The Twelve Tribes Of Israel Part 2 Northern, Dan, Naphtali And Ash Series

The Twelve Tribes of Israel (Part 2) Northern, Dan, Naphtali and Asher

“And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together,

that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.” (Genesis 49:1)

Intro: Last Sunday we started a sermon series titled “The Twelve Tribes of Israel

We talked about The Tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad…,

As we continue our look backward…, on the twelve tribes…

we will have a better understanding of God’s plan for the church as it developed over the ages.

The more we understand the plans of God and the people of God in the bible…

the better we understand how God deals with the world around us today.

There is a richness and value to learning where the church came from…,

It is like finding an old family bible…, that has all the births…, and marriages…,

and searching out the family tree…

Plus we learn life lessons…, that are like illustration of life…,

similar to the teachings of the parables that Jesus taught from…

So there are lots of reasons to study and learn about the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation…

This is what we call the Old Testament covenant

Through Abraham’s son Isaac

And Isaac’s son Jacob…

Remember God changed Jacob’s name to Israel…

God chose Israel the people to be the people of God

And in return…, those who honor the covenant become the people of God in return…

This is the Old Testament covenant law.

And so Israel…, Jacob is dying…, and on his death bed,

he calls each of children…

One by one and announces blessing and curses, judgments and promises about their destiny…

Today we are going to talk about the tribes of Dan, Naphtali and Asher

Let review all the names of the Twelve tribes…

1. Reuben Leah

2. Simeon Leah

3. Levi Leah

4. Judah Leah

5. Dan Bilhah

6. Naphtali Bilhah

7. Gad Zilpah

8. Asher Zilpah

9. Issachar Leah

10. Zebulon Leah

11. Joseph Rachel (Manasseh, Ephraim)

12. Benjamin Rachel

I. Tribe of Dan

"Dan will govern his people like any other tribe in Israel.

"He will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous viper along the path,

that bites the horse’s heels so the rider is thrown off." Genesis 49:16-17 (NLT)

Remember Jacob is married to Leah

He was tricked into marrying Leah for he really loves Rachel

But Rachel is barren and has no children

After Leah has four son’s for Jacob…

Rachel who is barren…, gives her maid Bilhah to Jacob to bear children…

Dan was the fifth son of Jacob and the first of the two sons by Rachel’s maid Bilhah.

Dan and Naphtali are full-blooded brothers and are often mentioned together.

What Jacob tells will happen to the tribe of Dan…, is best described in the book of Judges chapter 18.

It is the story of what happens to God’s people when they lose sight of their God

and mix worldly ideas with substitute manmade idols of worship.

They develop a worship that is only a form of godliness without the true Lord God

Judges 18 verse 1 says, "Now in those days Israel had no king.

And the tribe of Dan was trying to find a place to settle,

for they had not yet driven out the people who lived in the land assigned to them." (NLT)

So the men of Dan chose five warriors to spy or scout out a land for them to settle in.

What the five scouts find: is a man made shrine…, with a young man from the of Tribe of Levi

But instead of worshipping the Lord God…,

This Levite is serving in this shrine to an idol god.

Now, let’s get this…

We haven’t yet talked about the Tribe of Levi

But the Levites are called to the place of honor to serve as the priest of God for the people of Israel…

Now get this…

Here is a priest of the people of Israel…

But instead of serving the Lord God…

He is serving in this man made shrine to an idol god.

Alarms should be going off in the heads of the men of the Tribe of Dan…

There should be flashing lights that say… something is wrong here…

They should know that his is a false priest…

They should reject this manmade idol worship

But instead they ask him…,

They ask this priest serving the idol…,

What does the Lord God tell you about our journey? Will it be successful or not?

Do you understand what is going on here? Say amen?

And this false priest says…

Judges 18:6 "Go in peace, for the LORD (not the idol) but the Lord will go ahead of you on your journey."