REVELATION SIMPLIFIED

 

CHAPTER 7.5

Gleanings from the Book of Revelation:

A Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series

 

The

REVELATION TO JOHN

(The Apocalypse)

 

Chapter Seven

A Parenthetical Chapter:

Judgment Suspended

 

 

Introduction

God is not finished dealing with the nation of Israel. A regathering of God's remnant (cf. Isaiah 37:32; Micah 5:7), Israel will be preserved to fulfill His covenantal promise to Abraham (cf. Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:1-18; 17: 1-6; 22:25-28). The 12,000 are significantly referencing the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even though Israel failed its mission to be a witness nation for God on earth during the Old Testament era, their greatest missionary work is yet to be fulfilled during the Great Tribulation Period.

The result of this effort will produce His remnant to be redeemed (7:5-8) as well as innumerable Gentile penitents (7:9).

 

The Abrahamic Covenant Summarized

The Abrahamic Covenant contained many provisions. It was a promise based upon Abraham forsaking his land [Ur of the Chaldees (cf. Genesis 11:31; 12:1-3)] and going to the land God showed him (Canaan). These promises became unconditional:

1. God would make Abraham the father of a great nation

2. God would bless him both spiritually and physically

3. God would make his name noble and respected by millions

4. God would make him a blessing to many nations

5. God would bless those who bless him

6. God would curse those who curse him

7. God would bless all the families of the earth in him

 

So, through Abraham, God will bring about 3 components:

1.  A people

2.  A land

3.  A worldwide blessing

 

Fulfillment of this promise is realized by salvation through Jesus Christ, Abraham's promised seed, Those who refuse to accept Him will be judged by Him, both Jew, and Gentile, and spend an eternity in Hell. However, those who accept Christ as Saviour will live life everlasting with Him.

 

When one reads or hears the common phrase Children of Israel, it simply refers to the blood descendants of the patriarch Jacob [later named Israel by God (cf. Genesis 35:10)].

 

The number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from the tribes of Israel (7:4); 12,000 from each tribe. These are distinct literal numbers. They will be sealed and delivered through persecution, brought through Tabulation, live on earth, and become missionaries, as it were, to evangelize the unbelievers.

 

 

Specific divisions of the 144,000 are as follows…

(Verse 5)

Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.

(Verse 6)

Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.

(Verse 7)

Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.

(Verse 8)

Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

 

There are at least twenty variant lists of tribes in the Bible, their numbers between ten and thirteen.  

 

Three main listings are illustrated below:

Order of the Twelve Tribes

Genesis 29-30,35          Numbers 1                   Revelation 7

By Birth                      By Census                         By Significance

Reuben                        Reuben                        Juda *

Simeon                        Simeon                        Reuben

Levi                             Judah                          Gad

Judah                          Issachar                       Aser

Dan                             Zebulun                       Nepthalim

Naphtali                       Ephraim (son of Joseph)        Manasses  *

Gad                             Manasseh (son of Joseph)      Simeon

Asher                           Benjamin                      Levi

Issachar                       Dan                             Issachar

Zebulun                       Asher                           Zabulon

[Dinah](The only daughter)   ___                             ___

Joseph                         Gad                            Joseph

(Benoni)Benjamin          Naphtali                       Benjamin

 

Footnote: The difference in spelling of the names, primarily in the KJV, is due to the translation from the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.

 

Observations

1.  Genesis 29-30 - The original list according to their birth

 

2.  Numbers 1 - Records the tribes, men twenty years old and above, the renowned of the congregation, princes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel (1:16)

 

 

3.  Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph's two sons) replace Joseph

 

4.  Revelation 7 - The twelve thousand from each tribe are the first fruits of the remnant preserved by God. Manasseh replaces Dan

 

Historical Observations

Dan

No mention of the tribe of Dan is found in Revelation Chapter 7. Most scholars reason this exclusion is premised on the Law found in Deuteronomy 29:18-21, stating those who infect Israel with idolatry would accrue three condemnations:

1.  Every man, woman, and family would have all curses in the Law heaped upon them

2.  Their names are blotted out from under Heaven

3.  They would be separated from the tribes of Israel

 

Bourne out of greed and not trusting in God's provisions, the Danites sought their inheritance:

Judges 18: 1-2 - In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.

 

In 1 Kings their sin is recorded:

1 Kings 12:28-33 - Wereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And he (Jeroboam) made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.

 

As a result of their actions, The Danites became engulfed in disobedience:

Judges 18:30-31 - And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. And they set them up Micah's graven image*, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

 

Dan instituted Bethel as the headquarters for calf worship. Although the Danites had no ministry (their right to preach) during Tribulation, however, their exclusion is not permanent.

 

Footnote: Micah, an elder who survived Joshua --- from the central mountains of Ephraim (called Mount Ephraim) --- was the founder and owner of a small private sanctuary in Israel's northernmost part of the tribe of Dan. This shrine was paid for by his mother for 200 shekels. She employed a goldsmith to carve a golden Canaanite image for him and the Danites to worship at this shrine. Micah also hired a Judaean Levite priest so they could have the blessings of Jehovah.

 

Ezekiel's prophecy reveals there is a portion for Dan. They will survive, however, as the gifts and calling of God with regards to His people are even without repentance, thus allowing God not to renege on His promise as stated:

Ezekiel 48:1 -Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan.

 

Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand

Joseph's Heirship

Because of Jacob's (Israel) partiality to his last son Joseph, he allotted a double portion, also called the birthright, to Manasseh and Ephraim.

