How many tribes of Israel are there actually, and are ten of them lost? And why is Dan not in the 144,000?

 It recently came to my attention that people are confused about how many tribes of Israel there really are, and who constitutes them. And are ten of them really lost? Most people would automatically say that there are twelve tribes, for do we not always hear about the twelve sons of Jacob aka Israel? Others say there are thirteen, due to Jacob adopting and blessing both of Joseph's sons. And yet there are some that say there are fourteen tribes, adding Joseph's two sons, to the original twelve. So which is correct? Well, one might say technically all of them are, but the list may change depending on the context of to what is being referred.

Jacob/Israel did have twelve sons, by four women. Wife Leah gave birth to six of them – Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, wife Rachel to two, - Joseph and Benjamin, Rachel's handmaiden, Bilhah to two – Dan and Naphtali, and Leah's handmaiden, Zilpah to two, Gad and Asher. It was the custom of the day that sons of full wives outranked sons of concubines. Reuben, being the firstborn of a full wife, was the one who would inherit, by common law, the birthright which entitled him to a double portion of the inheritance, as well as the pre-eminence of being the next patriarchal leader of the clan. As firstborns outranked second, third, etc. born sons, Joseph, as the firstborn of a second full wife would be second in line after Reuben to get the birthright, even though he was the 11^th son born, if for some reason Reuben could not inherit. Along with the birthright usually came the spiritual blessing of being in the line that led to the Messiah, however the two did not always go together as we will see.

Going back to Abraham, his firstborn was Ishmael. However, Ishmael was the son of a concubine. Nor was he the son of the promise. He could not inherit the birthright unless Abraham had no other children. Isaac was not only the first son of a full wife, but he was also the son of promise for a line leading to the Messiah, even though Abraham had more sons by his second wife, Keturah. So Isaac received both the birthright and the blessing or promise. Isaac had Esau and Jacob – twins. Esau was the first twin born, but God said that he would serve the younger son. Why does it say in Romans that Jacob God loved, but Esau He hated? “Hate” not being the same meaning as how we use the word “hate.” It can also mean “love less.” Why would God love Esau less? And how could He say that about them before the twins were old enough to do anything wrong? The answer is foreknowledge. Esau despised his birthright. He sold it to Jacob for a bowl of pottage when he was hungry. He did not value what it stood for. He did not love or have faith in God. A double portion of inheritance was the material value it held and being the leader of the family was a prestigious rank, but Esau showed his contempt for it by giving it away for nothing. This also could have included the promise, had he valued it, but he did not. So God, knowing in advance by His foreknowledge of this, prophesied that Jacob would be the chosen one. In time Jacob also deceived his father into giving him the blessing which ratified both the birthright and the promise. The line would go through Jacob. So here we see that sin prevented the firstborn from both the birthright and the promise or blessing. But we also see that deceit and manipulation was the way that both were obtained, which did cause problems for Jacob later on. What goes around, comes around.

Now, as Jacob had to run for his life after stealing the blessing, it is doubtful he ever received the double portion birthright from Isaac, however he did become the patriarch of the family line through which the promise would come. Esau on the other hand became a patriarch of another clan. One which would ultimately become the enemy of Jacob's descendants, the Edomites, later known as the Idumeans.

Now we come back to Jacob's twelve sons. During the course of life, Reuben sinned against his father by sleeping with his father's concubine (a serious sin), forfeiting the birthright and the blessing. This is why when Jacob sees Joseph's sons, he blesses them making them in essence his adopted sons. He is giving Joseph the double portion of birthright that is his by right, being the firstborn of the second wife, but gives it directly to his grandsons by essentially adopting them. While it would seem that he is dividing it equally, he is not, for he deliberately puts the younger son over the older one, just as God did with Jacob and Esau. The younger would be the more important. So, the double portion is not given to Joseph to divide as he would do by custom to his sons, giving the eldest his birthright. That ability is removed from him, as it is passed directly to his sons, reversing what Joseph probably would have done by the usual custom. This was God's directive again based on foreknowledge. So, Joseph is no longer a single tribe of Israel, but two tribes – Manasseh and Ephraim. This is why Joseph's name is rarely used when listing the tribes after this point. He is represented by the double portion of his two sons. So now we have thirteen tribes.

