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Seal of the Living God - Chapter 7
I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel: of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand, of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Revelation 7:4-10)
sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel:
Note that there are two tribes listed elsewhere that fail to appear in this list, the tribe of Dan and the tribe of Ephraim. Following is a listing of the meaning of the names of each of these tribes and then Jacob's prophecy over each of them not long before he died.
Jacob called to his sons, and said: "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come. Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father." (Genesis 49:1-2)
Judah – celebrated, to use the hand, to throw, to revere or worship with extended hands, confess, praise, thanksgiving.
Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be. Binding his foal to the vine, his donkey's colt to the choice vine; he has washed his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be red with wine, his teeth white with milk. (Genesis 49:8-12)
Reuben – to see a son. Consider, discern, approve, enjoy, experience joyfully, to look on, stare, have visions. The son, as in a builder of the family name.
Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power. Boiling over as water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father's bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch. (Genesis 49:3-4)
Gad – to crowd upon, invade, overcome.
A troop will press on Gad, but he will press on their heel. (Genesis 49:19)
Asher – to be level, right, happy, to go forward, be honest, blessed, guide, lead, relieve.
Asher's food will be rich. He will yield royal dainties. (Genesis 49:20)
Naphtali – wrestling, struggle, tortuous.
Naphtali is a doe set free, who bears beautiful fawns. (Genesis 49:21)
Manasseh – to forget, to remit, remove.
(This was a son of Joseph so he is not listed in the prophecy of Jacob.)
Simeon – to hear intelligently, attention, obedience, call together, consider, consent, discern, perceive, proclaim, publish, understand, witness.
Levi – attached, to unite, lend, abide with, join.
Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence. My soul, don't come into their council. My glory, don't be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:5-7)
Issachar – to bring a reward, payment of contract, to lift, advance, arise, forgive, honorable.
Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags. He saw a resting place, that it was good, the land, that it was pleasant. He bows his shoulder to the burden, and becomes a servant doing forced labor. (Genesis 49:14-15)
Zebulun – to enclose, to reside, dwell with.
Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea. He will be for a haven of ships. His border will be on Sidon. (Genesis 49:13)
Joseph – to add or augment, continue, exceed, gather together, give more, increase, prolong.
Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a spring. His branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, shot at him, and persecute him: But his bow remained strong. The arms of his hands were made strong, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel), even by the God of your father, who will help you; by the Almighty, who will bless you, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of your ancestors, above the boundaries of the ancient hills. They will be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers. (Genesis 49:22-26)
Benjamin – son of the right hand.
Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the spoil. (Genesis 49:27)
What might we find in the significance of Dan and Ephraim that alerts us as to why they didn't make the final cut?
Dan – to sail direct with a straight course. To act as a judge, plead a cause, execute judgment, vindicate, govern, contend, strive. To be at strife, quarrel.
Dan will judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan will be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, That bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward. I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh. (Genesis 49:16-18)
The children of Dan set up for themselves the engraved image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land. So they set them up Micah's engraved image which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh. (Judges 18:30-31)
Behold, the days come," says the Lord Yahweh, "that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Yahweh. They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek the word of Yahweh, and will not find it. In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst. Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, 'As your god, Dan, lives;' and, 'As the way of Beersheba lives;' they will fall, and never rise up again." (Amos 8:11-14)
While Ephraim and Manasseh were sons of Joseph, there is an interesting story of how Jacob met them and reacted. Here is part of that story.
It happened after these things, that someone said to Joseph, "Behold, your father is sick." He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Someone told Jacob, and said, "Behold, your son Joseph comes to you," and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed. Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession.'
Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine. Your issue, who you become the father of after them, will be yours. They will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem)." [This is where the name Ephraim originated.]
Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, "Who are these?" Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." He said, "Please bring them to me, and I will bless them."
Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn't see. He brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, "I didn't think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your seed also."
Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near to him. Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
His father refused, and said, "I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations." He blessed them that day, saying, "In you will Israel bless, saying, 'God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh'" He set Ephraim before Manasseh. (Genesis 48:1-14, 17-20)
Ephraim – fruitfulness; Ephrath, another name for Bethlehem.
(What Joseph said at his birth: The name of the second, he called Ephraim: "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. (Genesis 41:52)
(This was a son of Joseph so he is not listed in the prophecy of Jacob.)
For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow. Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone! Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way. The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices. (Hosea 4:16-19)
Dan means to judge his people, but also means to contend and quarrel. Counterfeit judgment is the spirit of fault-finding, criticism and pride. Ephraim means to be fruitful which involves sexual reproduction. The perversion of this is prostitution. Ephraim was left to follow their lust for false gods. What will be absent in the lives of those who form the comrades of the Lamb is the spirit of judgment or pride, and the spirit of prostitution. Those who follow the Lamb and experience the New Song will be humble and pure like the Lamb's reflection of God's heart who is humble and holy.
