BENJAMIN

• 12th and youngest son of Jacob.
• 2nd and last son of Rachel
• Rachel died during his childbirth.
• Name means "son of my right hand".
• Described by his father as a wolf that prowls, devouring his enemies in the morning and dividing up the spoils in the evening. (Gen. 49:27)
• King Saul, Judge Ehud, Paul and Jeremiah were descendants of Benjamin.
• Had 10 sons.

JOSEPH

• 11th son born to Jacob.
• Mother is Rachel (Jacob's favored wife).
• Name means "may he add"..."May the Lord add to me another son."
• One full and 10 half brothers.
• Received preferential treatment thus angering his brothers.
• Brothers faked his death and sold him into slavery in Egypt.
• Had power to interpret dreams.
• Became leader in Egypt.
• Married an Egyptian wife, "Asenath"
• Had two sons, Manesseh and Ephraim.
• Died when he was 110, bones were embalmed in Egypt and moved to Canaan during the Exodus.

ZEBULUN

• 10th son of Jacob.
• Probably means "honor".
• Mother was Leah.
• 5 full brothers and 6 half brothers.
• Tribe renowned as seafarers.
• Had 3 sons.

ISSACHAR

• 9th son of Jacob.
• Born to Leah.
• Name means "reward".  Leah said; "God has rewarded me for giving y maidservant to my husband.
• Born to Leah after a period of not having children.
• Leah 'hired' her husband to sleep with her and thus became pregnant with Issachar & Zebulun.
• Twin to Zebulun.
• Brother to Dinah.
• 5 full brothers, 6 half brothers.
• Described as a beast of burden who would submit to forced labor.
• In the Song of Deborah (Judges) mentioned in favorable light concerning tribes' battles with Canaanites.
• Gained reputation for it's wise men.
• Married Aridah.
• Had 4 sons.

ASHER

• 8th son of Jacob.
• 2nd born to Zilpah, Leah's handmaid.
• Name means "happy" because Leah said: "How happy I am!..."
• One older full brother and 10 half brothers.
• Helped in the plot to sell Joseph into slavery.
• Failed to drive out the inhabitants of their allotted land, the Phoenician's.
• In the Song of Deborah (Judges 5) they are reprimanded for not helping out during the struggle against a Canaanite king.
• Had four sons and a daughter.

GAD

• 7th son of Jacob.
• Mother was Zilpah, Leah's handmaid.
• Means "good fortune" or "a troop".
• One full brother, 10 half brothers.

NAPHTALI

• 6th son of Jacob
• One full brother Dan, 10 half brothers.
• Born to Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid.
• Means "my struggle"  because Rachel said; "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won."
• Described by Jacob as "a deer that has been set free."  Possibly because of his free spirit.
• Praised in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:18) for bravery in defeating Sisera and the Canaanites.
• Jesus started his ministry in Naphtali and calls His first disciples from it's shores.
• Had four sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillemhtali.

DAN

• Fifth born son of Jacob (Israel).
• Born to Rachel's (Jacob's second and favored wife) handmaid Bilhah.
• One full brother, Naphtali and 10 half brothers.
• Name means "vindicated"  because Rachel felt vindicated because she couldn't bear her husband children.
• The second largest Israel tribe after Judah.
• Failed to conquer the portion of land allocated to them by Jacob and so had to  move northward to conquer that land.
• His land was the most northerly region, to the north of the Galilee and west of the Jordan.
  

JUDAH

• Fourth born to Jacob (Israel)
• Name means "praise" 
• Mother was Leah, Jacob's first but less favored wife.
• Full brothers:  Reuben, Simeon & Levi (older), Issachar & Zebulun (younger)
• Six half brothers:  Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph & Benjamin.
• Instigator in plan to kill Joseph.  Was going to kill him with a knife but Levi stopped him, suggesting they throw him in a pit instead.
• Married ta Canaanite woman.
• Had three children: Er, Onan and Shelah with her.
• Had sex with his daughter-in-law thinking she was a prostitute, she became pregnant and bore two sons, twins, Pharez and Zerah, Judah's fourth & fifth sons.
• His allotted land included the city of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
• Judah became the name of the southern kingdom when Israel was divided into two kingdoms.
  

LEVI

• Third born son to Jacob (Israel)
• Born to Leah, Jacobs first (and less favored) wife.
• Name probably means "Attached" because Leah said: "Now at least my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons."
• The tribe of Levi did not receive land allotment when they, (the Israelite's) concurred Canaan.  Instead, they were to serve the other eleven tribes, the 'priests' so to speak and the other tribes were to give them 1/10th of all they made.
• Married Melcha
• He fathered three sons, Gershon, Kohath & Merari and possibly a daughter, Jochebed.
• He, along with his brother Simeon destroyed the city of Shechem to avenge the rape of their sister, Dinah.
• Was not in agreement with killing Joseph.

SIMEON

• Second Son of Jacob
• Name means "God had heard"
• Born to Leah, Jacob's first (and less favored) wife.
• One older and four younger full brothers.
• 6 half brothers.
• He, along with his brother Levi killed people in Shechem because they raped their sister Dinah.

