Tribes of Today

Tribes of Today

1 Cor 10:1-12 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Gen 49:5-7 Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. 6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

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Most of us are somewhat familiar with Moses and the story of the children of Israel in Egypt. We are familiar with the plagues that God brought upon Egypt and the Passover that saved the Israelites. We know how that God caused everyone of the Israelites to pass through the Red Sea and follow the Spirit of God which appeared as a great glory cloud into the wilderness where God gave the laws to Moses and then after a few months, they traveled on towards the promised land that God had promised to give them.

We know that the Israelites had quite a bit of unbelief and carnality from Egypt in them. We find them murmuring as soon as they get out of Egypt before they crossed the Red Sea, and then after God miraculously saved them by parting the Red Sea, then they began to murmur when they came to a stream of water and it was bitter. They obviously had forgotten that the God that had saved them from the death angel and the tremendous plagues and that the God that could roll back the waters of a great sea could surely work a miracle and make some bitter water sweet! They again murmured for water later on. Then when Moses was on the mountain for 40 days talking to God, they talked the priest, Aaron, into making a golden calf like they had in Egypt and began to worship the idol. Being in Egypt had influenced their way of thinking and they were extremely carnal in their attitudes.

None of this would matter to us today if we were not now the children of God according to His grace. But there is a reason that God recorded these events in so much detail in the first 5 books of the Bible. The reason was stated by Paul in our text: we should not be ignorant about the lessons of our spiritual fathers in the wilderness because these things were given to us "as examples!" Learn the lesson well for they applied to the church of Paul's day, and they still apply to us today!

We were raised in a place similar to Egypt called sin. God made a way of escape by becoming the Passover lamb at Calvary. We then had to make the decision to leave our sin: that is Repentance. Paul then said that the Israelites were baptized unto Moses in the sea and in the cloud. We are baptized unto Jesus in the water and by receiving His Spirit the Holy Ghost. We can see the plan of salvation clearly in the lessons of the Israelites in the wilderness! That's why when Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and preached his first message to the Jews who were gathered together in Jerusalem, he told them that they must "Repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost!" Just as the Jews of old had to be willing to leave Egypt, be baptized in water, and be baptized in Spirit, so did the Jews of Peter's day. And I have news for you today. If you are to be God's people, then you too must repent of your sins, be baptized in water in Jesus' name, and filled with the precious Holy Ghost! It's not optional, it's not one of the ways to be saved, but it is THE ONLY way to escape sin and get a new life in Christ Jesus! Learn the lesson of the church in the wilderness!

Even after you are saved and a part of the church, the influence of your past sin hangs on. There is still too much Egypt in you for God's liking. That's why a new Christian goes through a wilderness time. A time where the feel spiritually dry. Where they question everything that they ever believed in. A time where they must learn to trust in God. The wilderness is sent by God to get Egypt out of our life! Only through the purging of the wilderness could God get the people ready for the promised place that He had for them! It's still the same! Don't question God or His ways, even if you are going through a spiritual wilderness, but keep being faithful and keep praising Him, because God is using the wilderness to get Egypt out of you!

God has not designed for the wilderness to last forever. He intended for the children of Israel to pass through it right into the promised land. Unfortunately the children of Israel wanted to hang on to the worldliness and sinfulness of their past. Therefore they made living in the wilderness a way of life and many of them never reached the promised land! Oh, church if you could realize that God loves you but there is no shortcuts to God. Sin is still sin. God is patient but if you continually allow yourself to stay unchanged, then God will leave you in the wilderness for the rest of your life. You are not going to hold out and change God's mind. God is patient but there comes a time when God just let's you continue and live and eventually die in your sinful ways. Learn the lesson of the wilderness.

In our text, Paul said it well "But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness." They had been saved, but would not allow God's word to remove Egypt out of their lives, so they were overthrown in the wilderness. If God has ever convicted you of something in the past, then I as the man of God in your life beg you do not keep on sinning. Because you can justify your sin all you want to, but God doesn't justify it. If the sin means that much to you, God will let you keep it, but it will also keep you out of the promised place that God has for you and eventually heaven! Don't be overthrown in the wilderness!

