If you have read the Old Testament Connection you know that God promised Eve that one of her descendants would be the solution for the problem of sin.  You also know that this promise passed to a man named Abraham, to his son Isaac, and to his son Jacob (Israel, see “What’s in a Name”).  You also know that Jacob or Israel had twelve sons.  In ancient cultures it was common for the oldest son to become the leader of a family when he father died.  This was his “birthright”.  In Jacob’s case however he was born second, the birthright belonged to his brother Esau.  One day Esau came home from a hunting trip and was very hungry.  He asked Jacob for some of the stew he was cooking and Jacob told him he would have to trade his birthright for it.  Remember that these people did not have fast food or even restaurants.  No refrigerators, no canned goods, what ever they wanted to eat they had to get from the land.  Fish had to be caught and cleaned, cattle or sheep had to be killed and slaughtered and then cooked.  So Esau made the trade.  We know from the story that Isaac liked Esau more because he was a hunter and Isaac liked the meat he would bring home.  On the other hand Rebekah, their mom, liked Jacob more (Genesis 25:27-34).  We also see several times in the Old Testament that when a father dies he gathers his children and gives them a blessing.  At least in the case of these blessings they were prophetic.  It seems that God either inspired or honored the words spoken by these fathers, probably both.  When it came time for Isaac to die Rebekah was afraid that Jacob would give Esau  a better blessing so she devised a plan to trick him into blessing Jacob instead.  Jacob did receive the blessing instead of Esau and it made Esau very very angry.  Rebekah was afraid for her sons life and again she tricked her husband, this time into sending Jacob away to her home town to look for a wife (Genesis 27:1-46).  Specifically she told him to marry one of her brother’s daughters.  When Jacob got near to Paddan-aram (his mother’s home town) he met some shepherds waiting to water their flocks from a well.  when he asked about his uncle they introduced him to Rachel his uncle’s daughter and he was immediately impressed by her good looks.  Jacob made a deal with his uncle Laban to work 7 years in exchange for permission to marry Rachel.  Laban agreed.   At the end of the seven years a wedding feast took place but when the time came for Jacob and Rachel to have their wedding night together Laban substituted Leah, Rachel’s older not so good looking sister.  The next morning Jacob discovered the switch and confronted Laban who said  he made the switch because it was custom for the older sister to marry first.  He was willing however to give Rachel to Jacob as another wife, for another seven years of labor.  this time however Jacob would only have to wait a week before getting Rachel.  Jacob agreed, a week later he had his wedding night with Rachel and then he worked another seven years for his uncle.  He also gave Rachel more attention that he did to Leah (Genesis 29:1-30).  In spite of their selfish evil behavior God would use these people to fulfill his promise to Eve, Abraham, and Isaac.  Because Leah was not loved by Jacob (but obviously used by him) God allowed her to have  children.  First she had Reuben (his name means”look a son”), then another son Simeon (“heard”), a third son Levi (“Joined”), and a fourth son Judah (“Praised”).  God prevented Rachel from getting pregnant and she became very jealous of her older sister. Rachel had a servant named Bilhah.  Since she could not get pregnant she had Jacob try with her servant.  Bilhah did get pregnant and had a son.  Rachel named him Dan (“Judged” as in the idea of evening the score).  Bilhah had a second son and Rachel named him Naphtali (“Wrestling”).  The wrestling between these two sisters was not over yet.  Since she had stopped having children Leah took her servant, Zilpah and sent her in to Jacob.  Zilpah got pregnant and had a son whom Leah named Gad (“Troop” like what it takes to win a battle).  Zilpah had a second son and Leah named him Asher (“Blessed” or “Happy”).  Esau wasn’t the only family member willing to sell out for a nice snack.  Reuben, Leah’s first born, brought his mother some fruit from a field he was in.  Rachel wanted some of the fruit and Leah offered them in trade for a night with their (her) husband.  That night Jacob and Leah were together and she got pregnant again.  She named this son Issachar (“Payback”).  She got pregnant again a sixth son and named him Zebulun (“Live with me”).  Finally she had a daughter and named her Dinah (“Plea”).  God eventually answered Rachel’s prayers and allowed her to have a son, Joseph (“God has added”).  Theses were all born in Padan-aram while Jacob lived with his father-in-law (Genesis 30:1-24).  Later Jacob left his father-in-law and moved back near his brother.  Esau lived in the southern part of what was to become Israel.  When Jacob returned he lived in the north.  Eventually he moved further south closer to his brother.  At the end of these travels Rachel became pregnant  again and gave birth to on last son.  She died in child birth and gave her son the name Benoni (“son of sorrow”) but Jacob called him Benjamin (“son of my right hand”).  So these were the twelve sons of Jacob (later to become the twelve related tribes of Israel):  Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher; Issachar and Zebulun; and Joseph and Benjamin.  And his one daughter was Dinah.

