Birthright
A “double portion” of the paternal property was allotted by a birthright of the firstborn son, under the Mosaic law. The “double portion” was the right of the firstborn, even if he were the child of a less favored wife. (Deut. 21:15-17)
The blessing of the firstborn had a basis even in Genesis. In Genesis 49 Jacob called his sons, and began the blessing with his firstborn. The firstborn son was the rightful successor of his father’s heritage. So it was a cherished heritage to be in the lineage of Abraham, and receive the promise to bless all the families of the earth.
The sacred force of this custom carried forward to Jesus. He is “the firstborn among many brethren“ (Rom. 8:29), and “the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.“ (Col. 1:18)
In the firstborn, the evidence of God’s protection during the 10th plague was apparent. Later God arranged to exchange them for the tribe of Levi (Num. 3:11-13). The exchange was solemnized by the redemption price of 5 shekels each.
However, in several important cases, God specially favored the younger above the firstborn. It seems that in much of what God has arranged, the exception to a general rule illustrates his higher principles. Here are some examples.
ABEL
Adam and Eve, as our first parents, were given a heritage to fill the earth and have dominion over its fruitage. They could have continued in this heritage, but they lost the privilege and their lives. But they did receive the promise that the seed of the woman would bruise Satan. This implied the end of the curse.
Their firstborn was Cain, their second Abel. We can only assume both were instructed by their father, Adam, in the duty of worship of their Creator. Each brought the firstfruits of his labors. Cain, as a husbandman, offered the fruits of the field; Abel, as a shepherd, fatlings of his flock. God was pleased to accept the offering of Abel, but not that of his brother. Paul says Abel’s better offering demonstrated faith on Abel’s part (Heb. 11:4).
Faith implies a previous revelation: it comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. It is probable that there was some command of God, concerning the rite of sacrifice, with which Abel complied. The “more excellent sacrifice” was the firstlings of his flock. This was a confession that his sins deserved death, and the expression of a desire to share the benefits of the great atonement that, in the fullness of time, should be presented to God for the sin of man.
There are two significant aspects to the malice of Cain. First, rather than any general act of jealousy, he seems to pick up on the nature of Abel’s blood sacrifice and draw his brother’s own blood, making him his victim. In this he only compounded his guilt, not trusting in a provided victim to expiate his own sins.
Next, when queried by God, he answers, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Though the word “keeper” is not the same as used in verse 2 to describe Abel as a shepherd, it is used to describe a shepherd in I Samuel 17:20. The word means “to hedge about, to guard.” Land is cultivated, but sheep are guarded. He was denying any identification with the works of Abel.
By Cain’s sin, he disinherited himself from the line of the promised seed. Abel became a picture of the faithful seed, though God used others to perpetuate the lineage because of his early death (Gen. 4:25).
SHEM
Shem, the son of Noah, was another exception. He is often considered the firstborn, for he is mentioned first in six passages as: Shem, Ham and Japeth. However, he was actually second born. The correct birth order was: Japeth, Shem, Ham. Here is the evidence.
In Genesis 5:32 we read, “Noah was 500 years old and Noah begat Shem, Ham and Japheth,” It is obvious that they were not all begotten or born in that year, for they were not triplets. The text means his children began to be born in that year. His oldest son was born that year.
According to Genesis 7:11 the flood came upon the earth just 100 years later during Noah’s 600th year. However Shem was not 100 till 2 years after the flood (Gen. 11:10). This means he was born in the 502nd year of Noah’s life. An older brother was born in the 500th year of Noah. This older brother was not Ham, for in Genesis 9:24 he is called Noah’s “younger” son. Therefore Japheth must have been first. Japheth is also called the “elder” in Genesis 9:21. So the order is Japheth, Shem, Ham. The prominence of Shem seems connected with his initiative of faith and honor in his act of covering his father’s shame in Genesis 9:20-27.
Shem was given the unique privilege of being one of only two links between Adam and the first seed of the Abrahamic covenant. Methuselah, in his first 243 years, was contemporary with Adam, and had ample opportunity to be grounded in the hope for the seed. Shem lived his first 98 years contemporarily with Methuselah, until the year of the flood. He had enough time to hear Methuselah’s firsthand account of his experience with the first created couple. Shem also lived to Abraham’s 150th year, long enough to see Abraham’s seed, Isaac, who was then 50, and married to Rebekah for 10 years. Jewish tradition claims Shem was Melchizedek, to whom Abraham paid tithes.
All this was his special privilege of faith, though Shem was the second born. God chose the second born for the heritage of faith, when faith rose to the opportunity.
ABRAHAM
Consider Abraham with whom God chose to establish a special birthright promise. Abraham himself was one of three children.
“Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.” (Gen. 11:26-27)
Like the listing of Noah’s family, Abraham is listed first, but he was not the firstborn.
Terah began his family when he was 70. He lived for 205 years. Therefore his oldest son would have been 135 when he died. Yet the account says Abraham was only 75 when he departed from Haran after his father’s death, on his way to Canaan. So he had an older brother. Which of the two brothers was the firstborn we cannot be sure, but we can make a likely determination. His brother Haran had two children, Lot and Milcha. He then died in Ur. The other brother, Nahor, married Haran’s daughter, Milcha. This suggests that Nahor was the youngest and close to a generation younger than his oldest brother, for his brother’s daughter was close to his own age.
The father, Terah, then moved to the city of Haran (named after another ancestor whose name was Haran) with his two sons, Abraham and Nahor, their wives, Sarah and Milcha, and the orphaned Lot. After Terah’s death Abraham, Sarah and Lot moved to Canaan. From these facts, we infer that Abraham was the second born, and certainly not the firstborn.
The promises to Abraham for his great act of faith are very familiar to us. Yet he lacked children by his wife Sarah for many years. He did, however, have a son by his concubine, Hagar, when he was 86 (Gen. 16:15-16).
ISAAC
Abraham had great hopes in this seed to fulfill God’s promise. In due time Sarah bore him Isaac (Gen. 21:2-5). While Isaac was the firstborn to Sarah, he was the second born to Abraham. The children were raised in the same home and Abraham had great expectations for his firstborn, Ishmael.
Sarah however laid hold on an element of faith.
“Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son. (NIV, because it concerned his son.)” (Gen. 21:9-11)
The seed had to be of the right mother. In this respect Sarah is memorialized in Hebrews 11:11 for her faith “to conceive seed … because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Later, God commended Abraham for his faith in offering up Isaac (Heb. 11:17-19). Certainly Isaac’s faith is shown in submitting to the test of Abraham’s knife on Moriah.
JACOB
When Isaac came of age, after his mother’s death, he married Rebekah. She was a granddaughter of Isaac’s uncle Nahor. She bore Isaac twins. The first to be born was Esau who was covered with red hair; the other was Jacob who was born holding Esau’s heel. Even while still expecting, Rebekah received a vision from the Lord that the elder would serve the younger (Gen. 25:23).
When the boys were grown, Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentils. The older had less respect unto the promise. Rebekah discerned this and arranged for Isaac to receive the first blessing as Jacob was dying. Again it was the mother’s vision that saw that the second born’s faith should be rewarded. This switch caused much dissension between the brothers, but in time they reconciled in the land of Seir.
Jacob also married from Nahor’s house. He married Rachel, who was a great granddaughter of Nahor. He received Leah, then served a total of 14 years to Laban for the sake of Rachel. He had a concubine for each wife, however, Rachel was always the intended bride.
JOSEPH
Rachel was barren for many years. Yet in the end, Jacob had 12 sons and 1 daughter named Dinah. The last and youngest children were by Rachel: Joseph and finally Benjamin. Rachel died while bearing Benjamin.
Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn, and Jacob acknowledges this in Genesis 49. But Reuben lacked something of parental honor. He defiled his father’s bed by lying with his father’s concubine, Bilhah. 1 Chronicles 5:1-2 (NIV) explains the consequences.
