These are the tribes, listed by name: At the northern frontier, Dan will have one portion; it will follow the Hethlon road to Lebo Hamath; Hazar Enan and the northern border of Damascus next to Hamath will be part of its border from the east side to the west side. – Ezekiel 48:1

Today's Scripture Reading (July 22, 2020): Ezekiel 48

C.S. Lewis argued that "To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." Christianity is impossible without forgiveness, and it is impossible to claim to be a Christian if there is no effort to forgive those who have wronged us. We forgive, partially, because we are an army of the forgiven. Unfortunately, I know of a few people outside of the church who feel that the church has no forgiveness available for them. But if Christ is in the church, then it is those who feel that they are among the unforgiven who have the loudest voice to speak against us.

Ezekiel ends both his general prophecy and his description of this mysterious future Temple with a word of inclusion to the tribes of Israel. All of the tribes are listed and given an allotment of land in this future Israel. And Ezekiel begins with the Tribe of Dan.

For Christians, the inclusion of Dan in his list of tribes given allotments of land is highly significant. When John creates his symbolic list of the 144,000 who were sealed at the end of all things in his "Revelation," he includes 12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 7). The problem with John's list is that when the descendants of Levi, who were the priests and directly involved with the worship of the nation and because of that unique role did not receive an allotment of land that they could call their own, are included, there are actually thirteen tribes of Israel. If the Tribe of Levi is included in Revelation, and the Tribe of Levi is included in both John's and Ezekiel's rendering, then John's math does not work. For there to be 12,000 sealed from each of the tribes of Israel in John's prophecy, then there would have to be 156,000 sealed on that day, and not 144,000.

To make the math work, John's 144,000 sealed includes no one from the Tribe of Dan. The reason that is often given for Dan's omission in Revelation is that Dan was the first Tribe to embrace idolatry, a story that is outlined in Judges 17 and 18. It was the Tribe of Dan that stole the household gods away from Micah in the hill country of Ephraim, as well as the priest who served Micah in Judges 18, and made the worship of these household gods the official religion of the Tribe. The Tribe of Dan started Israel on its path toward idolatry and, therefore, are omitted from the 144,000 Sealed in Revelation.

But Ezekiel not only includes the Tribe of Dan, but lists the Tribe first. And when Ezekiel's vision is taken in combination with the message we find in John's Revelation, we see an incredible message about the forgiveness and mercy of God. The Tribe of Dan would pay a price for their transgression, but would also receive special recognition and forgiveness in the time that is yet to come.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40