The Simple Answers… To Life’s Most Important Questions.
Bible Study Course Lesson 10 – 6
If we accept that the chariot was indeed a type of the tabernacle, it means that the tabernacle was in every way, in some sense, exactly like the chariot; what happened to one happened to the other, how one moved is how the other moved, those who worked on the chariot worked also on the tabernacle. In some sense, at least.
Knowing that, we can study the camp of Israel and compare it to the chariot of Ezekiel 1, for one of the guiding principles of the Bible is that every word is true on every level. Therefore, if the chariot is like the tabernacle, it is like it in every conceivable way – in some sense.
So everything that exists in one layer must exist, in symbol, in the other. Which is why God left extremely specific instructions on where everyone was supposed to camp around the tabernacle (Numbers 1-4). Because those instructions were meant to show us how His chariot functioned!
In the center was the tabernacle, and to the east – the direction of the entrance to the tabernacle, and thus the place of greatest honor (Ezekiel 45:7, 46:1-3) – was where Moses and the sons of Aaron, the high priests, camped. To the north, south, and west, up against the tabernacle, was where the other Levites camped (Numbers 3).
The rest of the tribes were grouped into four “camps”, named after Dan, Ephraim, Judah, and Reuben. And when these tribes moved and set up camp again, no matter where they camped, their relative positions always remained the same (Numbers 2:17). Thus, you might say that the camp of Israel “went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went” (Ezekiel 1:12).
Furthermore, when the temple was dismantled, there was a detailed process (Numbers 4:1-33); first Aaron and his sons would cover all of the holy things, then Kohath would go in and remove them from the temple and carry them on their shoulders; just as the angels of Ezekiel 1 did.
Next the Gershonites would take down all the curtains and fabric-related things and load them on ox-carts (Numbers 7:1-9); finally the Merarites would pack up all the structural supports of the tent and load them on ox-carts; then they would march forward.
Thus you could say that these four groups – Aaron, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari – each of whom represented thousands of people in their house – could be described as “four creatures”, each of them
“full of eyes” who carried the chariot of God through the wilderness on their “wings” (or shoulders, as the case may be). You could further say that the four camps around them – those of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan – were “wheels within wheels”, for they were “camps within camps”; and they, through their weapons, offerings, and sacrifices, supported the work of the Levite priests who in turn supported the throne of God.
But that means, in turn, that the angels we see carrying the temple in Ezekiel 1 correspond directly to Aaron, Kohath, Gershom, and Merari! For didn’t we learn in Lesson 10-4 that the angels were… Levites??
FOUR CAMPS, FOUR SONS
When you think about it, the Levites were taken instead of the firstborn of all the tribes of Israel (Numbers 3:12); thus making the tribe of Levi, regardless of their actual age, the elders of Israel, and therefore, their leaders! So it’s impossible that the chief angels would not likewise be of the (heavenly) tribe of Levi!
On Earth, first in authority was Moses; then Aaron, then his sons; then the three Levite tribes; then the heads of the four camps round about them; then the heads of the individual tribes; and then onto smaller families (Joshua 7:16-18).
But curiously, the heads of the tribe of Merari, Gershon, and Kohath were each assigned a supervisor from the sons of Aaron (Numbers 3:29-32, Numbers 4:28, 33). Now if you’ll notice, Ithamar is in charge of two groups, which is odd. But it becomes less odd when you remember that Aaron initially had four sons.
All four of these sons had been consecrated as high priests by Moses (Exodus 28:1, Leviticus 8).
Thus, it stands to reason that Aaron’s four sons were initially intended to be over the four Levite
camps around the tabernacle. Four angels, holding up the throne of God!
Nadab, as eldest, direct heir of Aaron, would have covered the holy things for Kohath; Abihu, second
eldest, would have overseen Kohath’s preparation; and the other two would have overseen the other
two tribes of Levites, Gershon and Merari.