But then how do we get back to the twelve. Well, originally God intended for the firstborn son of every family to be given to Him to be a priest for the nation. When sin enters in, as it seems so often to do, God decides, based upon the circumstances of events, to replace the firstborns with the entire tribe of Levi. It was not quite a perfect exchange numerically, but very close. As a result, the tribe of Levi is separated from the other twelve tribes in many ways. They do not inherit and own land the way the others do. They are God's inheritors and their inheritance is the temple and what is connected to it in the way of rituals, sacrifices, and all that pertains to its upkeep. During the time of the wanderings, they are the ones who camp around the tabernacle keeping the other tribes at a distance. They are spread out in towns and cities through every tribe when Israel finally reaches the promised land and start dividing the land according to the tribes. They are the priests and teachers of the Law. They do not go to war as soldiers. They must abide by more special and restrictive rules and laws. So, because they are so different and are dispersed throughout all of Israel, they are not thought of as one of the regular twelve tribes. They are the priestly tribe, a special tribe. This is mimicked when Christ, the priest, has twelve disciples. Making a count of thirteen.

So now, back to the promise. While Joseph received the birthright and the double portion, and he did rule as the patriarch while he lived, after the Exodus the tribe of Judah took precedence of leadership. This was due to the fact that Judah became the one through whom the blessing and promise of a Messiah would come. How did that come about when Judah was the fourth born of the first wife? Well, the promise did not always have to go through the firstborn. Leah had not only had six sons, she had also had a daughter, Dinah. Dinah was raped by a neighboring prince and while he came and asked for her hand in marriage afterwards, her brothers Simeon (second born) and Levi (third born) were angry and wanted revenge rather than allowing the situation to be made right. They killed off all the men of the rapist's tribe, after tricking them into getting circumcised for the sake of being able to marry their sister. For this sin of revenge and hatred, God bypassed them as being in line for the Messiah and instead of going to Joseph's line, chose to give the blessing to Judah's line.

The reason for choosing Judah was not due to any righteousness on Judah's part, but again of foreknowledge by God of the descendants of this tribe. While Joseph himself was righteous, his descendants were not. Judah would remain the most faithful of the tribes. Foreknowledge of choices and events is also why Levi's tribe is chosen to be the priests, even though Levi himself sinned and was cut off from having the promise. Judah's unrighteousness was manifest when his oldest son was slain by God due to his evil ways, before having offspring. It was the custom to have the next son in line marry the widow so that she could have a son to raise up as an heir to the dead son. Today this is called a Levitical marriage. So Judah insists that his second son do the right thing. But this son deliberately scuttles any attempt to get Tamar pregnant and so God kills him. (Both being unworthy to be in the line of Christ). Judah now blames her for the death of his two sons and does not want his third son to die, so he tells her to go back to her father and when his young son is old enough then she can marry him. But time passes and this does not happen. Judah's wife dies and he goes off on a trip. Tamar hears about it, so dresses as a prostitute and seduces Judah into impregnating her to fulfill the promise given to her, since he will not give her his youngest son.

Judah in seeking Tamar's services as a supposed prostitute, promises her a kid from his flock, but as he has none with him, she asks for a pledge, to which he gives her some personal items. In the morning, she disappears before he wakes up and goes back to being the widow again. Judah tries to have her found to give her the kid and get his personal things back. But she cannot be found, as she was not a normal harlot plying her trade. Three months down the road, word comes to Judah that she is pregnant by playing the harlot. Judah insists she be brought to him to be put to death. She sends Judah's personal items to him and tells him that she is pregnant by the man who owns these things. Judah immediately realizes that he is the father, and acknowledges his guilt in the matter of not giving her a husband as promised. So Tamar is allowed to live, although Judah does not take her to wife. He does apparently keep her around, as his sons (his third by his first wife as well as Tamar's sons) migrate with him into Egypt along with his grandsons by Pharez, his son by Tamar. Tamar is pregnant with twins, and in the course of the birth one child, Zarah, begins to come out first, so the midwife ties a red cord to his hand so that they can know which is the firstborn after both are born. But he is pulled back into the womb and the other child, Pharez, comes out first. Again, God picks the child, Pharez, who should have been the younger to end up being the one through whom the line comes, for it is Pharez who is in the line of Christ. As Shelah is the only legitimate son left from a legal wife, he would inheirt the birthright, but God gives the blessing of the promise to the son who is not the son of a full and legal wife. Nor is he considered the firstborn of the twins, even though he was fully born before his brother fully came out.

So now we see how there are twelve and yet also thirteen tribes, and why Joseph is not really mentioned as a tribe, having been replaced by his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Considering Joseph a fourteenth tribe is not really a legitimate claim, as he is represented by his sons' two tribes. When Joseph's name is used, it can be in place of the two tribes, or as in Revelation in place of one tribe.

That now brings us to the question of why the names of the tribes in Revelation are being listed as they are, and why in the order given, as it is the only place where they are listed in this order, and where Manasseh, the younger less important tribe is listed while Ephraim, which was the bigger more important tribe, is replaced by Joseph. And Dan is left completely off the list. There are several possibilities for this. First, we will deal with the names listed, then address the lack of Dan's name.

