Who are the twelve tribes?

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Mark
CF Admin

There is only one tribe that matters: the Holy Church, and all the rightly baptized are members of her.

BabylonWeary said:

And why are there twelve?

And why, in the Revelation, is there a list of gemstones:
1. Jasper
2. Sapphire
3. Chalcedony
4. Emerald
5. Sardonyx
6. Sardius
7. Chrysolyte
8. Beryl
9. Topax
10. Chrysoprasus
11. Jacinth
12. Amethyst
(if I have typed them in error, please correct)

Click to expand...

There are twelve tribes because there were twelve sons of Jacob. The twelve gemstones were on the breastplate of the High Priest and used for divination: the High Priest would ask God a question, and the gemstone of the tribe that was guilty would light up.

You need to be a little more specific in your question,

Who are the twelve tribes?

At different places in the Bible it means different things. I had a thread asking who the twelve tribes of Israel that Jesus said the disciples would judge in Mat 19 were. I never got an answer that I found to agree with all of scripture.

Good thread.
The original 12 tribes of Jacob/Israel is found in Gene32:

http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=All&id=75

http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=2houses-of-Israel

"In the Tanakh (Old Testament), blessings for obedience and punishments for disobedience were prescribed for God's chosen people, the 12 tribes of Israel (collectively known as the House of Israel and the House of Judah). Due to their sins, the House of Israel (also known as Ephraim) was removed from the Holy Land by Assyria in 722 BCE exactly as God foretold. Yet through the Old Testament prophets, God promised to one day regather and reunite His scattered people. This article examines what the Bible says about how God is now fulfilling that promise.

Did you see a problem with those comments? They reflect a common misconception about WHO the children of Israel actually are. The Bible tells us very specifically who comprised the "children of Israel." They are listed in several places in the book of Genesis.

The children of Jacob, who was renamed Israel (Gen. 32:28), were:

• 
  (1) Reuben
  (2) Simeon
  (3) Levi
  (4) Judah
  (5) Zebulun
  (6) Issachar
  (7) Dan
  (8) Gad
  (9) Asher
  (10) Naphtali
  (11) Joseph
  (12) Benjamin

Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, was recipient of the same promises made to them by God. The 49th chapter of Genesis shows Jacob prophesying about the future of his 12 sons, who were the forefathers of the 12 tribes of Israel. It was the descendants of these sons of Jacob that Moses led out of Egypt. The tribe of Judah (later called "Jews") was just one of the 12 tribes that came out of Egyptian slavery.........................."

12 tribes are also mentioned in Relevation [tho Dan and and the half tribe of Ephraim are missing]. One person had thought the order of those 12 tribes in Revelation formed a prayer. Pretty interesting:

Reve 7:1. Judah = "I will praise the Lord" 2. Reuben = "He has looked on me" 3. Gad = "Granted good fortune" 4. Asher = "Happy am I" 5. Naphtali = "My wrestling" 6. Manasseh = "Making me to forget" 7. Simeon = "God hears me" 8. Levi = "Joined to me" 9. Issachar = "Purchased Me" 10. Zebulun = "Dwelling" 11. Joseph = "God will add to me" 12. Benjamin = "Son of His right hand".

CONCLUSION
The prophesied regathering of all the tribes of Israel is a process, not a singular event. This process began after the resurrection of Messiah Yeshua, and has slowly but surely been taking place for nearly 2,000 years. At this time, most Jews (the House of Judah) don't accept Yeshua as the Messiah. Conversely, most Christians (the House of Israel) don't accept the necessity of keeping Torah (the Law).

However, the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16), made up of those from both houses who are standing in the gap, accept both Yeshua and the Torah (Rev. 12:17; 14:12). YHVH will use those He has called to help reunite Judah and Ephraim under the Messiah in the land of Israel. Soon, Jews and Christians will recognize the respective flaws in their belief systems. Both houses of Israel will repent and be joined together once again, as Ezekiel foretold some 2,600 years ago (Eze. 37:15-28).