REUBEN

• First born son of Jacob
• Name means "see a son".
• Born to Jacob's first (and less favored) wife, Leah.
• 5 full and 6 half brothers.
• Because he had an affair with Leah's handmaid, Bilhah, he lost his first born rights.
• He was responsible for keeping his brothers from killing Joseph and selling him instead.

THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL

What exactly are "The 12 Tribes of Israel" you ask?  Well...

The 12 tribes of Israel originated in biblical times.

Since the flood wiped out all people except for Noah and his family, all people come from Noah.
Noah had Shem,
From Shem came Abraham.

From Abraham came Isaac.

From Isaac came Jacob (God changes his name to Israel).

Now Jacob/Israel had 12 sons. .

The sons, in order of birth are:

1. Reuben
2. Simeon
3. Levi
4. Judah
5. Dan
6. Naphtali
7. Gad
8. Asher
9. Issachar
10. Zebulun
11. Joseph
12. Benjamin

1. 

   This is a breakdown of Jacob's wives and kids born to them.
   
   
   
   

After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, the new generation is now Jacob and his 12 sons and all their wives and descendants. The People are known as the Israelites and are told to go in and conquered the land known as the 'land of milk and honey' for it's rich resources.  When they did, they sectioned off portions of the land and gave it to each son and it is these 12 sons and their subsequent tribes that are being referred to when we talk about the 12 tribes of Israel.  They each hold significance both biblically and today because Canaan is what is now known as The Middle East.   The following is a map of the land and how it was divided among the 12 sons of Jacob (Israel).   You will notice that Levi is not shown here.  That is because the 'Levites" had the job of being the 'priests'.  They were to minister to the needs of the people and the people were to give them a portion, 10% of their earnings to support them.  So they had no particular place but rather were spread throughout the tribes to minister and care for the people.

THE FLOOD: Genisis chapter 6

Here begins the story of Noah.  God has created man and the universe, time has gone by and men began to increase on the earth.  Daughters were born to them.  'Sons of God' married the 'daughters of men'.  What does that mean?  One popular belief is that the 'Sons of God' are fallen angels, however, according to Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25 angels do not marry.  Another belief is that the 'daughters of men' refers to people who married into Cain's 'evil' family which would have weakened the 'good' influence of the faithful and increased the immoral influence in the world.

To me, the later seems more likely, but anything is possible as there is much we do not know.  Either way, man was becoming more corrupt and God said that His "spirit" would "not contend  with man forever" and that man's days would be 120 years which the NIV Study Bible footnotes tell us means that man was given 120 years to change their sinful ways.

Verse 6 says that the Nephilim were on the earth then.  The Nephilim were giants, people 9 or 10 feet tall.  The same term is used in reference to Goliath later in the Bible.  We are told that the Nephilim used their physical size to oppress the people.

Anyways, man became more and more corrupt as time went on & God was sad that people had made the choices they had made.  He decided to send a flood to wipe them all out.  But, God did find one man, Noah to be a 'righteous' man and He told Noah to build an Ark, or boat, so that he and his family would be spared. He told Noah exactly how He wanted it built and He also told him he could bring his family with him and to bring a male and female from each kind of animal and food to feed them all.  And Noah obeyed.  (Very important).

Was God saying that He made a mistake when He created man?  I don't think so.  I think of the flood as sort of like a form of discipline.  Like a parent who uses 'tough love' after trying for years to get their rebellious, drug addicted child to change and finally kicks them out of the house, often onto the streets, rather than letting them corrupt and destroy the whole family.  And the Bible doesn't say that God was angry, it says that He was sad about it all.

One of the reasons I like to really study God's word is that you learn more about the character of God and the people who 'found favor' in His eyes.  God says that Noah was 'righteous' and 'blameless'.  But we know that Noah was not perfect.  He was human, with human fallacies.   This is very clearly shown when, later on, Noah gets drunk  and passes out in front of his children-naked!  So he was no angel, nor were any of the other people God favored, like Moses, who lost his temper and took credit to himself instead of giving it to God, or Abraham & Sarah who decided to take matters into their own hands when they felt it was taking God too long to come through with His promise to them, or David, who had a weakness for women-lots of them-some of them other men's wives and he had one of the husbands killed!  The list goes on and on.  These people were not perfect.  I love knowing this and I love that the Bible does not try to hide their faults, because it gives me a chance, with all of my faults and failures to still be 'favored' in God's eyes.  I know that God is not looking for perfect people, He is looking for people who love Him and are available, with open hearts, to serve Him.  When I realized this, it strengthened my relationship with God because I no longer felt so unworthy or like I could never be 'good enough' for Him.

