This is the last tribe to cover. So, let us begin and finish with the tribe of Manasseh who is the son of Joseph. Therefore, he is Jacob's grandson. Let us find out why Manasseh became part of the 12 Tribes of Israel.
If you can remember, Joseph received the double portion of the birthright. This is the two divisions of the 12 Tribes that was Joseph's and the other given to Manasseh his son.
Let us do a recap of Joseph in Egypt. While in Egypt, Joseph got married to Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. There is nothing recorded regarding this woman that was given to Joseph other than what was recorded in...
Genesis 41:45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah (Zaph-nath-pay-a-neah); and he gave him to wife Asenath (Ass-nath) the daughter of Potipherah (Potiph-er-ah) priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
Now, I wanted to address this verse to the best of my ability and conviction. As we know, Joseph was a type of Christ. So, he was a very obedient child to God, but there are those who would question Joseph's love to God, because Joseph married a daughter of an Egyptian priest from the city of On. Okay. I have researched this out and there is nothing regarding her other than what you are reading about her in the Bible, so it is left for us to search this out through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. What I did one night was of course pray, and it came to me that I needed to again review more on the type and life of Joseph and Christ which tells me that in order for Joseph to be a type of Christ, he had to be obedient. This does not mean that Joseph was a perfect and a sinless man growing up (a type of Christ), but on major things where Joseph was called to a work in representing Christ in Egypt, He had to fulfill his calling in ministering unto the heathen lands the law of God. Joseph was ready for Egypt to stand for the Lord in strict obedience.
So, looking into this, Joseph had a ministry in his family. He even prophesied his own brothers bowing before him which came to pass. And of course, his brothers did not like it and sold him to be a slave.
We see in the life of Christ that He was rejected of His own and so He turned His ministry to the gentiles, and when they are converted to the truth, He will take His bride to be at His appearing.
Joseph's ministry for the Lord in Egypt was wonderful. Many were able to see the Lord's hand moved, so much so Joseph became second to Pharaoh where Egypt bowed to Joseph.
When looking to the life of Joseph, we see his strictest obedience and love to God. We saw how the previous king's wife of Egypt desired Joseph, but Joseph would not break the law of God and therefore, he would not take an unbeliever as a wife because He knew it was wrong and not pleasing before the eyes of the Lord. Joseph knew from the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that we are forbidden to marry unbelievers. This is why those obedient men did not marry unbelievers or they would have no part with the Lord. You can read about this in the Old Testament - Genesis 24:3-4; 26:34, 28:1; 28:8, 36:2. And in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 6:14. If Joseph had married an unbeliever, he would have been removed, he would have not prospered as the obedient servants of Christ do. Furthermore, Jacob would have not placed his hands for a blessing on the two sons of Joseph.
If you can remember Esau, the brother of Jacob, he was a disobedient Israelite and could care less about Spiritual things and so he did what he wanted to do where he also married an unbeliever. You can find that in Genesis 36:2.
So, we can safely say that this woman, the wife of Joseph the daughter of an Egyptian priest had to of been converted before she became the bride to the servant of Christ where she saw the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob moved through the land of Egypt.
Brethren, who knows how many gentiles were converted through the life and ministry of Joseph in that land. And so, before the famine in the land, the blessings of the Lord fell upon his obedient servant Joseph, his new inheritance of a wife Asenath and 2 children that were named Manasseh and Ephraim.
Genesis 41:50-52 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, [said he], hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
Now, when all was settled in the family of Israel (Jacob), Joseph learned that his father Jacob was sick, so he brought his two sons to him. Can you imagine the blessings Jacob had received in having the privilege to see Joseph alive, and seeing him become 2nd ruler to Egypt who was blessed by the Lord with a wife and then two children? Jacob also saw the prophecy that Joseph spoke of his brothers come to pass. For all did bow before Joseph including the brothers of Joseph. I am sure many tears fell to the ground when Jacob saw all the blessings of the Lord given to Joseph before Jacob died. So Joseph sat on the bed of Jacob and placed the first-born at Jacob's right hand and the youngest at his left hand, but the old patriarch laid his right hand on the head of the younger and his left hand upon the head of the eldest as he blessed them.
Genesis 48:13-14 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought [them] near unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid [it] upon Ephraim's head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh [was] the firstborn.
When Joseph saw this...
Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [is] the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. Genesis 48:18.
