DAN: Genesis 49:16-18

As we continue our discussion into the 12, we come to one of the most interesting of the 12 tribes. Apart from Judah, which is out of this world interesting,

Dan’s story is one for the ages. Dan’s story is one of rebellion and restoration. The rebellion has been long-lasting, but the restoration will be eternal.

An interesting fact about Dan is, as far as I know, Jesus chose no apostle that was a descendant of Dan which speaks of Dan’s rebellion against God’s Law.

Dan’s rebellion ignited idolatry.

If you were to rank sins by which one God hates the most, most Christians would say things like homosexuality, abortion, adultery, and murder, but those are not God’s most hated sin. God’s most hated sin is the one addressed by the First Commandment.

Exodus 20:1–6 “And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

God cannot and will not tolerate anything placed above Him, and Dan had a problem obeying God’s command.

Let’s see what the Bible has to say about Dan.

I. Dan’s Idolatry

Dan was the 5th son to Jacob, but the lesson we are to learn from Dan is far more important than Dan’s place in the lineage of Jacob. Dan’s is a warning to the ages.

The history of Dan is marred with multiple examples of idolatry.

Dan’s history shows the tendency of man to follow man-made religion.

That’s why I say that Christianity is more than a religion.

Christianity is a person, and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a Christian because of God choosing me, Jesus dying for me, and the Holy Spirit sealing me. I am not a Christian because it is a religion.

If all Christianity is to you is a religion, dear friend, you need to examine what you call Christianity and come to Jesus.

All man-made religions are contrary to Scripture. (Romans 3:20, Hebrews 11:6)

Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

You cannot please God without faith in Jesus Christ. You cannot, and it does not matter what religion man invents to reach God.

Examples of man-made religions:

Islam

Mormonism

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Scientology

Prosperity Gospel

Those and many more substitute their way for God’s way, and it leads to eternal damnation.

What about Dan and its idolatry?

Dan was the first tribe to fall into idolatry. The account is found in Judges 18.

Judges 18:1 “In those days there was no king in Israel: and in those days the tribe of the Danites sought them an inheritance to dwell in; for unto that day all their inheritance had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel.”

Judges 18:30–31 “And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land. And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.”

I want to point out a couple of things here because you will miss them if you do not know a little background. Judges 18:1 says the Danites were seeking an inheritance. It is a classic example of how all idolatry begins.

All idolatry begins with rebellion.

Dan did not need to seek an inheritance of its own because Dan had already been given an inheritance, and it was a good inheritance. It was an inheritance from God.

Dan’s inheritance was smaller than the other land grants, but it was very fertile. Its inheritance had a boundary along the Mediterranean Sea where fishing and commerce was available to them. God had given them a great inheritance.

But......

Dan never possessed their promised possession because of a lack of faith in God.

There is so much I could say here.

How many of the promises God has given to us go unclaimed because we lack the faith to possess our possessions?

Instead of claiming what God promised, Dan sought its own way, its own inheritance.

In Judges 18, Dan finds a small group of people, and they knew they could easily defeat them. Dan defeated them, claimed the city, and renamed it Dan, but notice what they did in Judges 18:31. They not only claimed the city, but they also claimed the city’s gods and worshipped those gods as their own.

As a matter of fact, the passage says that Dan worshipped those gods until the time of the captivity. God had said that Dan was to have no other gods.

God had given Dan an inheritance, but Dan rebelled against God, sought its own inheritance, and turned to idolatry.

It is a pattern of behavior that continues today. Have you ever wondered why man-made religions gain such a foothold in the souls of man?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ says to be saved that you have to believe on Jesus Christ and His Resurrection, repent of your sins and confess that before man to be saved. If you do not do that, you are going to hell.

A lost man comes to church, and he hears me preach that exact message, but he leaves just as lost as he was when he got here. He goes home, and suddenly, someone is knocking on his door. He goes to answer it, and someone is there from the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

They start talking to him, and he tells them that I said he would go to hell if he did not believe and accept Jesus in faith. The Jehovah’s Witness looks at him and says, “Sir, there is no hell” and that man falls, hook, line, and sinker for that lie.

Today, many people fall for these man-made religions, but their path to accepting those religions begins with rebellion against God and His Word.

They become convinced that what they follow will lead them to God. They are following the way of Dan. Dan rejected what God said and God’s promise for his own way.

Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, But the end thereof are the ways of death.”

Man’s way seems right, but it leads to damnation.

Man’s mind falls for the lie. It seems logical to man to believe that all ways lead to God. It seems intolerant to say that only one way leads to God, but dear friend, that is the truth. There is only one way to God.

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

I do not know what else to say. Man’s way, Dan’s way is contrary to God’s Way. We read earlier that God is a jealous God. If there were multiple ways to God, God would not have sent His Son to earth to die for my sins, but that is the only way that I could ever find peace with God.

