Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the Sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Welcome back, gentlemen. All week this week, I'll be giving you some of my favorite quotes and highlights from Joby's new book out now called Stand Firm and Act Like Men, Becoming the Man You Were Created to Be instead of Who the World Says You Are. And we'll be digging into the scriptural truths therein. And here's one of my favorite quotes from the introduction of the book. There's nothing more dangerous in this world than an insecure, ungrounded man. Now, that short quote may have hit a few of you between the eyes because you know deep down this is referring to you. You might overcompensate to keep up the facade of someone that is secure and confident, but you're just not. You might think you're doing a good job of hiding the fact that you're a rudderless ship, but we can all see you moving wherever the tide takes you. And look, guys, if you're insecure and ungrounded, Joby is right. You're dangerous. The Bible's actually replete with warnings against this. So Proverbs 25, 28, a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. Psalm 1, verses 3 and 4. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. And let's also look towards the end of the book of Genesis. So in Genesis 49, so Jacob, aka Israel, gathered his twelve sons at his bedside to deliver blessings to them. So these are prophetic blessings and pronouncements about their future. This is actually an enormous deal. And as we'll come to find out, it's not always positive. But we do know that Jacob will start by addressing his oldest, which is Reuben. So Reuben is a complicated man, to say the least, like many men in the Bible. You could say that Reuben is a well-intentioned guy, but also a very, very flawed man. In Genesis 37, we see that Reuben tries to protect his brother Joseph by being killed, or from being killed, rather, by his jealous siblings, which sounds pretty good, right? Well, he did so by suggesting that they throw Joseph in a pit. So this was impulsive more than it was calibrated, so not great. And then in Genesis 35, it is recorded that Reuben had sex with Bilhah, who was Jacob's concubine. So Bilhah was also the mother of two of Reuben's half-brothers, Dan and Neftali. So Reuben is participating in an incestuous act, which is also a direct attack on Jacob's authority. So it's hard to surmise motive, but this could have also been an attempt by Jacob to assert his dominance, or by Reuben rather, to assert his dominance prematurely and claim his entire and his inheritance from Jacob. So again, it's it's not really a great situation here. So back in Genesis 49, in this tender, kind of like everybody lean in moment, Jacob begins. So Genesis 49, starting in verse 1. Then Jacob called his sons and said, Gather yourselves together that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the first fruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence. Because you went up to your father's bed, and then you defiled it. He went up to my couch. So it starts out pretty good, right? You know, he's strong, he's powerful, he's dignified, and then it takes a hard left turn, right? Jacob goes from blessing to condemnation. So unstable as water refers to Reuben's impulsivity and his inability to control himself. He is insecure and ungrounded, which makes him again dangerous. So what is the outcome for Reuben? He will not excel or experience preeminence. His preeminence is essentially transferred to Judah, who, as we see in Genesis 49, verse 10, he receives the scepter, and also the double portion of inheritance now goes to Joseph, as we see in 1 Chronicles 5, verses 1 and 2. So what can we learn from Reuben? He who is insecure and ungrounded, right? Another way to say it is that he who is lacking in confidence in God and is untethered from the truths of God simply cannot be stable. It's not possible. And if you're unstable, inherently you are dangerous. And if you are dangerous, you cannot expect responsibility or to be relied upon. That's not very subtle, men. We must take this lesson to heart. Again, the quote from Joby's book is this there's nothing more dangerous in this world than an insecure, ungrounded man. So find your security in the truth of the gospel of Jesus and ground yourself in the truth of the Word of God. See you back here tomorrow.

Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.