A Prayer for the Firstborn
Deuteronomy 33:6
Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.…


The personal character of Reuben had not been exemplary. His salient features were coarse. Moral qualities were entailed to posterity; and the tribe, generation after generation, occupied a low place in the history of the nation. Nothing noble seems ever to have been achieved by it.

I. PRIORITY OF PLACE DOES NOT ENSURE NOBLENESS OF CHARACTER. Reuben was, in Jacob's household, first in the order of time, but not first in native dignity. "Many that are first shall be last." The king has not always the most royal character in the empire. The palace does not always contain the noblest society. The most obscure may yet become the purest and the best. Moral rottenness has often been on the throne, and real royalty on the gibbet.

II. PRESENT LIFE DOES NOT SECURE CONTINUOUS LIFE. Human life is not self-created; it is sustained through every hour by a Divine hand; and whenever Divine wisdom sees Best, that life is brought to a close. As life, with all its advantages, is a trust from God, which may be terminated any moment, we should use every moment well, in order to deserve its continuance. In proportion to the precariousness of life is the value of every moment increased. So, too, in the life beyond the grave, the same dependence on God remains. We hang on him for continued life. Christ is our life. Through eternity we live (if we live at all) by faith on the Son of God. Hourly the prayer ought to ascend, "Let me live, and not die."

III. PRESENT UNITS MAY BECOME FUTURE MYRIADS. At the time of Moses' dissolution, the number of Reuben seems to have been small. Possibly this may have been a penalty for Reuben's incest. In this case it would be an appeal to God's mercy to remove the curse. Beneath the benediction of God, "a little one soon becomes a thousand." Prolific increase is a sign of Divine approval. All the oak forests on the globe sprang from a single germ. - D.



Parallel Verses
KJV: Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

WEB: "Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few."




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