However, Nadab and Abihu were killed by the Lord for offering “strange fire”, whatever that means
(Leviticus 10:1-3). Curiously, their dead bodies were carried away from the Lord by Aaron’s cousins,
one of whom was named Mishael – Hebrew form of Michael (verse 4). That’s certainly not an
accident, and probably connects to Leviticus 16:21 and Revelation 20:1.
Moving on, the point is that these four sons of Aaron would have been, initially, the “heads” of the
four Levite camps. Thus, the heads of the four “creatures” of Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4-5. But two of
them offered “strange fire” and were killed by God – and carried without the camp of God – exiled to
the wilderness.
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Now if this does indeed refer to angels, then the death was probably symbolic, at least so far – and
their being carried outside the camp in heaven would refer to what another being named Michael did in
Revelation 12:7, or to what Peter describes in 2 Peter 2:4.
After their death, the jobs fell onto the shoulders of Eleazar and Ithamar, in addition to the jobs they
would have already had; who they are, for the moment, must be left to speculation. These two were
over three Levite camps, and of course Eleazar, the eldest, was also over the camp of Aaron himself
after Aaron’s death.
SUBSTITUTE HEADS
The Levites were given to Aaron as a gift; making them Aaron’s legal possession, as they would have
been if he were indeed Levi, the biological head of their house. Aaron became, in effect, Levi himself
(Numbers 17:3).
Which makes sense, because we are told that Levi took tithes (Hebrews 7:5-11). Yet in actual fact, the
tithes were only, and always given to the priesthood of Aaron. Levi is referenced as an individual who
made a covenant with God (Malachi 2:4, Psalms 135:20, etc.); yet Levi died long before the
priesthood named after him was created!
So since Paul did clearly say that tithes were paid to the individual person Levi, great-grandson of
Abraham, we can only conclude that by giving them to Aaron, you were giving them to Levi, because
for all practical purposes Aaron was Levi, acting as the firstborn of his tribe.
Likewise, the Levites replaced the firstborn of each tribe of Israel; due to the way God purchased the
firstborn with Israelites in Numbers 3:44-51, there was a direct 1-to-1 correlation between Levites and
houses.
Which meant there was a specific Levite in one of the camps around the tabernacle who corresponded
to the firstborn of each and every household in Israel. And that Levite outranked the literal heads of
those houses, for that Levite was legally the eldest, firstborn of the man’s own house.
I doubt that this was kept track of in practice by the Israelites, but in God’s head it certainly was.
Because on paper, since every Levite was the head of a house in Israel, it meant that every Levite
outranked every non-Levite, for legally, none of them were firstborns in God’s eyes anymore!
This was necessary in order for them to be able to make atonement for the rest of Israel and cover their
sins through sacrifices, for only heads of houses could do that (Job 1:5, Genesis 15, etc.). The transfer
of responsibility was accomplished in two parts, as all legal documents must be signed by both parties,
through the purchasing done above (God’s signature) and through the ratification of the nation by
laying on of hands in Numbers 8:9-19 (Israel’s signature).
Note particularly “and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites” (verse 10), to
transfer their firstborn authority to the Levites, so that the Levites can legally make atonements for
them (verse 19).
Thus Aaron became the firstborn of the Levites, effectively Levi himself; the Levites in turn were the
firstborns of Israel, the heads of all the houses condensed into one tribe. But those firstborns were
divided into four groups, the three families of Levites (Kohath, Gershon, Merari), plus the Aaronites.
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And as mentioned above each of those tribes had a specific Aaronite assigned as nominal firstborn of
those houses. (Numbers 3:29-32, Numbers 4:28, 33). And so if Ithamar was set over Gershon, it
means that Ithamar was, in effect, the firstborn of Gershon; which made Gershon, in a legal sense, his
house.
Again, as mentioned above, each of the tribes had a very particular place to camp around the Levites.
Now when you think about it, each of these camps would, if for no other reason than proximity, be
more likely to contact one group of Levites than another.
Just ask yourself, if you were an Ephraimite and you had a question about God, why would you walk
all the way around the tabernacle to find Aaron (who was busy anyway) when you could just walk
next door and find a Gershonite?