Sometimes we miss much by not having the original languages, but only translations and sometimes bad ones at that. This would appear to be the case here, for the list of names, and the order in which they are given are a hidden message. Each of the names has a meaning, and when those meanings are known and assembled in the order given, they give us a message about the destiny of these 144,000 Israelites that are sealed for the end times. The names and general meanings are given below, as is the final resulting message.

Judah – I will praise Jehovah

Reuben –He has seen my affliction

Gad – a troop is coming

Asher – Happy or blessed am I

Naphtali – my struggle

Manasseh –He has made me forget my pain

Simeon – God hears me

Levi- He has joined himself to me

Issachar – He has rewarded me

Zebulon – He has exalted me

Joseph – He will add to me

Benjamin – Son of the right hand

When you string the meaning of the names together it basically says "I will praise Jehovah because He has seen my affliction. A troop comes (antichrist's troops) but blessed and happy am I. In my struggle, He has made me forget my pain. God hears me and has joined Himself to me. He has rewarded me and exalted me, adding to me the Son of His right hand."

This is a prophecy of the spiritual journey and experience of the 144,000 during the great tribulation through to the Lord's return. Ephraim's name is left out. There may be several reasons for this. First, Ephraim means fruitful and that would not fit in the message God intended to impart, so He uses Joseph's name instead. And Joseph, being Ephraim's father, this would mean Ephraim's tribe, as Manasseh is listed separately. The second reason for this may be that Ephraim was the site of the second pagan worship center in the norther tribes of Israel, alongside Dan. It was the southernmost site being on the southern border while Dan was the northernmost site, being at the northern border. Thus giving the people of northern Israel two places to worship from which they could choose, rather than having to go to Jerusalem. These two reasons may explain the order of the list and the replacement of Ephraim by Joseph.

As to the lack of Dan's name being there, much controversy by scholars surrounds this omission, but I think the prophesy of Dan given by Jacob, plus some knowledge of the tribe of Dan's activities explains why he is missing. First of all, the name Dan means judge. There is room in that message in the names to have included the word judge in some way, for the end times is all about God's judgment, however God deliberately leaves it out. So let us look to see why this might be.

First of all, let us look at the prophecy of Jacob. Genesis 49:16-18 “Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.” It tells us first that Dan shall judge his people AS one of the tribes of Israel. Why on earth would Jacob say “as one of the tribes” as if Dan were not one of the tribes? The answer may come in what is not only mentioned in the Bible but what is not mentioned in the Bible. The history of Dan in the Bible tells us a few things about this tribe. None of it very good. And secular information tells us a great deal more.

First of all, we can see that when the family entered into Egypt, Dan, unlike the others, only had one son. And later when the census is taken when they leave Egypt, Dan appears to still have had only one son. Yet when they left Egypt, Dan had the second largest number of descendants by many tens of thousands. That in itself is a little strange. When they get to the promised land, in spite of the tribe of Dan having been so large, they are given a small piece of land compared to others. Again, very strange. We will see that there may be a reason for that. As to Dan judging the people, we know that Samson was one of God's chosen judges. And unlike the others, Samson was given a miraculous gift of incredible, almost mythological strength. Then the phrase “as one of the tribes of Israel” is very peculiar, for they are a tribe of Israel.

If one delves into the history outside of the Bible, the archaeological and documentary evidence seems to show that the tribe of Dan became what is known as a sea-faring people. When this began is hard to determine, but it may have started even before Dan entered into Egypt, which may explain why when the list of the family is given when they entered, it mentions Dan's sons, as in plural, but then only lists one son's name as actually entering Egypt with him. Did Dan, who was probably in his late forties at least, at that time, have other sons who did not enter Egypt with him, but had already taken to the sea? That might explain why it says sons, but only lists one son, and why when they leave Egypt, the tribe of Dan is so enormous. There is every probability that before they were made slaves, that Dan's tribe had many who took to the sea and came back and forth to Goshen carrying trade goods to their extended family and when the Exodus occurred, they came to help their family in the wilderness, as the tribe was historically also known to be good warriors, as well as sea-farers. Also no doubt, these offspring had married many women from other places they had met on their journeys and brought them back with them, enlarging the tribe by going outside of the family of Israel.

When entering the land, since they were a sea-faring tribe they were given a plot of land on the coast, which makes sense, and it wasn't as large, again this makes sense, as they were sailing all over the place and some were settling elsewhere also. We see them referred to as a people who live on their ships in the song of Deborah in Judges, when she is relating the story of the battle just fought and mentions that Dan was not there, because they were hiding in their ships. There is much archaeological and documentary evidence that they not only settled in Greece and Anatolia, but migrated via the many rivers of Europe into its interior as well as reaching the British Isles, in particular, Ireland. Later on when those who remained on land were captured by the Assyrians, they were sent far away to the northern Balkan regions, due to Assyria's worry that as a rebellious tribe they would cause problems, where they then migrated throughout Europe and into the Scandinavian countries. All of this seems to be documented via archeology and ancient documents, but that lengthy story is for another article.

