Dan is not listed among the 144,000; Les Feldick teaches this is because Dan, along with Ephraim, was the first tribe to turn to idolatry.
In Revelation 7:4-8, John records 12,000 sealed from each of twelve specific tribes, and Dan's name is missing. Les Feldick names Dan and Ephraim as the omitted tribes and explains that they were the first to go into idolatry, going back to their origins under Joshua. Scripture itself records the omission but does not give an explicit reason, so Les's explanation is presented as his teaching from the text.
Revelation 7:4-8 — This is the exact passage that lists the tribes from which 12,000 each are sealed and shows that Dan is absent from the list.
In Revelation 7, John sees four angels holding the four winds of the earth and another angel ascending from the east with the seal of the living God. The angel says, "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." Then John hears the number of the sealed: an hundred and forty and four thousand from all the tribes of the children of Israel. Twelve thousand are sealed from each of these tribes: Juda, Reuben, Gad, Aser, Nepthalim, Manasses, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zabulon, Joseph, and Benjamin. Dan is not included in this list. The Bible does not give an explanatory comment in this passage about why Dan is omitted. The text simply presents the list of twelve tribes. The reader is left to understand the omission from the context of Scripture and the teaching of those who study it.
Les Feldick directly addresses the omission of Dan in his teaching on Revelation 7. He says that Dan and Ephraim are the two tribes left out of the list because they were the first to go into idolatry, dating back to their origins when the tribes were still under Joshua. Les points out that the 144,000 are Jews — specifically, young Jewish men — sealed 12,000 from each of the listed tribes, and that God has providentially preserved enough tribal lineage for him to identify each group. Les also connects the sealing of the 144,000 to the beginning of the Tribulation. He teaches that after God's two witnesses appear in Jerusalem and begin to preach, the first response is the setting apart of these 144,000 young Jewish men. They are sealed with the seal of the living God, protected from the demonic locusts of Revelation 9, and sent throughout the globe with the gospel of the kingdom — the same message Jesus preached: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Les is explicit: "It's the tribe of Dan and Ephraim who are left out simply because they were the first to go into idolatry back in their origins, back when the tribes were still under Joshua." For Les, this early pattern of idolatry is the reason God excludes Dan from the twelve tribes from which the 144,000 are sealed.
Les emphasizes that the 144,000 are not a symbolic group or a religious organization. He points to Revelation 7:4, which says they are from "all the tribes of the children of Israel," and he describes them as young Jewish men. He also notes that God has preserved their tribal bloodlines over the centuries so he can identify exactly which tribe each one belongs to. These men are set apart shortly after the Tribulation begins, in response to the preaching of the two witnesses.
Les teaches that after they are sealed, the 144,000 young Jewish men take the gospel of the kingdom to the entire world, proclaiming the same message Jesus announced: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." The seal on their foreheads identifies them as servants of God, and Revelation 9 says the demonic locusts are allowed to hurt only those who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads. Les identifies those sealed servants as the 144,000.
The Two Witnesses and the 144,000
Les says the 144,000 young Jewish men respond immediately to the preaching of the two witnesses at the beginning of the Tribulation, before the four angels are allowed to harm the earth, sea, or trees.
Dan and Ephraim Left Out
Les explicitly identifies Dan and Ephraim as the two missing tribes and states they were left out because they were the first to go into idolatry in their origins under Joshua.
Tribal Lineage and Identity
Les stresses that the 144,000 are young Jewish men whose tribal lineage God has preserved, so he can name 12,000 from each listed tribe.
Set Apart After the Two Witnesses
Les explains that the setting apart of the 144,000 happens early in the Tribulation, following the preaching of the two witnesses, and that the 144,000 are Jews from the tribes of Israel.
Sealed Against the Locusts
Les connects Revelation 9's demonic locusts to the 144,000, noting that the locusts cannot touch those who have the seal of God in their foreheads.
What Saves You? Head Knowledge vs. Heart Belief
Reuben was the eldest. He should have been here. But he was, again, an immoral person. You remember, he was the one who had a relationship with his father's wife or concubine or something. But anyway, Judah now takes the place of leadership, and of course the other reason, who comes out of the tribe of Judah? Christ does.
The Antichrist's 7-Year Treaty & Israel's Great Escape
Some think it's the 144,000, but it's amazing that of all the reading I've done concerning the remnant of Jews who will be saved during the Tribulation, nobody I feel explains this portion of Scripture. Now look at this portion of Scripture. This is not 144,000 young Jewish men, which Revelation says they will be. This is an admixture of a whole society.
The Gospel of the Kingdom
Les says the 144,000 sealed Jews take the gospel of the kingdom, the same message Jesus proclaimed: 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Revelation 7:4-8: And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
This is the list of the sealed tribes; Dan is conspicuously absent, which is the basis of the question.
Revelation 7:3: Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
This shows that the sealing of the servants (the 144,000) happens before the judgments on earth, sea, and trees.
Revelation 9:4: And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
This identifies the sealed servants (the 144,000) as protected from the demonic locusts.
Les Feldick teaches that Dan, along with Ephraim, was one of the first tribes to fall into idolatry, going back to the tribal origins under Joshua, and so it is omitted from the list in Revelation 7.
Revelation 7 lists twelve tribes with 12,000 sealed from each, but it does not state a reason for Dan's absence. Les's teaching supplies the explanation that early idolatry disqualified Dan.
Yes. The text says they come from 'all the tribes of the children of Israel,' and Les describes them as young Jewish men with preserved tribal lineage.
Les says they respond to the two witnesses' preaching, are sealed for protection, and take the gospel of the kingdom across the globe.
Watch the Teaching: Who Are the Two Witnesses in Revelation 11?