No 19

(The Twelve Tribes)

As we have seen, Old Testament Israel was made up of Twelve Tribes who were descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob; their names are listed in several places in the Bible, but the first list is in Genesis 29 and 30 where 11 of them are named and the last one, Benjamin is in Genesis 35:18. The last list in the Bible is in Revelation 7 and when we compare both lists, we notice that some have been removed, some have been added and the order has changed.

Reuben was Jacob’s first born of Leah; his name means “Behold a son!” He was the eldest and should’ve been an example to his brothers. It was Reuben who defended his younger brother, Joseph when the others wanted to kill him because of jealousy and envy (Gen 37). However, the Bible says in Genesis 35:22, that Reuben slept with his father’s wife, Bilhah and that Jacob found out about it. Later on, Jacob held that against him and when he bestowed his final blessings on his twelve sons, Reuben lost his qualifier as Jacob’s “firstborn”; Jacob called him “unstable as water, thou shalt not excel” (Gen 49:4). He had broken one of God’s laws (Deut 22:30) and he sacrificed his position as leader of the Twelve Tribes. We will see the 11 other tribes in future studies.