THE TWO HOUSES OF ISRAEL (3) The Children of Israel

Who inherited the promise God made to Abraham about land and offspring?

Not all of Abraham’s sons… only Isaac.

Not all of Isaac’s sons… only Jacob.

However, all the twelve sons of Jacob were included.

The nation of Israel was formed out of the descendants of Jacob, who was also known as Israel.

God gave Jacob a new name, Israel, when he was on his way back to the Promised Land, after a 20 year exile.

(Genesis 35:9-15)  God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.  (10)  And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." So he called his name Israel.  (11)  And God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.  (12)  The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you."  (13)  Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him.  (14)  And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.  (15)  So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

In Bethel God confirmed to Jacob the promise he had given to Abraham, his grandfather, and to Isaac, his father. Jacob had already received the promise 20 years earlier, in that same place (Genesis 28). At that time, Jacob was running away from his brother, Esau, who wanted to kill him for attaining the firstborn’s blessing. However, now that Jacob was on his way back to the Promised Land, together with his whole family, God again confirmed the promise to him and to his descendants.

Jacob was named “Israel” and his twelve sons would be called “the Children of Israel”. All of them would be included in the promise of “Land and offspring”.

These are the sons of Jacob (Israel) in the order they were born:

1.                  Reuben

2.                  Simeon

3.                  Levi

4.                  Judah

5.                  Dan

6.                  Naphtali

7.                  Gad

8.                  Asher

9.                  Issachar

10.             Zebulon

11.             Joseph

12.             Benjamin

ARE THERE 12 OR 13 TRIBES?

Each of the sons of Jacob became head of one the 12 Tribes of Israel. However, did you know there are actually 13 tribes in Israel? Let me explain…

Each son of Israel received the right to form a tribe of the people of Israel, except for Joseph, who formed two tribes. Jacob adopted as his own both of Joseph’s eldest sons: Manasseh and Ephraim.  And as Jacob’s sons, they were each given the right to form a tribe among the people of Israel.

(Genesis 48:5-6)  And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.  (6)  And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.

Why was Joseph given two tribes instead of just one? This was part of the double portion of the inheritance given to the firstborn.

To understand this, we must understand what the rights of the firstborn were in biblical times.  We will read about this in our next lesson (Two Houses of Israel, part 4)…