Jacob’s prediction concerning Zebulun takes us back to this expression at his birth, for though a different word is used in the original for dwelling, the meaning is the same: “Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the seas, and he shall give shelter to ships.”
It is difficult to determine Zebulun’s exact boundaries, but Jacob’s prediction certainly implies that his territory should reach to the seas. Josephus confirms this: “The tribe of Zebulun’s lot included the land which lay as far as Gennesaret, and that which belonged to Carmel and the sea” (Ant. 5.1.22). How often must Zebulun have given shelter to the storm-tossed ships of the Galilee, perhaps on which were the apostles and our Lord.
Zebulun–a habitation, was the dwelling place of the prophet Jonah, who lived at Gath-hepher. He, too, in rebellion found his way to the sea–and then into it! In grace the Lord restored him and gave him another chance. But above all, it was the dwelling place of our Lord. It was to His home at Nazareth, in Zebulun, that the Lord Jesus took the two disciples who came to Him and asked, “Rabbi, where dwellest Thou?”
True to fact, Isaiah prophesied that in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali–the Galilee of the Gentiles–should arise the divine luminary and shed luster over that benighted district. “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Isa. 9:1-2; Mt. 4:14-16).
It was in Galilee that He appointed His disciples to meet Him after His resurrection. Many of the beautiful parables and illustrations were drawn from Nature round about Him in Galilee, as the seed falling on the ground, the drag net and fishes, etc. It was always His way to take the common things around and to impart new meaning to them, teaching spiritual lessons from them.
A striking fact about this prophecy is that the land of Zebulun and Naphtali is called Galilee of the Gentiles, a name more applicable to it in the days of Christ than at the time of the prediction. In the days of our Lord, a great many of the inhabitants of Galilee were Gentiles, Greek mercenaries, and Roman colonists. So to the prophet was given a vision of the actual conditions of the place as they were at the time Christ came.
In the blessing of Moses (Deut. 33:18-19), Zebulun is linked with Issachar. “Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and Issachar, in thy tents. They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hidden in the sand.”
Zebulun and Issachar were both bidden to rejoice, one being on the seacoast, and having the greater opportunities, was to rejoice in his going out, the other being placed on the land, was also to rejoice in abiding in his tents. Zebulun was evidently the more aggressive, while Issachar was more satisfied to continue his agricultural pursuit where he was placed. The Lord knew for what each of them was suited, and appointed them different positions according to their fitness. Both were to rejoice because they were in the will of God.
Our service for God may lie in different spheres, and among different people, but, fitted and equipped by God, let us joyfully exclaim, “Here am I, send me.” Remember at the same time that the place of great privilege is the place of greater responsibility.
Does Moses, “the man of God,” envisage here the apostles of these tribes going forth joyously from Galilee with the glad tidings of salvation, calling the Gentiles to worship God, as it were, on the mountain? “Nations shall they invite to the mountain; there shall they offer sacrifices of righteousness.” To what mountain does Moses refer here? It can only be Mount Moriah, where the temple stood at the southern flank and Calvary at its northern end, outside the city wall. Moses gives no name to the mountain, and this is what he does right through Deuteronomy, where he refers to the temple without saying where it was to be situated, only as the place (hammakom) that the Lord will choose.
In 2 Chronicles 3:1, the inspired writer brings together in one verse a number of Scriptures that reveal God’s purpose regarding the mountain. “Then Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, on Mount Moriah, where Jehovah appeared unto David, his father, which he made ready in the place that David had appointed in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.” This first step takes us back to Genesis 22, where we read that Abraham was sent up all the way from Beersheba, in the extreme south of the land to Mount Moriah to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. It is called one of the mountains (v. 2), Abraham calls it Jehovah jireh; that is, “as it is said unto this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen” (or provided, v. 14). Four times over it is also spoken of as “the place.”
David was divinely led to purchase that parcel of ground from Ornan the Jebusite, in order to erect an altar and offer up burnt offerings to God. This did not happen by chance, indeed we are informed that it was the angel of Jehovah who bade Gad the seer to tell David to do so. And God graciously indicated His approval by sending fire from heaven to consume the burnt and peace offerings, and the plague was stayed (1 Chron. 21:18-21). This, then, was the place on which Solomon built the temple.
No wonder the people of Zebulun were bidden to rejoice as their representatives went forth on their apostolic errand. We are assured that the time is coming when all nations shall flow to that mountain. “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:2-3).
