Twelve is the number of Divine government found throughout Scripture. When the seventh seal is opened, the twelve tribes representing the 144,000 are sealed. This involves the naming of the Sons or the changing of the nature and character into the fullness of Christ. The entire Divine government rests on the shoulders of Christ:<\/p>\n
Isaiah 9:6 <\/p>\n
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.<\/p>\n
Each tribe\u2019s name represented a specific character trait distinct from the others. Throughout Scripture the names of the tribes are listed but not always in the same sequence. The last son born to Israel (formerly Jacob) was Benjamin whose name means \u201c the son of my right hand\u201d. His name represents the fullness of maturity and represents our position with FATHER located on the side of grace and mercy.<\/p>\n
Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and<\/em> forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were<\/em> sealed:<\/p>\n \u200b5 \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Judah<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Reuben<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Gad<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n 6 \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Asher<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Naphtali<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Manasseh<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n 7 \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Simeon<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Levi<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Issachar<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n 8 \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Zebulun<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Joseph<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed;<\/p>\n \u200b\u200bof the tribe of Benjamin<\/u> twelve thousand were<\/em> sealed.<\/p>\n You will notice the tribe of Dan was excluded from the list. The character of his name was revealed in Genesis 49:<\/p>\n 16 \u200b\u200b\u201cDan shall judge his people \u200b\u200bAs one of the tribes of Israel.<\/p>\n 17 \u200b\u200bDan shall be a serpent by the way, \u200b\u200bA viper by the path, t\u200bThat bites the horse\u2019s heels s\u200bSo that its rider shall fall backward.<\/p>\n Dan is associated with the serpent who is being judged. Out of the serpent\u2019s mouth is venom that brings death and destruction. A judge who fails to bring forth righteousness becomes a critic and condemner of everyone else. A viper or \u201cadder\u201d means to bruise, crush, seize, or strike out. This characteristic will not be found among the Sons. In Leviticus 22, the priests are instructed on which offerings are not acceptable:<\/p>\n 24 \u2018You shall not offer to the LORD what is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut; nor shall you make any offering of them<\/em> in your land.\u201d<\/p>\n The character of Dan would not be an acceptable living sacrifice thus this characteristic is excluded from the list. His name has been blotted out. Levi replaced Dan in the list. His name means \u201cjoined to, unity\u201d. How appropriate that the unity with Christ has replaced the death and destruction caused by the mouth of the serpent.<\/p>\n Jesus Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and He is the \u201cfirstborn<\/i> among many brethren\u201d hence this tribe is mentioned first. Our sonship begins with Jesus Christ. Judah means \u201cto give thanks, to praise, to consecrate, to confess", the first step in salvation.<\/p>\n Reuben means \u201cbehold a son\u201d. We have been chosen, quickened, and raised up as a son. Yet immature, this is the beginning.<\/p>\n Gad means \u201cto overcome, fortune has come\u201d. We will learn to overcome every challenge, enemy, test, and trial unto the end.<\/p>\n Asher means \u201chappy and blessed\u201d.<\/p>\n Naphtali means \u201cto wrestle\u201d.<\/p>\n Manasseh means \u201ccausing to forget\u201d.<\/p>\n Simeon means \u201cto hear, listen, understand\u201d.<\/p>\n Levi means \u201cjoined to\u201d.<\/p>\n Issachar means \u201cthere is recompense, to receive a reward\u201d.<\/p>\n Zebulun means \u201cexalted, dwelling, habitation\u201d.<\/p>\n Joseph means \u201cJehovah has added (or is adding) another son".<\/p>\n Benjamin means "son of the right hand".<\/p>\n We behold the glory of sonship<\/u> in the Lion of the tribe of Judah and receive the call. Next we behold a son<\/u>. Our third step is to enter into training and overcome all obstacles<\/u>. We begin to experience the Joy of THE LORD, we are happy<\/u> because our true and sustaining joy is full! We then wrestle ourselves away from the mind and body<\/u>, ascending the mountain to higher levels in the Spiritual realm. As our mind is renewed, FATHER causes us \u201cto forget\u201d the old ways<\/u> of the carnal man leading to death. We are being transformed and the old things are passing away to be forgotten. We are putting off our former manner and now we hear, listen, and understand<\/u> OUR FATHER and are guided by HIS Words. These first seven names represent steps to spiritual maturity as Sons, the seventh being hearing, listening, understanding, and responding in accordance to HIS Word. In the past I have heard people proclaim they are of one tribe or the other. I say to you the Sons represent the culmination of the characteristics of all tribes!<\/p>\n The number eight represents new beginnings and it is appropriate that the priesthood as depicted by the character of Levi is listed as the eighth. Our spirit and soul are being joined to<\/u> one another in marriage, they are now in the unity of Love. Once this has happened, we now receive a reward<\/u> of Spiritual blessings, far exceeding any physical blessing we asked for as immature children. We will be recompensed the full reward for the laying down of the old nature. We will then be exalted to inhabit<\/u> the high calling of Sonship. Jehovah will have added another son<\/u> and the son will be \u201cnamed\u201d the Son of the right hand<\/u>!<\/p>\n Benjamin represents the culmination of the maturing process seen through the characteristics of the 12 tribes. His birth is described by \u201ctravailing<\/i> in birth, and pained<\/i> to be delivered.\u201d All of creation groans for the fulfillment of this twelfth son to be fully birthed. Just as Jerusalem was located in the territory of Benjamin in the Old Testament, the New Jerusalem is inhabited by the Sons of HIS right hand. As Stephen beheld in Acts 7:<\/p>\n 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, <\/p>\n 56 and said, \u201cLook! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!\u201d<\/p>\n Our place has been reserved by our Elder Brother\u2026 at HIS Right Hand. We now read from Paul\u2019s epistle:<\/p>\n Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God<\/u>. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is<\/em> our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.<\/p>\n PS- The numeric value of Lazarus is 144. He was raised from the dead at Bethany. Could this be tied to the raising of Sons whose carnal nature died? 1,000 is the number for \u201cglory of GOD\u201d or completeness. Hmmm! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Twelve is the number of Divine government found throughout Scripture. When the seventh seal is opened, the twelve tribes representing the 144,000 are sealed. This involves the naming of the Sons or the changing of the nature and character into the fullness of Christ. The entire Divine government rests on the shoulders of Christ: Isaiah […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-love"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/servias.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/servias.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/servias.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/servias.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/servias.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3231"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/servias.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3233,"href":"https:\/\/servias.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231\/revisions\/3233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/servias.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/servias.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/servias.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}