The Great Expansion of the 1800's
America Breaks Away From Britain Prophesied: Isaiah, addressing the people called Israel in the Islands predicts the following: "For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.
"The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell" (Isa 49:19-20). In the book of Hosea, Israel is called the "Mother." Here is mother Israel (England) losing a child. They have lost one company of people, and yet their children say, that the land that they live in is too small, cramped and crowded, because of the population of such a small country. Consequently they ask the mother country to give them a place to dwell also. Or according to Lesser's Translation, they say "Make room for me to dwell," and the Mother country must do it, because it is she who God has given to "desolate places of the Earth."
England is the only country whom these conditions obtain. Her first child was called New England, but she lost it because of the American Revolution, and now it, together with that which, for various reasons, has been annexed-is called The United States of America. Secular history confirms, “Britain ‘LOST’ the territory which had the greatest military and economic potential and which would-much later-become a world superpower. The defection of the American colonies in 1776...” (The British Empire in Color, by Stewart Binns, p.15, emphasis added). Amazing how Britain refers to the U.S.A. as the “lost” colony the way the Bible does!
But after losing her American Colonies, her work of colonizing non-populated areas of the world, that the colonizers called the "...virgin portions of North America" (Rise and Fall of British Empire, p.12), kept right on going, colonizing Provinces, and then calling it, The Dominion of Canada. Then Britain added six States of Australia, and then came New Zealand, Tasmania, British India, the Fiji Islands, and parts of Africa, Egypt, and China.
God said, because of the "inhabitants" that the place was "too small," and the British people had to go and find new homelands or colonies. Only Bible prophecy explains why the colonizing instinct became so strong in these peoples in the 1600's. Remember, that Joseph's descendants would become the chief colonizers of Israel: "Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well; his branches run over the wall" (Gen. 49:22). But where would they "run over the wall" (colonize)? Verse 26: "Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills." See also Genesis 27:28. The Great Branches or colonies of Joseph in the riches and bountiful places of the Earth.
How did Britain become "too small"--creating the need to colonize? Historians reveal that various factors (war, famine, disease) kept the population of Britain from increasing very rapidly until the Industrial Revolution (1750-1850). Then, suddenly, a population explosion occurred. British historian, Colin Cross, observes that "one of the unexplained mysteries of social history is the explosion in the size of the population of Great Britain between 1750 and 1850. For generations the British population had been static, or rising only slightly. Then in the space of a century it almost tripled-from 7.7 million in 1750 to 20.7 million in 1850. Why it happened is unknown.... It must just be recorded that human reproduction and vitality follows unpredictable patterns.... Britain was a dynamic country and one of the marks of its dynamism was the population explosion" (Fall of the British Empire, p. 155).
Very striking here is the time element! As we saw earlier, Israel had to wait 2,520 years from the time of her Assyrian oppression and captivity before receiving the actual fulfillment of the birthright promises. This coincides exactly with Britain's population explosion, which gave the British the impetus to spread abroad.
Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, in 1907, expressed the belief that God had put in the Englishmen a divine impulse to establish colonies around the globe: "I would describe the [British] Empire... as the result, not of an accident or a series of accidents, but of an instinct-that ineradicable and divinely implanted impulse, which has sent the Englishman forth into the uttermost parts of the earth, and made him there the parent of new societies and the architect of unpremeditated creations" (The British Empire, BBC TV and Time-Life Books, p. 2,466).
Palestine Given Back to the Jewish People Prophesied: Palestine was lost to Babylon because of the sins of Judah, Benjamin and Levi in 604 B.C. The king of Babylon ruled over it and Judah lost their birthright and were taken captive. After that, even though the Jews Returned, they never had control over the land. Every empire after Babylon controlled it. The land was NEVER UNDER JEWISH CONTROL.
Let's apply the same formula of "seven times" punishment, to the Jews losing their birthright. 2520 subtracted from 604 B.C. comes to 1916 A.D., now add one year because of the 1 B.C. 1 A.D. factor and you come up with 1917 A.D.
This happens to be the year when General Allenby of the British Forces, captured Gaza, Beersheba, and so on in Palestine, and on December 11th, he entered Jerusalem exactly "seven times," after the taking of Palestine from Babylon! The British came and liberated it from the Turks.
In Ezekiel 25:14 we read of the prophecy of this event: "And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom [Turkey] by the hand of my people Israel: [Britain] and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD."
Isaiah writes that Jerusalem would be saved in this way: "As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it."(Isa 31:5). Airplanes had a lot to do with the liberation of Jerusalem from the Turks! Isaiah saw something like "birds flying" trying to describe what he saw in his day! He saw Airplanes!
The News Papers at that time said: "The General commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary force reported that his planes were doing 'good work, 800 feet below sea level" (As Birds Flying Over Jerusalem, by Covenant Books). Jerusalem was not even touched by any bomb, nor was a shot fired, as God promised to deliver it, and protect it.
On 11 December, General Allenby, the leader of the delivering forces, WALKED into Jerusalem through the "Gate of the Friend" (Jaffa Gate), outside which military guards were drawn up, ready to join the procession into the city. The guard on the one side was formed by soldiers from Great Britain, and on the other side by Australian and New Zealand troops, for it must be remembered that this deliverance was carried out entirely by forces of the British "nation and company of nations" (Genesis 35:11). General Allenby officially accepted the surrender of the Holy City from the foot of David's Tower, and a comforting proclamation was read in seven languages, telling the people that they could go quietly and undisturbed about their ordinary business, and all their holy places would be respected. Jerusalem was no longer "trodden down of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). The Turks, however, made up their minds to get Jerusalem back at any cost; they attacked the British line furiously. Massey tells us that on 27 December they made 13 determined attacks during the morning, but failed to pierce the defence. Prisoners taken revealed that they had been promised as an inducement that when they recaptured Jerusalem, they should have one day in the city to do just as they liked. Meanwhile, during this fighting, the inhabitants of the "delivered" city were on the roofs of their houses, praying that their British deliverers might have strength to withstand the attacks. We all know the result: the Turkish oppressor was driven off, and Jerusalem came under British protection Now what does this have to do with the Jews? Because of Allenby's victory it put Israel under British mandate. This mandate, called the Balfour Declaration, called for a Jewish homeland and set the foundation for modern Israel.
Balfour Declaration 1917
November 2nd, 1917
Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour
This led the way for the first Jewish Immigrants to Palestine, and the House of Judah got their land back, exactly "SEVEN TIMES" after the House of Judah, were without their national inheritance, for 2520 years!
Why Israel Lost their Identity
The main vanguard of the Israelite - the northern kingdom - who bore the national name "Kingdom of ISRAEL" - became a nation lost in all history. So far as historic records are concerned, the earth might as well have opened her mouth and swallowed them. The Main reason why these people are not identified as Israel, is because Israel lost their identity! But How?
Long before, and after the deportation of Israel into Assyria, we have seen that Israel was called by many different names by others, and by themselves. The Jewish people on the other hand know their identity, they know they are Israel. There is one main reason why the House of Judah [the Jews] still know who they are, and the House of Israel [the Northern ten tribes] don't.
God had given them a very special everlasting COVENANT containing a SIGN of IDENTITY. It is not generally known or recognized that the Eternal made with His people, while still at Mt. Sinai, a separate, special, eternally binding COVENANT, providing a SIGN of IDENTITY.
The special Covenant is found in Exodus 31:12-17: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children if Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep. . ." (Ex. 31:1213). Notice which day is "the Lord's day." The Eternal calls the Sabbaths "my sabbaths." The sabbaths are His - they did not belong to Israel - they are not our days, but the Lord's. They are not "the Jewish Sabbaths" or "the Gentile Sabbaths." The Sabbath is a space of time. That time, whenever it arrives, is not ours, but God's.
Now study this special covenant a little further: ". . .for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you" (Ex. 31:13).
Notice! Here is the purpose of the Sabbath: ". . .for it is a SIGN. . . ." What is a sign?
A sign is a badge, symbol, or token of identity. You see the sign, "A.B. Brown, Furniture and Furnishings." The sign identifies the owner. It tells you what kind of business he owns. Webster's dictionary defines a sign thus: "A publicly displayed notice on a building, office, etc. to advertise the business there transacted, or the name of the person or firm conducting it. Something indicating the existence of a thing; a token."
The word which Moses wrote in the Hebrew language which is translated "sign" is ‘owth,’ and the Hebrew-English dictionary defines it as "signal, as a flag, beacon, monument, evidence, etc. - mark, miracle, sign, token." A flag identifies a nation. A beacon is a signal to announce the existence of something warned about. A token is a visible sign; something that serves as an identifying signal to make something known, as a white flag is a token of surrender.
God commanded His people to keep His Sabbath as a sign. It is a sign between God's people and God: ". . .a sign between me and you," the commandment says. It is a badge or token of IDENTITY. It advertises, or announces, or proclaims certain identifying knowledge. But WHAT KNOWLEDGE? God answers: ". . .that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you."
Now the Sabbath was a covenant made SEPARATE from the Old Covenant. We find the Old Covenant then we see ANOTHER COVENANT later, about the Sabbath. Remember, a Covenant is an agreement, not a Law. And since this covenant is separate from the Old Covenant, then its not part of the Old Covenant.
Notice Exodus 31:16: "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant."
"Perpetual" means continuous and unbroken. But was it to last FOREVER? Read the following verse: "It is a SIGN between me and the children of Israel for ever." The Sabbath Covenant was forever, so that when they keep the Sabbath, Israel will be identified as his people forever!
And not just Israel, but the GENTILES AS WELL! Since its binding on Israel forever, and the Jewish people converted to Christianity in the time of the Apostles, does that mean that the Jews kept it on Saturday and the Gentiles on Sunday? Are there two kinds of Christians? Read Galatians 3:28-29: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. And if ye [Gentiles] be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
So, since the Sabbath is BINDING TODAY on the Jewish part of God's Church, and there is no difference - we are all ONE in Christ - it is also binding on Gentiles! This scripture in Galatians is NOTHING NEW! Actually, this is an OLD TESTAMENT LAW! Gentiles that convered to YAHWEH were considered ISRAELITES!