Until the shadows flee away, let us come to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense and worship our Lord.No stress is laid directly on the meaning of Issachar in Jacob’s prophecy, as in the case of most other tribes, but it expresses a great truth. Sachar means “to hire for payment,” hence “reward.” In its Hebrew spelling we find the name Yeshsachas in Jeremiah 31:16, where it is translated, “There is a reward.”
This was recognized by the apostle as a divine principle, “He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). “Behold,” cries the prophet, “The Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him and His work before Him” (Isa. 62:11). Salvation not as an abstract idea merely, but a person with a reward to bestow and a work to accomplish.
In harmony with this verse the Lord Jesus assured His disciples: “The Son of Man shall come in the glory of the Father, with His angels, and then He shall reward every man according to his works” (Mt. 16:27). Also in His resurrection power and glory He sealed the visions of the Apocalypse in Patmos, with these words, “Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me to give every man according as his work shall be” (Rev. 22:12). Our Lord is the Salvation, who also gives the reward.
This, of course, does not contradict the doctrine of grace. So far as our salvation is concerned, we rest entirely on the finished work of Christ. Nothing that we can do will save us (Eph. 2:8). But forgiveness of sins is not all that God has for His children, “Whom He justified, them He also glorified.” Truly in His presence is fullness of joy; at His right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16:11). Salvation from sin is the portal, but only the portal through which we enter into a more blessed and glorious life.
Happy is the man who will one day be privileged to hear the blessed words falling from the Master’s lips: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Mt. 25:21).
Moses links Zebulun and Issachar together, but is in complete harmony with Jacob about them. Jacob depicts Issachar as couching between the sheepfolds, enjoying a comfortable rest and a pleasant land; Moses speaks of him as rejoicing in his tents. Genesis makes Zebulun a maritime people, having to do with ships and a harbor, and Issachar with agriculture, as a successful worker in the ground; Deuteronomy also connects them both with the sea and sand.
Issachar is compared to a strong-boned ass. In our western lands, the ass is a despised animal, but not so in the East where it is looked on as a useful, patient, and hardy animal. There is, therefore, nothing derogatory to Issachar in this comparison. It rather describes his endurance and capacity for work.
Josephus says that Issachar’s portion of land extended in length from Mount Carmel to the Jordan, and in breadth to Mount Tabor. This comprises most of the plain of Esdraelon, a very fertile piece of land. The rabbis compare Bethshan to the gate of Paradise.
The expression, “a servant,” or better, “a worker unto tribute,” is specially applied to Issachar because his portion of the land was very fertile and produced much to supply the king with his required provision which in the case of Solomon was very large.
Solomon was able to give Hiram, king of Tyre, 20,000 measures of wheat (1 Ki. 5:11). The Hebrew word mas here translated “tribute,” does not necessarily mean a gift to a foreign power, it is also used for a contribution to one’s own ruler (see 1 Ki. 4:7). The fertile districts of Taanach and Megiddo, which also provided for King Solomon’s needs (1 Ki. 4:12), though ceded to Manasseh, were really in the country of Issachar (Josh. 17:11).
On the journey through the wilderness, Issachar marched foremost with Judah and Zebulun, making the strongest triplet. On leaving Egypt, Issachar was 54,400 strong, and while some of the tribes decreased in numbers during the wilderness journey, Issachar increased by 9,900 men, and numbered at the second census 64,300 (Num. 26:25).
On David’s accession to the throne, Issachar supplied 87,000 warriors for his army (1 Chron. 7:5). In those days they must have had a good deal of influence among the other tribes, for in 1 Chronicles 12:32, we are told that they were “men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” Good would it have been for the spiritual and national welfare of the Jews in the days of Christ, if they had had an understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do, but, alas! our Lord had to rebuke them because they knew how to discern the face of the heavens, but could not discern the signs of the times (Mt. 16:3). On another occasion, the Lord Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, declared, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace; but now they are hid from thine eyes” (Lk. 19:42).
One of the judges who defended Israel was a man of Issachar, named Tola, the son of Puah; he ruled 23 years; later on Baasha, a man of this tribe, was the instrument of carrying out the sentence of punishment against the house of Jeroboam, pronounced by Ahijah the Shilonite, and became king in his place.
Baasha reigned 24 years, but, alas! he walked in the footsteps of Jeroboam, whose household he was the instrument of destroying. He did not learn the lesson which Jeroboam’s end should have taught him. He continued the worship of the calves, so that to him was meted out a similar punishment. His son, Elah, was killed by his servant, Zimri, after a short reign of two years, and his entire household was slain, according to the prophecy of Jehu, the son of Hanani ( 1 Ki. 16:1-13).
