In Revelations 7:5-8 it says:
of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.
I'd like to bring attention to the bolded sections. First, the Tribe of Dan is conspicuously absent. From what I understood the early fathers interpreted this to mean the Antichrist will come from the Tribe of Dan. I have no problem with this explanation. What I am curious about is why the Half-Tribe of Manasseh took its place, but no mention is made of the half-tribe of Ephraim. In other words, why were both the Tribe of Joseph and the Half-Tribe of Manasseh mentioned and not the Half-Tribe of Manasseh and the Half-Tribe of Ephraim? Isn't Joseph the parent Tribe of Manasseh? And why Manasseh and not Ephraim if Genesis 48:19 says Ephraim will be greater?
As a side question, anyone have any idea on why the tribes were ordered the way they are in this passage?
