Genesis 35:22
While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it.
Genesis 49:3-4
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
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!
There is a quick little mention of Reuben's sin in laying with his father's concubine. There is no mention of an immediate consequence, and Reuben may well have thought that the sin was forgotten. We too may wish that our sins would be forgotten, that there would be no reckoning for them. But there are consequences to our sin. This is why the 8th and 9th steps of the 12 step program are about making amends for past sins. Reuben never made amends, and probably thought his father had forgotten all about it. But at the end of his life Jacob does remember Reuben's sin, and deprives him of the customary blessing that would go to Reuben as the first born, because he defiled his father's bed. It is also interesting how he describes Reuben as "unstable". This is an apt description of the adulterous or unfaithful person: unstable, not dependable, versus a faithful person who is anchored, steady, reliable.
God, part of me wishes that there were no consequences to my sin, but I know that is not possible. Help me to learn from my sins and to make amends for them. May I be reckoned as a stable, faithful child of Yours.
While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it.
Genesis 49:3-4
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
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!
There is a quick little mention of Reuben's sin in laying with his father's concubine. There is no mention of an immediate consequence, and Reuben may well have thought that the sin was forgotten. We too may wish that our sins would be forgotten, that there would be no reckoning for them. But there are consequences to our sin. This is why the 8th and 9th steps of the 12 step program are about making amends for past sins. Reuben never made amends, and probably thought his father had forgotten all about it. But at the end of his life Jacob does remember Reuben's sin, and deprives him of the customary blessing that would go to Reuben as the first born, because he defiled his father's bed. It is also interesting how he describes Reuben as "unstable". This is an apt description of the adulterous or unfaithful person: unstable, not dependable, versus a faithful person who is anchored, steady, reliable.
God, part of me wishes that there were no consequences to my sin, but I know that is not possible. Help me to learn from my sins and to make amends for them. May I be reckoned as a stable, faithful child of Yours.