You know the story how that the children of Israel eventually came to the edge of the promised land. The people wanted to send 12 spies into the land and Moses -- and God-- agreed. Each of the 12 tribes that had descended from Jacob's 12 sons sent one spy to represent them and the spies snuck into the promise land and looked all around. They came back and gave their report to Moses and the people. The promised land was everything that God had promised. Beautiful homes were already there, terrific vineyards, farms and much water. But 10 of the spies went on to give a negative report: "but there are Giants there, and we look like grasshoppers." The other 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb, tried to turn the people's attention back to God saying "we can take it, God will give us the victory, He's already promised." But the seeds of disbelief had been sown and they began to spread throughout the camp. When God saw the disbelief of the people, it was the last straw, and God spoke to them: "Not a one of you will enter into the promised land except Joshua and Caleb the two faithful spies." And God caused the children of Israel to wander around in the wilderness a year for every day the spies had spend spying in disbelief, 40 years, until every man and woman over the age of 20 that day eventually died. The ONLY people that were alive that day that the spies gave their report that made it 40 years later into the promised land were Joshua and Caleb. No exceptions including Moses, everybody died.

The stories of their wandering in the wilderness is found in the book of Numbers. Before they began their wandering waiting for all the older people to die, God had the people counted. At the end of the 40 years, the people were counted again or numbered hence the name of the book. The people in the wilderness had been baptized in the sea and in the cloud, but in "many of them God was not pleased." Get it into your mind, the tragedy of this. Everybody except Joshua and Caleb over the age of 20 died. A whole generation fell short of the promise of God. However, it is important to also fix in your mind that the children of Israel continued to procreate and many children and grandchildren were born in this time.

Here is the first numbering of the people at the beginning of the wilderness period. All of the tribes were counted except Levi, because they were the priests, and the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, were each considered a tribe. Only the men fit to fight were counted.

Before the 40 years After the 40 years Change

Reuben 46,500 43,730 - 2,770

Simeon 59,300 22,200 - 37,100

Gad 49,650 40,500 - 5,150

Judah 74,600 76,500 + 1,900

Issachar 54,400 64,300 + 9,900

Zebulun 57,700 60,500 + 2,800

Ephraim 40,500 32,500 - 8,000

Manasseh 42,200 52,700 + 20,500

Benjamin 35,400 46,500 +10,200

Dan 62,700 64,400 + 1,700

Asher 41,500 53,400 + 11,900

Naphtali 53,400 45,400 - 8,000

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Totals: 603,550 601,730 - 1,820

God is a God of love but He is also a Holy God. In fact the Holiness of God is mentioned more in scripture than the love of God. This means God is love but His love is holy in nature. He is a God of love but He must also be a God of judgment.

The book of Numbers records the events which happened during those 40 years. In chapter 11 they murmured for quail, and God struck them with a plague while they were fulfilling their lusts. In chapter 16 Korah and his group rose up against the man of God and God caused the earth to swallow them up whole. Then, when the carnal people blamed Moses for their deaths, God sent a plague that killed thousands. In chapter 21 we read of the people again murmuring against the man of God and God sends a plague of deadly snakes to bite the people. In Chapter 25 we read about another plague that God sent because of their sin with the Moabite people that we will come back to at the end of this sermon.

By the time you get to the end of Numbers, that entire generation has been wiped out, except for Joshua and Caleb. And that is when the second count was done. It's been 40 years, but the number of fighting men has actually gone down by 1,820 people. That may not seem significant to you now, but it will. Israel had gone into Egypt with only 70 people. In 400 years in Egypt they had grown to 2.5 million people! That's 200,000 people every 40 years! Throughout this 40 year period, the people had heavenly manna falling down to them every day except Saturday. Their clothes and shoes miraculously never wore out. The were not sick and God always provided water to drink. They should have flourished and at least grew by 200,000 people not shrunk by 1,820!

That God thought it significant enough to record the numbers tells us that we should learn the lessons well. Even though the total amount of people shrunk, some tribes actually grew! {Adlib: point out the tribes that grew. point out the tribes that shrunk down playing for now Simeon.} There were many tribes but they were all one people, yet the philosophies and lifestyles of some of the tribes caused them to grow! Why did some of them grow?!

Every tribe had unique characteristics and strengths. They were all children of God and had been baptized through the sea and the cloud, but they all had slightly different personalities. As these were given to us as "our examples," it follows that these same characteristics of tribes exist in the church today. We know that there is only one church and that there are some things that are absolute.

Eph 4:4-7 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

The true church of Christ has one God, one Faith and one way to be baptized! But each of us are given different gifts. I want you to notice that all of the tribes had been baptized the same way in sea and by the cloud of the Spirit. There was no separate tribes of baptism or beliefs of the Spirit. There are many preachers that would try to teach you that it doesn't matter how you are baptized and that one church can baptize one way and another church another way and that it doesn't matter. But that is a lie! All of the tribes were baptized one way. Paul said that there is one baptism. The only way you'll ever find anybody in the Apostolic church being baptized is in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ never baptized anyone Himself but taught His disciples to baptize in the name of Jesus Christ by full immersion into water. Any other way is a false baptism and is of the philosophy of men! You must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for you are putting on Christ and it is His blood that is being applied to your life! According to God there is only one baptism: in the name of Jesus! And there is only one Spirit: The Holy Ghost, God Himself coming to live inside your life!

