THOUGHT-PROVOKING QUESTIONS TO DISMANTLE THE 12 TRIBES CHART
THESE 22 QUESTIONS ARE FOR PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE IN THE 12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL CHART BY AHRAYAH OF THE OLD 1WEST HEBREW ISRAELITE SCHOOL IN HARLEM, NY
“If you’re not on the sign, you’re going into slavery. How about that?”
This is exactly what a GMS-affiliated Hebrew Israelite told James White’s son, Josh, on May 16, 2020 in Tempe, Arizona. (see the 25:20 mark of this video). That means the validity of the 12 Tribes of Israel Chart is extremely significant to adherents, as it bears directly on one’s status in the future Kingdom of God as either ruler or slave.
Did you know the majority of the proponents of Hebrew Israelism deny the chart’s accuracy. One Hebrew Israelite author, Yeshiah Yisrael, after penning almost 20 pages on why the chart is wrong, wrote this in all caps: “THIS IS WHY WE HAVE TO LET THE BOOK SPEAK AND NOT JUST LISTEN TO TEACHERS”1
Of course, authors who support 1West style Hebrew Israelism disagree. For example, see the duplication of the standard chart presented on page 2 in the book 12 Tribes Culture : Meditation Precepts by Jahkim Ben Israel (Blackstone Publishing, 2020).
Leaders of some of the most influential 1West camps still go to bat for the chart’s validity. Ahlazar Ban Lawya, leader of the Sicarii sect proclaims:
“One of the reasons why I've always held fast through the spirit and power of Yahawah Bahashem Yahawashi to the 12 tribes chart is the fact that nobody —and when I say nobody I mean nobody— that I've ever seen deny it, come against it, be opposed to it, criticize it. There has never been an antithesis of viability of any substantiable facts that's been laid to the 12 Tribes Chart”.
Ahlazar is essentially claiming that he’s never seen anyone disprove the chart. Well, here are a series of thought provoking questions which absolutely shatter any notion of the chart’s truthfulness.
According to Scripture, Israel is supposed to be scattered all over the world. If that’s the case, then why does the original 12 Tribes Chart only contain locations and peoples on the Western Hemisphere of the globe? Inap, leader of the Good Samaritans Camp from Detroit, Michigan agrees with this objection:
“You have a select group(s) that claim descendancy based solely on Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33. This is clearly in error as the scriptures tell us ad nauseam that the twelve tribes were to be scattered to the four corners of the earth”2
Why does the chart switch back and forth from ethnic groups to geographical locations? “West Indian Blacks” are said to be “Benjamin”, while “American Blacks” are said to be “Judah”, and then both Argentina and Chile are said to be Naphtali. Isn’t this an inconsistent way to identify the tribes? For example, is EVERYONE in Argentina of Naphtali? How do you decide?
Where is the tribe of Dan on the chart? The Anglo-Israelites, who had their breakdown a century before Black Hebrew Israelites, include Dan. They claim that “today Dan is dominant in Denmark, important in Ireland and Wales, and is also present amongst the population of the USA”. Why do the Anglo-Israelites include Dan and the Black Hebrew Israelites leave Dan out? Who should we believe? If the primary prooftext for the chart is Genesis 49, then where is Dan, since Dan is listed in Genesis 49? So … who is Dan today? Where is Dan today? And why doesn’t the 12 Tribes of Israel Chart promoted by 1Westers include Dan? If you’re a chart-believer, you can’t simply say “because Dan is missing from Revelation 7” (which it is), because Ephraim is ALSO absent from Revelation 7, and yet Ahrayah’s chart INCLUDES Ephraim!
Most non 1West Hebrew Israelites reject the chart. Most non 1Westers usually believe that Israel is to be only or primarily a people who can be described as “black” (there are exceptions and variations to this fact). Yet, the Chart includes Latino and Indigenous peoples who can not be described, in any meaningful sense, as “black”. Who is right and how do we know? Are the “black-only Israelites” right, or those who include many other people groups in their view of who composes Israel? I have even heard “black-only Israelites” state they feel that the chart-believers are “giving away Israel’s heritage to other nations”! Is that an accurate assessment?
