Ten Lost Tribes

[Ann]

I came across this article that said there are 10 lost tribes of Israel... I'm just wondering if this is correct, and if so could the lost tribes have any relevance to anything that might happen in the future?

Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Lost_Tribes

[Ann]

I'm wondering why the tribes of Dan and Ephraim are not mentioned in this list:

Revelation 7
3 saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

This might be a clue?

(From Wikipedia)According to the Hebrew Bible, Jacob (who was also called Israel) had 12 sons and at least one daughter (Dinah) by two wives and two concubines. The twelve sons fathered the twelve Tribes of Israel.

When the land of Israel was apportioned among the tribes in the days of Joshua, the Tribe of Levi, being priests, did not receive land (Joshua 13:33, (14:3). However; the tribe of Levi was given cities. Six cities were given to the tribe as refuge cities for all men of Israel and they were to be controlled by the Levites. Three of these cities were located on each side of the Jordan River. In addition, 42 other cities (and their respective open spaces) totaling 48 cities were given to the Tribe of Levi. (Numbers 35)
On the other hand, Jacob elevated the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh (the two sons of Joseph by his Egyptian wife Asenath) (Genesis 41:50) to the status of full tribes in their own right, replacing the Tribe of Joseph (Joshua 14:4). Each received its own land and had its own encampment during the 40 years of wandering in the desert.

Thus, the two divisions of the tribes are:

Traditional division:

Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dan
Naphtali
Gad
Asher
Joseph
Benjamin



Division according to apportionment of land in Israel:

Reuben
Simeon
Judah
Issachar
Zebulun
Dan
Naphtali
Gad
Asher
Benjamin
Ephraim (son of Joseph)
Manasseh (son of Joseph)
Levi (no territorial allotment, except a number of cities located within the territories of the other tribes)

[Ann]

And also wondering if this website is accurate:
http://www.fossilizedcustoms.com/dan_ephraim.html

[The Orange Mailman]

Hi Ann-

This is not true. Read Ezekiel 37:15-28. Notice that it can be divided into two section, 15-20 and 21-28. This is the prophecy that the northern tribes, which had been decimated back when Hezekiah was king, and the kingdom of Judah, which Ezekiel had previously heard of its destruction back in Ezekiel 33:21, would both become one again. The first section of prophecy states it as a fact. The two division will become one. The second portion looks toward a time when the Davidic Messiah would reign over a united Israel.

Now turn to the beginning of I Chronicles. These geneaologies might seem very boring. But they serve one very important purpose. These geneaologies are here because there are descendants of all these tribes that are returning to Jerusalem after the captivity. In chapter 4 there are descendants of Simeon, in 5 it's Reuben and Gad, in 6 it's Levi, in 7 it's Issachar, etc. etc. It's important to note that I and II Kings was completed during the 70 year Babylonian exile, while I and II Chronicles was completed after the exile and after the return to Jerusalem.

There are not ten lost tribes because they returned and were represented at Jerusalem, this was recognized by the Chronicler (most likely Ezra). Even after the northern kingdom (Samaria), was destroyed by Assyria, many of the faithful Israelites began worshiping with the southern kingdom of Judah, see II Chronicles 30:1-11 and II Kings 23:15-20 where Josiah is cleansing Samaria. This fulfilled Ezekiel's prophecy of the two sticks, but it served as a down payment that the Davidic Messiah would one day rule over a united Israel. I hope that answers your questions. If you have any other things that need clarification, please let me know. From what I understand, this false teaching is promoted by Herbert W. Armstrong.

Have fun and stay busy - Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

[Ann]

Thanks Orange Mailman, I knew there had to be a good reason for all those lists of people to be in the Bible. The only other thing I still wonder is why the Tribes of Dan and Ephraim are not listed in Revelation 7? Wonder if they will have some sort of prophetic comeback?

[mark s]

Hi Ann,

I think the Orange Mailman gave a good reply, the only thing I can think of to add is that if you look at 2 Chronicles 30 &31, this tells about Hezekiah when he re-instituted the passover feast. He invited as many as would come from Israel to Judah to keep the feast. Many came, and many, when they saw that the Lord was still being worshiped in Judah, they stayed.

So when Israel was conquered, those who's hearts were inclined to the Lord had gone to Judah, thus many from the other tribes were preserved.

Love in Christ,
Mark

PS . . . welcome!!!

[1whowaits]

Ann, as you note in Rev the tribes of Dan and Ephriam are missing which were usually listed among the 12 tribes while the tribe of Joseph is listed which is usually not listed as 1 of the 12 tribes. But there was a time when Joseph was described as a tribe, back in Gen 49 when Jacob blessed his sons and he appears to have prophesied about them. It may be that the use of Joseph as a tribe is pointing us back to the statements of Jacob in Gen 49.

