Beryl- Dan
1. His Birth
Genesis 30:4-6- And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her. And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son. And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan. Dan means Judge.
Dan is the product of Jacob listening to his wife and bearing children through a concubine. You would think that, knowing the story of Sarah and Hagar, he would know that this wasn't the right way to do things. Rachel was impatient and jealous, and, perhaps, Jacob was tired of fighting to do things the right way. Rachel's actions revealed, not only her impatience, but also her lack of trust in God.
Her statement "God hath judged me" is more accurate than she knew. Galatians 6:7- Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. She would definitely reap, though she wouldn't presently see it. I Kings 12:28-10- Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And in Revelation 7, Dan is not listed among the tribes of Israel when the 144,000 were sealed.
2. The Patriarchal Blessing
Deuteronomy 33:16-18- 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. Dan is not judging as a superior, but as an equal.
It seems as though the waywardness in Rachel's heart was passed along to this family. Samson, a judge of Israel, was from the tribe of Dan. Endued with strength, this child of promise became a great type of a Christian living for their own fleshly desires (as Rachel did). He ends up fornicating with an harlot, Delilah, who manipulates him into giving up his secret. Her wiles strip him of his God given strength and through her he ends up a blind, slave in the house of the ungodly Philistines. His death was granted him by God, and yet even then it was a selfish prayer to avenge himself of the loss of his eyes.
Dan was a temptation for Israel to step away from the blessings of God and embrace the curse of idolatry. Those who travelled to Dan to worship the golden calf were certainly deceived by the serpent and destroyed by the fall! In the end, we see Jacob praying for a waited salvation! Perhaps this salvation was to a prayer to be saved from deceit?
3. The Mosaic Blessing
Deuteronomy 33:22- And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan. This could be prophecy of Dan attacking their neighboring people to gain more land for their tribe in Joshua 19. Though, I think it's a warning. In Numbers 21, the King of Bashan came out to attack the children of Israel when Moses was leading them. God allowed Israel to slaughter them and their land was given as an inheritance to 2 and a half tribes of Israel. The Prophetical Psalmist says of Bashan in Psalm 22:12-13- Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. Psalm 22 is a prophecy of Christ's crucifixion. And the devil is also likened to an attacking lion in I Peter 5:8- Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: In light of these verses, I believe that Moses was warning the children of Israel that Dan would be a stumbling block to them.
4. The Stone Beryl in the Breastplate
This is a very hard stone whose name means to break or subdue. Dan's sin of the calf was the breaking point of Israel.