"But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Lev 19:34; 25:34). These people are gentile converts and became "Abraham's seed" and obeyed the same laws. The strangers, or Gentiles kept the Sabbath, see Exodus 20:10; 23:12; Deut 5:14. The Day of Atonement, Lev 16:29. The Passover, Ex 12:48-49; Number 9:14, and the Sacrificial laws, Num
15:14.
"One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you." (Ex 12:49, Num 9:14; 15:15-16, 29; Lev 24:16, 24).For people to say that the Sabbath was for Israel only is totally going against scripture. Why did Paul say: "There remaineth therefore a rest [Greek: "Sabbatisimos" lit. "A KEEPING OF THE SABBATH]to the people of God" (Heb 4:9). The Jewish New Testament says a "Shabbat [Hebrew for "Sabbath"] KEEPING for the people of God." Why did God say about Gentiles converting to Yahweh: "my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
" Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
" Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD...Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; " Even them will I bring to my holy mountain [the kingdom of God, see Isaiah 2:11, Daniel 2:35, 44 and Micah 4]...," (Isa 56:1-3, 6-7). A person who "joins" himself to God is a converted Christian, see 1 Corinthians 6:17. So when the Bible speaks of a stranger keeping the law, it means a converted gentile, that becomes "Abraham's seed." Gentiles Christians who are converted, keep the law of God, just like the Gentiles under the Old Testament. Nothing has changed. The apostle Paul did not make this up, he got it from the scriptures. That's why Galatians 6:16 calls the Church, the "Israel of God." Jew or gentile, converted to Christ, we are Abraham's seed, racially or Converted.
Now IF the Sabbath is God's SIGN to identify His people Israel, then why don't our nations keep it today?
The answer to that question is the answer to another: Why are the Ten Tribes of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL called "the LOST Ten Tribes"? And why do our nations think they are Gentiles? Why don't they KNOW their true identity? THEY LOST THEIR IDENTIFYING SIGN, THE SIGN OF THE SABBATH DUE TO JEROBOAM'S APOSTASY!
But JUDAH kept the Sabbath! They did not continue long to keep it holy, or to keep it God's way but they did recognize it, as they do today, as the day of rest they acknowledge and observe. Result? All the world looks on them as the chosen people of God! The world thinks they are ISRAEL - not merely Judah!
Even when they broke it, God sent them prophets to preserve the knowledge of the true God. Israel on the other hand, God divorced, and allowed them to worship what ever they wanted, see Jer 3:8. But not Judah, God wasn't finished with them yet, he had to bring the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to reconcile, Judah, Israel, and the gentiles to God
God warned Israel through Moses that if they would forsake his law that : "I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:" (Deut 32:26). This could not mean the Jews, because the remembrance of the Jews have not ceased. They still have their name and heritage as Judah-Israel. This prophecy applies to the lost ten tribes. They have been lost to history, but now God has revealed them in this end time!
Isaiah 8:17 shows that God "hid" his face from Jacob. They lost the knowledge of the true God. But God would win them back with Jesus Christ and the Messiah, as he said that he was sent to the house of Israel, Matthew 15:24. But with another language God would speak to his people, see Isaiah 28:11. English is how God is speaking to his people today through his Bible!
Israel in The New Testament
Jesus said to the Jews, "The stone [Jesus the Messiah] which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?...Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matthew 21:42-43). It was time for the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to go to another nation since the Jewish people had rejected it . The Gospel went to the GENTILES! But who is that gentile Nation that was supposed to receive the Gospel and become Christian? This nation was the HOUSE OF ISRAEL!
Notice, the New Covenant is with the "house of Israel, AND with the house of Judah." It was to the "Jew FIRST, and also to the Greek." (Rom 1:16).
Jesus said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 15:24). And he commanded his New Testament Church, the original Apostles to, "Go NOT into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:... But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 10:5-6). He told them not to go to the gentiles but to the House of Israel.
Now aren't the gentiles and the house of Israel two separate entities in the New Testament? Let's examine who the gentiles are in the New Testament, and clear up the confusion.
The term "Gentile" in the New Testament has a variety of of meanings. It comes from the Greek word "ethnos." Now :
"Most of Christendom have incorrectly taken this word to mean exclusively non-Israelite peoples. Anton Darms made this same false assumption: “The term ‘Gentiles’ in the New Testament always refers to people and nations outside of and apart from all the twelve tribes of Israel.”
“It can be said positively that IN NO CASE IN THE BIBLE, either in the Old Testament or in the New, DOES THE WORD ‘GENTILE" REFER OR APPLY TO ANY PART OF ISRAEL.”’ (Mr. Darms’ p.72).
"These are bold assertions, but totally inaccurate. As we look into the Bible, we find a much broader use than the limited definition suggested by Mr. Darms and most of Christendom....(p.73)
"Many preachers use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words as study aids. It is interesting that with these excellent reference works at their disposal, preachers still espouse the mistaken conclusion that when the word ‘Gentile(s)’ is encountered in the New Testament, it always refers exclusively to non-Israelite peoples. Strong's and Vine's give the word ‘Gentile(s)’ or its Greek equivalent, a much broader interpretation than is used by most preachers and Christians. If we do not limit the word ‘ethnos’ to non-Israelites, we allow the Bible to say what each inspired writer intended.
Strong's Greek Dictionary of the N.T. it defines "ethnos" as follows, on p.25:
“eth'nos ... a race (as of the same habit), i.e. a tribe; spec. a foreign (non-Jewish) [non-Israelite] one (usually by impl. pagan): Gentile, heathen, nation, people.
Vine's definition of "ethnos" is more exhaustive, p.484:
“ETHNOS ... ‘heathen, 'denotes, firstly, a multitude or company; then, a multitude of people of the same nature or genus, a nation, people; it is used in the singular, of the Jews [Judahites] ... in the plural of nations ... other than Israel ... occasionally it is used of Gentile converts in distinction from Jews [Judahites] ....”
As can be seen, there is more than one application for "ethnos." In light of these definitions, let us take a look at four different Biblical applications of the Greek word "ethnos" found in the New Testament. When used in a New Testament passage, the following interpretations of "ethnos" must be considered along with the commonly held interpretation of "non-Israelite."
1. "Pagans" - in reference to heathens, specifically all nations, races or people not serving YHWH as God: ‘You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the dumb idols, however you were led.’ (1 Corinthians 12:2)
2. "Nation(s)" - in reference to a multitude of people, specifically all mankind: ‘... He [YHWH] made from one every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitations’ (Acts 17:26)
一. "Nation" - in reference to the Judahites [Jews], specifically the descendants of the house of Judah, the two southern tribes of Israel: “... when he [the centurion] heard about Yhshua, he sent some Jewish [Judahite] elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. And when they [the Judahite elders] had come to Yhshua they earnestly entreated Him, saying, "He [the centurion] is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our [Judahite] nation [ethnos], and it was he who built us our synagogue.” (Luke 7:3-5). This one passage alone repudiates the theory that the word "Gentile" (ethnos) always refers to non-Israelite peoples.
一. "Gentiles" - in reference to the Israelites, specifically the descendants of the house of Israel, the ten northern tribes of Israel: “... even us, whom He [YHWH] also called, not from among Jews [Judahites] only, but also from among Gentiles [House of Israel eplained below]. (Romans 9:24)” (Ted Weiland God's Covenant People, pp.24-25).
So we see that the word "Gentile" has a much broader use that just a "non-Israelite person." In proper context it can be used to mean Israelite as well. In the case of Matthew 10:-5-6, "gentiles" here means "pagan" non-Israelites since the 'House of Israel is mentioned. But there are other scriptures that show in their proper context that that the "gentiles" are the HOUSE OF ISRAEL!
The word "Greeks" is "often used interchangeably with the word ‘Gentile(s),” is also used in the New Testament with reference to dispersed Israelites. One such instance is found in the Gospel of John:
“The Jews [Judahites] therefore said to one another, "Where does this man [Jesus] intend to go that we shall not find Him? He is not intending to go to the [Israelite] Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the [Israelite] Greeks is He?" (John 7:35)
The word "dispersion" ("dispersed" - KJV) is defined in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible as: "Isr. [Israelite] resident[s] in Gentile countries. "(ibid, p.23) The Apostle John acknowledged that dispersed Israelites were “living among the Greeks, and he recognized them as being Greeks” (ibid, p.31).
Now why were the Israelites called "Gentiles" or "Greeks" in the New Testament? Because God would divorce Israel for all her whoredoms and took up a new Husband, the Pagan religions of the world. "Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;" (Hosea 2:1). She took up another husband as Israel says in verse 7, "I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now." God divorced Israel and put her away, "And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
" And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks [reason Idolatry]
" And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 3;8-10).
The Law of Divorce
According to the law of Divorce in the Bible, when a woman is divorced and marries another man, she cannot return to her first husband again, "They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted?" (Jer 3:1; Deut 24:4). Then God pleads with Judah, "but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD" (v.8b). At this time as we have seen Israel ceased to be his people, and became Gentiles. But how could God have Israel return to him after giving them a bill of divorcement when under the law she was forever barred from being his people again?
The book of Hosea is devoted to the demonstration of God being Israel's husband once again. God told Hosea to name his two sons, one was called "Jezreel" and the other "Lo-Ammi." Lo-Ammi means "not my people." God told Hosea when this child was born, "for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God' (Hosea 1 v.9). Yet after this prophecy from God, another prophecy was soon given about the restoration of Israel as his people, "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." (v.10). This is a remarkable prophecy of Israel becoming the sons of the living God hence a Christian people.
God gives hope to Israel in their condition of Divorce, with their hardships. He promises them that he will scatter them all over the world and cause them to grow as the sand of the sea as he promised Abraham he would, "And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God" (Hosea 2:23).
But how was Israel to be God's people again. What would be the process into which Israel was to have that certificate of the divorce annulled?
