The Unstable Man

Please note: This transcript is provided as close to verbatim record of the sermon.

Text: Genesis 49:1–4
Theme: “Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.”

Reading of Scripture

Very good morning everyone. The passage for today is taken from Genesis chapter 49. I will begin reading the first four verses.

Genesis 49:1 reads, “And Jacob called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together that I may tell you that which shall be before you in the last days. Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.”

Verse three: “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.”

Verse four: “Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.”

Now the passage we have just read are part of the last words recorded in Scripture that was spoken by the patriarch Jacob. In Genesis chapter 47 and verse 9, he gives a summary of his own life—and it is a sad one—and I hope that these words will not have to be used on us at the end of our days. In Genesis 47:9, he says, “Few and evil have the days of my life been.”

Now, at the end of his time, he would speak these words to his eldest son. This morning, I hope to share with all of us a little bit more of what these words meant for Reuben as well as for his descendants. And I hope also that we can see what we can learn from these words—what warnings that we today can take heed of now.

1) The Context: Jacob’s Deathbed and His Final Words

So the context is this: Jacob was actually on his deathbed. He was about to die and he knew it. And this starts from Genesis chapter 47. At this point in time there were two things that were foremost on his mind.

1. His burial place

The first one was he was very concerned about where his body would be after he had died. And so because of that he called his favorite son Joseph to him, and Scripture records for us that he made Joseph swear—put his hand under his thigh—and take an oath, and say that when you depart from Egypt, remember: take my remains, bury it with my fathers. So that was the first thing on his mind: where his final resting place would be.

1. His final words to his children

The second thing on his mind were the final words that he wanted to say to his children and to his descendants. I want to say that these were his final blessings, but if we look at what he actually said, perhaps the word blessing is not too accurate here.

And then Jacob would actually start his last words, and he would speak not to the generation of his sons, but he would skip one generation first: he would address his grandchildren first. He would begin his last words by blessing Joseph’s two children.

2) Jacob Blessing Ephraim and Manasseh: A Strange, Mysterious Passage

Genesis 48 tells us that Jacob was growing weaker. Joseph heard about it, and so Joseph went to his father with his two children. And this entire event—how Jacob would actually bless his two grandchildren—is to me a very strange passage. It is shrouded in mystery.

Joseph made special arrangements. He arranged it such that his elder son would be on his left so that, as they faced Jacob, Jacob’s right hand would rest on the elder son’s head—Manasseh—and then he placed Ephraim on the other side. So the right hand symbolized, in a sense, the greater blessing.

But the strange thing that we read is that for all of Joseph’s arrangements, when they finally appeared before Jacob and as Jacob was about to bless his grandchildren, Jacob crisscrossed his hands such that his right hand rested on Ephraim the younger, and his left on the elder.

When we look at this picture of Jacob blessing the generations after him, I can’t help but think back about the situation when Jacob himself received the blessing from Isaac, his father. That is all the way back in Genesis 27. And to put it very frankly, we all know what happened: Jacob actually stole the blessing from his elder brother Esau. Genesis 27:23 records for us that Isaac discerned him not because his hands were hairy as his brother Esau’s hands—but the voice is that of Jacob. And it was under that kind of situation where Isaac was cheated—he was scammed—that he actually blessed Jacob. And so Jacob inherited the blessing of the firstborn.

A side note on the “blessing of the firstborn” in Genesis

So here we pause to consider as a side note that this was the way things worked in the book of Genesis. One would have thought there’s not much room for dispute: who is firstborn, who is second—it’s a fact. You can’t change it. But as we see the book of Genesis unfolding, it seems there’s a principle at work here: the blessing of the firstborn doesn’t come from birth order alone. Sometimes the birth order meant nothing as far as receiving that greater blessing is concerned.

The father or the elder person has to actually say that blessing. And once that blessing was given, it cannot be rescinded. You can’t cancel it. You can’t call it back. We read what happened to Esau afterwards—angry, sad—and he went to his father and said, is there something for me? But Genesis 27:33 says very clearly what Isaac said: Jacob shall be blessed. There was no turning back.

