Twelve sons, twelve steps to maturity!
June 18, 2014
In Genesis 28 we read the story of Isaac and how he send Jacob his son to go and find a wife for himself in Haran. On his way there he was sleeping on a rock and God appeared to him in a dream. When he left the place he met Rachel, the daughter of his mothers brother at the well. She took him to her father and Laban his uncle asked him to stay and work for him. Jacob whose name means “Cheater” agreed to work for seven years for Laban to have Rachel as his wife. On their wedding night Laban gave him Leah, Rachel’s older sister instead. According to their custom, Rachel being the younger sister could not get married before Leah. So Laban cheated Jacob by having him agree to work for him another seven years to be able to marry Rachel. Jacob married Rachel the same week he married Leah and loved her more than he loved Leah.
God saw that and closed the womb of Rachel. With Rachel unable to have children Leah had four sons. When Rachel saw that she could not have children she gave her maid Bilhah to Jacob as wife to have children for her. Bilhah had two sons with Jacob and then Leah gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob as wife and he had two sons with Zilpah. Then Leah had two more sons with Jacob and God remembered Rachel and opened her womb and she had two sons with Jacob. So in total Jacob had twelve sons with his four wives’s. These sons would each become a patriarch of one of the tribes of Israel.
What I want to do is look at the sons and their names and what their names means. This is a fantastic bible study, as we will see. The stones in the breastplate of the High Priest were a representation of each of these sons. We will also look at the gates of the New Jerusalem in Revelations 19 as these are each named after the sons of Jacob.
LEAH (Jacobs first wife)
Jacob had four sons with Leah at first and then two more sons later. The two that wa born later would be the ten and eleventh sons.
The first son that was born to Leah she names Reuben. His name means: “Behold or see a son.”
The second son was Simeon and his name means: “Ears to hear.”
The third son that was born to Leah was Levi and his name means: “Attached or united.”
The forth son to be born was Judah and his name means: “Now I shall Praise.”
The tenth son that was born to Jacob and the fifth for Leah was Issachar and his name means: “He will add/bring a reward.”
The eleventh son to Jacob and the sixth son for Leah were called Zebulon and his name means: “A habitation.”
Bilhah (Rachels maid)
Jacob had two sons with Bilhah. This would be his fifth and sixth sons.
The fifth son that was born was called Dan. His name means: “God has judged.”
The sixth son that was born was called Naphtali and his name means: “I wrestled and prevailed.”
Zilpah (Leah maid)
Jacob had two more sons with her. This was his seventh and eight sons.
The seventh son that was born was named Gad. His name means: “A troop/army attacks.”
The eight son that was born was called Asher and his name means: “They will call me blessed.”
Rachel (Jacobs second wife)
Jacob finally had two more sons with Rachel after God opened her womb. This was Jacobs eleventh and twelve sons.
The eleventh son that was born to Jacob and Rachel’s first son was called Joseph and his name means: “He shall add a son.”
The twelve son that was born to Jacob and Rachel’s second son was called Benjamin and his name means: “Son of my right hand.”
To put it all together here is the list in order.
- Reuben – See a son
- Simeon – Ears to hear
- Levi – United and attached
- Judah – Praise
- Dan – Judge of God
- Naphtali – I wrestled and prevailed
- Gad – A troop comes
- Asher – Blessed
- Issachar – He will add a reward
- Zebulon – Habitation
- Joseph – He will add a son
- Benjamin – Son of my right hand
All of these names are prophetic and points to our spiritual experience we have as we mature in Christ. Let me explain it briefly and we will look into it in more depth later.
Reuben – Christ becomes visible in you after you are born again. Christ in us the hope of glory. When people see us they see the Son.
Simeon – After your born again experience you have ears to hear what the spirit is saying. As sons the Spirit of God is a voice in us that leads us. We walk according to the Spirit not the flesh.
Levi –We are one with God. We are united in Him as one body. We can no longer survive away from body Him and body (Church) ministry.
Judah – As new believers we learn what true worship and praise look like. We are created to praise and worship Him.
Dan – We learn to judge between right and wrong and we become voices for righteous judgment in the earth.
Naphtali – We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities in high places. The promise for us is that we will prevail and overcome. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.
Gad – We are part of the army of the Lord that goes forth to conquer and take back the kingdom for our God until all the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and Christ.
Asher – We are blessed with favor. We do not perform to earn God’s blessing. Blessings increases as we steward the things that God has given us. Our coal is to be a blessing to those that are not.
Issachar – We bring the reward of God to the earth. We are called to bring the good news and reward people with eternal life and remove condemnation from them. The goodness of God leads to repentance.
Zebulon – We are the habitation of God in the earth. We are his temple and our bodies the place that HE chooses to live in. Jesus and the Father will make their abode in us.
Joseph – He will add a son. This speaks of our heart for evangelism to build the Fathers house. We add many more sons just like Jesus added us by giving His life for the sins of many.
Benjamin – Son of His right hand. As we mature we take our rightful place as heirs to the Father. Jesus sits at His right hand and that speaks of one that has authority. As we mature God gives us the authority to rule in His kingdom.
As we see it all flows together:
When you got born again you received the Son(Reuben) and your ears opened up(Simeon) and you learned to walk in unity with God(Levi). You learn to praise(Judah) God and judge(Dan) between right and wrong as you wrestle(Naphtali) and become part of the army(Gad) of God. As we go forward we bless(Asher) the people and the earth as we bring the reward(Issachar) of eternal life to them and make them a habitation(Zebulon) for God. We proclaim the good news and evangelize and as they are added (Joseph) to the kingdom we teach and train them to take their rightful place(Benjamin)