Issachar’s portion, being an extensive plain where large armies could easily manoeuver, formed the chief battleground of Israel. There Barak with only 10,000 men discomfited Sisera’s hosts with their 900 iron chariots, and thus called forth Deborah’s historic song of praise (Jud. 5). There Gideon delivered Israel from the Midianites and Amalakites (Jud. 7:12-23). There, too, on the slopes of Gilboa, the Israelites met with the terrible catastrophe when Saul and his sons were defeated by the Philistines (1 Sam. 31:1-6). There, also King Josiah was slain by Pharaoh-Necho, causing a great national lament (2 Chron. 35:23-25).
This important battleground, and all the wars carried on there, foreshadowed Armageddon, the decisive and final battle of this age, when our Lord, on His return will destroy the anti-Christian army who will gather there (Rev. 16:16). Armageddon is simply the Greek pronunciation of the Hebrew Har-Megiddon–the hill of Megiddo, the ancient town on the plain of Jezreel close to Mount Carmel which Solomon fortified.
It was on that side of Carmel, overlooking the land of Issachar, that Elijah called together Ahab and Israel, with their 850 false prophets, and by his indomitable courage and faithful testimony of the Lord, was made the instrument of bringing Israel back to God, as in answer to his prayer fire fell from heaven and consumed the sacrifice on the altar, the wood and the stones, and licked up the water in the trench, so that when the people saw it they fell on their faces, and cried, “Jehovah, He is the Elohim.” This incident will have its counterpart when, at the coming of our Lord, through the witness of Elijah, Israel will be reconciled to Him, and will be brought back into covenant relationship with Jehovah and the heart of the fathers, together with that of the children, shall turn to Him (Ps. 118:27-28; Mal. 4:5-6).
Another important incident in Issachar is that connected with the prophet Elisha, and the great woman of Shunem who showed kindness to the prophet by setting apart a room for his use. As a reward for this a son was given to her. When the boy, several years later, fell ill and died, his mother at once ran for help to the prophet, who was made God’s instrument to restore the child to life again.
This reminds us of another touching incident of a similar nature that took place in the days of our Lord near the same spot. In the city of Nain, a Jewish funeral procession wends its way out of the city. An only son has died. His poor, brokenhearted mother follows weeping.
Then the Lord Jesus comes, and being moved with compassion, speaks words of comfort to her. He touches the bier and addresses the corpse, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” And he that was dead sits up and begins to speak. The people marvel, and glorify God, saying, “A great prophet is risen up among us, God hath visited His people” (Lk. 7:11-16).
A glance at the map will show that Nain was quite near to the old township of Shunem, where Elisha, whose name means “God is Saviour,” prefiguring the Lord Jesus, brought the lad from Issachar from death to life again, but the act of Christ at the gate of Nain is, in itself, a pledge and a prophecy that “the hour is coming…when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live (Jn. 5:25).
Issachar and Zebulun, Leah’s fifth and sixth sons, are coupled together in the blessing of Moses. They travelled together in the wilderness journey; were mentioned together with approval in Deborah’s song; were neighbors in the land as divided by Joshua. Ezekiel also places Issachar next to Zebulun in the fresh division of the land for the Millennium, and in the inscription of their names on the gates of the new city (Ezek. 48:25-26, 33).
Jacob puts similar play on the name of Dan as did Rachel at his birth. She felt that God had judged her favorably, answered her prayer and, through her maid, Bilhah, had given her a son whom she received as her own and called his name Dan, “Judge.” This is not, of course, in harmony with the higher standard of Christ in the New Testament, but God in His grace overruled it.
Jacob makes Dan’s name a prophecy of the future of the tribe. “[The judge] shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.” As Dan was the first son borne to him of the bondwoman, the patriarch by this declaration concerning him gives him a place with equal rights among the sons borne by Rachel and Leah; while prophetically he appoints him a position in restored Israel. Dan fell early into idolatry, and for some time was little heard of; yet, at the end he is predicted to play a part among the other tribes.
Dan apparently had only one son, named Hushim, when the family left Canaan (Gen. 46:23), but the tribe increased rapidly, so that at the Exodus the males of Dan over 20 years numbered 62,700, next in strength to Judah, and during the wilderness trip they further increased to 64,400. Their position while camping was to the north of the tabernacle, and they formed the chief tribe of the three bringing up the rear, with Asher and Napthali.
