No 23

(The tribes of Dan & Gad)

Dan “16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. 18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD” Gen 49. The name Dan means “judgment” and he was the first son of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid (Gen 30:6). One of his descendants is Samson who fought very courageously against the Philistines who happened to be located next to the territory that was given to the tribe of Dan; they continued to oppress the Danites even after Samson had killed many of the Philistines. The mention of a serpent in Dan’s future was somewhat of a curse because, as it turned out, the Danites lived a very chaotic period of idolatry as described in Judg 17:6 “but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” They travelled north to try and find a more peaceful place to stay and settled in Laish after defeating it. Two hundred years later, when Israel split in two, the northern kingdom set up idols in Bethel and Dan (2 Kings 10:29). The idolatrous behaviour of the Danites excluded them from the list of the 144,000 in Revelation 7.

Gad “19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.” Gen 49. His name means warrior and he is the first son of Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid (Gen 30:11). This prophesy indicates that Gad will be harassed by hostile enemies but will eventually repel their advances. Gad’s territory is located on the eastern side of the Jordan river along with the territories of Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh (Jos 13); the Ammonites and the Moabites bordered his territory. This constant exposure to battle made the Gadites fierce warriors and when David many years later was fleeing Saul’s persecution, the Gadite warriors who joined him in Ziklag were described as “And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;” 1 Chron 12:8). Whenever true believers are faced with trials we are “more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Rom 8:37).