Zebulun, numbering 240,000 fighting men, was nevertheless given one of the smallest regions.
Of Zebulun, the only landlocked territory, it was prophesied: “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out…for they shall partake of the abundance of the seas” (Deut 33:18-19). Just 300 square miles, the small size is deceiving. Like Benjamin, who controlled the northern approach to Jerusalem, Zebulun’s land was vital to the nation’s existence (Jos 19:10-16). In the heart of the Jezreel Valley, it sat astride the Via Maris (Way of the Sea), linking north-south travel from Damascus and all points in Asia to Egypt and North Africa. Jonah’s Gath-hepher was here. Of course, wherever men trade, they also fight, and Zebulun was what Napoleon called “the cockpit of the world,” the perfect battlefield. Jezreel, meaning “God will sow,” is also the place where someday God will reap the vintage of His wrath. Its other name? Armageddon! Some of the battles fought here: Sisera’s conflict against Deborah and Barak, where they sang, “Zebulun is a people who jeopardized their lives to the point of death…on the heights of the battlefield” (Jdg 5:18); Gideon’s 300 vs the Midianites; Saul and Jonathan’s losing war against the Philistines; and Josiah’s foolhardy attack on Pharaoh Necho. David also had from Zebulun “fifty thousand who went out to battle, expert in war…stouthearted men who could keep ranks” (1 Chron 12:33). So where else would you send the Prince of Peace but to Nazareth, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali…beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned’” (Mt 4:14-16). Yes, Jesus grew up overlooking the site of His final victory!