Joseph corrected his father thinking that he didn't know what he was doing. But Jacob said in...
Genesis 48:19 And his father refused, and said, I know [it], my son, I know [it]: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
Even though Manasseh received the second place in the blessing, the circumstances were different than that of Esau. Manasseh did not do anything to forfeit his privilege in the family blessing, he was obedient. He did not go after Idols as did Ephraim.
Hosea 4:17-19 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone. Their drink is sour: they have committed whoredom continually: her rulers with shame do love, Give ye. The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.
The tribe of Ephraim did wax great in number. They were warriors. They fought in building up Israel but became idol worshippers and therefore, Manasseh's name will outlive that of Ephraim, because of his faithful, obedient character to God.
There was one portion of Jacob's blessing which seemed to share more largely by Manasseh than by his brother Ephraim; nevertheless, they were both blessed to do a good work for the Lord.
Genesis 48:16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads;
This Angel that Jacob was talking about was the one whom he wrestled with and gave him his new name Israel. Yes, it was Michael, Jesus the Archangel capital letter A who blessed Jacob and the lads.
The blessing of the Lord was prized by Manasseh and his descendants. They took an interest in all the reforms instituted by the good kings of Judah. We can see several major events in the history of Israel in which reforms were carried out. It seemed they were carried away by idol worship and so, there was a reform needed to bring them back to the worship of the true Living God. And during these reforms, the tribe of Manasseh was actively involved in helping out their leaders and made the reforms into a success.
1. When King Asa destroyed the idols and renewed the worship of the Lord, the children of Manasseh gathered towards King Asa to reinstate the worship of the Lord.
2 Chronicles 15:9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God [was] with him.
2. And when Hezekiah held the great Passover feast, representatives from Manasseh humbled their hearts and partook of the Passover.
2 Chronicles 31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.
3. During the time of Josiah, there was also a work of reform that was carried in the land of Manasseh.
2 Chronicles 34:1-6 Josiah [was] eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. And he did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined [neither] to the right hand, nor to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that [were] on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust [of them], and strowed [it] upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And [so did he] in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.
The tribe of Manasseh did not lose their interest in the temple at Jerusalem but gave of their means to restore it after its defilement.
2 Chronicles 34:9 And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.
These warriors for the God of Heaven and Earth cleaned the house for the Lord. Praise be to God. We cannot find a lot of things being recorded regarding the tribe of Manasseh after they settled in the land of Canaan. But what little we know about them indicates that this tribe has a desire on the part of many to serve Jehovah. They were interested in carrying out reforms. They want to move forward and support their leader in order to reinstate worship of the true Living God the Creator of heaven and earth.
So, Manasseh will take the name in the 144,000 in the kingdom of God, while Ephraim’s name has sunk into being completely forgotten as anyone will who rejects the ways of the Lord and continues in sin. All the good that Ephraim did in building up Israel will be forgotten, but his sins shall the Lord remember. So, let us see some noted characters from the tribe of Manasseh.
1. There were faithful men from the tribe of Manasseh who joined David at Ziklag when he was out to battle against Saul. They were faithful to the Lord's new chosen king and not to the rebellious Saul who was replaced by David to be king over Israel.
1 Chronicles 12:20-21 As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh... And they helped David against the band [of the rovers]: for they [were] all mighty men of valour, and were captains in the host.
2. Gideon — called the greatest of the judges. He was from the tribe of Manasseh. Sounds familiar? Yes, the well-known Gideon band. The man who led 300 men to war. He obeyed the Lord but at first, he was questioning the leading of the Lord.
Judges 6:15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family [is] poor in Manasseh, and I [am] the least in my father's house.
But the Lord answered,
Judges 6:16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
God assured him but he asked for a sign, in fact, twice he asked for a sign before he finally acted on the command of God.
There are among in the church who are willing to follow the leading of the Lord but at first will question. They wanted to see a physical sign that this is what the Lord wants them to do or that the Lord is faithful in that which He has promised to do for His people. They wanted to be convinced first. Even if a plain "thus saith the Lord" is given to them, they need a sign. This character is like the tribe of Manasseh. They are willing to follow but first will question or will ask for signs to see the truthfulness of the command. But the end is that they will still follow the Lord just like Gideon did.
If Reuben had never lost his birthright through sin or if Dan had not formed a satanic character that his name was omitted from the list of 12 tribes, Manasseh's name might have never been given to one of the divisions of the 144,000. But God is no respecter of person. If one willfully disobeys, even if he is from the seed of Jacob, God will replace them and choose another one.
