Welcome to Bible Tribes
Ever wondered what happened to the Lost Tribes of ancient Israel?
This website provides the answer.
The strategy used here is called a seal date strategy for finding the tribes. Using this strategy the tribes are identified by their own sealing of tribal documents on predicted dates given by a formula, driven by a riddle, found in the Book of Revelation.
The net result of this study is the realization that most nations of the world today are directly related to identifiable Bible Tribes.
How the Seal Date Strategy Works
Ever take a cross-country train ride? The train schedule lists off times and cities where the train will visit. While riding the train it is possible to identify the location of the train in 2 different ways. Either looking out the window at the signs hanging on train stations, or by looking at a watch and using the times listed on the schedule. The first strategy works well if you know the language used to write the signs. The second strategy works better if you have a good way of measuring time and the train stays on schedule.
Similarly, there are 2 ways of finding the Lost Tribes. The first strategy uses signs to identify tribes. This is hard, at least in the general sense, because some of the tribes appear poorly documented in the Bible. (They're not poorly documented, but finding the documentation is very hard.) The second strategy is to use a prophetic clock which identifies dates when the tribes will be putting their seal on documents of national significance. Find the indicated document on the indicated date and the indicated tribe will be signing it by placing their national seal on it.
It is this second, time based, strategy that is used here to provide the fundamental identification for each tribe. Once identified, the first strategy, by reading the signs, is used to confirm the simpler seal-date strategy.
Seal Date Math
The Bible's equivalent of the master train schedule is found in the Book of Revelation. The passage is from Revelation 7, and worth reviewing here:
4Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
5From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000. (Revelation 7:4-8 NIV)
All counts of anything found in the Bible, no matter what else they may be, are also references to time. This is called a hermaneutic and it is established by Joseph as an interpretive rule when Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's cup bearer and baker.
In this Revelation list each tribe is assigned 12,000 of something, and those somethings must also be a reference to time. Thus this passage in Revelation 7 is the equivalent of a prophetic train schedule.
What units are implied by Revelation's schedule?
Census counts usually run at the rate of 1 person per day and these lists of 12,000 echo the census counts of the Exodus which also clock off history at 1 person per day.
At 12,000 days per tribe the entire schedule runs across a little less than 400 total years.
Missing Dan and Ephraim
This passage in Revelation is curious because 2 tribes are left off the list. Dan and Ephraim are both missing. Why?
Technically speaking the Tribe of Ephraim was a part of the Tribe of Joseph and Joseph was not a landed tribe there being no inheritance for Joseph since his inheritance was split between his 2 sons Manasseh and Ephraim. Joseph is listed, but it represents the 2 sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh.
The document that is marked by this seal should thus be a treaty between Ephraim and Manasseh, while Manasseh still has his own separate seal date. This makes sense since Manasseh is the double portion holder of Abraham's covenant promises. He has 2 seal dates in keeping with that covenant promise.
Dan is harder to explain, but the answer to his omission comes directly from the problem of measuring this schedule from a departure point. The origin, if you will, is the Mosaic Covenant, or the law and Dan means judge or the one who carries the law. His natural seal date is at the start of the 12,000 days that end with the first name on the list, or Judah.
Of course this is not a proof, the document and nation will need to be confirmed with further details, signs, that apply uniquely to that nation as per that tribe's story in the Bible.
The Dates
The next problem is to find at least 1 date where a document signing can be linked definitively to one of the tribes and the rest of the dates can be computed. Depending on what part of the world you live in, and what tribes you may be familiar with the specific dates and documents will vary.
