The following is based upon this YouTube video from Shofar Mountain titled Tribes.
In the book of The Revelation, chapter 7 we read: “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back its four winds so that no wind would blow on land or sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, with the seal of the living God. And he called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or sea or trees until we have sealed the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel:
From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.”
If you are like me, knowing that there are 12 tribes of Israel, we just skim over this and continue reading, never truly analyzing the list. If we dig deeper, study Genesis 29, 30 & 35, we will notice that this list does not match the twelve sons of Jacob/Israel, neither does it match the order of their births. This list appears to be somewhat random, but is it?
Jacob had twelve sons, in this order: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and finally Benjamin. Let’s compare the two lists. Revelation seems to be missing Dan but adds Manasseh. He’s not a son of Jacob so where did he come from? The answer to this is in Genesis 48 where we find that Jacob “adopts” Joseph’s two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, as his own and gives each of them a portion of the inheritance equal to their father Joseph’s other eleven brothers; Joseph ends up with a double portion, the birthright. Joseph is the second youngest son but the oldest son of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel. Reuben should have had this double portion, birthright blessing but he forfeited that when he slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah (Genesis 35:22). So, if Manasseh is added to the list in Revelation, why not Ephraim also? Thus, the question becomes, what happened to Dan and Ephraim?
After the reign of King Solomon, the kingdom broke in two, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Jeroboam became king of Israel and Rehoboam ruled Judah. Jeroboam, fearing the people would revert to the house of David (Judah) if they went up to the feasts (moedim) three times per year, made two golden calves placing one in Bethel (Ephraim) and the second in Dan telling the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” Because Ephraim and Dan allowed these abominations to be set up in their lands, they are excluded from the list of tribes in Revelation 7. This story is told in 1 Kings 12.
Now we know where the specific named tribes listed in Revelation 7 come from, but what about the seemingly random order? It must be understood that in Hebrew, names have meaning which isn’t necessarily true in western culture, so this concept is not really familiar to us. We need to delve into the meaning of the names given to the sons of Jacob; we’ll do that in the order provided in Revelation.
In Genesis 29:35, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah.”
In Genesis 29:32, “And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, ‘The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.’”
In Genesis 30:11, “‘Then Leah said, “How fortunate!’ So she named him Gad.”
In Genesis 30:13, “Leah said, ‘How happy I am! For the women call me happy.’ So she named him Asher.”
In Genesis 30:8, “Then Rachel said, ‘In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.’ So she named him Naphtali.”
In Genesis 41:51, “Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, ‘God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.’”
In Genesis 29:33, “‘Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son as well.’ So she named him Simeon.”
In Genesis 29:34, “‘Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.’ So he was named Levi.”
In Genesis 30:18, “Then Leah said, ‘God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.’ So she named him Issachar.”
In Genesis 30:20, “‘God has given me a good gift,’ she said. ‘This time my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.’ And she named him Zebulun.”
In Genesis 30:23,24, “and she conceived and gave birth to a son. ‘God has taken away my shame,’ she said. She named him Joseph, and said, ‘May the LORD add to me another son.’”
In Genesis 35:18, “And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.” Rachel named him Ben-oni meaning “Son of Sorrow” but Jacob changed it after Rachel died to Benjamin meaning “Son of my right hand” or “Favored son.”
Putting the meaning of the names together we end up with something like this:
“I will praise the LORD (Yehovah). He has seen my affliction. How fortunate and happy (blessed) I am. In my great struggles, I have wrestled and won. God has made me forget all my hardship. The LORD (Yehovah) has heard me, become attached to me and rewarded me. God has given me a good gift, taken away my shame given me the Son of His right hand.”
Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.” A cursory reading of the text will leave things like this concealed, it takes searching to uncover these nuggets.
New here? Consider reading the introduction here.