Shelach Lekha
"Send for yourself"
Numbers 13:1-15:41
Joshua 2:1-2:24
Psalm 64
2 Timothy 3:1-17
Why is the list of the twelve tribes missing two names? There may be clues as to the re-bibliography of the tribes in Revelation, and those clues are found in this week’s seeds of prophecy in Shelach Lekha.
This Torah portion provides some of the primary texts from which the idea of two messiahs arose in Jewish tradition: Messiah bar Ephraim (Hoshea/Joshua) and Messiah bar David (Caleb):
Numbers 13:1-16; 14:1-10; 14:36-38
In this week’s Torah portion, the Israelites make the fateful decision to bring and believe an evil report concerning the Promised Land. In past studies, we learned that it is believed that the 40-year/death judgment on ten spies was “sealed over” from the Golden Calf incident at Sinai. They deserved death because of the Golden Calf, yet were put on a type of probation. With the sin of the evil report, the judgment was fully executed upon the men of war age. It was even thought that had the Israelites observed the Covenant between Sinai and the Land of Israel, then they would enter into immortality once they crossed the Jordan.
After the evil report, no one would assume immortality in the Land, and Joshua and Caleb would lead them up in the natural realm. Caleb, a Jew, would conquer Hebron and possess the city of the entrance to the Garden where the patriarchs and matriarchs were buried. King David ruled from Hebron seven years. Joshua, an Ephraimite, would succeed Moses and lead the next generation.The Golden Calf connection is the clue that will link the “messiahs” of Shelach Lekha to John’s Revelation of the 144,000 sealed from the twelve tribes:
- And I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed. After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands...(Re 7:4-9)
First of all, notice the tribes are not in chronological or camping order around the Tent of Meeting. This is also a clue. It is not intended to be a list of all tribes, but the tribes who can be sealed to sing the war-song because of their abstinence from "women," i.e., serving idols. After the sealing, we are told in Re 7:9 that those from the tribes of the earth are all in white, presumably including Dan, who also came out of the great tribulation. The key to understanding why the Tribe of Dan is not listed in Revelation 7 may lie in the other tribe which is "missing," Ephraim. In a nutshell, the tribes as named in Revelation signify the arrival of Messiah and the rectification of golden calves of Ephraim and Dan. It is a very Jewishly coded message, one that depends upon understanding the First Century Jewish expectations of Messiah.
Ezekiel 37:16-24 says "the stick of Joseph" is in the hand of Ephraim, yet it is the sticks of Joseph and Judah that will be united. This is a subtle Messianic hint which is really understood in the Jewish expectation of two Messiahs, who they say they are "inseparable." They expect Messiah ben Yosef's specific mission is to gather the exiles, and this will be unified with Messiah ben David's mission of establishing the Kingdom. The word "etz" can mean stick OR tree. In Jewish tradition, the two "trees" are the two messiahs, one patterned after the Ephraimite Joshua (Messiah ben Yosef or Messiah ben Ephraim are the same “person” in the literature), and one patterned after Caleb from the tribe of Judah:
- Zec 4:11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?”
- Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
To those of us who believe that Yeshua is both aspects of the Messiah, then it would represent him in his first appearance as the suffering servant, Messiah ben Yosef, and his return as Messiah ben David: two "appearances," or testimonials, working as one. “Then he said, ‘These are the two anointed ones, who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.’” (Zech 4:14)
In a sense, Israel created the need for “two messiahs” when the kingdom split under Jeroboam and Rehoboam. Messiah ben Yosef would have to suffer and die to atone for the idolatry of “Ephraim.” Mysteriously, he would re-gather them in order to usher in Messiah ben David, who would re-unite the kingdom. It was a two-part plan, that even in Jewish sources, states that there are two messiahs, yet they are “inseparable,” one as Ezekiel says. Perhaps the Tree of Life described in Revelation is a glimpse as to how two trees can be one, for the Tree grew on both sides of the River (Re 22:2).
The transfer of Ephraim's "place" into the house of Joseph in Revelation 7 indicates the arrival of Messiah ben Yosef.
So what does this have to do with Dan?
Two tribes were primarily responsible for the disappearance and exile of the Northern Tribes of Israel: Ephraim and Dan. When Jeroboam split the united kingdom, he placed golden calves in Bethel and Dan. Jeroboam was from the tribe of Ephraim. The golden calves recalled the golden calf built at Sinai under the influence of the magicians Yannes and Yambres (2 Ti 3:8), who joined the Israelites when they left Egypt. The midrash says that the golden calf was able to make sounds and appear to eat grass, which deceived many Israelites. In Revelation, the beast likewise will appear to come to life and deceive many.
Because Ephraim and Dan were instrumental in the second golden-calf rebellion and exile like the mixed multitude in the first golden-calf rebellion, they would not be identified with the anti-idolatry song of the Lamb. This does not mean they are not present, for Ezekiel lists their tribal inheritance in the Messianic kingdom. Their absence is just a message to those who understand what the two tribes have in common and how they are discussed in Jewish sources about the Messiah. Their “absence” is actually the presence of Messiah Yeshua, who will/has atoned for them. Dan will be settled in his inheritance, and so will Ephraim. Changing the order of a list is something in the Torah that allows it to send a message without increasing the amount of real estate on the parchment. It re-bibliographing the tribes.
Revelation 7:4 states that ALL the tribes are sealed. Even though two are “missing” from the names, it is like blotting out the name of Moses from the Torah portion Tetzaveh when he argued with the Holy one for Israel’s forgiveness after the Golden Calf. His name is not completely blotted out of the Book, but from that portion. Likewise, the names of Ephraim and Dan are blotted out of this particular list, perhaps helping “atone” for the idolatry of their two calves, but they are sealed.
The Holy One will spread His tent over all twelve tribes, his sealed ones. Although the list in Revelation offers a "re-bible" of the names, every tribe will be present. King Messiah Yeshua, who performed the tasks of ben Yosef and ben David wil unite them once again.
For a more in-depth study on the nature of messianic expectation and how it crops up in the Gospels, join us on the YouTube live stream tomorrow at approximately 4:00 pm Eastern.