God works in this same principle as before till this day brothers and sisters. Malachi 3:6. He does not change. It is not a guarantee that we are in the church fellowship, or that our names are written in the church books that we will be found in heaven. If we choose to do the things that God forbids us to do, then our church membership will not save us. We will have our portion cut to us with the unbelievers in the day of Judgment. We are in the period of grace where it gives us time and a chance to repent and turn from the ways of sin. The Lord wants faithful servants, faithful children who will stand true to principle and walk as He walked. If we do not do this, God will have to replace us and choose another whom He can work with. What he did to the 12 tribes in bringing them into repentance and having their names written on the pearly gates of heaven, He can also do it to us, so we can marshal in under one of those names in these last days. Strive brothers and sisters...fight for the crown of victory.
Now, it doesn't matter whether we be likened to that tribe of Manasseh who seemed to be not so many of them, or we may not be as quickly believing and may need a sign, but what matters to the Lord is that we overcome and do as we are told before it is too late and probation is over with. Revelation 22:11.
The Lord knows we all have issues in life, issues in our character, issues in our families and such, but if we heed the counsels, our prayers will get answered and He WILL sit as a refiner in our lives and those who we obediently pray for.
The 12 Tribes of Israel were not perfect in character aside from a few, which we have learned that the Bible did not record any negative character about them. But we know the Bible is true in what it says,
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
At one point or two in their lives, they have sinned, but confessed and repented, turning away from that sin unto obedience. When God said in
Revelation 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
It is well that all of us should heed to this warning, because if we don't, others will take our crown. It means we will be replaced. We don't want this to happen. Heaven is too precious. If we do not heed to this warning, we may find it too late and awakening from the grave to meet the judgments of God. We have to cling to Christ and not allow the world and satan to take thy crown from thee. Let us serve one Master, Lord Jesus. Let us not give way to the enemy like the disobedient ones that fell into the lusts of Satan throughout the entire Bible or we will lose discernment and be shaken by every wind of doctrine, our judgment will be darkened by sin and unbelief and we will go a-mingling with other churches who have not the light of truth but mix it with error, and for this cause, we would not make it into the 144,000. Why? The Word of God is clear about who will make it into the 144,000 for the last days and what they must do to enter therein through one of the pearly gates. Let us take a look at a few things in the book of Revelation regarding the 144,000. The Prophet from Patmos records in...
Revelation 14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, [being] the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
So, let us see what this all means:
They are not defiled with women — Woman in Bible Prophecy means church. Jeremiah 6:2; Isaiah 51:16; 2 Corinthians 11:2. There is, of course, the true Biblical commandment-keeping church of the Lord and there are false churches which are of Babylon, or have apostatized which is the same thing. Apostasy is Babylon. It is the state of confusion or blindness. These Babylonian churches will have the following characteristics which is laodiceanism or lukewarmness, in which both the leaders and the members will bear. And of course, there are still a faithful few that we need to call out which does not mean you go in and join with them to do it. Take note: We will have to grow together with them on this planet, but that does not mean to mingle with them in partaking of these evils or yoking up with them in any way.
So, the characteristics of Laodiceanism/Apostasy/Babylon are the following: they will be filled with confusion. Blind leading the blind. It will be a house of lawlessness, full of blasphemers, fornicators, not humble of mind, mean spirited, they will not be longsuffering, will not be meek, but they will be unmerciful to their neighbors like suing them to court and trying to take away their God-given water rights as human beings, unthankful, ungrateful, unclean, backbiters, sowers of discord, untruthful, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, they will backslide from the truth, unfaithful, murmurers, complainers, faultfinders, see things in a perverted light, give heed to seducing spirits, they will bear the fruits of the world, hold to the riches of the world, store up riches on earth, dress like the world, appear like the world, give no support to the cause of God, they will be proud, boastful, slothful servants which will be brought down to hell, cold and lifeless, conformed to world, faith is corrupted, will have the fruits of wrong principles, covetous, deceptive, self-deceived, self-dependent, discerns the mote in the eyes of others, but not the beam in their own eyes, dissatisfied with God's work, tear down the work of God, misrepresent the work of God, they do not give the last-day message a distinct sound, they do not give truth to others, they do not have an open ear, they have no child-like trust in God, their eyes are not anointed with eye salve to see spiritual things, they have no gold tried in the fire, they do not have the power of God, have no understanding of pure religion, they don't rebuke sin, they are not positive, no prayer life, no grace, no zeal to repent from sin or they would remove the temptation, they do not manifest charity, they will seek understanding from strange fire, they will gather false theories and present them as light, they will teach side issues as present truth, they will make side issues a doctrine, they claim there church saves, no salvation outside their church, thereby making the church and idol, they will bear images in the church, they will display the cross and other statues, fanaticism will be their foundation, formality is the root of their life where they just don't care, and they will have a 501c3 status whereby making them filthy lucre and helping create the image of the beast.
