Stability - Reuben

“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first in rank and first in power. But you are as unruly as a flood, and you will be first no longer.”

Genesis 49:3-4

A few years back, television-news viewers saw for themselves the destructive power of floodwater as Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Region. The city of New Orleans, in particular, lay under several feet of water for many days.

Hurricanes show us how water, which does so much good for humankind, can become a source of wild destruction and even death when it is out of control.

Reuben, the firstborn son of Jacob and Leah, did some very good things in life; he also made some horrible mistakes. As his father said, he was “as unruly as a flood.”

Reuben spoke up on behalf of his brother Joseph and probably saved the boy’s life when his other brothers leaned toward murdering him (see Genesis 37:21-22). He later pledged his own sons’ lives when Jacob at first refused to allow Reuben’s brother Benjamin to travel to Egypt (see Genesis 42:37).

Reuben committed a terrible sin against Jacob when he slept with one of his father’s concubines, an act that Jacob never forgot. As the firstborn son, Reuben should have received special privileges and promises, but Jacob pronounced, “You will be first no longer” (Genesis 49:4).

Reuben tragically illustrates a fate of unfulfilled potential and missed opportunity. The tribe that bore his name was of relatively little importance in God’s plan of redemption.

No one can say what would have happened to Reuben’s family had he conducted himself as a man of stability and not become “unruly as a flood.” We can take his story as both an encouragement and a warning about the importance of the stability that we and our families need.

Would you call yourself a stable man? Or are you “unruly as a flood”?

As a man of God, a husband, and a father, people look to you for stability. Work diligently at those things that will bring you to spiritual maturity.