Way of the Gaurd
And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this 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.
Genesis 37:21-22
And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
Genesis 42:21-22
And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
38 And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
Genesis 42:37-38
And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance
Genesis 48:5-6
On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be Elizur the son of Shedeur.
Numbers 2:10
And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.
32 We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be our's.
Numbers 32:31-32
Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
2 For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's:)
1 Chronicles 5:1-2
Next up comes Reuben and his inhabitants. It's funny how the Lord works, is it not. He's got a rather well-developed sense of fairness, justice, and judgement along with all his righteousness. Let's see how it all went down. The issue began long before Joseph, back with Rachel and Leah's communal fighting over who's best in the house. Reuben, it seems, went out and brought home a highly prized thing to give to his mother, thus deepening the rivalry between the two sister wives. Now, I'm not saying that an innocent gift is a bad thing, but what came definitely was. Not content with that, Reuben also took to the habit of wandering the house at all hours, even going so far as making his way into his father's bed. That doesn't mean he was tired, no. Rather, he wanted Jacob's place so bad he would do almost anything for it.
Then at last, along came Joseph that dreamer from the Lord, who was just the final straw. When all the brother's ganged up on him to slay his life, Reuben was right there to suggest a dark pit, a horrific tale, and some bitter end. It seemed though that retribution would not be long in coming, though perhaps for Joseph it was. The day came when there was no food in the land. The situation was so bad the brothers despaired even of life, but not before making one last desperate long-distance trip on down to no other than Joseph. Even there though would the situation find them. First there was the matter of another brother being held captive and then lastly the matter of the cup in the bag of the youngest. You can well imagine Reuben's distress over all this. For once in his life, the situation was entirely out of his control. He does the next best thing though, by offering up his life in exchange for the others to his father, who found nothing funny about it at all. Notice though what would come next. The power of the cup is a deep, dark one indeed if misused or even mishandled. Reuben, it seems, had done both. As a result, the cup had turned unto him a curse and the blessing thereof nearly gone. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord. Remember, it may be in earthly hands for now but at the end of the day it won't be for long not when the source of all power is God.
Perhaps you've heard how that some men's sins are open before the judgment and some after. The issue remains though, what of his life pledged for surety against all chance and then too the power of the cup used much against his will. On this issue, like no other, the Lord and Jacob would both agree. The final judgement rested with the Lord. Beyond that though, his life pledged for surety would be. Small wonder then you see the tribe again pitched on the south side of the camp, guarding the rear against Pharoah, the shifting sands behind them, and the hot desert sun. Should any other issues arise, as later seen with a move-on into Gad, then both of them would serve together in all spiritual matters of the house. So too, would the two be gifted Gilead, right there in the center of the north, where the center of all action came. The only thing required of them then was to bear their arms before the Lord. The cup it seemed had struck at last with the surety thereof. The cup itself though had been taken by his brother as Reuben soon found.