Deuteronomy 21:15 – 17 “If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son, when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint the son of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife.
Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.”
INHERITANCES!!!! There is no end to the problems when an estate is to be settled. But here God is making things quite clear. A first born son deserves a double portion of the inheritance, whether or not his father loves that boy’s mother. There is something very special about first born children and animals. Once one baby comes, who knows whether or not there will be more? First born sons had to be redeemed by blood sacrifices at the temple.
A child has no control over the relationship between his father and his mother. Even if a child is the result of rape, the child is still innocent of any wrong – doing and should be loved and cared for. A father who chooses to play favorites on the basis of his relationship with a child’s mother does great wrong to the child and leaves scars that will last a lifetime. A first born son is not rubbish to be thrown away as soon as the favorite wife also delivers a son.
APPLICATION: God is passionately interested in the way we treat our spouses and children. Here God is trying to protect any boy or man whose father might shun him because the father dislikes the man’s mother.
Several years ago, we knew someone whose mother was the second wife to his father. Our friend’s father had several children by the first wife and then divorced her, marrying again. The children of the first marriage wanted nothing to do with their father or their half – siblings, even though those children were not responsible for the problem. This poor family became fractured, with the children suffering the most.
Despite the advent of Christianity, polygamy is still present in many parts of Africa. We once watched an un – favorite wife stand in the midday sun for 90 minutes, waiting for her husband to decide to pay school fees for the children he had fathered with her. At the same time, a second older wife sat in the house a virtual prisoner while a third and younger wife was ensconced in a flat across town. The third wife had already born eight children and we wondered if she was afraid to stop bearing children for fear of rejection by her husband. Yet another friend’s progress in school was halted when his father refused to pay for the exam fees for his high school leaving exams after the results for the first time in which he wrote had been discarded by the West African Exams Council. (His mother was a fourth – and un – favorite – wife.)
God does not play favorites but loves all of us equally. The question for each one of us is how do we treat others? Jesus addressed this problem with his followers this way:
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:32-36)
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for each of us individually. Lord, help us to demonstrate Your love to others, even to those whom we do not like, and especially to those who are trying to be our enemies. Help us to show the same mercy to others that You have shown to us. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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