Psalm

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NASB	Psalm 77:13 Your way, O God, is holy; What god is great like our God?
AMPLIFIED 2015 2015	Psalm 77:13 Your way, O God, is holy [far from sin and guilt]. What god is great like our God?

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Bible Question: Shalom y'all,
This is a question about "end times" and reconciling some differences in the 12 Tribes.
In Gen. 48 we have a listing of the 12 sons of Jacob with Joseph effectively being replaced by his 2 sons, this gives us 13 tribes, so Levi is dropped as an inheritor of a portion of Canaan becoming the ransom for the firstborn dedicated to God, that gives us 12 again. I know, this is not news.
But in Rev. 7 where we have the 12 Tribes where the 144,000 sealed come from we no longer see Ephraim and Dan but we do see Joseph and Levi.
I don't have a lot of trouble figuring out the return of Levi, and not a whole lot of trouble with the disappearance of Ephraim - but I am wondering about the missing Dan and why Joseph was brought back in (because Manasseh is still among the names).
Any help out there?

Still learning
Cheri

Bible Answer: good evening cheri. i'm right there with you....still learning!!

the 12 sons of Israel (Jacob) were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher and Joseph. these were the ancestors of the original twelve tribes. however, Reuben lost his rights as firstborn by defiling Jacob’s bed (Genesis 35:22; 49:3-4).

in Reuben and Joseph's place, Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, became tribes of Israel (Genesis 48:5-6). as a result, the twelve tribes became Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim and Manasseh.

as you mentioned, in some other lists of the twelve tribes of Israel, Levi is not mentioned, presumably because the Levites were assigned to serve at the temple and therefore were not apportioned land of their own in Israel (Joshua 14:3).

there is no absolute listing of the twelve tribes. dependent upon circumstance or context, who was included and who was not, the list changed. factors such as faithfulness, military status, receipt of land inheritance, etc. determined whether a tribe would be included or excluded from the various listings. Ezekiel 48 demonstrates effectively that there is no exclusive list, as from verse 1-29, they are listed according to the divison of the land (ie. Ephraim and Manasseh included, Levi excluded), and then beginning in the next verse, listed again, according to the naming of the gates of the city (ie. Levi and Joseph included, Ephraim and Manasseh excluded.

God is free to re-adjust and re-account the twelve tribes of Israel as He sees fit! PTL!

God bless you!

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