Jacob likens Dan to a horned serpent in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backwards. The Hebrew, Shephiphon, is generally understood to be the cerastes, a vicious serpent with two little horns on its head, that hides in the sand or in some crevice of the path and suddenly attacks the passerby. Moses likens Dan to a young lion leaping from Bashan. In both cases the likeness is to an animal suddenly springing on its prey, like Samson in his attacks on the Philistines.
Samson, a Danite, judged Israel twenty years. His parents were godly people (see Jud. 13:8), to whom the Angel of Jehovah appeared and foretold the birth of the child. As to who this angel was, we get a clue from Judges 13:18 where we learn that His Name is Wonderful (pele), the same as in Isaiah 9:6, where it is distinctly a title of Christ. As was His Name, so were His acts. In verse 19 we are told that He did wondrously. While He would not partake of any food Manoah offered Him, He approved of a burnt offering, and as the flame of the sacrifice rose heavenward, the Angel of Jehovah ascended with it, while Manoah and his wife looked on, wondering. What a picture this is of the Lord Jesus identifying Himself with the offering that typified His acceptance with the Father.
It was at Ajalon in the territory of Dan that God graciously interposed for His people when, in answer to Joshua’s prayer, the day was prolonged to enable the Israelites to obtain a decisive victory over the combined forces of the southern confederacy.
Dan’s territory lay between that of Judah on the south, Ephraim and Benjamin on the east and north, with part of their western boundary at Joppa by the sea. But this piece of land was quite small. The tribe was also hard pressed by the Amorites, and afterwards by the Philistines, for they failed to cast out their enemies as God intended them to do, and finding the land insufficient, a number of them went to the far north, conquered the inhabitants of Laish, as it was called, and settled there, calling the place Dan. The ancient city of Dan is now identified with Tel el Kady, one of the sources of the Jordan.
When Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, began to reign over the ten tribes, he made that city one of the centers of calf worship; that being the northern extremity of his kingdom, as Bethel was the southern (1 Ki. 12:28-30). Jeroboam was not likely to meet with any resistance to his scheme from the Danites, as they themselves were similarly inclined.
Judges 18 gives an account of the 600 Danites, who, on their establishing themselves at Laish, set up image worship, having Jonathan, the son of Gershom, for their priest.
The exclamation with which Jacob ends his prophecy concerning Dan is significant. “For Thy salvation have I waited, O Jehovah.” This expresses both Dan’s helplessness and God’s deliverance. Was the patriarch viewing Dan’s lapse into sin and its consequences that made him cast himself thus on God’s mercy? The Targummim, or the Chaldaic paraphrases, which date back to the days of Christ, very strikingly put it, “Our Father, Jacob, said, Not for the salvation of Gideon, the son of Joash, does my soul look out, for that is only temporary, and not for the salvation of Samson, for that is only transient, but for the salvation promised in Thy Word for Thy people, the sons of Israel; for that salvation does my soul look out” (Jerusalem Targum in loc). Another edition has it, “But for the salvation of Messiah the Son of David, who will save Israel and deliver them from exile; for that Salvation does my soul wait.” The Lord Jesus is the Salvation hoped for, His name in Hebrew, Joshua, or in full, Jehoshua, means “Jehovah is salvation.”
In full agreement with this expression of hope, we are assured of Dan’s final restoration in the Scriptures, for while their name is left out in Revelation 7 from among the tribes that are sealed for protection from earthly suffering, Ezekiel gives them a permanent position among the other tribes in the restored land, placing them at the most northerly portion of it (Ezek. 48:1). Dan’s name is also inscribed on one of the twelve gates of the Holy City, by the side of Joseph and Benjamin (Ezek. 48:32).
What marvellous grace is here displayed before us by our God! In spite of their rebellion, apostasy and idolatry, God’s love will reach even to them, and His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and His promises through Moses and the prophets, can never fail for any of the tribes of Israel. There is efficacy in the precious blood of Christ to cleanse every penitent who sees His salvation. And when God pours upon that people the spirit of grace and supplication, and they look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn, the fountain is opened to them for sin and uncleanness, Jacob’s expectation will be fulfilled and “all Israel shall be saved.”
Bezaleel’s companion in constructing the tabernacle was Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan. Huram, the chief workman in building the temple, was also the son of a Danite woman, who was married to a man of Tyre. Half Jew, half Gentile, working with “Jewish stones” and “Gentile timbers,” Huram foreshadowed the building of that spiritual temple composed of living stones out of all nationalities, of whom the prophet speaks. “They that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord” (Zech. 6:15).
“Now in Christ Jesus,” writes Paul, “ye who were sometimes far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ…Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:13, 19-21).