The answer is given in the book of Isaiah, "Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
“... Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver?..." (Isaiah 50:12). God says to Israel that they have "sold yourselves" to the point of Divorce, God did not want it, God was faithful and hates divorce, Israel was the one who wanted the divorce going after other god's, so Yahweh being the husband of Israel wrote the bill of Divorcement that Israel wanted. Yet God tells them, "Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money" (Isa 52:3). Here again God speaking of redemption of Israel. God was to redeem them through his Son Jesus Christ (the Yahweh of the Old Testament) who divorced Israel. "To redeem means to regain possession of that which was once owned and lost" (Jeremiah, Howard B. Rand, p.30). Israel by the death of Jesus was to be freed from that law of divorce by the death of her first husband, " So then if, while her husband liveth, [while divorced see Mark 10:11-12] she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man" (Rom 7:3). While Yahweh still lived in heaven and then on earth as a man, Jesus, She was an adulterous whoring after pagan god's. But Jesus died and the law of divorce was annulled and she was free, now she is able to come back to God once again and enter into the covenant, the New Covenant that involved the House of Israel. That could only take effect at the death of Jesus, " For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
"For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth" (Heb 9:16-17). Now Israel was free from the law of Divorce and to be redeemed, brought back, to God through the death of Jesus Christ!
Book of Romans Chapter 11 Gentiles Identified with Israel
Now that we know that Israel was called Gentiles because of the divorce with God, is there evidence first with the bible to show God is going to redeem them again, and they were to become the "sons of the living God?"
The book of Romans is a great testament to this fact. As we have shown in Hosea, God had every intension of bringing Israel back to him. Hosea writes: ""Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." (Hos 1 v.10). This quote the Apostle Paul uses in the book of Romans and calls them gentiles!
Weiland writes: "It was previously demonstrated that the Jews in this verse were members of the house of Judah only, from either the tribe of Judah or the tribe of Benjamin. Recognizing that there is more than one application of the word ‘ethnos’ (translated "Gentiles" in this passage), let us reexamine Romans 9:23-26 and see which of the five interpretations (the four listed above or the one which is usually provided) is the correct choice according to the context. It is important for us to do so since some of you will question the interpretation and application of #4 above. It would be foolish, if not dishonest, to randomly pick whichever application suits the reader's personal doctrinal position - the interpretation must fit the context...
“... even us, whom He [YHWH] also called, not from among Jews [the house of Judah] only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea, "I will call those who were not My people, 'My people,' and her who was not beloved, 'Beloved.' And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there they shall be called sons of the living God.” (Romans 9:23-26)
"If our reading is limited to just this passage, it is easy to see why most people would presume that the ‘Jews’ represent all Israel, and the ‘Gentiles’ represent all non-Israelites. When reading the Apostle Paul's quotation from Hosea, the average Christian naturally thinks that the Gentiles have to be non-Israelite people since they were never God's people and never considered His beloved. However, as is the habit of a good teacher Paul gives his reference, the book of Hosea. The student who is a good disciple will study Hosea 1 and 2, and as a result will then understand whom Paul had in mind when referring to the Gentiles. I challenge any reader to find anything in Hosea 1 and 2 that pertains to non-Israelite people... Especially note that the last phrase of Hosea 1: 10, ‘You are the sons of the living God,’ is part of the quotation used by Paul in Romans 9” (pp.25-27).
Then Hosea says, "Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel"(v.11). Hosea continues to say that Judah (the Jews) and Israel will be reunited and Jesus will be their ruler.
Now, "At first glance it may seem confusing to identify the Gentiles in Romans 9:24 as "the house of Israel" because of the contrast made between "Gentiles" and "Israel" in verses 30 and 31 later in the same chapter:
“What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law” (Romans 9:30-31)
How can the "Gentiles" in Romans 9:24 be the descendants of "the house of Israel" yet, at the same time, be contrasted with "Israel" in Romans 9:30-31? This dilemma is easily reconciled when one understands that at the time the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, the people of the divorced and dispersed house of Israel were no longer called "Israel." This loss of identity was in fulfillment of Hosea 1:9-10, where it was prophesied that the house of Israel would no longer be known as God's people. Although the ten northern tribes had been formerly known as Israelites (God's people), they were now (following God's divorcement of them) collectively referred to as "Gentiles." Only the descendants of the house of Judah were still known as and called Israel, "ruling with El(ohiym)," at the time the Apostle Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans. The fact that the Judahites were called "Israel" is demonstrated by the Apostle Peter:
“... when Peter saw this, he replied to the people [Judahites], "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this.... The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus the one whom you delivered up, and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.” (Acts 3:12-13)
These "Men of Israel" addressed by the Apostle Peter, were the Judahite people who delivered up Jesus the Christ to Pontius Pilate and demanded His crucifixion.
Romans 9:24 can easily be reconciled with Romans 9:30-31 if one recognizes that Paul's use of the term "Israel" is, in this case, used in reference to the Judahite (Jewish) Israelites, descendants from the. house of Judah. With this knowledge and with the understanding that the descendants of the house of Israel were no longer called "Israel," Romans 9:30-31 can be properly understood as follows: “What shall we say then? That Gentiles [the divorced and gentilized house of Israel], who did not pursue righteousness [which is exactly what the house of Israel did not do], attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel [the house of Judah], pursuing a law of righteousness [which is exactly what the faithful among the house of Judah tried to do], did not arrive at that law” (Romans 9:30-31).
“Consequently, what appears to be a dilemma between Romans 9:24 and Romans 9:30-31, is only a matter of semantics. After examining the use of the word "Gentile" in the New Testament, its primary meaning is found to be: those people descended from the house of Israel, who were at one time divorced by God and dispersed among the heathen non-Israelite nations and who were at a later time
called back into a covenant relationship with God” (ibid., pp.29-30). So improper context we can understand who the gentiles are in the scriptures. These were the lost ten tribes of Israel to whom, " He [YHWH] also called [made a new covenant with], not from among Jews [the house of Judah] only, but also from among Gentiles [the divorced and gentilized house of Israel]. (Romans 9:24).
Fulfilled in History
After the stoning of Stephen in 34 A.D. " at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles." (Acts 8:1). This scattering starting the preaching of the Gospel to the house of Israel, the gentiles (heathen) were going to be preached by the Apostle Paul. Is there any evidence of this in history? Absolutely!
Usually called the "First Missionary Journeys" the disciples of Christ, not the apostles, but the "seventy,"( the apostles stayed in Jerusalem), were the ones responsible for "much of this missionary work [and] was the outcome of enforced dispersion occasioned by the persecution which arose at the martyrdom of Stephen... ‘And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles...Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word’ (Acts 1, 4) and ‘Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only... And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus...’(Acts 11:19-20)...’’’(Coming of the Saints, John W. Taylor, pp.47-48). As a result of the stoning of Stephen in 34 A.D, the disciples, the seventy, were scattered and preached to the Jews and the Greeks. These were in the Phoenician colonies at the time that Taylor writes, "It is surely no accidental circumstance that the traditional Hebrew missions follow exactly the same course as that of Phoenician colonization, and that traditional sites of these missions are found accordingly, first at the Syro-Phoenician towns along the coast as far as Antioch [they were first called Christians there, see Acts 11:26], and secondly, at all the main Phoenician or Phoenician and Hebrew settlements-in Cyprus, in Sicily, in Crete, at Cyrene, in Sardinia and Spain, and finally at the so called 'Cassiterides,' or Cornwall" (ibid, pp.50-51). The Phoenicians are the House of Israel that we have proved in this book The Jews and the Phoenicians had no trouble communicating with one another as we see with the case of Jesus and the Syro-Phoenician woman, in Mark 7:26. So the preaching of the Gospel could be communicated to them. Who was the one who was leading these missionary journey's of the "seventy"? History shows that this was Joseph of Arimethea. It also shows that they established the first church in A.D. 36 shortly after the stoning of Stephen in Britain, (i.e. House of Israel).
Andrew Gray in his book The Origin and Early History of Christianity in Britain says, "We have no hesitation in saying that 'the Christian faith was professed in Britain even in the days of the Apostles...This fact is fully proved by the testimony of ancient writers...Christianity was brought in Britain by Joseph of Arimethea, cir. A.D. 36-39...The constant current of European tradition affirmed Britain to have been the first country in Europe to receive the Gospel, and the British Church to be the most ancient of all the churches of Christ therein" (pp.4-5). Many ancient writers attest to the fact that "Britain was the first nation to accept the Gospel" (Polydore Vergil; Cardinal Pole A.D. 1555). Here are a few of those writers:
Tertullian. A.D. 155-222. He was Christianity's first genius after the apostles, and he wrote, 'The extremities of Spain, the various parts of Gaul, the regions of Britain which have never been penetrated by Roman arms have received the religion of Christ'.
Eusebius. A.D. 260-340. He was Christianity's first great historian, and he wrote 'The Apostles passed beyond the ocean to the isles called the Britannic Isles'.
Dorotheus. The Bishop of Tyre in A.D. 303 said 'Aristobulus, whom Paul saluted, writing to the Romans (Romans 16:10) was Bishop of Britain'. He also mentions by name another disciple as visiting Britain. 'Simon Zelotes preached Christ through all Mauretania, and Afric, the less. At length he was crucified at Britannia, slain and buried'.
What about the Apostles? (Remember Jesus told the Original Apostles, the Twelve not to go to the Gentiles, but the House of Israel, Matthew 10:5-6). The Apostles themselves went to Parthia, North Africa, Carthage, Britain, India (Province of Parthia), Gaul, Scotland and all preached the Gospel to them, the House of Israel, confirming the Covenant to the House of Israel, and preaching that the death of Christ redeemed them back to God, no longer being divorced from him but now being part of "the commonwealth of Israel" again, and not being "strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:" (Ephesians 2;12).For more details read our book on line "Where did the Original Apostles Go? Chart Below Shows the Destinations of the Apostles. These nations and people are all part of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel: Jesus said that this nation to whom the Kingdom of God was going to posses was to "bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matthew 21:43). The Israelitish nations around the world through the missionaries have produced fruit in Christ all over the world not to mention the British and American Bible societies that print bibles for the whole world to read. These Christian Israelites have given us the standards of living that we have today. In his book "Under the Influence; How Christianity Transformed Civilization, by Alvin J. Scmidt, shows how the British and American societies with their Christian religion have brought us all the rights, freedoms, laws and liberties we enjoy because of their commitment to Christ. Not to mention things like Capitalism, Hospitals, science and so on. Truly we have brought forth fruits for Christ and in Christ, Jesus.
