Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #27 in Genesis 35, and we are reading Genesis 35:22-26:

And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun: The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin: And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali: And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.

I will stop reading there.  In our last study, we began to look at this historical situation that verse 22 mentions almost “in passing.”  Again, it says in Genesis 35:22:

And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it.

Then we are given a list of the twelve sons born to Jacob of his various wives, and nothing more was said about the incident.   But in our last study, we went to Genesis 49, and we saw that it was not forgotten by Jacob.  He was giving the final benediction, or final blessings and admonishments to his sons.  We read in Genesis 49:3-4:

Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.

We looked at the word “unstable,” and we saw that it identified with “vain and light persons,” or “light and treacherous persons.”  And the word “excel” is a word that means “left” or “remain,” and it identifies with God’s elect who are left as a remnant.  But to “not excel,” or “not be left,” is a very serious matter, pointing to coming under the judgment of God.  The reason was given: “…because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.”  We also saw in 1Chronicles 5 just how serious this matter was, as we read in 1Chronicles 5:1:

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.

So we clearly see that Reuben lost the blessing of the firstborn son, just as Esau had done before him.  And the reason given was that he had defiled his father’s bed.  It is the same thing Genesis 49:4 told us.  It is the same word, “defiled.”

And this word “defiled” reveals a lot, if we go to Leviticus 18:6-8:

None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am JEHOVAH. The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.

It is important to make the distinction here that Reuben went into his father’s wife, his father’s concubine.  It was not Reuben’s mother, as Reuben’s mother was Leah.  But God says in Leviticus 18:7 that if one did go in unto one’s mother, that would be a sinful thing, and was forbidden.  You are not to uncover the nakedness of your mother.  But in the next verse, it says, “The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.”  This is something we will see repeated several times.  Going in unto your father’s wife is uncovering your father’s nakedness.   And in this chapter, there is a whole list of various family relationships, and God makes the same statements regarding uncovering the nakedness of a sister, a brother’s daughter, and so forth.  Then when we get to the end of this passage, it says in Leviticus 18:19-21:

Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness. Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to defile thyself with her. And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am JEHOVAH.

And the word “profane” is the word “defiled” that was in 1Chronicles 5:1 and in Genesis 49:4.  I think this is sort of a closing statement as far as these family relations are concerned.  In other words, it is not just letting your seed pass through the fire to Molech that profanes the name of God, but so too would lying with your father’s wife, and all of the sins listed in the previous verses.  This is something that defiles, and it profanes the name of God.  Therefore it is not forgiven.  It is against the Law of God.  We read in Leviticus 20:11:

And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Here, we see just how serious this matter is to God.  If a man was found to have lain with his father’s wife, it is something that is said to have uncovered his father’s nakedness.  We will look at that later to try to understand that, and it is actually the key to understanding this whole thing spiritually.  But if this happened, both the son and the wife (or concubine) are to be put to death.  Their blood is upon them.  That is, they are guilty of breaking God’s Law, and God’s Law condemns them to die, and they are responsible for their own deaths.  They have brought it upon themselves.

Let us go to Deuteronomy 22 where we find a similar Law.  It says in Deuteronomy 22:30:

A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt.

It is laying down a Law, but it does not state the judgment, but any Law of God that is transgressed brings death, does it not?  “For the wages of sin is death.”  Sin is that which transgresses God’s Law.

You probably did not realize how much the Bible speaks about this.  I know I did not.  But it also says in Deuteronomy 27:20:

Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he uncovereth his father's skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen.

After reading these verses, we can see just how grievous and sinful it was that Reuben, the firstborn son, lay with his father’s wife.  And Jacob heard it.  Now if Jacob heard it, why were Reuben and Bilhah not put to death?  Keep in mind that Deuteronomy is the Law of God as revealed to Moses, and Moses wrote it down, and we often see various things in these historical accounts in Genesis that relate to the Law.  And sometimes there is an understanding of the Law that God must have revealed to people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others we are reading about.  They had a good understanding of certain aspects of the Law, but that does not mean that they understood all the Law, or that their understanding included all the ramifications, judgments, and condemnations for breaking the Law.  In other words, Jacob knew it was very wrong and against the Law of God when his son lay with his wife Bilhah.  But that does not necessarily mean that he knew that the penalty was to be the death penalty for both Reuben and Bilhah.  It is not really spelled out anywhere else in the Bible, but the Bible does tell us that the wages of sin is death.  And when we look at the judgment of Jacob the father, it was actually the judgment of God, but it was coming through Jacob as he was carrying out this judgment through the things he said in Genesis 49 concerning Reuben going in unto his bed, and how he was unstable as water, and would not excel.  That is indicating that there would be a fulfilment of the Law, which was the Law of the birthright.  Spiritually, the loss of the birthright does tie in to spiritual death, and losing the inheritance of God’s eternal blessings.  So we can understand that Reuben was slain in that way, according to the Law, and he was cursed, as it says in Deuteronomy 27:20: “Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife.”   He experienced the curse in the loss of the birthright.

You see, this also helps us to understand another historical situation.  As we have looked at these verses and seen how serious it is to lie with your father’s wife, we can understand some of the language we find in 2Samuel 16 concerning Absalom after he received “wicked counsel.”  It may have been wise worldly counsel, but it was certainly wicked counsel according to the Law of God.  It says in 2Samuel 16:20:

Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do.

The situation was that Absalom and many in the forces of Israel had come against David, and they had driven him out of Jerusalem.  Now Absalom was asking this counselor, “What shall we do?”  The answer was given in 2Samuel 16:21-22:

And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong.  So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.

This was about as bad as anything could get.  It was just horrible that this son went in unto his father’s wife, but he did it “on the rooftop” in full view of the whole kingdom of Israel, so that everyone would know about it.  And it says he would be abhorred of his father.  That word “abhorred” is also translated as “abomination,” and as  “stinking savour.”  It is just very, very awful, and now we know why.  It was a violation of the Law of God.  It was not only disrespecting his father, but it was also “uncovering his father’s nakedness.”  So Absalom uncovered his father David’s nakedness in this way, and Reuben uncovered his father Jacob’s nakedness.

Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study, we are going to try to understand that, and we will also see how terrible it is on the spiritual level, and how it applies to the New Testament churches and congregations.  It has to do with one of the reasons that God brought judgment upon them and ended the church age.  It all fits into this particular sin of going in unto they father’s wife.