God Built Prophecy into All He had Israel Do
Prophecy
As Moses led the children of Israel through the wilderness toward the Promised Land of Canaan God had provided for them, God gave instructions for how their campsite should be set up. There was a prophetic design to how God had Moses erect the tabernacle and in how he had the tribes situated around the tabernacle and in regard to which tribes were next to each other.
First, we see that the tabernacle was centered amid the tribes with the various priestly clans nearest the tabernacle as they took care of it and all that went on with the tabernacle in worship of Yahweh.
God ordered which clans should be around the tabernacle and in what order. This was purposeful on his part and had even further prophetic implications. In total, including the priests, there were 625,856 male individuals over the age of 20 (Nu 2:1-34; 3:21-37). If we assume women and children, then the total would have been, conservatively, 1.5 million individuals. This gives an idea of the monumental feat God had entrusted to Moses in leading these people.
It’s somewhat interesting that the tribes situated West and East were sons of Rachel and Leah, although Manasseh and Ephraim were sons of Joseph who was the son of Rachel. North and South contained the tribes that were the sons of their handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah, with two also being of Leah. These groupings are important because God arranged them for specific messaging.
The placement of these tribes is also important. Each direction is also symbolic. The North represents Judgment (almost all judgment came from the north: God descended on Mount Sinai coming from the north, Assyrian and Babylonian invasions and subsequent captivity came from the north), the South represents Blessing (they received their Promised Land by coming to it from the South), the West represents Reuniting (the Promised Land was on the west side of the Jordan River), and the East represents Hope for the coming Promised One, the Messiah (the East was the sunrise – hope of a new day and hope of God’s blessings).
The first tribe of each direction also represent the character of their coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, whom the tabernacle represented. The banner of Reuben was that of a man (Christ would come as a man), that of Ephraim an ox (Christ would come as a suffering servant), that of Dan an eagle (Christ would retain his heavenly power), and that of Judah a lion (Christ would come as the Promised One through Judah). These are reflective of the faces of the cherubim which Ezekiel describes (Ek 1:4-28) as they, too, represent Jesus’ character and were under his throne and helped to carry it—sometimes referred to as God’s chariot which Ezekiel saw in his vision of God’s throne and the angels who surrounded it.
In fact, the entire Israeli assembly was arranged in the shape of a cross. How prophetic is that? What does a cross look like? The top portion should be the smallest piece of the cross, the cross bar should be equal size on either side of the upright, and the part below the cross bar should be the longest. And that is exactly how the Israeli congregation were arranged. The West, the top of the cross, represented 18% of the encamped Israeli population, the East, the bottom of the cross, represented 31% of the encamped Israeli population, and the North and South each represented an equal percent of the population: North 26% and South, 25%.
Three of those on first line next to the priests’ tents were firstborn sons, or those of the promised blessing. Reuben, to the south, was the firstborn of all of Jacob’s sons. Only the firstborn of Zilpah, i.e., Gad, was not on the front but on the back. Ephraim, the second son of Joseph who received the promised blessing was on the front of the west side. Dan, the firstborn of Bilhah, was on the north side. And Judah, the 4th born of Leah, was on the front in the South side. This placement of Judah reflects future birthright blessing which was many years yet to come. It is also interesting that the land inheritance given to the Israeli tribes are mostly next to each other, similar to this grouping of tribes around the tabernacle. As these tribes lived close to each other for forty years, I guess that would not seem surprising. Yet, their placement also fulfilled the prophecy that Jacob said about many of his sons. We will first look at the tribes on the South: Reuben, Simeon, and Gad.
In the original placement of the tribes of Israel within Canaan, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, along with the tribe of Levi, fulfilled Jacob’s prophecy about each of them as they seem to have had somewhat of a rebellious streak. Jacob stated that Reuben would not excel because he slept with Bilhah, the servant of his favorite wife, Rachel. This was likely a way to show Reuben’s disfavor with his father’s favoritism, but there was no excuse for Reuben’s actions. Jacob stated that Gad would be attacked by raiders. Reuben and Gad selfishly asked for land on the east of the Jordan River before they had helped capture the land God had promised them on the west side of the river (Nu 32:1-42). This was in line with their rebellious attitude and they were the first tribes attacked by enemies from the East because of their land positions.
Simeon and Levi, because of their rash action against the city of Shechem where they killed all males there because of the way the prince of the city treated their sister Dinah (Gn 34:1-31), they would be dispersed throughout Israel (Gn 49:7). Simeon was given cities within the territory of Judah (Js 19:1-8). Levi became the priests and received 48 cities throughout the other tribes (Js 21:1-45).
It seems during the reign of Solomon, many of the Simeonites relocated to somewhere within Manasseh and several Scripture passages group these three tribes together (2Ch 15:9; 34:6). Simeon became part of the Northern Kingdom of Israel when the kingdom divided. The tribe of Benjamin on the other hand became associated with Judah and part of the Southern Kingdom when the kingdom divided.
The birthright order went from Reuben, to Joseph, to Ephraim. Joseph received inheritance after God rejected Reuben for trying to usurp his father’s authority when he slept with Bilhah. Jacob stated that Manasseh and Ephraim and their descendants would be counted as his. This meant that Joseph received a double inheritance from Jacob through his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh becoming Israeli tribes (Gn 48:5-6). Again, Ephraim, the second born of Joseph and Asenath is placed before Manasseh, the firstborn. Therefore, the inheritance and birthright passed to Ephraim from Joseph (Gn 48:17-20).
