The Hidden Bloodline, Joseph’s Dreams and the 14 Tribes of Israel
The purpose of this paper is to give the student of the gospel a little deeper understanding of one of the commonly misunderstood traditions and stories of the Old Testament. To understand the significance of Joseph’s dreams and Israel’s blessings to his sons and their progeny, a foundation must be laid that starts with Adam. There is a royal or chosen bloodline, which originates with Adam. This bloodline is to carry the priesthood of God and the authority to act in His name down through the ages of this world. Michael, who became Adam received dominion and priesthood in the preexistence on the sixth time of creative declarations.
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Four 1839-42 p.157
The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Genesis 1:26, 27, 28. He had dominion given him over every living creature. He is Michael the Archangel, spoken of in the Scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel: he stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was called of God to this office, and was the father of all living in this day, and to him was given the dominion. These men [Noah and Gabriel] held keys first on earth, and then in heaven.
The Priesthood is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years. The keys have to be brought from heaven whenever the Gospel is sent. When they are revealed from heaven, it is by Adam’s authority.
God places those who will receive His authority and blessings under covenant, which was initiated with Adam. The original covenant, put simply, was that man would undergo baptism in water and offer sacrifice as a sign and reminder, and God would send a redeemer of man to defeat sin and the grave. We have a record of Adam’s covenant through the words of Enoch in the Book of Moses. The following quotation is from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, but it is virtually identical to Moses 6:47-68. This is the First Covenant and will rule on earth until the coming of Messiah, the Son of God, to fulfill it.
JST Genesis 6:48-71
48 And as Enoch spake forth the words of God, the people trembled and could not stand in his presence.
49 And he said unto them, Because that Adam fell, we are; and by his fall came death, and we are made partakers of misery and woe.
50 Behold, Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to worship him; and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are shut out from the presence of God.
51 But God hath made known unto our fathers, that all men must repent.
52 And he called upon our father Adam, by his own voice, saying, I am God; I made the world, and men before they were flesh.
53 And he also said unto him, If thou wilt, turn unto me and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask it shall be given you.
54 And our father Adam spake unto the Lord, and said, Why is it that men must repent, and be baptized in water?
55 And the Lord said unto Adam, Behold, I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the garden of Eden.
56 Hence came the saying abroad among the people, that the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the children, for they are whole from the foundation of the world.
57 And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying, Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so, when they begin to grow up sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.
58 And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore, they are agents unto themselves.
59 And I have given unto you another law and commandment; wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God.
60 For no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name; and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous judge, who shall come in the meridian of time.
61 Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children, saying, that by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death; and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so become of dust a living soul;
62 Even so ye must be born again, into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye may be sanctified from all sin; and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come; even immortal glory.
63 For, by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified; and by the blood ye are sanctified.
64 Therefore it is given to abide in you, the record of heaven, the Comforter, the peaceable things of immortal glory, the truth of all things, that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things, that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice and judgment.
65 And now, behold, I say unto you, This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.
66 And, behold, all things have their likeness; and all things are created and made to bear record of me; both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath, all things bear record of me.
67 And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water; and thus he was baptized.
68 And the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man.
69 And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying, Thou art baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost; this is the record of the Father and the Son, from henceforth and forever;
70 And thou art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.
71 Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen.
This also shows the first distinction within the Holy Priesthood. It is the beginning of the Patriarchal Order of Priesthood. There shall be other orders defined later in the history of the world, but with Adam there is only one. Adam was also commanded to offer sacrifice as part of his covenant with God.
JST Genesis 4:4-9
4 And Adam called upon the name of the Lord, and Eve also, his wife; and they heard the voice of the Lord, from the way towards the garden of Eden, speaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out of his presence.
5 And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God; and should offer the firstlings of their flocks for an offering unto the Lord.
6 And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord. And after many days, an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying, Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him, I know not, save the Lord commanded me.
7 And then the angel spake, saying, This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth;
8 Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest, in the name of the Son. And thou shalt repent, and call upon God, in the name of the Son for evermore.
9 And in that day, the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying, I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth
and forever; that, as thou hast fallen, thou mayeth be redeemed, and all mankind, even as many as will.
From Adam, the chosen bloodline of authority was to continue through Abel, but because of the premature death of Abel, it was passed through Seth and is mostly spelled out clearly in the Bible where it eventually passes to Abraham. The First Covenant applies to all and any of the sons and daughters of Adam, but the birthright priesthood line is specifically identified in scripture and is passed from father to son in a patriarchal order. In the case of Abraham, he went to Melchizedek to receive the fullness of priesthood.