So this information helps us to understand why Jacob would say “as one of the tribes, “ since they did not seem to incorporate themselves into the nation of Israel, but struck out on their own as a sea-faring people, putting down roots all throughout Europe. Nor do they seem to partake of the religious part of Israel, as will be seen. That takes care of the first part of the prophecy, but what about the next?

Jacob says that Dan will be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path that bites the horse's heels so that the rider falls backward. Beginning at the end and working backwards, to bite a horse's heels is to attack from behind. To ambush someone to make the horse rear up and throw off the rider injuring and possibly killing him. And in this case, one would assume that the rider is innocent and that the attacker is unprovoked and does this out of malice and evil.

In the Scriptures, whenever it speaks of the serpent, with the exception of when it is talking about an actual snake, such as when Paul was bitten by one, the serpent is generally referring to Satan. Since that is the common usage when used metaphorically, it would seem logical to assume that this is the way it is meant here also. Someone from Dan's tribe will be a serpent, or agent of Satan, who will attack the innocent and cause them to probably die. We know that the tribe of Dan did do several things that showed them to be purveyors of evil. When the tribe of Dan could not hold onto the land given on the coast, due to the Philistines being stronger (their lack of faith to conquer them was the problem), they desired to look for easier land to conquer. They sent out spies to go north beyond the tribes that were already claiming their land to find other land. In so doing their first mistake was to take themselves outside of the boundaries of the land God was giving to Israel. In so doing, they were putting themselves outside of God's jurisdiction into the hands of a foreign god, for when the nations were divided at the Tower of Babel into seventy nations, God assigned a Son of God (fallen ones to the other nations, Michael to oversee Israel) to oversee and rule over each nation. We see this in the book of Daniel when the angel has to fight with the angelic prince of Persia to come see Daniel and then must fight the angelic prince of Greece when he leaves. This is why each nation always had their own god with his own name that they worshiped.

So when the tribe of Dan goes looking for land, they find a place that is very well situated and verdant for growing things. Unfortunately it is already settled by a peaceful people who have built a city. That city is far from any government oversight and help, so the tribe decides to pack up and go up there and kill them off and take the land, which they do. This is their first major sin in this move. On the way, they kidnap (willingly on his part) an apostate Levite, who has left God's temple to be a personal priest for a family man who had built his own mini temple supplied with a replica ephod, idols, and such and take him to be the tribe's Levitical priest. They set up the idol of abomination and create the first rival pagan temple to God's temple in Israel. So Dan is ultimately responsible for giving Israel what would eventually be the northern tribes' first pagan temple (albeit they mixed Judaism with paganism) to take the people away from the true God and His temple worship, and Law. This is their second major sin with this move.

There is more to the story of Dan's move north. In Deuteronomy, Moses prophesies about the tribes again. In 33:22 it says, “And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.” One might ask what the significance of that is. While Christ is the Lion of Judah, Satan is also referred to as a type of lion. In his case a roaring lion who seeks to devour us, and his offspring would be a lion's whelp or young lion. So that tells us what Dan's spiritual nature is. As for Bashan, that land and the city of Dan both were at the foot of Mt. Hermon, with Dan being on the south and Bashan being on the southeast or just east of Dan. Mt. Hermon was known traditionally as the place where the Sons of God who mated with humans were said to come down when they left their abode in heaven. Mt. Hermon was always considered a point of spiritual rebellion against God from the time well before the Flood. It was the area of Bashan, on the southeast side of Mt. Hermon that the Rephaim lived. The Rephaim were a giant tribe who were descendants of the Nephilim, the offspring of the Sons of God with human wives. King Og is the largest giant mentioned by name in the Bible and was the king of Bashan. While Og and the Rephaim had been defeated by Israel, the evil spiritual attachments and history of the land near Mt. Hermon were strong. And again, the land Dan took was outside of God's boundaries and therefore was under the spiritual oversight of the fallen angel who governed it. This placed them outside of the protection of Michael the archangel who was Israel's protector and questionably outside of God's protection.

The Phoenicians had believed Mt. Hermon, which they called Baal-Hermon, to be the mountain of Baal. As Dan would have probably been involved quite intimately with the Phoenicians, given that both were a sea-faring people, this may explain why Dan took up Baal worship and brought it into Israel when they settled at the base of Mt. Hermon.

While Dan had set up a mixture of Baal and Yahweh worship rivaling God's temple in Jerusalem with the calf and idols they had confiscated on their trip north, much later, when Israel was under Greek dominion, the Ptolemies, after the death of Alexander the Great, established Paneus, the site of the original shrine to Pan at Mt. Hermon over in Bashan. This was four miles east of Dan, so it can be seen how Dan is associated with Bashan in the verse in Deuteronomy. They are close neighbors and their religious practices are similar.