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Jacob's Trouble-The Great Tribulation
The Great Tribulation is described in the bible, as a time "such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matthew 24:21). A time unprecedented in history, a time that shall never happen again. It is also called the time of "Jacob Trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7), and THAT'S US! The USA & the British Commonwealth of Nations. Also the Scandinavian peoples of North western Europe and the Jewish people of Palestine! It is the time of our National Trouble, unless our peoples repent and return to Almighty God. We must have faith in Jesus Christ, and Obey His laws, the Ten Commandments.
"O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!" (Deut 5:29). God's laws are laid down for our GOOD so we can be prosperous like the founders of Our Great Nations of Colonial America and Britain once Knew. Now that knowledge of Almighty God is gone from our peoples today. God has given us a choice. He says "choose Life" in Deut 30:19, so that "both thou and thy seed MAY LIVE!" We have a choice because God has made us free moral agents!
If we were to obey God on a national scale God would restore the former blessings to Us, but if we do not, then God says that he would "...cut Israel short" (2 Kings 10:32). As God cut off Israel in the days of the book of Kings, God will do it again today, as he says "I change Not" (Malachi 3:6). God does not change the way he deals with his people. God will send out his warnings to his people Israel through the work of the church, which is the work of the Watchman of Ezekiel 33. If Israel continues to defy God, even though the proofs of God is all around Us, then God will, "scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them" (Ezekiel 36:19).
There are many prophecies in the bible about our demise as a nation if we don't repent and return to Almighty God. Once the Great British Empire was a beacon of Light for the Heathen nations of the world, bringing many people to Christ. Establishing justice mercy and equity in the earth, as the prophecies in Isaiah foretold.
Now, the British people need missionaries believe it or not. The nation that had missionaries yearning to convert people to Christ, now today need missionaries to establish churches by the very nations that they taught how to establish churches. You see how far we have come in our nations? How far we have turned from Almighty God! Notice: “But it is a matter of grave concern that what has gone wrong with Britons, which has led to a Godless secular society. Perhaps the present white Briton's younger generation has forgotten their living God of Israel and forsaken Him and left the Church.
“They have forgotten their rich Christian heritage which they inherited from their forefathers and British monarchs who established the mighty Christian British Empire the world over with the might of Holy Spirit by obeying the rules of God of Israel and in whose empire the sun never set in.
“Once upon a time, Great Britain, a Christian nation who led the world in exporting Christianity along with coal and cricket has long gone. Having led the way they are now on the receiving end of help from outside missionaries” (BY Pastor Isaac Newton Johnson Special to ASSIST News Service).
God said about Ephraim, meaning Britain, "whose glorious beauty is a fading flower," (Isaiah 28:1). Britain in the 20th century has lost many of its protectorates and colonies claiming independence, only causing more damage in those countries by pulling out, these places are now subject to despots and dictators. South Africa is in a state of chaos, Hong Kong has been given to the Communist Chinese. The Asian colonies established by Britain and the other European Colonists, are now third world plague ridden places with no law, equity, or Judgement, that the British established, which caused prosperity and stable nations which everyone one enjoyed, the British and the Non British people alike!
There are prophesies about the doom of the colonies of Britain, "As for Ephraim [Britain] , their glory shall fly away like a bird, [Commonwealth is shrinking fast!] from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
" Though they bring up their children [colonies of Canada Australia, New Zealand, and Mother England], yet will I bereave them, that there shall not be a man left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
"Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer" (Hosea 9:11-13). Mother England will go through the Great Tribulation along with her children unless we repent. And when God finally takes his presence away from us, when he turns his face against us, woe unto us. Pray that God can grant us repentance so we can live!
Pride of Our Power-God wrote through Moses that many blessings and curses would come to our people if we chose to obey, or reject God. One of the curses that God said that would happen was that he would "break the pride of our Power" (Lev 26:19). This has already begun to happen. We were once great possessors of an Empire, now Britain is called the "sick man of Europe," and a third rate power. But Britain still acts like its a possessor of an empire. But acting like one, and being one are two different things aren't they? "Gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not" (Hosea 7:9).
Today, even little nations dare to insult, trample on, and burn our flags! Still, we have our power, we do nothing but issue a weak protest. What happened to the pride of our power? We have already lost it! People who show a little bit of pride in America, or Britain, Canada etc.. is labelled a racist, or Bigot. After the September 11th attacks when Americans were showing their pride, minorities looked down on them in discuss? Why? Why can't the Americans and British show pride in their heritage and history? Why is it labelled racists? The national mood of political correctness is, “you've had your turn you Anglo-Saxon Christian people, now its our turn.” We have lost the pride of Our Power!
The social and economic conditions of our people are in deep peril, because we would not have of "My counsel, they despise all my reproof...Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices" (Proverbs 1:30-31). Our God rejecting society has produced a society of criminals, slums of the inner cities. One big American city has more crime than England, Denmark, and Holland Put together. Who are the ones who are free, the American citizens who lock themselves up in their homes? Or the criminals who walk around the city streets looking for their next victim?
Look at our national economies. Wages are increasing, but productivity lags behind. People are being paid more for less work. America used to be the manufacturing giant of the entire world, so was Britain, now all the manufacturing jobs have gone to third world nations, and we are now service oriented in our economies. The great loss of American and manufacturing Canadian jobs have cost our countries billions of dollars not to mention the terrible conditions in the inner cities, Detroit is one example of this.
We have a debt load that is staggering. The USA has a debt of over 6 trillions dollars. Canada has a debt of about 5 hundred billion. This debt load is so staggering that not even our grandchildren can pay it off. Every year wild cat strikes cost our economies billions of dollars, the USA is now being called a "paper tiger" all bark and no bite.
Our welfare system promotes, and encourages people not to work and not to become something and contribute to society. Instead there are set up, especially refugees from other countries of the third world, with money, medical, place to stay, all on the tax payers expense. People who contributed absolutely nothing to society, and have been here for two seconds have just as many rights as you do, that's the Canadian system we live under, and it seems that Canadians don't want to do anything about it. They feel powerless, but they aren't. The nation has to but pressure on the government to straighten out there act, but everyone not just a handful of people.
The British and American societies are sick, physically, mentally, and most importantly spiritually. Sodomy flourishes throughout the land, for the same reason it did back then in the days of Sodom: "pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters," (Ezekiel 16:49). What a picture of a modern day morally bankrupt society.
Our nation is so preoccupied with sex its unbelievable. Porn magazines and T.V stations. Teen pregnancies, S&M, homosexuality, incest, in short, sex has become the biggest sales commodity in British and American lands. True What God says: " they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves" (Isaiah 3:9).
When we get to the point where we are no longer ashamed of sin, that's the time when God has to judge as God says: "Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" (Jer 5:29)
Slavery of Israel
"Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. "For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: "But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them" (Jer 30:7-9). At the second coming of Christ as it says above, our people are going to be in a condition of slavery and captivity. At this time, our army is going to be depleted, and the enemies of Israel, Britain and America, are going to take over our countries and put us into slavery and captivity unless our peoples repent and return to Almighty God.
"And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. "Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots: "And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds: "And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: "Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. "And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities. "And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard" (Micah 5:8-15).
Notice that God says that "in that day" when Israel cuts off all of its enemies that God will cut off our army, and our cities will be destroyed. God is angry at Israel because it has neglected its responsibility, and sinned against God. Now the army that we trust in so much will get smaller and smaller. Has that happened? Absolutely. After the Cold War, there has been a steady reduction of arms building. The budgets of our armies have shrunk dramatically. Now I am not saying that building arms is a good thing, but when you understand the prophecies of the bible, you realized that the arms reduction is leading to the demise of our countries and the take over of Israel by their enemies that are still building arms of mass destruction, that's the context God is talking about here.
Our people will be in slavery and captivity by two great enemies. The North American Israelites of Canada and America, and the Eastern Israelites of Australia and New Zealand will be attacked and subdued by an Enemy known as Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38 & 39 (order our article on China in Prophecy for details).
European Israel, Britain, the Scandinavian peoples and Judah, the Jews, will be attacked and subdued by what the Bible calls the Beast of Bible Prophecy, meaning, a United States of Europe with Germany at the helm (order our articles, What, What is the Beast of Revelation, Germany in Prophecy, and Russia in Prophecy for further details).
Arguments Against British-Israel
There are many weak arguments against the so-called British-Israelite theory. We are going to go through them one by one and answer them. Some of these arguments come from different authors like Walter Martin, Grant Jeffery etc...
1) The first argument they make is that the Apostle Paul called himself a Jew as well as an Israelite, see Acts 22:3; Rom 11:1. From this they conclude that all Israelites including the lost ten tribes are all Jews.
Answer: The word "Jew" was applied in three ways. It referred to any descendant of the tribe of Judah. The word Jews in merely a nickname shortened for "Judahite," Judah, which is one tribe out of twelve. See Vines Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, pp.333-334. But the word "Jew" is also applied to anyone who refused to join the rebellion, when the twelve tribes split into two separate kingdoms., see i Kings 11 & 12. As it turns out parts of Benjamin and Levi joined the KINGDOM OF JUDAH. These two tribes joined the JEWS and they became Jews NATIONALLY not racially, because a Jew racially is only for Judah. Just like anyone who immigrates from Italy to Canada. Racially he is Italian NATIONALLY he is Canadian. So all Jews ARE Israelites, but not all Israelites are Jews.
The apostle Paul descended from the tribe of Benjamin, Nationally he was a Jew, he was a CITIZEN OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH [The Jews], RACIALLY However Paul was NOT a Jew. Alfred Lilienthal, a Jew confirms and expounds this very point in his book, What Price Israel: "The name Yehudi or Jew is used in the Old Testament to designate members of the tribe of Judah...as well as to denote CITIZENS OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH [Benjamin, Levi], particularly at the time of Jeremiah and under Persian occupation [See Esther 2:5]" (p.216).
The third way you can apply this term is religiously. People who were into the religion of Judaism.
2) In the book of Ezra, the captives of the House of Judah, returned to Palestine. Some people claimed that the ten tribe House of Israel was there because of the word "Israel" is mentioned more times than the word "Jew." So they attach this to mean that all of Israel all twelve tribes were there.
