(A Consideration of Matthew 10:5-6; Maps; and why 2 of the tribes of Israel – Dan and Ephraim, are left out of Revelation.)

Who likes to swim?
Who likes to delve off into the deep side of things?

You will enjoy this then…

Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand

You might enjoy this for your own personal study because this time we will be looking at the maps included in many Bibles.

We will be looking at and comparing two Bible maps together.

The first map is dated for the time of the Judges when the 12 tribes of Israel together inhabited the promised land.

The second map is well after Babylonian captivity, and after being allowed by Medo Persia to return, but before Romans shut them down again as foretold by Jesus.

It would be awesome to now Google a current map of the same territory to see how much things have again changed; such as if any of the names have changed again. Then use the current map to see what is happening in the world and what territory it is in.

I went thru the Bible maps and highlighted the territory pertaining to who lived where.

This is important in understanding the instructions Jesus gave to the 12 disciples that He was sending out as Apostles. Matthew 10:5-6.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. – Matthew 10:5-6

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew10:5-6&version=ESV

He said to not go into the way of the Gentiles. (The Gentile are the non Israelites.)

[In Jesus day, the word Israelite had changed to mean the 10 separated tribes of Israel. This is because, in Jesus day, there were two other tribes of Israel that had, as a judgment from God, been separated from the nation as a whole. They, Judah and Benjamin, are referred to as Judah. [In total, prior to this separation (the reason for the separation is seen at 1 Kings 11-13) there are 12 original tribes.]

Jesus said to not enter the city of the Samaritans. [The Samaritans are those who live in Samaria. They are Israelites. Predominantly, they are the children of Joseph. The top part of Samaria is inhabited by West Manasseh (the oldest son of Joseph) whose territory is split east and west because some did not cross the Jordan and Ephraim is in the lower half of Samaria along with Dan.]

Now here is the significance to what Jesus said to the Apostles:

Ephraim and Dan are the two tribes whose judgment was so serious that they were not included in the count of the 144,000 in Revelation ch 7.

What did they do?
Oowee! Just wait until you read this…

Dan is easy to explain. He was just cruel and wrong. Depraved of mind. (See Judges ch 17 and 18. )

Around this time the Israelites as a whole (meaning all 12 tribes), at the time, was doing whatever they wanted. They was out there; and regarding the tribe of Dan (also called Tyre in the books of the Prophet), oowee… (There are no words for their behavior.)

Ephraim on the other hand…
(Exhaling, and sighing smh)

Jeroboam… Who is the reason why so much truth is lost even today, (and why false worship practices infiltrated God’s people) is the reason why Ephraim is cut off.

Keep in mind that Samuel was the son of an Ephraimite too. (His father, Elkanah, was a Levite whom because of an earlier judgment against the tribe of Levi, had no land of his own- so he lived in the territory of Ephraim, and therefore was call an Ephraimite.

Jeroboam was of the tribe of Ephraim who lived after Samuel.

His error is seen in 1 Kings 11-13 and mainly in chapter 13. He is the reason behind why so many who are not Levites, holding religious titles and positions of authority.

God’s Word says that he continued that behavior even after being corrected and this became a sin for his house – the Ephraimites.

If you look at Rev 7… Ephraim and Dan is not listed. That is no small matter at all.

But Jesus told the 12 disciples to go to the lost sheep of Israel.

That would be the 10 tribes -2 smh

Naptali
Zebulun
Gad
Asher
Reuben
Issachar
Simeon
(East)Manasseh

I knew that Jesus is of the tribe of Judah but I never paid attention to the fact that he grew up in the territory of Zebulun.

I was blown away to discover that Jesus lived and grew up in the center of 5 of the tribes of Israel as opposed to living and growing up in the territory of Judah.

This is really significant as it pertains to our Heavenly Father’s love and intent to redeem us all back to himself.

It is no small matter that Jesus is being identified as a Nazarene (because of where he lived) though he is of the tribe of Judah and therefore a royal heir.

CATCH: JESUS is of Royal blood and yet he grew up, and lived as, an outsider.

This makes even more sense now as to why the Pharisees (in Judah) didn’t accept him. They couldnt see him also because he didnt reside in the “royal” territory.

Oowee…

This is huge.
Our Heavenly Father cannot be boxed in as to how He operates.

If we try to box Him in by presenting that He only operates in the mode that we are familiar with according to traditions, the we run the risk of becoming like the Pharisees in thinking.

Therefore 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16. Oh, wow! CATCH.

Lol and that is hilarious. It makes perfect crazy sense. Because we get too comfortable with our positions so we stop looking for GOD because we start going thru the motions of doing what we are familiar with and that is an incorrect way to flow.

Omg wow.

We are so use to wading at the surface that we sometimes miss the exhilarating experience of delving off into the deep.

Wow.

No this is not finished… I can’t finish this… It is deep and I’m still digging… I’m still pressing in… I’m still sending my roots down further so as to grow up even more in the Word of God.

The further down I dig, the more you will here me saying Oowee…