<\/p>
Building on some insights from James Jordan\u2019s lecture on Revelation 7, where he explains the absence of Dan from the tribal list there. <\/p>\n
Dan is the first Rachel son, not a son of Rachel herself but of her handmaid Bilhah. He is the firstborn that comes from Rachel\u2019s house. Dan means \u201cjudge,\u201d and Rachel calls him that because in giving her maidservant a son Yahweh \u201cjudged\u201d or vindicated Rachel (Genesis 30:6; she says, \u201cDanned me has God and also heard my view and given to me a son.\u201d Because of that she names him Dan.) His \u201cfirstborn\u201d status is indicated by the arrangement of the camp in Numbers 2. The lead tribes are all \u201cfirstborn\u201d tribes \u2013 Judah (replacement firstborn), Reuben (actual firstborn), Ephraim (firstborn of Joseph, who has a quasi-firstborn status because of his double inheritance), and Dan (firstborn from Rachel). <\/p>\n
That\u2019s a good start, and the promises for Dan are high promises. <\/p>\n
Jacob\u2019s blessing on Dan is seventh in the list of blessings in Genesis 49. After he blesses the six sons of Leah (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun and Issachar), he pronounces a blessing on Dan, the first of the Rachel sons. As his name indicates, he will \u201cjudge\u201d ( yadiyn <\/em> ). He will be as wise and deadly as a serpent who bites the heels of the horses so that the riders fall backward (v. 17). Though this might be a positive image, the only other uses of the word \u201cserpent\u201d in Genesis ( nachash <\/em> ) are from Genesis 3. There is a hint that he will be a tempter. In Moses\u2019 blessings on the tribes, Dan has been demoted. He is ninth on the list, and both Benjamin and Joseph come before him. But the blessing itself is positive: \u201cDan is a lion\u2019s whelp that leaps forth from Bashan\u201d (Deuteronomy 49:22). <\/p>\n This firstborn prominence and the positive connotations of the blessings come to a climax in the book of Judges. Samson is the son of \u201ca certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites\u201d (Judges 13:2). Samson is the true Danite who judges, who is sly as a serpent who nips the heels of his enemies, who is a lion\u2019s whelp. But Samson also has his negative side, and more importantly, Judges 18 tells the story of Dan\u2019s conquest of the northern territories and the establishment of idolatrous worship in the land. Judges 18:30 tells us that the Danites set up a graven image and were served by priests (the first of whom was descended from Moses) \u201cuntil the day of the captivity of the land.\u201d <\/p>\n The Danites in other words abandoned Yahweh. They remained part of the northern kingdom. Jeroboam naturally set up one of his idolatrous shrines in Dan, where there was a history of false worship (1 Kings 12:29-30). When Chronicles gives a genealogy of the sons of Israel in the opening chapters, Dan is not included (although, cf. 1 Chronicles 12:35 and 2 Chronicles 2:14). The Danites are the \u201cJudas tribe\u201d of the Old Testament. Just as Judas was excluded from the Twelve because of his betrayal of Jesus, so the Danites are excluded from the list of tribes. He\u2019s another fallen \u201cfirstborn.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Building on some insights from James Jordan\u2019s lecture on Revelation 7, where he explains the absence of Dan from the tribal list there. Dan is the first Rachel son, not a son of Rachel herself but of her handmaid Bilhah. He is the firstborn that comes from Rachel\u2019s house. Dan means \u201cjudge,\u201d and Rachel calls […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-revelation"],"yoast_head":"\n