And let’s be clear: this is not the way things work now. There’s no such thing as blessing of the firstborn according to the New Testament. Fathers or mothers cannot bless or curse the child. But at the time of Genesis, that was God’s design. And I say very carefully: I think God had set it to be so. In His divine wisdom, He allowed human folly, weakness, sometimes even trickery—whatever you want to call it—to direct the events and the destinies of people and of tribes.

Back to Jacob: Was he confused—or guided?

So we come back to the situation of Jacob in front of his two grandchildren. The question we ask is this: the criss-crossing of the hands—was he really getting a bit senile now? Was he getting old, a little bit confused? Because similarly to his father Isaac, the Bible records for us that Jacob’s eyes were dimmed. He cannot see very clearly.

And perhaps there is a little bit more to make us wonder what was his state of mind, because in Genesis 48:5 he mentions the two grandchildren by name: “Ephraim and Manasseh… they are mine as Reuben and Simeon shall be mine.” But then in verse 8, when he saw the two boys in front of him, he turned to Joseph and said, “Who are these?” So it’s quite strange—and Joseph said, look, these are my sons whom God gave me in this place. It was almost as if Jacob had not seen these two grandchildren before—quite unlikely, I would think.

So Joseph might have some good reason to suspect that his father was getting mixed up here. Scripture records for us very clearly that when he saw Jacob crossing his hands, it displeased Joseph—he was upset—and he tried to correct his father. Verse 18: “Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.”

And then we come to the mystery. In verse 19, his father refused and said, “I know it, my son. I know it.” I think it was clear Jacob knew what he was doing. He knew he was being guided by a higher power. He was not in any mental confusion. He said to Joseph twice, “I know it.” And then he said the younger brother shall be greater than the elder.

So the question I have is: what exactly did Jacob know? What revelation could he possibly have received for him to say this? How can it be that two grandchildren who have done nothing to deserve promotion or demotion are already, as it were, judged by their grandfather as to who will be greater and who will be the less?

And what is the believer today to make of these two incidents of blessing—from Isaac to his children and then from Jacob to his grandchildren? We know both of them, their eyes were dimmed. The fundamental difference seems to be that for Isaac, he was tricked. But when we come to Jacob, he was clear in mind.

And we know that these words of blessing actually came true as Genesis unfolded. And to add to the difficulty of understanding these two accounts—to add to the strangeness of it all—thousands of years later the Holy Spirit moved the author of Hebrews to write about these two pivotal moments.

Hebrews 11:20 says, “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.” He blessed them by faith, not by accident. And then verse 21 says, “By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.”

I think maybe we can never really understand how the sovereign will of God works here. But we know that this was God’s design. He was working out His plan. He was showing man: He is God. He knows all things. He will ordain all things and bring them to pass as He desires.

And now He would speak through Israel, and He would give a message to each of His sons, the head of their tribes.

3) Reuben Before His Father: Privilege Stated, Then Condemnation

So it’s in this context that the twelve sons of Jacob were called before him. And in Genesis 49, we read these words to Reuben.

I think for Jacob, seeing his eldest son on his deathbed must have brought back memories of the joy he experienced when this son was born. If we look at the family line of Jacob, to put it very bluntly, they had this history of infertility.

We know Abraham and Sarah—Sarah couldn’t conceive. It got so bad that when they were given a message from God, it is recorded for us that Sarah laughed, saying, look, it can’t be right, I’m too old for this.

Then we come to Isaac. Same thing. He was 40 years old when he married Rebekah. And Genesis 25:21 records for us that Isaac had to entreat the Lord—he had to plead with the Lord—because Rebekah was barren. Finally she conceived: there were twins, and they struggled inside of her.

