The Millennium | Ernie's Musings

Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations … The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, … and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven. And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law: (Deuteronomy 29:18-21)

Dan was Jacob’s first son born to him by Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid.[1] His name means “judge.” He was the fifth of Jacob’s sons. Before Jacob died, he blessed his sons. Of Dan, Israel said. “Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward” (Genesis 49:16-17). Long after Dan had died and his “tribe” came out of Egypt, Moses declared of the tribe, “And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s whelp: he shall leap from Bashan” (Deuteronomy 33:22). “By this probably Moses intended to point out the strength and prowess of this tribe, that it should extend its territories, and live a sort of predatory life.”[2]

Among the tribes of Israel, Dan remains rather unremarkable. When one looks at a map displaying the original land allotments to the various tribes, Dan’s portion was rather small. It was only slightly larger than that allotted to Benjamin which bordered Dan on the east. Its eastern border extended from Kiriath-jearim on the south up to Beth-horon in Ephraim. From there it descended southeast to Gezer (Ephraim) and beyond. Then it turned north to Gath-rimmon to the Me Jarkin River, its northern boundary, and west to the Mediterranean Sea. Turning south along the coast for about 12 miles and then east and south again past Ekron and Timnah back to Kiriath-jearim. From its eastern border to the sea was about 25 miles, and its U-shaped width was about 12-13 miles wide at any point. The tribe of Dan did not have much land, and they were not satisfied with their little portion.

The Book of Joshua records the allocation of land once the land was conquered. “And the seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families … And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father” (Joshua 19:40, 47, emphasis mine). It seems that this detail was included after the fact (or it was prophetic). The Book of Judges details Dan’s conquest of land beyond their allotted borders.

The account unfolds beginning in Judges 17 after the death of Samson, when a man by the name of Micah, an Ephraimite, makes some idols of silver stolen from his mother. Not long after, he hired a wayward Levite to be his personal priest. “And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest” (Judges 17:12-13). He was wrong about that, of course. It was at this time that the Danites[3] sought more land besides that which was allotted to them. They sent spies north to assess unconquered land to the north. Their route north took them through the land of Ephraim, and they came to Micah’s house which was on their way. There they saw Micah’s idols and his “priest.”[4]

The Danite spies accomplished their mission and brought back a positive report. “And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their brethren said unto them, What say ye? And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to go, and to enter to possess the land” (Judges 18:8-9). So the Danites mustered up a large army and headed north. Along the way, they stopped off at Micah’s house and took his idols and his priest. They convinced the Levite to go with them and be their priest – a job promotion. “And they said unto him, Hold thy peace, lay thine hand upon thy mouth, and go with us, and be to us a father and a priest: is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man, or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family in Israel? And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod,[5] and the teraphim, and the graven image, and went in the midst of the people” (Judges 18:19-20).

So, the Danites took the idols and the “priest,” and after they conquered the land, they set up their own religion. They built a new city in the conquered land and named it after their patriarch, Dan. “And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.[6] And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh” (Judges 18:30-31, emphasis mine).

The story does not end there. At the end of the book (i.e., the Bible), the list of the tribes of Israel excludes Dan and Ephraim.[7] Granted, Israel, especially the northern kingdom, continually had problems with idolatry. However, there was always a faithful remnant. Not so with Ephraim and Dan. These two tribes were the first to wholeheartedly embrace it. Later, in the reign of Rehoboam, the northern ten tribes of Israel split off and formed their own kingdom under the reign of Jeroboam.[8] In order to prevent his subjects from going to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple, Jeroboam had two golden calves made and placed one in Bethel (in Ephraim) and the other in Dan,[9] and they were only too happy to take them. I cannot say with complete certainty, but their absence in the Revelation list seems to result from the warning God gave in our beginning passage above (Deuteronomy 29:18-21).

Neither Dan nor Ephraim are included in the list of the 144,000 witnesses, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.[10] This, of course, takes place during the seven-year Tribulation. However, it appears that they are restored during the Millennial Reign of Christ after the Tribulation. The Prophet Ezekiel describes the Temple that will exist during the Millennium.[11] Following that, he describes the division of the land of Israel at that time.[12] Remarkably, the first tribe listed is Dan. “Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan” (Ezekiel 48:1, emphasis mine).

Does this mean there is a contradiction in the Bible? Certainly not! God, speaking through the Prophet Ezekiel said, “For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant. Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant” (Ezekiel 16:59-60, emphasis mine). God later responds to a rhetorical question. “Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him” (Ezekiel 18:19-20, emphasis mine). God made an unconditional promise to Abraham,[13] and He will keep it. Although Dan and Ephraim sinned and lost the privilege of being represented among the 144,000 witnesses in Revelation, God remains faithful to His promise and Abraham’s descendants will inherit all of the land that He promised to Abraham.

Some may question the veracity of that statement. After all, the Jews, for the most part, have rejected Jesus as their Messiah. It is only through faith in Him that one can inherit eternal life (John 14:6). However, there are many Jews currently coming to Christ now, and when He returns, the Bible says that many Jews at that time will be saved in the same way. “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10, emphasis mine). Notice that the same grace we receive when we place our trust in Christ will also be given to them at that time. As Christ returns in the clouds, they will recognize “Me” (God is speaking) and they will mourn for “Him” (speaking of Christ). They will recognize Him for Who He is and be saved.

The Prophet Amos uttered another prophecy regarding the restoration of the land to Israel. God says, “And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God” (Amos 9:14-15, emphasis mine). Of course, there are many other places where God reaffirms this promise, and we have witnessed in our present day the partial fulfillment of this promise. The Jews are back in their land, and God promises that they will never be removed again. Now, they do not yet possess all of the land God promised to Israel, but they will in the Millennium, and that includes Dan and Ephraim.

We can learn from this that God will keep all of His promises to us no matter how undeserving we may be. Israel has never been deserving. Dan and Ephraim were undeserving. Yet God remains faithful even when we are unfaithful. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God … For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Neither we nor Israel deserve God’s grace. Aren’t we grateful that He is faithful even when we are unfaithful!

If you have not experienced God’s grace and His faithfulness, take time to read my page on “Securing Eternal Life.”