Bible Study on Matthew 19, verses 23 to 30, the eye of a needle

 

Matthew 19:23 ¶  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. 25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? 26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. 27  Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? 28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. 30  But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

 

Please note Jesus’ comment to the young, rich man in the previous passage. Jesus says here to His disciples that it is easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. This has often been distorted in evangelical circles to refer to some kind of door in the gate of a city that a camel would have to get down on its knees to pass through, being unburdened of its load. Unfortunately, there is no proof that the first century Jews called any door a, “needle’s eye,” and this fantasy is based on a 15^th century, or maybe 9^th century, myth about this door.

 

The fact is that a camel cannot pass through the eye of a needle. It is an absurdity. Jesus makes a very important point here. While that is impossible, nothing is impossible with God. The lesson taught here is that wealthy people tend to rely on their wealth and not God. They are not likely to give up their comforts to follow Christ and will typically make excuses that they can have their wealth and be good Christians at the same time. What Jesus is saying here is that nothing can be more important than God or you cannot enter into God’s kingdom, which makes it of a much smaller population than we would normally think.

 

It is Peter then that makes the statement that unlike the young man in the last passage, a wealthy person, he and the disciples have left all to follow Jesus. Jesus’ final statement is that these disciples who have forsaken all they had in the world will receive abundant reward and have everlasting life to enjoy. This can only be referring to the people who were listening to Christ speak rather than to us as to apply this to the church would be a contradiction to the standards for our treatment of our families that the Holy Spirit has given us.

 

1Timothy 5:8  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

 

Certainly, then, this is not a warrant for a new Christian to abandon his or her responsibilities to their family and justify it by their new-found faith. Jesus is talking to a select few disciples who are to follow Him to see His death on the Cross and to witness the aftermath of His Resurrection from the Empty Tomb and even to suffer martyrdom themselves.

 

He tells Peter and the other Apostles that they will be judging the twelve tribes of Israel which gives us a hint as to who some of the following people are.

 

Revelation 4:4  And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

 

What does it mean to inherit everlasting life? We are granted this inheritance by virtue of God making a gift of it to us as we trust and believe in the righteousness of Christ, His deity, and in His resurrection.

 

Those who are first in this world will typically be last in the world to come. The beggar who belongs to Christ is far better off than the rich man who has rejected Him.

Bible Study on Isaiah 1, verses 16 to 20, let us reason together

 

Isaiah 1:16 ¶  Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19  If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20  But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Here is a metaphor for taking a bath in cleansing oneself from wickedness, not a reference to baptism as a saving act in itself. He admonishes the Jews of Judah to stop doing evil in front of God, to stop doing the evil they have been doing, to cease from it.

Isaiah then goes on speaking for God as he tells them in verse 17 to perform the acts of true religion as defined later by James.

James 1:27  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Connect these verses to Micah.

Micah 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

And we are called to this as Christians.

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Verse 18 is a remarkable verse that stands out in our minds even if we haven’t memorized it. Notice the contrast is between the blood scarlet of our sins and the whiteness of snow representing purity. Racists on the right and race communists on the Left have sometimes tried to make this about black and white but it has nothing to do with their political ideology but all mankind’s rebellion against a holy God. Please read Psalm 51

Psalm 51:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.» Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. 4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. 5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

    7 ¶  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 9  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 13  Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

 

    14 ¶  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15  O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 16  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18  Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 19  Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Clearly the context in verse 19 suggests obedience to God’s word and that is how the Jews of Christ’s time would understand it as a Targum actually adds, “to my word.” Isaiah, speaking for God, gives a blessing and a warning. Obey and enjoy the fruits of the promised land or disobey and die.

Brief comments on 2Kings 7

 

2Kings 7:1 ¶  Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2  Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

Elisha announces that the end of the siege and famine is imminent and an advisor to the king expresses disbelief. However, this word is from God. Elisha’s rebuke is that this advisor will not eat of the bounty that is coming.

2Kings 7:3 ¶  And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die? 4  If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die. 5  And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there. 6  For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7  Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 8  And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it. 9  Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household. 10  So they came and called unto the porter of the city: and they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. 11  And he called the porters; and they told it to the king’s house within.

Leviticus 13:46  All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.

These lepers, nobodies, the lowest of the low, are courageous out of desperation and intend to throw themselves on the mercy of the Syrians. It is unlikely that they would be shown any. But when they witness that the Syrians have fled due to a psy-op perpetuated by God which they, of course, don’t know about, they realize that they must tell the good news to the inhabitants of the city. A porter is a gatekeeper or doorkeeper.

