D23-5: The Connection Between Reuben Sleeping With His Father’s Concubine And Deuteronomy 23:1

Hmm…so we get several bits of very important information from the above passage.

First, we’re told that Rachel died and Jacob was on the move and then pitched his tent near Migdol-Eder.

Second, we’re told that Reuben slept with Jacob’s concubine Bilah and Jacob heard about it.

Understand that one little phrase right there is enough to fuel a whole Hollywood film.

Think about it.

Packed into that one little verse, we’ve got sex, a power struggle, and betrayal…all the juicy ingredients necessary to create a thrilling motion picture.

Onward.

Next, we’re told that Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn son.

Let me briefly explain the situation

Remember that Jacob had two wives, Rachel and Leah.

Rachel was the favored wife while Leah held a diminished status in comparison.

Now Bilah was both Rachel’s handmaiden and Jacob’s concubine BUT…

…Reuben was Leah’s son.

And Reuben was well aware that Jacob loved Rachel more than he did Leah.

This obviously grated on Reuben because he was the son of the less favored wife.

Hence, Reuben’s big concern was…

…now that Rachel had passed away, what if Jacob decided to make Rachel’s handmaiden Bilah his most favored wife instead of his own flesh-and-blood mother Leah? 

Well, in order to prevent that from happening, Reuben decided to make a very calculated power play by sleeping with Bilah.

What was the consequence of this ballsy act?

Just read Genesis Chapter 49 verses 1-4.

Then Yaakov called for his sons and said,
“Gather yourselves together, and I will tell you
what will happen to you in the acharit-hayamim.
Assemble yourselves and listen, sons of Yaakov;
pay attention to Israel your father.
“Reuben, you are my first-born,
my strength, the first-fruits of my manhood.
Though superior in vigor and power
you are unstable as water,
so your superiority will end,
because you climbed into your father’s bed
and defiled it —
he climbed onto my concubine’s couch!

OUCH!

Jacob was on his deathbed and was pronouncing the blessings upon his sons.

This was like the reading of a will whereby the blessings of the will and the divvying up of property and power took place.

However, as we just read not everyone received “blessings”…

…like Reuben for instance.

Although Reuben was properly acknowledged as being the firstborn, Jacob made it clear that he was NOT going to be receiving the customary firstborn rights because he went up and had sex with his concubine Bilah.

By having sex with Bilah, Reuben was symbolically telling his father Jacob that he was taking over his leadership.

Understand, we ain’t talking about some impulsive or vague action here.

Nope, what Reuben did by sleeping with Bilah was really no different than if he had literally marched a whole battalion of soldiers against his father.

It was really an assassination attempt on Jacob.

Again, this was just how treachery and betrayal played itself out in the Middle East at the time.

Well, it seems like Jacob did not respond immediately to Reuben’s attempted coup d’etat so to speak.

He decided to let the time pass and then…

…in a very shrewd and calculated move on his part…

…just when the timing was perfect…

….he punished Reuben in the most humiliating way possible.

On his deathbed, when all of his sons were anticipating receiving great blessings, Jacob singled out Reuben and told him in front of all his brothers that because of what he had done with Bilah, he would NOT be receiving his birthright.

The blessing Reuben had expected to receive was actually a curse.

This must have been devastating to Reuben because it meant he would never become the leader of the quickly growing nation of Israel.

His sexual immorality not only caused him to lose his firstborn rights and blessings but his sin has been immortalized in Holy Scripture for the whole world to read about for all eternity.

I actually wrote about this before.

You can read that article by clicking here.

To conclude, don’t forget the reason I’m recounting this story about Reuben’s infidelity is to connect it to verse 1 of Deuteronomy 23 which says “A man is not to marry his father’s wife; he must not dishonor his father’s bed”.

Here in Deuteronomy, God simply took what was an unwritten law…

….that as demonstrated by the Reuben affair was already impressed upon the Israelites….

…and formerly codified it.