They would rather have their tongue bridled by satan for money, so on and so forth until they can't hear what the Holy Ghost who is trying to lead them away from such fruits is saying. These are all signs of a lukewarm, Babylonian church, who are destitute of the Holy Spirit, because they cling to the trinitarian god and its name of sin. These churches that bear these fruits, the remnant of her seed will not be a part of because they have heard the call to come out which means they have taken the next step in learning what it takes to be in the 144,000. The Remnant will see the apostasy. They see the doctrines of Babylon. They see the idols. They see the Romanized architecture. They can see the mother of Harlots, the Vatican church's fingerprint on these churches. This is why the Lord of Host calls us away from these things in Revelation 18:4.
The 144,000's character will be perfected by the blood of the Lamb and they will follow Him wherever He goeth. We need to remove ourselves from these churches who bear these types of fruits both spiritually and literally. Please, don't listen to them lest you become like them as so many have done and are no longer with us. If the Lord said that He would spue them out of His mouth like in the Letter to the Laodicean 7th church, 9th hour movement period church that we see is the SDA church, then we should listen and understand that there is no point in listening to them and their preachers because they are preachers of Apostasy. Just call the people out. We have tracts and cards and DVDs that will help them see their errors and that it is time to come out (if you would like, just contact us).
My counsel is to stop listening to them. Brethren, we are still in this fallen world today because of our doings, because of our clinging to things that separate us from God. We need to be obedient. We have to come out of the world, separate ourselves from the lust of it and strive to be among the perfect 144,000 in number who will never taste death. The goal is to be perfect in Christ. The difference between the remnant of the 144,000 is this: The remnant strives to become perfect but fall short and therefore will have to prove their love to God in death. The 144,000 will have taken the next step into overcoming everything through the power of God. They proved themselves worthy and will stand as servants for the God of Heaven and Earth without tasting death and will be the first fruits offering to God the Father.
And maybe, just maybe, we will have several here standing perfectly faithful who have overcome everything by the blood of the Lamb and make it into this number. But brothers and sisters, please remember this, the remnant who strive will make it to heaven. They will be with the great multitude with a crown of victory on their head. This is the precious gift we are all fighting for in making it into heaven to be with Elohim and the true living obedient family of God. Do not stop in this fight because you may fail in some areas of your life. You are to get up off the ground where satan knocked you down to and fight back to the death. A just man falleth seven times and get back up. Proverbs 24:16, For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. Never stay down and give up. If you fall into sin, confess, repent and get ready for your tests. Satan never sleeps. He is always planning, and you always need to be ready. Keep your crown. Stay on the path set before you in the example that was left for you and bring others to heaven with you. The most important thing to remember in all this is simple: OBEDIENCE IS THE PATH THE REMNANT STRIVES ON. THE 144,000 STRIVE SO MUCH THAT THEY OVERCOME PERFECTLY BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. The remnant will have to prove their love for the Lord by death. Many may go to sleep beforehand because they strived enough in the sight of God so they are allowed to go to sleep. Those who continue to play around with world things, other churches, other doctrines, other theories, or simply partake in anything that would separate them from God, they will more than likely have to prove their life with death, torture, FEMA camps, gas chambers, gun to their head, sword to the throat as they do in foreign countries or the guillotines that have already arrived and are sitting on American soil as we speak. 30,000 of them await everyone as a test. That means there are about 500 to 600 plus per state or so depending the amount of people per-state. So brethren, do all you can and strive for the 144,000, confess, repent, stop sinning, remain obedient, walk as Christ walked and just maybe we can all make it into that 144,000 and if not, fulfill the striving and contending with the faith and don't be afraid of death if it comes, because if you’re found faithful and you sleep, the next thing you will see is the resurrection unto life eternal with your Lord and Saviour.