The shrine was located in a cave that had an underground stream that was so deep, it was considered the gateway to Hades, the underworld, or as it came to be called, the Gates of Hell. The stream was considered the point of connection between the dead and our world, with Pan living in the underworld during the winter months.

Later during in the Roman era, during Herod the Great's reign, he built a temple dedicated to Caesar Augustus to cement his relationship with Rome. After Herod's death, his son Philip expanded the area into a city which he named Caesarea Philippi in honor of the Caesar and himself. It is here at this place of the grotto that Peter declared Christ the Son of the living God and Jesus said he would build His church (on the confession of His being the Messiah, not on Peter) and that the Gates of Hell (note the use of the name in a dual spiritual way) would not prevail against it. It was a statement in the face of one of the most demonic places in the world that Satan would not triumph over Christ and His plan of salvation.

In an ancient Semitic language called Ugaritic, Bashan means “serpent”, which as Bashan was not a Hebrew land, it would have gotten its name from another Semitic language of the area. This place was known for its connection to spiritual rebellion against God, so the name goes along with the idea that Satan is called the serpent throughout Scripture. And Dan is also referred to as a serpent in Genesis, showing the source of his behavior and beliefs. It can be seen why Satan would lead Dan to a land that is dedicated to the worship of Satan and his realm and agents.

This is the part we know from the Bible history that tells us how the serpent worked through Dan's line to destroy God's people, biting them from behind to destroy them both spiritually and eventually physically when God punishes them. And Dan's connection to Satan the serpent. But does this hold more prophetic significance than just the events listed above? I believe so. After Jacob makes his prophecies, he cries out, “I have waited for thy salvation O Lord.” What does Jacob see in the future that is so bad that He cries out to God for salvation to come? It must have been something really bad to elicit that response. But again, we miss something in the translation, for if we go to the Hebrew it actually says, “I have waited for Yeshua, O Yahweh.” Is this prophetic about the coming of the Messiah? And is it just the first coming, or second that is in mind here? Is there some descendant of Dan that will be a very bad agent of the serpent? Is that why he is left out of Revelation?

In Isaiah 14:29, we find one of those well-known passages that we know is about Satan. It also speaks about Babylon's demise, the final one from which she does not rise again. This is followed by a passage about the Assyrian in God's country. The Assyrian is a name which is given to the antichrist in a number or prophetic passages about the end times. So, we know from all this that the context of the next few verses is end time prophecies as well. It says in verses 29-30, “Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.”

This passage is telling us of a part of the war between God and Satan. That out of the serpent's root, Satan's spawn, whether human or otherwise, shall come forth a cockatrice or fiery flying serpent. A cockatrice is a very poisonous snake, but this is not speaking of a real snake. This is either speaking of a single spiritual entity who is evil, or maybe two persons, a cockatrice - a human who belongs to Satan and the fiery serpent or in Hebrew - seraph (a serpentine flaming angel which in this case would be evil or a reptilian-like hybrid) who controls or possesses the human. It could possibly be Satan's actual child (angels did reproduce with humans before the Flood) who is a seraph or serpent-like creature like its father, or another fallen angel, or demonic spirit - a dead hybrid Nephilim that is a seraph or seraph-like creature. There are several possibilities how this will play out.

Satan had his beautiful wings removed at Eden, and was cursed to crawl on the ground. Satan is called a cherub in one passage, but being called a serpent all the time lends itself to him being a seraph or serpent-like angel as well. Maybe he is one of a kind, a combination, as many angels look different from each other and many take on animal-like characteristics. When the term fiery flying serpent is used, it is the word seraph and each time that word is used, it seems to be in reference to a particular type of angel. So the offspring of Satan, the cockatrice or fiery flying serpent that comes from Satan's root is the same kind of creature. Like father, like son. It would appear that the antichrist or beast (this tells us he is not human looking in his original form) as he is called in Revelation, is this type of creature. He presently resides in the abyss and will makes his appearance once more, as he has done seven times before in the previous empires, when the beast comes on the scene at the end. The last time the beast was here, he inhabited or possessed Hitler, who could very well have been a descendant of Dan (Hitler was said to have some Jewish blood, and he came from Germany which is filled with evidence of the tribe of Dan's presence), so it is possible that a descendant of Dan will be the beast's host for the end times. Again, this is speculation. This may be another reason for Dan being kept out of the 144,000.

Another passage which refers to the fiery flying serpent is found in Isaiah 30:6 “The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.” This is referring to when Israel was going to Egypt to try to get them to be an ally. For all the riches that they brought down to Egypt, it would profit Israel nothing, for Egypt would not help them when the time came, It refers to Egypt as a land of trouble and anguish (it certainly was for Israel when they were slaves). It also refers to the fact that the old and young lion, and the viper and fiery flying serpent come from there. It is tying the words lion to serpent. Satan is referred to as a roaring lion seeking to devour us. He is the old lion, the beast or antichrist is the young lion. Satan is the viper or serpent who can no longer fly, and the antichrist is the fiery flying serpent who apparently does have wings. And as we have seen, Dan is called both a serpent and a lion's whelp. Both these terms connect Dan directly to Satan and the beast.

This saga of Satan and the beast (along with Babylon, the female of the unholy trinity) began with their establishing their dominion in Egypt. While it goes back further than that to Nimrod at the Tower of Babel, the mixing of languages brought that to a halt. The beast's and Babylon's co-regency really started with Egypt and Pharaoh, as told to us in Daniel's vision, and we see the various nations that they controlled down through the ages through the prophecies and visions in Daniel and Revelation. So we have two passages which seem to point a direct connection between Dan and Satan with the terms serpent and lion.

The last thing that needs to be mentioned is that many say that the twelve tribes mentioned in Revelation are all consolidated in the Jewish people of Israel today. That there are no “lost” tribes. While it is true that most likely the remnant believers in each tribe migrated down to Jerusalem to be near the temple when other nations invaded and took prisoners, and they came back as part of the Jewish nation when released from captivity, all of these people would have long ago been assimilated into the tribe of Judah and no longer had their own identity of the other tribes. They would all simply be Jewish now. The rest of the ten tribes which were driven into the heathen nations still exist there. We have verification from Scripture as to this, when at the end Christ gathers the Israelites from the nations for the millennium. He will find and bring forth the lost tribes of northern Israel out of the heathen nations where they have been hidden to join them back to Judah (the Jews of today) so that they are no longer two separate nations, but one nation under Christ. The ten lost tribes are not considered entirely to be part of the present Jewish nation of Israel by God. Ezekiel 37:15-28 confirms this for us.

“The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them,

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover, I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.”

This explicitly tells us that Israel has to come out of the heathen nations where they were assimilated to be joined to present day Israel, the Jews, for the millennium. There is no mistaking what it says.

Hopefully all of this explains the ten lost tribes of Israel as they are called and what their future holds for both the 144,000 and their reuniting with Judah or present-day Israel, as well as how many tribes there actually are and why the list of tribes varies from Scripture to Scripture.

The Two Houses of Israel, Ephraimites, and Ten Lost Tribes

I am working on getting back to finishing up my series on the antichrist in the Old Testament, but in the meanwhile, a dialogue with a Christian Identity person (I have an article on that in the works too) brought to mind the theology of Ephraimites and I felt led to write on this at the moment.

When the ten northern tribes of Israel were taken into captivity by Assyria, they never came back into the land of Israel. That is why they are known to this day as the ten lost tribes. The Bible refers to these tribes as Ephraim, as in the last days when Yeshua returns He will again join Judah and Ephraim into one nation, the nation of Israel.

Ezekiel 27:16-28 “Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.”

For some reason, several different “Christian” and I use the term very loosely, movements have jumped on the bandwagon of deciding that they are part of these lost tribes. I do not know why they feel the need to brand themselves as this, other than for the reason of having a jealously of Israel being the actual blood descendants of Abraham. For some reason, the idea of being an adopted child of Abraham by faith into the family of God through Christ is not sufficient for their ego and vanity. Even though God made it quite clear that He does not see us as Jew or Greek (Gentile) once we have accepted Christ, and that He makes no distinction between His children in this way, there are some who seem to feel that it is not enough to have Christ.

Romans 10:12 “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.”

Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Colossians 3:11 “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”

That God sees us all alike in Christ is not sufficient for all. Some must makes themselves somehow superior by being of the tribe of Ephraim. There are a number of groups that I know of (there may be more) that are doing this : British Israelism, Christian Identity, the Worldwide Church of God (Herbert Armstrong's church), the Mormons, and the Hebraic Roots Movement which has multiple names such as Two House Movement, Ephraimites, Messianic Israel, among them.

