Oh Brother!
When reading through our Bibles it is interesting to note how the actions of certain brothers throughout the history of the Children of Israel have had far reaching effects – spreading even to current times.
The first brothers recorded in the Bible were of course Cain and Abel. Due to the jealousy of Cain, when his brother’s offering was more pleasing to the Lord, Abel became the first recorded person to die. The ‘Way of Cain’ is that which takes us away from God. His actions created a fork in the road, symbolising the choice of good or evil.
Isaac and Ishmael were half-brothers. Ishmael, the elder, was presumptuous and considered himself the heir, but Isaac was the son of promise, showing that the first born is not always God’s choice. And Isaac was born of the Spirit – or desire of the Lord, whereas Ishmael was born out of doubt – Sarah could not believe that she and Abraham could bring forth the promised son, so she gave her handmaid Hagar to Abraham so he could have children by her. But God’s word is paramount!
From Isaac and Rebecca came brothers Jacob and Esau. These brothers fought each other in Rebecca’s womb, and she was told that two nations were within her. Esau was the first born, but he sold his birthright to Jacob one day when he came home hungry – for some food. Nevertheless, Jacob still had to deceive his father to obtain the blessing and again this shows a lack of faith in God’s word. It also created enmity between the brothers. Truly, when we try to ‘help’ God, we end up with more problems…!
Jacob of course had 12 sons. Of the initial 11 sons, Joseph, the youngest, was envied by his brothers because he was Jacob’s favourite, being the son of his preferred wife, Rachael. The situation was not helped when Joseph related his dreams to his brothers, because they indicated he would rise into a higher position than they. This displeased them greatly, and they decided to get rid of him.
The outcome of the brothers’ actions was two-fold in that Joseph was initially sold into slavery, and, deceiving their father into thinking Joseph had been devoured by a wolf, Jacob was heartbroken. But the Lord God – always many steps ahead of us – gave Jacob another son by Rachael called Benjamin. This consoled Jacob, but meanwhile, Joseph’s God-sent dreams came true, for he did, as we know, become lifted up to a very high position – Pharaoh’s second in command! And his brothers had to bow down to him! Of course, they didn’t realise it was Joseph at the time until he revealed himself to them.
A whole lot of lessons were learned here by all the brothers. In Benjamin, the brothers had resolved to take great care of him because of the great sorrow their father experienced through Joseph’s loss. In Joseph, well, he perceived that the Lord had not only looked after him throughout his time in Pharaoh’s prison but had used him to preserve his whole family from the great famine – and not only them, but Egypt itself, and others who would have come to Egypt to buy grain. So, Joseph forgave his brothers, embraced his new brother, and was reunited with his father.
These sons of Jacob also produced trail blazing brothers. Two sets in particular. The first being the offspring of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar. Pharez and Zarah were their names. Zarah was the son of the red hand – at the birth, he put out his hand and the midwife put a scarlet cord around the wrist to indicate he was the first born. But his brother actually came out first. This was a very strange occurrence, and the outcome would not be fully understood until many years later, when the throne of King David was transferred to the British Isles and Ireland – whereby both the blood lines of Pharez and Zarah were joined.
Zarah would have no doubt felt pretty miffed at the occurrence at his birth, and as Pharez would have been given special treatment, this may have caused ill feeling. It seems that later, his descendants along with the children of Dan, went off and left the bulk of the Children of Israel – off on their own adventure and again, this was all in accordance with God’s plan. These descendants of Zarah divided into two, and one branch ended up in Ireland, creating their own Kingly dynasty, while the others became the peoples of Troy, from where Brutus the Trojan eventually made his way to the Isles of the West, landing at Totnes in Devon, on the South Coast of the British Isles.
Joseph had two sons named Ephraim and Manasseh. Now Manasseh was the first born and Ephraim the younger. But in giving his grandsons the blessing, Jacob crossed his hands, and put the younger boy above the elder. Joseph was disturbed at this action, but Jacob assured Joseph, Manasseh would become a great people – but that his younger brother would be greater…
Again, Manasseh would have been somewhat put out by this, and it is interesting to consider how things developed over much later years. For we understand that the peoples descended from Ephraim make up the bulk of the indigenous British peoples, Canada and other kindred lands, with Manasseh in the United States of America. Both are – or were – a great people, and Britain of course became an Empire (now a Commonwealth). But Manasseh/America decided to go off on their own – wanting to be completely independent of Ephraim/Britain – even to the extent of the Throne of David that dwells in our own land. I remember growing up in the late 60’s early 70’s, whereby everything American was bigger and better! The spirit of Manasseh trying to prove himself better than Ephraim/Britain?
This is not a criticism of America, because as we have seen, God has always mapped out the pathways of His people – we all have our part to play. And indeed, this Ephraim/Manasseh syndrome is kind of being played out today within our own Royal family. Princes William and Harry! Harry, the younger brother, has taken the huff and gone off to America with his American bride, and has exuded great jealousy over his elder brother, and heir to the Throne, William. This is an exact opposite to Edward and Mrs Simpson – the divorced American woman who he – Edward – abdicated the Throne for – causing his younger brother, Prince George, to become King. In all of this we have to understand that whatever WE try to do, to impose our will upon a given situation, the Lord had already known all about it, and there is a reason for it. King George – our late Queen’s father – was the right person for that time. Just as Queen Elizabeth was the also right person – remember we only see things from our own finite perception, whereas Almighty God in His infinite all-encompassing mind, knows ALL things from the beginning to the end – and beyond.
During the time of the first King of Israel – Saul – David loved Saul’s son Jonathan like a brother. They were kindred spirits. Jonathan saved David several times from Saul’s jealous rages where he could have been killed.
I’ve often thought it very sad that Jonathan had to die. David would have been devastated, I’m sure. And you know this bond seems to have tied the houses of Benjamin and David together over the years. Jonathan did have a son who was lame, and when David found this out after becoming King, he had Mephibosheth brought to him, and said that he would always eat bread at his table.
When the House of Israel and the House of Judah split in two, it was Benjamin that remained loyal to Judah, and I believe this is because of the bond that developed between David and Jonathan. And to that end, we remember that when our lovely Lord Jesus Christ walked this earth, most of His disciples were of Benjamin. This was all part of God’s plan.
If we consider Joseph and his brothers, reunited in Egypt – for the betterment, not only of Jacob and his family, but for other nations too, we can expect that ultimately, all the brothers will indeed be united. Is not the Lord Jesus Christ, our elder brother? Are we not his younger brothers and sisters? Truly the time is coming when all who love Him will be reunited with Him, in His Holy Kingdom.
