Israel divided into two kingdoms during the time of solomon. The northern kingdom is Ephraim which is the younger brother and 2nd born. What upsets the older brother judah is the 2nd born gets the birthright. We see this time and time again with Ishmael and Issac...Esau and Jacob..Mannaseah and Ephraim..etc. The 2nd born receiving the birthright
The two women who make up the house of Israel Leah(firstborn) and Rachael(2nd born)
Quoting: waterman The kingdom of Judah was made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Judah was a son of Leah, while Benjamin was the younger son of Rachel and the youngest son of Jacob. The kingdom of Samaria was made up of ten tribes of Israel; two of the ten tribes were sons of Joseph, the son of Rachel; and the other eight tribes were made up of four biological sons of Leah. Five of the tribes were descendants of sons of Leah's and Rachel's maids. The firstborn son of Jacob, Reuben, belonged to the kingdom of Samaria. So the idea of Judah being the firstborn and Samaria being the last born doesn't fit at all.
Rueben levi and simeon were disqualified from the blessing therefore the sceptre went to Judah and the birthright went to Joseph (1 chronicles 5:2)
That is why we see these two representatives(two witnesses) in Ezekiel 37 one from Judah and the other from Joseph:
Ezekiel 37:
15The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 16Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it,
For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it,
For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. 18And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? 19Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. 20And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 21And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