Answer: People tend to forget that all Jews are Israelites so why not call themselves after their ancestor Israel. The fact is all Israelites are not Jews as explained above. Not to mention all of Judah did not even return. The bulk of them stayed in Babylon and were there until the fall of the Parthian empire in the first and second centuries A.D. For a full explanation of this go to page on the books of Nehemiah and Ezra.
3) Some argue that in Ezra 6:17, he offered 12 he goats to God "according to the tribes of Israel." So people come to the conclusion that the ten tribes came back.
Answer: Weiland writes: "Why not? MY father in-law has the habit of always praying for absent family members during the blessing a meal time. Ezra was basically doing the same thing; he made an offering for all Israel, the two tribes present, and the remaining ten who were absent. To verify that this was an accepted practice..."(God's Covenant People p.15).
Also in the days of Elijah they made a sacrifice and set up stones. And like Ezra, it was "according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob," and the House of Judah, Benjamin, and some of Levi WAS NOT THERE. But they recognized them as God's people with the House of Israel! This is a weak argument.
4) Some argue that in the New Testament there was a woman named Anna of the tribe of Asher in Luke 2:36. This is their proof that all the twelve tribes were there in Palestine. Walter Martin in his book Kingdom of the Cults says that the Bible calls her a "Jewess." (p.316).
Answer: I searched the entire Bible, and I couldn't find the scripture that called Ann a "Jewess." But the most likely scenario of Anna and where she came from will be explained below.
5) People seem to think that the Epistle of James shows that the ten tribes and the Jews were one nation in James 1:1, "...To the twelve tribes scattered abroad, greetings"
Answer: In fact, this letter absolutely identifies where lost ten tribes are. Remember, the disciples were commissioned to go to the "lost sheep of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL" (Matthew 10:5). The ORIGINAL apostles, Jesus said in the same verse were not go "in the way of the gentiles" that was Paul's commission, even though Peter opened the door to the gentiles, the Apostle Paul stepped through it and did his work among them. But notice Jesus said they were "lost." Now the letter of James was to the 12 tribes not churches. From James 4:1 we learn that "wars" were being waged "among you" James asked. "What wars are these"? No wars existed among the Jews until the outbreak, several years later, of the revolt against the Romans. These wars absolutely identify the lost ten tribes-the-lands which the Apostles Journeyed to. (see our Article Where Did the Original Apostles Go? for further details).
James wrote about 60 A.D. He was martyred two years later according to Josephus. The world was at this time temporarily at peace-cowed by fear of the Roman army. Just prior to 60 A.D. only two areas were torn by war, and civil fighting. All one needs to do is look at military history for the period before and up to 60 A.D. The result will shock you! Those lands were the BRITISH ISLES AND THE PARTHIAN EMPIRE. The two places we have proved in this book are the lost ten tribes of Israel.
6) Some quote Acts 2:36, Peter's statement shows that the ten tribes were living in Palestine with the Jews and were Jews. "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."
Answer: Yes, the House of Israel were there when Peter gave his speech at Pentecost, but they were not Jews, and they came from the Places of their origins on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. Some of the House of Israel converted to Judaism and came to Jerusalem for the feast.
Notice in the same Chapter who Peter was talking to, "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven...Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,...Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews & proselytes...Cretes and Arabians," (Acts 2:5, 9-11). Stephen Collins writes: "During the three years of Parthian rule over Palestine there would have considerable exchange of information between Jews and Parthians..." (p.243, LTTIF).
Proselytes were people who were non-Jewish in race, but converted to the religion of Judaism. Secular history shows of many Parthians converting to Judaism, "there is at least one record of a Parthian provincial king adopting Judaism, indicating that some Parthian rulers did acknowledge the God of the Bible. The presence of Parthian pilgrims at a Pentecost (Feast of Weeks) celebration in Jerusalem (Acts 2:9) confirms that a portion of Parthia's population also served the God of he Bible" (ibid, p.245). They were Jews but racially, there were Parthians, and they came to Jerusalem to worship God in Jerusalem and were Part of the lost ten tribes of Israel. And at that time the Jews knew where the House of Israel were. Josephus wrote that the ten tribes were "beyond the river Euphrates" that was Parthia's territory. So when Peter was addressing the House of Israel, they were there, converted Parthians keeping the feast of weeks. Nothing shows that they were Jews racially and living in Palestine. Most likely Anna the prophetess of the tribe of Asher in the Gospel of Luke was part of the Proselytes of Parthia visiting Palestine.
7) The one argument that I find the funniest of all, is the prophecy used to describe Israel and Judah together. This scripture they use to show that Israel and Judah never really parted but were always together.
This prophecy is found in Ezekiel 37:15-28. It says that Ezekiel was to take two sticks in his hand, one for Judah and his companions, i.e Benjamin and Levi. The other for Ephraim and his companions, i.e. the other tribes of the house of Israel. Then they will be one in his hand.
Answer: Yes, Judah and Israel will be one nation again, the problem is, WHAT'S THE TIME SETTING OF THIS PROPHECY? This is what these so-called scholars and critics have missed and its plain in the pages of your Bible. This happens at the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
Verse 24 says, "David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them." David has been dead for years. For him to rule he has to be resurrected. And when does the resurrection occur? At the second coming of Christ, see 1 Corinthians 15:23, 50-52; Rev 20:4-6.
Now Dr. Walter Martin clearly states in his book The Kingdom of the Cults, p.311 that this prophecy was fulfilled when the Jews returned to Palestine, after the Babylonian captivity. Problem is, was David, or Jesus for that matter, or even a descendant of David ruling over the Jews then? Absolutely Not! The Persians still ruled Palestine. They let the Jews return to their land, and the Jews had governors over the land. The Throne of David was NOT established. Ezekiel says that David shall rule over them "FOREVER." How can this prophecy be fulfilled, by David, Jesus, or any descendants of David, then or now? But the prophecy clearly says that David will rule forever. This can ONLY happen at the second coming of Christ when the tribes will be ruled by David forever. As for today, prophecy says that David will rule over the House of Israel, not all the twelve tribes of Judah and Israel together. God said he would overturn it and root it out of Judah, and plant it in the House of Israel. (For full details order our free booklet The Throne of David in Prophecy). God also says at the time when the Jews came back from Babylon that He would break the "brotherhood between Judah and Israel" (Zechariah 11:14). But at the second coming, God says that "Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim " (Isaiah 11:13). So clearly the time setting of this prophecy is at the second coming of Christ, when king David will rule over the House of Israel and Judah forever.
So since the time setting is at the second coming, this prophecy actually shows that at the time just before the second coming Judah and Israel are actually SEPARATE NATIONS AND NOT ONE NATION CALLED THE JEWS IN PALESTINE. This prophecy is actually the opposite of what Walter Martin is trying to prove, "neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:" (verse 22).
Grant Jeffery writes that in Ezekiel 37, "David" in that chapter means the "Messiah" and not David literally.
First, Jesus is never called David in the Bible. he is called the "root" or offspring of David, or "branch of Jesse" but never "David." Jesus is called in the Old Testament "YHWH" Almighty God not David, see Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12; 14:1-6; Acts 1:9-12; Isaiah 9:6-7.
Notice Zechariah 14:4. It says that Yahweh's feet will stand in that day on the "mount of Olives." When you compare that scripture to Acts 1:9-12 you read of Jesus ascending into heaven from the "mount called Olivet," and "he shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." His feet lifted off the mount of olives and when he comes his feet shall stand on the mount of olives. He is called YHWH in the old Testament, pointing to his Divinity. Human flesh he is called the root of David offspring of David or branch of David, never David. David literally means David. Jeremiah says: "But they shall serve the LORD their God [Jesus], and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them." Who raises the Dead? Jesus Christ, see John 5:25-29.
8) Grant Jeffrery in his book Coming Judgement of the Nations, he writes that the British can't be Israel because the British never circumcise their children the way the Jews did.
Answer: Talk about grasping at straws, just looking for an excuse not to accept the obvious. I guess Jeffery did not read the part in the Bible that shows how Israel disobeyed God, breaking his laws, that's why they got kicked out of the land in the first place, see 2 Kings 17:5-23. So why would they circumcise?
However, why is it that: "The great majority of North American males, as well as many boys in other parts of the world [British Commonwealth] are CIRCUMCISED soon after they are born" (ABC's of the Human Body, Reader's Digest, p.267).
9) Another quote from Jeffery's book, he quotes Hosea 3:4-5 about the children of Israel "abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:" He says that Britain always had a king so Britain cannot be Israel.
Answer: Again your problem is, WHAT'S YOUR TIME SETTING? It plainly says, "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days." Notice its the latter days. And there are two other places in the bible with the same expression, Jeremiah 30:7-9 and Ezekiel 37. In Jeremiah 30:7-9 we see the time of Jacob's trouble which is the Great tribulation, and then in v.8 we read of the slavery of Israel, then v. 9 shows the rescue of Israel by YHWH and raising David their king. So when it says in Hosea that Israel won't have a prince or a ruler of their own, this will happen when? In the context of Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, during the GREAT TRIBULATION. They will loose their government, the land and their freedom.
10) Of course people will accuse me of promoting the Master Race theory or White supremacy.
Answer: Nonsense! The only reason we have all these blessings is because Abraham kept God's commandments, Gen 26:1-5. God called Abraham, Abraham responded, and was justified by faith in Yahweh by keeping God's commandments.
11) Why were there Israelites in the land of Palestine in Josiah's time keeping the Passover if they got all taken away in the Assyrian captivity, see 2 Chronicles 35:17-18?
Answer: Stephen Collins writes: "The answer is simple. The ‘Israelites’ from the ten tribes ‘who were present’ in Palestine at the time of king Josiah's revival were Scythians were occupying everything from Palestine to Mesopotamia!
