Revelation 7:8 The Tribe of Joseph

Taking Revelation 7:8 literally presents serious problems for many students of Bible prophecy due to its reference to a "Tribe of Joseph."

There are those who insist that the physical nation of Israel is not ever referred to in The Revelation (that all references to Israel actually mean "The Church"), and that indeed the physical descendants of Jacob play no part at all, biblically speaking, in end-time events.

And Revelation 7:8 is one of the reasons for coming to such conclusions.

There is more than one aspect of this verse that should be looked at in any truly in-depth study of The Revelation, but the question, purely and simply, needs to be addressed: Is there such a thing as a "Tribe of Joseph?"

The biblical evidence suggests there is. And the place to begin in looking at the evidence is at the beginning--in the Book of Genesis.

In Genesis 48:5-6, 16, we witness Jacob adopting Joseph's two son's Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob plainly tells Joseph that they would be his just like Reuben and Simeon were his (that is, they would be called sons of Jacob). And we see through-out scripture, that this adoption was, is and will always be acknowledged.

However, Jacob did plainly say that Joseph would beget other children, and that they would be called after Joseph's name--not Jacob's. But that, in the totality of things, all of Joseph's children and descendants would also be called after the name of their brethren--Ephraim and Manasseh.

We acknowledge that this has been a very simplistic treatment of Revelation 7:8, intended only to look at one question, "Is there a Tribe of Joseph?" The evidence points to the fact that there is:

1. The Tribe of Joseph is plainly mentioned in Revelation 7:8 and called the "Tribe" of Joseph.
2. Jacob said there would be other descendants of Joseph besides Ephraim and Manasseh, and that they would be called by his (Joseph's) name (Genesis 48:6).
3. In the very first listing of the tribes of Israel, "Joseph" is named as a tribe of Israel (Genesis 49:22,28)
4. The tribe of Joseph is mentioned many times through-out the Old Testament and once in the New Testament.

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