How many stops did the bus make?

 Read Genesis 35

Read Revelation 7

The bus has 4 passengers when it leaves the bus station. 

At the first stop 2 get off and 2 get on.

At the next stop 1 gets on and 2 get off.

At the next stop 3 get on and 1 gets off.

At the next stop 1 gets on and nobody gets off.

At the next stop 2 get off and nobody gets on.

At the next stop, 1 gets on and 1 gets off.

At the next stop 7 get on and 5 get off.

Are you still with me?  How many stops did the bus make?

Jacob was moving to Bethel with everyone and everything he owned.  It was a setting apart.  He had to leave everything associated with his old self behind.

Folks, there’s a cache of earrings buried somewhere in the Promised Land.  It was the original geocache. In my retirement, I think I will write a story about someone finding the buried false gods and a huge stash of earrings.

Reuben slept with one of his dad’s concubines.

Rachel died in childbirth, but not before giving birth to Benjamin.

Jacob moved again, near present-day Bethlehem.

Isaac died and both of his sons came for the funeral.

Israel now has 12 sons.

 The sons of Leah:

Reuben the firstborn of Jacob,

Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

The sons of Rachel:

Joseph and Benjamin.

The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:

Dan and Naphtali.

The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:

Gad and Asher.

So are these the 12 tribes?

Yes and no.  If you go to Revelation 7, the list is slightly different. Each tribe has 12,000 witnesses.  The tribes are:

Judah

Reuben

Gad

Asher

Naphtali

Manasseh

Simeon

Levi

Issachar

Zebulun

Joseph

Benjamin

If you are keeping score at home, you probably have the following question. So, what happened to Dan and who is Manasseh?

It looks like once the Tribe of Dan entered into the Promised Land, they began idol worship and blended with the locals. It was something like in the choose this day moment, they said they would choose the one true God, but that didn’t last long.

All of Israel had its moments of apostasy, but evidently, Dan’s hit the tipping point.  They are not in the final list of tribes that will be witnesses for God at the end of the age. They went native.

Manasseh was one of 2 sons born to Joseph.  Both Manasseh and Ephraim were considered as Jacob’s own sons.  In some parts of the Bible, they are referred to as half-tribes.  They both got Joseph’s share.

By the end of the age, the tribe of Dan is gone from the list and Joseph is listed with only one of his sons, Manasseh.

So who are the 12 tribes that will receive territory in the Promised Land?

Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim and Manasseh.

Which of the 12 sons of Jacob would not receive a piece of territory in the Promised Land?

That would be Levi.  They would be a tribe of priests distributed among all of the tribes.

Ready for the test?

How many stops did the bus make?

Next week, we look at the descendants of Esau and the Edomites.

So what do I take home with me this week?  Know the tribes but live by love.  Sometimes the message is just to love one another even when the text is about people and tribes.

Love one another.

Amen.