In Gen 49 Jacob prophesies that Dan 'will be a serpent by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horses heels so that its rider tumbles backward.' The serpent biting the heel is associated with Satan in Genesis, and it is believed by some that it is from the tribe of Dan that the AC will come, and that is why Dan is not listed in Rev.

Before armageddon Israel will rebuild the temple, will reinstitute the OT sacrificial system, and according to Rev and Zech 12 they will be known by their tribal divisions. Currently the Israelis are not separated by tribe, nor do they offer sacrifices, and because of the muslim threat it appears that they will not attempt to rebuild the temple for the forseeable future. What occurs to change the status quo in Israel?

It appears that Gog-Magog occurs to change Israel into what she will become. After Gog-Magog Israel will know that God does exist and that He acted on her behalf. Israel would then likely return to the Lord in the way they know, and they will rebuild the temple, reinstitue the sacrificial system, and organize into the separate tribal divisions, and all the Israelis will return to Israel as Ezek 39 describes.

Currently there are about as many Israelis living outside of Israel as live inside Israel, and several people groups in different nations (India, China, Ethiopia, etc) are being found to have a Jewish lineage through genetic testing. The great number of Jews outside of Israel, some who are not recognized as having Jewish ancestors, lead some to refer to them a the 'lost tribes'.

So the use of Joseph as a tribe in Rev may point us back to the prophecies about the tribes of Israel in Genesis, and the tribe of Joseph was divided into Ephriam and Manasses, and as Manasses is mentioned and Ephriam is considered above Manasses and is prophesied about in a positive manner, the tribe of Joseph could also be a reference to the tribe of Ephriam, who in reality was the first successor to Joseph.

Zech 11 does describe the worthless shepherd who receives a head wound, which some believe to be a reference to the AC, which could suggest that the AC is Jewish as he is described as a 'shepherd' of Israel, and if he is a Jew, he then may be from the tribe of Dan.

[The Orange Mailman]

The only other thing I still wonder is why the Tribes of Dan and Ephraim are not listed in Revelation 7? Wonder if they will have some sort of prophetic comeback?

Hi Ann-

I'm glad you see the reason for those scriptures. As far as Israel in the future, I think we get into speculation. There is nothing wrong with speculation, but I don't think we should be dogmatic. The Illustrious One Who Waits has given some of the more prominent ideas that are out there. I hadn't considered Gog/Magog actually changing Israel into what she will become.

One other thing of note to consider is that once the exodus occurred, the tribe of Levi did not have an inheritance with the other twelve. The reason for this is mysterious from our point of view. God considered all firstborn to be His since He spared them in the tenth plague (passover), see Exodus 13:2, 12-16. Later, God made sort of a "trade" of all the firstborns in Israel for the tribe of Levi, see Numbers 3:12-13. So the tribe of Levi was not considered one of the twelve tribes of Israel, but ministered throughout all of the other tribes. But there were still twelve tribes since Joseph was awarded a double portion for his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, see Genesis 48:5, 20-22.

It's difficult to understand why God did all this in the past. I consider it a difficult task to understand why God will do what He does in the future. Revelation shows that Levi will have 144,000 sealed along with 11 other divisions. Why? It's difficult to say, but for the sake of the prophecies, Israel must exist in the form of twelve tribes, see Matthew 19:28, Revelation 21:12. I know this doesn't answer the question, but I don't feel qualified to give a definitive answer.

Have fun and stay busy - Luke 19:13

-The Orange Mailman

[1whowaits]

Just speculating, if Gog-Magog occurs and Israel becomes prominent in the world, if the AC is Jewish and rules from Jerusalem, who could the 10 kings be? Could they be leaders of 10 of the tribes of Israel? The 10 kings do not have kingdoms until they receive authority along with the beast (Rev 17), they do not appear to be kings of nations prior to their giving of their authority to the AC. If they are not kings of nations prior to giving authority to the AC, then what are they kings or rulers of?

There are 13 tribes of Israel if Levi is included. If the 10 kings are heads of 10 tribes, and the AC were also the head of a tribe, that would be 11 tribes. In Zech 12, at the time of armageddon, when the Jews mourn for Jesus, only the clan of David (Judah) and his descendants (Nathan), and Levi and his descendants (Shemei) are mentioned specifically, no other tribes or clans are specifically mentioned. Perhaps only the leaders of Judah and Levi flee into the wilderness and survive until armageddon?

The addition of the 2 tribes of Judah and Levi alluded to in Zech 12 would bring the total to 13 tribes (10 + 1 + 2). just speculating.