Original: August 2, 2007
Cancun, Mexico
3 "Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Genesis 49:3
17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him. Deuteronomy 21:17
In October of 2006 we buried my 93-year-old grandfather and the patriarch of the line of James Ramos men. To honor the strength of that name, on March 15, 1992 we asked him to cut our son James’ umbilical chord. My son James is the fourth James Ramos in our line and recently told me that he believed naming his son James (number 5) is not an option when he begins his family.
My grandpa was born the eighth child out of out of a Portuguese-American family of nine children. Because of the tragic fire death of his oldest brother, Manuel, my grandpa was the only Ramos male to carry on the family name to future generations, which he did through my dad (the only son), my brother (who did not have sons) and myself who went three for three (Shanna gets some credit!). The bottom line in our family is that “Ramos” represents the strength of our Portuguese lineage and presents the memory of my grandpa and his legacy.
In this passage Israel (Jacob) is blessing his sons as one of his last acts on earth. Reuben is the first born and as Israel calls him, the “beginning of (his) strength.” Strength here can be taken as synonymous to legacy, virility, or heritage. In Deuteronomy 21:l6-17 we read that even the first-born male of an “unloved” wife deserves a double portion of honor by his position as the first-born and first fruits of a man.
At the time of writing this (August 2, 2007) we have some friends who have been married a decade still have not started their family. When questioned, the husband asked me why I thought they should begin a family and my answer was simply, “to leave a legacy.” Since I do not believe it is biblical for the woman to leave a lineage of their family name the burden falls upon the man with the first-born male being the representation of virility and strength to his lineage.
When God smote Egypt in order to set the Israelites free, his last decisive act was to kill the legacy of Egypt represented by the first-born male population (Psalm 78:51, 105:36). The first-born is not only a representation of strength, but from a psychological point of view, must be strong in order to survive the failures and expectations of the parents as they begin a new family! Often times first born males are over achievers because they were pushed to extreme measures by over zealous parents.
Trust me. I know first hand!
So does my son!
We are the hardest on and the most demanding of our son, James. I will be the first to admit it. When he asks why we (I) are so hard on him I simply tell him that he is in the position of greater honor and subsequent blessing as he carries his “James Ramos” strength to future generations. He has owned this power of his name preferring that people to simply call him “Quatro” or “IV” (eye-vie) instead of James. He even has “Ramos IV” on his varsity letterman’s jacket! Just as I plan to push him and experiment with him (by default of course), I also plan to give him the greater honor as the first representation of my strength and legacy.
He carries the strength of James because he is our first born son and as such receives “a double share of all (his dad) has” (17).
