Coney Hill Baptist Church

Demonstrating God’s Love Together

Reuben - When Good Intentions are Not Enough

Genesis 37:14b-35

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"

¹⁶ He replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?"

"They have moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.' "
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

¹⁹ "Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other. ²⁰ "Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."

²¹ When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let's not take his life," he said. ²² "Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the richly ornamented robe he was wearing- ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? ²⁷ Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.

²⁸ So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels ^[b] of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. ³⁰ He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?"

³¹ Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. ³² They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe."

³³ He recognized it and said, "It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."

³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son." So his father wept for him.

Reuben: When Good Intentions are Not Enough…

Intro:

The Bible does not often give a good press to elder brothers. We looked at Ishmael a few weeks ago, Gedeon’s and David’s bigger siblings hardly get a mention, and we all know about the eldest in the family of the prodigal son.

There’s something about that position of priority in a family, then much more so than now, which brings a sense of responsibility, expectation, and with that comes pressure.

This family is a significant family, any family of 12 boys is going to be quite a substantial body, but this family, at the beginning of the story at least, has wealth and influence – power, yet also the very real possibility of conflict within it – not least because of the 4 different mothers.

And it’s the older boys who come off worse. Most of the time Joseph’s brothers are referred to as a collective group but, at times, 3 of the oldest 4, Reuben, Simeon and Judah, each have a particular role. Judah suggested the selling of Joseph to the Ishmaelites, Simeon offered himself as a hostage while the others went back to Jacob to collect Benjamin, and Reuben, the eldest of all, seems, at different times, to be the spokesmen for responsibility and doing the right thing – but he fails.

Responsibility without Faith

Was Reuben really concerned for Joseph , or did he have more than one eye on what the best result would be for him? He did, or tried to do, the right thing, for all the wrong reasons – because it was expected, because others might find out, because it might look bad on him. His final cry, ‘Where can I turn now?’ is telling. A few chapters later it’s revealed again …

Gen. 42:21-23…

They said to one another, "Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that's why this distress has come upon us."

²² Reuben replied, "Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood." ²³ They did not realize that Joseph could understand them, since he was using an interpreter.

Morality without Vision

He knew what was being planned was wrong, but did he know why? He realised that kidnapping was a lesser crime than murder but how aware was he that Joseph might actually be carrying God’s dream for the future.

Obligation without Passion

He felt he had a role, as the eldest, to speak up. But his good intentions counted for little. They were so easily over-ridden because they had such little conviction behind them. He was fulfilling a role, Joseph was following a dream – it’s a big difference, and it made a big difference to their destiny…

Gen. 49:1-4…

¹ Then Jacob called for his sons and said: "Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.

² "Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to your father Israel.

³ "Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my might, the first sign of my strength,
excelling in honour, excelling in power.

⁴ Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father's bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.

Conc.

This is an extraordinary story, and not a situation in which we are likely to find ourselves. So what are its lessons for us?

Reuben, like the prodigal’s elder brother, is an all too common yet unacknowledged, role model for many people of faith. Their faith is about duty, responsibility, obligation, morality – all good things. But not the sort of things that are ‘game-changers’, they don’t inspire, they leave out grace and wonder and excitement, all too easily they leave out God.

Have you ever felt your faith is dry and routine, that you’re fighting a lone cause and the tide is turning against you all around. Then check, not only that you’re standing for the right things, but that you’re doing it in the right way. Visionary, Joseph like, faith is about creating a new world, building God’s kingdom of justice and peace, grace and forgiveness – even in an age such as ours it’s attractive. Yes it has rules, obligations, standards of conduct but it’s not defined by a rigid adherence to them. And if you’re not the eldest or the wisest or the most responsible, be encouraged, that may be just what’s needed. Following God’s path has no pecking order or hierarchy, no-one is excluded

Office Address:

Coney Hill Road

West Wickham

Kent

BR4 9BU