Monday, July 16, 2012

12 Tribes of Israel


When God mentions something once, it’s important. What if He mentions something dozens of times? What do you need to know about the 12 tribes of Israel?

Who are God’s chosen people? If you said the Jews, you are partly right. The Jewish people are descended from Judah—one of the 12 sons of Israel. Each of the families of the 12 sons became a tribe, so Judah was just one of the 12 tribes of Israel. And all 12 tribes were God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2).

Who were the 12 tribes?

·         Reuben.
·         Simeon.
·         Levi (this priestly tribe didn’t receive a territory, and sometimes is not listed when the tribe of Joseph is listed as two separate tribes).
·         Judah.
·         Zebulun.
·         Issachar.
·         Dan.
·         Gad.
·         Asher.
·         Naphtali.
·         Joseph (often listed as two tribes named for his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh).
·         Benjamin.

What were they chosen for? Did they fail in God’s mission for them? Were they replaced?
Also, who are the other tribes of Israel besides the Jews? Where are they today? Did God fulfill His promises to them? What did He say about the 12 tribes of Israel in the end times, and what do these prophecies mean for you today?

These questions and many more are covered in an excellent online resource, the 12 Tribes of Israel Today on the LifeHopeandTruth.com website.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

What Happened to the 12 Tribes of Israel?


The Bible tells the story of how God worked with one man and his family, for the purpose of blessing all mankind. God gave both spiritual and physical promises. What happened to the 12 tribes of Israel and God’s physical promises to them?

In Genesis 12:1-3 God made promises to Abram that were later expanded and passed down to his descendants.

“Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Spiritual blessings through Abraham

Christians today recognize, as the apostle Paul did, that part of this promise involves spiritual blessings that would come through Abraham’s descendant Jesus Christ.

“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles [Greek, “nations”] in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:13-16).

This wonderful spiritual promise of Christ’s coming and His sacrifice to make possible forgiveness and salvation is a promise that all mankind can be eternally grateful for!

National and physical promises to the 12 tribes of Israel

But there were other elements to God’s promises that involved a physical and national component. God promised that many nations would come from Abraham and that they would multiply like the stars of heaven. They were promised tremendous physical blessings and control over the gates of their enemies.

The book of Genesis traces how these physical promises were passed on down to Abraham’s son Isaac, to Isaac’s son Jacob, and to Jacob’s 12 sons. These 12 sons became the forefathers of the 12 tribes of Israel.

The Bible traces the history of these 12 tribes, from the time when all 12 tribes were united as a single nation to a time when a division saw 10 tribes break away from the other tribes that were led by Judah.

Generations later, the northern 10 tribes, known as the house of Israel, were the first to go into captivity. Except for a few thousand families in the time of Ezra, these tribes did not return from the lands to which they were deported. In fact, they were lost to history in general and have been called the lost tribes of Israel.

Where did the lost tribes of Israel go?

On the Life, Hope & Truth website, the
12 Tribes of Israel section looks into this fascinating story. For example, the article “12 Tribes of Israel Today: Who Are They?” says:
“To follow the history of the 12 tribes of Israel after the fall of their nation to the Assyrians in 721 B.C., we must recognize the path of their deportation and identify them by the names given them by their conquerors. Various websites and books have a great deal of information connecting the 12 tribes of Israel to the nations of Western Europe and the United States today, and it would be impossible to cover all this material in this answer.”

The article goes on to examine some of the most intriguing and relevant biblical and historical documentation, quoting from first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus; historian Tamara Rice
; authors Boris Piotrovsky, John Henry and James Parker; English historian and scholar George Rawlinson; Danish linguistic scholar Anne Kristensen; as well as archaeological evidence of the migration of these peoples from the Middle East into Europe.

There is much more in articles in the 12 tribes of Israel section of the
Life, Hope and Truth site.

About LifeHopeandTruth.com

The LifeHopeandTruth.com website is designed to help people who are searching for answers to life’s difficult, intriguing and important questions. As the About Us section says, “LifeHopeandTruth.com exists to fill a critical void in this world—the lack of understanding about the purpose of life, the lack of realistic hope for a better future and the lack of truth!