When Fair and Unfair Meet

1 Chronicles 5:1
The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s marriage bed, his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel; so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright,

1 Chronicles 5:2
and though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph)—

The Israelite community like many other communities placed a great value on being a first-born child and particularly a son. A firstborn child becomes the acting parent when parents are away. The firstborn child has rights that cannot or should not be shared or given to any other child.

Jacob, also known as Israel, had several children; the firstborn was Reuben. Reuben had all rights that a firstborn should have. However, Reuben disrespected his father as recorded in Genesis 35. Reuben had sexual relations with Bilhah who was his father’s concubine. Because of this gross indecent act, Jacob cursed Reuben and consequently denied him the rights of a firstborn child, Genesis 49:1-4.

In a family with several children, you will notice that each child has varied passions and strengths. In Jacob’s family, Judah emerged as the strongest. It is out of the tribe of Judah that kings of Israel such as David and Solomon came from. It is from the tribe of Judah that Jesus the ruler of the Universe was born. Judah had God-given abilities that rightly belonged to him. In the event that a firstborn in Jacob’s family had the inability to act as one, Judah was the natural choice to act as the firstborn.

Our text today from the book of Chronicles tells us that Reuben lost the rights of a firstborn because of his sexual sin which was also disrespectful to his father. He was cursed and he lost the rights of a firstborn. This seems like a fair conclusion to Reuben’s case. We all wish the world would be this fair in dealing with all of us. This is fair, but is life on earth always fair?

Judah was the natural heir of the Jacob family since Reuben had been cursed and consequently denied the rights of a firstborn. Judah was strong and outstanding. Judah commanded respect among his brothers. Judah should have been the natural acting firstborn after Reuben’s debacle. Yet without any explanation, God through Jacob decided that the sons of Joseph, not even Joseph himself, would take leadership and act as sons of Jacob. Ephraim the younger son of Joseph became the leader of the family of Israel, Genesis 48:17-20. This is not fair. This is unfair, but is it always fair on earth?

Reuben as the firstborn saved Joseph’s life when his brothers wanted to kill him, Genesis 37:21. Judah as the influential brother saved Joseph from being killed by his brothers, Genesis 37:26-27. Yet these two great leaders were not considered when God rearranged Jacob’s family leadership. One was denied fairly and another one seems to have been denied unfairly.

Sometimes we are victims of a fair process that leaves us in pain. We go through what we don’t like but we deserve it. Sometimes we go through the pain that we do not deserve at all. When fair and unfair meet, it is life, it is an act of God and we should let Him lead!

In this life, we will meet things that are fair and good, and others will be fair and very painful. We will also meet things that are unfair but good to us, and sometimes the unfair will be very painful. When fair and unfair meet in your life, live to the glory of God! May God bless us and favor us during the fair and unfair moments of life, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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