What do you say to this accusation by some Hebrew Israelites: the 12 Tribes of Israel chart is inherently anti-black. Why? The chart ends up making black peoples a minority amongst Israel: Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. Why can only three of the 12 tribes be considered black, especially since the majority of Hebrew Israelism’s adherents are black in reality? Isn’t there an incongruity here?
How do you account for the problem of considering the Seminoles to be Reuben? According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “Early 21st-century population estimates indicated some 27,000 individuals of Seminole descent.” Yet, the chart requires 12,000 Seminoles adult males to “wake up to the truth” to fulfill the book of Revelation. That’s almost half the entire Seminole population, many of which are women and children. Are there even 12,000 Seminole males alive today? (Remember, they must have no European, Arab, Asian, Indian, or African ancestors on their father’s side at all, or they are disqualified, per your religion). How many Seminole Hebrew Israelites have you even met in your lifetime? (Seminoles have a large population of Christians amongst them).
Who first brought out the Chart? Ahrayah, Abba Bivens, or someone else? How do you know this? If you don’t even know the origin of the chart, then how do you know it’s true, you can’t check to see if the source is reliable? I mean, who drafted the first copy of the chart? Where is this first draft? Does anyone possess the original, or even a picture? This chart came about in 60s or 70s, so an extant autograph (the first rendition) is not a big ask.
Is the chart without error? Is it proper to edit or alter it, as GOCC has done by adding Polynesians to Naphtali? Or is GOCC in error by altering the chart? What about IUIC’s update, when they added Isaiah 11 to the bottom of the chart? Is that acceptable? Why or why not, and who says? If that chart was given by revelation from an angel or the Lord (as the older 1Westers claim), then isn’t it ultimately divine in origin and therefore should not be altered in any way.
Are Australian Aboriginals on the chart? Are “Eskimos”? Are Hawaiians? Some Israelites claim they fulfill the verse about giving a goodly word since they greet people with ALOHA. Are any African peoples on the chart? If so, which ones? And how do you know, since the chart doesn’t say? Are you aware these are all debated points amongst 1West Hebrew Israelites throughout their brief history?
Have you seen the Anglo-Israelite 12 Tribes Chart? Is it wrong? How do you know? Are you aware that all the evidence indicates the Anglo-Israelite Tribes chart is OLDER than the 1West version? Additional evidence indicates that Ahrayah, the supposed inventor of the chart, borrowed some Anglo-Israelite arguments and flipped them around. Doesn’t the Scripture tell you NOT to copy the oppressor’s ways? The Toronto-based Israelite Nation Worldwide Ministries made this exact point multiple times in their video on the chart, The Folly of the 12 Tribes Chart, published on July 3, 2022.
Do you know in the Bible, many Israelites were no longer able to trace their clan lineage back after a 70 year exile in Babylon? So how is it that you, living in the 21st century, are able to trace your exact tribal lineage? This claim is not based on records in Hebrew but upon a 20th century chart written in ENGLISH! Do you think Nehemiah would have accepted that as proper evidence? Should we? Should you?
The chart says North American Indians are Gad. Florida is in North America, correct? Then why are the Seminole Indians separate from Gad, listed as Reuben? Are not the Seminoles NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS? Therefore, by the chart’s own inner logic, Seminoles should be considered Gadites … yet they are listed out separately as Reubenites! Even popular Hebrew Israelite author Dante Fortson made this observation before.
Are you aware the ancestors of the Seminoles are refugees from other tribes? They fled into Florida to escape European encroachment. So how is it that the ancestors of the Seminoles are in Gad, while Reuben is a separate tribe, the Seminoles? How can the ancestors and descendants be in two separate tribes? I’ve been asking this question for five years now, with no answer even attempted.
The chart says Haitians are Levi. But the Levites are supposed to be spread all throughout Israel. How is it the Levites, who are supposed to be spread throughout Israel, are centralized on one island, Haiti?
