The Tribes of Israel reconsidered: The new way into the New Jerusalem

by Rev. Michaël Merle

In Chapter 21 of The Revelation to John (The Book of the Apocalypse: Revelation) we read part of the description of the New Jerusalem (a picture of a mighty vision experienced by John in the Spiritual World: “The city has a great and high wall and twelve gates. And on the gates twelve angels, and names were written on them: the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.” (verse 12)

Jacob (who was later named Israel) had twelve sons from his two wives and their two handmaids. At Christmas 2022 the sermons for the Twelve Days of Christmas focused on one son in turn, considering their characteristic way as the start of an understanding of the twelve ways in which we can enter the New Jerusalem.

The way of Reuben:

We started on Christmas Day with Reuben, the first-born. This helps us understand the significance of recognising Christ as a first-born. The baby born at Christmas is the first-born of a new stage in humanity’s progress. Reuben prepares the way by representing the qualities of a first-born: the powerful energy of everything that comes first: first fruit, the first moment of the day, the beginning of every creative deed. Jacob recognises in Reuben the restlessness (constant motion) of water. This “way of water” reminds us of the power of motion and activity, like the movement and flow of water, that this movement (this flow, and ebb) brings power to our activities, and can be a source of life. If too intense the way of water can be destructive – as we know form the actions of floods and tsunamis. In synagogue art Reuben is often depicted as a rising sun, a reference to his being the first-born. He is also depicted by a bunch of mandrakes. This plant was considered a symbol of fertility. Reuben, in his birth, represents fertility and continuity. The birth of Christ is for us today the birth of our renewed continuity in human spiritual evolution: the way of the Christian, the way of the Christ-bearer. Reuben’s name in Hebrew means: “Behold a son”. This foreshadows the Christmas proclamation of the angelic world, that in Bethlehem on this day a son is born. Our Christmas proclamation from the altar alerts us to behold in Christ the bringer of the healing of the earthly human being. Christmas is, indeed, for us the turning-point of time, the first step in the way of our future human development.