First, the tribes of the Old Testament for clarity are really 13 tribes—that’s right!
You see, the 12 original tribes all came from the 12 sons of Jacob, whom the Lord had later renamed Israel. When Joseph’s older brothers sold him into slavery, it was the beginning of a long and painful separation from his family. After reuniting with his father, Jacob promised to compensate for Joseph’s years of separation by adopting two sons, Manasseh Ma-nasa and Ephraim, as his own to be numbered with his sons in place of Joseph.
And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine” (Genesis 48:5).
When Joseph’s two sons were counted as tribes in the place of their father, we now have 14 tribes. One reason that we still continue to hear of only 12 tribes through the Bible is because after the Levites were chosen to be the priests for all Israel, they were excluded from receiving any specific territory of land as inheritance. Instead, they were to defuse among all the tribes as teachers and priests.
Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel” (Numbers 1:49).
If we look at who was seated at the Last Supper, the answer is 13—the 12 Apostles, and Jesus as their high priest. During the Passover, 13 tribes presented themselves: the “regular” 12 tribes and then the Levites serving as the priests.
Also, if it were important to the Lord to only use the 12 different literal tribes in equal numbers to comprise the 144,000, wouldn’t we expect Jesus to choose His Apostles in a similar fashion?
But it does not appear to have mattered to Jesus that his apostles were from the 12 different tribes of Israel, for most of His apostles were from the tribe of Judah. The exceptions are Matthew-Levi, who was probably from the tribe Levi, and Paul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin (Romans 11:1).
Additionally, the 12 tribes in the Old Testament were very unequal in population size. Judah was very large, while Benjamin was very small. Indeed, God divided the Promised Land amongst the tribe according to the proportion of their population needs.
Yet with the 144,000, it’s exactly 12,000 per tribe across the board. This is another strong clue that it is not speaking of the literal tribes of Israel.
Next let’s look at the names of the tribes and why did God go to the trouble of specifically naming the 12 tribes when listing the 144,000?
Could it be one of the first and most compelling clues that there must be some hidden spiritual meaning to the tribes listed in Revelation 7. Let’s assume so!
Remember, this is the only time the sons of Jacob are arranged in this order—and even more specifically, the way in which they are ordered says something too.
First, Joseph and Levi are included, while Ephraim and Dan are left out. Why? Well perhaps it is because the names are symbolic in meaning and prophecies state: “Dan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path” (Genesis 49:17).
It may also be because the name Dan means “judge,” and the 144,000 are a special group who are sealed and vindi- cated at this point.
As far as Ephraim, the Bible declares, “Ephraim is joined to idols, Let him alone” (Hosea 4:17).
And curiously, Ruben, the firstborn, is listed as second, while Judah, the fourth offspring, is listed as the first!
So the order of these names makes no sense unless we allow the names to speak for themselves; then, perhaps, we will see God is trying to communicate a special message to us through their names.
When Jews named their babies, the names nearly always had some definite meaning that depicted some characteristic of the child or event connected with their birth.
Notice how the wives of Jacob, Rachael, and Leah proclaimed a statement defining the meaning of the son’s names as they were born.
In Genesis 29:32-35, we read, “So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, ‘The LORD has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.’ Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, ‘Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.’ And she called his name Simeon. She conceived again and bore a son, and said, ‘Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.’ Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, ‘Now I will praise the LORD.’ Therefore she called his name Judah.”
As you continue reading the narrative of each of the births of Jacob’s sons, Rachel and Leah made similar prophetic statements for all 12 of the sons regarding the meanings of their names.
Here are the names of the tribes listed for the 144,000, in the order in which Revelation 7 lists them, and their corresponding Hebrew meanings as found in Scripture:
Judah means “I will praise the Lord”
Ruben means “He has looked on me”
Gad means “Given good fortune”
Asher means “Happy am I”
Naphtali means “My wrestling”
Manasseh means “Making me to forget”
Simeon means “God hears me”
Levi means “Joined to me”
Issachar means “Purchased Me”
Zebulun means “Dwelling”
Joseph means “Will add to me”
Benjamin means “Son of His right hand”
Now checkout the remarkable part! When we line up the meanings of their names according to the way they appear listed in Revelation, it’s an encouraging hidden message of our spiritual journey to become the Bride of Christ!
I will praise the Lord [for] he has looked on me [and] given good fortune. Happy am I. [In] my wrestling, God is making me to forget. [But] God hears me [and is] joined to me. [He has] purchased me [a] dwelling [and] will add to me [the] Son of His right hand.
These order of names is really a summarization of our struggle, redemption, victory, and ultimate marriage to the Lamb. I love the Word of God!
It’s so worth studying and it’s evident that this is a special message of encouragement for those all of us who find victory in our Savior Jesus.
