My third and final series for 2025 is called, “The Twelve Tribes Of Israel.” I’ll be studying and writing this series as we go through the year and hopefully bringing some insight into the fascinating people, lives, and stories behind these tribes.
The twelve tribes of Israel were named after the sons and grandsons of Jacob, who also became known as Israel. Jacob had twelve sons with his wives Leah and Rachel and also his concubines Bilhah and Zilpah.
I plan to give some key facts surrounding the birth of each son, followed by a look at the prophetic blessing given to them individually as Jacob neared the end of his life. There are so many interesting lessons and truths for life that we can observe through looking at the tribes of Israel, and so I pray this series is insightful and a blessing to you as we venture through 2025!
The Tribe Of Reuben
Key Facts
Order of birth- First.
Mother- Leah.
Meaning of name- Behold, a son.
Character details- Unstable, traded his double inheritance blessing as firstborn by sleeping with Bilhah.
Tribe details- No kings, prophets or judges would come from this tribe.
Relevant Scriptures
Genesis 29:31-32
“When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.””
Genesis 49:1-4
“And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
“Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it— He went up to my couch.””
ReubenThe twelve tribes of Israel were named after the sons and grandsons of Jacob, who also became known as Israel. Jacob had twelve sons with his wives Leah and Rachel and also his concubines Bilhah and Zilpah.
I plan to give some key facts surrounding the birth of each son, followed by a look at the prophetic blessing given to them individually as Jacob neared the end of his life. There are so many interesting lessons and truths for life that we can observe through looking at the tribes of Israel, and so I pray this series is insightful and a blessing to you as we venture through 2025!
The Tribe Of Reuben
Key Facts
Order of birth- First.
Mother- Leah.
Meaning of name- Behold, a son.
Character details- Unstable, traded his double inheritance blessing as firstborn by sleeping with Bilhah.
Tribe details- No kings, prophets or judges would come from this tribe.
Relevant Scriptures
Genesis 29:31-32
“When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.””
Genesis 49:1-4
“And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
“Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it— He went up to my couch.””
Twelve tribes of Israel from twelve different brothers,
All the sons of Jacob, but from four different mothers.
Leah bore him six of them while two came from Zilpah.
Rachel bore another two, and two more came from Bilhah.
Reuben was the firstborn, his name “Behold, a son”
Was Leah’s declaration and a sign to everyone.
She longed to feel her husband’s love and garner his affection.
She hoped this son would bring them joy and deepen their connection.
Yes, Reuben was the oldest, the sign of Jacob’s strength.
And yet his immorality would go to any length.
The rights of the inheritance were Reuben’s, by design.
But Reuben slept with Bilhah, his father’s concubine.
His character unstable and weakened by this vice,
He forfeited his birthright and paid a hefty price.
Reuben’s tribe would not excel, the prophecy forecast.
This son of Jacob demonstrates the first can end up last.
No kings or prophets came from him; this teaches us afresh—
That we should sow accordingly, not entertain the flesh.
Our attitudes and actions will determine what’s in store.
So may we sow and reap for God! His harvest brings much more!
Matthew 19:30
“But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Galatians 6:7-8
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
Insight to Reuben
Mother-Leah
Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob and his mother was Jacob’s first wife, Leah, who was the older sister of Rachel. Leah is quite often known as “the unloved wife” but the fact that she bore Jacob six sons and a daughter shows he was quite prepared to sleep with her in spite of the fact that they didn’t have a particularly happy marriage.
The whole premise of their marriage had been based on deception, brought about by Leah’s father, Laban. Jacob hadn’t yet had his life-changing experience of wrestling with God, which we can read about in Genesis 32:24-32, and so he was a man like any other at this point. He was still unregenerate and no doubt felt angry at falling afoul to his father-in-law’s deceit.
Scripture also shows us that multiple wives was never part of God’s plan for marriage and the dysfunctional nature and warfare within Jacob’s family highlight this truth all the more.
God’s plan for marriage was expressed in Genesis 2:24. It reads,
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
God’s decree was that one man would be joined to one woman in a one-flesh relationship. We read later on in Leviticus 18:18 that the marrying of sisters became a forbidden thing to do. The verse reads,
“Nor shall you take a woman as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.”
Looking at the bitter competition between Leah and Rachel and seeing how evident it is that this is a direct result of having the same husband, we can see why this law came in to place.
The naming of each of Jacob’s sons is a study in itself and every name means something significant, reflecting how Leah or Rachel were feeling at the time of their son’s birth. Many times, Leah thought her ability to give her husband sons would earn her his love, only to be met with further sorrow when Jacob didn’t grow in his affections for her.
The culture of the day brought with it a pressure to provide sons, and women were valued for their ability to produce male offspring. Sons carried and continued on the family name as well as being the provider and patriarch of the family.
Considering that Leah lived in a loveless marriage, we can imagine her hope and joy at the news that she had given birth to a son. Her words in Genesis 29:32 are very revealing and the verse reads,
“So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.””
By naming her son “Reuben,” we see that Leah is literally calling out for her husband’s attention, saying, “Behold, a son” or, “Look, a son!” This was a desperate plea for affection and favour in the eyes of Jacob who only seemed to have eyes for her sister, Rachel.
Though Leah had a lot of heartache to speak of in her life, what we can see from studying the Scriptures is that she allowed the Lord to meet her need and could praise God through her circumstances. It certainly seems clear that through these difficulties, Leah grew to know the Lord better, and the trials she faced in life served to drive her closer to His Throne.
Jacob’s Prophetic Blessing
Jacob, who was now named Israel, was 147 years old when he called upon his sons and proclaimed,
“Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days.”
