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NASB | Revelation 7:5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 7:5 Twelve thousand were sealed from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand from the tribe of Gad, |
Bible Question: The tribe of Dan is not mentioned in this verse. What happened to them? And in what book did they exit out of the chosen tribes? Thanks! |
Bible Answer: Second post of two. Flavius Josephus also records the letter in his writings: "We have met with a certain writing, whereby we have discovered that both the Jew and the Spartans are of one stock, and are derived from the kindred of Abraham. It is but just, therefore, that you, who are our brethren, should send to us about any of your concerns as you please. We will also do the same thing, and esteem your concerns as our own, and will look upon our concerns as in common with yours. Demotoles, who brings you this letter, will bring your answer back to us. This letter is foursquare; and the symbol is an eagle, with a dragon in his claws." To Dan was given the symbol of Scorpio, which in ancient Egyptian zodiac was a snake. However, when the time came to hoist the symbol of the snake, Ahiezer refused and chose instead the symbol of an eagle -- according to Unger's Bible Dictionary: "The standard of the tribe of Dan was of white and red, and the crest upon it, an eagle, the great foe of serpents, which had been chosen by the leader instead of a serpent, because Jacob had compared Dan to a serpent. Ahiezer substituted the eagle, the destroyer of serpents, as he shrank from carrying an adder upon his flag." Comparing that information with a description by Flavius Josephus of the Spartan's symbol, which was an eagle with a dragon in his claws, we can see that it could represent the tribe of Dan. The dragon, many times is synonymous with the snake. And the Spartans also claimed to be descendants of Abraham. The Spartans lived in Laconia, near Arcadia, in the southern Greek peninsula called Peloponnesus. Over the centuries some of the group migrated northeast across the Aegean Sea to build the city of Troy. Supposedly the remotest ancestor of the Trojan line of royalty was Dardanus. Their insignia contained an eagle, serpent, and sometimes bees/honey. Over the centuries some of the Spartans migrated into southern France, and some of the surviving Trojans moved north and west into Germany, Belgium and northern France, and it is said that it was the Trojans that first settled Rome after defeating the Kittim of Italy. Here too brings again to mind that first verse quoted from Genesis, and the fact that Dan is missing from the tribes mentioned in Revelation. I think it's possible that the Antichrist (represented by the serpent) will come from the line of Dan (and the line of Japheth [Noah's son], as the Danites married into the Gentile descendants of Japheth]. Concerning Dan, this supposition is based also on the verses and testament below: Daniel 11:37 speaking of the Antichrist, "Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all." And again, Jacob's prediction that "Dan shall judge his people" and "Dan shall be a serpent" in "the last days". Another apocryphal writing called the "Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs" where Dan was suppose to have made certain predictions concerning his offspring, has been dated by scholars to have been written/copied around 150 B.C. Fragments of this writing were found in the Quumran caves as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This "testament" is suppose to be the final utterances of the 12 sons of Jacob concerning things that would befall each tribe in the future. According to the "testament" of Dan, he gathered his sons around him when he was 125 years old. One of the things he stated was "I read in the Book of Enoch, the Righteous, that your prince is Satan..." Because of that statement, Jewish scholars, some 150 years before Christ, linked the tribe of Dan with the Antichrist -- "your prince is Satan". Another statement reads "I know that in the last days you will defect from the Lord, you will be offended at Levi, and revolt against Judah; but you will not prevail over them." I hope this helps a bit. |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Rev 7:5 | Author | ||
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granny | ||
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Searcher56 | ||
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There | ||
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There | ||
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bowler |