I was a devout Roman Catholic, until at the age of 26 I found a 
mistake in the Bible that cannot be explained away.  The mistake I 
found was in a listing of "ALL the tribes of Israel" found in 
Revelation 7:4-8:

	Then I heard how many were sealed: a hundred and forty four 
	thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel.  From the tribe of 
	Judah, twelve thousand had been sealed; from the tribe of 
	Reuben, twelve thousand; from the tribe of Gad, twelve 
	thousand; from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand; from the
	tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand; from the tribe of
        Manasseh, twelve thousand; from the tribe of Simeon, twelve 
        thousand; from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand; from the 
        tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand; from the tribe of Zebulun,
        twelve thousand; from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand; 
        and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

   My problem with the text is the fact that the tribe of Dan is left 
out and the tribe of Joseph (which consisted of the two half-tribes of 
Ephraim and Manasseh) is listed as Joseph and Manasseh.

   So in a way Manasseh is mentioned twice both as Manasseh and as 
half of the tribe of Joseph.  The author quite clearly confused the 
half-tribe of Ephraim with that of Joseph.  In my view the author was 
not very familiar with the tribes of Israel (either confused or 
ignorant about Joseph's two half-tribes) and simply stopped naming 
tribes when he got to twelve.

     Some claim that every tribe doesn't have to be listed, merely 
that every tribe that is included must be one of the tribes of Israel.  
I checked this with three prominent authorities concerning the Greek 
grammar of Rev. 7:4.  All agreed with me that the 144,000 is made up 
of EVERY tribe of Israel.  One wrote: "from a language standpoint, the
text is precise in what it says.  The 144,000 will consist of those 
from every tribe (i.e. all tribes) of the sons of Israel."  

     Some like to claim that Dan is not listed because they were 
disinherited due to idolatry.  That would be like giving out speeding 
tickets at the Indianapolis 500.  ALL the tribes of Israel were guilty 
of idolatry during the 1st Temple Period.  Regardless, the reason I 
know Dan is still considered a tribe is because of an unfulfilled 
prophesy in Ezekiel 48 which mentions Dan as one of the tribes who 
will receive a portion of land in the Messianic Age.  Thus, we know 
that Dan is still considered by God to be one of the tribes of Israel.  
It has not been disinherited.  Either Dan is a tribe of Israel or 
Ezekiel is a false prophet!

  Ezekiel of course correctly breaks Joseph into it's two half-tribes 
of Manasseh and Ephraim.

   Others like to claim that Dan is not listed as a punishment since 
the Antichrist is from the tribe of Dan.  St. Irenaeus, in his 2nd 
century work "Adversus Haereses", originated the idea that the 
Antichrist would come from the tribe of Dan based on Jeremiah 8:16 
("the snorting of his horses [i.e. the enemy] was heard from Dan").

     But Jeremiah's prophecy was about the Babylonian destruction of 
Judah, not the Antichrist.  Also, this prophecy was written at a time 
when the tribe of Dan had already been exiled to Assyria, so the city 
is clearly what was being referred to.  The city of Dan was on the 
traditional invasion route from the north.   Nebuchadnezzar passed 
through the city of Dan after his victory in the battle of Carchemish.
 
  So to sum up, Dan, a valid tribe, is left out of a list of ALL the 
tribes of Israel!  And Ephraim and Manasseh are incorrectly listed as 
Manasseh and Joseph.  These are clearly mistakes!

   I had believed that God inspired every word in the Bible (in the
original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).  I was devastated.  Any 
mistake no matter how minor is unacceptable in a book claiming to 
be the literal Word of God!  God doesn't make mistakes, therefore
the Book of Revelation is not from God.

   If we cannot trust the Book of Revelation, then how can we trust 
any other book in the Bible.  What else is a mistake?  Decide for 
yourself.  This is just one of many mistakes, but don't take my word 
for it.  Check it out for yourself with an open mind!

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