Another point to be made about this story I think is that Noah lived in a world that was filled with corruption and sin but he did not allow that to change him.  He stayed true to his beliefs even when everyone around him did not.  Are we not faced with the same thing today?  It becomes ever harder in our world to even know what is good and what is bad what with the way the world (Satan) can twist the truth of things.  I mean, what is the sin?  Is it the homosexual?  Or is it the people who shun them in the name of God?  Is it abortion? Or is it divorce?  Or maybe gossip?  The bible talks way more about divorce than it does about abortion yet, listen to a Sunday morning church service and you'd swear the homosexuals or abortionists were the more evil.  I guess that by bashing them, we let ourselves off the hook.  But doesn't God tell us not to judge others?  It is very hard to remain focused on what's important and not be deceived.  We must remember what is important and know that God  does see you and that in the end, that's all that really matters.  So, do good, even though it seems that hardly no one appreciates it anymore-do good anyways.  Stay the course.

Interesting thing about the Ark: Not only was it huge, the length of one and a half football fields and as high as a four story building, but it was exactly six times longer than it was wide, which is the same ratio that modern shipbuilders use today.  Also, it had to take a very long time to build it, maybe...120 years?  So, not only did the people have plenty of time to change their ways, they also had a very visual prop to enforce the message being given to them.  Nothing like a huge boat in the middle of dry land to make a point!

It is scary though because it's so similar to us today, I mean, who hasn't heard that Jesus will return soon, the end is near, etc. and we have God's Holy Word and history to learn from and yet, we don't live as if God is returning soon.  I wonder if I'd be one of the ones taken if He did come back today.  I mean, look at the way Jesus lived.  His entire life was spent  serving, teaching, helping others.  He even died for us.  He didn't own a house or a car, He walked from town to town, He spent serious time alone with God.  I don't know anyone who does that today.  Certainly I do not.  I mean, we live our lives working to have more money to buy houses, cars, clothes, boats, TV's, etc.  And when we die, none of that will even matter.  If Jesus walked into our lives today would we not look around at all of our possessions and the things we surround ourselves with and suddenly see and be ashamed and afraid?  It does make me worried for myself and others.

THE FLOOD ENDS: Genesis Chapter 8

The floods continued and God remembered Noah and the ark.  God closed the floodgates and he sent a wind over the earth and the waters receded steadily until, at the end of the 150 days the water had gone down enough that the Ark came to rest.  This happened when Noah was 600 years, seven months and 17 days old.  The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat which is in present day Turky near the USSR boarder.

Here the Ark continued to rest and after 40 days Noah opened the window of the ark and sent out a raven. He then sent out a dove which returned to him.  After 7 more days he sent the dove out again and this time it returned with an olive leaf-proof of life!  Seven days later he sent the dove out and this time it didn't return.  When Noah was 601 year, one month and one day old he saw dry land from the ark and one month and 26 days later he was able to come out along with everyone else.  He built an alter to the Lord and gave a sacrifice using some of the clean animals and birds he had.

Here, God says that he will never again, as long as the earth endured, curse the earth or destroy all living creatures because of man, even though 'every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.'  It's so sad to think that people are so bad.  

Timeline of Noah's Flood:




Notice that from the time Noah enters the Ark until he leaves it is somewhere around one year.

Evidence of the Ark has never been found although rumors of sightings have been told.  But the area remains largely unexplored and the ark probably would have completely decomposed by now but wouldn't it be an awesome discovery today?

NOAH PREPARES FOR THE FLOOD: Genesis Chapter 7

At this point God tells him to take seven pairs of each kind of 'clean' animal (meaning animals used for sacrifices) and 2 pairs of each kind of unclean animal.  According to science it is estimated that 45,000 animals could have fit into the ark.  Seven days before the flood starts God tells Noah and his family to start loading up which Noah did.  He is 600 years old at this time.  The Bible tells us that the animals came to Noah.  What a scene that must have been.  If I had been a doubter back then that in itself would have made me change my mind quick.  A footnote I liked about this said; 'God took care of the details of that job while Noah was doing his part by building the ark.  Often we do just the opposite of Noah.  We worry about details over which we have no control, while neglecting specific areas (such as attitudes, relationships, responsibilities) that are under our control....concentrate on what God has given you to do and leave the rest to God.'

So seven days later, when  Noah was 600 years, two months and 17 days old, everyone is loaded up and ready, the 'Lord shut him in' and the flood gates opened up. For forty days the flood kept coming.  It says that all the mountains were covered to a depth of more than twenty feet and that every living thing on the earth was wiped out except for Noah and those in the ark with him.  And the waters flooded the earth for 150 days.    

NOAH

• Son of Lamech
• One of 8 people that lived before, during and after the flood.
• One righteous person on the face of the earth before the flood.
• Commissioned by God to build an ark.
• Three sons:  Shem, Ham and Japheth from which came all the nations of the earth.
• Was a 'tiller of the soil'.
• Know for his story of becoming drunk and passing out naked in his tent. (Gen. 9).
• Lived to be 950 years old.
• The last of the long lived people in the Bible as their life span decreases rapidly thereafter going from around 900 years to around 120 years.
• Mentioned 8 times in the New Testament and in Ezekiel.
• Listed along with Daniel and Job for righteousness.