"For at least ten years, contingents of the ten tribes were present in Palestine and living in their formal tribal homelands [see 2 Chronicles 34:3-9]. This account makes clear that these members of the ten tribes of Israel were separate and distinct from the tribes of ‘Judah and Benjamin’ (who constituted the nation of the Judah)...Secular history calls them ‘Scythians’ but the Bible instead refers them by their traditional Israelite names.After a number of years, they likely decided that Palestine was simply not worth the effort, and withdrew into Scythia...Herodotus records that the Scythians has an ‘isolationists’ attitude toward other nations. He recorded that the Scythians: ‘dreadfully’ avoided he use of Foreign customs, and especially those of the Greeks...So careful are the Scythians to guard their own customs, and such are the penalties that they impose on those who take foreign over and above their own.
“The voluntary withdrawal of the Scythians from a large conquered territory is consistent with the isolationism of the Scythians. The wanted to live in their own ‘wide open spaces’ and did not want the burden of ruling over nations and foreigners with unwanted customs and lifestyles” (Lost Ten Tribes...Found, Collins, pp.190-193). The Scythians OCCUPIED Palestine, but their HOMELAND was between the BLACK AND THE CASPIAN SEAS. There they returned and stayed afterwards.
Notice how the Scythians and the Cimmerians were "Isolationists". This puts to rest the theories that they mixed among other peoples and are not pure Israelites. The Bible even says that Israel would "dwell alone" in the wilderness of this world, see Numbers 23:9, and shall not be "reckoned among the nations."
12) What about 1 Chronicles 9:1-3? It says, “So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel: and Judah was carried away captive to Babylon for their transgression.” (American Standard Version)
“And the first inhabitants, who are in their possession, in their cities, of Israel, are the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim.” (Young’s Literal Translation).
“And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and Manasseh;” Does this mean that Ephraim and Manasseh returned with the Jewish Babylonian exiles in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah?
Answer: First, Judah being mentioned as being taken away to Babylon for their sins of course here is added by the later editors of the Bible of course by Ezra. A reminder to people why they went into captivity.
Secondly, the phrase in verse 2, “the first inhabitants.” The word “first” does not mean the first people after the exile of Babylon to enter the land and possess it. When we look at the Strong’s and the true meaning of the word, we see a different meaning. “H7223 ree-shone’, ree-shone’ From H7221; first, in place, time or rank (as adjective or noun): -ancestor, (that were) before (-time), beginning, eldest, first, fore [-father] (-most), former (thing), of old time, past.” It means the “former” first inhabitants of the land not the latter first inhabitants of the land. And in the context of the whole chapter, it plainly shows the geneaologies of the former heads of the tribes before the exile. Kiel & Delitzsche Commentary of the Old Testament renders this passage the same as well, “And the former inhabitants which (lived) in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim; and in Jerusalem there dwelt of the sons of Judah,” etc., the “former inhabitants” can only be those who dwelt in their possessions before Judah was led captive into Babylon. This could hardly be misunderstood by any commentator,...[it] can only be understood of the pre-exilic inhabitants”.
Now in verse when it says in Jerusalem there dwelt “Ephraim and Manasseh,” this is meant by the “former inhabitants,” not the latter. And if you notice the geneaology, none of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh is mentioned. Why? “...The reason of that is probably this, that only single families and individuals from among the latter [group, Ephraim and Manasseh] dwelt there, while the register only makes mention of the heads of the larger family groups in the population of Jerusalem.” The Heads of the main tribes are the ones mentioned they were in charge of that region. So in context this shows nothing of Ephraim and Manasseh coming back to the land in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, but shows that Ephraim and Manasseh were its former inhabitants and were a minority in that region.
13) Some even claim that people who believe in British-Israel are “... give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith:” (1 Tim 1:4; Titus 3:9). Is this true?
First., the Bible is loaded with genealogies. All one has to do is look into the books of Genesis, Numbers, 1 Chronicles etc.. and even the New Testament Gosples to see all the genealogies of the people of Israel, and the world in Genesis. Doesn’t this contradict what Paul is saying? Absolutely Not!
The genealogies that Paul is speaking of, are not the Biblical genealogies, but are, “...found in Philo, Josephus and the book of Jubilees, by which the Jews traced the descent from the Patriarchs and their families, and perhaps also to Gnostic ‘genealogies’ and orders of aeons ans spirits. Amongst the Greeks, as well as other nations, mythological stories gathered around the birth and ‘genealogy’ of their heroes [hence Paul’s reference to ‘fables’]. Probably Jewish ‘genealogical’ tales crept into the Christian communities” (Vines Expository Dictionary, p.262). Clearly these are not the Biblical genealogies Paul was speaking of. Josephus, “appeals to the priestly registers and is proud of the royal descent of his mother; he shows that even the priests residing in Egypt had their sons registered authentically in Jerusalem, so as to safeguard their priestly prerogatives (C. Apion., I, vii).” (The Catholic Encyclopedia, under article “Genealogy”). Philo, “to the various stories and fables told about Moses and the Patriarchs” (ibid).
As for the Gnostics, “[These were] genealogies of spirits and aeons, as they called them, “Lists of Gnostic emanations” [ALFORD]. So TERTULLIAN [Against Valentinian, c. 3], and IRENÆUS [Preface]...Endless” refers to the tedious unprofitableness of their lengthy genealogies (compare Tit_3:9). Paul opposes to their “aeons,” the “King of the aeons (so the Greek, 1Ti_1:17), whom be glory throughout the aeons of aeons.” The word “aeons” was probably not used in the technical sense of the latter Gnostics as yet; but “the only wise God” (1Ti_1:17), by anticipation, confutes the subsequently adopted notions in the Gnostics’ own phraseology. ” (JFB Commentary). So clearly, the Biblical genealogies is not meant in this passage.
There is no question we are God’s Covenant People, the House of Israel. God is true to his promises, and May all the House of Israel repent and return to Almighty God!
The Tribes
EPHRAIM.......THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH
MANASSEH .............THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
REUBEN ...........NORTHERN FRANCE
LEVI ...............WITH THE JEWS
ISSACHAR ...........FINLAND
ZEBULON ............HOLLAND
BENJAMIN ....... ICELAND, BELGAE, NORMAN’S, QUEBECOIS
DAN .............DANES, IRISH
NAPHTALI ......SWEDEN
YEHUDA .........JEWS
GAD ......NORWAY
ASHER .........SWISS
SIMEON .........WELSH
Bibliography
Heritage of the Anglo-Saxon Race (Chart), Covenant Publishing Co. Geographical Tree of the Lost Ten Tribes (Chart), Covenant Publishing Co. Allen J.H. Judah’s Scepter and Joseph’s Birthright, 10 edition, copyright 1902 Bennett, W.H. Symbols of Our Celto-Saxon Heritage, 2nd printing 1985 BBCTV & Time Life Books, The British Empire
Capt Raymond, Stonehenge & Druidism Capt Raymond, Our Great Seal, Symbols of Our Heritage, copyright 1979 Capt Raymond, Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets, Copyright
1985 Collins M. Stephen, The “Lost” Ten Tribes... Found!, Copyright 1995 Cross Colin, Fall of the British Empire Covenant Books, As Birds Flying Over Jerusalem Culican, Medes and Persians Davidy Yair, The Tribes, Russell-Davis Publishers Fell, Barry, America B. C. Wallaby New York, 1976 Gawler, Col J. Dan-The Pioneer of Israel, London 1880
Gawler Col. J. Our Scythian Anscestors, Edinburgh, 1875 Haberman F. Tracing Our Anscestors, 3'd Edition, 1989 Halley Henry, Halley’s Bible Handbook, 1964, edition Hawtin, G.R The Abrahamic Covenant, Copyright 1988 Herodotus, The Histories, Chicago Press, 1987
Higginson, An Attestation To This Church History of New England Hislop Alex, The Two Babylons, 2"d American Edition, 1959 James Lawrence, Rise and Fall of the British Empire, Copyright 1994 Jamison, Faucett and Brown, New Commentary on the Whole Bible, Copyright 1990 Jamison Faucett and Brown, Critical Experimental Commentary Jefferey Grant, Coming Judgement of the Nations Jones Maldwin, Destination America Josephus, Flavius, The Complete Works of Josephus, 1981 Kregal
Publication Keith Authur, The Graphic, Dec 4, 1915 Article Lysons, Our British Anscestors
MacNeil and McCrum, The Story of the English, 1986 McNair Raymond, America and Britain in Prophecy
Martin Waltar, Kingdom of the Cults Milner W.M.H. The Royal House of Britain Milton, John, History of England, 1835 Morgan, St Paul in Britain Morris James, Pax Britannica
Puhvel, Comparitive Mythology Ragozin, Media Rawlinson George, Phoenicia, London, Circa 1895
Rawlinson George, Ancient History, New York 1993 Edition Rice Talbot, The Scythians Ripley, Races of Europe Robertson Wilmot, Dispossessed Majority Stough W. Henry, Dedicated Disciples, Artisan Sales 1987 Strabo, Geography Strong’s James, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance Thomas Llewellyn, The Assyrian Invasions and Deportations of Israel, Reprint of 1937
Edition Turner Sharon, History of the Anglo-Saxons
Waddell L.A. The Phoenician Origins of Britons Scots and Anglo-Saxons, London 1924 Weiland Ted, God’s Covenant People, 2 d Edition 1995 Williams Brian, Britian’s Royal Throne 3"d Edition, 1973 Williams Brian, Judgment on Britain, 2"d Edition. 1966
Encyclopedias & Dictionaries
British Empire Volt Catholic Encyclopaedia Encyclopaedia Americana Encyclopaedia Britannica Kitto, Cyclopaedia of Biblical
Literature Jewish Encyclopaedia
New English Dictionary on Historical Principles Revell Bible Dictionary Treasury of the Old Testament Vine’s Expository Dictionary
Very striking here is the time element! As we saw earlier, Israel had to wait 2,520 years from the time of her Assyrian oppression and captivity before receiving the actual fulfillment of the birthright promises. This coincides exactly with Britain's population explosion, which gave the British the impetus to spread abroad.
Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, in 1907, expressed the belief that God had put in the Englishmen a divine impulse to establish colonies around the globe: "I would describe the [British] Empire... as the result, not of an accident or a series of accidents, but of an instinct-that ineradicable and divinely implanted impulse, which has sent the Englishman forth into the uttermost parts of the earth, and made him there the parent of new societies and the architect of unpremeditated creations" (The British Empire, BBC TV and Time-Life Books, p. 2,466).