2Kings 7:12 ¶  And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city. 13  And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see. 14  They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see. 15  And they went after them unto Jordan: and, lo, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. And the messengers returned, and told the king. 16  And the people went out, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. 17  And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. 18  And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: 19  And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 20  And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.

The king suspects a trap, an ambush. But the miracle is true and the Syrians are gone. There is an abundant wealth of food and goods to end the famine that has plagued them. Finally, the scoffer who doubted what Elisha said died and did not enjoy the bounty as Elisha prophesied in verse 2.

Bible Study on Matthew 19, verses 13 to 22, what good thing shall I do

 

Matthew 19:13 ¶  Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14  But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15  And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.

 

Here it is worthwhile to go back to chapter 18 and read the chapter and my comments. I suggest again that one possibility for this emphasis on children is that we will all be children in Heaven. It makes a lot of sense as in not being given in marriage and some of the statements in Matthew in particular.

 

Notice how suffer is used by contrasting it with forbid them not? It means to allow, to permit.

 

Matthew 19:16 ¶  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19  Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22  But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

 

Verse 16 underscores that there was an understanding that eternal life, life after death, was a possibility but had to be received somehow. Clearly not a Sadducee who did not believe in eternal life he used the phrase Good Master which John Gill said was much used when speaking to teachers, called Rabbis.

 

Jesus quotes back at him from what I think may be 1Samuel 2:2;

 

1Samuel 2:2  There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

 

He then tells the person that he should keep the commandments if he wants to inherit eternal life.

 

Deuteronomy 6:25  And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

 

This teaches us that while eternal life might not be specifically promised in the Old Testament, under the Law given to Moses, it was implied as understood by the Jews. I’ve already gone over how frequently the resurrection from the dead was mentioned in the Old Testament.

 

See this verse on a physical resurrection from Job, written between 1500 to 2000BC.

 

Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

 

And a thousand years later see this verse on a physical resurrection from Isaiah.

 

Isaiah 26:19  Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

 

And then, a few hundred years later, as Daniel writes under the reigns of the last Babylonian emperors and the first Persian.

 

Daniel 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

 

Jesus then restates some commandments, teaching us that the following is a reference to murder of an innocent person not killing in self-defense.

 

Exodus 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.

 

The young man swears that he has been fastidious in observing those principles. However, Jesus tells him to go one step further and to give all that he has to the poor. This was specifically said because the young man had great wealth. This isn’t saying that every Christian must make himself impoverished and be a beggar to follow Christ. This is a statement about how the wealthy love their wealth and will do almost anything to keep from parting with it. Follow along as Jesus continues and explains to His disciples what was just stated to the wealthy man.

Bible Study on Genesis 49, verses 5 to 7, Jacob addresses Simeon and Levi

 

Genesis 49:5 ¶  Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 6  O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. 7  Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Simeon and Levi are the ones who, through deception, slaughtered the inhabitants of Hamor the Hivite’s city in revenge for Hamor’s son, Shechem’s rape of Dinah. Jacob lamented their actions.

Genesis 34:25 ¶  And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males…30  And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

Again, the prophecy for these tribes is not a positive thing based on the character of their originators. As all mankind suffers from their inheritance of a rebellious, sin nature against God from our first ancestor, Adam, so shall these tribes suffer with the rebelliousness of their progenitors.

Here we also have an example of how this Bible defines words. Anger’s quality is fierce and wrath’s quality is cruel. Our anger burns hot and our wrath is malicious and hateful. Wrath is thought of typically as vehement anger. But, still they have a like quality in their use making them somewhat synonymous from a Biblical point of view.

Psalm 37:8  Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

Proverbs 15:1  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Proverbs 27:4  Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

Paul warns Christians;

Ephesians 4:31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Colossians 3:8  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

Anger should not be allowed to turn into bitter wrath for a Christian. Don’t dwell on it.

Ephesians 4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

Jacob speaks to his soul in verse 6 warning himself not to take counsel with these two as their way is violent and vengeful. There are similar warnings in different contexts in both Old and New Testaments.

Amos 3:3  Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

2Corinthian 6:14  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Proverbs 16:29  A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good.

Whatever you think or your culture demands regarding vengeance the vengeance of Simeon and Levi, more concerned with their own honor than an assault on their sister’s person, was not approved, even though allowed, as most despicable and ungodly acts of mankind are.

Here we have the picture developing not only of the Hebrews but of a person in general. In these two prophecies for these three men we see someone who is unstable in his ways, lacking in moral control of his sexual impulses, violent and vengeful, murderous even. It is not a pretty picture of humanity that is being presented, much less of the Hebrews. And it continues.

