The God of All Vengeance (2)

O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. - Psalm 94:1-2

Do not allow the pain of regret like the psalmist went through in Psalm 73:13-17 to have its hold on your spirit. You should not allow bitterness, for God will turn things around for you. Looking at Jacob's life we see Laban deceiving Jacob thereby forcing Leah on him. This deception brought bad blood to the new family of Jacob. He hated Leah.

The mistake of Sarah brought by her advising Abraham to bring Hagar resulted in Ishmael. Ishmael and her mother had to be painfully sent out of Abraham’s house. God backed the woman to send Hagar and Ishamael away in the lifetime of Abraham. The mistake of Abraham affected the upbringing of an innocent Ishmael. Stop giving heed to hatred and bitterness in your life for they will poison your human spirit. Nothing cripples your faith than bitterness. Many have slowed down their journeys to greatness by not allowing God to fight their battles for if they will give God a chance to defend their cause, they will find reasons to rejoice over their enemies

Reuben was born into the privilege of being the firstborn. In Israel, the firstborn is entitled to a double portion. The firstborn is the might and beginning of a father's strength. He is the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. But the privilege of the firstborn became corrupted by the circumstances of Reuben's birth. He was a product of a deceptive marriage. The father in law of Jacob deceived him into marrying a wrong woman. He exalted the custom of his land above integrity by getting Leah married instead of Rachael.

You can be sure the deception of Laban would have gone a long way to producing bitterness in Jacob. The birth of Reuben would, therefore, be an undesired delivery. No wonder the animosity in the home of Jacob must have created a negative attitude and bitterness in the mind of Reuben. His upbringing would have been affected so much so that he grew up to hate his biological father. Years earlier before the death of Jacob, Reuben had slept with Bilhah, one of his father's concubines.

Can you see the disrespect and dishonour of Reuben for his father? But this all started before he was born. It was transferred aggression, but the consequence waited for Reuben in his future (Read Genesis 49:3-4).