At this stage in the Scriptures, why are Israel and Judah mentioned separately?
It’s because pretty much as soon as the Hebrews set foot inside the land of Canaan they were split politically into two separate alliances: the northern one and the southern one.
The Northern Alliance would end up consisting of 10 tribes out of the twelve and be called “Israel”.
The remaining two tribes of Judah and Benjamin would be the Southern Alliance called “Judah”.
So here’s the thing.
In the closing chapters of 1st Samuel when David begins to consolidate his power, this is a centuries-old political reality he’s gonna have to deal with head-on.
First, he’ll take control of the southern tribal alliance headed by his tribe Judah…
And then later on, his rulership will extend to the northern coalition as well.
Once that happens, David will have attained control over all of Israel – both the north and south.
Unfortunately, this kingdom would end with his son Solomon’s death eighty years later.
A civil war would split the nation and Israel would again go back to a northern (10 tribes) and southern (2 tribes) division.
Now, I just said that at this time the northern coalition was referred to as “Israel” and the southern coalition was referred to as “Judah”.
However, later on, the 10-northern tribal coalition will start to be called “Ephraim”
Why?
The simple answer is that Ephraim became the most powerful and dominant tribe.
That was how things worked in the Middle East in those days.
A territory was usually named after the strongest tribe.
The northern 10-tribe coalition came to be called Ephraim because Ephraim was the most dominant tribe and all the other tribes submitted to it.
The southern 2-tribe coalition came to be called Judah (David’s tribe) for the same reason.
Now, I certainly hope you don’t find these details boring or anything.
Quite the contrary, you should be very excited.
Why?
Because what I just explained plays a key role in prophecy and salvation history up to this very exact moment and moving forward into the future.
God promises that…
“I am about to take the stick of Joseph (which is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with it; and I will put the stick of Judah upon it,[a] and make them one stick, so that they may be one in my hand.”-Ezekiel 37:19
In the same chapter, God then goes on to say:
“I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all. Never again shall they be two nations, and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.”-Ezekiel 37:21-22
I’ll leave you with that today.
A very BIG thank you sir
God Bless your work
Shalom
Rich,
You know how much I appreciate your messages and teachings, but I am a bit of a stickler for detail, and one thing you say here (which I know you are doing just for simplicity, since it doesn’t effect the topic) is, technically, wrong.
There were not 10 tribes in the Northern Kingdom of Shomron.
Reuben and Gad, and 3/5 of Manasseh, settled and lived on the east side of the Jordan River, so there were only 7 and 2/5 tribes in the Northern Kingdom (Zelophehad, the leader of Manasseh at that time, only had 5 daughters, and the majority of them settled with Gad and Reuben).
Doesn’t the maternal side determine the tribe?
Hi William,
No, Sir, always paternal side. I wanted to reply to you because this was something that opened my eyes about five years ago. Before that, I was always told/taught, ‘your last name doesn’t mean anything’. External to this origin, there are examples in Scottish (I hope I have that correct and not Irish) “Clans”.
Here, the twelve tribes were started by the twelve sons of Jacob/Israel, also known as the Twelve Patriarchs. The exception later would be made for Joseph’s two sons (Manasseh and Ephraim).
Later in history, these Tribes would include an identification as part of their name. For example, names with the Arabic “Bin/Ben”(i.e., Bin Laden or Ben Ezra) literally translate to “son of” followed by the identified family. Dutch cultures also followed this method, using “Van/Von”. The “Surname” was then passed from Father to Son over and over…
By the way, don’t let anyone tell you the Tribes of Israel are lost. =)
No, you are not quite right, what happened during the time of Moshe and Yashua immediately after the crossing into the promised land is different from events during the time Shomrom. This time there existed 10 tribes Israel, no dispute on that. Thanks
Hmm…yeah. On second thought to the reply I just gave Steven, I think you are correct.
Appreciate this comment. Of course, I’m referring to the “Northern Tribes” as a general term referring to all tribes EXCEPT the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Thanks!