D&C 84:14
14 Which Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah;
We have no information on how this passing of fullness of priesthood from Melchizedek to Abraham was done, but because of the restrictions of the Patriarchal Order, which exist to this day, Abraham was likely adopted to Melchizedek. The following statement by Joseph Smith seems to indicate that adoption was part of the ancient priesthood order and Abraham appears to be the first example of such.
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Four 1839-42 p.189
He then spoke on the subject of election, and read the 9th chapter of Romans, from which it was evident that the election there spoken of was pertaining to the flesh, and had reference to the seed of Abraham, according to the promise God made to Abraham, saying, “In thee, and in thy seed, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” To them belonged the adoption and the covenants, &c
With Abraham, God adds additional dimension to His covenant, but only within a line of decent beginning with Abraham. Consequently, this specific addition only applies to those within the family of Abraham’s progeny and not those before him. The blessing and covenant with Abraham was that he and those of his house are to circumcise their foreskin beginning with him and ever afterward. If done, God would make a great nation of Abraham’s family; through his family would blessings flow to all the world; kings of the earth would come from his descendants; the land of Canaan would be an eternal inheritance, and Sarah would bear him a son to be called Isaac.
Genesis 17:1-21
1 AND when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
4 As for me, behold, my covenant [is] with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10 This [is] my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which [is] not of thy seed.
13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah [shall] her name [be].
16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be [a mother] of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall [a child] be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
The story is well known how Isaac obtained the birthright blessing instead of Ishmael through subterfuge, but it did fulfill the word of the Lord. An important point is that the Lord then confirms Isaac’s blessing, which was necessary because of the way it was obtained.
Genesis 26:24
24 And the LORD appeared unto him [Isaac] the same night, and said, I [am] the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I [am] with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.
Isaac had two sons who were twins. Esau was born first and Jacob second, so the birthright blessing would have gone to Esau. Once again the birthright blessings and authorities were secured through deception although, the situation between Esau and Jacob is very different. Esau actually bartered the birthright away to Jacob in a moment of weakness, for something to eat. By the time the blessings were to be given, Esau likely would have disputed Jacob’s claim, so Jacob acted to receive what had been rightfully traded. Consequently, the blessings of the royal line were passed to Jacob.
Genesis 28:1-5
1 AND Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
2 Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother.
3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;
4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
5 And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.
Once again God confirms the blessings and covenants upon Jacob as had been done before for Isaac.
Genesis 28:12-15
12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I [am] the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
15 And, behold, I [am] with thee, and will keep thee in all [places] whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done [that] which I have spoken to thee of.
As a result of this validation from God, Jacob enhances the covenant between himself as the current head of the chosen bloodline and God. Jacob bargains with God and on condition that God will bless and protect him and his house, he will give one tenth, or a tithe in addition to the burnt offering sacrifice.
Genesis 28:20-22
20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
21 So that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 22 And this stone, which I have set [for] a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
This is the first scriptural record of tithing, but because of Jacob’s sworn addition to the covenant it should be continued through all the tribes of Israel from then on. At this time Jacob had eleven sons and one daughter of record by four mothers. In order of birth, they are:
Leah, Jacob’s first wife bore: Reuben Simeon Levi Judah
Bilhah, Rachael’s handmaid bore: Dan Naphtali
Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid bore: Gad Asher
Leah then bore: Issachar Zebulon
Rachael finally bore: Joseph
Tradition teaches that the offspring of these sons of Jacob will come to be known as the tribes of Israel, but it’s far more interesting than that. The Covenant and Blessings of the progeny of Adam and the authority of the royal bloodline so far, have traced down through the generations to Jacob. As it advanced through the ages it has been modified and had stipulations added at stages, which made some of the provisions selective to certain branches of the human family. Dominion was given and baptism required for all of Adam’s offspring. Additionally, sacrifice and burnt offerings were required until God would send a redeemer. With Abraham the requirement of circumcision is added and the blessings to follow that line are specifically stated. Namely, Abraham’s progeny will be vast throughout the rest of humanity; through his family, the people of the world will be blessed; kings would come of his line, and Canaan would be an inheritance for his family forever. Be aware that these blessings are pronounced upon Abraham and his generations of offspring, adoptees, and slaves or servants. These pronouncements did not apply to Seth, Enoch, or any other ancient Patriarch before Abraham. However, we do not know what pronouncements and blessings were promised any other patriarch or bloodline and they could receive the same kinds of blessings or different ones altogether. A specific example would be that the requirement of circumcision only applies to the families of Ishmael and Isaac. If you should ever run into a direct descendent of say, Methuselah, don’t be troubled if they are uncircumcised. It may not be one of their requirements. There doesn’t seem to be any additions made through Isaac, but with Jacob we have tithing and assumedly better heavenly protection. Here again, the requirement to tithe applies to those following Jacob, not those from Ishmael, Isaac, or Esau if their progeny are not later mixed with the blood of Jacob.