It is interesting to compare this list in the beginning book of Genesis with one found in the last book of the New Testament, Revelation.  The book of Revelation was written to seven churches in  Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) about 95 AD.  These churches were about 30 years old at the time and had gotten a little lazy in their relationship with God.  Times of trouble were come soon and so God directed John (gospel of John, 1,2,3 John) to write a letter of instruction and encouragement to them. In chapters 4-22 God gives a clear picture of how this stage in our history is going to end.  He specifically details how his promised kingdom (See “The Old Testament Connection”) comes to power.  There is a transition time when hopefully some last minute decisions for Him will be made by the inhabitants of the Earth.  According to Daniel this transition period will last 7 years and would also fulfills God’s original intentions for the Israelites to be a light the nations (Daniel 9:24-27,Isaiah 60:3).  This seven year period is called the seventieth week of Daniel, the time of Jacob’s trouble, and the great tribulation.  In the book of Daniel we see a prophetic timetable that involves a decree to rebuild the temple, then 69 “weeks” (sevens like our dozen but seven) of years pass by, the “Messiah” is cut off (Jesus’ death) and then there is a break in the action.  After some unrevealed amount of time this prophetic clock for Israel starts back up and the final week or seven year period runs.  During the break is when the church acts as God’s witness in the world (Luke 21:24, Romans 11:25).   From Revelation 4:1-19:11 (The Tribulation period) the church is in Heaven and Israelite believers are working for God on the earth.  In Revelation 6:4-8 we see a group of Israelites from “every tribe of the sons of Israel” chosen and marked for service.  The tribes listed are: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. When we compare this to the list in Genesis we see that Dan is missing and someone named Manasseh is included.  Joseph, Rachel’s first son was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers. In Egypt he came to a place of great power.  He also had children.  His two oldest sons were Ephraim and Manasseh.  Just before Jacob died Joseph took the two older boys to be blessed by their grand-father.  Jacob gave them a position equal with his own sons in their inheritance.  In Genesis 48 the twelve tribes are listed including Joseph.  In Joshua 13-20 when Joshua divided the land between the Israelites, Levi was left out and Joseph was divided into Manasseh and Ephraim, his two sons, this kept the list at 12.  Ezekiel also lists the tribes this way.  Levi is left out because as priests they were to be dedicated to service in worship and sacrifices and were to receive their support from the sacrifices.  In the Hebrew or Jewish way of thinking the number twelve represented completion or fullness.  So when Isaac gave Joseph two part in the inheritance it worked out well when Levi was separated out.  So what about the list in Revelation.  Levi is listed appropriately since it is a list of service to God.  Joseph is listed too so the list should be complete, like the list in Genesis 48.  Also Manasseh is listed and Dan is not.  In this list Joseph probably represents at least Ephraim.  Manasseh is divided out to keep the list at twelve since Dan is not part of the list.  Some scholars think that Dan is not included because in the book of Judges Dan is one of the worst of the tribes when it comes to idolatry.  Since this is a list of chosen servants for spiritual work during the tribulation that reason seems possible.