How to live with the mystery of God’s election? (Gen 49:1-7)

Randolph Churchill, the son of the war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill, was a gifted communicator, bright, handsome, and well-connected. His father indulged him and allowed him at a young age to participate in dinner conversations with politicians of the era and to air his views in their company. Spoilt and arrogant, he became a hard drinker, gambler, and womaniser. He expected great things to come his way and assumed that he would be Prime Minister someday. However, he repeatedly failed to be elected as an MP and only managed to win an uncontested seat in 1940, which he lost after the war. He tried to return to Parliament later but never managed it. He became a successful journalist but the promise he showed for a great political career never came to fruition and his heavy drinking took its toll on his health. He died at 57, only three years after his father. I am reminded of this modern-day example of how privilege and advantages may be lost because of conceit and the choices one makes.

Reuben

As Jacob calls his sons to his deathbed, his prophetic words chart out the future of his family (Gen 49:1), as well as explain why some like Reuben did not fulfil the hope they were destined for. Although the reference to ‘latter days’ in the Hebrew (v.1) often points to the eschatological (end-time) future, here it simply means a distant one, beyond the clan’s Egyptian stay and the exodus. Like Randolph Churchill, Reuben had all the advantages and privileges that his firstborn status implied (head of the family, double inheritance), yet his sexual immorality in sleeping with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, lost him those benefits (Gen 49:4; 35:22). Sleeping with the wife/concubine of one’s father was a way to usurp the parent’s rights, to step into their shoes and claim their status (cf. 2 Sam 16:20-22). Thus, Reuben’s act may have been a bid to ensure his pre-eminence (especially as Jacob favoured Joseph), but it backfired. Likewise, in Israel’s later history, Reuben’s tribe ended up on the periphery (in the trans-Jordan; Num 32:1-5, 33-38).[1]

David P. Barrett/Biblemapper.com [source]

Simeon and Levi

Simeon or Levi likewise forfeited the firstborn’s right by their brutal massacre of Shechem after Dinah’s rape (Gen 49:5-7; 34:1-31). Simeon’s diminishing significance is perhaps indicated by the tribe’s absence from Moses’ deathbed blessings (Deut 33:1-29) and they only received a small territory within Judah’s portion later (Josh 19:1-9). At first glance, the Levites experienced harsher discipline in not being given land at all in Canaan and having to depend on Israel’s tithes and offerings for their livelihood, which at times were scarce (Neh 13:10; cf. Deut 12:19; 14:27).[2] Paradoxically, their loss was also a means of grace in that it was the by-product of their calling as the priestly tribe that provided service in the temple. While Simeon became subsumed under Judah and disappeared, the Levites had a special relationship with the Lord (Num 8:14-19) and a lasting impact that survived even the exile. Once again, we are confronted with the mystery of God’s election. At the same time, the Levites did show a redeeming quality, namely their uncompromising stance in dealing with evil for God, which they demonstrated repeatedly later (Exod 32:25-29; Num 25:1-13).[3] Although chosen as the priestly tribe before these events, the positive side of their behaviour affirms God’s choice of them.[4]

Living with God’s sovereign will

When Israel looked back on the prophetic words of their forefather, they must have pondered once again the reasons for the fate of their tribal ancestors. On the one hand, Reuben’s story shows that one can have all the advantages of calling, status and privilege and yet lose it through grave sin. In our contemporary world, highly successful leaders of megachurches who succumb to adultery or embezzlement are comparable examples. At the same time, the different fates of Simeon and Levi suggest something of God’s redeeming grace and the mystery of election. While our lives may not be anywhere near so dramatic, these examples are a warning to acknowledge God’s sovereign will humbly both in our privileges and our hardships and live for God faithfully.

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[1] This was a territory that Israel conquered on the way. Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh felt that it was good grazing land for livestock and asked Moses to grant them the right to settle there. He did so, but we get the impression that this was a concession and Israel was meant to settle west of the Jordan. The lack of a natural boundary towards the east (mountains, rivers) made these tribes more vulnerable to attack, while the River Jordan was a definite demarcation to the west, leading, one would imagine, to a certain amount of isolation for these tribes.

[2] The Levites did have some fields that were pasture lands for their animals near the cities where they lived (Num 35:1-5), but this was not the same as the land allotments received by the other tribes.

[3] Interestingly, Moses (also from the tribe of Levi) demonstrated the same tendency for violence and anger as well as for justice when he killed the Egyptian (Exod 2:11-14). While he restrained his anger and acted on God’s behalf on numerous occasions later, he did succumb to self-righteous anger when he struck the rock against God’s instructions, which lost him the entry to the Promised Land (Num 20:1-13).

The Levites’ actions in executing God’s judgment after the golden calf incident and the sin of Baal-Peor make for gruesome reading. Nevertheless, the point is that they acted out God’s judgment rather than took personal and disproportionate revenge (as at Shechem where they massacred the town even though only its prince was in the wrong). While the death penalty horrifies most of us, we need to remember that life in the ancient world was brutal. Pain, injury, and death were much more common and close at hand, not alleviated by painkillers or obscured by medical procedures and funerary practices that keep these things at arm’s length for us. If God wanted to make a point that something was a serious misdemeanour, then, He had to meat out punishment that was worse than what people experienced in their everyday life.

[4] This is much like Abraham’s election, who was called not for anything he had done but simply because of God’s grace. Nevertheless, his faith and obedience led to an affirmation of the promises (Gen 22:15-18).

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