By puzzling out the problem what I came up with is the following table of dates and signing documents. Note, the date format convention used in this website is to indicate the calendar after all dates. NS is short for the 'New Style' Gregorian Calendar. OS is short for the 'Old Style' Julian Calendar. These NS and OS terms are conventionally used in documents that must handle both calendar systems. Though conventional, this may be unfamiliar to many readers. In the following table note the change in calendar in use at the time.
| Day | Date | Document | Modern Nation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dan | |||
| 0 | 6 Oct 1579 OS | Union of Utrecht | Netherlands |
| Judah | |||
| 12,000 | 13 Aug 1612 OS | Letter/Zemski Sobar | Russia |
| Reuben | |||
| 24,000 | 21 Jun 1645 OS | Treaty of Bromsebro | Sweden |
| Gad | |||
| 36,000 | 29 Apr 1678 OS | Treaty of Nijmegen | Spain |
| Asher | |||
| 48,000 | 7 Mar 1710 OS | Treaty of Szatmár | Austria/Hungary |
| Naphtali | |||
| 60,000 | 13 Jan 1743 OS | Treaty of Breslau/Treaty of Berlin | Germany |
| Manasseh | |||
| 72,000 | 1 Dec 1776 NS | US Declaration of Independence | United States |
| Simeon | |||
| 84,000 | 10 Oct 1809 NS | Treaty of Schönbrunn | France |
| Levi | |||
| 96,000 | 18 Aug 1842 NS | Treaty of Nanking * | Switzerland |
| Issachar | |||
| 108,000 | 26 Jun 1875 NS | Tax Revolt then Treaty of Berlin in 1878 | Yugoslavia |
| Zebulun | |||
| 120,000 | 4 May 1908 NS | Crete unilateral union with Greece | Greece |
| Joseph | |||
| 132,000 | 12 Mar 1941 NS | Lend Lease Treaty | US/UK |
| Benjamin | |||
| 144,000 | 18 Jan 1974 NS | Disengagement of Forces Agreement | Israel |
For each of these dates there is an important national document or treaty that identifies the Lost Tribe.
If you study the list given above, in some cases, the document is a letter that triggers war or revolt or that eventually causes a treaty or other national agreement. Full details are explained on the specific tribe pages that follow.
The Signs
The other strategy for identifying the tribes, finding and using the Bible's signs, takes up the majority of the text on this website. There are several systems where raw data is gathered from the Bible in order to fully understand how the Patriarchs eventually became these core nations and all of their affiliated nations, usually former colonies, around the world.
This second strategy is far more robust and provides considerable text for understanding the characteristics of each of the nations that make up the Lost Tribes of ancient Israel.
To understand the scope, consider the following, which are the possible sources of raw text that can describe each tribe. Certain tribes are much more heavily documented than others.
Birth Narratives provided for the tribal patriarchs. These narratives often establish the meaning of each tribal name and often provide additional details needed for understanding the tribes.
Jacob's Blessings are recorded in Genesis and they involve a prophetic pronouncement over each tribe that apply in the last days. Since history is now in the last days, these pronouncements apply in our generation.
Moses' Blessings provide details similar to Jacob's blessings that help to understand each tribe.
Disciple-to-Tribe Map is provided by Matthew. This list is also given in the same order as the Seal Dates. It provides the definitive map between each of Jesus' Disciples and the tribes which they will eventually judge.
The Book of Revelation is another book that bears directly on the tribes. John was told to "Eat the scroll and prophesy again about peoples, nations, languages and kings."
This is the context quote for the entire book. John had been prophesying about these things, and would do so for the rest of the book too.
Gridding happens across the Bible. These grids provide lists, usually of 12 items, that map against the 12 tribes. These grids provides a considerable amount of additional material that can be used to explain the national history of each of the central nations in the Seal Date list. There is an appendix that supplies a long list of these grids.
Ad-hoc Stories are also spread across the Bible. These stories include, for example, Joseph's time as Prime Minister of Egypt. Dan's story of taking his seacoast land. Levi's care of the Tabernacle and later defense of the Temple. These stories add color to the national histories of these nations.
These fundamental sources of materials are written up in articles that follow. They are referenced in the sections that write up each tribe. In those articles the material is simply used to explain what can be seen in the national history and character of each tribe.
Why Now?
Or asked a different way, Why haven't you heard about this before?
The identification of the tribes has been deliberately sealed by God himself. Hiding of the tribes is the first of the document related seals placed over the Bible itself in Revelation chapter 5.
