24 Prophecies 12 Temperaments 12 Apostles for 12 Tribes
Now can the Jacobic and Mosaic prophecies regarding the Tribes and the
personalities and position Apostles with regard to Yeshua indicate reasons for
the possible pairing of Tribe with Apostle?
Gen. 49 and Deut. 33
·
Reuben – Unstable as water
– Would survive and be many
·
Simeon – Would be
scattered – No Mosaic prophecy given
·
Levi – Would be scattered
– Would be mediator between God and the People
·
Judah – Would be many,
victorious and would rule – The Tribes would be brought to him by their enemies
·
Zebulun – Would be a seamen
– Would always be on the go abroad
·
Issachar – Would carry
burdens – Would always tend to stay at home
·
Dan – Would be a judge –
Would be like a lion cub
·
Gad – Would be a
victorious troop in the end – Will be like a lion of victory, justice and
expansion of territory
·
Asher – Would cater to
royalty – Would be well liked and somewhat pampered
·
Naphtali – Would possess good
oratory skills - Would have favor and possess the west and south
·
Joseph – Would be fruitful
and multiply – Would have the blessings of the produce of the earth and of the
flocks and herds and would cause others to be pushed out of their lands
·
Ephraim – Would be fruitful
and multiply - Would have the blessings of the produce of the earth and of the
flocks and herds and would cause others to be pushed out of their lands
·
Manasseh – Would be fruitful
and multiply - Would have the blessings of the produce of the earth and of the
flocks and herds and would cause others to be pushed out of their lands
·
Benjamin – Would be like a
victorious wolf – Will have divine protection by the LORD
The Apostolic temperaments:
·
Simon Peter – Thought with his
heart moreso than his head. Often got his foot stuck in his mouth. Rough around
the edges
·
Andrew – Was rough around
the edges like this brother Peter and was a hard worker, yet inquisitive (Mark
13)
·
James son of Zebedee – Was most likely
passionate and fervent and was not called Sons of Thunder for nothing
·
John son of Zebedee – Was most likely
passionate and fervent and was not called Sons of Thunder for nothing
·
Phillip – (Acts 8) A
teacher, obedient, tolerant of other peoples and cultures
·
Bartholomew/Nathanial – (John 1:47) A
true Israelite and guileless
·
Thomas – Know for
skepticism or we can say a critical and analytical mind
·
Matthew Levi – Was likely very tolerant
and politically and business minded
·
James son of Alpheus – No much is known,
but likely the opposite of his twin, laid back and easy going introvert
·
Judah/Thaddeus/Lebbaeus – By the names, was
likely an extrovert, very outspoken, brave, passionate and compassionate
·
Simon the Zealot of
Canaan – The name says it all, He was zealous, a “wanna conquer it
all” kind of guy
·
Matthias – Likely humble,
likely the opposite of Judas Iscariot
·
Saul/Paul – “Tough Love” may
best describe Saul/Paul. He had top Hebrew education under the Famous Gamaliel
and was well versed in Greek and Roman poets and philosophers and thus best
suited to reach Jew and Gentile.
If we assume Yeshua chose 12 Apostles to be sent to the 12 Tribes, can we
assume their order in Scripture can relate to the order of Israel’s encampment
or marching orders. I will pair them by both methods. Let us also see if the
Apostolic temperaments match the Tribes:
·
Simon Peter – Judah (Indeed he was considered
the Apostle to the Jews and Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles) - Jews are
passionate and stiff-necked and were known for reacting with their heart before
their head.
·
Andrew – Issachar – Both were deemed hard
workers
·
James son of Zebedee – Zebulun – Being like Thunder,
thunder travels as Zebulun did by sea
·
John son of Zebedee – Dan and Reuben – Being a son of
thunder has judgmental implications and haste which would produce a type of
instability
·
Phillip – Asher and Simeon – Phillip being
very accepting of others was called to deal with tribes of personas on both
ends of the spectrum
·
Bartholomew/Nathanial – Naphtali and Gad – Both tribes
have a trait of wanting a straight word and Nathaniel could deliver
·
Thomas – Benjamin and Ephraim – Benjamin
being small and Ephraim being large you would need such an analytic person do
wisely deal with the Napoleon complex of one and the big head of the other
·
Matthew Levi – Manasseh – An expanding tribe is
like a corporation and needs a savvy business mind to effectively reach them
·
James son of Alpheus – Ephraim and Benjamin – One has
to be laid back in order to deal egos that fell on both sides of this wide
spectrum
·
Judah/Thaddeus/Lebbaeus – Gad and Dan - A passionate man to reach passionate tribes
·
Simon the Zealot of
Canaan – Simeon and Asher
– The Zealot to reach Simeon and sometimes opposites attract and one can learn
from the other is the way upper crust Asher is humbled and reached
·
Matthias – Reuben and Naphtali – It takes a
humble yet firm and accepting person to reach stubborn and erratic Reuben as
well as to reach “were beautiful and we know it” Naphtali
·
Saul/Paul – Gentiles 70 Nations and Assimilated 12 Tribes
– Well educated and flexible enough to reach everyone
So we see amazingly the Apostolic personalities fit the Tribes.
We know Yeshua had 12 Talmidim (Disciples/Apostles) but out of the 12 He
had an Inner Circle of Three; Peter, James and John the sons of Zebedee. Could
these Three of Yeshua’s Inner Circle have any meaning regarding the Tribes they
were to reach?
What does Peter and Judah, James and Zebulun and John, Dan and Reuben all
have in common or make some sort of whole?
Judah is the principle and ruling tribe that all the others tribes are to
acknowledge and be subservient to. Dan, like Aaron to Moses would help Judah
rule, Zebulun always abroad represents Judah sending out ambassadors to the
Gentiles and Reuben who lost the elite family position due to his sin and
rebellion represents the unstable, stiff-necked people of the Kingdom that must
learn submission before the Gentiles Zebulun will bring back, comes.
Yeshua had many more than just the 12 Disciples as and Luke 6:17, 10:1
and John 4:1, 6:66 bears out. When he appointed the 12, he had to have more
than 12 so as to hand pick from. From the verses cited above He at least had
over 70 Disciples and perhaps this may symbolize the Gentile followers of
Yeshua who assist the 12 in reaching and bringing back all of the Tribes to
reunite with Judah. After all, in like manner the Rabbis believe that God told
Moses to choose 70 elders to represent the 70 Gentile Nations. Thus Yeshua
having 70 Disciples besides the 12!