Trial By Fire

One of the first things I do when I begin writing a book is start making "character studies." This usually looks like weeks of doodling particular character descriptions on scrap documents. Then I'll open up a process that goes something like this: How would [Character Name] react in [Pressing Situation]? I proceed to write [Pressing Situation], insert [Character Name] into [Pressing Situation], and the results of the experiment help to shape who my character is. 

Then that character grows and develops on the pages of my novel until, by the last page, he or she is well-rounded and fully developed, and reads like a real person that you might meet at your local grocery store on any given day.

Genesis 49 narrates twelve character studies for the price of one chapter, and I found it fascinating, as it gives some personality to each of Jacob's sons, who until now, have mostly been mere names on a page. Only a few of them are given any extended screen time in previous chapters. 

So here, after four chapters of threatening to die... Jacob finally does it. Before he pulls his feet up into his bed, lies down, and draws his final breath, he speaks a prophetic word, a "blessing" over each of his sons -- in the tradition of his father Isaac, who spoke his inheritance blessing over Jacob that gave him the rights of the firstborn.

Let's start, as Jacob did, with the oldest.

Reuben is the oldest son of Jacob, the firstborn of Leah, who is supposed to inherit all primogeniture rights. However, Reuben lets his emotions take precedence over his judgment, and he gets his hands dirty. He commits the rather unpardonable offense of sleeping with his father's concubine, Bilhah (Rachel's maidservant). 

So here, Jacob calls him out on it. He begins with promising words: "You are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power." 

But then... "Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch and defiled it."

I have to picture all of Jacob's sons crowded into his sleeping quarters, surrounding his bed, listening to the final words of their father. What is Reuben thinking at this moment? Is he angry? Does resentment bloom in his chest? Does guilt worm its way in? How does this affect later actions? Are they reactionary? We've already seen how he's lost the respect of his brothers; they don't listen to him, as we read in the story of Joseph and the cistern. Though Reuben convinces his brothers to put Joseph in the cistern rather than kill him, his brothers still sell Joseph into slavery before Reuben can return to rescue him.

Prophetic words are fulfilled: Reuben's descendants become known for their cowardly indecision (Judges 5:15-16). Leaving their brother tribes to fight their enemies with Deborah and Barak, they huddle by the campfires and "search their hearts." 

Next, we've got a double whammy: Simeon and Levi together. These are the next two in birth order, also Leah's sons, and neither one of them get any compliments from Jacob. Apparently they are cruel and sadistic men, who enjoy inflicting pain. Ramsay Bolton comes to mind (for readers of The Song of Ice and Fire). Simeon and Levi are best known for their deceit at Shechem where they take revenge on the men of the city by convincing them all to get circumcised, using their sister as the bait, and then slaughtering every last one of them when they were still recovering from their ordeal. Then, to add insult to obliteration, they loot the city and carry off its women and children. 

Jacob himself holds no trust in them. "Let me not enter their council; let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce; and their fury, so cruel!" He goes on with this dire prophecy: "I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel."

Joshua 19:1, 9 shows how Judah's descendants inherit more than they need, so Simeon's descendants absorb the leftovers. Levi's descendants are dispersed throughout the land, ending up living in forty-eight towns and surrounding pasturelands (Joshua 14:4).

Judah is next in line for his blessing. I've spent some time in recent blogs on Judah's story, and it comes to a satisfying conclusion of the man and a glorious beginning of the legacy here in Jacob's blessing. "Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you." 

As exemplified in earlier chapters, Judah has become the true leader of his brothers, since Reuben lives in disgrace, and Simeon and Levi never step up. Here, Jacob calls him a "lion's cub," which carries the connotation of kingliness (king of beasts), and he follows that up with: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to Whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is His." 

Though King David comes through Judah's line, a greater King still is born in his legacy: Jesus, Son of God, Messiah, Lamb Who was slain. "The scepter will not depart from Judah." I love this proclamation of the King of all kings!

Then come some brief mentions of most of the rest of Jacob's sons:

Zebulun, Leah's son, becomes a sea-loving people, since they "live by the seashore and become a haven for ships."

Issachar, Leah's last remaining son, develops a strong case of Stockholm Syndrome. Apparently, his descendants love their comfort zone. "When he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor."

Dan, one of Bilhah's two sons, is a "heel-biter." The treachery of his descendants is described in Judges 18:27.

Here, Jacob pauses: "I look for your deliverance, Lord!" Maybe he's gasping for breath, maybe his body is shutting down. Maybe his sons aren't super happy about what their dad is saying, and Jacob can feel their anger or hear their whispered mutterings. Either way: Lord, help!

Next, Gad, one of Zilpah's two sons, is another "heel-biter." I mean... just look at how generational characteristics are at play here: Jacob-the-deceiver passes down that inheritance to many of his own sons. The ones who rise above it are the ones who go through the fire (i.e. Joseph). Gad's descendants are located east of the Jordan River, and are vulnerable to attacks from the Moabites on their southern borders. According to these words of Jacob, they likely use deceitful methods and backbiting to return their attacks.

Asher, Zilpah's other son, is an excellent chef: "His food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king." I've just recalled that I haven't yet had breakfast, and I'm hungry.

Naphtali, Bilhah's second son, must be one of those independent spirits that I love to meet. His descendants are rather isolated in the hill country north of the Sea of Galilee, so it's possible that they are square pegs to the round hole into which all the other tribes seem to fit. "Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns." I wish I could have met some of the people of this tribe.

I'm going to do something here. I'm going to push Benjamin in front of Joseph just for a second, mostly because I want to focus on Joseph a little more heavily. So, even though Benjamin is the youngest, here he is, the second son of Rachel who was Jacob's most-loved wife. Benjamin is "a ravenous wolf," plundering and preying. Savagery characterizes his descendants, examples of which can be found in Judges 19-21.

All right, now for Joseph, first, and for a long time, only son of Rachel. We've spent a bit of time on his story, which is fitting, because out of all of Jacob's sons, he's the one who stands out, like Jacob says, "as a prince among his brothers." This is both tangible and metaphorical: Joseph remains as second-in-command of Egypt throughout his entire life, truly a princely position, and in regard to character and integrity, the only one among Jacob's sons to whom Jacob attributes the word and work of God.

Note this: Joseph is blessed "because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, because of your father's God, who helps you, because of the Almighty, who blesses you."

Jacob does not give such attribution to any of his other sons: only to Joseph. Joseph walks through a trial by fire, and he comes out on the other side, refined, pure, and "a prince among his brothers." 

His character stands out as an example for believers all the way from ancient times to today. He lays a foundation of trust in God, even in the most adverse of circumstances, and He praises God through the pain, the blindness, the not-knowing. His integrity is a rock-solid example for all of us.

Joseph's legacy could be cut out and pasted onto the page of my Bible where 1 Corinthians 3:13 currently reads: "His work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work." 

We know that, according to Hebrews 12:29: "Our God is a Consuming Fire." How are we living our lives? How will that Consuming Fire refine our own legacies we leave behind us?

Are we backbiters and deceivers and lovers of violence and cruelty? Or are we living through the flames of trouble, looking to God and God alone for our source of strength?

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

It's a choice, you know. You can face your fiery trial with fear and indecision... or with integrity and trust. Which path will you walk?