Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #28 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.

We have been spending some time looking at Reuben’s transgression of laying with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, or his father’s wife.    This resulted in the loss of the birthright.  Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn son, and he lost the “double portion” that the firstborn son would have received.  And we saw that Esau lost his birthright before him.

I would like to mention something, although we may not get into it in this study, but this is something to check out and think about, and to pray for wisdom that God might give us understanding.  And that regards something in the passage we just read.  Maybe you noticed this, or maybe not.  I never noticed this before, and that is why it helps to keep reading the Scriptures again, and again, because we notice things we never noticed before.  But in this listing of the twelve sons of Jacob, notice that Benjamin is included in verse 24 with the sons of Rachel.  After we are told about the sons of Zilpah, then there is the summarizing statement, “…these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.”  Padanaram is Syria.  That is where Laban and his family lived, and that is where Jacob had come from, as we saw in the previous chapter.  He left Padanaram, and he came to Shechem; and from Shechem, he went to Bethel; and from Bethel he went on his way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.  And it was on the way that Rachel had hard labour, and Benjamin was born.  We realize that, so what is the problem?  The problem is that this verse lists all twelve sons of Jacob, including Benjamin, as being born to him in Padanaram, but Benjamin was not born in Padanaram, as it says in Genesis 35:18-19:

And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

That is where Benjamin was born.  It was not in Padanaram.  Well, now we have a problem, and that is why I wanted to mention it so you can pray about it, and look into it.   These apparent contradictions are always the most interesting things to check out.  So you can look at that. 

But right now, let us go back to the subject of Reuben, who we know defiled his father’s bed.  That is what Genesis 49:4 said: “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 also saw that 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.

We spent some time looking at Scriptures regarding one that would go in unto his father’s wife, but this was not this person’s mother, even though God does give a Law against that in Leviticus.  But the Lord also speaks of one who goes in unto his father’s wife in 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.

We looked at several verses concerning the “nakedness of thy father” being uncovered if a son were to go in unto his father’s concubine, like Reuben did.  By doing so, he would uncover his father’s nakedness, and the Law of God said that he would be cursed, and he should be killed, as well as the wife.  Both should be killed according to the Law of God.

Then we went to 2Samuel 16, and we saw that Absalom was in rebellion against his father, and he did this very thing.  It says 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.

And not only was it one concubine of David’s, but he went in unto a number of his concubines, so that just magnifies just how terrible it was that Absalom did this.  The reason was so that he would be abhorred of his father, and all Israel would know it.  There was a Law in Israel, and they were familiar with the Law of Moses regarding a son going in unto his father’s concubine.  It was a case of “no turning back” for Absalom; he must defeat his father, or he would die not only for rebellion, but for this act.  He defiled his father’s bed.

So the defiling of a father’s bed is also tied to rebelling against his father, as well as having committed adultery and fornication.  And it was open lewdness, as it was done on a rooftop in a tent.  This fits in with the whole spiritual picture of what it means to uncover one’s father’s nakedness, and it ties in with the churches’ apostasy and their spiritual fornication and adultery which brought judgment upon them.  The church’s spiritual fornication and adultery was rebellion against God.  They rebelled against their Father. 

By the way, the word “defiled” used in Genesis 49:4 and 1Chronicles 5:1 is found several times in relationship to God’s judgment on Old Testament Israel or Judah.  We can understand that these are types and figures of God’s judgment on the churches.  For example, let us go to Psalm 74:7-8:

They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.

Just understand that the synagogues represent the churches, and it makes perfect spiritual sense: “They have cast fire into thy church, they have defiled by casting down the house of thy name to the ground.”  Just compare that to Revelation 11:2:

But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

They have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of God’s name to the ground, treading it under foot.  That is the idea.

This word that is translated as “defiled” is also translated as “begin” in a couple of interesting places.  Yes, it is the word “begin,” and I do not know why that is, but it says in Jeremiah 25:29:

For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith JEHOVAH of hosts.