In all of the above cases, the common denominator is that the ten lost tribes migrated north into Europe, in particular England, and then over to the Americas. Ephraim being England and Manasseh being America. (Actually if they knew their Bible they would realize that is backwards. Ephraim, the younger brother was to be a greater people and multitude of nations than his older brother Manasseh.) Now, there is some reasonable merit in believing that some of the people from these tribes did move north. Since they were taken captive north of Israel, for them to continue north is not a stretch of the imagination. And in fact, there is one tribe that there is much evidence to show that it did move north. The tribe of Dan (the one tribe that was really cursed for their paganism) seems to have moved into the area around central Europe. Just as today we are still prone to naming things after people, so people did as a rule back then. We find the name Dan in a multitude of places such as cities, rivers, and other geographic features. For instance the Danube, the Dneiper, Denmark, etc. [Just as a side note, it is the tribe of Dan from whom the antichrist is thought to be coming.] There are also Scriptures that say that some will return from the north and west, so it is logical to assume that there will be some of these tribes who have descendants in Europe and America. I also think it quite probable that these tribes migrated in other directions also, as well as some staying put in Assyria. I think they are the world over and we have no idea who these people are.

This idea that the ten tribes found their way to Europe and in particular England seems to have begun with the British Israel movement. It is their contention that England is actually now the House of Israel and when Christ returns He will set up His New Jerusalem, in England. They also contend that the royal family are direct descendants of King David. (Can anyone see the set up for an antichrist here?) Needless to say these ideas about New Jerusalem and the royal family are not Scriptural at all. From there this movement moved to America in the form of Christian Identity. I am presently preparing an article on this movement. To briefly sum up CI takes this idea much further and says that not only are white Europeans the descendants of the ten tribes, but that most of Judah also never came back from the Babylonian captivity, but also migrated into Europe and that the Jews we know today are not from the tribe of Judah at all, but are pretenders. More specifically they are said to be the descendants of Cain who was the spawn of Satan and Eve (not Adam and Eve). This group is Aryan Nation in theology, believing that not only are the Jews the spawn of Satan and that white European descendants are the true Jews, but that those who are not Caucasion are actually the “beasts of the field” which God created and are not truly human in the same way, therefore not eligible for salvation.

The Worldwide Church of God and Mormons also believe they are descendants from these ten lost tribes so are truly Israel. Their theologies can be further explored on the internet, so I won't go into them here. Now we come to the Hebraic Roots, Ephraimites, or Two House Movement. They believe the Jews are Judah, but they also believe that the ten tribes migrated north to England and then on to America. As these are Gentile Christians who feel called back to Judaic roots, they insist that this must come from the fact that they are truly Israel in blood, and that is why they are being called back to their roots. They do not merely see it as God speaking to those of His children who have ears to hear to make them see that in these last days He is sifting His children before the antichrist comes on the scene, and wants them to remove the paganism from their practices and hearts. It is the time of judgment of the church when He is allowing us to either purge ourselves by our own volition thereby making us Philadelphians, or He will purge His children through the tribulation, as he wants a pure and refined Bride.

One of the problems that has emerged from this latter movement is that it is returning people to the yoke of the law. While some are more tentative about how far they want to go, many are jumping into the deep end of Judaism, and embracing it with no regard to the teachings of the New Testament, in particular Galatians, and making themselves prisoners of the Law again. They carry this further by insisting that those who will not go this entire route with them are not truly saved. What they fail to acknowledge is that nobody can make any claim to being from the ten tribes. That is why they are called “lost.” Only God knows who they are. There is, in the letters to the churches in Revelation, a warning to two different churches about a group who claim to be Jews, (of Israel descent) but really aren't. They are pretenders. They are called the synagogue of Satan. Now there are several groups that can be considered to fall in this group, as they do not teach salvation as the Bible does, but bring another gospel. Several of them are mentioned above. It is the intention of all of these groups to claim the rights of Israel for themselves. Some seek further to put people under the bondage of the law for their salvation, although they would deny this. They claim that they aren't saying it is for salvation that you must do this, as salvation comes by faith in Yeshua, that it is merely for obtaining blessings, but when you listen more carefully, you find that unless you bow to their rules, they act and treat you as if you are not truly saved, thus giving lie to their lip service that salvation is by faith.

While this group technically does not belong in this group as they do not claim descent from the ten tribes, there is yet another group of posers who most definitely are the synagogue of Satan. The monarchies and financial kingpins of Europe claim to be descendants of Jesus through Mary Magdalene. It is their intention to put their own king upon the throne in Jerusalem. They are otherwise known as the Illuminati and the antichrist.

Returning to the Ephraimites and the Law, what does the Bible say about returning to the Law?

Galatians 1:6-8 “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

As this epistle is addressing this very problem, that Gentiles are being told that they must observe the law or they aren't really saved, we must look very carefully at what Paul says. He is telling us that for us to be placed under the yoke of the law is another gospel. It negates the grace of Christ.

Galatians 4:9-11”But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.”

Paul is saying they are making a big deal about having to keep the holy days, fasts, feasts, etc. In other passages we are told we have the freedom to observe these days, but we are not required to keep anything but the Sabbath. To make them a requirement puts one under bondage again. This also includes things such as keeping kosher, which was lifted both in Acts 15:20,29 and in 1 Timothy 4:4-5.