Palestine Given Back to the Jewish People Prophesied: Palestine was lost to Babylon because of the sins of Judah, Benjamin and Levi in 604 B.C. The king of Babylon ruled over it and Judah lost their birthright and were taken captive. After that, even though the Jews Returned, they never had control over the land. Every empire after Babylon controlled it. The land was NEVER UNDER JEWISH CONTROL.
Let's apply the same formula of "seven times" punishment, to the Jews losing their birthright. 2520 subtracted from 604 B.C. comes to 1916 A.D., now add one year because of the 1 B.C. 1 A.D. factor and you come up with 1917 A.D.
This happens to be the year when General Allenby of the British Forces, captured Gaza, Beersheba, and so on in Palestine, and on December 11th, he entered Jerusalem exactly "seven times," after the taking of Palestine from Babylon! The British came and liberated it from the Turks.
In Ezekiel 25:14 we read of the prophecy of this event: "And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom [Turkey] by the hand of my people Israel: [Britain] and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD."
Isaiah writes that Jerusalem would be saved in this way: "As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it."(Isa 31:5). Airplanes had a lot to do with the liberation of Jerusalem from the Turks! Isaiah saw something like "birds flying" trying to describe what he saw in his day! He saw Airplanes!
The News Papers at that time said: "The General commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary force reported that his planes were doing 'good work, 800 feet below sea level" (As Birds Flying Over Jerusalem, by Covenant Books). Jerusalem was not even touched by any bomb, nor was a shot fired, as God promised to deliver it, and protect it.
On 11 December, General Allenby, the leader of the delivering forces, WALKED into Jerusalem through the "Gate of the Friend" (Jaffa Gate), outside which military guards were drawn up, ready to join the procession into the city. The guard on the one side was formed by soldiers from Great Britain, and on the other side by Australian and New Zealand troops, for it must be remembered that this deliverance was carried out entirely by forces of the British "nation and company of nations" (Genesis 35:11). General Allenby officially accepted the surrender of the Holy City from the foot of David's Tower, and a comforting proclamation was read in seven languages, telling the people that they could go quietly and undisturbed about their ordinary business, and all their holy places would be respected. Jerusalem was no longer "trodden down of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). The Turks, however, made up their minds to get Jerusalem back at any cost; they attacked the British line furiously. Massey tells us that on 27 December they made 13 determined attacks during the morning, but failed to pierce the defence. Prisoners taken revealed that they had been promised as an inducement that when they recaptured Jerusalem, they should have one day in the city to do just as they liked. Meanwhile, during this fighting, the inhabitants of the "delivered" city were on the roofs of their houses, praying that their British deliverers might have strength to withstand the attacks. We all know the result: the Turkish oppressor was driven off, and Jerusalem came under British protection Now what does this have to do with the Jews? Because of Allenby's victory it put Israel under British mandate. This mandate, called the Balfour Declaration, called for a Jewish homeland and set the foundation for modern Israel.
Balfour Declaration 1917
November 2nd, 1917
Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.
"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour
This led the way for the first Jewish Immigrants to Palestine, and the House of Judah got their land back, exactly "SEVEN TIMES" after the House of Judah, were without their national inheritance, for 2520 years!
Why Israel Lost their Identity
The main vanguard of the Israelite - the northern kingdom - who bore the national name "Kingdom of ISRAEL" - became a nation lost in all history. So far as historic records are concerned, the earth might as well have opened her mouth and swallowed them. The Main reason why these people are not identified as Israel, is because Israel lost their identity! But How?
Long before, and after the deportation of Israel into Assyria, we have seen that Israel was called by many different names by others, and by themselves. The Jewish people on the other hand know their identity, they know they are Israel. There is one main reason why the House of Judah [the Jews] still know who they are, and the House of Israel [the Northern ten tribes] don't.
God had given them a very special everlasting COVENANT containing a SIGN of IDENTITY. It is not generally known or recognized that the Eternal made with His people, while still at Mt. Sinai, a separate, special, eternally binding COVENANT, providing a SIGN of IDENTITY.
The special Covenant is found in Exodus 31:12-17: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children if Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep. . ." (Ex. 31:1213). Notice which day is "the Lord's day." The Eternal calls the Sabbaths "my sabbaths." The sabbaths are His - they did not belong to Israel - they are not our days, but the Lord's. They are not "the Jewish Sabbaths" or "the Gentile Sabbaths." The Sabbath is a space of time. That time, whenever it arrives, is not ours, but God's.
Now study this special covenant a little further: ". . .for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you" (Ex. 31:13).
Notice! Here is the purpose of the Sabbath: ". . .for it is a SIGN. . . ." What is a sign?
A sign is a badge, symbol, or token of identity. You see the sign, "A.B. Brown, Furniture and Furnishings." The sign identifies the owner. It tells you what kind of business he owns. Webster's dictionary defines a sign thus: "A publicly displayed notice on a building, office, etc. to advertise the business there transacted, or the name of the person or firm conducting it. Something indicating the existence of a thing; a token."
The word which Moses wrote in the Hebrew language which is translated "sign" is ‘owth,’ and the Hebrew-English dictionary defines it as "signal, as a flag, beacon, monument, evidence, etc. - mark, miracle, sign, token." A flag identifies a nation. A beacon is a signal to announce the existence of something warned about. A token is a visible sign; something that serves as an identifying signal to make something known, as a white flag is a token of surrender.
God commanded His people to keep His Sabbath as a sign. It is a sign between God's people and God: ". . .a sign between me and you," the commandment says. It is a badge or token of IDENTITY. It advertises, or announces, or proclaims certain identifying knowledge. But WHAT KNOWLEDGE? God answers: ". . .that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you."
Now the Sabbath was a covenant made SEPARATE from the Old Covenant. We find the Old Covenant then we see ANOTHER COVENANT later, about the Sabbath. Remember, a Covenant is an agreement, not a Law. And since this covenant is separate from the Old Covenant, then its not part of the Old Covenant.
Notice Exodus 31:16: "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant."
"Perpetual" means continuous and unbroken. But was it to last FOREVER? Read the following verse: "It is a SIGN between me and the children of Israel for ever." The Sabbath Covenant was forever, so that when they keep the Sabbath, Israel will be identified as his people forever!
And not just Israel, but the GENTILES AS WELL! Since its binding on Israel forever, and the Jewish people converted to Christianity in the time of the Apostles, does that mean that the Jews kept it on Saturday and the Gentiles on Sunday? Are there two kinds of Christians? Read Galatians 3:28-29: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. And if ye [Gentiles] be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
So, since the Sabbath is BINDING TODAY on the Jewish part of God's Church, and there is no difference - we are all ONE in Christ - it is also binding on Gentiles! This scripture in Galatians is NOTHING NEW! Actually, this is an OLD TESTAMENT LAW! Gentiles that convered to YAHWEH were considered ISRAELITES!
"But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Lev 19:34; 25:34). These people are gentile converts and became "Abraham's seed" and obeyed the same laws. The strangers, or Gentiles kept the Sabbath, see Exodus 20:10; 23:12; Deut 5:14. The Day of Atonement, Lev 16:29. The Passover, Ex 12:48-49; Number 9:14, and the Sacrificial laws, Num
15:14.
"One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you." (Ex 12:49, Num 9:14; 15:15-16, 29; Lev 24:16, 24).For people to say that the Sabbath was for Israel only is totally going against scripture. Why did Paul say: "There remaineth therefore a rest [Greek: "Sabbatisimos" lit. "A KEEPING OF THE SABBATH]to the people of God" (Heb 4:9). The Jewish New Testament says a "Shabbat [Hebrew for "Sabbath"] KEEPING for the people of God." Why did God say about Gentiles converting to Yahweh: "my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
" Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
" Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD...Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; " Even them will I bring to my holy mountain [the kingdom of God, see Isaiah 2:11, Daniel 2:35, 44 and Micah 4]...," (Isa 56:1-3, 6-7). A person who "joins" himself to God is a converted Christian, see 1 Corinthians 6:17. So when the Bible speaks of a stranger keeping the law, it means a converted gentile, that becomes "Abraham's seed." Gentiles Christians who are converted, keep the law of God, just like the Gentiles under the Old Testament. Nothing has changed. The apostle Paul did not make this up, he got it from the scriptures. That's why Galatians 6:16 calls the Church, the "Israel of God." Jew or gentile, converted to Christ, we are Abraham's seed, racially or Converted.
Now IF the Sabbath is God's SIGN to identify His people Israel, then why don't our nations keep it today?
The answer to that question is the answer to another: Why are the Ten Tribes of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL called "the LOST Ten Tribes"? And why do our nations think they are Gentiles? Why don't they KNOW their true identity? THEY LOST THEIR IDENTIFYING SIGN, THE SIGN OF THE SABBATH DUE TO JEROBOAM'S APOSTASY!
But JUDAH kept the Sabbath! They did not continue long to keep it holy, or to keep it God's way but they did recognize it, as they do today, as the day of rest they acknowledge and observe. Result? All the world looks on them as the chosen people of God! The world thinks they are ISRAEL - not merely Judah!
Even when they broke it, God sent them prophets to preserve the knowledge of the true God. Israel on the other hand, God divorced, and allowed them to worship what ever they wanted, see Jer 3:8. But not Judah, God wasn't finished with them yet, he had to bring the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to reconcile, Judah, Israel, and the gentiles to God
God warned Israel through Moses that if they would forsake his law that : "I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:" (Deut 32:26). This could not mean the Jews, because the remembrance of the Jews have not ceased. They still have their name and heritage as Judah-Israel. This prophecy applies to the lost ten tribes. They have been lost to history, but now God has revealed them in this end time!
Isaiah 8:17 shows that God "hid" his face from Jacob. They lost the knowledge of the true God. But God would win them back with Jesus Christ and the Messiah, as he said that he was sent to the house of Israel, Matthew 15:24. But with another language God would speak to his people, see Isaiah 28:11. English is how God is speaking to his people today through his Bible!
Israel in The New Testament
Jesus said to the Jews, "The stone [Jesus the Messiah] which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?...Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matthew 21:42-43). It was time for the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to go to another nation since the Jewish people had rejected it . The Gospel went to the GENTILES! But who is that gentile Nation that was supposed to receive the Gospel and become Christian? This nation was the HOUSE OF ISRAEL!
