Post by Tom Green on Jan 28, 2007 12:01:18 GMT -5
Will the Antichrist Be From the Tribe of Dan?
by Gary Stearman
"The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan" (Jeremiah 8:16).
In the seventh chapter of Revelation, twelve thousand are chosen from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. From the list of Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manassah, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph and Benjamin, the tribe of Dan is glaringly omitted.
Because of this and other reasons, to be discussed later, many Christians have concluded that the Antichrist will come from the tribe of Dan. This, they say, stands to reason, because his Hebrew tribal connection would make him more acceptable to the Jews.
Others, however, have emphatically pointed out that the Antichrist is presented in Scripture as a Gentile. In the Scripture passage quoted below, the prophet Daniel identifies him as being of Roman descent. Because of this, they insist that he cannot be a Jew, much less a member of the tribe of Dan.
One point of view declares that the Antichrist is simply a metaphor for an idea or a movement that represents generalized evil, which has been with us in every generation. This we reject on the basis that Scripture portrays him as a real individual, destined to arise sometime in the future. Within the context of unfolding events, he is an identifiable human individual who comes to fulfill specific prophecies, some having to do with Gentiles, some with the Jews.
As it has for centuries, speculation about the identity of the Antichrist rages on. No doubt, it will continue until he is finally revealed, to the horror of the House of David and the myriads who will become Christians during the Tribulation Period. Much has been said about his identity, but he remains the greatest mystery figure of the ages. Since first being mentioned by the prophet Daniel, and later, by the Apostles, there has been a continual effort to identify him, his ancestry, or his genetic lineage.
From Antiochus IV Epiphanes to Nero to Hitler to Ronald Reagan, a voluminous list of Antichrist types and candidates springs forth, exhibiting characteristics that range from the horrific to the humorous. This study is intended to add a little food for thought to those who believe that the Antichrist is a real man who will be revealed in the future as the most abhorrent despot of the last days.
In Daniel’s prophecy he is the "little horn" (Daniel 7:8), who arises from among the ten great horns of the fourth beast empire. In the same verse, he is called, "a mouth speaking great things." Horns symbolize political powers, so he must be seen as a leading political figure of this day, and an orator of great skill.
In the ninth chapter of his prophecy, Daniel makes a statement about the Antichrist’s lineage. It pointedly asserts that he will be a Gentile of Roman descent:
"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Daniel 9:26,27).
Here, we have a prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. It was fulfilled in A.D. 70, when the Romans under Vespasian and Titus attacked the city. These Romans are the "people" (genetic progenitors) of the "prince that shall come," who is also mentioned in the following verse: "… he shall confirm the covenant."
Without a doubt, this emerging prince is the one whom John refers to in the New Testament as the "antichrist," here called "he" who "shall confirm the covenant."
Daniel asserts that he will be a direct descendant of the conquering Flavian Dynasty. Its emperors were Vespasian (Reign: A.D. 69-79), Titus (Reign: A.D. 79-81) and Domitian (Reign: 81-96). They came from upper-class Italian landholders. You can hardly be any more Gentile than that.
But that doesn’t end the question. Being descended from the Roman bloodline of the Flavian dynasty does not exclude the possibility that their ancient family tree may contain a branch from the tribe of Dan. As we shall see, it is quite within the realm of possibility that he carries both the Flavian bloodline of Rome and that of the ancient tribe of Dan.
At this point, we shall raise a key question: How likely is it that the Antichrist will be a Danite, and still be a Gentile?
The Wandering Dan
Dan’s destiny is dark and foreboding. An ancient prophecy – unfulfilled to this day – marks the Danite pathway through time in a most unusual way:
"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" (Genesis 49:16,17).
The name Dan comes from din [ihs], the root word for judgment. But from the very first, the house of Dan is cast in a negative light. This presents a riddle: How can a tribe that we now view as vacillating, weak and faithless ever act in any way to judge the tribes of Israel? Yet this is his role, designed by God in ages past to be played out at some future time.
Has Dan ever judged his people? Certainly not in the ultimate way predicted in Scripture. Samson, for example, was a Danite judge, but his weak-willed and vacillating ways never brought judgment upon national Israel.
Being in a position to judge someone else implies superiority and control. From the beginning, the tribe of Dan was cast as the hapless victim. The tribes received their land inheritances by lot. Dan’s lot was the seventh.
