To conclude October, we finish with my study on the tribe of Naphtali. I pray it blesses you today! Love Lucy x
The Tribe Of Naphtali
Key Facts
Order of birth- Sixth.
Order of blessing- Tenth.
Mother- Bilhah.
Meaning of name- My Wrestling or My Struggle.
Character details- Played his part in selling his brother, Joseph, into slavery.
Tribe details- Known for agility, grace, and productivity.
Symbol of tribe- A Deer.
Land allocation- Fertile region in the northwestern part of Canaan, near the Sea of Galilee. Known for its beauty and fruitfulness.
Relevant Scriptures
Genesis 30:1-8
“Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!”
And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.”
Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Then Rachel said, “God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.”
Genesis 49:1 & 21
“And Jacob called his sons and said, ‘Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
“Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.”
NaphtaliThe Tribe Of Naphtali
Key Facts
Order of birth- Sixth.
Order of blessing- Tenth.
Mother- Bilhah.
Meaning of name- My Wrestling or My Struggle.
Character details- Played his part in selling his brother, Joseph, into slavery.
Tribe details- Known for agility, grace, and productivity.
Symbol of tribe- A Deer.
Land allocation- Fertile region in the northwestern part of Canaan, near the Sea of Galilee. Known for its beauty and fruitfulness.
Relevant Scriptures
Genesis 30:1-8
“Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!”
And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.”
Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Then Rachel said, “God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan. And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.”
Genesis 49:1 & 21
“And Jacob called his sons and said, ‘Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
“Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.”
Twelve tribes of Israel from twelve different brothers,
All the sons of Jacob, but from four different mothers.
Leah bore him six of them, while two came from Zilpah.
Rachel bore another two, and two more came from Bilhah.
Here we have Naphtali; this son was sixth in line.
Though Bilhah was his mother, Rachel’s words declared, “He’s mine.”
She wrestled with her sister in this war that wouldn’t cease.
Their hearts were full of discontent and far from finding peace!
And so his name means “wrestle”, it also could mean “struggle”.
Naphtali’s birth reveals once more the endless strife and trouble.
These women were determined to outdo one another.
Thinking they could raise the stakes as “favourite wife and mother”.
Yet Jacob’s words of prophecy brought peace in other ways,
Declaring that Naphtali’s tribe would prosper in their days.
Inheriting a fruitful land, and skilful in their speech—
Their region was the area where Christ Himself would teach!
Yes, much of Jesus’ ministry would happen in this place.
His message, full of light, shone forth with beauty and with grace.
Yet Jacob’s words foreshadowed, too, the time of Tribulation.
And here we see that Israel becomes a preaching nation!
It’s in this time of misery, when all seems lost and broken,
That many will be saved, and through the words that will be spoken.
A message, truly beautiful, arises from the Jews.
Like a deer let loose, the world will hear the Gospel News!
Romans 10:14-17
“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Insight to Naphtali
Mother-Bilhah, on behalf of Rachel
While Naphtali is the tenth son to be blessed by Jacob, he’s sixth in the order of birth. At the beginning of Genesis 30, Leah has produced four sons with Jacob, while Rachel has remained childless. In her desperation to become a mother, she resorts to giving Jacob her handmaid, Bilhah, in order that she might bear children on her behalf.
Bilhah goes on to conceive and give birth to Jacob’s fifth son, Dan, who I took a look at back in July, as he’s the seventh son in the order of blessing. The passage then goes on to tell us that Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob another son on behalf of Rachel, whom she named Naphtali. The text reads,
“And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.”
At the naming of his older brother, Dan, Rachel declared that God had “judged her case” and gave her son a name that reflected this. It was almost as if she was saying, “Justice is served!” Now, with this second baby through Bilhah, Rachel draws attention to her strife with her sister again by giving him a name which translates as “my wrestling” or “my struggle”. The children in this household are continuously being named after the battle between the sisters, and it’s clear that the relationships have broken down so much by this point that Rachel openly acknowledges the competition between her and Leah to produce children.
In the midst of all this heartache and sorrow, Rachel triumphantly announces, “I have prevailed.” In a way, it seems a bit of an odd thing to say, as Leah has successfully given Jacob four sons at this point, while Rachel has personally given him none. It could be that Rachel was referring to the fact that Leah had seemingly stopped bearing children at this point and so is taking whatever victory she can get. Rachel’s revelling in the fact that after years of barrenness, new life is coming into the family by her hand, even if it is via a surrogate mother.
As I mentioned in my study of Dan, we don’t know the thoughts and feelings of the handmaids, Bilhah or Zilpah, through these events, but we do know that God would have looked after these women. In Genesis 16, we can read about how the Lord took care of Hagar, a woman who found herself in a similar situation as she bore the son of Abram on behalf of her barren mistress, Sarai. Yet while there are some clear parallels between the two circumstances, there are also some observable differences in these ladies’ stories.
Unlike Hagar, Bilhah and Zilpah never show contempt for their mistresses. When Hagar learned the news that she would become a mother, it led her to despise her mistress, Sarai. Rachel and Leah never become despised in their handmaid’s eyes, however, and their handmaids also never try to run away from them. Instead, Bilhah and Zilpah always act in a cooperative manner with their mistress’s plans.
Another difference we see in these two stories is that Sarai takes nothing to do with Hagar’s son, and she also isn’t the one who names him. Abram is the one to give Ishmael his name. By contrast, Rachel and Leah are the ones who name the children of their maids, highlighting that these babies are to be adopted and will be viewed as their own, as if they birthed them themselves.