“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, and though Judah was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler came from him, the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph.”
This is a direct reference to the blessings bestowed by Jacob in Genesis 49. The Chief Ruler (Jesus) would come of Judah, but the birthright would go to the lineage of Joseph, as the son of his intended wife, even though he was nearly the last son.
It was Joseph who in faith laid hold on the reality of his early dreams of sheaves of wheat. He faithfully served Potiphar’s house and patiently served an undeserved prison term. He then faithfully served Pharaoh’s domain and was promoted to share the very throne of Egypt. He bore no grudge toward his brethren who sold him to slavery and blessed his father’s house.
So his father gave him the firstborn’s portion, though he was nearly the last born. This procedure stands in stark contrast to the guideline of Deuteronomy 21:15-17, for Joseph was the son of the second wife who was loved more. It was a higher rule of faith that took precedence over the letter of the law.
The blessing of Jacob takes an interesting departure from the norm. As pertains to the seed of Abraham, he says Shiloh would be of Judah, but as pertains to the double portion of land, it belonged to Joseph. Indeed it was so. Joseph was not given a portion of the land of Canaan. But because his two sons each received a portion, Joseph really received a double portion. Because there were not portions for Joseph and Levi, there were still 12 portions after the division of the land.
EPHRAIM
Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian wife named Asenath (Gen. 41:45). She bore him two sons, Manasseh first, then Ephraim. As Jacob, or as he is now called, Israel, is about to die, a tender scene occurs in Genesis 48:1-2, 8-22 (Moffatt).
“Israel stretched his right hand out and laid it on the head of Ephraim the younger boy, and put his left on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands intentionally, as Manasseh was the first-born.”
Jacob, on this death bed, memorializes his gratitude for being blessed as the second born. He sees by faith that God would bless the younger of his grandchildren, and so it was. In time Ephraim far exceeded Manasseh in numbers after the settlement of Canaan.
MOSES
Moses was the one by whose hand the Hebrews were delivered from Egypt. Although he rose to the throne of Egypt, we read,
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Heb. 11:24-25)
God raised Moses as a deliverer and would later raise to Israel another deliverer like, but greater than Moses. But Moses was not the firstborn. He was the second brother. Miriam was the firstborn daughter, Aaron the firstborn son, followed by Moses. The deliverer would be the second son rather than the first. Aaron served as Moses’ spokesman and priest, but not deliverer.
It was Moses’ faith that was honored. By faith he chose to leave the house of Pharaoh after 40 years. His faith endured another 40 years in the wilderness with his father-in-law, Jethro. At 80 his faith guided his people for another 40 years until he died at 120 years.
Was there any other reason God arranged to favor Abel before Cain, Shem before Japheth, Isaac before Ishmael, Jacob before Esau, Judah and Joseph before Reuben, Ephraim before Manasseh, and Moses before Aaron?
We can suppose there were at least two reasons. Israel was God’s firstborn:
“Thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.” (Exod. 4:22-23).
God foresaw their lack of faith to fulfill all that would be required of his chosen nation. The Gentiles were his second earthly sons. They were grafted into the places where the first branches were broken off (Matt. 21:43; Acts 15:14; Rom. 11:17).
The firstborn who were broken off are not forgotten and will be grafted in again to the root, the Abrahamic promise. But their inheritance will be earthly. The second born’s portion is spiritual.
Another reason is that God arranged a grand type of the two Adams. The first Adam was God’s first created son on earth. Adam lost his earthly birthright through disobedience. It would be God’s second son on earth (though created first in the heavens), who would receive the birthright and redeem the purchased possession. Through the second Adam, the “firstborn” and his family will return to its inheritance.
Paul notes this unique exchange in the expected order.
“The first Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.” (I Cor. 15:45-46 NAS)
How much higher are God’s ways and thoughts than ours!
– Jerry Leslie