There is to be only one more significant blessing and responsibility addition included in the covenant of the royal bloodline. Dinah – Jacob’s daughter
Genesis 32:22-30
22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What [is] thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked [him], and said, Tell [me], I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore [is] it [that] thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
Although the King James translation says Jacob wrestled with God, but a much better translation made by a Hebrew linguist and translator renders it “the Divine.” The man or messenger Jacob wrestled with was undoubtedly an angel of God. The reasoning is simple. First, God Almighty is not likely to be bested in a wrestling match by a mortal and then refuse to give his name but second, and more importantly, it is definitely God who later confirms Jacob’s name change and blessing, which was pronounced by the messenger the morning of the struggle.
Genesis 35:9-12
9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
10 And God said unto him, Thy name [is] Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.
11 And God said unto him, I [am] God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
God would not have found it necessary to confirm a blessing He personally had already given. If you’ve ever wondered, why and when the dispute began over the holy land, it’s right here. The land of Canaan was given initially to the descendants of Abraham to include the descendants of Ishmael, Isaac, and Esau, but here God reserves it to only the bloodlines of Jacob who is now Israel. There is a slight amplification of the blessing Israel received at the hand of the messenger in the reiteration of the declaration that “kings shall come out of thy loins.” This phrase was told to Abraham before, but the blessings Israel pronounces over his sons will cause us to reexamine this statement. The next event is the birth of Benjamin.
Genesis 35:16-19
16 And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.
17 And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also.
18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin.
19 And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which [is] Bethlehem.
Ben-‘Owniy {ben-o-nee’} Hebrew: personal noun masculine Possible Definitions:
Ben-oni = “son of my sorrow”
1) the name given to Benjamin by Rachel Israel now has twelve sons, one wife, and two concubines. The next significant event is the sin of Reuben.
Genesis 35:22
22 And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard [it]. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: This will result in Reuben losing the firstborn birthright blessing. Similarly, Simeon will lose his standing in the family hierarchy because of his and Levi’s murderous rage, theft, rapes, and kidnappings in revenge of Dinah’s rape and kidnapping by Shechem.
Genesis 34:1-2&25-29
1 AND Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her…
25 And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males.
26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went out.
27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.
28 They took their sheep, and their oxen, and their asses, and that which [was] in the city, and that which [was] in the field,
29 And all their wealth, and all their little ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that [was] in the house. Joseph’s trouble with his brothers seems to exist because he was something of a tattletale, and Israel showed favoritism toward Joseph.
Genesis 37:2-4
2 These [are] the generations of Jacob. Joseph, [being] seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad [was] with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he [was] the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of [many] colours.
4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Here again the King James Bible translation might be less than accurate. The Torah, which is the Hebrew text and the source for the Book of Genesis, is better translated as “a fine woolen tunic,” instead of a “coat of many colors.” Archeological anthropology also supports the woolen tunic translation.
On top of everything else, Joseph has a dream and tells his brothers about it. Because the dream depicts an obvious allusion to the brothers bowing down to Joseph, they hate him more.
Genesis 37:5-11
5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told [it] his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
7 For, behold, we [were] binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
We are not told how many sheaves were in the dream, or how many brothers Joseph told of the dream directly. But Joseph had a second dream with much greater detail.
9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10 And he told [it] to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What [is] this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
It is not told how Joseph was depicted in this dream, but encircling him was the image of the sun, moon, and eleven stars, all paying homage to Joseph. Israel was at first insulted by the thought that he and his wife and his other sons would bow to his next to youngest boy. It might be asked why only one mother would be depicted when there were three? And why Israel would say Joseph’s “mother,” when Rachel, his actual mother was already dead? And if he was making reference to Rachel, why were there not at least two moons, when there were eleven stars? At the time Israel had only one wife, who was Leah, she had only four sons. The other mothers who came along later were concubines except for Rachael, and were not considered to be head mistresses of the family. It could be understood that the moon was Leah, but because of the obviously confusing imagery, Israel quelled his upset to see what further might be revealed. The brothers were not so gracious.
We know the story of how the brothers conspired to do away with Joseph. Most wanted to kill him, but Reuben intervened to spare his life. On the advice of Judah however, they did sell him to a passing caravan of Midianites. The Midianites in turn sold him to Potiphar the Egyptian captain of the Pharaoh’s guard. After being thrown into prison for a while, Joseph rose to prominence in Pharaoh’s court and was placed over the food stores collected against the impending famine. While in Egypt Joseph married and had two sons.
