Zebulun (1)

1. ZEBULUN, or Zabulon, the sixth Gen. xxx. 20.Son of Jacob and Leah. He was born in Mesopotamia, about the Year of the World 2256, before Christ 1744, before the Vulgar Æra 1748. His Sons were Sered, Elon, and Gen. xlvi. 14.Jableel. Moses acquaints us with none of the Particulars of the Life of this Patriarch; but Jacob, on his Death-bed, when he gave his last Blessing to his Sons, said to Zebulun, Gen xlix. 13.Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships, and his border shall be unto Zidon. This plainly shewed, that the Portion of Zebulun was to extend, as it did in effect, along the Coast of the Mediterranean Sea, one End of it bordering upon this Sea, and the other extending to the Sea of Tiberias. In the last Words that Moses addresses to the Tribes of Israel, he joins Zebulun and Issachar together; saying, Rejoice, Zebulun in thy going Deut. xxxiii. 18.out, and Issachar in thy tents. They shall call the people unto the mountain, there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness. For they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sands. By which he meant, that these two Tribes being at the greatest Distance towards the North, should come together to the Temple at Jerusalem, to the holy Mountain, and should bring with them such of the other Tribes as lay in their way; and that being by their Situation upon the Coast of the Mediterranean Sea, they should apply themselves to Trade and Navigation, and to the melting of Metals and Glass, denoted by those Words, Treasures hid in the Sand. The River Belus, whose Sand was very fit for the making of Glass, was in the Tribe of Zebulun.

When the Tribe of Zebulun came out of Egypt, it had for its Head or Chief¹ Eliab the Son of Elon, and comprehended fiftyseven thousand four hundred Men able to bear Arms. In another Review that was made nine and thirty years after the former,² this Tribe amounted to sixty thousand five hundred Men, that were at Age to bear Arms. The Tribes of Zebulun and Naphthali very much distinguished themselves in the War of Barak and Deborah³ against Sisera, the General of the Armies of Jabin. ‘Tis thought the same Tribes were the first that were carried away into Captivity beyond the Euphrates, by Pul and 1 Chron. v. 26.Tiglath-pilneser, Kings of Assyria; but they had also the Advantage of hearing and seeing Jesus Christ in their Country, oftner and longer than any other of the Tribes.⁴ This is what we are informed by Scripture, concerning the Tribe of Zebulun in particular.

The Testament of the twelve Patriarchs, an ancient, tho’ Apocryphal Book, and which we have frequently quoted, tells us, that when Zebulun was at the Point of Death, being an hundred and fourteen Years old, thirty-two Years after the Death of Joseph, he made his Sons come to him, and declared to them, that he had no share in the Crime that his Brethren committed, when they sold Joseph: And that he did every thing in his power to divert them from that Resolution, and that he had a great mind to acquaint his Father Jacob with it, but that the Fear of his Brethren had prevented him. He told them also, that while his Family sojourned in the Land of Canaan, he invented and built a Vessel, to which he applied a Rudder, a Mast, and Sails: And that he applied himself to Fishing with such Success, that he abundantly supplied the whole House of his Father with Fish, and even Strangers too, during the Summer Season; and that in Winter he went along with his Brethren to feed the Flocks of his Father. He adds, “I have read in the Writings of my Fathers, that in the later Ages your Posterity shall separate themselves from the Lord, that they shall be divided in Israel, and shall follow two Kings. They shall abandon themselves to the Abominations of Idolatry, their Enemies shall lead them away captive, and they shall dwell among the Heathen, being oppressed with Troubles and Afflictions. After this they shall again remember the Lord, and repent, and the Lord will bring them back, because he is full of Mercy. After which, God himself, the Sun of Righteousness, shall rise upon them, with healing in his wings. He shall Mal. iv. 2.redeem the Children of Men, which Belial holds in Servitude; every Spirit of Error shall be trodden under Foot, the Lord shall convert all Nations, and you shall see God himself in an Human Form, because the Lord has chosen Jerusalem, and his Name is the Lord. Lastly, they shall again provoke him, and they will be finally rejected, to the Consummation of Ages.” In all this are to be seen the Sins of the Tribe of Zebulun, the Schism of the Ten Tribes, their Captivity and Return, the Coming of the Messiah, the Salvation of Men, the Incredulity and Reprobation of the Jews.

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