In this daily Bible reading God instructs Moses and Aaron to take a census of Israel by tribes of all men 20 years old and upward. The results of the census showed that the most populous tribe was the tribe of Judah, which numbered 74,600 men.The tribe of Judah is significant in that King David was of the tribe of Judah. More importantly, Jesus was of the tribe of Judah.
The next most populous tribe was the tribe of Joseph, which numbered 72,700 men. The tribe of Joseph comprised two tribes named for Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The total number of all the tribes was 603,550 men 20 years of age and older.
Israel was later divided into two nations. The southern nation was called Judah. Members of this tribe were called ‘Jews.’ The northern nation was called Israel and consisted of 10 tribes. Babylon conquered and exiled Judah in about 587 BC. Judah returned to the land after 70 years of captivity.
Assyria conquered and exiled the 10 northern tribes in 722 BC. However, these tribes never returned to the land. Over the years they have been called the lost tribes of Israel; but they were not lost. There is good evidence that England, Scandinavia and America descended from these tribes.
