FROM THE TREE TO THE CROSS

The book of Genesis is the beginning of man and his epic journey of falling away from God and trusting in false knowledge instead of trusting in the Almighty God who created the ability to have knowledge in the first place.

The book of Genesis also contains the plan that God put in place in order to bring man back to himself one day.  His plan was announced but not explained when he chose Abraham Isaac and Jacob to become the forefathers of his chosen people, and through his children he would again reveal himself to man and all the people of the world.

I always thought there had to be some significance to the names of the 12 children of Jacob because Rachel and Leah would give a reason for the name that each child was given just as Adam gave to Eve “For she is the Mother of all Living”   and just as  Eve gave to Cain ” I have acquired a man” and Seth “God has appointed me another seed instead of Abel”

The late Chuck Missler went even as far as to translate the hebrew names of Adam’s children to Noah and came up with this translation

Adam -Man
Seth –Appointed
Enosh – Mortal
Kenan – Sorrow
Mahalalel – The blessed God
Jared – Shall come down
Enoch – Teaching
Methuselah – His death shall bring
Lamech – Despairing
Noah – Comfort and rest

When it is read as a sentence, it reads.  Man has appointed himself Mortal Sorrow. The blessed God shall come down and teach, but his death shall bring the despairing comfort and rest

And this makes perfect sense that God would reveal his plan for the salvation of man through even the literal  meaning of the names given to Adam’s children

So what do the names of the 12 children of Jacob mean since they also have explanations given to them at their birth? 

If you  arrange them in the order they are given in the book of Revelation 7, it makes perfect sense because these are the final chosen 12 tribes of Gods children listed in a different order then birth and excludes Dan and Ephraim.       


1. Judah =”I will praise the Lord”
2. Reuben = “Seen my affliction”
3. Gad = “good fortune ”
4. Asher = “I am happy”
5. Naphtali = “with great wrestling”
6. Manasseh = “has made me forget”
7. Simeon = “he who hears me”
8. Levi = “Joined to me”
9. Issachar =”given me my wages”
10.Zebulun = “a good inheritance ”
11.Joseph = “ shall add to me”
12 Rachel named him Benoni “The son of my sorrow”
13.Jacob called him Benjamin = “The Son of His right hand”

I added the two names given for Benjamin at the end because i feel that it is relevant and that there  is a reason why it is written in the bible that he was renamed Benjamin

But if we read it all as a sentence then it says this.

I will praise the LORD
For he has seen my affliction        And prepared my fortune
I am happy and blessed.
despite  great wrestlings                      God has made me forget all my toil
He who hears me
Has become joined to me.
God has given me my wages
And a good inheritance
He shall add to me
(Because) The son of my sorrow
Is now The Son of his right hand.
       
It’s all in the names.

And as if that wasn’t amazing enough, it appears as though the meanings of the names themselves defined the different ages of the Church

The Early Church: Vision, Hearing, and Worship.

1. ​REUBEN (“Behold a Son”)
   • ​The Era: The First Century (33–100 AD).
   • ​The Event: The Church begins with the Revelation of the Son of God. The focus is entirely on “Seeing Jesus” (John’s Gospel: “We have seen his glory”).
2. ​SIMEON (“Hearing”)
   • ​The Era: The Persecuted Church (100–313 AD).
   • ​The Event: Shema (Hearing/Obedience). The Church had no buildings, no power, only the “Word.” They heard the Gospel and obeyed it unto death (Martyrs).
3. ​LEVI (“Joined”)
   • ​The Era: The Imperial Church (Constantine / 313–500 AD).
   • ​The Event: The Church becomes “Joined” to the State. The Priesthood (Clergy) rises. The organic body becomes an institution.
4. ​JUDAH (“Praise/Rule”)
   • ​The Era: The Christian Empire / Orthodoxy (500–1000 AD).
   • ​The Event: Christendom rules Europe. Great cathedrals, liturgy, and the establishment of the “Kingdom on Earth” (The Praise of Man, often replacing the Praise of God).

THE DARK AGES & REFORMATION

​The Struggle: Judgment, Warfare, and Fragmentation.

5. ​DAN (“Judgment”)
   • ​The Era: The Medieval Papacy / Inquisition (1000–1500 AD).
   • ​The Event: The Church turns into a Judge. The “Serpent” enters the sanctuary (Idolatry/Relics). Dan is the tribe of Idolatry (Judges 18), fitting the era of spiritual darkness perfectly.
6. ​NAPHTALI (“Wrestling”)
   • ​The Era: The Reformation (1517–1700 AD).
   • ​The Event: Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli “wrestle” against the hierarchy. It is a time of intense theological struggle to recover the truth.
7. ​GAD (“A Troop Comes”)
   • ​The Era: The Denominational Fracturing (1700–1800 AD).
   • ​The Event: The Church splits into “Troops” (Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians). Armies of missionaries go out, but the Body is fragmented.
8. ​ASHER (“Happy/Rich”)
   • ​The Era: The Victorian / Colonial Church (1800–1900 AD).
   • ​The Event: The Church becomes wealthy, fat, and “Happy.” It exports culture and civilization (“The White Man’s Burden”). It is the Laodicean prelude—rich and increased with goods.

THE END TIMES (The Rachel Cycle)

​The Restoration: Wages, Dwelling, and the King.

9. ​ISSACHAR (“Wages/Hire”)
   • ​The Era: The Service Age / Humanitarianism (1900–Present).
   • ​The Event: The Church as a “Burden Bearer.” Hospitals, NGOs, Social Justice. Working for the wages.
10. ​ZEBULUN (“Dwelling”)
    • ​The Era: The Gathering / Israel’s Return (1948–Present).
    • ​The Event: Zebulun is associated with ships and the sea (Gentiles). It suggests the final “In-gathering” or the preparation for the Tabernacle (Dwelling) of God to return to Earth.

THE KINGDOM (The Beloved Sons)

​The Final Act.

11. ​JOSEPH (“Adding”)
    • ​The Era: The Great Tribulation Harvest.
    • ​The Event: The “Suffering Savior” reveals Himself to His brethren. A multitude that no man can number (Rev 7) is “Added” to the Kingdom through the fire of persecution.
12. BENJAMIN (“Son of my sorrow the first time Jesus came, but the son of the Right Hand, the second time”)
    • ​The Era: The Millennial Reign.
    • The Event: The King returns not as the suffering servant (Ben-oni Son of Sorrow), but as the Ruler of the Earth (Benjamin). The Church rules with Him.

On a side note, in Genesis 35 Jacob the father of the 12 tribes had his name changed to Israel after he cleansed his house by making everyone throw out their foreign idols and serve only the God of Abraham, Isaac, and now Jacob.   The hebrew word for Israel is actually spelled Yisrael and it is my opinion that the letter structure is not accidental.  Y stands for YHWH or Yahweh, the covenant name of God as revealed to Moses when he requested what name he should tell his people when they asked who had sent him.     I stands for Isaac the father of Jacob and S would be for Sarah the mother of Isaac, R stands for Rebecca the mother of Jacob and A would be for Abraham the father of Isaac and finally the two letters of EL which always stands for God almighty. so in short  Jacob was renamed Yisrael because we was to be the new and final covenant promise that had begun with Abram all the way to Isaac the two patriarchs with the mothers Sarah and Rebecca in the middle while God surrounds them all on both ends.