Sketching the career of Reuben as a man and as a tribe, there is nothing that we can take hold of till we come to the act for which his dying father rebuked him so pointedly. Jacob knew his son well, and ascribed his sin to utter moral weakness. Such character expresses itself in acts of wickedness; yet the act is of less importance than the root of evil from which it springs. The instability that appears in Reuben concerning Joseph is so noticeable: “Shed no blood, but cast him into the pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him, that he might rid him out of their hands to deliver him to his father again.” This done, Reuben left, thinking by absence to separate himself from their evil deeds, though he was the eldest, and responsible above the rest.
How natural was Jacob’s conduct in refusing afterwards to entrust Benjamin to Reuben’s care. If Reuben could not save Joseph, what reason was there to suppose he could preserve Benjamin? Yet there was no lack of conscience. When Simeon was put in prison by Joseph, Reuben was the first to apply the lesson: “Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.” The words drew tears from the eyes of Joseph, who overheard them; but they could not undo the past.
And so Reuben came to his father’s death-bed to hear of the strength and weakness of his character, his many advantages and his one seemingly incurable defect. There is natural ability, and the best of it; yet for want of moral steadiness this excellence is not to excel. Who has not seen this character and seen it fail? “Unstable as water” is a terribly accurate illustration. The force of water is one of the most powerful in nature, but it is frightful unless kept in bounds. The character of Reuben is one which has no power of concentration, and has not learned self-control.
Reuben develops this character in his father’s lifetime, and the place of his tribe is determined forever. That place may be second, it will never be first. But for redemption, it would be nowhere at all.
The after-history is soon told. The birthright of Reuben is given to the sons of Joseph; and so, when Judah has taken the lead and drawn to himself Benjamin, the remaining tribes are found following the lead of Ephraim, not Reuben. No king, no judge, no saviour of Israel is recorded of the tribe of Reuben. Was Judas from Reuben? His surname, Iscariot, suggests he was from Kerioth in the land of Reuben. It may well be so. The only other men of note were “Dathan and Abiram…sons of Reuben,” who insulted Moses, and “perished in the gainsaying of Korah.” How far this rebellion was occasioned by the disappointment of the Reubenites in being thrust into a subordinate position it is impossible to say; but it is an indication of the same lightness of character.
Reuben and Gad, with the half-tribe of Manasseh, after helping their brethren in the wars of Canaan, were dismissed to the borders of the land, where they themselves seemed doubtful whether they would be able to maintain their standing as tribes of Israel and worshippers of Israel’s God.
Thus far we have traced the progress of the tribe downwards; now we must observe the turning-point, marked in the blessing of Moses (Deut. 33:6). It takes the form of a prayer which is the salvation of the tribe. Mark the natural end of instability, if it were suffered to run its course: “Let Reuben live, and not die, and let not his men be few.” Why should he pray that Reuben might not die, unless he were on the way to death? This prayer is most significant in the salvation of the Reubenites, for Moses is the “mediator” of Israel under the old covenant. It illustrates the intercession of the Saviour, the only salvation of those who fall, and yet do not die.
We find that from this time forward Reuben has a place and a work. He strengthened his brethren in the conquest of Canaan, fighting under the banner of Joshua. After this the Reubenites were greatly multiplied in Gilead. And “in the days of Saul they made war against the Hagarites, and cried to God in the battle; and He was entreated of them, because they trusted in Him” (1 Chron. 5:10). In Reuben was fulfilled the promise to Abraham that his seed should possess the land as far as the river Euphrates. So far did the Reubenites extend their possessions.
By what process are such Reubenites brought to a right mind? It is through the discipline of failure, arising from moral weakness. Disappointment, to those who have the natural ability to succeed, is humbling, and, through the great Mediator, the humiliation brings them to the foot of the cross.
This is the history of the new birth of many a soul. In the days of his great ability and instability, he is morally worthless, but he is made to feel his weakness. He loses the place that his birthright had entitled him to hold, by his unsteadiness of character, and falls from the first place to the second, though his talents were unsurpassed. Thus he is afflicted, and it is good for him. He is brought down to feel his need of a Saviour, and is born of God. Such characters as Reuben have sometimes gone a long way with the prodigal; they lose great opportunities and advantages, if they do not actually waste their substance with riotous living. Then they come to themselves, and arise and go to the Father against whom they have sinned. They are received into the arms of His mercy with joy unspeakable, and, behold, a son is born to God. “This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.”
Not a few will bear witness to the truth of this experience. Perhaps there is something that answers to it in the history of us all. Who is there that has not lost some opportunity, wasted some advantage, that God gave him at first? Who is there that has excelled, with all the excellency that his birthright gave?