Bible Study on Matthew 19, verses 1 to 12, to put away his wife

 

Matthew 19:1 ¶  And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; 2  And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there.

 

Matthew 19:3 ¶  The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 4  And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7  They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 9  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. 10  His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. 11  But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. 12  For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

 

Here is an important passage on divorce, a point of contention in most conservative Baptist churches today. The Jew under the Law could put his wife away. There was a school of the Pharisees, according to some sources, that believed you could divorce your wife for any reason as the Romans did. Please note this passage in the Old Testament under the Law.

 

Deuteronomy 24:1 ¶  When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. 2  And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife. 3  And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; 4  Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

 

Once released from the marriage bond from a man by his own actions she could never be married to him again. When she was divorced she was not married to her original husband nor ever could be.

 

Jesus and Paul gave specific foundations for divorce. Fornication, which includes adultery with a person who is not your spouse which would include your child, of course, in the cases of incest, is grounds for divorce. Paul included abandonment due to one of the spouses becoming a Christian and one rejecting them because of it although he forbade leaving your spouse because they stayed a heathen when you were converted. Paul’s admonition must be taken in the context of Jesus’ reason of fornication.

 

1Corinthians 7:10 ¶  And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: 11  But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. 12  But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him

not put her away. 13  And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. 14  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. 15  But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. 16  For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?

 

There is another thing of note here that has application to our modern world. God made mankind male and female. There are only two genders. Yes, there is a very rare anomaly called hermaphroditism where a baby displays what look like both male and female genitalia and there are people who insist that they were born the wrong sex biologically. God made mankind two genders, male and female, two sexes, male and female. This is the fact whether you or society chooses to acknowledge a person self-identifying as one of over a dozen different sexual identities as many modern people insist there are.

 

In addition, a eunuch is someone who cannot reproduce, referring to a male, although they can have sex, I’ve read. Some are born that way, some have been made that way by men who use them for everything from Medieval Roman Catholic choirs to household servants who can be trusted around the master’s harem ensuring any offspring are the master’s, and some choose to not have children for their service to God. The context of this passage is about not getting married, not having a wife. This does not justify self-mutilation as that is clearly understood as a sin. Commentators such as John Gill affirm this is so as this is not necessarily a reference to the sin of self-mutilation but of a commitment to chastity in the service of the Lord. See the 144,000 Jewish virgins in Revelation.

 

I think Jesus basically tells His disciples here that if you can’t stay faithful to your spouse and remain married it is best that you do not get married at all.

Bible Study on Genesis 49, verses 1 to 4, Jacob prophesies about Reuben

 

Genesis 49:1 ¶  And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. 2  Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father. 3  Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 4  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.

Jacob calls his sons together to give them his prophecies concerning their future and, in doing so, the future of their offspring. This is of tremendous importance in what is to come. We must look not only to the individual’s future, but to the future of their tribes in history, and to the prophecy in Revelation regarding the conditions under which they survive until the end of human history even if they do not know themselves as political entities. DNA studies like those on 23andme.com and other websites have shown us that our actual ancestry may be surprising with details previously unknown to us. The Bible, unlike most other books of the world’s important religions, is a book filled with prophecy of the future, prophetic warnings and declarations.

Reuben was Leah’s hope that Jacob would love her when she knew that it was Rachel to whom he was emotionally attached.

Genesis 29:32  And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.

But Reuben had sex with Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, her personal servant.

Genesis 29:29  And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

Whom Rachel had given to Jacob as another wife.

Genesis 30:4  And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

Genesis 35:22  And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

A concubine was a sort of secondary, lesser wife in this culture. This was not ordained by God but part of what He permits sinful man to do which condemns sinful man and reveals his weakness. God’s plan is for one man and one woman to unite in marriage for life.

Genesis 2:24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Matthew 19:3 ¶  The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 4  And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

            So, Reuben committed a great wrong by doing what he did. In the age of the church Paul criticizes a congregation for permitting such a thing before asking that the man be forgiven as he was deeply repentant and anguished over his sin.

1Corinthians 5:1  It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6  Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

    7 ¶  Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

    9 ¶  I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10  Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11  But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12  For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13  But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Then;

2Corinthians 2:5 ¶  But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. 6  Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. 7  So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 8  Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. 9  For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 10  To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Would it were that Christian congregations had a zeal against sin in their midst. Today we tend to justify or ignore instances of people committing fornication and other sins. There is little shame regarding sin against God in today’s church.

Reuben is judged unstable and weak and will not be the tribe through which Christ will come to offer redemption to mankind.