His territory lay along the Mediterranean coast, from Joppa southward about twenty miles, then inland perhaps ten to fifteen miles, bordering Benjamin and Ephraim on the east. It was a small parcel of land, contested by the Philistines. In the end, instead of fighting them, Dan departed northward to Laish in the territory of today’s southern Lebanon. There, they found a peaceful, undefended city, an easy target in a beautiful land. In the following Scripture, Laish is called Leshem:
"And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father" (Joshua 19:47).
The book of Judges gives the details of Dan’s northern migration. First, they ventured northward into the land of Judah and the village of Kirjath-jearim. Then they went into north-central Israel and the territory around mount Ephraim.
Finally, they came to Laish. On their way, they stole religious objects belonging to Micah, the Ephraimite, which they intended to use for themselves. They hadn’t found the will to defend their given territory against the Philistines, but here in Laish, they found a peaceful people who were too weak to defend themselves:
"And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
"And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
"And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
"And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land" (Judges 18:27-30).
On the basis of its small size and indefensibility, Dan had abandoned its original land grant and had sought a better place. Now, they lived in the north. Their residence there apparently continued to the days of David and Solomon.
When the first biblical book of the Chronicles was composed, the royal historian opened its first eight chapters with a recounting of Israel’s history from the creation of Adam to the settling of the tribes. Dating from around 1056 B.C., the book of First Chronicles leaves out the tribe of Dan. It seems that the Danite disappearance had already begun, though some still remained in the general area for several years.
As Solomon prepared to build the Temple, he made a request of Hiram (also called Huram), King of Tyre. This ancient King was in the import-export trade, and had access not only to building materials, but also to skilled artisans of every description. He answered Solomon’s request, and in the process, gave us a clue about Dan:
"And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father’s,
"The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father" (II Chronicles 2:13,14).
This Scripture tells us that at the turn of the tenth century, B.C., the Danites were still a presence in the territory of Tyre (modern Lebanon). They were obviously well known to Hiram, and had probably begun to blend in with Hiram’s Phoenician society. Like the men of Tyre, the Danites were known as sailors. In a verse from the Song of Deborah and Barak, they are depicted as such:
"Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches" (Judges 5:17).
Given their past history of migration, they would have easily adapted to Mediterranean travel. Furthermore, they drifted into infamous idolatry. Dan is referenced again in the ninth century B.C., this time in connection with the worst sort of idol worship, during the reign of king Jehu:
"Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan" (II Kings 10:29).
During this period, the ten northern tribes of Israel lived in peace and grew in wealth. Unfortunately, this had the effect of progressively turning them away from God. They grew fat, lazy and rich by trading in the marketplaces brought to them through the trade routes to the north.
They did business with the Assyrians, too. But after a time, the Assyrian kings saw them as easy prey for conquest. In 722 B.C., under king Shalmaneser and later, Sargon, the northern kingdom of Israel was overthrown. The Israelites were deported to regions in the north and northwest. The "Ten Lost Tribes" merged into the populations of the territories today known as Turkey, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and the surrounding regions.
From there, they disappeared from the pages of history. Only Judah, Benjamin and Levi continued to populate Israel. Today, representatives from all of these tribes have returned to Israel, but Dan seems to have completely disappeared as a discrete and identifiable tribe.
Greek Jews?
Were it not for a quirk of history, we would have absolutely no clue about their whereabouts during this tumultuous period. In the textual collection called The Apocrypha, The First Book of the Maccabees gives the history of Jewish struggles against the Grecian Seleucid dynasty, which includes the reign of the house of Antiochus. Seleucus I was one of the four generals under Alexander the Great.
His son, Antiochus I, called "Soter," began his reign in Syrian territory about 293 B.C. His goal and that of his successors was to progressively Hellenize the region under a system of Graeco-Roman cults and idols, and to bring Greek culture to its maximum in the region.
This Seleucid Greek dynasty rose to its maximum level of despotism during the reign of the infamous Antiochus IV, called "Epiphanes," meaning "the great." This evil man sought to eradicate Jewish worship and culture once and for all. Of course, he is known as the great type of the Antichrist. The heroic Maccabean Jews overthrew him in 164 B.C.
Years of war followed, as the Seleucids and the Romans conspired in one way or another to take the territory of the Jews and complete the work of destroying their religion. In 152 B.C., Jonathan Maccabeus assumed rule in Jerusalem, as monarch and high priest. He continued the battle against the Seleucids, using their continual political infighting against them.