We may feel that in this life we never can be what we might have been if we had not wasted the goods given us, but they that have known the famine in the far country will feel quite contented if they may at last enter their Father’s house above. Yes, there is a gate of Reuben in the golden city. Only let Reuben live, and not die, and he will bless God through eternity for his disappointments and trials here.
We cannot treat Simeon apart from Levi because their father put them together in his prophecy. These two seem to have clung together more than any of the rest. “Simeon and Levi are brethren,” close companions in thought and action. But this companionship was not to last: “I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.” Their father speaks of their union with strong disapproval; “instruments of cruelty are in their habitations” or “bargainings.”
There was the bargain between the sons of Jacob and the Shechemites, which Simeon and Levi turned into an opportunity for a treacherous massacre. When their father rebuked them, they replied with an indignant assertion of their right to do what they had done. He answered them on his deathbed. In their union Jacob declares that he will have no part: “Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath (the outburst of passion), for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”
Simeon next appears in the story of Joseph. When his brethren came down to Egypt, and he wanted security that they would bring Benjamin, he took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. Simeon was the eldest of those who took part in selling Joseph. Perhaps also Joseph preferred not to run the risk of having Benjamin entrusted to his brethren if Simeon were among them.
The Levites were dispersed through all the tribes of Israel in the Promised Land. But Simeon was no less distinctly parted from his brethren, though his tribe was not so dispersed. Simeon not only was parted from Levi, he was placed with Reuben and Gad. The effect of this turned out strangely for Simeon. When they came to Canaan, two of these tribes had a great multitude of cattle, and desired Gilead. The request was granted. It would seem natural for the whole of Reuben’s division to go together; but, for some reason not explained, Simeon was thrown out. He had marched with Gad and Reuben for forty years, but at the entrance to the land they left him. Half of Manasseh joined them instead; and that half-tribe was stronger than the whole tribe of Simeon.
The other fact, that Moses did not mention Simeon in his blessing, is equally strange. The Simeonites had no separate inheritance; they received a portion of the inheritance of Judah (see Josh. 19). Here the separation from Levi was most complete, for though the Levites had cities in every tribe of Israel, and the priests were placed to a great extent in Judah, yet in the part of Judah’s inheritance allotted to Simeon there was only one Levitical city.
The Simeonites occupied the southern border around Beersheba. When Israel was divided into two kingdoms, Benjamin and Judah followed the family of David, while the other ten tribes, Simeon among them, followed Ephraim. Thus the Simeonites were separated by Judah and Benjamin from the kingdom to which they belonged, for we later read that “strangers out of…Simeon were gathered to Asa King of Judah in abundance.”
It might seem that the whole history of the tribe was made up of disappointment but his course, like Reuben’s, was first downward and then upward. In the final division of the land, foretold by Ezekiel, there is a portion for Simeon. And in the Revelation, “Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed 12,000.” There is also a gate to the golden city over which the name of Simeon is inscribed. But how do such men find entrance into the city of God?
The natural character represented by Simeon is hard and cruel. Men who think to advance the kingdom of heaven by the sword are here. “Lord, shall we smite with the sword?” says Simeon, or Simon Peter of the New Testament; and before he has heard the answer, he has smitten his Master’s enemy, and cut off his ear. If the Kingdom of Christ were of this world, then must His servants fight. But “the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” This is a truth that the Simeonites find it hard to learn. They cannot see why they should not do justice, even severely, on others. They are austere in their religion. Of this tribe are many who will put down false doctrine by open violence, forsaking the simple remedies which the Master has prescribed.
It is always difficult to draw the lines between intolerance and discipline, and between tolerance and neglect. But cruelty and violence, especially when accompanied with treachery, are not the weapons for a disciple of Christ. No one ever yet accomplished by the sword what has been accomplished by “the meekness and gentleness of Christ.”
Separation and isolation are the results of this conduct. God’s cruel servants find themselves deserted and alone. There is a defect in their apprehension of the gospel. Theirs is the spirit of fear, and not of love; and the remedy for them is this: they are first brought low in their affliction, and then overwhelmed with the revelation of the love of God.
This method of God’s dealing is illustrated by the history of Simeon in an unexpected way. He had no blessing while he was joined with Levi, no prosperity while with Reuben; he only grew weaker. But in Canaan he was joined with Judah; and this is the turning-point in the history of the tribe. When we remember that all these names are significant, we shall see great beauty in this part of the story. Simeon means hearing–“The Lord hath heard that I was hated”–and Judah’s name is praise. When the character of the Simeonites had made them hated, the Lord heard it, and placed them in the midst of a tribe whose portion was all praise.
