The Twelve Tribes of Israel Part 2 Northern, Dan, Naphtali and Ash

The Twelve Tribes of Israel (Part 2) Northern, Dan, Naphtali and Asher
“And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together,
that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.” (Genesis 49:1)

Intro: Last Sunday we started a sermon series titled “The Twelve Tribes of Israel
We talked about The Tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad…,
As we continue our look backward…, on the twelve tribes…
we will have a better understanding of God’s plan for the church as it developed over the ages.

The more we understand the plans of God and the people of God in the bible…
the better we understand how God deals with the world around us today.

There is a richness and value to learning where the church came from…,
It is like finding an old family bible…, that has all the births…, and marriages…,
and searching out the family tree…

Plus we learn life lessons…, that are like illustration of life…,
similar to the teachings of the parables that Jesus taught from…
So there are lots of reasons to study and learn about the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation…
This is what we call the Old Testament covenant
Through Abraham’s son Isaac
And Isaac’s son Jacob…
Remember God changed Jacob’s name to Israel…

God chose Israel the people to be the people of God
And in return…, those who honor the covenant become the people of God in return…
This is the Old Testament covenant law.

And so Israel…, Jacob is dying…, and on his death bed,
he calls each of children…
One by one and announces blessing and curses, judgments and promises about their destiny…

Today we are going to talk about the tribes of Dan, Naphtali and Asher

Let review all the names of the Twelve tribes…

1. Reuben Leah
2. Simeon Leah
3. Levi Leah
4. Judah Leah
5. Dan Bilhah
6. Naphtali Bilhah
7. Gad Zilpah
8. Asher Zilpah
9. Issachar Leah
10. Zebulon Leah
11. Joseph Rachel (Manasseh, Ephraim)
12. Benjamin Rachel


I. Tribe of Dan
"Dan will govern his people like any other tribe in Israel.
"He will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous viper along the path,
that bites the horse’s heels so the rider is thrown off." Genesis 49:16-17 (NLT)

Remember Jacob is married to Leah
He was tricked into marrying Leah for he really loves Rachel

But Rachel is barren and has no children
After Leah has four son’s for Jacob…
Rachel who is barren…, gives her maid Bilhah to Jacob to bear children…

Dan was the fifth son of Jacob and the first of the two sons by Rachel’s maid Bilhah.
Dan and Naphtali are full-blooded brothers and are often mentioned together.

What Jacob tells will happen to the tribe of Dan…, is best described in the book of Judges chapter 18.

It is the story of what happens to God’s people when they lose sight of their God
and mix worldly ideas with substitute manmade idols of worship.
They develop a worship that is only a form of godliness without the true Lord God

Judges 18 verse 1 says, "Now in those days Israel had no king.
And the tribe of Dan was trying to find a place to settle,
for they had not yet driven out the people who lived in the land assigned to them." (NLT)

So the men of Dan chose five warriors to spy or scout out a land for them to settle in.

What the five scouts find: is a man made shrine…