Of utmost importance, he managed to promote peaceful relations with Rome, as well as the Spartan Greeks. This historic fact is preserved in First Maccabees in an exchange of letters with the Spartans. And here, we learn something quite important about these Greeks. The narrative begins in First Maccabees 12:1:
"Jonathan now saw his opportunity and sent picked men on a mission to Rome to confirm and renew the treaty of friendship with that city. He sent letters to the same effect to Sparta and to other places. The envoys traveled to Rome and went to the Senate House to deliver their message: ‘Jonathan the High Priest and the Jewish people have sent us to renew their former pact of friendship and alliance.’ The Romans gave them letters requiring the authorities in each place to give them safe conduct to Judea.
"Here follows a transcript of the letter which Jonathan wrote to the Spartans:
"Jonathan the High Priest, the Senate of the Jews, the priests, and the rest of the Jewish people, to our brothers of Sparta, greeting.
"On a previous occasion a letter was sent to Onias the High Priest from Arius your king, acknowledging our kinship; a copy is given below. Onias welcomed your envoy with full honours and received the letter in which the terms of the alliance and friendship were set forth. We do not regard ourselves as needing such alliances, since our support is the holy books in our possessions. Nevertheless, we now venture to send and renew our pact of brotherhood and friendship with you, so that we may not become estranged, for it is many years since you wrote to us. We never lose any opportunity, on festal and other appropriate days, of remembering you at our sacrifices and in our prayers, as it is right and proper to remember kinsmen; and we rejoice at your fame. We ourselves have been under the pressure of hostile attacks on every side; all the surrounding kings have made war upon us. In the course of these wars we had no wish to trouble you or the rest of our allies and friends: we have the aid of Heaven to support us, and so we have been saved from our enemies, and they have been humbled. Accordingly, we chose Numenius son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, and have sent them to the Romans to renew our former friendship and alliance with them. We instructed them to go to you also with our greetings, and to deliver this letter about the renewal of our pact of brotherhood. And now we pray you to send us a reply to this letter.
"This is a copy of the letter sent by the Spartans to Onias:
"Arius, King of Sparta, to Onias the High Priest, greeting.
"A document has come to light which shows that Spartans and Jews are kinsmen, descended alike from Abraham. Now that we have learnt this, we beg you to write and tell us how your affairs prosper. The message we return to you is, ‘What is yours, your cattle and every kind of property, is ours, and what is ours is yours,’ and we have therefore instructed our envoys to report to you in these terms" (First Maccabees 12:1-23). [Above quotes from The New English Bible, Oxford Univ. Press, 1961, 1970, pp. 238, 239]
Writing in the second century before Christ, the king of Sparta proclaims to the leaders of the Jews in Israel that he has a document proving that the Spartans are Jews. This document — now long lost — was probably some sort of genealogy. It implies that the Spartans could be one of the "lost tribes" of Israel. But which one?
A record in Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews gives perspective to this letter. It reads as follows:
"AREUS, KING OF THE LACEDEMONIANS, TO ONIAS, SENDETH GREETING
"We have met with a certain writing, whereby we have discovered that both the Jews and the Lacedemonians are of one stock, and are derived from the kindred of Abraham. It is but just, therefore, that you, who are our brethren, should send to us about any of your concerns as you please. We will also do the same thing, and esteem your concerns as our own, and will look upon our concerns as in common with yours. Demotoles, who brings you this letter, will bring your answer back to us. This letter is four-square; and the seal is an eagle, with a dragon in his claws." [Boldfacing added. Antiquities, XII, iv, 10]
Here, the Spartans are called Lacedemonians, the place name of their habitation in the southern Peloponnesian Peninsula. Even the ancient Greeks regarded these people as mysterious in their origins. They, themselves, said they were of the stock of Abraham.
Note the concluding sentence in the above quote. It is a statement of validation, noting the shape of the document, lest someone should try to alter it by trimming off a section. Also, it is sealed with the signet of the Spartans/Lacedemonians. This seal is an eagle with a dragon in its claws.
The following quote from Unger’s Bible Dictionary is truly stunning in its implications: "Dan’s position in the journey was on the north of the Tabernacle, with Asher and Naphtali. The standard of the tribe was of white and red, and the crest upon it, an eagle, the great foe to serpents, which had been chosen by the leader instead of a serpent, because Jacob had compared Dan to a serpent. Ahiezer substituted the eagle, the destroyer of serpents, as he shrank from carrying the adder upon his flag."