This is the first mention of “last days” within the Bible and what Israel goes on to express has a supernatural element to it. The blessings are prophetic and a word from God through His servant Jacob, the descendant of Abraham and Isaac.
The Holy Spirit is upon his life and as he speaks to his sons, his blessings are predetermined and based upon the attitudes and actions that have already been seen within each man’s life.
This could certainly be viewed as a truth for us all. As Galatians 6:7-8 tells us,
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”
If we sow to the flesh, we will reap a bad harvest. If we sow to the Spirit, we will reap the blessings of the Lord.
………
Israel’s first words to Reuben in Genesis 49 were,
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.”
Here we see Israel declare the potential Reuben had before him in life as the firstborn. The birthright and privilege of the firstborn meant that Reuben should have had a double portion of the inheritance. It would fall to him to rule the family estate and he would have been viewed as the head of the family.
This first section makes for a strong and confident start and perhaps Reuben thought his previous sins weren’t going to catch up with him after all. His father’s words continue, however,
“Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father’s bed; Then you defiled it— He went up to my couch.””
Reuben had committed fornication with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, forty years prior and Jacob never confronted his son about it. Reuben never confessed or repented of this sin so he may have truly believed he’d gotten away with it. Here we see through Israel’s words, however, that Reuben’s past sins have finally caught him up. As Proverbs 28:13 tells us,
“He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
Sadly, Reuben did not excel personally, and compared with the other tribes who came from his brothers, the tribe of Reuben did not excel either. In the book of Judges, we don’t read about any leader or judge coming from the tribe of Reuben, and neither do we ever read about any king of Isreal coming from this tribe. There was also no prophet raised up in Israel from the tribe of Reuben.
What’s more, we can read in Numbers 32 that when the tribes of Israel came through the wilderness and entered into the Promised Land, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Mannaseh, settled on the east side of the Jordan River.
This meant that the tribe of Reuben never entered into Canaan, the Promised Land but stayed on the wilderness side of the river. Reuben’s tribe never crossed the Jordan and because of this, his was the first to go into captivity when the Assyrians invaded Israel. Sadly, it can be clearly seen that Reuben did not excel, just as Jacob prophesied.
Closing Thoughts
I’ve heard it said that when it comes to the concept of “sowing and reaping,” there are three rules to know and consider.
Rule 1.) Whatever you sow, that’s what you’ll reap. For example, if you sow apple seeds, you’ll reap a harvest of apples. You won’t find pears or peaches growing from trees where you planted apple seeds, you’ll reap the fruit of the seeds you’ve sown.
In other words, if you sow according to the flesh, you’ll reap according to the flesh. You won’t gain spiritual benefits while sowing to the flesh. To grow spiritually and reap a harvest of good fruit, you must first sow to the Spirit.
Rule 2.) Reaping comes later. This truth is often misunderstood and many times, people have been tricked into thinking their behaviour has gone without consequence because the repercussions haven’t come immediately. The ramifications of what we do, come later, however, sometimes much later, but they do come. We must be careful not to mistake God’s patience with us for disinterest or inability to do anything.
Our Creator is gracious and gives us time to repent. Should we choose to continue on in sin, however, the harvest will surely come and this is not in the form of “God catching up with us.” Rather, it’s the consequences of our actions that will catch up with us. It’s not God who punishes us, as Jesus took our punishment on the Cross. In reality, it’s our own sin that punishes us. This applies to both Christians and non-Christians and so whether it’s in this life or the next, be sure we will reap what we sow.
Rule 3.) It always comes back in greater quantity and greater degree. It only takes one seed to be planted for a tree to grow and yet this single tree will then produce a crop of fruit, multiple times over. Now, some may try to counter this point by quoting 2 Corinthians 9:6 which tells us, “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,” but the truth remains that even a small harvest will still return in greater measure from what was originally sown.
So too, all that’s required is for one seemingly small or solitary sinful action to take place for a whole life or lives to be negatively impacted. In the case of Reuben, his decision to sleep with his father’s concubine, years prior, ended up costing him and his tribe dearly. The impact of his sin meant he forfeited many personal blessings, which then went on to also affect generations after him.
This is certainly a cautionary tale for us all but rather than being disheartened by it, we can actually be encouraged.
We know from studying Scripture that as Christians, if we truly repent, our merciful and Sovereign God can overrule. When we fall into sin, we may still have to face up to certain repercussions, but God can lessen the consequences for His children. This shouldn’t ever be something that encourages us to sin of course! On the contrary! As the Apostle Paul exhorts us in Romans 6:1-2,
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
As the title of this chapter in Romans tells us, we have been made dead to sin and alive to God through our faith in Christ, and should seek to walk in the newness of this life. Staying close to God and walking in His ways should always be our desire and focus, stemming from a heart of love for our Saviour.
Obedience to God’s superior ways is always a wiser choice for life and saves us from a lot of unnecessary heartache.
The truth remains, however, as long as we live in our fallen, sinful bodies, the war with the flesh shall remain and sometimes, perhaps oftentimes, we fall short.
We can be encouraged, though that it’s in these lowly moments that our merciful God can extend His sovereign hand of grace to a truly humble heart. When we’re genuinely repentant, Scripture shows us that God is always willing and able to do miraculous works of restoration.
I think Reuben’s story can certainly inspire us to see the wisdom of obedience to God, as well as the importance of repentance when we sin. May it inspire us to sow to the Spirit and walk in step with God’s Word. His ways are for our protection and they’re always better than ours. Praises to the God of Israel!