Jacob’s Three Firstborns

 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s) (1Chronicles 5: 1, 2)

Jacob had twelve sons by his two wives and two concubines. We know that he actually paid bride price for only one of them, Rachel. The others were consequential provisions from the love of his life. Leah was the reward of his sly father in law who switched brides at the last moment. The other two came about through the wrestling of the two sisters for dominance especially as it concerned Rachel’s barrenness.

Reuben was the actual firstborn, as Jacob said, ‘the beginning of his strength’ (Genesis 49: 3). But we know he abused that right and therefore forfeited it for the pleasure of a moment. That position was not negotiable and could never be taken away. Only you can forfeit the right to your position as Reuben did. Another person who did the same was Esau.

Joseph was the son of Jacob’s choice, his favorite. He was the son Jacob worked fourteen years for. He was the son his father favored above all the others. Were it not for Laban’s trickery, he would have been the first born anyway. But we also see another side to his person. From his dreams and demeanor we see him as the one who connected to the spiritual heritage of his father. We also know that his brothers did not feel unfairly treated at the time he was given the birthright (double portion) that rightly belonged to the firstborn because they owed him their lives. Joseph was therefore the continuation of Abraham’s spiritual heritage. He was connected to the covenants in a way no other son was. Remember he is the one who asked for an oath from the Israelites to ensure that his remains are buried at ‘home’ yet he knew it was centuries away.

But it does not stop there. Judah was not the second born so that he profits from Reuben’s folly. He was not even the third born. He is in the second half of Leah’s sons. We therefore would not expect him anywhere near leadership.

Yet what do we find? Judah was able to break through all limitations to emerge on top. Why? One trait I find in him is the fact that he took responsibility for his actions. He was not only crafty and strategic in his thinking; he was not scared to take full responsibility for his actions. We see that when he is dealing with Tamar (Genesis 38). We also see the same when he is dealing with Joseph in Egypt.

You see the difference between him and Reuben when they are getting rid of Joseph. Reuben is looking at stealing Joseph back to his father probably to try to undo the damage he had done to his name, at the expense of his brothers. Judah thinks for the whole family as he thinks of dealing with this upstart, and he takes the day.

Jacob refuses to listen to Reuben, yet yields to Judah’s plea. You see the same even when in Joseph’s presence.

Judah takes the leadership spirit from his father, and not by looking for favors. He accessed it by taking responsibility especially when it concerned others. We see him speaking for his family when in a tight situation. We see him taking responsibility for the errors of others. We see him carrying the weight of his brothers when he was nowhere near a first born. No wonder Jacob deposited the scepter in him.

Many will say that his name also contributed to that and I will not dispute with that. Yet we do not see much of the name praise unless with David. In fact even when David organized the temple worship we do not see any Jew (Judah’s seed) there. In fact apart from David, all the singers were Levites.

What we clearly see is that Judah stood out in terms of responsibility, which is what good leadership is all about.

What do we learn from this? To benefit from Josephs blessing, we must seek to establish a spiritual connection. We must grow our spiritual sensibility to elevate our spiritual expectation. This will give us spiritual elevation to access a spiritual inheritance.

But we must not appear to be too heavenly minded to be of any worldly value. Of course we cannot be heavenly minded and be irrelevant in this earth. But suffice it when I say that spirituality is of immense profit if it is yoked to Judah’s sense of responsibility. We must make our spiritual potency count here and now.

Joseph, though he was also a leader, had some entitlement and favor from his father. He therefore did not get submission from his brothers willingly. They may have thought they were duty bound to submit. Judah however made it easy for his brothers to submit as he neither fought nor demanded for it. He just took responsibility in such a way that the brothers and father accepted it.

What kind of leader are you. Are you a Reuben who takes advantage of his position? Are you a Joseph who is so connected to the spiritual that he can see really far? Or are you like Judah whose leadership seems to flow as you provide solutions without fearing to muddy your boots in the process?

May we seek clarification from God as to what kind of leaders we are and how we can be the kind of leaders He has purposed for