On Younger Brothers and Older Brothers in the Bible

Guest Post by Max Graham

The theme of brotherhood is a deep one.  Read the Bible and it’ll be spoken of quite a bit.  But what is the Bible saying?

The Bible is a complex piece of literature.  That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to those reading this blog.  Read any “Through New Eyes” commentary to get evidence of this.[i]  But complex in what way?

Complex linguistically?

Yes, since it was written in many styles, in many languages, with many voices.

Complex culturally?

Of course, since it was written over many centuries and begun thousands of years ago.

Complex stylistically?

Certainly, since many different genres are housed in this book.

But what I mean is that the Bible is complex thematically, since there are many different themes coursing through and circling around the drama.

The narrative plot is straight-forward.  One can summarize the basic story in a few sentences.  But, then again, one can also summarize the basic story of Star Wars in a few sentences.  The themes, however, are a bit harder to condense.  Just focusing on the theme of, say for example, Luke’s journey as an archetypal hero will take a bit of time and some serious reflection.  In the case of the Bible, this gets intensified by the simple fact that there are so many themes operating at the same time, with God’s Spirit breathing life into all of them.  The theme of Father and Son is a prominent one, and so is the theme of Exodus and Redemption.[ii]  One can write a book (or a sizeable series) on these, as well as on a multitude of other themes.  On the recurrence of the Garden of Eden and its successor City-Garden, on the prevalence of Nazirites in Scripture, on Males and Females, Words and Images, on holy warfare, on God as Architect building a House for His Name, on the Trinity.  I think you get my picture.  We shouldn’t be squeamish about this.  There’s a lot going on here and – like a good piece of music – we can distinguish the themes at the same time as we enjoy them collectively.  So, with all that said, let me focus your attention on one significant recurring theme in the Bible: Brotherhood.  Here are some musings on this fantastic theme.

Let’s start by remembering all of the brotherly pairs that are mentioned in Genesis.  First, you have Cain and Abel.  Later, Ishmael and Isaac.  Next, Esau and Jacob.  Then Jacob’s elder sons and Joseph as the youngest brother.  Finally, you end with Manasseh and his younger brother Ephraim.  Genesis seems to be a big book of brothers (and I even left out some pairs).  And the major stories certainly revolve around these fraternal pairings.  And that’s just Genesis.  If you search further, you can find Moses and Aaron, Eliab and David, Absalom and Solomon, not to mention the New Testament examples.

Let me now make a claim: whenever you get the situation of an older brother with a younger brother, what inevitably seems to happen is that the older brother fails at doing something while the younger brother succeeds.  In other words, (1) the older brother is given a responsibility, (2) the older brother fails at that responsibility, (3) the younger brother accomplishes what the older brother failed to do, and (4) the younger brother reaps the rewards.

Cain messes up his sacrifice, while God accepts Abel’s sacrifice.  Esau impatiently blows his birthright on a bowl of stew while Jacob succeeds in established God’s kingdom through patient laboring.  Jacob’s older sons (acting as a unified front, with Reuben dissenting a bit) mercilessly selling Joseph off to slavers while Joseph mercifully protects his brothers during a famine.  Aaron succumbs to the crowd’s pressure and gives them an idol, while Moses faithfully rejects the sins of the people. Eliab acts as one of the cowardly soldiers too afraid to fight Goliath (although he is able to berate his child-brother David for having the nerve to bring Eliab some food), while David boldly goes off to fight without armor.  Absalom grasps for power, Solomon asks for wisdom.[iii]

The Bible moves along in the story of the Older Brother and the Younger Brother until we get to the ultimate example at the heart of the Gospel.  Here we have the original “older brother” Adam – described as the son of God in Luke’s genealogy – and his “younger brother” Jesus – who is both referred to as the “Son of God” (constantly) and is the “younger” one (at least in a certain sense with respect to his incarnational place in history).  Adam fails in his task of being a faithful High Priest, protecting his bride and cultivating God’s garden, while Jesus continues to protect His Bride and to renew the World.  We don’t usually think of Adam and Jesus in this way, but I think it’s fairly grounded in Scripture.

Paul gives us another example by highlighting the Jews of his day as the older brother failing at accepting the Gospel, while the younger Gentile brother is succeeding.  Jesus seems to make reference to this in one of his parables – the formerly prodigal younger brother is accepted by the Father, while the older brother is failing to properly celebrate this situation.

Now turn your eye to Leviticus.  Here also we find the theme present, specifically in the sacrifices of the two “twin” goats.  Like the two brothers, the goat with the sins of the people on its back is thrust into the wilderness as Cain was, while his brother goat – blameless and unspotted – is accepted in the sight of God.

