Why Twelve Tribes?
And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain [for them], as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews. (Acts 26:6-7)
Our twelve tribes have nothing to do with mystical tribalism, as in the beliefs of some. Rather, we are speaking of people actually dwelling together in unity, living a tribal life in twelve different geographical areas on the earth, so as to be a light to the nations.
When Paul, in his defense before Agrippa, referred to “our twelve tribes” in Acts 26:7, surely he was not referring to the Jews who were accusing him. There was no point in flattering them about “earnestly serving God night and day.” The Master had already prophesied to the Jews that, “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it.”1 A new nation had to take the place of the old. And this is exactly what Paul meant when he wrote to the Gentile Ephesians:
You were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the common-wealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ... So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets… (Ephesians 2:12-13,19-20)
It was through apostles like Paul that this new nation was being formed, the commonwealth of Israel, or the Israel of God as Paul called it.2 This new nation was not one formed by physical descendants, but of those born of the Spirit.3 It was a nation of an entirely different order, composed only of disciples, because only they had given up their old life4 outside the commonwealth of Israel to be born again into the new holy nation.5 Only they were the ones who had taken the Master seriously enough to put aside their own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and yes, even their own life, in order to follow Him as He had commanded.6 And they certainly respected His word enough to forsake their own possessions, which was the only way in which they could even begin to qualify as disciples.7
The whole emphasis of the Master’s preaching was the kingdom of God and how to enter it. In relative importance, the topic of the kingdom is mentioned three times as often as salvation in the New Testament. So it was absolutely essential that a nation be prepared that could inherit that kingdom.8 It had to be a nation bonded together with a deeper commitment than mere family ties or blood relations. And being part of that new nation was what being a disciple was all about — and still is to this very day.
Do You Believe in Prophecy?
Many Christians today are puzzled about this notion of a holy nation, for they do not see themselves as part of a nation, which is understandable. Some even regard these passages as merely symbolic, a mystical ideal, while others fancy that they must somehow refer to the Jews in Palestine, or perhaps Jewish Christians. But do you believe in Biblical prophecy? Surely you do!
Paul the Apostle certainly did, so much so that in fact he applied it directly to himself and Barnabas when he said, “For thus the Lord has commanded us, ’I have placed you as a light for the nations, that you should bring salvation to the end of the earth.’”9 But is it so unreasonable to think that the apostles were raising up a twelve-tribed nation, a New Covenant Israel, composed of both Jews and Gentiles, united together by the Holy Spirit? No, not at all, because the Scripture from which Paul quoted said first, “It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob...”10 Here’s a little Bible quiz: Jacob’s sons each became the head of a tribe, and all the tribes together were called Israel. How many sons did Jacob have? How many tribes were there?
Surely James knew when he wrote “... to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings.”11 But Old Covenant Israel had not been a twelve-tribed nation since the days of King Solomon! Ten of the tribes vanished from history in the Assyrian captivity, some 700 years before James wrote his letter. Had James gone off the deep end? Who was James writing to, anyway?
The apostle Peter knew exactly who, when he wrote:
For you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
Clearly Peter was addressing a newly-formed people who were once not a people. Something had changed in their life to warrant them being called a people, for if they had remained in their same old houses, worked their same old jobs, and only believed in Jesus, they would still be not a people. They would still remain integrated into society in the same way as Christianity is today.
“That’s all well and good,” you might say, “but why doesn’t the rest of the New Testament say anything about the church being composed of twelve tribes?”
Don’t be hasty! Have you ever heard of the church being called the “bride” of Messiah? It comes from Ephesians and Revelations:
… that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:26-27)
Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready… (Revelation 19:7)