Anything in your life can become an idol, and if you rebel against God, that idol will take center stage in your life, and that idol, I do not care what it is, can lead you to a path of destruction.

Just ask Samson.

Do you know what Samson’s idol was? His abilities.

Samson’s abilities led to idolatry, but it began with all those times in the life of Samson that he rebelled against God and his parents.

Dear friend, you better be careful about the position your family holds in your life. I am telling you that if you put them before God, you are rebelling against God, and eventually, your family could become an idol to you.

There is so much more we can say about this. Dan rebelled, and then he followed and worshipped idols.

Now, we have not even looked at what Jacob told Dan, and I am giving you a thinking-cap warning.

II. Dan’s Destiny

Genesis 49:16–18 “Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, An adder in the path, That biteth the horse heels, So that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.”

A. Dan will have its place in the Millennium. (Genesis 49:16)

Dan shall judge his people. You might not realize it, but Genesis 49:16 is an incredible verse. Dan, despite its idolatry, will rule and reign with Christ during the Millennium, but I have to point out a fact to you, so you can see how wonderful and incredible this verse is.

With each tribe, we have been talking about 12,000 of each tribe being sealed in Revelation 7 for the purpose of sharing the Gospel. Reading Revelation 7, here are the tribes listed.

Tribes listed in Rev. 7: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Nephtalim, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. Which tribe is missing? __________

No one from the tribe of Dan is sealed during the Tribulation. Is it because of its rebellious and idolatrous past?

Because it is not sealed, the majority of Dan will be left to its idolatry and worship Antichrist, but because of the witness of the sealed witnesses, a remnant of Dan will be saved by turning to Jesus.

How do I know that?

(1) Jacob prophesied in Genesis 49:16 that Dan would judge his people.

(2) Ezekiel 48:1–2 “Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan. And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher.”

Dan is listed first in the roll call of inheritance in the Millennium. Dan will be saved during the Tribulation.

My speculation is that it will be a small number that will be preserved to enter the Millennium to claim its promised inheritance as most of Dan will fall victim to the Antichrist, even many who will be saved.

Remember the Jews will pay a heavy price during the Tribulation. Zechariah tells us that only 1/3 come through it refined as fine silver and gold, but not all of that 1/3 survive the Tribulation. There are 144,000 sealed and protected by God’s hand. The rest of the Jews that are saved during the Tribulation will face the vengeance of the Beast, but a remnant of Dan is able to claim its inheritance from God during the Millennium.

As Jacob prophesied, Dan will judge his people.

B. Dan will continue in rebellion and idolatry.

Yes, a remnant of Dan will be saved, but most of the tribe will continue in rebellion and idolatry as evidenced by the fact that none are sealed.

The fact that none of Dan is sealed in Revelation 7 has led many Bible scholars to believe that the Antichrist or the False Prophet will come from Dan. (Gen. 49:17)

I think it is very possible, if you want my speculation, that the False Prophet will come from Dan based upon the tribe’s past rebellion and idolatry. Look at what Jacob says in Genesis 49:17.

Genesis 49:17 “Dan shall be a serpent by the way, An adder in the path, That biteth the horse heels, So that his rider shall fall backward.”

Notice the language Jacob uses.

Dan shall be a serpent by the way. (Gen. 3:1)

Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Serpent in Genesis 3:1 refers to Satan. It is the same word Jacob uses in describing Dan.

Dan’s bite shall make his rider fall backward.

I want you to notice what the Book of Revelation says about the False Prophet. (Rev. 13:11-19)

Revelation 13:11–18 “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might b…”

The False Prophet will cause people to worship the Beast, the Antichrist.

Instead of going forward with Christ, millions upon millions will fall backwards because of the serpent’s bite.

C. Dan’s deliverance is brought about by prayer and persistence.

Genesis 49:18 “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.”

Jacob patiently waited on Dan, and he persistently prayed to the Lord. I want you to notice something that might be lost in certain Bible translations and Bible apps.

Look at LORD in verse 18. In the KJV, all the letters are capitalized. What does that mean?

When you see LORD in all caps in the Old Testament, it is a reference to the Pre-Incarnate Jesus Christ.

Why is that important? Who saves? _____________

Jacob was praying, looking forward to the One who would save Dan, and Jacob’s persistence, prayer, and faith in the LORD will be rewarded as Dan rules and reigns with Christ during the Millennium. Dear friend, the Bible tells us about persistent prayer?

James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

Maybe we are not seeing souls saved like we should because we are not praying as persistently and fervently as we need to do. Jacob did not give up on Dan. As he is dying, he is praying for Dan’s salvation.

He was praying with a faith that knew that the LORD would answer his prayer, and as a result, a remnant of Dan will be saved and will rule and reign with Christ during the Millennium.

There is so much we can learn by studying Dan:

Man’s way leads to hell.

God must come first.

Persistent prayer accomplishes much.

God delivers on his promises.