The natural character of Simeon is not disposed to praise, because it does not recognize His lovingkindness. It is all for prayers and fastings and services–“What can I do for God?” not “What has He done for me?” And how does God deal with such a character? He first shows him that he can do nothing, and then reveals the fullness of what God has done for him. In the first chapter of Judges it is recorded that Judah and Simeon went up together. It is as though “Praise said to Hearing of Prayer, his brother, Come up with me into my lot, and I also will go with thee into thy lot. So Prayer went up with him, and Praise went up; and the Lord delivered the enemy into his hand.”
From this time Simeon has a place and a work in Israel; for we read in 1 Chronicles 4:39-43 that in the spread of the tribe of Simeon on the borders of Israel to the far south, a detachment of them went to Mount Seir, in the days of Hezekiah, about the time when the ten tribes went into captivity, and “smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt there unto this day.” Those last words become significant when we remember that the book was written after the captivity. We see that these Simeonites never went into captivity at all! No; from the time that the Simeonites become aware of what God had done for them, there is no more captivity for them. Their instruments of cruelty were turned into instruments of war against the enemies of the Lord.
And so, after the last victory, the Simeonites, like the Reubenites before them, enter in through the gate of One Pearl into the city. Some of those that have once been cruel persecutors shall at last meet with the persecuted, where all is peace.
The extraordinary official position of the Levites in the history of the chosen people does not destroy their individuality, nor make the tribe less representative of a certain side of the Christian life. The tribe of Levi contained a long line of great men from Moses to John the Baptist; yet “of the tribe of Levi were sealed 12,000,” and no more. And as one gate is inscribed with the name of Reuben, so is there one of Levi. What have Levi and Judah above others in the New Jerusalem, whose citizens are all kings and priests to God?
Levi, though under the ban of Jacob, was fitted, by the discipline of trial, to discharge a most important public duty in Israel–a duty which made Levi second in importance to none but Judah, whose forerunner and counterpart he was formed to be.
The relation between Christ and Moses is the relation of Judah to Levi. Samuel, a Levite, was the forerunner of David, to prepare the way before him; John the Baptist, a priest of the tribe of Levi, was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. And foremost in all the great changes that passed over Israel you will find men of Levi. In the dark days of the kingdom of Judah, when Athaliah seized the throne of David, and thought to have destroyed his family, it was Jehoiada the priest that saved one child and preserved him till he was old enough to fill the throne. The prophet who foretold every step in the captivity of Judah was Jeremiah, priest of Anathoth. Contemporary with him was the priest Ezekiel, by the river of Chebar, speaking to the captives of the glorious restoration when captivity was done.
Consider the labors of Levi in the Scriptures. Moses who began, and Ezra who well-nigh completed, the Hebrew Bible, were both of this tribe. The second Joshua, in the return from captivity to Jerusalem, was the son of Josedech, the high priest. In the Law, in the Prophets, and the Psalms, we find traces of Levi’s hand.
We have already noticed the prophecy against Levi, delivered by his father Jacob, who set him and his brother Simeon together under the same curse. Both tribes were joined to the Lord through separation from their brethren. Both recovered their blessing through connection with Judah–Simeon by sharing his inheritance, Levi by dividing the chief ministry to Israel with him.
Isolation is a feature in the history of Levi, quite as much as Simeon. The capacity to stand alone, which made Simeon and Levi so conspicuous in their attack on the Shechemites, proved a valuable instrument for the work of the Lord.
Look at Moses when he was come to years, refusing “to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,” and finally forsaking Egypt, “not fearing the wrath of the king.” When compelled to flee to Midian, we find him standing as the fearless champion of the daughters of Jethro against the shepherds at the well. Moses in these things acted not only from natural impulse, but in the fear of God. At first Simeon and Levi acted from natural character; but it is the same character throughout–a fearless unconsciousness of self, and disregard of danger, in the cause of right.
Moses for his own part was “very meek, above all men on the face of the earth.” It was for others he was bold, and in the cause of justice, not in self-assertion or for selfish gain. When the fear of God is the ruling principle, this is the material that makes men of God. These men are visibly successful in His cause. They are most perplexing to an enemy because they are immune to fear or favor. It is said that “every man has his price” but what is the price of a man who will give his life for a cause which he is not supporting for gain? That kind of man was Moses, and that kind of tribe was Levi.