Genesis 41:50-52
50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, [said he], hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.
52 And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.
To avoid starvation Israel set his sons to buy corn from the Egyptians.
Genesis 42:3-6
3 And Joseph’s ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
4 But Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, Jacob sent not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief befall him.
5 And the sons of Israel came to buy [corn] among those that came: for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 And Joseph [was] the governor over the land, [and] he [it was] that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him [with] their faces to the earth.
This could be seen as the fulfillment of the first dream of Joseph. The symbolism is apt, in that the images in the dream were sheaves of grain. After Joseph and his father and his brothers are reconciled and Israel had returned to Canaan he was old and near death. When Joseph heard he came to Israel with his two sons.
Genesis 48:1-6
1 AND it came to pass after these things, that [one] told Joseph, Behold, thy father [is] sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And [one] told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee [for] an everlasting possession.
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.
6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, [and] shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
Here is where the sons of Israel become fourteen. Israel adopts Joseph’s sons Manasseh and Ephraim to be his own sons. They are to take the positions in Israel’s family that would have been Reuben’s and Simeon’s. Reuben and Simeon were not disowned, but were displaced in their status within the family structure only. Reuben would have been the birthright son and Simeon second. Joseph would have a bloodline claim on the children he sired after Ephraim and Manasseh, and they to him thereafter, but Joseph’s direct bloodline would have inheritance claims on real estate only through the other tribes. This is the beginning of the hidden bloodline to run throughout Israel from that day forward. Israel then blesses his newest sons.
Genesis 48:8-20
8 And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who [are] these?
9 And Joseph said unto his father, They [are] my sons, whom God hath given me in this [place]. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, [so that] he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought [them] near unto him.
14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid [it] upon Ephraim’s head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh [was] the firstborn.
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.
18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this [is] the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19 And his father refused, and said, I know [it], my son, I know [it]: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
Israel then pronounces Joseph’s personal inheritance of land.
Genesis 48:21&22
21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
Sensing death is near; Israel calls his sons together to pronounce his prophecies and blessings. It is here that Israel parses the blessings and authorities of the royal bloodline given to him from his father Isaac into several genealogies.
Genesis 49:1-28
1 AND Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you [that] which shall befall you in the last days.
2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
Reuben
3 Reuben, thou [art] my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou [it]: he went up to my couch.
Simeon & Levi
5 Simeon and Levi [are] brethren; instruments of cruelty [are in] their habitations.
6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
7 Cursed [be] their anger, for [it was] fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
Judah
8 Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
9 Judah [is] a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be].
11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
12 His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
Zebulon
13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he [shall be] for an haven of ships;
and his border [shall be] unto Zidon.
Issachar
14 Issachar [is as] a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
15 And he saw that rest [was] good, and the land that [it was] pleasant; and bowed his
shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
Dan
16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 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.
Gad
19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
Asher
20 Out of Asher his bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
Naphtali
21 Naphtali [is] a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
Joseph
22 Joseph [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall:
23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated him:
24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) 25 [Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
Benjamin
27 Benjamin shall ravin [as] a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
28 All these [are] the twelve tribes of Israel: and this [is it] that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
This statement in verse 28 is how it has been handed down, spelling out twelve tribes of Israel, but the full narrative paints a different picture, and as we will see, the prophets knew better, but the scribes almost always figured out some way to only list twelve.
Joseph’s blessing carries several not-so-obvious meanings. The first is the imagery of a fruitful bough next to a well whose branches reach over the wall. Some may imagine the image of a well shaft, circled by a small circumference stone wall with a framework above the opening to support a pulley, through which a rope and bucket are suspended. Actually, in those days a wall would have run around the vineyard and the well would have been an open hole or pit with some kind of dipping apparatus. Water or sea is most often representative of humanity in religious metaphor. The meaning would likely be that branches of the bloodline of Joseph would spread beyond the boundaries of the tribes of Israel into many nations and peoples.
Next is the somewhat cryptic saying that from Joseph would come the shepherd, the stone of Israel. Joseph is blessed that the Savior would come through his hidden bloodline. And now it also becomes clear why Joseph’s bloodline should be hidden in the first place. There are many instances of Christ being referred to as the Shepherd. Jesus calls himself the shepherd and even the Good Shepherd. He is also referred to as the stone, or corner stone of Israel. These references are many, but the simplest and clearest is the following.
D&C 50:41-45
41 Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me;
42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost.
43 And the Father and I are one. I am in the Father and the Father in me; and inasmuch as ye have received me, ye are in me and I in you.