But at this point, a complication arises.  From what you’ve read so far, you might think that the life of the younger brother is full of easy bliss and happiness.  But that’s not the case.  Abel is killed, Cain is spared.  Isaac is prepared as a sacrifice, not Ishmael.  Jacob wrestles with God his whole life and dies in a foreign land, while Esau and his tribe grow large in Canaan.  Joseph is sold off into slavery, not his brothers.  Jesus is killed, suffering the punishment that Adam escaped from after his sin.  The blameless goat is sacrificed, while the scapegoat sent off into the wilderness is, in a sense, “passed over”.  This gives us a different notion of the younger brother.  His life is not as easy as it first appeared.  There’s a nasty sacrifice in the plotline.  The younger brother is still certainly blessed, but the blessing is through his sacrifice.  In reality, this is the only way it could be.  In other words, although this might change our conceptions of what a sacrifice is and what happiness is, at the end of the day resurrection only comes through death, blessing only comes through sacrifice.[iv]  The sacrifice of the blameless goat allows it to be burned up by the power of God’s Spirit and ascend into His presence.

So our updated progression goes something like this: (1) the older brother is given a responsibility, (2) the older brother fails at that responsibility, (3) the younger brother accomplishes what the older brother failed to do, (4) the younger brother dies for the sins of the older brother, (5) the younger brother is raised up or ascends to reap the blessing of his sacrifice more fully.  This alone is a lot to think over.  But we’re still missing the final and best part to the progression: (6) the younger brother takes the older brother with him up into his glory.  Jesus’ sacrifice covers over the sin of Adam and identifies us – those originally connected to Adam – as true sons of God.  We are the one sent off into the wilderness, killing our righteous brother who expiates our sin and ascends as smoke up to the Father (a pleasing aroma), but we are then brought back by this same shepherd who leaves the 99 in search of the lost 1.

This was hinted at in the previous stories, where the original condemnation of the older brother becomes vicarious blessing through the younger brother.  Esau is blessed through Jacob.  Ishmael and his descendants are blessed through Isaac and his descendants.  Joseph’s older brothers flourish in Egypt after Joseph brings them in.  Boaz, the redeeming kinsman of his dead (i.e. older) cousin Mahlon, gives Mahlon a son through Ruth and re-establishes the bloodline lost.  Even the Jews are blessed by the Gentiles, accepting the Gospel through jealousy of the Gentiles, as Paul would say.  And the examples could be multiplied – I encourage you to try and find some other examples the next time you read the Scriptures – and not only in Scripture but throughout history, throughout literature, and throughout our own lives.[v]  I hope to devote future essays to how this theme develops in other stories, shedding light on God’s glorious Truth and exemplifying the way He does things.

What does all of this mean?  To start, older brothers are meant to care for and raise up their younger brothers.  I myself have three older brothers who were/are tremendous models of Christ to me, and acted as they were meant to act.  Unfortunately, this isn’t the norm in the world.  We can find counter-examples all around us, where the older is unworthy and torments the younger, or just produces a bad environment for the younger.  But God flips things on their head.  We are given younger brothers who take up the cause of the older, saving them, washing them, and lifting them up in the sight of God.  This culminates in the ultimate younger brother – Jesus Christ – who takes the sins of the older and brings restoration.  Now, in this current age, Jesus is no longer the younger brother saving the older brother but is now the older brother caring for us, his younger siblings.  Post-resurrection (30 AD) life allows us to take our original mandate – being responsible older brothers to those younger than us or somehow under us – and actually fulfill it through Jesus Christ and through the support of the Holy Spirit our Helper.[vi]  Of course, stumbling occurs even in our Christian life and perfection will not fully come until after Christ comes back, but we still have a taste of the reality now.  When we fail, God cleanses us – week after week, day after day – and lifts us back up to sin no more.  Let’s keep this reality in mind, finding strength to glorify God in all that we do through our great example, Jesus Christ.

Max Graham is a US Naval Officer living in Annapolis, MD. He enjoys reading/writing, chats on a porch over cigars, and boating on the Chesapeake Bay.

[i] For example, read Pastor Brito’s and Pastor Lusk’s commentary on Ruth, or the upcoming Jonah commentary coming out.

[ii] See Echoes of Exodus for this.

[iii] I’m not here talking about God’s election.  None of this was originally the doing of the younger brothers – so that they somehow earned God’s favor – but was rather God’s established plan.  However, although God preordained His covenant to be with the younger brother before any action on the part of the younger, it is still the case that after the fact the younger brother pleased God with his actions while the older brother did not.  God didn’t have to set it up like this (i.e. the younger consistently succeeding where the older failed) yet there it is in the text.  So the question that jumps up is “Why does it keep on happening in the Scriptures?”

[iv] As the psychologist Jordan Peterson likes to put it, happiness comes through increased responsibility, not apart from it.

[v] To take one example, look at Rohan and Gondor in the Lord of the Rings.  Rohan, for those who are unfamiliar with Middle-Earth history, was founded under the protection of the great kingdom of Gondor.  Rohan was the younger brother in this situation to the older and dignified Gondor.  And when Gondor needed help, Rohan rode to its aid and saved the day.

[vi] This is also the case with every other part of the original mandate, not just for being good brothers.  But that’s a separate essay.