. When I woke up from this dream I knew right away what the interpretation was. For my life, it was a call, perhaps a charge, to leave a positive legacy for my children. So when I began with purpose reading Genesis 49, the truth again settled in.
To set the stage, it is in Genesis 49 where Jacob calls all his sons to him to share his final words with each before passing away. Jacob was leaving his blessing with his sons, as had been spoke over him in Genesis 27. But not all the sons heard the happy words they were expecting. One such son was Reuben. Reuben, being the oldest, was to have had the double portion. This means that since Jacob had twelve sons, the estate would be divided by thirteen, giving Reuben 2/13ths and the other brothers 1/13th. Yet, Jacob declared that Reuben was as stable as water. History shows that the tribe of Reuben never produced a prophet, king, or anyone of significance.
Reuben’s actions caused him to miss out on this blessing. While it is true that he did have the intention of saving Joseph, which was to his advantage in God’s eyes, it was Reuben who also slept with Bilhah, one of Jacob’s concubines and the mother of Dan and Naphtali. This defilement so angered Jacob that he titled him “unstable as water”. How did these words come to pass? In Numbers 16 it was Reuben’s tribe that joined in the rebellion of Korah the Levite, questioning the leadership of Moses and being swallowed by the earth. It was this same tribe that chose to not move forward but take land on the east side of the Jordan in Numbers 32. And it was this tribe who was sung about in Judges 5 as searching their hearts instead of engaging in the battle against Sisera. This single act of sleeping with his father’s concubine led the line of Reuben to not only miss the double portion, but live in instability.
As a father I have to read this portion of Scripture and ask myself what type of legacy I am leaving. In Numbers 14:18 we read, "'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'" We see this plainly in the account of Reuben. His action of sleeping with Bilhah was a price that his descendants were still paying for after he was dead and gone. But this is not a curse I want resting on my family. My moments of sin now are not worth knowing that my children will carry on in my ill-fated legacy long after I am gone. I would much rather see my children receive and carry on a legacy of love and obedience. I want them to feel my devotion to them, see my fight for them, and know my love for them. Yes that means I may have to give up on a few things I want, I desire, I crave, but is it not worth it. Sin’s price is death (Rom 6:23), but I do not want my actions to be the cause of death to my legacy. I do not want to be the next Reuben. I want to leave a blessed legacy for those to come.