Knowing
Christ
Bible
Study of
Genesis
Study
the Bible
Online
Articles
for the Family
Christian
Commentary By Dr. Byrns
Coleman
The Bible study lesson for
today is about how the sin of Reuben came back to
haunt him after many years had passed. He didn't
get away with it just as we don't.
|
Genesis 35:16-29
Sin of
Reuben
-
35:16
Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there
was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel
began to give birth and she suffered severe
labor.
-
- 17 When she was in
severe labor the midwife said to her, "Do not
fear, for now you have another son."
-
- 18 It came about as
her soul was departing (for she died), that she
named him Ben-oni; but his father called him
Benjamin.
-
- 19 So Rachel died and
was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is,
Bethlehem).
-
- 20 Jacob set up a
pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of
Rachel's grave to this day.
-
- 21 Then Israel
journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the
tower of Eder.
-
- 22 It came about while
Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben
went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine,
and Israel heard of it.
-
- The Sons of Israel
-
- Now there were twelve
sons of Jacob--
-
- 23 the sons of Leah:
Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, then Simeon and Levi
and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun;
-
- 24 the sons of Rachel:
Joseph and Benjamin;
-
- 25 and the sons of
Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali;
-
- 26 and the sons of
Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad and Asher. These are
the sons of Jacob who were born to him in
Paddan-aram.
-
- 27 Jacob came to his
father Isaac at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is,
Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.
-
- 28 Now the days of
Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.
-
- 29 Isaac breathed his
last and died and was gathered to his people, an
old man of ripe age; and his sons Esau and Jacob
buried him.
-
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to
change the way that we think, and the way that
we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
The Things We
Do
As we see in these verses,
Reuben did not see the consequence of his sin and,
as far as he was concerned, the deed was done and
forgotten. But, when Jacob (Israel) called all his
sons to him on his death bed, the sin once again
raised its ugly head.
A bit of history - As the
first born son, Reuben stood to inherit a double
portion of the inheritance and he was to be a
leader among his people.
Sin Comes
Back
The sin of sleeping with
Jacob's concubine, Bilhah came back to haunt Reuben
when Jacob gave his double portion to someone else
because of that one mistake.
The same is true of our sins.
When we do something that displeases God, there is
a good chance it also affects other people - maybe
not today or even next year, but down the
road.
A Lesson
Learned?
I pray that we can learn a
lesson from Reuben's behavior to use in our lives.
Now, this doesn't mean that we will never sin (we
always will) but maybe we can take a moment of
pause to think about the consequences of our
actions before we decide to do things that
might harm others. Remember,
when we decide to willfully sin, we choose to hurt
other people; and God.
Love in Christ
- Bob
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
go
here and take the
first
steps to salvation.
Verses about the sin of Reuben by New
American Standard Bible - Study lesson from
Life Application Study Bible: New International
Version
More Study from the Old
Testament
Genesis
32:22-32
- Jacob
Wrestles with
God
Genesis
33:1-18 - Jacob and Esau
Meet
Genesis
34:1-31 - Jacob's Sons - Dinah and the
Shechemites
Genesis
35:1-15 - Jacob is Named Israel - Return to
Bethel
|