But within the true church their are different kind of people and personalities. People in the church fit into one of 12 categories recorded here in Numbers. I don't know about you, but the "tribe" that I belong to, I want to make sure that it is one that's going to grow and prosper and not one that's going to lose out with God!

Let's go in the order from best to worst:

Manasseh - The tribe grew by 20,500! The name means "causing to forget" and was named because he was Joseph's first son and the joy of having that son caused Joseph to forget about his past pain and suffering. The tribe of Manasseh represent those people in the church who have the ability to bring peace, and influence someone into true forgiveness. They are the peacemakers. Peacemakers will always grow in any kind of situation because people are drawn to forgiveness. We need some people to become spiritual Manassehs!

Asher - They grew by 11,900. Asher means "happiness." Some people have the ability to be happy in almost any kind of situation and bring joy with them whenever they walk into a room. When Jesus Christ was taken as a baby to the temple to be dedicated, the Bible says that there was a widow prophetess named Anna there who took Jesus into her arms and prophesied saying that He would be the light to the Gentiles. Anna's husband had been dead for many years, yet rather than get bitter, Anna served God day and night with rejoicing. The Bible mentions that Anna was from the tribe of Asher. Ashers will grow because they will serve God with joy through every storm. The church needs Ashers!

Benjamin - The tribe grew by 10,200. Benjamin means "son of the right hand." The right hand was a figure of speech to the Jews meaning power and might. Benjamin was a strong warrior. The tribe of Benjamin was known for their mighty victories and for not being afraid to stand up and fight for what they believed. King Saul who engaged the Philistines and defeated many other enemies of Israel was from the tribe of Benjamin. So was the Apostle Paul. Paul was at first willing to fight for his Pharisical beliefs by avidly persecuting Christians, but when he was baptized and filled with the Spirit, he began to avidly fight for Jesus and the doctrines of God. Paul was willing to hold debates every day in the school of Tyrannus for two years to establish the church in Ephesus. He did more than any other apostle ever dreamed of doing. Why? Because He was willing to fight for what he believed in! We need some people to get the attitude of the Benjaminites and be strong in what you believe and fight for it! Protect the truth at all costs! People of the tribe of Benjamin will always grow because they are willing to stand for truth! Benjamites are know for their powerful prayers!

Issachar - the name means "for hire." Issachar was prophesied as a beast of burden. He represents people willing for a time to pick up and shoulder a load. In David's time it was said that the men of Issachar had "understanding of times and knew what Israel ought to do." At first Issachar was wishy washy but then they became wise. They had understanding and were able to give clear direction as to which way everyone should push. They are the ones in the service that can tell when the Spirit of God changes direction. They are the ones who can tell when the Pastor needs some prayer or fasting support and wordlessly put their shoulder to the burden and help carry the load. They are the ones who understand the seasons of a church and encourage people to keep plowing until the harvest comes. We need people of understanding who will remain faithful and dedicated no matter what the times and will respond by doing what they know they ought to do! We need some Issachars to make up their mind to serve God completely!

Zebulun - The tribe gained 2,800 men. Zebulun means "dwelling" or "home." They represent stability and faithfulness. The tribe of Zebulun settled in the part of Palestine that would one day contain the city of Nazareth. Nazareth was the home town of the most faithful man that ever lived, Jesus Christ. Some people don't have the God-given ability to preach, sing, or even fight for the doctrine. But they are just faithful. They are here every time the doors are open. When work day comes, they are glad to take a part. The preacher almost always knows ahead of time when they are going to miss. They are from the tribe of Zebulun. They have made the house of the Lord their dwelling place. They make people feel at home because people recognize them every time they come to church. We need some tribe members of Zebulun. God rewards Faithfulness. We all need some Zebulun in us because one day we want to hear those fateful 7 words: "well done thou good and FAITHFUL servant."