Then we come to Jacob. Jacob himself also had a bit of a problem, if I can use that word, because we read that he married Leah and the sister, and the sister was barren. That’s recorded for us. And the Lord opened the womb of Leah because the Lord saw that she was not well favored.

So when Leah finally conceived, the relief, the joy, the pride that must have filled the heart of Jacob—the blessing had finally come. And it was his mother Leah who named him Reuben: it means, “See, a son.” And in a real sense, Reuben was truly the beginning of Jacob’s strength, his generations. He was the excellency of dignity and of power. He was supposed to enjoy all the rights and privileges and the benefits of being the firstborn.

But as soon as this reminder was set by Jacob, as soon as this blessing was given, it turned sour very, very quickly. As he spoke of Reuben’s exalted position by birth, Jacob had to say—I think this is one of the most damning things that a father in the Old Testament had ever said to his own son—“Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel.”

And in front of everybody gathered there, Jacob, knowing that his time would be passed soon, had to clarify. He had to state out clearly the reason for this condemnation upon Reuben. Jacob had to remind everybody and bring everybody’s attention back to the incident in Genesis 35:21, where Reuben slept with—had sexual relations with—his father’s own concubine.

This incident, I believe, was known to everyone. There are hints there that people knew about it. But it was not spoken. It was left unspoken, left untouched for all these years. And finally, Jacob before he died had to remind everybody: remember—“Unstable as water… because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed.”

That was Reuben’s hallmark. That was his stain forever, that could not be washed away. A stain on himself, a stain on his family as well.

And we can see straight away how much Reuben really lost. The double portion was given to Joseph—his two sons received the double blessing. Reuben lost the position of leadership of his family to Judah as well. And I believe if we look later on at Scripture, we can even make an argument to say that he lost the right to be the priest of the family to Levi also.

Jacob cuts right to the heart of his son. He saw through his son, and he could say—recorded in Scripture very clearly—what was the cause of this unstableness.

4) What It Means to Be “Unstable as Water”

We need to think a little bit deeper about what this really means when we say someone is unstable as water.

First of all, it doesn’t mean that he’s like water—fluid, flexible. The word, the original language—if you look at it—what it really means is that it’s unstable like water. The better interpretation is he was actually unstable like boiling water. He was steaming. He was like water ready to tip over, ready to boil over.

And I wonder as I look back in my own life: do I know someone like that, or do we know people like that whom we can really look at and describe in our hearts—this person is as unstable as water?

And perhaps the question is: how can we recognize someone who is so unstable?

If you think such a man will be very easy to spot—full of evil, full of schemes—I beg to differ. Because if you look at Reuben’s life, I don’t think we can really tell just by his deeds, or at least by some of his deeds.

1. Reuben tried to save Joseph

Look at Reuben’s life. Look at what Reuben tried to do when Joseph was ambushed by all the other brothers. They wanted to kill their own brother. All the brothers were involved. But Reuben was different. Genesis 37:21 says Reuben heard of it and he came up with a plan—he wanted to deliver him out of their hands. He said to his brothers, “Let us not kill him… Shed no blood… cast him into this pit… and lay no hand upon him.”

And what was going through Reuben’s mind—he didn’t tell the rest, but the Bible records it for us—Genesis 37:22 says it was that he might rid him out of their hands and deliver him to his father again. Reuben actually wanted to save Joseph, to rescue him, and bring him safely back to Jacob.

And then you see later, when the brothers carried out their plan and sold Joseph away: look at the lamentation of Reuben. Verse 29: he returned to the pit and Joseph was not there; he tore his clothes; he said, “The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?”

Reuben felt guilty for more than twenty years, if my reckoning of the ages is correct. He kept it inside him. It finally unleashed years later when they went into Egypt to buy grain and stood before Joseph, who accused them of being spies. And Reuben was the one who said, “Spake I not unto you… saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.”

Actually, to me, among all the brothers, he seems the least blameworthy. Which of the heads of the tribes suggested selling Joseph away? It was Judah.

1. Reuben “manned up” concerning Benjamin

And that’s not all we can say about him. When the brothers returned to Jacob after Simeon was bound in Egypt, Reuben stepped up. He told his father, look, we have to bring Benjamin back; if we don’t bring him back, Simeon will be gone. And Reuben said, “Deliver him into my hand… if I bring him not to thee… then let me bear the blame.” He even said, “Slay my sons, if I bring him not to thee.”

Is this not a picture of a good man? Or one can even say, a man clearly better than his brethren? It seems to be the case.

So what exactly was the problem with Reuben then? Why does the Bible say he was unstable as water?

5) The Core Problem: Two Extremes That Don’t Reconcile

I think it is precisely this: Reuben was a man who seemed to have good intentions. He seemed to want to do the right thing. But the problem here was that there was another side to Reuben—or maybe not even another side. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say there was another Reuben altogether, whose actions not only fell short of the mark, but fundamentally could not be reconciled with each other.

Consider the other things that Reuben did.

He tried to keep Joseph safe, and they threw him into the pit. But you have to wonder: how then did the rest of the brothers manage to sell Joseph off? They saw the travelling merchants. They had time to lift Joseph out, negotiate a price. And the Bible records for us very clearly that Reuben came back to the pit and saw that Joseph was gone. So the question is: where was he? Having set his mind clearly to a mission, where did he disappear to? Where was he when it mattered the most?

Then on the other hand, we see a man determined to do right by his father—to rescue Joseph and deliver him back to Jacob. Reuben seemed able to operate above sibling jealousy. But when Joseph was finally sold, what did Reuben do? He kept it secret. He never once told his father what really happened. The account makes it very clear that Reuben was just as guilty as the rest in deceiving his father. And for all these years he kept the guilt in him, and he allowed it to eat away at him.

And then we come to that one sin that defined his life. In Genesis 30, Reuben appears to be a good son—at the time of wheat harvest he went out, found mandrakes, gave them to his mother. But five chapters later he would dishonor his father in committing what can only be called a truly evil and devilish deed.

We have just finished our studies in 1 Corinthians. You remember in 5:1, it is recorded for us that there is such a sin not so much as named among the Gentiles—that one should have his father’s wife.

So if we put all the acts of Reuben together and view them, one would probably think: how can these things be done by the same person? It’s two extremes.

And therein lies the crux—the essence—of unstableness: we will never know which Reuben will show up. We will never know which Reuben is standing in front of us giving these promises. His heart was boiling over. He was not in control. Or perhaps we can even say he could never be in control of his own actions.

So Jacob watching his son grow up, observing him day by day, by Genesis 49 he already knew: this is not the man to lead my family. This is not the leader of his brethren. There was something fundamentally unfit about his person and his character.

He can appear mature, steadfast, even sacrificial. He can tell his father, “Slay my sons if I don’t keep Benjamin safe.” But as he said those words, was this the real Reuben—or was it just a moment? And then without warning, perhaps the other Reuben appears again and takes over.

This is what it means to be unstable as water. You never really follow through, and you can never tell which Reuben is making the promises.

6) Warnings for Us Today

So what warnings can we draw from Reuben’s life today?

Warning 1: Guard your heart from inner boiling—passions and restlessness

I think the first lesson is that we need to guard our hearts not just against strong passions like anger, lust, jealousy, rage, but also things like restlessness. If we allow these things to simmer and boil inside of us, they can take over our person. If we allow them to live in us long enough, we don’t know what they will do to us and to our characters.

We are familiar with the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. Self-control is listed as the last aspect. But I think just because it is listed last, it doesn’t mean it is the least worthy. In fact, based on the story of Reuben, perhaps we can say this morning: self-control is that characteristic that holds everything together.

A Christian who wants to be fruitful must first of all be in control of his own spirit. Without this even-temperedness, without this consistency of action, what does it mean to the world where we can be loving one moment but full of hatred and anger the next?

