Mathematically, it’s possible for any random string that’s not too long to be repeated. But if it’s repeated in the Bible, it’s very unlikely that it’s a coincidence; if it’s found in three places in the Bible, in totally unrelated events, then it is definitely a pattern.

Now consider this; There were twelve disciples. Then Judas hung himself – then there were eleven. Then they added Matthias.

Acts 1:25-26 That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Why was it important that they have twelve apostles? Why THAT number? Why wasn’t eleven good enough, or why not have twenty or two hundred? Clearly there was a reason. That reason was given to us in:

Matthew 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

This tells us that there is a connection between the twelve disciples and the twelve tribes; more specifically, it tells us that each apostle corresponds to a certain tribe. Think about that – twelve thrones always means twelve kingdoms or governments. Hence, one apostle corresponds to one tribe. This is not to say that each apostle is FROM a different tribe, for many were brothers; but each apostle must embody the character of a given tribe, or at least be the best suited to rule a certain tribe.

Next, notice that this promise was made to “ye,” which was the ORIGINAL twelve – including Judas Iscariot! At the time, this was the only “twelve” there were, and so if they were to judge the twelve tribes, then Judas would have been on one of those thrones! But then Judas betrayed Christ…

Matthew 26:24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

So clearly, Judas won’t be ruling a tribe in the kingdom… or will he? The promise was, after all, made to him. But we’ll come back to that in a moment. Later, after the addition of Matthias to bring it up to twelve again – making a total of thirteen disciples, now, counting the dead Judas – we added yet another apostle!

Romans 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

An apostle to the gentiles. Further, an apostle who had originally persecuted the church, and the original thirteen apostles. Was finally called to the church, and whose converts eventually vastly outnumbered the original works of the other thirteen.

1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

So now follow the pattern… Twelve apostles become eleven, then Matthias joins and (counting Judas now) we have a total of thirteen, and then Paul makes fourteen. Or… 12 – 11 – 13 – 14

Next, we back up to the sons of Jacob. Jacob originally had twelve sons. Then he believed Joseph was dead – leaving him with eleven sons. Then he not only got Joseph back, but divided Joseph into two tribes:

Genesis 48:5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

So now we have thirteen tribes! Then the gospel was opened up to the Gentiles. Dare we call them a tribe?

Isaiah 19:13 The chiefs of Zoan have become foolish, the chiefs of Noph are tricked, the heads of her tribes are the cause of Egypt’s wandering out of the way.

This says that the nations of “Noph” are “tribes.” So the word can be used for gentiles.

Ephesians 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

We know that each apostle was for one tribe, so if we added a fourteenth apostle, who himself said he was for the gentiles, it’s not a huge stretch to say that gentiles would make up the fourteenth tribe. It’s also not a stretch to say that, although vastly more numerous, they will be inferior in terms of quality.

1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

And the gentiles have done this through history, just like Paul, their apostle did. If you recall the court of Israel was close to the temple – holier – but quite small compared to the court of the gentiles. There are simply lots more gentiles than Israelites to work with.

Isaiah 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

So again – twelve tribes, one lost, one divided making thirteen, plus gentiles… makes the same pattern of 12, 11, 13, 14. Finally, there is another case of the same number – this one clearest of all.

Revelation 7:5-8 Of the tribe of Juda… Reuben… Gad… Aser… Nepthalim… Manasses… Simeon… Levi… Issachar… Zabulon… Joseph… Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.

Notice that Dan is conspicuously left out. We started with twelve tribes. Dan is left out, making eleven, but Joseph being split makes thirteen. Then in Revelation we pan to another group…

Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

This is the great multitude, which in other papers I show is not a part of the first resurrection, but of the later second resurrection; corresponding to the gentiles, in that they in this life fought against spiritual Israel, then they will have their opportunity at life and a part of the inheritance. Those who are now physical gentiles are only a type of the spiritual gentiles that every non-believer, whether Jew or Gentile, is, and who will be dealt with in the second resurrection.

And so here again we have the same pattern; twelve tribes, without Dan back to eleven, then compensating by adding Manasseh making a total of thirteen, and adding the great multitude makes the fourteenth tribe. And now back to the very first concept.

We said up front that Judas must correspond to a tribe; now we know who it is, for as Judas lost his reward, so Dan lost his. And then look at the similarities between what Jacob prophesied of Dan, and what was said about Judas:

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.

So Dan will “judge his people,” and be a “serpent” to bite the horse’s heels. Further, although it isn’t phrased clearly, it looks like it says that Dan will wait on his salvation – which is exactly what Revelation has him doing.

What does a serpent by the way do? How did he “judge his people?” Well, Dan was among the first nation to set up idolatry publicly in its tribe, if not the first (Judges 18). Dan was the location of one of the two golden calves set up by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:29). Dan seems to have always held a big place in the northern kingdom’s idolatry, for God states:

Amos 8:14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

Further, Dan was to “bite the horse’s heels” to make his rider “fall backward.” Which is not unlike this verse…

Matthew 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

When Judas “smote the shepherd” to scatter the flock, he did exactly what Dan was prophesied to do, when he “bit the horse’s heels.” Dan judged his people by introducing idolatry, and being a snare to the rest of Israel, a temptation to fall away. Judas judged the other disciples by smiting the shepherd and scattering them, to see if they would follow God when the going got tough or not.

So Judas and Dan have a lot in common, when it comes to causing problems for the other eleven. It was necessary to add another apostle because we had to have one for each tribe; and just as Dan waited on his salvation, so Judas was part of the plan.

John 17:12 …those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

I’m not sure yet which of the other tribes connect to which apostle, but I’m sure it can be figured out now that we know to look for it.

And who knows, maybe I’m making this up and the correlation is imaginary – but it’s awfully close to be a coincidence. You decide. Summarized, the pattern is…

12 disciples; one lost, one added, plus Paul – 12, 11, 13, 14
12 sons of Jacob; one lost, one added, plus Gentiles – 12, 11, 13, 14
12 tribes in revelation; one lost, one added, plus the great multitude – 12, 11, 13, 14