Of course there were exceptions–all Levites were not as Moses. There were Nadab and Abihu, and Korah; there were Hophni and Phinehas, sons of Eli that were sons of Belial; Abiathar that turned after Adonijah, and some other blots upon the tribe. But, on the whole, the Levites were men who would risk their lives for God. He took them for His inheritance, and gave them Himself for theirs; and as long as they held by that position, there were none in Israel like them. They were the very men for their post. The incident which seems to have brought them to their position is found in the story of the golden calf, when the Levites did according to the word of Moses, and put 3,000 idolaters to the sword.
We see Phinehas with the javelin executing judgment on Zimri and Cozbi; the Levite that raised all Israel to avenge his wrongs in Gibeah; Samuel hewing Agag in pieces; Jehoiada taking vengeance on Athaliah; Ezra in his vigorous reformation after the captivity, and compelling the inhabitants of Jerusalem to part from the wives whom they had married contrary to law; John the Baptist denouncing the “generation of vipers,” with language such as no other except Christ ever used. What other tribe affords so many examples of stern, uncompromising attachment to the law?
See Moses with the golden calf, pounding it to dust in his deliberate fury, and not resting till he literally forced the idol down the throats of its worshippers. Is not this force of character a weapon with which men must not be trusted unless they are men of God? We see the reason for the diminishing of the strength of Simeon, who had not, like Levi, surrendered himself so early to the work of the Lord.
But we must observe that this character, valuable as it is for God’s service, has no merit for salvation. Though constituted the priest and representative of Israel, Levi needed a priest himself–a priest that must be more than man. And thus Moses says to him, “Let thy Thummim and thy Urim,” thy perfection and brightness (not thine own), “be with thine Holy One”–that is, the One that is accepted for thee, even Christ–“whom thou didst prove at Massah” (i.e. in Horeb, where the rock was smitten first), “and with whom thou didst strive over the waters of Meribah” (i. e. at Kadesh, where the rock was smitten last). The Smitten Rock must be Levi’s only hope.
Let us draw the character of Moses, the representative man of Levi, and see what kind of persons the true Levites ought to be. A goodly child even from his birth, “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, mighty in words and deeds,” perhaps even heir to the throne, he chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, and esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.”
To whom but Moses did the Lord ever appear in such a striking parable from nature–“in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush”? Follow him again to Egypt after forty years’ absence, now so great in the sight of Pharaoh and all his servants that he was dreaded like a king. Yet see him humbly receiving reproof and counsel from Jethro in the early days of his success. See him in the noblest act of all, as the true king and priest and shepherd, offering his life for Israel on the mount of God. Follow him as he bears their “cumbrance and their burden and their strife” for forty years in the wilderness–for “he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.”
What wonderful love for the people breathes in all his writings, and yet he himself might have taken the place of them! God gave him the offer: “I will smite them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and will make of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.” Yet he did not even take an inheritance for his children. “Concerning Moses…his sons were named of the tribe of Levi,” neither kings nor priests.
The princes of heaven and hell strove for his dead body, and he stood side by side with Elijah on the holy mountain to talk with the Saviour of “His exodus.” With him the Lord spoke “face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend.” And who but Moses first syllabled the name of Jesus (Joshua) in the Hebrew tongue? He first put together the name that Gabriel brought back from heaven after 1400 years.
What can be found anywhere to surpass the sublimity of the Mosaic records? In history, in poetry, in law, in prophecy, the world has not seen his like. And when he died the Lord buried him, and raised him again, as though He would not lose even for a time the bodily presence of His friend.
In heaven the heavenly harpers celebrate their victory in “the song of Moses, the servant of God,” as well as “the song of the Lamb.” Of all the twelve tribes of Israel there were none like Levi and Judah, and of Judah and Levi there are two glorified members inseparable on earth, inseparable beyond the grave–Moses, of the tribe of Levi, and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. If there be a man whom the Bible has put near to Christ, it is Moses. None were so dear to their brethren, and none so near to God. Yet for all this, the Word is quick to point out that while Moses was a great servant in the house, Christ is the Son over the house; while the law came by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. There is still an infinite gulf between the “man of God” and God who became man.
Yet in this union with the Lord we find the true glory of the tribe of Levi. “The Lord God is his inheritance.” The old lawless covenant with Simeon is exchanged for “the secret of the Lord.” The tribe separated from his brother is united to Jehovah. Herein is fulfilled the prediction of the mother of Levi when she bare him–a prophecy of closer union between the bridegroom and the bride–“Now will my husband be joined unto me;” and she called his name Levi–that is, joined. The true Levites are the men who have been made lonely among their brethren that they may live alone with Jehovah, and so dwell in the families of others that they may unite them to the family of God.