A Revelation Invitation

(Part 1 of “Every Tribe of the Sons of Israel” is posted here.)

And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 
          12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
          12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
          12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
          12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
          12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
          12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
          12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
          12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
          12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
          12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
          12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
          12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed. 
(Revelation 7:4-8 ESV)

How do you identify? That’s one of the big cultural questions of our day. It’s also an important one. We all have an inner, personal identity, a way that we view ourselves that helps us navigate our world. More important than the question how do I identify is the question what shapes my identity. Some of us base our identity on our occupations, some on race and ethnicity, some on our families in various ways, some even on our shortcomings. There are many ways to form an identity. These examples are either identities we either make for ourselves or are made for us by others. However, these identities are a recipe for pride in some cases or for insecurity in others. The passage above is a model for Christian identity. It’s not one I choose for myself nor is it imposed on me by friends or family or society. It is an identity based on how God sees me. Mercifully for Christians, this identity is both undeserved and glorious. Let’s explore this census in Revelation 7 a bit further to see how this unique list of the tribes/sons of Israel is indeed more than just a curiosity. It is a unique and intentional perspective of God’s view of his people.

In most listings of the sons/tribes of Israel, Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son is listed first. Yet Judah, Jacob’s fourth son, is listed first in Revelation. Christians know that the Messiah, Jesus, descended from Judah. Judah’s placement at the top is probably meant to emphasize that the 144,000, the church, are the people of the Messiah. What do you think?

In all of scripture why only here is Levi listed as one of the twelve tribes of Israel? Might that be because of the Levites’ priestly role? The Levites through their priestly duties interceded between the nation and its God. Was God pointing out that we serve the world as his priests. Between Judah’s prominence at the top of the list and Levi’s inclusion on it, God stresses our role as a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9 ).

Why does Joseph’s name replace that of his son Ephraim as one of the tribes of Israel? What do we know about Ephraim’s role in Israel’s history. The tribe of Ephraim was much more prominent in Israel’s history than was Manasseh. The unfaithful ten northern tribes were often collectively referred to as Ephraim. Might Ephraim’s leadership in the norther tribe’s unfaithfulness be the reason for its absence from this list? Instead Joseph is listed. His story in Genesis exemplifies faithfulness through tribulations of many kinds, the very model of faith that the persecuted Christians needed.

Why is the tribe of Dan excluded? Dan was unquestionably one of the twelve tribes of Israel. What does their history tell us? Theirs is a troubled, wicked history. When Abraham blessed his son Dan, he foresaw his son and his descendants as people who would cause others to stumble (Genesis 49:16-17). When the tribe of Dan settled the city of Dan, they set up idols and hired priests to serve them (Judges 18:28b-31). After Jeroboam became king over the ten northern tribes, he made two golden calves. One of them was placed in Dan as an alternative to worshiping the Lord in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:28-30). It seems that the Lord was stressing that idolatry has no place among his people.

What is God saying to the contemporary church? How does he view us? We are the people of the Messiah, the son of God, the King of kings. We are a priesthood of believers in service to the nations. We have turned away from idols (money, sex, power, popularity, etc.), to serve God faithfully no matter the difficulties we face. And this isn’t so much the standard we must live up to as it is the way God sees us through the blood of his son. We all know how much we have missed the mark. Yet, God gives us a glorious identity as his chosen. It’s undeserved, but it is what God sees in me.

Lord God, I am amazed and humbled by what you see when you look at me. It’s not at all what I have accomplished and made of myself. It’s not at all what I have failed to live up to. By grace you have made me a child of the Creator. It matters not how others look at me because you see in me your special possession. May I see myself in the same way. Amen.

What have I missed? Share your observations and conclusions in the comments below.