Hence it makes sense that the Gershonites were those chosen to be collectively the firstborn of the
camp of Ephraim (which included Manasseh and Benjamin); making the camp of Ephraim, in effect,
the house of Gershon and therefore of Ithamar.
Which means that, if we refer back to the image showing the camps in Israel and map that onto the
image of the beasts in Ezekiel, Ithamar was the head of the “fiery creature” to the west of the
tabernacle; Gershon was the body of that fiery creature, and the “whirlwind full of eyes” would picture
Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin – or rather, their heavenly equivalents.
Which of course would mean that the tribes of Israel, all of them, mirror the tribes of all the
angels in heaven.
Let that sink in for a bit.
THE HOST OF HEAVEN
It’s obvious, when you think about it. If the angels we see in the temple in Revelation are heavenly
Levites, then where are the heavenly Benjamites? Who corresponds to Judah, to Ephraim? If there are
heavenly Levites, the rest of Israel must also be represented in heaven, right?
I mean, how many “legions” (large groups of warriors) did Jesus claim to be able to call? Matthew
26:53. Think about that; the tribes of Israel were, quite literally, twelve legions! And they were
meant to be “a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6)… wouldn’t that have made them twelve tribes of…
angels? Malachi 2:7. Because an angel is just a messenger of God.
Am I stretching this metaphor too much? Well, consider the phrasing of the term “host of Israel”. Host
is an archaic word that simply means “army” – and the army of Israel was specifically called the army
of God (1 Samuel 17:26).
And yet it’s obvious that God has another, better army (2 Kings 6:15-17, Daniel 4:35, Revelation
19:14, etc.). One which is also called the “host”, the “host of heaven” (1 Kings 22:19), which is of
course, angels. And based on the principle that everything God says is true on every level… every
army called “the army of God” must be a type of every other.
Note the contrast in Daniel 4:35 between heaven and Earth “and he doeth according to his will in the
army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth”. Because these are types one of another!
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An angelic army, and an Earthly one; two types of the host of God, and one reveals the truth about
the other!
Another fact, is that we know some angels are Levites; but if God also has warriors – and He obviously
does, by the verses above – then the angels that go to war must be different from the angels who work
in the temple; for in Numbers 1:1-3, the Lord commanded Moses to count all the males able to go to
war.
When it was done in Numbers 3:32, he came up with 603,550 and called them “the host of Israel”
(Judges 7:15). But an important fact worth noticing is that this host did not include the Levites, who
were not warriors (Numbers 1:46-47)! Which means if some angels are Levites, some others are
not!
In Numbers, there were three groups of Israelites; the Levites, the Warriors, and everyone else who
wasn’t counted (women, children under 20, old people, etc.). Remembering that angels are just older
versions of us, this means that the “whole family in heaven and earth” (Ephesians 3:14-15) must be
likewise be divided into three groups;
First, obviously, the heavenly Levites; then the heavenly Army with its twelve legions, all twelve of
which Jesus had the authority to call to His assistance; and finally, those not yet counted, because they
were not “able to go to war”; the weak, the youths under 20, and the women;
Obviously the women picture the churches; sticking closely to the metaphor, and stressing that angels
are just older versions of ourselves, the old and weak can only be the angels who have sinned, those
who have let the stresses described in Series 7 age them prematurely and make them spiritually sick.
And finally, the youths picture the humans on Earth who are not yet involved in moving God’s chariot!
We are not counted among them, for we are too young to go to war; for now (2 Corinthians 10:6).
The age 20 is significant here as well, for reasons I’m not prepared to prove until the next series; but
suffice it to say, that the universe will be 20 “years” old when the first saints are given authority.
Knowing all this, you can see that comparisons like Jeremiah 33:22 are not merely metaphor, but
proof that the host of heaven is precisely like the host of Israel. Note the division between the “seed of
David”, who controlled the armies, and the “Levites”, who were always under the sons of Aaron. And
these groups were always different!
