He created Adam , He walked with Enoch , He saved Noah , and He called Abraham. In the case of Abraham, God had taken one man, uprooted him from home and family, moved him hundreds of miles away into a foreign and dangerous land, and established him in the land of Canaan. The death of Abraham in Genesis 25:8 signaled a change in the course of direction God would take with His people. The Bible next turns to Abraham’s son, Isaac. From Isaac comes Jacob. Jacob produces twelve sons, and the 12 tribes of Israel begin to emerge and take shape.
God was moving in stages, and one must keep in mind the formation of these tribes took place over the course of hundreds of years. Modern day scholarship dismisses the notion that the 12 tribes of Israel are divisions of a larger group, the nation of Israel. They also deny the Biblical account of these tribes all developing naturally, over an extended period of time, from the patriarchal origins. Many scholars feel the 12 tribes of Israel were joined together out of a joint historical need, whether the threat of invasion, famine, or some other happening.
The Habiru formed just out of such circumstances. Some claim the tribes were formed once they were inside of Canaan, toward the end of the Judges, and the beginning of Saul’s reign. Map of 12 Tribes of Israel tribal allotments. Still others claim the 12 tribes of Israel “may”, in fact, have been formed in some sort of desert wandering. However, Canaan was certainly not conquered simultaneously by these twelve tribes. This school believes the conquest of Canaan took place over the course of multiple, smaller infiltrations, rather than one large invasion.
These differing schools of thought, however, cannot agree on when these tribes formed, or, when these tribes united. They are unable to provide an explanation which accounts for the formation of the 12 tribes of Israel at their earliest stages. The Torah, on the other hand, provides just that. Get your own map of the tribes of Israel from Amazon. com! This limited edition fine art print of the 12 tribes of Israel is a visually stunning panoramic map of ancient Israel. Click on the below link to be re-directed to amazon. com. The Tribes of Israel in Palestine – Panoramic Map Giclee Poster Print
The root origin of the 12 tribes of Israel rests in the emphasis placed on genealogical records throughout all of the Old Testament. Scholars simply dismiss the notion of detailed family records being kept in ancient Israel when assessing the validity of Scripture. The ancient Hebrews /Israelites maintained family records with excruciating detail. It is within these genealogies the birth of the 12 tribes of Israel may be found. The Tribe The fundamental social and familial unit of the ancient world was the tribe. Tribes of the ancient world were composed of a number of different elements.
Tribes consisted of families, typically extended families, and individuals not of blood relation. Oftentimes tribes would intermarry, and thus larger tribes, over years, may absorb lesser tribes. Tribes were more defined by geographical regions, and territories, than by social position, or blood. Tribes served to unite diverse families and members of society from all stratas. The tribe was the social, religious, political, and military backbone of Canaanite society. Abraham, however, strayed from this tribal pattern. He refused to intermarry and intermingle.
He obtained a wife for Isaac from their own people, maintaining the integrity and purity God demanded. The Hebrew tribe, thus, was founded upon pure blood relation. It would maintain its own autonomy and individuality. This distinguished Abraham from his Canaanite neighbors. The 12 tribes of Israel encamped around the Tent of Meeting. However, Abraham also possessed a number of servants, perhaps slaves, and fighting men in his household. It is more than likely all of these were not of Hebrew descent, and probably some were even non-Semitic.
Thus, in this aspect, the tribe, or household of Abraham was composed of many different elements as well. Isaac produces two twin boys; Esau, the oldest, and Jacob, the youngest. It is through the youngest son, Jacob, and his twelve sons, that the Bible begins to deal with twelve distinct tribes. The birth of the 12 tribes of Israel begins with the birth of the twelve sons of Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. From Joseph would come two tribes, each descended from one of his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
This will account for much of the inconsistency when dealing with the Biblical lists of the 12 tribes. The Levites were a particular tribe, set aside for God, thus did not receive any allotment of land, only cities throughout the whole of the land. In lists of the 12 tribes of Israel which omit Levi, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are mentioned to keep the number twelve intact. It quickly becomes evident throughout the Old Testament the 12 tribes of Israel were seldom unified throughout much of the history of Israel.
Though unified under Saul and then David, factions existed within certain tribes which always fought against common opinion. Intense and deep rivalries existed between tribes, in some cases leading to civil war. The situation is much the same today, within the country of Israel. Many divisions exist within the Jewish people of Israel, indeed throughout much of the Jewish population worldwide. Though these divisions are real, in times of need, much like the tribes of the Old Testament, the Jewish people rally and unite, fighting off threat and war.
However, the prophet Ezekiel foresaw a time when such divisions would never exist within God’s people. He spoke of such a time in Ezekiel 37. “And when the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these? ‘ say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ” Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand. “