I took a closer look at the intricacies and cultural relevance of the handmaid system back in June for my study on Issachar. Developed within the culture but outside of the will of God, it can certainly prove to be a challenging and interesting concept to get our minds around. In spite of all of this though, it’s quite likely that all three of these women, Hagar, Bilhah, and Zilpah, would have desired to become mothers. There was a lot of cultural value placed in this role, and it would have brought the joy of children into their lives when perhaps they might have previously considered this a pipe dream, given their shared low status.
To Bilhah and Zilpah’s credit, it seems that they behaved in a humble and respectful manner throughout this time. Ultimately, this helped secure a promising future for their children and an equal inheritance with their brothers. In Genesis 46, we can see that out of the 66 descendants of Jacob who journeyed to Egypt, 23 are credited to Bilhah and Zilpah. What a legacy for these two lesser-known women of God.
Also, as Jacob lies on his deathbed and gives a blessing to each son in Genesis 49, none of the four mothers are ever mentioned. It seems that all twelve men are recognised by their father, regardless of who birthed them. Other than the double portion of the firstborn birthright going to Joseph, (which I’ll look at next month) it seems there is equal status given to each son throughout Jacob’s blessing. So although the content of each blessing may vary according to the personal actions and choices made by the men themselves, it’s clear that each son received an inheritance alongside his brothers.
While the humanly flawed Jacob may have had his favourites amongst his children, we know this isn’t reflective of our Heavenly Father with His children.
God’s heart towards us is without favouritism as He views all of His offspring unvaryingly and without partiality. Regardless of our lineage, if we belong to Jesus, then we belong to the Father. We are adopted through Christ, becoming co-heirs with Him, and as Acts 10:34-35 says,
“I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.”
Jacob’s Prophetic Blessing
Jacob’s blessing to his sixth son, Naphtali, is a short one, but as always, his words are full of meaning. In verse 21 of Genesis 49, Jacob declares,
“Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.”
This blessing has a few different levels to it, and one meaning is that it represents freedom and agility, giving us the picture of a powerful deer running free. Jacob’s words foreshadowed a future of freedom and prosperity for the tribe of Naphtali as they were given the fertile territory northwest of the Sea of Galilee. This region was considered to be the most fertile in all of Canaan and is famously mentioned in Isaiah 9:1-2 and later in Matthew 4:12-16. The verses in Matthew read,
“Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.””
This passage reveals that the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali were where Jesus began His Galilean ministry, so not only can Jacob’s blessing be interpreted as a depiction of the swiftness and eloquence of Naphtali’s descendants, but Jacob was also looking at the bigger picture too. His statement gives a prophetic nod to the fact that out of Naphtali’s region comes someone who delivers beautiful, skilful words, bringing light into the darkness.
A very large and significant part of Christ’s ministry took place through the land of Naphtali, thereby fulfilling the prophecy first spoken in Isaiah 9. Jacob’s blessing to his son, speaking of “beautiful words”, was certainly very fitting considering so much of Christ’s ministry took place in the region of Naphtali’s tribe. It was here that we see the Messiah delivering the uncompromising, beautiful, hopeful words of salvation for all of mankind.
As I’ve been covering throughout this series, Jacob’s blessings also hold significance for end times prophecy too. Through my studies so far, we’ve seen the nation of Israel go from being a disappointing people to a dispersed people, a delivered people, an exiled people, an exploited people, a poisoned people, a persecuted people and then a protected people. Now, the tribe of Naphtali represents a time when the nation of Israel will become a preaching people.
Revelation 7 gives us a list, tribe by tribe, of the 144,000 saints who will be saved and sealed during the Tribulation. Two months ago, I took a look at how the tribe of Gad represents a season of great persecution for the Jews during this time, and then last month, I spoke about how the tribe of Asher shows us that the nation of Israel will then be protected by the Lord during the Tribulation.
Now, the tribe of Naphtali lets us see that after the Jewish people have accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah, Israel will be let loose like a deer, preaching the Good News of the Gospel and taking the beautiful words of salvation into the whole world. Many souls will be saved through the words spoken by the nation of Israel, and so the tribe of Naphtali prophetically represents the nation of Israel as a whole, during this important stage of the Tribulation.
It certainly helps us understand that the seemingly random order of Jacob’s prophetic blessings to his sons is not random at all. As each word of prophecy is given, we see more and more clearly God’s incredible plan of redemption.
Closing Thoughts
Studying the tribe of Naphtali and seeing how God is going to use the nation of Israel to spread the soul-saving Gospel of Jesus Christ in the future fills me with such a sense of excitement and awe! What about today, though? What efforts can we make in this day and age to share the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ?
It seems to me that it has never been more obvious (in my lifetime, at least) that we don’t have time for quiet Christianity. The battle for the souls of mankind rages on, and the fight for the minds of the youth today is truly fierce. Young ones are searching for truth, and we, as the Body of Christ, need to be unwavering in our boldness to share that truth in love.
Scripture tells us to redeem the time and to be about our Father’s business. We’re told to contend for the faith, and Jesus said we are to occupy until His return. So let’s take up that mantle, put on the whole armour of God and be open to the Gospel opportunities the Holy Spirit brings before us each and every day.
The victory has already been won by our mighty Saviour, so may this knowledge embolden us to play not at living but utilise every day for the glory and honour of God’s Kingdom! May we begin every morning with the same mindset as the great apostle Paul: “To live is Christ, to die is gain.”