How did only people from their respective tribes get off at the right stop? Did the slave traders know and desire to only takes Judahites to the United States? If so, how did the slave traders know who was who? And why would they want to group them together? For what advantage? This is impossible, as we know that slavers purposely often split up families and people who spoke the same language.
It was common for families to be separated, ripped apart, or split up because of the horrors of the TAST. For example, if two family members are caught up, one may be transported to Jamaica and another to South Carolina. These folks are related, say father and son, yet the chart would fool you into believing that one is of Judah and the other is of Benjamin. How do you rectify the problem of forced familial separation?
Another example/question: one person may be captured, sold, and sent to Brazil, while the other remains in what is modern day Mali. Are we to believe that one person is Asher while the other is a Hamite? How does your chart adequately address this reality?
The chart refers to part of Zebulon as Panama. The chart also has the word “Mayans” in parenthesis right after the tribe of Zebulon and the country of Zebulon was listed. Yet, according to reliable sources, this is wrong. CentralAmerica.com states that “Panama was far too south for Mayan and Aztec influence”. So why does the chart have the word “Mayans” in parenthesis right after the country of Zebulon was listed? Isn’t this a case of a clear historical error?
Did you know that PANAMA WAS PART OF COLUMBIA FROM 1821-1903? The United States of America's intentions to influence the construction and control of the PANAMA CANAL (1904-1914) led to the separation of the Department of Panama in 1903. Panama became a separate nation. The US paid Colombia $25,000,000 in 1921 for redress of President Roosevelt’s role in the creation of Panama. Colombia recognized Panama under the Thomson-Urrutia Treaty. This means if the chart was constructed in 1903, then Panamanians would have been considered Asher, like the Colombians currently are.
This leads to the next question: how is that the tribal groupings just so happen to relate directly to modern borders? The most glaring example is that of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The chart claims that the Haitians are Levites and the Dominicans are Simeonites. Remember, these are on the same island, once called Hispaniola. Hispaniola is a 76,192 square kilometer island in the Caribbean. It is split into two nations: Haiti to the west and the Dominican Republic to the east. The Haitian side covers 10,713 square miles, about 36 percent of the island. The Dominican side covers 18,705 square miles, about 64% of the island. The 243-mile border was divided in 1697. Spain gave up the western part to France. Since then, there have been changes to the border. Currently, Haiti occupies the western third and DR the eastern two-thirds. How is it that the Levites occupy a very specific and historically shifting side of the border, while descendants from the tribe of Simeon the other?
This raises another question: should modern adherents to the 12 Tribes Chart be sending their tithe money to the island of Haiti, since they are the Levites of “Israel”? Under Old Testament law, tithes were to be given to the Levites. Some relevant Bible verses here are: Deuteronomy 26:12-13, Numbers 18:21-24, Nehemiah 13:10-13, and Hebrews 7:9.
The last set of questions relates to DNA. How is it possible that peoples with different paternal lines are all part of the same genetic family in the way the chart demands?
BONUS QUESTION: The 12 Tribes Chart list is taken from the New Testament. What do chart-believers say to the Old Testament only Hebrew Israelites who don’t believe in Revelation or the New Testament? What can a 1Wester do to convince a fellow Israelite who is a non-chart believer3
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Yeshiah Yisrael / Vincent Hutchinson, Deuteronomy 28:15-68: History Untold to the Masses (Danite Publications, 2016), 231-232.
For Martyr Ministries / Inap, Blessed Is He That Readeth: Exposing Doctrines of Men, Vol. 1 (2020), 53.
With the help of my fellow writer DNew, a different order other than the one above is suggested for a more logically coherent order. This is the suggested rearrangement: 7, 4, 8, 2, 1, 10, 3, 9, 14, 12, 13, 6, 18, 19, 20, 5, 11, 22, 15, 16, 17, 21, Bonus Question. Future versions of this article will likely be rearranged to fit this new and improved layout.