Genesis 35:16-29 (Many times this side of
heaven is tough - even the tribes of Israel had issues)
READING
16 Then they moved on from
Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give
birth and had great difficulty. 17 And as she was having great difficulty in
childbirth, the midwife said to her, "Don't despair, for you have another
son." 18 As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son
Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.
19 So Rachel died and was
buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Over her tomb Jacob set
up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb.
21 Israel moved on again and
pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22 While Israel was living in that region,
Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard
of it. Jacob had twelve sons:
23 The sons of Leah: Reuben
the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph
and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Rachel's
servant Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Leah's servant
Zilpah: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in
Paddan Aram.
27 Jacob came home to his
father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and
Isaac had stayed. 28 Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. 29 Then he breathed
his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And
his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
BOARD –
DIFFICULTY 16-17
DECISIONS 18-22
DESCENDENTS 23-26
DEATH 27-29
DIFFICULTY – 16-17
16 – Ephrath –
older name of Bethlehem – Ru 1:2 and Mica 5:2
17 – Reminder – from
30:24 when she had asked for another son during josephs birth
DECISIONS – 18-22
18 - Benjamin
– Also then known as son of the south direction was
facing east was south on the right
Benjamin – Deut 33:12
Benjamin, was the twelfth and youngest son of
Jacob. His mother was Rachel, Jacob's wife. Benjamin was born during the
journey that Jacob and his family took from Padan Aram to Canaan. His mother
Rachel named him "Ben-oni," meaning "Son of my sorrow,"
before she died during the childbirth, but Jacob called him Benjamin. Joseph,
Benjamin's brother was sold into slavery by his other brothers.
Joseph later became prime minister of Egypt,
and when Joseph's brothers refused to abandon Benjamin, after Joseph put them
to a test, Joseph realized his brothers had a change of heart and were willing
to risk their lives for their youngest brother. Through this test, the whole
family of Jacob was joyously reunited.
When Jacob blesses his 12 sons, in Genesis 49,
he describes Benjamin as a wolf that prowls, devouring his enemies in the
morning and dividing up the spoils in the evening. (Genesis 49:27). King Saul,
and Judge Ehud, were descendants of Benjamin, as was Paul and the prophet
Jeremiah.
After the division of the Kingdom, the land of
Benjamin served as a buffer zone between Israel and Judah. The name Benjamin
means "Son of my right hand."
19 – Rachel dies in childbirth – remember if she didn’t have kids she would die –
30:1
20 – Setup for 1st Samuel 10:2 where Samuel blesses Saul – a notable landmark
21 - Midgal
Eder means ‘tower of the flock’ a watchtower
built to discourage stealing sheep and other animals as an example of 2 Ch
26:10 – He was to begin the looking over his flock See Micah 4:6-7
22 – Reuben’s act was an arrogant and premature
claim to the rights of the first born ( see 2 Samuel 3:7,
12:8, 16:21 and 1 kings 2:22) – those who had the royal bed were often next to
the throne For this he would lose his
legal status as firstborn ( see Gen 49:3-4 and 1 Chronicles 5:1) – defiling the
bed
DESCENDENTS – 23-26
Read Deut 33 –
1-29 Moses blessing the tribes – NOTICE BENJAMIN AND REUBEN HERE
23-26 – Sons
-Geneology
DEATH – 27-29
27 – CAME HOME TO ISAAC - Same place from 13:18 after Lot had separated from
Abram and where Sarah had died
28 – Isaac 180 years – obviously the 120 years was not how long people
would live
29 – 2 kings 2:22 – you will not see the disaster coming to this place,
and both the boys buried him
END OF CLASS -
Jeremiah 31
15 This is what the Lord says:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning
and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and
refusing to be comforted,
because
they are no more.”
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Restrain your voice from weeping
and
your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the Lord.
“They
will return from the land of the enemy.
17
So there is hope for your descendants,”
declares
the Lord.
“Your children will return to
their own land.
18
“I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
‘You
disciplined me like an unruly calf,
and I
have been disciplined.
Restore me, and I will return,
because
you are the Lord my God.
19
After I strayed,
I
repented;
after I came to understand,
I
beat my breast.
I was ashamed and humiliated
because
I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
20
Is not Ephraim my dear son,
the
child in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
I
still remember him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
I
have great compassion for him,”
declares the Lord.
21
“Set up road signs;
put
up guideposts.
Take note of the highway,
the
road that you take.
Return, Virgin Israel,
return
to your towns.
22
How long will you wander,
unfaithful
Daughter Israel?
The Lord will create a new thing on earth—
the
woman will return to[b] the
man.”
And 15 is repeated in Mathew
2:18
SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Throughout their history in the Promised Land, the children of Israel struggled with conflict among the tribes. The disunity went back all the way to the patriarch Jacob, who presided over a house divided. The sons of Leah and the sons of Rachel had their share of contention even in Jacob’s lifetime (Genesis 37:1-11).
