The 12

Introduction:

As we know, before Jacob died, he gave each of his 12 sons a blessing. The blessings contained prophetic information about each of the 12 tribes. Jacob, in his blessings, links Simeon and Levi together. Why?

Genesis 49:5–7 ““Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence. “May my soul not enter into their council; May my glory not be united with their assembly; For in their anger they killed men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen. “Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will scatter them in Jacob, And disperse them among Israel.”

1. Simeon and Levi

Simeon and Levi are linked together because of an episode that occurred between the Shechemites and the sons of Jacob in general but Simeon and Joseph specifically. (Genesis 34)

Genesis 34 is one of those chapters in the Bible. It begins with Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, wanting to go out to see the daughters of the land, or the women of the land. Why would she want to go see these seductive Canaanite women? Why did Jacob even tarry in this ungodly neighborhood endangering his family? He should have been at Bethel leading them closer to the Lord instead of dwelling in the land of the Canaanites.

Do you want another interesting fact about Genesis 34? The name of the Lord is not mentioned once in the entire chapter, and the wisdom of the Lord is absent too. What does all of this mean.

When we disobey the Lord, we put ourselves and our loved ones in danger, and Dinah was in danger.

While Dinah was out on her adventure, she was defiled or violated by Shechem. Three times in Genesis 34 the Bible uses the term defiled to describe Shechem’s actions against Dinah.

The people of Canaan and God’s people had different standards of conduct. To the Jews, sexual activity that violated the Law of God brought defilement to the victim and judgment to the guilty party.

There is so much to unpack there that I do not even know where to begin. Dear friend, you and I have a different standard of conduct than the lost world has.

2 Corinthians 6:17–18 ““Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “and do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.”

Just as the Jews were not to do as the Canaanites, you an I are to be separated from the world. That does not mean that we do not go into the world to witness. It means that there should be a difference in the conduct exhibited between a Christian and a lost person.

The Canaanites were a heathen people who cared not for God. Dinah had no business going down to see the Canaanite women, and Jacob and his sons were stupid for letting her go without body guards to protect her. In the same way, friend, you and I owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect them from the same dangers that Dinah faced, but we cannot do it if we tarry in Canaan.

There is danger in the world. Dinah was in trouble just as many of our children are in trouble because they are left to fend for themselves in Canaan. Dinah was defiled by Shechem. Now, that could be raped and probably was, but it could also be sexual activity outside the parameters God established.

Strangely, Shechem loved Dinah and wanted her for his wife, and he was willing to pay any price for her.

After Shechem defiled Dinah, he and his father, Hamor, go to Jacob to tell him what happened and to negotiate with Jacob for Dinah to be Shechem’s husband. While Shechem and Hamor were talking to Jacob, Jacob’s sons came in from the fields and heard the conversation, and Simeon and Levi were not happy campers over what happened to their sister. Shechem had disgraced their sister.

As proof of how much Shechem loved Dinah, he offered to pay any dowry for her, but Simeon and Levi hatched a plan. They told Shechem and Hamor that Dinah could not marry Shechem unless all the male Shechemites were circumcised. Shechem agreed, and every male was circumcised. On the third day after the circumcision, Simeon and Levi took swords into the camp, killed all the males, plundered, and took all the women and children captive, and this embarrassed Jacob. (Genesis 34:30)

Genesis 34:30 “Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me repulsive among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since my men are few in number, they will band together against me and attack me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household!””

The old nature in us celebrates what Simeon and Levi did. They got vengeance for her sister, but Jacob was embarrassed. Why?

They broke their word.

They were fierce and cruel.

They brought reproach to the family.

Dear friend, Simeon’s and Levi’s anger was not a sign of justice being levied. It was a sign of extreme fierceness and cruelty. Their anger was sin. Righteous anger, like Jesus showed in the temple, is never characterized by cruelty.

If you think Simeon and Levi carried out justice, you are wrong. They were not seeking justice. They were seeking vengeance.

How do I know that? Because they killed every male. Was every male guilty of what happened to Dinah? The swords of Levi should have been with Dinah initially and what happened to her would not have happened. Their swords were to be defensive weapons to be used in case they were attacked and to protect the young like Dinah, but they used their swords for vengeance which is something reserved for God Almighty.

Romans 12:19 “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”

As Christians, we need to realize that anger is the cause of a great deal of sin especially when anger is allowed to boil over without restraint. (Proverbs 29:11)

Proverbs 29:11 “A fool always loses his temper, but a wise person holds it back.”

Anger leaves devastation in its wake, often with irreparable consequences. This is not to say that anger against sin is unwarranted. We should hate all sin, but we always need to be careful to distinguish between the sin and the sinner.

It is not in my job description and it is not in yours either to hate or curse the sinner. Yes, we are to hate sin, all sin, but all sinners should be loved enough as to share the gospel with them. Dear friend, you must be careful about judging sinners. Yes, you can judge sin.

Sin is sin, but God loved the sinner so much that He sent His Son into this world. We do not have the right to think any differently, and besides, do you know what Jesus said? (Matthew 6:15)

Matthew 6:15 “But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses.”

What does Christ mean? I think it is self-explanatory. If you are not willing to forgive, it is an indication that you have not truly been forgiven.

That is a tough pill to swallow. It was a tough pill for Simeon and Levi to swallow too. You might not ever forget what someone has done to you but you can forgive.

In Genesis 49, Jacob said that he would scatter Simeon and Levi in Israel, and that is exactly what happened.

The tribe of Levi was scattered throughout Israel with no inheritance, and Simeon was the smallest and weakest of all the tribes at the close of the wilderness journey.

Simeon and Levi brought out the worst in each other. They lacked the self-control that God desires for all of us. I hope you realize that having a trigger-quick temper is a sin.

Galatians 5:22–23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Thankfully, by God’s grace and their loyalty, Simeon and Levi were restored. Levi became the priestly tribe.

Simeon and Levi provide an ultimate lesson for the Christian. As Christians, we have been restored to a privileged position of children of God through the high priestly intercession of Christ. (Hebrews 7:25-26)

Hebrews 7:25–26 “Therefore He is also able to save forever those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens;”

Jesus exchanged His own righteousness for my sin on the cross. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Christ afforded those who accept His gift of eternal life the opportunity to become a nation of priests in our own right. (1 Peter 2:9)

1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a Holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

Next week, we will look at Matthew and Thaddeus and how they are connected to Levi and Simeon, but let me just say this, and this is incredible.

In Revelation 7, when 12,000 of each of the tribes are paired together to share the gospel, guess who are paired together? Simeon and Levi.

Simeon’s name means God has heard that I was unloved. Simeon represents anger. Anger that has to be properly controlled. Simeon could not control his anger in Canaan regarding his sister, but in the Great Tribulation, he will be able to restrain his anger as millions of his countrymen are being slaughtered as he stays focused on sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ as he will be able to reach those that no one else will be able to reach.

Levi, chosen to serve in the temple, means to be attached or joined. Levi was once inseparable from his brother Simeon but became inseparably linked to serving God. During the Great Tribulation, Levi will be the one focused on divine service trying to attach or join others to God through Jesus Christ.

I am telling you that you just cannot make this stuff up. The Bible gets more and more amazing the more I study it. God knows what He is doing. God has completely eliminated chance. Everything will play out according to God’s Master Plan.