Galatians 2:18-19 “For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.”

To build again upon the works of keeping the law is to make us a transgressor. Why would it make us a transgressor?

Galatians 5:1-4 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”

James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

The rule is, if you are going to make keeping the law an issue, you have to keep every letter of the law. For if you do not keep every letter of the law, if you offend in just one point, you are guilty of breaking all of it. As it is literally impossible to keep the 135 laws regarding the temple and sacrifices alone, it would seem that keeping the law is a fruitless effort. To view the rest of the 613 laws, I would recommend this site. http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm. How many can you keep?

When Yeshua told us to keep His commandments, He made it quite simple. Not only did He only leave us with the Ten Commandments as being the only Laws we had to observe, He reduced them to two. Matthew 22:37-40 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

So we see from Scripture that 1) There is no Jew nor Greek in Yeshua, for we are all the same in Him, so we should not seek to be “special” or “superior” or “more righteous” by laying claim to being of the House of Israel through the ten tribes. In fact, due to their turning from God in their extreme paganism, to the point where God divorced them so that they were not even allowed to return to the land, as Judah was, it is not something to be proud of to lay claim to this lineage. After all, the sins of the fathers are visited on the sons for many generations. Quite honestly I think I'd rather not be from that lot. 2) To return to the Law and be under bondage to it is not Scriptural. If someone is telling you that you must observe the Law, they should be avoided, as they are preaching another gospel. One that is not of grace, no matter what they say. Paul has already dealt with people like this before. 3) Beware the synagogue of Satan. Do not get caught up in it thinking that you are merely embracing your spiritual roots. These groups can be very dangerous to your spiritual life. 4) If you are loving God and loving your neighbor you are keeping the Law according to Yeshua.

Now, that said, do I believe that Christianity is fine the way it is being observed in Christendom? Absolutely not. It is pagan to its core these days. Any Christian who seeks a closer relationship with the Lord is obliged to walk away from sin and paganism. There is simply no choice in that. Apostasy is not good for any Christian and the Church (in all denominations) reeks of it.

Should we return to a Judaic form of worship of the Lord by freely enjoying (not being obliged to observe as some would make us) the Feasts of God rather than the pagan Christian holidays? I certainly would recommend it, as there is much to be gained in spiritual blessings and satisfaction from doing so. I say this from experience. Do I feel it is mandatory? No. It cannot be mandatory, for by law these feasts were to be observed in Jerusalem and at the temple. So to observe them any place else is breaking the very Law these people insist must be observed. This is exactly the sin of which the ten tribes were guilty. They were not going to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, but set up their own temples and high places, etc. in their own land. I think if in grace we freely wish to observe a feast as best we can, knowing that we cannot fulfill it according to the Law, the Lord is fine with that, as it comes from the intent of our heart to enjoy the Lord and His feasts. If however we make it a matter of obligation, then we have put ourselves under the Law and by not observing it according to the Law, we are transgressors of that very Law that we are seeking to observe.

Is the Sabbath mandatory? Yes. There are ten commandments, not nine. The Ten Commandments are not the same as all the other laws. Yeshua said if we love Him we will keep the commandments, which again He reduced to two, love God and love your neighbor as yourself. The Sabbath falls under the first commandment, love God. Should we keep kosher? If it does it for you, go for it, but do not ever say that it is required for anybody else, or that they are not as good a Christian (or not a Christian at all) for not doing so. Their freedom in Christ allows them to not have to observe it. Do not condemn their freedom. That is against Scripture.

Should a person look for a Messianic congregation? It would all depend on the congregation. If they are seeking to renounce the apostasy of the Church, but are not looking to put people under the yoke of the Law, I would say it would be a great thing to have such fellowship. If however the group is one of the Ephraimite groups which demand the keeping of the Law, I would be very wary about joining them. It is merely the flip side of the coin of apostasy. Legalism is as bad as apostasy. As I continually say in my blog, the middle of the road most often tends to be the right path. Extremes in any direction (other than saying that Yeshua is the only way of salvation) tend to lead people away from truth. We must base our beliefs and our actions on Scripture alone. Sola Scriptura. Examine everything, sift everything, be a Berean in all things. Only then can you be sure of not falling into one of the millions of traps that Satan has set for us.

One last added note, do not think that celebrating Judaism the way it celebrates things is perfectly fine. Satan put as much paganism (Kabbalah) into Judaism and their traditions as he did with the Church. Filter everything through the lens of Scripture before taking it on as a new lifestyle. Understand that much of Judaism takes as its leadership, not the Bible or Tanakh, but the Midrash, the Talmud, and other writings by rabbis. Rabbis who were most likely participating in Kabbalah. It is essential that you not jump from the frying pan into the fire when leaving pagan Christianity for a better way. Do not be deceived.