This seal is exactly that of the mysterious Spartans/Lacedemonians! History tells us that by the mid-sixth century B.C., the southern tip of the Peloponnesian Peninsula was held by the Spartans. This would have been about fifty to seventy-five years after the Assyrian invasion of Israel that scattered the ten northern tribes. In all likelihood, the Danites fled eastward to ancient Greece and established a firm presence there.
Homer’s Iliad refers to the Spartans as Danaans, and that they helped win the war against Troy around 1250 B.C. Greek history tells of two origins for the Danaans. One report says that Danaus, king of the Danaans, had come from Egypt, while another says that he arrived by ship from Phoenecia. This corresponds with the history of the migrating Danites. They left Egypt with Moses, spent 40 years in the wilderness, helped conquer the Promised Land, then settled in the Phoenician city of Laish. From there, being sailors, they soon disappeared as a viable and recognizable Israelite tribe.
In an apocryphal writing entitled, "The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs," each of the sons of Jacob supposedly give prophecies to their children from their deathbeds, as their father, Jacob, did in Genesis 49. It is recorded that the dying Dan told his children, "I know that in the last days you will defect from the Lord …. I read in the Book of Enoch the Righteous that your prince is Satan" (James Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 1, p. 809).
History also reveals the name Sparta was attached to the Danaans around 950 B.C., when they united four villages into a single government. By about 550 B.C. the vigorous and efficient Spartan way of life brought victory on the battlefield and toughness to their society. The Spartans were somewhat isolated and individualistic, even speaking their own Doric dialect of Greek. Finally, they were wholly given over to the worship of pagan gods and goddesses.
In 1876, Heinrich Schliemann, the excavator of Troy, made an incredible discovery at Mycenae, ancient capital of the Spartans, located some 35 miles southwest of Athens. He found the royal tombs of the Spartan kings. There were long shafts leading to vaulted ceilings built at the foot of a mountain that has the shape of a pyramid. The tombs contained a treasure trove of swords and Egyptian gold. Among the tombstones were three with engravings that looked like Pharaoh’s army being drowned in the Red Sea!
by Gary Stearman
"The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan" (Jeremiah 8:16).
In the seventh chapter of Revelation, twelve thousand are chosen from each of the twelve tribes of Israel. From the list of Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manassah, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph and Benjamin, the tribe of Dan is glaringly omitted.
Because of this and other reasons, to be discussed later, many Christians have concluded that the Antichrist will come from the tribe of Dan. This, they say, stands to reason, because his Hebrew tribal connection would make him more acceptable to the Jews.
Others, however, have emphatically pointed out that the Antichrist is presented in Scripture as a Gentile. In the Scripture passage quoted below, the prophet Daniel identifies him as being of Roman descent. Because of this, they insist that he cannot be a Jew, much less a member of the tribe of Dan.
One point of view declares that the Antichrist is simply a metaphor for an idea or a movement that represents generalized evil, which has been with us in every generation. This we reject on the basis that Scripture portrays him as a real individual, destined to arise sometime in the future. Within the context of unfolding events, he is an identifiable human individual who comes to fulfill specific prophecies, some having to do with Gentiles, some with the Jews.
As it has for centuries, speculation about the identity of the Antichrist rages on. No doubt, it will continue until he is finally revealed, to the horror of the House of David and the myriads who will become Christians during the Tribulation Period. Much has been said about his identity, but he remains the greatest mystery figure of the ages. Since first being mentioned by the prophet Daniel, and later, by the Apostles, there has been a continual effort to identify him, his ancestry, or his genetic lineage.
From Antiochus IV Epiphanes to Nero to Hitler to Ronald Reagan, a voluminous list of Antichrist types and candidates springs forth, exhibiting characteristics that range from the horrific to the humorous. This study is intended to add a little food for thought to those who believe that the Antichrist is a real man who will be revealed in the future as the most abhorrent despot of the last days.
In Daniel’s prophecy he is the "little horn" (Daniel 7:8), who arises from among the ten great horns of the fourth beast empire. In the same verse, he is called, "a mouth speaking great things." Horns symbolize political powers, so he must be seen as a leading political figure of this day, and an orator of great skill.
In the ninth chapter of his prophecy, Daniel makes a statement about the Antichrist’s lineage. It pointedly asserts that he will be a Gentile of Roman descent:
"And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate" (Daniel 9:26,27).