Judah - Judah grew also by 1,900 men. Judah means "praise." Judah got the birthright when Jacob blessed him. In fact the spirit of God came upon Jacob and he prophesied that "Shiloh" would come from Judah. Shiloh was another name for the Messiah and it was from the tribe of Judah that Jesus Christ came! If you want Jesus Christ involved in your life, you need to learn to praise God! Become a worshipper of God. There are some people that have just made up in their mind that they are going to worship God with everything in them every time they have the opportunity. It's the Judahs in a church that God responds to. If you get blessed in today's service it's because a Judah praised God and got God's attention. If you don't really like to praise God and sing the songs of Zion and clap your hands and you get blessed, you got blessed on somebody else's blessing! Because God inhabits the praises of His people. You ought to try to praise God with everything in you, and see what blessing that you would get for yourself! Thank God for people with the mindset of Judah! King David who wrote most of the Psalms that we still sing today and danced with all his might before the Lord and played the Harp and didn't care what his critics thought, that King David was from the tribe of Judah!

Dan - Dan means "a judge." The tribe of Dan grew some during those 40 years, but the tribe of Dan represents the hypocrites. People who claim to be living for God but secretly judge people. People from the tribe of Dan will have spiritual growth for a while but will eventually lose out with God because of their pride. That's what happened to the tribe of Dan. When Jacob placed his hands on Dan and prophesied over him, he said "Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path that biteth the horse heels so that his rider shall fall backwards (Genesis 49:17). You always know people from the tribe of Dan because they seem to be spiritually mature but are always tearing down and criticizing other people. Later on after King Jeroboam set up idols to worship. All of the tribes of Israel later repented of the idol worship except for the tribe of Dan. Because of their refusal to repent, the tribe of Dan was removed from the blessings and inheritance of God. In Revelation chapter 7, when God seals 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each tribe, Dan isn't there. Dan seemed to have spiritual growth for a time, but his critical attitude led to pride and an unrepentant attitude so he eventually lost everybody!

Ephraim - Just as Dan seemed to have spiritual growth but was actually losing out with God, so Ephraim appears to be losing men but actually in the long run would gain. Ephraim lost 8,000 men and Ephraim means "doubly fruitful." Ephraim was the second son of Joseph. Ephraim represents the people willing to be the "second man." Those who are not called to be leaders but called to closely support the leaders. They may not be called to pastor but are called to be an assistant to the pastor or a pastor's friend. They may not be called to be Sunday School director but are called to be a faithful dependable Sunday School teacher. It's rough being the second in command, and often it seems like that you aren't making progress, but after a period of time, God always blesses the person willing to be a happy second person. After they got into the promised land, the tribe of Ephraim outgrew EVERYBODY else by thousands and thousands! After Elisha was a servant to Elijah and a willing second fiddle, God rewarded him with a double portion of Elijah's anointing! If God called you to be a second man, then don't give up hope and be faithful, because after a period of time God will give the increase!

Reuben - means "a son." Actually Reuben should have been THE son of Jacob. He was the firstborn, the one who should have had the birthright and been the leader of the family. Reuben had the greatest of intentions, but Jacob said that Reuben was "uncontrolled as water," that is to say that Reuben would not control his fleshly desires or anger. But would allow them to boil to a point that he did something sinful. Reuben had the best of intentions but his lack of discipline and submission to the Word of God caused him to lose out on the promise. Reuben desired his father's concubine and had an affair with her. Because of that God removed the birthright. Reubens in the church are people who have all of the ability and seemingly goods to make it and do something great for God, but never quite make it to where God wants them to be because of their lack of discipline and their refusal to submit their desires and anger to God and His Word. If you are a Reuben, then you need to completely submit your life to God!

Gad - they decreased as well. Gad means "fortune." The tribe of Gad had a gift for making money and wealth. When they got to the promised land they asked Moses for the best pasture because they had more cattle than any other tribe. They represent people who have an ability to make money and do it well but become slaves to finance and jobs. They allow their jobs and their desire for things to cause them to lose out with God. The Bible teaches that "the love of money is the root of all evil." People from the tribe of Gad will volunteer to work overtime even if it means missing church. People like Gad never see the need to pay tithes because they are enslaved to their God, money. They'll throw a few dollars in the offering plate, or even once in a while give a large donation to the church for tax write off purposes, but they are too caught up in materialistic things to serve God. God usually has to send financial disasters to wake up people from the tribe of Gad.

Naphtali - They decreased and their name means "wrestler." Naphtali was named that because Rachael was in a baby contest with her sister and when her servant gave birth to Naphtali, she said, "I have wrestled with my sister and prevailed." Naphtalites are people who are always in a contest with someone else. They have trouble living for God because they are jealous of someone else's blessing or they envy the ability of someone else. Naphtali will always fail because they are trying to keep up with everybody else and compare themselves to each other rather than measure up to the Word of God!

