“But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father.”
Genesis 37:21-22 ESV
Thus we see the impact of even one semi-righteous person in the midst of a crooked people intent on evil.
Most of us aren’t going to be privy to a plot to murder someone. At least we hope not. Nevertheless, the lesson is clear that a Christian can be salt and light in amazing ways. The very presence of a Christian in a home – one who truly follows Christ and seeks the glory of God alone – will have an amazing impact. It’s the same in a town, a city, a state and even a country. The key to it is to live a gospel-saturated life. Reuben added a little salt, shone a wee bit of light on those dark hearts. Imagine what we can do with the whole counsel of God and a life totally devoted to the glorious and humble obedience of faith!
Granted, the plot against Joseph wasn’t absolutely foiled but the worst outcome, due to Rueben’s intervention, was avoided. There’s a power and mystery to godliness. The overwhelming lesson of Joseph’s story is that of God’s sovereignty. And that’s not just it either. His sovereignty is altogether amazing in ways that bring us to our knees. There’s massive irony later when Jacob, who deceived his father Isaac with goat skins (Genesis 27:9) and with Esau’s clothing (Genesis 27:27), is likewise lied to by his sons. They bring him Joseph’s clothing drenched in goat’s blood (Genesis 37:31-33). We should not think that God will leave us in our sins; He’s clearly not mocked, nor played a fool. More still, He is the source of all blessings. Therefore, all work and effort should be God-directed. When was the last time you heard that in a business seminar or college classroom?
Christian parents have come to think rather little about the circles of covenant relationships in their lives. The husband and wife; the parents to the children; the family in the church. We often worry more about our children’s place in the world than we do their knowledge and love of God. What lesson, then, do they learn? That God is not our true provider, rich in all things and able to do far more than we can possibly fathom (Ephesians 3:20). A man and woman’s first goal in life is to know, glorify, love, and obey the Lord. The first goal of a parent is to live like this before your children. A child who doesn’t see their parent’s repentance of particular sins before the Lord will learn ghastly lessons about hiding. Self-righteousness and worldliness have infected the church because we worship and pray as afterthoughts.
The evidence here suggests that Jacob’s sons learned lessons from him – the wrong ones. They became too much conformed to the violent and sexualized Canaanite culture around them and saw their privileged status under the Lord pridefully rather than with humility. Reuben’s reply to them speaks nothing of compassion and grace; it speaks nothing of responsibility before the Lord, nor to their father. Likewise, there’s no evidence that Jacob has discipled his young men in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
Notice the contrast to Abraham.
Abraham had been promised by God to be the father of many nations and yet for most of his life he was childless. Let’s pause and think of how humiliating that must have been for him as everyone knew of this (even by the fact that the very meaning of his name announced that he was the father of many). Not only that but his own nephew left him for the bright lights and wealth of the great cities. Abraham had given him that choice, by the way. It’s worth reading the passage in its totality:
“So Abram left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev, along with his wife and Lot and all that they owned. (Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.) From the Negev, they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, and they pitched their tents between Bethel and Ai, where they had camped before. This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the Lord again. Lot, who was traveling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents. But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. (At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.) Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.” Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord. After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.” So Abram moved his camp to Hebron and settled near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. There he built another altar to the Lord.”
Genesis 13:1–18 NLT
Note the utter absence of greed from Abram! Greed makes us insecure because we’re always thinking about getting our way and we start to see others as competition. The ungodly obsess about things and what other people are doing about those things; the man of God rests upon the grace of God in Christ, content with His loving and perfect will. Abram wasn’t insecure. He graciously gave Lot the best and first choice! Catch that? How does a man do that unless he knows that the whole world is the Lord’s? Abram wasn’t trying to get wealthy…his first order of business was building an altar to the Lord because he knew that the man who is in the Lord is the wealthiest of all. Lot went off after the world and was blessed through the covenant of God and his covenant leader, Abram. But as we know, he ended up losing it all when Sodom and Gomorrah were later destroyed. Lot ignored the sin of the region; he wanted the wealth and was willing to overlook the gross character of the region in order to have it. Abram sought the Lord first, even if it meant what looked like a temporary/initial loss, and that made all the difference.
The contrast with Jacob is striking. And the contrast with Jacob’s sons is also striking. Seeking blessings outside the will of God is the path of conflict, not peace. Abram offered his nephew first choice; Joseph’s brothers wanted theirs and his. Abram saw worship of the Lord as the highest and best and thus was immune to jealousy. Abram knew he had exactly that which the Lord wanted him to have; Joseph’s brothers wanted what the Lord was giving to others. What would have happened if Reuben – or Jacob – had recounted these things with the rest of the family? You see, salt and light is the privilege of sharing biblical truth with others. It’s not standing in bitter judgment of every little peccadillo. It’s not wringing one’s hands and complaining about what’s wrong with the world and about what one is owed. The Christian family’s covenant responsibility is shirked when the parents – especially the father – isn’t a humble disciple of Christ and His word/law, and critical biblical lessons aren’t taught.
If Reuben staved off murder in his small, imperfect way, it’s fair to say that we can stave off great calamities too. Does your child wrestle with the future? What Scriptural truth should you talk about? Does your family talk revolve around criticism and complaint, or God’s grace and the glory of serving the Lord? Imagine what Reuben could have achieved if he had the whole counsel of Scripture at his disposal as we do? The power and mystery of the gospel is that the “secret of success” is to seek the Lord first in all things. Lack of contentment is the work of the world…its marketing and media are all designed to draw us away from peace with God. Abram is the model of success, not Lot; Christ offers us exaltation through humility and repentance. Reuben talked his brothers off of murder. In Christ, we can preach the gospel all the time and everywhere. That’s the power and purpose of our lives now in Christ:
“Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Deuteronomy 6:4–9 NLT
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