44 Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall.
45 And the day cometh that you shall hear my voice and see me, and know that I am.
In the very next, and last statement in Joseph’s blessing is in verse 26, Israel states that he is passing to Joseph what only he received, which was beyond what Abraham and Isaac ever had. Now we have a much better idea of what the blessing was that Israel received when he wrestled with an angel and had his hip dislocated. It was the promise that his bloodline of shepherds, hidden within the other tribes of Israel, would bring forth the greatest shepherd of all as well as others, who would all be rescuers of the children of Israel and lead them from whatever type of bondage that might ensnare them throughout the following ages.
These assertions seem bold, but Joseph Smith amplifies some of what is in the King James Bible.
JST Genesis 48:8-11
8 Therefore, O my son, he hath blessed me in raising thee up to be a servant unto me, in saving my house from death;
9 In delivering my people, thy brethren, from famine which was sore in the land; wherefore the God of thy fathers shall bless thee, and the fruit of thy loins, that they shall be blessed above thy brethren, and above thy father’s house;
10 For thou hast prevailed, and thy father’s house hath bowed down unto thee, even as it was shown unto thee, before thou wast sold into Egypt by the hands of thy brethren; wherefore thy brethren shall bow down unto thee, from generation to generation, unto the fruit of thy loins forever;
11 For thou shalt be a light unto my people, to deliver them in the days of their captivity, from bondage; and to bring salvation unto them, when they are altogether bowed down under sin.
JST Genesis 50:29
29 And I will make him great in mine eyes, for he shall do my work; and he shall be great like unto him whom I have said I would raise up unto you, to deliver my people, O house of Israel, out of the land of Egypt; for a seer will I raise up to deliver my people out of the land of Egypt; and he shall be called Moses. And by this name he shall know that he is of thy house; for he shall be nursed by the king’s daughter, and shall be called her son.
By this we now know that Moses was also of the hidden bloodline of Joseph.
The following is now the list of Israel’s sons in the order of standing and blessings specified by Israel with Ephraim and Manasseh superseding Reuben and Simeon.
Ephraim – Birthright Son
Manasseh
Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Judah – Enforcer and Lawgiver Zebulon
Issachar
Dan
Gad
Asher
Naphtali
Joseph – Blessed above all others Benjamin
Genesis 50:15-19
15 And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. 16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we [be] thy servants.
19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for [am] I in the place of God?
It is with this occurrence that Joseph’s second dream is beginning to be fulfilled. The stars represent all of the tribes of Israel. Israel, Rachel and Leah are now dead. So, the dream they all misunderstood when it was received can be clearly understood now. The figures of Joseph’s second dream represent bloodlines or tribes. The tribe of Joseph stands in the middle. From Joseph’s bloodline will come shepherds over the house of
Israel, as was Joseph in his day. The sun of Joseph’s dream represents the Birthright lineage of Ephraim. The moon represents the next most honorable tribe of Judah. The remaining eleven stars represent the rest of the tribes of Israel.
As we shall see, many places in the remainder of the Bible the tribes of Israel are listed, but never the same ones and never in the same order.
Numbers 1 Reuben Simeon Judah Issachar Zebulon Ephraim Manasseh Benjamin Dan Asher Gad Naphtali 12
MISSING Levi Joseph
Deut 33 Reuben Judah Levi Benjamin Joseph Ephraim Manasseh Zebulon Gad Dan Naphtali Asher 12
MISSING Simeon Issachar
1Chron 27 Reuben Simeon Levi Aaron Judah Issachar Zebulon Naphtali Ephraim Manasseh Benjamin Dan
MISSING Gad Asher
Ezekiel 48 Dan Asher Naphtali Manasseh Ephraim Reuben Judah Levi Benjamin Simeon Issachar Zebulon Gad
MISSING Joseph
Rev 7 Judah Reuben Gad Asher Naphtali Manasseh Simeon Levi Issachar Zebulon Joseph Benjamin 12
MISSING Ephraim Dan
Tradition and the writers of the Bible insist there are twelve tribes of Israel, but it seems to be rather haphazard as to which ones are left out to make the numbers work. In reality, as attested to by the lists above, there are fourteen tribes of Israel as exposed by the writers of the Bible, be they prophets or historical scribes.
Furthermore, in terms of status and then seniority the list would be arranged as follows:
Joseph – Most blessed and hidden bloodline Ephraim – Birthright son (sun)
Judah – Enforcer and lawgiver (moon)
(stars) Ruben Simeon Levi Dan Naphtali Gad Asher Issachar Zebulon Benjamin Manasseh
SOJ
