REVELATION—NOTE ON Revelation 7:4 The selection and order of the 12 tribes suggest that the 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel represent the church (see note on vv. 1–17 for a different view). These are not Jacob’s sons, because Dan is left out and Manasseh is included. They are also not the tribes that inherited land in Canaan, for Dan is left out, Levi (the priestly tribe) is included, and Joseph is listed instead of his son Ephraim. Judah, the tribe of the Messiah (Revelation 5:5), appears first rather than Reuben, the firstborn. The promotion of tribes descended from concubines Bilhah and Zilpah (Gad, Asher, Naphtali) over the sons of Leah and Rachel suggests that those once excluded from privilege are now included.

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