The Firstborn and Old Testament Traditions

The genealogical order makes the firstborn the first in line ahead of all the siblings, and the first in the line of succession to the father or the parent in a general sense. That is, the firstborn is second in line only to the father and mother as far as the family structure goes. And so, amongst the siblings, the firstborn is premier. They tend to be the most talented amongst the siblings for most families. Jacob said of his firstborn, “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.”

When it came to portioning out the father’s inheritance, the patriarchal observances were that the firstborn received a double portion as Jacob demonstrated when he gave Joseph a double portion of Abrahamic legacy. Jacob adopted the first two sons of Joseph as separate and independent tribe in Israel. He set them in the place of Simeon and Levi whom Jacob scattered over the other tribes. And in their place, Jacob set Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph and thus kept intact the twelve sons. Jacob installed Joseph as the firstborn in the place of Reuben, the premier firstborn. Reuben was disqualified not due to Jacob’s love for Rachel, Joseph’s mother, in place of Reuben who mother Leah struggle to receive any attention form Jacob for as long as Rachel was alive. Reuben was and stripped of his firstborn right because he committed adultery with his own father’s wife.

This last point becomes rather significant when one considers that Moses commanded the Israelites not to deny the firstborn the right to the double portion of the father’s inheritance, especially when that firstborn, the premier firstborn is from the wife who is least loved. The firstborn is the only one that has such privilege. And yes, Jacob existed before the law so, whatever Moses said could not apply to Jacob’s actions. That is a point well noted, yet it should not escape our further notice that Jacob saw his son Reuben as the first of his might way before Joseph was born, this in spite of Jacob loving Joseph more than he loved any of the other sons. It must not also escape us that Joseph in spite of being a dreamer created a reputation for himself the led to him becoming the second in command in Egypt, the greatest power on earth during the patriarchal times.

We must no miss the fact that Jacob took the firstborn right from his twin brother Esau on oath. I will take a free reign here and assume that Jacob valued the importance of the firstborn rights so much that he not only coveted it, but he acted when the first the opportunity presented itself. Jacob did not hesitate to put himself ahead of his brother. Coupled with Moses’ command, one can sufficiently appreciate Jacob’s own attitude on how important the rights of the firstborn meant to him and therefore as a patriarch his refusal to hand down the family leadership to Reuben, the premier firstborn, who defiled and disgraced himself. Instead, Jacob gives that right to Joseph who was the least of the four firstborns. As it will be discussed later, Joseph displayed all the qualities of the premier firstborn for which Reuben, the one to whom that right belonged to by the natural order of things and the very first of the sons by birth order, was found to woefully lacking.

It is against these backgrounds that we examine the importance of the firstborn as the discussed in the scriptures. The family is the most important unit in God’s plan for man to increase and multiply and to meet his purpose and vision. Most importantly, that the father and mother bound as one unit and spirit would create a loving environment where godly children or offsprings are raised to fear and love God. The union of a man and his wife thus has been designed by God for man to be fruitful, to multiply in kind and hold dominion over everything that God had made. The first child in the family is thus the first in line, to benefit from this design of God. The firstborn thus can by all measure become a champion in man’s effort to meet God’s outlined will for man.

Isaac the son God had promised to give Abraham and Sarah. Ishmael was the first son through Hagar and Abraham because the waiting for God got to be too long and the chosen vessels God decided to take matters into their own hands. Abraham was not particularly thrilled when his wife, Sarah, asked for that her maid Hagar and the son she bore to Abraham be sent away and not share in Abraham’s inheritance. Not know exactly what to do, Abraham hesitated to have his son, his very first son sent away, but if God assures him that Ishmael will also be great, except that the promised covenant will be established through the line of Isaac who was also Abraham’s firstborn through his with Sarah. With Ishmael out of the picture, it would seem that conflict had been averted. But then, Isaac prays for God to bless him and Rebekah with children, and they had twin boys. In trying to setup or continue with the family traditions, Isaac sought to pass on the family legacy to the next successor in line, his firstborn, Esau. Isaac sought to may Esau lord over all his relations and bless him with plenty and abundance.

The problem was, Esau had traded his birthright to his brother Jacob who wanted that right so badly he was willing to do anything to acquire it. The rights of the firstborn put the holder in position number one ahead of all the other siblings because, “17… he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.” (Deuteronomy 21:17 ESV).

Jacob will elaborate on firstborn’s birthright when he spoke of his premier son Reuben,

““… you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power."” (Gen 49:3, ESV)

But Reuben like his uncle Esau did not prove themselves worthy holders of the rights for the firstborn even though they were the first to be born. Why was it important that Esau and his nephew, Reuben, be meritorious of the birthrights and the rights of the firstborn? Jacob gave the inheritance of the firstborn to Joseph, the priesthood to Levi and the royalty to Judah. What dignitary in the time of the patriarch held a status as a priest and a king?

As the exodus set out on their way to the land of Canaan from Egypt, in the thirteenth chapter of Exodus, God commanded Moses the following, “2“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”” (Exodus 13:2 ESV) 

This set aside the firstborns to God. Later on in Numbers the third chapter, God had the firstborn males numbered and the Levites also numbered, and God chose the Levites to stand in the place of the firstborns and the people of Israel to minister to the people before God. Exodus 32 gives an explanation to why God made this swap. God appointed Aaron as the chief priest and selected the Levites to help Aaron and his descendants to minister before God. This setup the Levitical priesthood. This can only suggest to us the importance of the firstborns and what value they had to God, for it seems God would have used the firstborns for roles in ministry before him.

The basis that led to drawing this kind of conclusion are the actions of Isaac and Jacob towards their respective families. Isaac made his firstborn lord overall including the possession of any other blessings. The firstborn according to Jacob possessed distinctions that none of the siblings have. Reuben alone, but for his folly, was the prime of the father’s strength, Reuben possessed the preeminence in dignity and power. Dignity, self-esteem, respectability and reputation that others see and acknowledge. Joseph, the last of Jacob’s firstborns exemplified that in every sense of the word. Also, when it came to handling and wheeling power, Joseph was guided his god-fearing approach to all matters in his life. The caliber of Joseph as a firstborn exemplified these qualities. In the case of Esau, he thrashed the value of the preeminence of his dignity and power for a one course meal. Reuben define himself not as a man of dignity, but as a covenant breaker who lacked sense. King Solomon described adulterer as, “He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.” (Proverbs 6:32, ESV). Reuben run to commit adultery whereas his younger brother Joseph run away from the same temptation.

Melchizedek met Abraham in Genesis fourteen after Abraham had fought and freed his nephew Lot from the enemy. Melchizedek was a priest of God and also the king of Salem, or the king of Peace. Melchizedek is therefore the only prominent dignitary and representative of God to ever be encountered by any of the patriarchs. As such I would think the standard and qualities expected of firstborns like both Esau and Reuben would be quite high. And in fact, this is exactly what we find in Jesus Christ. For Jesus, the standard was to be perfect as the Heavenly Father.

In Conclusion then of the definition of the firstborn culminates not simply the opening of the mother's womb, but also the capacity to manifest superiority in character consistent with the nature of God being preeminent in leadership dominated by love, kindness  and forgiveness as God would.