The enmity among the half-brothers continued in the time of the judges. Benjamin (one of Rachel’s tribes) took up arms against the other tribes (Judges 20). Israel’s first king, Saul, was of the tribe of Benjamin. When David was crowned king—David was from the tribe of Judah (one of Leah’s tribes)—the Benjamites rebelled (2 Samuel 2–3). After a long war (2 Samuel 3:1), David succeeded in uniting all twelve tribes (5:1-5).
The frailty of the union was exposed, however, when David’s son Absalom promoted himself as the new king and drew many Israelites away from their allegiance to David (2 Samuel 15). Significantly, Absalom set up his throne in Hebron, the site of the former capital (v. 10). A later revolt was led by a man named Sheba against David and the tribe of Judah (20:1-2).
The reign of David’s son Solomon saw more unrest when one of the king’s servants, Jeroboam, rebelled. Jeroboam was on the king’s errand when he met the prophet Ahijah, who told him that God was going to give him authority over ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. God’s reason for the division of the kingdom was definitive: “Because they have forsaken me . . . and have not walked in my ways.” However, God promised that David’s dynasty would continue, albeit over a much smaller kingdom, for the sake of God’s covenant with David and for the sake of Jerusalem, God’s chosen city. When Solomon learned of the prophecy, he sought to kill Jeroboam, who fled to Egypt for sanctuary (1 Kings 11:26-40).
After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam was set to become the next king. Jeroboam returned from Egypt and led a group of people to confront Rehoboam with a demand for a lighter tax burden. When Rehoboam refused the demand, ten of the tribes rejected Rehoboam and David’s dynasty (1 Kings 12:16), and Ahijah’s prophecy was fulfilled. Only Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to King Rehoboam. The northern tribes crowned Jeroboam as their king. Rehoboam made plans to mount an assault on the rebel tribes, but the Lord prevented him from taking that action (vv. 21-24). Meanwhile, Jeroboam further consolidated his power by instituting a form of calf worship unique to his kingdom and declaring that pilgrimages to Jerusalem were unnecessary. Thus, the people of the northern tribes would have no contact with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
“So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day” (1 Kings 12:19). The northern kingdom is called “Israel” (or sometimes “Ephraim”) in Scripture, and the southern kingdom is called “Judah.” From the divine viewpoint, the division was a judgment on not keeping God’s commands, specifically the commands prohibiting idolatry. From a human viewpoint, the division was the result of tribal discord and political unrest. The principle is that sin brings division (1 Corinthians 1:13,11:18;James 4:1).
The good news is that God, in His mercy, has promised a reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms. “He will raise a banner for the nations / and gather the exiles of Israel; / he will assemble the scattered people of Judah / from the four quarters of the earth. / Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, / and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed; / Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, / nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim” (Isaiah 11:12-13). When the Prince of Peace—Jesus Christ—reigns in His millennial kingdom, all hostility, jealousy, and conflict among the tribes will be put to rest.
Question:
"What are the twelve tribes of Israel?"
Answer:
There is a difference between the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve sons
of Israel. “Israel” is the name that God gave Jacob (Genesis 32:28). His twelve
sons are Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar,
Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin (Genesis 35:23-26; Exodus 1:1-4; 1 Chronicles
2:1-2). When the tribes inherited the Promised Land, Levi's descendants did not
receive a territory for themselves. Instead, they became priests and had
several cities scattered throughout all of Israel. Joseph did not receive a
tribe, either—Jacob had adopted Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh,
essentially giving Joseph a double portion for his faithfulness in saving the
family from famine (Genesis 47:11-12). This makes the tribes as listed in
Joshua: Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun,
Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Adding to the confusion, the tribe of Ephraim
is sometimes referred to as the tribe of Joseph (Numbers 1:32-33).
After
King Solomon died, Israel split into two kingdoms. Judah, to the south,
included Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. The other tribes combined to make the
kingdom of Israel in the north. Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians, and most
of the Israelites were either killed or deported; the Israelites who remained
most likely integrated with the kingdom of Judah.
Jesus
was from Judah, Paul was from Benjamin, and John the Baptist was a Levite, but,
since the diaspora in A.D. 70, identifying the tribe of a modern Jew is a
little more difficult. That doesn't mean that the tribal divisions are
irrelevant. During the tribulation, when most of the world has abandoned God
and is following the Antichrist, 144,000 Jews will be sealed by God. This
number comprises 12,000 from each tribe. So, even if we don’t know who is in
what tribe, God has kept track. The tribes are listed again in Revelation
7:5-8, but they are not the same tribes that were given land in Joshua.
Manasseh is there, and Ephraim (under Joseph’s name). But instead of Dan, Levi
is included. No explanation is given as to why.
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