Naphtali

Naphtali was Jacob's sixth, and Bilhah's second son. As mentioned previously Jacob's favourite wife was Rachel, but because she was unable to bear children she persuaded Jacob to marry her handmaid, Bilhah. In the confusion of mind that often accompanies acute stress, the envious Rachel imagined that children born of this woman would be looked upon as hers, thereby removing the stigma of her barrenness. When Naphtali (Hebrew - "my wrestling") was born, Rachel rejoiced as it were through clenched teeth, " ... With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister (Leah), and I have prevailed ... " (Genesis 30:8). Rachel's burden was grievous and would not go away.

Naphtali hardly rated a mention in the recorded adventures of Jacob's family, and his father's last words to him were few but were prophetically significant (Genesis 49:21). Firstly, Naphtali's descendants were to be as free as a loosed hind (doe) and secondly, "he was to give goodly words". The tribal insignia of a leaping doe, later changed to a stag, arose from the first of these promises.

Following Israel's successful occupation of Canaan under Joshua, the tribe of Naphtali inherited territory in the north including the western coast of the lake later to be known as the Sea of Galilee. Some 1400 years later, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the Word of God made flesh, fulfilled Jacob's prophecy in that much of Jesus' teaching took place in that region.

Because of its geographical location, this tribe was one of the first to be invaded and deported by the Assyrians (2 Kings 15:29). The Naphtalites, like the rest of Israel apart from a small fragment of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi, just seemed to disappear from history. Nevertheless, the heraldry of Naphtali, although not as common as that of some of the other tribes, occurs in the coats-of-arms of Northern Ireland, the English county of Cumberland, and in the insignia of several of the provinces of Sweden. It would appear that the portion of Naphtali which settled in Sweden, after casting off the Assyrian yolk, was never again subjugated by an alien nation.

The presence of the heraldic insignia of this tribe in north-western Europe and Ireland indicates yet again that the ancient nation of Israel did not just fade away. God's word is immutable; His chosen people maintained their national identity as they migrated to that part of Europe where they will remain until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will take up the throne of His father David and rule over the House of Jacob-Israel forever.