Here, we have a prophecy concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. It was fulfilled in A.D. 70, when the Romans under Vespasian and Titus attacked the city. These Romans are the "people" (genetic progenitors) of the "prince that shall come," who is also mentioned in the following verse: "… he shall confirm the covenant."
Without a doubt, this emerging prince is the one whom John refers to in the New Testament as the "antichrist," here called "he" who "shall confirm the covenant."
Daniel asserts that he will be a direct descendant of the conquering Flavian Dynasty. Its emperors were Vespasian (Reign: A.D. 69-79), Titus (Reign: A.D. 79-81) and Domitian (Reign: 81-96). They came from upper-class Italian landholders. You can hardly be any more Gentile than that.
But that doesn’t end the question. Being descended from the Roman bloodline of the Flavian dynasty does not exclude the possibility that their ancient family tree may contain a branch from the tribe of Dan. As we shall see, it is quite within the realm of possibility that he carries both the Flavian bloodline of Rome and that of the ancient tribe of Dan.
At this point, we shall raise a key question: How likely is it that the Antichrist will be a Danite, and still be a Gentile?
The Wandering Dan
Dan’s destiny is dark and foreboding. An ancient prophecy – unfulfilled to this day – marks the Danite pathway through time in a most unusual way:
"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" (Genesis 49:16,17).
The name Dan comes from din [ihs], the root word for judgment. But from the very first, the house of Dan is cast in a negative light. This presents a riddle: How can a tribe that we now view as vacillating, weak and faithless ever act in any way to judge the tribes of Israel? Yet this is his role, designed by God in ages past to be played out at some future time.
Has Dan ever judged his people? Certainly not in the ultimate way predicted in Scripture. Samson, for example, was a Danite judge, but his weak-willed and vacillating ways never brought judgment upon national Israel.
Being in a position to judge someone else implies superiority and control. From the beginning, the tribe of Dan was cast as the hapless victim. The tribes received their land inheritances by lot. Dan’s lot was the seventh.
His territory lay along the Mediterranean coast, from Joppa southward about twenty miles, then inland perhaps ten to fifteen miles, bordering Benjamin and Ephraim on the east. It was a small parcel of land, contested by the Philistines. In the end, instead of fighting them, Dan departed northward to Laish in the territory of today’s southern Lebanon. There, they found a peaceful, undefended city, an easy target in a beautiful land. In the following Scripture, Laish is called Leshem:
"And the coast of the children of Dan went out too little for them: therefore the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father" (Joshua 19:47).
The book of Judges gives the details of Dan’s northern migration. First, they ventured northward into the land of Judah and the village of Kirjath-jearim. Then they went into north-central Israel and the territory around mount Ephraim.
Finally, they came to Laish. On their way, they stole religious objects belonging to Micah, the Ephraimite, which they intended to use for themselves. They hadn’t found the will to defend their given territory against the Philistines, but here in Laish, they found a peaceful people who were too weak to defend themselves:
"And they took the things which Micah had made, and the priest which he had, and came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure: and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire.
"And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein.
"And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
"And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land" (Judges 18:27-30).
On the basis of its small size and indefensibility, Dan had abandoned its original land grant and had sought a better place. Now, they lived in the north. Their residence there apparently continued to the days of David and Solomon.
When the first biblical book of the Chronicles was composed, the royal historian opened its first eight chapters with a recounting of Israel’s history from the creation of Adam to the settling of the tribes. Dating from around 1056 B.C., the book of First Chronicles leaves out the tribe of Dan. It seems that the Danite disappearance had already begun, though some still remained in the general area for several years.
As Solomon prepared to build the Temple, he made a request of Hiram (also called Huram), King of Tyre. This ancient King was in the import-export trade, and had access not only to building materials, but also to skilled artisans of every description. He answered Solomon’s request, and in the process, gave us a clue about Dan:
"And now I have sent a cunning man, endued with understanding, of Huram my father’s,
"The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre, skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of graving, and to find out every device which shall be put to him, with thy cunning men, and with the cunning men of my lord David thy father" (II Chronicles 2:13,14).
This Scripture tells us that at the turn of the tenth century, B.C., the Danites were still a presence in the territory of Tyre (modern Lebanon). They were obviously well known to Hiram, and had probably begun to blend in with Hiram’s Phoenician society. Like the men of Tyre, the Danites were known as sailors. In a verse from the Song of Deborah and Barak, they are depicted as such:
"Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches" (Judges 5:17).
