Author: barbaramcox

I am the author of The Step-Father’s Step-Son. The book is available through Family Matters Publishing at www.stepfathersstepson.com and Amazon.com. The book covers subjects such as: adultery, family, relationships, and parenting. The book is written primarily for the first family and the children of the parents of the first family.

Who will bury you when you die?

There are many men that will be buried by their oldest daughter with their second wife instead of by their firstborn son with their first wife. You might wonder how this could possibly happen. Well, all that is required is some adultery –  the father abandons his first family for his second wife and her children! Do you want your second wife’s oldest daughter to write your obituary and fail to mention that you have a firstborn son with your first wife? Do you want your firstborn son to be sitting in the back row of chairs with the “visitors” instead of in the front row at your funeral? If a man permits this to happen, this will be very pleasing to the second wife and her oldest daughter because they will know wholeheartedly that they came first in this man’s life. Unfortunately, this is a grievous mistake for a father to make – this second family must never be permitted to replace a man’s first family! A man that keeps his family united will not only be blessed on earth, but also will be blessed in heaven. Save the first family! Put your second family into their proper place – SECOND!

Jacob never abandoned his firstborn son with Rachel for Leah, his second wife. In the end, it was Joseph, Jacob’s firstborn son with his first wife, that prepared his burial. Here is how it happened…

“And Joseph fell upon his father’s face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days (seventy days). And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now, I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again. And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 50:1-7)

 

Cornerstones suffer much for their families

“And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him and his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” (Genesis 50:16-20)

It is unfortunate that Jacob had to instruct his own adult sons to go to Joseph and apologize for what they did.  I think that there are many children of second families that need to apologize to the cornerstones of the family.

The children of the first family suffer much. Many are aborted, some are killed, and others are abused and abandoned. But there are some that are fortunate enough to have patient, forgiving, and loving parents that do not let anyone separate their family! We need more parents like these. Save the first family!

Jesus said to his disciples, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 10:6-7)

Go to the children of the second family and explain to them the importance of the cornerstones of your family! Put your family back together and demonstrate their importance – your perception will change and you will taste the kingdom of heaven on earth. Every child deserves the love of a mother and a father. Do not let anyone separate your family!

Joseph’s “issue”

“And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.” (Genesis 48:1)

Jacob said to the firstborn son of his first wife, “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. And thy issue, which thou beggetest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.” (Genesis 48: 5-6)

“The angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” (Genesis 48:16)

“And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.” (Genesis 48:21)

The land of Israel belongs to Joseph as the primary heir, Benjamin as the secondary heir, and their issue. It does not belong to the children of Jacob’s second family with Leah.

According to “dictionary.law.com”, the word issue means, “…It does not mean all heirs, but only the direct bloodline.” According to Genesis 48:6, issue means Joseph, and then his children and his children’s children. The direct bloodline comes from Rachel and her children with Jacob. These are the children of Rachel and Jacob with Joseph being the firstborn of Jacob’s first wife.

Land belongs to the firstborn children of the first wife and not to the children of the second wife and his children with her or the second husband and her children with him. Loose property including money can be split among all heirs, but land stays with the direct bloodline only. The first family and the children of the first family are the heirs to land.

The land of Israel belongs to Joseph and his issue, Ephraim and Manasseh. Israel said that God would bring Joseph again to the land of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac. The land belongs to the first family! Save the first family!

 

 

Sons of Jacob – listen to Israel your father: Part VI

“Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father.” (Genesis 49:1-2)

Benjamin is Rachel’s second son, Jacob’s second son with Rachel (his first wife), and Jacob’s twelfth son in birth order.

“Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour his prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.” (Genesis 49:27)

Benjamin is the youngest son in birth order within Jacob’s family. He grew up among some very selfish half-brothers; half-brothers that we know were more than willing to kill to get what they wanted. As a result, he took things. Most likely the things that he took were actually his, but were claimed by Jacob’s second family because these men were born first and not last. Joseph was not there to confide in or to protect him. His mother died and most likely it was Leah that took care of him. We know that she too was very selfish and wanted Jacob for herself. As a result, this young man grew up in very confusing circumstances.

In looking at Jacob’s family and even Abraham’s family, the most important lesson to learn here is that it is best for a man to have one wife and one wife only. Simple families are much less stressful than complex families. But the only way for a man to keep his generations perfect and to keep his family together even after his death is to keep his first family first. Jacob was not able to do this. He was not the one that eliminated his first family from his life. It was Joseph’s half brothers that eliminated Joseph, the cornerstone of their father’s family. For this reason, Jacob was able to come back to his father. It is an unfortunate situation when a man eliminates the children of his first wife in order to move in with and marry another woman. In this situation, the father is the one that has divided his own family. This decision is very damaging to the man’s family and to the children of his first family. In this scenario, the man is purposely putting his second family first and his first family last! This is backward in God’s family plan. Save the first family!

 

Sons of Jacob – listen to your father Israel: Part V

“Jacob called unto his sons, and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father.” (Genesis 40:1-2)

Joseph was Rachel’s firstborn son and Jacob’s eleventh son, but his firstborn son with his first wife.

” Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel). Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.” (Genesis 49:22-26)

Joseph is the son that was made strong by the God of Jacob, his father. He is the “stone” or cornerstone of Jacob’s entire family – his role is a very important one. Joseph survived the trials created by the children of Jacob’s second family. In order for him to have survived, he had to leave his cruel brothers in order to live; otherwise, they most likely would have killed him. He had to live separately from them! Out of all of the twelve tribes of Israel, this is the one that we should be following. Joseph is Rachel’s first born son and Jacob’s firstborn son with his wife, Rachel. Strength comes by keeping the first family first. Our men cannot be strong without God and when they move in with their second wife, they leave God behind also. This is where the strength of our tribes or nations comes from – not from the second family, but instead the first family. Save the first family! Keep your first family first always and watch as God blesses you!