Genesis 48:5-6 - And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

 

Ephraim

Likewise, not mentioned in this passage, is the tribe of Ephraim. Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, commanded a revolution against the house of David and introduced idolatry into the temples of Dan and Bethel. Inadvertently, idolatrous actions on constant occasions led to the division of the kingdom (see 1 Kings 11:26 ff.).

 

Cities of Dan and Ephraim

Shiloh – During the conquest, Shiloh, a town in the hill country of Ephraim, was considered a sanctuary city (a place of rest). It existed north of Bethel, where the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant stood. Later the term Shiloh was understood as denoting the Messiah.

 

Bethel – Translated as House of God, Bethel's location is in Palestine, about ten miles north of Jerusalem (City of God, Zion) where Abraham once saw an angel ascending and descending into Heaven (cf. Genesis 28:10, 19).

 

Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand

Manasseh

Rather than Ephraim, the tribe of Manasseh joins the list in Revelation. Normally, Manasseh and Ephraim (sons of Joseph) are frequently mentioned together since both received an equal portion of Joseph's inheritance.

 

Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand

Reuben

Why the firstborn son of Jacob, Reuben, is not mentioned first in this passage: During Jacob's blessing, Reuben forfeited his heirship, since he engaged in incestuous misconduct with his father's concubine wife Bilhah (cf. Genesis 35.22).

I Chronicles 5:1 - Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

 

Consequently, the birthright was removed from the firstborn of Jacob's first wife, Leah, and went to the firstborn of Jacob's second wife, Rachel, whom Jacob first loved and ultimately bore Joseph, her firstborn, and Benjamin, her last born.

 

However, it was Reuben who advised his brothers against killing Joseph, whom they greatly resented because of their father's favoritism. At the blessing of Moses, Reuben too lost further prominence: Prophetically, nothing but a depleted remnant would remain (cf. Deuteronomy 33:36).

 

Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh (cf. Numbers 32-33) did not heed God's promise to enter the Promised Land but rather chose to settle in the lucrative land east of the Jordan River.

 

Blessings or Privileges of the Firstborn Birthright

When a patriarch (father or head of the family) was nearing life's end, his inheritance was passed on, by way of a blessing to the firstborn (denoting first fruits being dedicated to God) male child. The Law thus required:

Exodus 13:1-2 - And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is Mine.

 

By right of birth, three privileges of divine royal dignity came into play that would perpetuate throughout Israel's history:

1.  Priesthood – Priests, in the earliest social pattern of ancient Israel did not exist. However, it was expected the eldest son assumed spiritual responsibility within the family unit as a priest.

 

Priestly activities involved:

a.  Offerings to God, especially the firstborn of the flock as a blood sacrifice, symbolic of redemption

b.  Overseeing the family during daily prayers

c.  Judging or counseling the family in spiritual matters

 

At the time of Moses, the Levitical priesthood was established and set apart primarily to the duties and responsibilities of the Tabernacle.

 

As the history of Israel unfolded priestly duties and obligations changed. Eventually whilst tribes and families grew, rights were transferred to Judges and afterward Kings.

 

2.  Birthright – According to Hebrew Law the firstborn son received a double portion of his father's wealth (cf. Deuteronomy 21:17).

 

3.  Kingdom – A prophecy concerning the future - The right of prominence in the promised Kingdom. However, at the first incarnation of their Messiah, He was rejected, but their names do appear on the city gates of the New Jerusalem (cf. Revelation 21:12).

 

Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand

From the tribal list in Revelation 7, Judah heads the list of tribes. The primary reason: Judah was the most important tribe in the history of the Hebrew people. Although Judah was younger than Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, Judah along with Reuben assumed leadership in the family of brothers until Reuben lost prominence due to moral weakness.

 

So, when Judah entered the land of Canaan near Bethlehem, his offspring comprised most of the population in the Kingdom of Judah. As time passed, the men of Judah supported Saul and anointed his successor David, from whom the lineage of Jesus perpetuated.

 

Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand

Levi was the forefather of the priestly tribe. The Levites were accepted by God as substitutes for the firstborn and, through His grace, ultimately made them priests. Their tasks involved:

1.  Assigned by God all duties concerning the Tabernacle

2.  Ministers of the Sanctuary

3.  Teachers of the Word to Israel.

 

Levites were considered to have no inheritance among the twelve tribes and were entitled to an allotment of one-tenth from the tribe of Israel (cf. Numbers 18:20, 26). Their priestly duties eventually ceased at the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70.

 

Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand

Simeon along with his brother Levi committed an act of murder. Purely out of revenge, they killed Shechem, the son of a Hivite prince, who raped their sister, Dinah, Jacob's only daughter. They both received no inheritance and their descendants were scattered throughout the land of Israel. The Simeonites had to share land given to Judah (according to Joshua 19:1-9), and Levi's children would then live in various cities throughout Palestine.

 

As a result of the sealing of the twelve tribes and their witnesses, the next study will focus on a great multitude of redeemed saints, both Jew and Gentile, offering praises to the Lamb of God.

 

 

QUESTIONS:

1.   What was the significance of the birthright?

2.   Identify three major promises given to Abraham.

3.   What is Dan's role during the Tribulation?

4.   How do Ephraim and Manasseh fit into God's plan?

5.   Why does Judah head the list rather than Reuben?

6.   What was the function of the Levites?

7.   What was Levi and Simeon's sin?

 

 

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