Given their past history of migration, they would have easily adapted to Mediterranean travel. Furthermore, they drifted into infamous idolatry. Dan is referenced again in the ninth century B.C., this time in connection with the worst sort of idol worship, during the reign of king Jehu:
"Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan" (II Kings 10:29).
During this period, the ten northern tribes of Israel lived in peace and grew in wealth. Unfortunately, this had the effect of progressively turning them away from God. They grew fat, lazy and rich by trading in the marketplaces brought to them through the trade routes to the north.
They did business with the Assyrians, too. But after a time, the Assyrian kings saw them as easy prey for conquest. In 722 B.C., under king Shalmaneser and later, Sargon, the northern kingdom of Israel was overthrown. The Israelites were deported to regions in the north and northwest. The "Ten Lost Tribes" merged into the populations of the territories today known as Turkey, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and the surrounding regions.
From there, they disappeared from the pages of history. Only Judah, Benjamin and Levi continued to populate Israel. Today, representatives from all of these tribes have returned to Israel, but Dan seems to have completely disappeared as a discrete and identifiable tribe.
Greek Jews?
Were it not for a quirk of history, we would have absolutely no clue about their whereabouts during this tumultuous period. In the textual collection called The Apocrypha, The First Book of the Maccabees gives the history of Jewish struggles against the Grecian Seleucid dynasty, which includes the reign of the house of Antiochus. Seleucus I was one of the four generals under Alexander the Great.
His son, Antiochus I, called "Soter," began his reign in Syrian territory about 293 B.C. His goal and that of his successors was to progressively Hellenize the region under a system of Graeco-Roman cults and idols, and to bring Greek culture to its maximum in the region.
This Seleucid Greek dynasty rose to its maximum level of despotism during the reign of the infamous Antiochus IV, called "Epiphanes," meaning "the great." This evil man sought to eradicate Jewish worship and culture once and for all. Of course, he is known as the great type of the Antichrist. The heroic Maccabean Jews overthrew him in 164 B.C.
Years of war followed, as the Seleucids and the Romans conspired in one way or another to take the territory of the Jews and complete the work of destroying their religion. In 152 B.C., Jonathan Maccabeus assumed rule in Jerusalem, as monarch and high priest. He continued the battle against the Seleucids, using their continual political infighting against them.
Of utmost importance, he managed to promote peaceful relations with Rome, as well as the Spartan Greeks. This historic fact is preserved in First Maccabees in an exchange of letters with the Spartans. And here, we learn something quite important about these Greeks. The narrative begins in First Maccabees 12:1:
"Jonathan now saw his opportunity and sent picked men on a mission to Rome to confirm and renew the treaty of friendship with that city. He sent letters to the same effect to Sparta and to other places. The envoys traveled to Rome and went to the Senate House to deliver their message: ‘Jonathan the High Priest and the Jewish people have sent us to renew their former pact of friendship and alliance.’ The Romans gave them letters requiring the authorities in each place to give them safe conduct to Judea.
"Here follows a transcript of the letter which Jonathan wrote to the Spartans:
"Jonathan the High Priest, the Senate of the Jews, the priests, and the rest of the Jewish people, to our brothers of Sparta, greeting.
"On a previous occasion a letter was sent to Onias the High Priest from Arius your king, acknowledging our kinship; a copy is given below. Onias welcomed your envoy with full honours and received the letter in which the terms of the alliance and friendship were set forth. We do not regard ourselves as needing such alliances, since our support is the holy books in our possessions. Nevertheless, we now venture to send and renew our pact of brotherhood and friendship with you, so that we may not become estranged, for it is many years since you wrote to us. We never lose any opportunity, on festal and other appropriate days, of remembering you at our sacrifices and in our prayers, as it is right and proper to remember kinsmen; and we rejoice at your fame. We ourselves have been under the pressure of hostile attacks on every side; all the surrounding kings have made war upon us. In the course of these wars we had no wish to trouble you or the rest of our allies and friends: we have the aid of Heaven to support us, and so we have been saved from our enemies, and they have been humbled. Accordingly, we chose Numenius son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, and have sent them to the Romans to renew our former friendship and alliance with them. We instructed them to go to you also with our greetings, and to deliver this letter about the renewal of our pact of brotherhood. And now we pray you to send us a reply to this letter.
"This is a copy of the letter sent by the Spartans to Onias:
"Arius, King of Sparta, to Onias the High Priest, greeting.