The word “begin” is the word “defiled.”  So, it could read “For, lo, I defile,” so we can see why the translators struggled with the translation, but it is translated as “begin” several times in the Old Testament.  And sometimes when we see a certain word used in a verse, we may not understand it, but God is using it for a reason, and we cannot miss that it is the same word.  The context is God bringing evil upon the city called by His name, just as we read of the dwelling place of His name being defiled and cast down to the ground.  It is pointing to the churches.

Likewise, when we go to Ezekiel 9, we find this same word for “defiled” translated as “begin,” in Ezekiel 9:5-6:

And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

So it was to begin at God’s sanctuary, or at His church.  “

…for judgment must begin at the house of God,” according to 1Peter 4:17. 

Therefore the Scriptures are linking together the idea of Jacob’s bed being defiled by his son Reuben with God’s judgment on His people.  Rueben was a child of Jacob, a son of Israel, and it is pointing to the rebellion of those in the churches and congregations.

Let us go to Isaiah 57 where it speaks of a bed, and from what is being said we can see it is being defiled.  It says in Isaiah 57:3-4:

But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood,

This reminds us of what Christ said to the Jews when they said, “Abraham is our father.”  Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil,” the seed of the adulterer, and the seed of falsehood from the beginning, “for he is a liar, and the father of it.”  And when churches bring lies and deceive people into believing them, and people come forward (to accept Christ), even with tears…and I think it is even more of a tragedy because genuine emotion is involved in many cases  because these people so want salvation, and they feel, “I am broken before God.”  But that is a “work,” and it is not the way of salvation.  But people come forward, believing the lie of their church, and they think they are a child of God.  But “accepting Christ” has never made anyone a child of God.  Believing in one’s mind and confessing with one’s mouth never made anyone a child of God.  It must be belief from the heart, and in order to believe in the heart, one must have a new heart, and only God can give that new heart.  Then there is agreement in the heart and in the profession, and that is the way it should be.  But so many are of the “seed of falsehood,” the children of the devil, whether they were Jews of the Old Testament that were born of the physical seed of Abraham, but not born of the Spirit; or whether they were of the New Testament churches and congregations that believed the “free will” gospel (or other false gospels) that perverted the true Gospel of God’s grace.  They are all children of the lie.

Then it goes on to say in Isaiah 57:5-7:

Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these? Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed…

And that was Jacob’s complaint: “

…he went up to my bed.”  Reuben went up to his bed, and he laid with Jacob’s wife, defiling his bed.

Again, it says in Isaiah 57:7-9:

Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it. And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell.

This “going into their bed” identifies with idols that were under every green tree in the high places of Israel.  They defiled the relationship they professed to have, we could say, because God does say He is married to His people.  Actually, in the Old Testament, He was married to the nation of Israel until He divorced them, and they certainly defiled that “bed” with their adultery and spiritual fornication.  So because of their “uncleanness,” God set up a Law in Deuteronomy that allowed for divorce in order to put away Israel for the hardness of their heart.  But we know that the Lord Jesus said, “That is done, and now what God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”  There is never to be divorce again, and marriage is until death, but the marriage of the elect to Christ is for evermore.  It can never be broken.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Again, here God was finding fault with them for “enlarging their bed,” and you can read Proverbs 7 regarding the foolish man who was seduced by the adulteress, and that ties in with this whole thing.

God says something in relationship to His elect, which is important for us to understand.  Speaking of this relationship, He uses an earthly picture of marriage to paint a spiritual truth concerning the spiritual marriage and the intimacy and goodness of the relationship between Christ and His bride, all His elect children.  We read in Hebrews 13:4:

Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

You see, the “bed” of God and His people is “undefiled” because all manner of uncleanness that had been in the blessed souls that the Lord saved was removed.  All the iniquity was washed away and cleansed, making us as spotless lambs.  The bridal gown of the bride of the saints is “fine linen, clean and white.”  We possess the righteousness of Christ, so there is no possible way to defile that eternal marriage bed between the Lord and His people.  Yes, even though we sin after salvation, and we can feel terrible: “Oh, what did I do?  This was a filthy and horrible thing that I have done.”  Yet from God’s perspective, the bed is “undefiled,” and the marriage is honorable in all because that sin too was paid for by the blood of Christ.  So there is no wrongdoing that can possibly pollute or profane this wonderful relationship the people of God have with our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.