Jacob prophesied of Joseph: Joseph is a fruitful vine … whose branches climb over a wall … Let all rest on the head of Joseph (Gn 49:22-26). The majority of the Canaanite territory was given to Joseph through his sons Manasseh and Ephraim which inherited some of the most fruitful land and even crossed over the border of the Jordan River.
Of Benjamin, Jacob prophesied: Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder (Gn 49:27). Benjamites were known for their military prowess. Many of David’s mighty men were from the tribe of Benjamin.
When the land of Canaan was divided into the inheritance for the tribes of Israel, Ephraim was the one with the blessing birthright. Grouped with Ephraim were Manasseh and Benjamin. The tabernacle was originally erected at Gilgal within the territory of Manasseh where it stayed for 14 years. It was then moved to Shiloh within Ephraim, the birthright clan, to be more centrally located within Canaan, where it remained for 369 years. Ephraim fell into sin and did not have the tabernacle function as Moses had directed, the high priest now came from the clan of Ithamar rather than through Eliezer as God had ordained. Because of this and the wickedness of the sons of Eli, the high priest, the ark was captured by the Philistines and the city of Shiloh destroyed. The tabernacle was relocated to Nob, a city within the tribe of Benjamin. The Gibeonites who were forced into labor to assists the priests in their tabernacle duties because of their deception with Joshua, lived within the territory of Benjamin. During this time when Ephraim had the inheritance birthright, Saul became king. This could be why Saul became king from the tribe of Benjamin because the tribe of Benjamin was associated with Ephraim and Manasseh, the birthright clans, and supported worship at the tabernacle. Psalms 78 states that this is when God rejected Ephraim and Shiloh and chose the tribe of Judah and Mount Zion for his temple where it would be established forever (Ps 78:67-69).
In the north, we have the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. The tribe of Dan, who was originally placed next to the Philistines, became dissatisfied with their placement and later relocated to the north next to Naphtali which brought the three tribes back together again. They were all three again in the north protecting the other tribes from northern invasion.
The name “Dan” means judgment and this tribe led in the protection of the Israelites in case of attack (Nu 10:25). Jacob prophesied: Dan will be a snake by the roadside … so that riders tumble backward (Gn 49:17). God sometimes used vipers as a means of judgment (Nu 21:4-9). Dan weaved his way to the north and became a means of northern defense. I find it interesting that Dan is on the opposite side of Reuben who slept with Dan’s mother, Bilhah. It seems apropos that God is situated between the two to show that only he can bring reconciliation for acts of sin. Also, this could perhaps explain why Dan is not listed with the 144,000 evangelists in Revelation (Rv 7:4-8) because he is about judgment and not reconciliation. Jacob prophesied the following concerning Asher: Asher’s food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king (Gn 49:20). Being next to the seashore helped to fulfill this prophecy. Concerning Naphtali, Jacob prophesied: Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns (Gn 49:21). Important leaders and prophets came from Naphtali; the most significant being Jesus Christ whose ministry headquarters was from this area around the Sea of Galilee. As Dan did not drive out the Philistines, Asher and Naphtali did not drive out all the Canaanites in their territory either which later led to God using these Canaanites as judgment for the Israelites not following him as they had committed themselves to do. Therefore, all three clans were associated with judgment. The three cities Jesus cursed because of their lack of response to him and all the miracles he performed in their presence (Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin) were also in this region (Mt 11:20-24).
Then in the East, we have Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Jacob’s prophecy concerning Judah: Judah, your brothers will praise you. The scepter will not depart from Judah (Gn 49:8-10). This is a birthright prophecy, but Judah did not yet have the birthright. Concerning Issachar, Jacob prophesied: Issachar is a rawboned donkey lying down among the sheep pens. He will bend his shoulder to the burden (Gn 49:14-15). This tribe became a farming community. Concerning Zebulun, Jacob prophesied: Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships. His border will extend toward Sidon. Whie not directly next to the seashore, this tribe became influential with the Phoenicians and became part of a maritime powerhouse. After the destruction of Shiloh, Judah received the birthright blessing inheritance and God rejected Ephraim and Shiloh as a place for his tabernacle.
Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ, was in Judah and Nazareth, his hometown, was in the territory of Zebulun. Christ spent much of his ministry in Galilee and Judea. Zebulun and Issachar became part of the region called Galilee in the Roman-controlled first century when Christ was on the scene. Benjamin and Judah became part of the region called Judea.
Isn’t it amazing how God fulfilled Jacob’s prophecy concerning his sons and their descendants? None of them could have imagined how God was going to bring about such words from their father. Again, God does things that are totally unexpected to us but in hindsight makes perfect sense as the fulfillment of each prophecy fits together to make a cohesive whole. Sometimes, the prophecy fulfillment comes quickly and at other times it comes slowly, but one thing is for sure, it comes to pass. This helps us to know that other prophecies that God has predicted will also come true. Some, maybe even in our lifetime. Next time we’ll discuss something else about how God put these tribes together around his tabernacle to prophesy something about their future. I hope you join me.
____________
Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens