Revelation 7:5

 "of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand..."

Judah of course would be the first mentioned. The word says Jew first then Gentile.

 

Rom 2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; The first thing to notice about this list is that it is not all twelve tribes. The first four are the children of Jacob.

 

Revelation 7:5

"...Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand..."

 

Rueben his first born, but he slept with his fathers wife. Rueben was first born through trickery of his grandfather. Rueben mother Leah was not suppose to be Jacob's wife. Jacob wanted to marry Rachel, she was who he loved. But her father tricked Jacob into being wed to Rachel's sister Leah. In those days there was no marriage ceremony. You became husband and wife by moving in with your husband and spending the night.

Leah pretended to be Rachel and there were no lights. Jacob hated Leah for this, so God allowed her to have a son. Her son was Rueben.

 

Revelation 7:5

"...Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand..."

 

Gad means "a troop" Gad was the seventh son of Jacob. He was the first born of Zilpah.  Zilpah was the maid of Leah, Jacob's first wife.

 

Revelation 7:6

"Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand." Asher means "happy",

 

Asher was the eighth son of Jacob and the second son of Zilpah. Rachel didn't want to wait, she wanted a son for Jacob. Leah saw this and so she gave Jacob her maid and she had two sons. The seventh and eighth of Jacob, who were Gad and Asher. Leah did it her way not God's way. The Father is trying to teach us something here.


 

Revelation 7:6

"Of the tribe of Nephthalim were sealed twelve thousand."

 

Nephthalim means "my wrestling". He was the sixth son of Jacob. He was the second son of Bilhah.  Bilhah was the maid of Rachel, who was Jacob's second wife. Rachel made Jacob take her maid, so she would give him a child, at that time Rachel was barren.

 Leah had five (five means grace) sons and Rachel had none. So Rachel decided to let Jacob have her maid and that way she could have a son for Jacob. That produced Jacob's sixth (six means weakness of man) son. Who was Nephthalim.
 

Rachel named the boy this, because she had been wrestling with her sister over their husband Jacob. So these four sons of Jacob were mans doing not God's doing.

The numbers aren't important. These four were brought into the world because of man's doing, not the Lord's doing. These people could be anyone anywhere in the world.

One last point I need to make is the word "twelve". It is actually two Greek letters, the first letter is "Iota" which stands for the number ten in the Greek alphabet. The second letter is "Beta" which stands for two in the Greek alphabet. Ten means "testimony" and two means "witnessing". These people are going to give testimonies and witness for the Lord. Just something else to think about. The Book of Revelation is full of symbolism. You have to look at it spiritually not literally.