Tribe of Benjamin

And what does Saul say back to him? He says, hang on.

Prophet Samuel, am I not a Benjaminite of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me? He was given a vision.

The Lord came and spoke to his heart.

He said, this is who you're going to be.

They say, "Come, let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono." He coulda just said they wanted to meet, and I refused, but he wants to tell us where they wanted to meet.

Well, when you look up where the plain of Ono is or where this region Ono is in the scriptures, you find that in 1 Chronicles 8, it is an area within the territory of the tribe of Benjamin.

Now, at this point in Judah's history, and Israel's history really, those borders and those tribal allocations, they're not really relevant.

But it helps us know where it's located.

The Lord, O you who are of Israel's fountain.

There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead.

The princes of Judah in their throng.

The princes of Zebulun.

And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side, and on the other, of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border." and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince, and it shall be the holy oblation, and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof.

Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.

As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion.

And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion.

And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar, a portion.

And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun, a portion.

And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.

And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel, three gates northward, one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi, and at the east side four thousand and five hundred.

I was circumcised when I was eight days old.

I'm a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin, a real Hebrew, if there ever was one.

I was a member of the Pharisees who demanded the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.

I was so zealous, I harshly persecuted the church." And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

Now that's NLT, but I really like the way the New King James puts it here because they put it more as a list rather than like a poetic statement.

It says, "'Circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrews of Hebrew, concerning the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning righteousness, which is in the law, blameless.' Paul has some great credentials here to say, I'm a religious man.

If anyone could preach this kind of message about following God with strict observance religiousness, it's me.

He had the upbringing.

And behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man." This David calls a grievous curse.

"And behold," saith he to Solomon his son, "thou hast with thee Shimei a Benjamite, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim." But what was this curse? Why, first it was a wrong sentence passed upon David.

Shimei called him a bloody man, man of Belial, when he was not.

Secondly, he sentenced him to the evil that at present was upon him, for being a bloody man, that is, against the house of Saul, when that present evil overtook David for quite another thing.

12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 12,000 from the tribe of Asher.

twelve thousand from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.

And all the angels were standing around the throne, and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever.