When Moses came to bless the tribe of Nephtali he said: “Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the Lord and is full of his blessing; he will inherit southward to the lake.” (Deuteronomy 33:23)
OLDER LESSONS ON NAPHTALI
We have studied the tribe of Naphtali in this bible study before. Below are recaps of the lessons that mention this tribe:
MORE BACKGROUND ON NAPHTALI
This certainly sounds like a positive blessing; but what does it really mean?
For starters; we know that Naphtali was Jacob’s sixth son. He was the second of the two sons of Rachel’s maidservant named Bilhah. Dan was Nephali’s older brother.
This blessing is very different than the blessing of Dan though. Rachel picked the name of Naphtali because it meant “vindicated after struggling.” She had struggled with Leah over who would bear the most sons to Jacob; and with Naphtali the count went higher for Rachel.
COMPARE TO JACOB’S BLESSING
Naphtali grew up and fathered four sons. He moved his family to Egypt when Jacob moved there. They were escaping the great famine.
When Jacob died he gave this blessing to Naphtali: “Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns.” (Genesis 49:21)
When the Tribe of Naphtali was counted in the census in the wilderness there were 53,400 adult males who were battle-ready. After wondering in the wilderness for many years the count was reduced to 45,400 men.
LATER HISTORY OF NAPHTALI
True to the blessing above from Moses; The Tribe of Naphtali settled in northern Canaan in the high regions west and northwest of the Sea of Galilee. Naphtali conquered the region but did not drive out the Canaanites. Instead the Canaanites were subjected to forced labor. The Judge named Deborah was a descendant of Nephtali. She appointed leaders to fight against Jabin, King of Hazor.
The Tribe of Naphtali also joined forces with Gideon as he led several of the tribes of Israel against the Midianites and the Amalekites.
Later the tribe of Naphtali stayed loyal to David during his rule then loyal to Solomon too. Solomon’s daughter (Basemath) married a man from the tribe of Naphtali named Ahimaaz.
When Pekah ruled in Israel, the Assyrian King named Tiglath-pileser III began to exert his powerful influence in the region of Naphtali. By 732 BC, the Assyrian king had conquered Gilead, Galilee, and all of Naphtali and taken the people into captivity
FINAL MEANING OF MOSES’ BLESSING
Isaiah once spoke a prophecy that the Lord had brought Naphtali into contempt but would one day make it glorious again. (Isaiah 9:1.) This was fulfilled with the coming of Messiah, who brought the Gospel to the people living in the region of Naphtali.
We also read in the book of Revelation of 12,000 members of the tribe of Naphtali that are included among the sealed servants of God. (Revelation 7:6.)
It would seem that the tribe of Naphtali was a very blessed tribe.