"A document has come to light which shows that Spartans and Jews are kinsmen, descended alike from Abraham. Now that we have learnt this, we beg you to write and tell us how your affairs prosper. The message we return to you is, ‘What is yours, your cattle and every kind of property, is ours, and what is ours is yours,’ and we have therefore instructed our envoys to report to you in these terms" (First Maccabees 12:1-23). [Above quotes from The New English Bible, Oxford Univ. Press, 1961, 1970, pp. 238, 239]
Writing in the second century before Christ, the king of Sparta proclaims to the leaders of the Jews in Israel that he has a document proving that the Spartans are Jews. This document — now long lost — was probably some sort of genealogy. It implies that the Spartans could be one of the "lost tribes" of Israel. But which one?
A record in Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews gives perspective to this letter. It reads as follows:
"AREUS, KING OF THE LACEDEMONIANS, TO ONIAS, SENDETH GREETING
"We have met with a certain writing, whereby we have discovered that both the Jews and the Lacedemonians are of one stock, and are derived from the kindred of Abraham. It is but just, therefore, that you, who are our brethren, should send to us about any of your concerns as you please. We will also do the same thing, and esteem your concerns as our own, and will look upon our concerns as in common with yours. Demotoles, who brings you this letter, will bring your answer back to us. This letter is four-square; and the seal is an eagle, with a dragon in his claws." [Boldfacing added. Antiquities, XII, iv, 10]
Here, the Spartans are called Lacedemonians, the place name of their habitation in the southern Peloponnesian Peninsula. Even the ancient Greeks regarded these people as mysterious in their origins. They, themselves, said they were of the stock of Abraham.
Note the concluding sentence in the above quote. It is a statement of validation, noting the shape of the document, lest someone should try to alter it by trimming off a section. Also, it is sealed with the signet of the Spartans/Lacedemonians. This seal is an eagle with a dragon in its claws.
The following quote from Unger’s Bible Dictionary is truly stunning in its implications: "Dan’s position in the journey was on the north of the Tabernacle, with Asher and Naphtali. The standard of the tribe was of white and red, and the crest upon it, an eagle, the great foe to serpents, which had been chosen by the leader instead of a serpent, because Jacob had compared Dan to a serpent. Ahiezer substituted the eagle, the destroyer of serpents, as he shrank from carrying the adder upon his flag."
This seal is exactly that of the mysterious Spartans/Lacedemonians! History tells us that by the mid-sixth century B.C., the southern tip of the Peloponnesian Peninsula was held by the Spartans. This would have been about fifty to seventy-five years after the Assyrian invasion of Israel that scattered the ten northern tribes. In all likelihood, the Danites fled eastward to ancient Greece and established a firm presence there.
Homer’s Iliad refers to the Spartans as Danaans, and that they helped win the war against Troy around 1250 B.C. Greek history tells of two origins for the Danaans. One report says that Danaus, king of the Danaans, had come from Egypt, while another says that he arrived by ship from Phoenecia. This corresponds with the history of the migrating Danites. They left Egypt with Moses, spent 40 years in the wilderness, helped conquer the Promised Land, then settled in the Phoenician city of Laish. From there, being sailors, they soon disappeared as a viable and recognizable Israelite tribe.
In an apocryphal writing entitled, "The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs," each of the sons of Jacob supposedly give prophecies to their children from their deathbeds, as their father, Jacob, did in Genesis 49. It is recorded that the dying Dan told his children, "I know that in the last days you will defect from the Lord …. I read in the Book of Enoch the Righteous that your prince is Satan" (James Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Vol. 1, p. 809).
History also reveals the name Sparta was attached to the Danaans around 950 B.C., when they united four villages into a single government. By about 550 B.C. the vigorous and efficient Spartan way of life brought victory on the battlefield and toughness to their society. The Spartans were somewhat isolated and individualistic, even speaking their own Doric dialect of Greek. Finally, they were wholly given over to the worship of pagan gods and goddesses.
In 1876, Heinrich Schliemann, the excavator of Troy, made an incredible discovery at Mycenae, ancient capital of the Spartans, located some 35 miles southwest of Athens. He found the royal tombs of the Spartan kings. There were long shafts leading to vaulted ceilings built at the foot of a mountain that has the shape of a pyramid. The tombs contained a treasure trove of swords and Egyptian gold. Among the tombstones were three with engravings that looked like Pharaoh’s army being drowned in the Red Sea!