Luke and the Nature of the Twelve New Tribes

This article is a study of the nature of the twelve new tribes restored through the Messiah and his twelve apostles in Luke–Acts. The author lays the foundation for his conclusion by tracing four elements of Luke’s narrative: Jesus’ election of twelve apostles in Luke 6:12-16; his kingdom-promise of the twelve judging the twelve tribes in 22:29-30; the inquiry after Israel’s kingdom in Acts 1:6-8; and the subsequent re-constitution of the twelve-fold apostolate over the 120 believers in 1:15-26. The author argues that fulfilment of Luke 22:29-30 is the background for both the inquiry after the kingdom, the necessity of re-installing the twelfth apostle and the numerical detail of 120 believers in Acts 1. The author then examines Luke’s broader ecclesiology and restoration programme as it pertains to the nature of the eschatological twelve tribes, before he summarises his research. In sum, the article argues on exegetical and biblical-theological grounds that the re-constitution of the twelve tribes is Christocentric in nature and that Luke’s messianic vision of the twelve-tribe restoration includes even Gentiles as full-fledged members of the eschatological twelve-tribe Israel.