And if I can say this now, perhaps this is a reminder to all of us—especially to the younger Christians among us—that in a world that constantly tells us: go with the flow, follow your heart, live for the moment—be careful. This is not the Spirit of God. While it is not the same degree as the unstableness of Reuben, I highly suspect it is the same kind.

Hebrews 6:9 says, “Beloved, we are persuaded of better things of you, and things that accompany salvation.” The reminder to all of us this morning is that our choices, having been redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ, cannot be made on impulse alone. You and I must be more than the sum of our emotions. Our actions have to be more than the function of our circumstances. Let’s be careful that our moods do not affect our destiny.

Warning 2: Reuben’s words were prophetic—instability can mark a people

And perhaps the last warning is that these words spoken by Jacob to Reuben were not just to him alone, but they were also prophetic of those who would bear his name—his tribe.

The story of Reuben’s tribe is also a sad one. Instability characterized the choices they made as a tribe. As they journeyed to Jordan before they crossed over, Reuben together with two other tribes—the half-tribe of Manasseh, and together with the tribe of Gad—told Moses, “Look at this land on this side of Jordan; it looks good; we’re going to stay here; we’re not going to cross over with the rest of our people.”

We know that decision made Moses angry. Moses reminded them: you are exactly like those people, like your ancestors—this is the same sin wrought at Kadesh-barnea. Moses said, you are discouraging the hearts of your brethren from crossing over.

So these three tribes had to make an agreement. They made a pact: we’re going to cross over, we’re going to fight, we’re going to be armed for conflict, but after we have subdued the land, we’re going to come back.

And then when they came back, they did a strange thing as well. Once they crossed the Jordan, they erected an altar on their side, and that almost caused a civil war because the other tribes said, “This is rebellion against God,” and they prepared themselves and went to war. The three tribes hastily explained: “No, no, look—if we are truly rebellious, may God require it of us.” The reason why we built this altar is because we are afraid that in time to come, our descendants will be ostracized by your children—that they will say to our children, “What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? God made this river a border between us.”

How strange it is for this decision to be made: willing to shed blood, to sacrifice, but not want to have any inheritance in the promised land; worried that their children will be cut off from the God of Israel, and yet insisting: we are going to stay on this side of the river.

It was this decision not to cross over—this double-mindedness—that defined the destiny of the tribe.

And the warning to us today as believers is this: just as it was in time past, it is possible for people to pass over the Red Sea but not cross into the Jordan. Today there are believers who, though having been saved, do not enter into the fullness of the blessing of the rest that the Lord gives.

May we see Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 9 and try to understand it afresh, and may these words speak to us about what God wants us to do.

Hebrews 4:9 says, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” And then verse 11: “Let us therefore labor to enter into that rest.”

The blessed invitation of the Lord is open to us all today.

Closing Invitation

And I close with these few verses in Matthew chapter 11—well known to all of us. The Lord calls us today to go unto Him. If we labor and are heavy laden, He says He will give us rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Let’s pray.

Prayer

Now Father, we know that all Scripture is recorded for our learning, and also that we might draw warnings and lessons from them. We thank Thee for Thy Word, and we ask that Thy Spirit may help us and take Thy Word and teach us how to apply it in our lives.

We pray most humbly, our Father: save us as individuals, as family, as an assembly, from double-mindedness. Save us from instability. Help us to be steadfast and focused on our Lord. He Himself has said that any man who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not worthy of the kingdom. And we ask, our Father, You help us that we may labor to enter into that rest.

Also bless the events and the program that has been planned for the day before us, and our Father for the refreshments that have been prepared. We thank Thee also. Be with us as Thou hast been with us for the week past. Keep us in the week ahead. Bring us closer, our Father, to that day when our Lord shall return. And remember the words of the hymn: the clouds will be rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall sound, the Lord shall descend. And we ask, O Father, in that day we truly say, even so it is well with our soul.

Our Father, we pray and ask all this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.