The last seal date document was signed in 1974, so this becomes the point where the entire list can be studied. Most church doctrines, of which this would be a candidate, were established decades before this list could even be worked out, so you cannot find it in church settings.
Just as the sons of Jacob were jealous of each other, especially Joseph, there is considerable fighting between the tribes as they each want to claim world dominion in various ways and at various times. So there is plenty of propaganda to hide the valid identities of these tribes. Especially in and around Israel.
Why Important?
Not knowing the identification of the Lost Tribes means that readers of the Bible cannot apply the Bible to the nations of the modern world. The nations appear random or at least unexplainable.
This was by design.
The world was allowed to develop into its modern, complete, form without anyone able to understand the fundamental design of what God was doing in the nations of the world.
Identifying tribes matters immensely once the world has been 'built out.' There actually is a documented design and reason for each nation, and there is an explanation as to why they acted in history as they did.
The general political split between Russia and Western Europe, including the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand can be easily explained using the tribes as identified here. The west represents the Biblical northern kingdom. Russia represents the Biblical southern kingdom. These 2 biblical kingdoms were nearly always at war and never unified. Neither Napoleon nor Hitler were successful in conquering Russia. We should not expect success when a 3rd European leader tries again.
Finally, the Lost Tribes story provides a math based, verifiable, linkage between a range of Bible stories and a range of modern historical events. Understanding of how the Bible links to the world has been lost and many Christian communities do not know how the Bible links to the world. The articles presented here provide an introduction to this entire theological space.
Website Organization
Think of this website as an online book, or collection of over 100 articles. The first set of articles introduces the topics. Then it moves on to each tribe. Here is the outline. Use the arrow keys and menu at the top to move around. On touch devices swipe left/right to move around.
- Seal Date Theory (4 articles, 9,773 words)
Articles in this section deal with the chronological theory of the seal dates.
- Covenants (10 articles, 7,631 words)
This section surveys the various covenants. These become the basis for promises given to patriarchs and then passed by inheritance into the modern era and modern nations.
- Tribe Of Dan (5 articles, 1,889 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Dan.
- Tribe Of Judah (7 articles, 6,099 words)
The follow articles deal with the Tribe of Judah.
- Tribe Of Reuben (5 articles, 1,341 words)
The follow articles deal with the Tribe of Reuben.
- Tribe Of Gad (5 articles, 880 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Gad.
- Tribe Of Asher (5 articles, 1,129 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Asher.
- Tribe Of Naphtali (5 articles, 986 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Naphtali.
- Tribe Of Manasseh (5 articles, 2,649 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Manasseh.
- The Tribe of Simeon (5 articles, 1,635 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Simeon.
- Tribe Of Levi (8 articles, 3,021 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Levi.
- Tribe Of Issachar (5 articles, 1,681 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Issachar.
- Tribe Of Zebulun (5 articles, 1,165 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Zebulun.
- Tribe Of Joseph (5 articles, 2,612 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Joseph.
- Tribe Of Benjamin (6 articles, 1,940 words)
The following articles deal with the tribe of Benjamin.
- Appendix: Grids (29 articles, 26,843 words)
Spread across the entire text of the Bible are a series of stories that list 12 or 13 things. These lists invariably map to the 12 (or 13) tribes. This section lists as many of those stories as we could find.
More
All pages here include an upper right menu that contains links to pop-ups for adjusting Lighting, for adjusting Font Sizes, for Contacting Us and some About information. Use these to make your visit here more visually comfortable and to give us feedback.
This project has its roots as a spin off of the Bible Time website many years ago. It is now 1 of a family of projects. Visit Paleo.In for the full list.
Note
Our current work deals with problems of the text of the Bible itself. Many of the passages quoted here are on our disputed passages list. Once upon a time we tried to cope with disputed passages by editing this website.
In April of 2022 we went back into revision control and restored a complete version of this website so we did not need to pick the disputed passages fight here. We also updated the material and made it phone friendly.
In August of 2023 we fixed typos from reader feedback.
Phil Stone
August, 2023.