Simeon - Of all the tribes none got hammered by God worse than Simeon. They lost 37,100 men! Obviously whatever the spirit of Simeon is, we don't want to have it! Simeon means "God hears" but unfortunately it is a lesson of negative impact. We only have a few clues to the nature of Simeon and they are very revealing.

When Jacob prophesied about Simeon in Genesis 49, he linked him with Levi and said:

He was referring to chapter 34 when their sister Dinah had an affair with a man from a neighboring Hivite people. The man however was repentant and wanted to marry Dinah and make it right. Simeon and Levi told him that he could as long as he and every one of the Hivites were circumcized. The Hivites were so anxious to reconcile their mistake that every one of the men were circumcized and thus became of the Jewish faith. On the third day after their circumcision, when all of the men were still in pain, Simeon and Levi went in with swords and slaughtered every one of the repentant Hivites. Such was there cruelty and their self-will and their anger. They killed men who could not run or defend themselves out of their own anger.

Levi did it out of religious zeal. He was trying to do what was right. Later on when Moses came down from the mountain of God and found the children of Israel dancing naked before the golden calf, Moses called out and said "who is on the Lord's side." The Levites responded and began to run through the camp killing the idolaters. They acted out of their religious zeal.

Simeon on the other hand, was heartless and could care less about religion. He was supposed to be linked with Levi yet where was he when the responded to help Moses? His tribe was partying it up at the golden calf.

The only other clue to Simeon's nature is found in the book of Numbers. It is found in the chapters of 23-25. Israel was camped out by the evil people of Moab. And the King of Moab, Balak, hired a false prophet Balaam to come curse the tribes of Israel. Three times Balaam who was lured by money tried to offer sacrifices to get God to curse Israel and three times, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he ended up blessing them and cursing Moab instead. In fact before the Spirit of the Lord lifted off of him, God caused Balaam cursed every idol worshipping nation that was around and even prophesied that the Messiah would be born of the tribe of Judah. The king Balak was aggravated and sent Balaam away without any pay. The lure of the money was too much for Balaam and despite the fact that God had talked to him through a donkey, despite the fact that the Spirit of the Lord had come upon him and blessed Israel and cursed Moab, Balaam wanted to be richer, so he sat around and figured out a way to curse Israel.

He went back to the King and told him, I have it figured out. You and I can't cause God to curse them, but they can! He took of the finest meat that had been offered unto idols and brought them to the Moab border and had a huge barbecue right outside of the Israelite camp. Balaam also went throughout Moab and got every loose woman he could find and hid them in the trees above the barbecue. When the men of Israel who were downwind smelled the wonderful smell of the meat cooking they went over and Balaam offered them all they could eat. Despite knowing that God had said not to eat meat that had been offered to idols, they dove in. And then when they were full and their conscience had already been wounded by eating the unholy meat, Balaam sent all of the loose women into the camp. The men of Israel went beserk. They had already sinned, so why not sin some more! They were already compromised and they easily fell into fornication.

Balaam's plan had worked for God then sent a horrible plague that began to fall upon those who were sinning. The people who were sinning began to cry out in pain from the plague. The Godly leadership of Israel were already in the tabernacle praying for help. But while everybody was weeping there was a young man who came to the door of his tent with his new girlfriend on his arm, and laughed at all the "fuddy duds" that were crying because of the plague. He thought the judgment of God was a joke, so he turned and went back into the tent to continue in his sin. His name was Zimri and he was the head prince of the tribe of -- Simeon!

At that same time a young man stood up in the weeping, repenting congregation. His name was Phineas and he was of the tribe of Levi. Levi and Simeon were about to have a parting of ways. The Levite realized that something was different about Simeon, that he didn't care for the things of God, he didn't regard the judgment of God, the things of God didn't mean anything to him. The Levite realized that "I may have not always been right, but I was trying to do what was right."

Walking through the weeping, sobbing people who were falling victim to the awful plague, Phineas the Levite went and got his spear. He took the spear and walked to the tent of the man who had said "I will do whatever I want to do." The man who said "I won't change for anybody." The laughter in the tent turned to screams as Phineas killed both of them with one fell swoop of the spear. The moment they were killed, the plague stopped!!! God then spoke to Moses and said:

Num 25:10-13 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.

For the plague of God to stop, someone had to be willing to kill the spirit of Simeon! We need some spiritual Phineas' in the church today! Someone who you may have made mistakes in the past, but you are willing to put an end to the attitude that "I will do whatever I want!" Phineas, arise, repent and do what is right before God!