Notice, the New Covenant is with the "house of Israel, AND with the house of Judah." It was to the "Jew FIRST, and also to the Greek." (Rom 1:16).
Jesus said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 15:24). And he commanded his New Testament Church, the original Apostles to, "Go NOT into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:... But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 10:5-6). He told them not to go to the gentiles but to the House of Israel.
Now aren't the gentiles and the house of Israel two separate entities in the New Testament? Let's examine who the gentiles are in the New Testament, and clear up the confusion.
The term "Gentile" in the New Testament has a variety of of meanings. It comes from the Greek word "ethnos." Now :
"Most of Christendom have incorrectly taken this word to mean exclusively non-Israelite peoples. Anton Darms made this same false assumption: “The term ‘Gentiles’ in the New Testament always refers to people and nations outside of and apart from all the twelve tribes of Israel.”
“It can be said positively that IN NO CASE IN THE BIBLE, either in the Old Testament or in the New, DOES THE WORD ‘GENTILE" REFER OR APPLY TO ANY PART OF ISRAEL.”’ (Mr. Darms’ p.72).
"These are bold assertions, but totally inaccurate. As we look into the Bible, we find a much broader use than the limited definition suggested by Mr. Darms and most of Christendom....(p.73)
"Many preachers use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words as study aids. It is interesting that with these excellent reference works at their disposal, preachers still espouse the mistaken conclusion that when the word ‘Gentile(s)’ is encountered in the New Testament, it always refers exclusively to non-Israelite peoples. Strong's and Vine's give the word ‘Gentile(s)’ or its Greek equivalent, a much broader interpretation than is used by most preachers and Christians. If we do not limit the word ‘ethnos’ to non-Israelites, we allow the Bible to say what each inspired writer intended.
Strong's Greek Dictionary of the N.T. it defines "ethnos" as follows, on p.25:
“eth'nos ... a race (as of the same habit), i.e. a tribe; spec. a foreign (non-Jewish) [non-Israelite] one (usually by impl. pagan): Gentile, heathen, nation, people.
Vine's definition of "ethnos" is more exhaustive, p.484:
“ETHNOS ... ‘heathen, 'denotes, firstly, a multitude or company; then, a multitude of people of the same nature or genus, a nation, people; it is used in the singular, of the Jews [Judahites] ... in the plural of nations ... other than Israel ... occasionally it is used of Gentile converts in distinction from Jews [Judahites] ....”
As can be seen, there is more than one application for "ethnos." In light of these definitions, let us take a look at four different Biblical applications of the Greek word "ethnos" found in the New Testament. When used in a New Testament passage, the following interpretations of "ethnos" must be considered along with the commonly held interpretation of "non-Israelite."
1. "Pagans" - in reference to heathens, specifically all nations, races or people not serving YHWH as God: ‘You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the dumb idols, however you were led.’ (1 Corinthians 12:2)
2. "Nation(s)" - in reference to a multitude of people, specifically all mankind: ‘... He [YHWH] made from one every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitations’ (Acts 17:26)
一. "Nation" - in reference to the Judahites [Jews], specifically the descendants of the house of Judah, the two southern tribes of Israel: “... when he [the centurion] heard about Yhshua, he sent some Jewish [Judahite] elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. And when they [the Judahite elders] had come to Yhshua they earnestly entreated Him, saying, "He [the centurion] is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our [Judahite] nation [ethnos], and it was he who built us our synagogue.” (Luke 7:3-5). This one passage alone repudiates the theory that the word "Gentile" (ethnos) always refers to non-Israelite peoples.
一. "Gentiles" - in reference to the Israelites, specifically the descendants of the house of Israel, the ten northern tribes of Israel: “... even us, whom He [YHWH] also called, not from among Jews [Judahites] only, but also from among Gentiles [House of Israel eplained below]. (Romans 9:24)” (Ted Weiland God's Covenant People, pp.24-25).
So we see that the word "Gentile" has a much broader use that just a "non-Israelite person." In proper context it can be used to mean Israelite as well. In the case of Matthew 10:-5-6, "gentiles" here means "pagan" non-Israelites since the 'House of Israel is mentioned. But there are other scriptures that show in their proper context that that the "gentiles" are the HOUSE OF ISRAEL!
The word "Greeks" is "often used interchangeably with the word ‘Gentile(s),” is also used in the New Testament with reference to dispersed Israelites. One such instance is found in the Gospel of John:
“The Jews [Judahites] therefore said to one another, "Where does this man [Jesus] intend to go that we shall not find Him? He is not intending to go to the [Israelite] Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the [Israelite] Greeks is He?" (John 7:35)
The word "dispersion" ("dispersed" - KJV) is defined in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible as: "Isr. [Israelite] resident[s] in Gentile countries. "(ibid, p.23) The Apostle John acknowledged that dispersed Israelites were “living among the Greeks, and he recognized them as being Greeks” (ibid, p.31).
Now why were the Israelites called "Gentiles" or "Greeks" in the New Testament? Because God would divorce Israel for all her whoredoms and took up a new Husband, the Pagan religions of the world. "Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;" (Hosea 2:1). She took up another husband as Israel says in verse 7, "I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now." God divorced Israel and put her away, "And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
" And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks [reason Idolatry]
" And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 3;8-10).
The Law of Divorce
According to the law of Divorce in the Bible, when a woman is divorced and marries another man, she cannot return to her first husband again, "They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted?" (Jer 3:1; Deut 24:4). Then God pleads with Judah, "but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD" (v.8b). At this time as we have seen Israel ceased to be his people, and became Gentiles. But how could God have Israel return to him after giving them a bill of divorcement when under the law she was forever barred from being his people again?
The book of Hosea is devoted to the demonstration of God being Israel's husband once again. God told Hosea to name his two sons, one was called "Jezreel" and the other "Lo-Ammi." Lo-Ammi means "not my people." God told Hosea when this child was born, "for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God' (Hosea 1 v.9). Yet after this prophecy from God, another prophecy was soon given about the restoration of Israel as his people, "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." (v.10). This is a remarkable prophecy of Israel becoming the sons of the living God hence a Christian people.
God gives hope to Israel in their condition of Divorce, with their hardships. He promises them that he will scatter them all over the world and cause them to grow as the sand of the sea as he promised Abraham he would, "And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God" (Hosea 2:23).
But how was Israel to be God's people again. What would be the process into which Israel was to have that certificate of the divorce annulled?
The answer is given in the book of Isaiah, "Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.
“... Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver?..." (Isaiah 50:12). God says to Israel that they have "sold yourselves" to the point of Divorce, God did not want it, God was faithful and hates divorce, Israel was the one who wanted the divorce going after other god's, so Yahweh being the husband of Israel wrote the bill of Divorcement that Israel wanted. Yet God tells them, "Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money" (Isa 52:3). Here again God speaking of redemption of Israel. God was to redeem them through his Son Jesus Christ (the Yahweh of the Old Testament) who divorced Israel. "To redeem means to regain possession of that which was once owned and lost" (Jeremiah, Howard B. Rand, p.30). Israel by the death of Jesus was to be freed from that law of divorce by the death of her first husband, " So then if, while her husband liveth, [while divorced see Mark 10:11-12] she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man" (Rom 7:3). While Yahweh still lived in heaven and then on earth as a man, Jesus, She was an adulterous whoring after pagan god's. But Jesus died and the law of divorce was annulled and she was free, now she is able to come back to God once again and enter into the covenant, the New Covenant that involved the House of Israel. That could only take effect at the death of Jesus, " For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
"For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth" (Heb 9:16-17). Now Israel was free from the law of Divorce and to be redeemed, brought back, to God through the death of Jesus Christ!
Book of Romans Chapter 11 Gentiles Identified with Israel
Now that we know that Israel was called Gentiles because of the divorce with God, is there evidence first with the bible to show God is going to redeem them again, and they were to become the "sons of the living God?"
The book of Romans is a great testament to this fact. As we have shown in Hosea, God had every intension of bringing Israel back to him. Hosea writes: ""Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." (Hos 1 v.10). This quote the Apostle Paul uses in the book of Romans and calls them gentiles!
Weiland writes: "It was previously demonstrated that the Jews in this verse were members of the house of Judah only, from either the tribe of Judah or the tribe of Benjamin. Recognizing that there is more than one application of the word ‘ethnos’ (translated "Gentiles" in this passage), let us reexamine Romans 9:23-26 and see which of the five interpretations (the four listed above or the one which is usually provided) is the correct choice according to the context. It is important for us to do so since some of you will question the interpretation and application of #4 above. It would be foolish, if not dishonest, to randomly pick whichever application suits the reader's personal doctrinal position - the interpretation must fit the context...
“... even us, whom He [YHWH] also called, not from among Jews [the house of Judah] only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea, "I will call those who were not My people, 'My people,' and her who was not beloved, 'Beloved.' And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there they shall be called sons of the living God.” (Romans 9:23-26)
"If our reading is limited to just this passage, it is easy to see why most people would presume that the ‘Jews’ represent all Israel, and the ‘Gentiles’ represent all non-Israelites. When reading the Apostle Paul's quotation from Hosea, the average Christian naturally thinks that the Gentiles have to be non-Israelite people since they were never God's people and never considered His beloved. However, as is the habit of a good teacher Paul gives his reference, the book of Hosea. The student who is a good disciple will study Hosea 1 and 2, and as a result will then understand whom Paul had in mind when referring to the Gentiles. I challenge any reader to find anything in Hosea 1 and 2 that pertains to non-Israelite people... Especially note that the last phrase of Hosea 1: 10, ‘You are the sons of the living God,’ is part of the quotation used by Paul in Romans 9” (pp.25-27).
Then Hosea says, "Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel"(v.11). Hosea continues to say that Judah (the Jews) and Israel will be reunited and Jesus will be their ruler.
Now, "At first glance it may seem confusing to identify the Gentiles in Romans 9:24 as "the house of Israel" because of the contrast made between "Gentiles" and "Israel" in verses 30 and 31 later in the same chapter:
“What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law” (Romans 9:30-31)
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