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in the book of Revelation?
Q. Why is the tribe of Dan not mentioned in the book of Revelation?
(Submitted by: T. M.)
A. The quick and easy answer to this is: We don't know. That is, we're left with guessing why the enumeration of the tribes in Revelation 7:4-8 is different from the standard enumeration given in the Old Testament.
" And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph [were] sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin [were] sealed twelve thousand." (Revelation 7:4-8)Dan is omitted, and Joseph takes the place of Ephraim, a half tribe, evidently. Because the tribes are enumerated so specifically, it's hard to accept the notion it refers to people who are merely spiritual Israel, and the church in general. Instead, it makes sense it refers to Christians given special protection or a special role in God's sight who actually are of these tribes ethnically. We may not know now who would be part of this 144,000 (or they may not know until it happens specifically their own ethnic ancestry), but God would. They would be at least part of the true Christians who stayed loyal to God (as part of the small flock), and didn't serve Babylon the Great or her daughter harlots, who are composed of the great (and small!) false churches.
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One standard speculation for why Dan is omitted comes from the belief that Dan had an especially great problem with idolatry. There's an incident described in Judges 18:14-26 in which a gang of Danites stole an idol from an Ephraimite and set it up. They were part of the northern 10 "Lost" Tribes that later got hauled off into exile by the Assyrian Empire. The northern kingdom of Israel (different from the southern kingdom of Judah) had a much bigger problem overall with idolatry after Jeroboam became its king. Dan was one of these tribes, but that doesn't explain its omission since all the other tribes of the northern kingdom get mentioned somehow. Another idea to explain Dan's omission is that Dan, situated on the northern border of the area given to Israel, was very slack about driving out the pagan Canaanites in their midst. They didn't always participate in the collective defense or offense of Israel as they should have. When Deborah sang about her victory over the Canaanite king Jabin, she asked, "And why did Dan remain on ships?" ( Judges 5:17). But then, admittedly, Asher was also slack in the same battle according to this same verse, yet gets mentioned in Revelation 7. Samson, the most famous Danite in the Old Testament, was not a very spiritual man for most of his life. None of this really explains why Dan is omitted from the Book of Revelation. It remains a speculative subject. The real issue then is we who believe in Scripture, when confronted with mysteries like this, still need to live our lives rightly and to have the right faith to ensure we're accounted worthy to enter God's kingdom. The Book of Revelation is especially about the eternal state to come in its final sections. May we strive to be there! Other Recommended Bible Study Materials:
Answer Given By: Eric Snow |
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