You can see this same division in Revelation 5:11 and Daniel 7:10. When you read that, you tend to
assume God’s just saying “bunches and bunches, oh yeah, and some more”. But what it’s actually
saying is that “thousand thousands” ministered unto Him, but ten thousand times ten thousand stood
before Him!
Those are not the same words! Who “ministered” unto the Lord? Leviticus 7:35. That was the job of
the priesthood, not the rest of Israel! The rest of the tribes stood before the Lord! (Leviticus 9:5).
Again, if you just LISTEN to the Bible, it solves most of these problems without any effort at all!
This means that in heaven there are “thousand thousands” who are priests in the heavenly temple. And
there are “ten thousand times ten thousand” in His armies, who stand before Him, ready to do His
bidding!
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…Corresponding broadly to the differences in proportion between the 22,000 or so Levites who stood
before Him, and the 600,000 or so in His twelve legions.
NUMBER THE STARS, IF YOU ARE ABLE
The things that happened to Israel were done precisely according to the heavenly pattern; not only in
organization and in kind… but in number as well! Deuteronomy 1:10. Thinking about that, and taking
it literally, Moses declared the number of Israel on that day to be the same as the “stars of heaven” for
multitude.
Now if you think about that critically for a minute, you’ll see that this can’t possibly be true; it is
simultaneously both a gross overstatement (the number of stars visible to the average human eye are
about 5,000, of which a little less than half can be seen at any one time)…
…and yet it was also a gross understatement (the actual number of stars in the universe numbers
something like 200 sextillions). Which means in no sense was Israel similar in number to the actual
stars in heaven; not even a little bit.
The only possible answer is that God meant something quite different: that the tribes of Israel were
equal in number to the angelic stars in heaven! Moses was saying that the numbers of Israel, as he had
just counted them, were exactly like the numbers, arrangement, and organization of the angels of
God!
Given that the entire host of Israel was about 600,000, plus 22,000 or so Levites, this would seem like
a low estimate compared to, say, Revelation 5:11. Fair enough; but the Greek word myriad translated
as 10,000 was not generally used literally, but rather to imply an “uncountable” number.
So that verse doesn’t really prove 100,000,000 angels; it just proves a massive number. Consider what
Solomon said in 1 Kings 3:8, which obviously wasn’t literally true; Luke likewise said it was
impossible to count a crowd that couldn’t have been more than ten or twenty thousand (Luke 12:1).
If you’ve ever tried to get an accurate count of just fifty moving chickens in a field, it’s pretty well
impossible, making them in practice, for the person speaking, innumerable – even though there is
obviously an actual number of them.
And while Abraham has had a lot of children, there are certainly numbers large enough to count them
(Hebrews 11:12). Indeed, it’s doubtful if it’s more than a few billion. Yet trying to count a moving
crowd of them would be quite impossible.
Likewise, Paul considered the angels he saw in his visions as “innumerable” (Hebrews 12:22,
2 Corinthians 12:1-4). And to him they were! Yet if God keeps track of human hairs (Matthew
10:30), He can surely keep track of actual numbers of people.
But note that Paul calls both Abraham’s children and the heavenly Father’s children “innumerable”,
within a page of each other. That’s because in Genesis 15:5, God said that Abraham’s seed and the
stars of heaven would be of equal number!
Pay close attention to the logic there; God said that if he could number the stars, that’s how many
children he would have. But that means the reverse is also true; that if you could number the
children of Abraham, that’s how many angels there are!
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So beyond any argument, there is a direct correlation between the tribes of Israel and the angels. There
is no question that there is a truth here; precisely what that truth is can be debated. Are there billions of
angels, and the tribes are merely symbolic somehow? Or are there truly only a few hundred thousand
angels? I’m not sure yet. But the symbol is true, even if we don’t fully understand it.
It’s quite possible that there are a lot fewer angels than we have always believed (under a million); but
it’s also possible that each of these individual Israelites was meant to represent a group of angels, their
own “house” if you will, composed of dozens or thousands of lesser angels.
Personally, I favor the simpler explanation, which is that God doesn’t need a billion angels, that a
million or so is plenty. For now, at least. Because if you continue to the next verse in Deuteronomy
1:11, it speaks of God multiplying the “host of Israel” by a factor of 1,000.
This verse is clearly speaking of the future, probably referring to the total number of saved people
from this plan, as of Revelation 21 or so; this would yield about 600 million at a certain point in time.
Beyond that, who knows.
The number of angels – no, better said, the number of juvenile Elohim – is expected to keep growing
as more and more beings find salvation (Isaiah 9:7). And then one day mature into adult Elohim
and have children of their own.
The book of Numbers (it’s worth pausing to let the name of the book sink in)… is only meant to show
us the count at the point in time that Moses built the tabernacle – which is to say, around the time the
Lord first built the tabernacle/chariot we see in Ezekiel.
That time would seem to have been at the creation of the universe. Compare “stretching out the
heavens” in Isaiah 45:12 to Exodus 40:19; the creation of the angels in verse 25, etc. But since then,
many angels have “died” and been carried out of the camp (Luke 10:18).
Which is why there are “snuffers” in the temple (Exodus 37:23), to snuff out the lights on the
candlestick, which we known for a fact represent angels (Revelation 4:5). What is the snuffing out of
a candle, if not the death of a flame of fire? At the very least, in the metaphorical sense (Revelation
2:5).
And then again, some of the fallen angels may have been “saved” already and brought back into the
camp. Or perhaps God has created more, to fill the gaps they left (Acts 1:20-26). Note the phrase
habitation – house – in that passage, and the reference to his “bishoprick”, the office of the apostle,
which the angels sent to do certain jobs would certainly hold.
God seems to like to keep the numbers constant, where possible, so perhaps these numbers are still
accurate. Who knows? All we know for sure is that this was the count when God created the
tabernacle.
And that by the time of the building of the temple, corresponding to the millennium, the count of the
priests and tribes of Israel is very different – as is the arrangement of their duties. For new juvenile
Elohim will exist; by then, many of these will have been judged. But more on that in another lesson.
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THE BANNERS
In Numbers 2:2-3, God made a big deal about camping under the banner – flag – of each tribe. Now
the fact is, no one knows what these banners were. The assumption is that they each had some
identifying feature, an animal or a fortress or something like that, related to the prophecies of Jacob or
Moses.
We do know that Jesus is a “lion of the tribe of Judah”, and that He is an ensign (banner, flag) to draw
the Gentiles to the truth (Isaiah 11:10-12). Thus, it’s a pretty good bet that Judah’s banner was a lion.
Following that logic, Ephraim, who inherited Joseph’s blessing, was pictured as a bull in
Deuteronomy 33:17.
Now this means that to the east of the camp of God, the face of a lion was shown; and to the west the
face of an ox was shown. Do you see where I’m going with this? Back to Ezekiel 1:10-12 again, of
course. Given this, we’d expect to be able to associate the face of a man with the south side of the
tabernacle, where Reuben camped.
Again, we don’t know what banner Reuben had, but since we have a reason to look for an association,
the name Reuben means “behold a son”. Which the blessing of Genesis 49:3 underlines, saying the
“beginning of my strength”, “my firstborn”.
Comparing those words to Hebrews 1:2-3, you can see that this association implies that Reuben was
“the express image of (Jacob’s) person”; and therefore, the image of a man would not be out of place
on the banner of Reuben. It’s a bit weak, but since we have a reason to look for it, it’s strong enough.
Unfortunately, Dan does not fit so easily; Dan’s banner, to match Ezekiel, must correspond to the
eagle; but there is nothing about an eagle associated with Dan. The most obvious thing to put on Dan’s
banner is a serpent, based on Genesis 49:17. (You could also have used a lion cub, based on
Deuteronomy 33:22, but since Judah already had that, it’s not likely.)
THE SERPENT
The pattern of the banners has corresponded too well with the faces of the angels to abandon it without
more thought. So let’s say Dan was a serpent. Dan was specifically going to bite his brethren in the
heels, as the original serpent did (Genesis 3:15).
This happened when Dan set up idols in Judges 18, which was literally the first thing the tribe did
after conquering their inheritance in Israel – they established a new priesthood that was just for their
tribe, and based on idolatry (verses 15-20).
This penchant for idolatry made it logical for Jeroboam to set up his golden calf there, because Dan
already had an alternate priesthood that wasn’t Levite! (1 Kings 12:25-32). Note that Jeroboam set up
a priesthood in Bethel, but there is no mention of one in Dan because it already existed!
Remember, Jeroboam’s sole purpose was to discourage people from going back to Jerusalem to
sacrifice with Levi, and the idolatry and priesthood of Dan had long been an alternative to the
priesthood of Levi; for the Danites had promised the Levite to be the priest for their whole tribe.
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Thus Dan did indeed make Israel “stumble” (Jeremiah 18:15), as they would have if their heels had
been bitten/bruised. And they had already been cursed by Jacob for it hundreds of years earlier
(Genesis 49:16-18).
Now this can be read as putting words in Dan’s mouth – “I, Dan, have waited for your salvation, Lord”
(which is also true, as we’ll see in a moment). But in the most literal sense, these are the words of
JACOB!
Which means verse 18 really says “I, JACOB, have waited for your salvation, Lord!” Why would
Jacob say that, there, then, if not because it was DAN’S FAULT? Because Dan, in verse 17, had bitten
the heel of Jacob’s body, the house of Israel.
Which made the rider of that beast – the head of the house, Jacob – fall backward, forcing him, and all
the house of Israel, to WAIT for the salvation of God! And though these next verses have other
meanings (Assyria, Babylon, etc.), they fit Dan too well to be ignored here: Jeremiah 1:14, 3:12.
The camp of Dan was to the north of the tabernacle, the land of Dan was the farthest north in Israel,
and it was Dan’s sin that continually made the northern ten tribes sin – thus, “an evil breaking forth
from the north”, and it was literally Dan who made them “slide backwards” because he bit their heels!
And it was in this way that Dan judged his people; by tempting them to sin by their example, which led
God to judge them.
THE EAGLE
But we’re looking for an eagle, and we haven’t found one. However, there’s another way of looking at
this. Let’s keep assuming that Dan’s banner was in fact a serpent, and therefore the banner of the
northern camp was a serpent.
That means, at the time pictured by the camps in the wilderness, had we seen God’s chariot, we might
have seen each of the angels have a serpent face! But in prophecy of the future, in the vision of
Ezekiel, that place was filled by an eagle instead.
This would suggest that Dan’s banner was replaced at some point. This is in fact what has happened,
for Dan isn’t mentioned at all after the book of Amos, which is a reference to his sin (Amos 8:14).
Most importantly, Dan is snubbed in the list of saved tribes in Revelation 7:4-8.
Because in the other meaning of those words of Jacob, Dan shall have to wait for salvation! Genesis
49:18. For as he made all of Jacob to wait, so his fitting punishment should be that he has to wait for
salvation himself; an eye for an eye, and all that.
Which means his banner will not be represented in the camp of the firstfruits in heaven! Who is
there in his place? Levi! Therefore, Levi takes Dan’s place among the tribes on the north side, where
Dan had once been, which means it would be Levi’s flag, not Dan’s, who is on the north side of the
temple!
As you’ve learned, the camp in Israel had twelve tribes around the tabernacle, but Levi camped up
next to it. But there is no need for an additional “buffer zone” to keep God away from the 144,000
since the firstfruits will all be holy (like Israel was originally supposed to be – Exodus 19:6).
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Therefore, Levi can move into the space created by Dan; as Peter said, “his bishoprick let another
take” (quoting Psalms 109:8). This applies to Dan as much as to Judas; for the original quotation in
Psalms went on to add “Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be
blotted out” (verse 13).
And that verse speaks of the following generation (Matthew 19:28), and in that generation – the first
resurrection – his name was blotted out and another took his place! Which is also exactly what
happened to Judas Iscariot into whose heart the serpent entered! (Luke 22:3).
Who, like Dan, was one of the original twelve, who was replaced by a thirteenth.
THE SERPENT’S PREDATOR
And yet we haven’t proven yet that Levi’s banner which replaced Dan’s was an eagle; but if you’ll
remember why we chose the “eagle” face of the beasts to picture the messengers of God, it was
because birds have wings and can be used to carry messages, which we do even today.
Given that, the “messenger” tribe of Israel was certainly Levi (Malachi 2:7 again). And how did the
Lord carry them out of Egypt? Exodus 19:4. And they were led out by Aaron and Moses – Levites. So
portraying the Lord’s messengers, such as Levi and the angels whom Levi represents, as eagles
makes perfect sense. Which means it makes sense to show Levi’s banner as an eagle!
Remember also that serpents like Dan aim for the heels, but eagles aim for the heads (Genesis 3:15).
And Levi was always touching, anointing, or pouring on something’s head (Leviticus 1:4, Numbers
8:12, Leviticus 21:10, etc.). But Dan bit them and made them limp, or turn aside from the straight and
narrow way (Deuteronomy 11:16, 28, etc.).
Now the word translated “eagle” is probably not the “noble” eagle we see on flags around the world,
but rather probably refers to a vulture (Matthew 24:28). The eagles in the Bible are apparently bald
(Micah 1:16), something that doesn’t fit what we call eagles today (“bald” eagles are called that for
the white feathers on their head; only vultures have naked heads).
Of course, it’s possible that the Hebrew word referred to all large flying birds, including eagles;
because the word is applied to something that wasn’t a solid black-or-grey color, and thus implies
other kinds of large raptors and carrion birds must be included (Ezekiel 17:3).
Regardless, all eagles and vultures alike are unclean just as serpents are (Leviticus 11:13). And just
as all angels are, for all have sinned. As was Levi, for if he had been clean, he wouldn’t have had to
offer sacrifices first for himself (Hebrews 7:27-28).
When all is said and done, the final answer is pretty obvious. If Dan’s flag was a serpent, and was to
be replaced by another flag… what better to take the place of the serpent, than the eagle who is the
natural predator of the serpent?
Which is the relationship we see in Revelation 12:14, where we can see that it was the “great eagle”
that defended the woman from the “great serpent”. And when the eagle (Levite angels) finally
conquered the serpent (Devil’s angels), his banner was not found any more in heaven.
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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Remember when you read “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), and then you read
1 Chronicles 5:3-26, and you said to yourself “how on Earth will that ever be profitable for
ANYTHING???”
You know you did, don’t deny it. These are the most boring parts of the Bible, with no possible
relevance to “doctrine, reproof, correction, or instruction”. Right? Well, today you’re going to learn
that it is profitable, and God was right all along.
Referring to this image once again, you see how much
more information it contains than you thought; for it tells
you that, at the time of creation, the heavenly equivalent to
Judah had 74,600 angels in his own house, and that he
leads the 111,800 angels of Zebulun and Issachar as they
“go forth to battle”.
I’m not going to explain all of that today – but it goes to
show you that if you had truly listened to verses like
1 Chronicles 5:3-26 or Numbers 26:12, that it was telling
you something – something that might still prove useful,
for the names of the sons of Judah correspond to the
names of angels. I’m not sure what to do with that fact for
now, honestly, but it’s there for a reason.
Regardless, we can drill deeper into the details and learn
more interesting things. As I said before, the Levites, and
Aaron chief among them, were divided into four camps;
and they, as the firstborn of the host of Israel, were the
leaders of the other camps.
Now if Moses divided the armies of God among twelve tribes, not counting Levi; then obviously the
heavens are likewise divided among twelve tribes, again not counting Levi. But if Moses grouped the
twelve Israelite tribes into four camps, then God likewise grouped the twelve heavenly tribes into
four camps.
And if those four camps were meant to be ruled over by the four sons of Aaron (until the deaths of two
of them), then it stands to reason that the four camps in heaven are ruled over by the four heavenly
sons of Aaron, who of course must be pictured as… the four creatures of Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4!!