EZEKIEL

 

and YHWH’s

 

 Judgment

 

 

for the

 

Good News

 

PEOPLE

 

 

 

VOLUME IX

 

Yisrael

 

 

EZEKIEL and YHWH’s

 

 

Judgment for the

 

 

 Good News People

 

 

 

 

Volume IX--Yisrael

 

 

 

 

 

by

 

an unworthy servant

 

 

 

 

 

 

And you shall know the truth,

 

and the truth will make you free.

 

(John 8:32)

 

 

Common Law Copyright, 2003 & 2005 CE, an unworthy servant, Calder, Idaho.  The author claims his Right of exclusive ownership and control of this publication, the fruit of his labor, as a matter of Intellectual Property protected by the Laws of YHWH and as guaranteed by the US Constitution for the United States.  Permission is granted to quote provided appropriate credit is cited together with the Publisher’s web site name and postal mailing address––WWW.age-end.com PO Box 473, Calder, ID 83808, USA. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contents

 

 

 

Volume IX--Yisrael

 

 

CHAPTER                                                                              PAGE

 

 

      -                  Cover Page                                                                                                         1

 

      -                  Title Page                                                                                                             2

 

      -                  Contents                                                                                                              3

 

      -                  Publisher’s Preface                                                                                           5

 

 

 

Part Z--The Backdrop

 

      121             The Yisrael Dilemma                                                                                         6

 

      122             Replacement/Displacement Theology                                                           8

 

 

Part AA--The Lost House of Yisrael 

 

      123             History of Yisrael                                                                                              20

 

      124             Yisrael Divorced                                                                                               35

 

      125             Changes in Yisrael                                                                                          43

 

      126             The Return of Yisrael                                                                                      49

 

      127             The Return is Future                                                                                       62

 

 

Part BB--Yisrael in Prophecy

 

      128             David’s Throne                                                                                                 71

 

      129             The Stone of Destiny                                                                                       78

 

      130             Locating the House of Yisrael I                                                                     89

 

      131             Locating the House of Yisrael II                                                                    99

 

      132             Locating the House of Yisrael III                                                                 105

 

      133             Christian Israelites Return                                                                            118

 

 

Part CC--Aliyah and Zionism 

 

      134             Yehudah                                                                                                          132

 

      135             Aliyah and Zionism I                                                                                      135

 

      136             Aliyah and Zionism II                                                                                     145

 

      137             Return of the Jews                                                                                         151

 

      138             Why Were the Jews Omitted?                                                                      156

SHEERIT YISRAEL

PO Box 473

Calder, Idaho 83808, USA

 

 

Publisher’s Preface

 

Greetings!  The following presentation is volume nine of a 36-volume production of some 6,000 pages on “Ezekiel and YHWH’s Judgment for the Good News People,” all of which is on the Internet at the www.age-end.com web site. 

 

This overall effort provides an interpretation of the Good News message in the New Testament, its linkage to the book of Ezekiel, and an application of both to the age-end prophecies relating to certain nations and peoples now out in the world.  In order for this single volume to be understood and comprehended, it is imperative that the study be read from its beginning--from page one of volume one. 

 

Anyone trying to read this volume or the study’s 6,000 pages at any mid-point will end up in a state of confusion without having read and digested the preceding material.  It is crucially important that this work be read in sequence from its beginning--otherwise, the reader will almost certainly end up missing the essence of the message! 

 

The effort was originally set on a Macintosh computer with Microsoft Word 6.0.1.  It was set in Helvetica, 12-point type (18 pt on chapter headings); single line spacings; and margins:  left 1.2”, right 0.8”, top 0.7”, bottom 0.8” and footer 0.6” (for page numbers). 

                                                            

For further information on obtaining this study in 18 computer floppy disks (IBM-formatted, high density, 2HD, 1.44 MB, 3 1/2 inches); in a single CD-Rom; or in hard copies (when the Internet or a compatible computer is not available); please write the publisher at the above address and send a stamped, self-addressed, long (legal-size), return envelope. 

 

With a CD-Rom or computer floppy disks, the study is readable on Macintosh (systems 5.0 and later) or IBM/compatible (with Microsoft Word-Windows) personal computers.  May The Great CREATOR and SOVEREIGN OF THE UNIVERSE bless you as you study His word to learn His will and to obey Him.  Shalom (peace) to you and yours! 

 

an unworthy servant, Sukkot 2005 CE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 121--The Yisrael Dilemma

 

 

The Problem

 

While the Scriptures are plain and clear enough that a correct understanding of Israel (correctly Yisrael in the Hebrew) is not difficult, the truth is that there is massive confusion and uncertainty in the modern world on who and what constitutes Yisrael.  Almost no modern peoples in today’s world have any knowledge or understanding on identifying Yisrael. 

 

This paradox should not even exist.  Yet it is the real world out there.  Persons at large, and this is even true with the so-called intellectually advanced and enlightened people in the Western Christian civilization, simply are lost in comprehending the reality of the Scriptural description of a people called Yisrael.  Some few Orthodox Jews have somewhat of a grasp of the problem.  But few persons otherwise. 

 

Among most of the peoples of the world, their dilemma surfaces when they automatically assume, presume and suppose that the modern Jews constitute the Scripturally mentioned Yisrael. 

 

It doesn’t matter whether the issue comes up with people in the pagan world of Black Africa or the primitive world of Eskimos, the very idea of Yisrael automatically opens the door to the theory that Yisrael is found among the Jews or that the modern Jews are Yisrael. 

 

True, the modern persons called Jews, who have founded the current Jewish state in Palestine, have named their state Israel.  But that reality does not necessarily mean that the Scriptural Yisrael is synonymous with the modern state of Israel.  There are differences which need to be addressed for comprehension of truth. 

 

Commentary to follow in the succeeding chapters should dispel completely the notion of the Jews being Yisrael. 

 

 

But Yet a Bigger Problem

 

Contrariwise, in the Christian world, the people have formulated another aberration which is even more stupid and ridiculous.  Starting as early as the beginnings of the Roman Catholic Church, the worldly organized Christian Church developed a theory that the Christian Church had mysteriously and supernaturally replaced or displaced the Yisrael of the Scriptures. 

 

Somehow, this mysterious evolution of history occurred, without any explanation or description on how it came about.  Once Rome propagated the theory, and regardless of how stupid and irrational it was, the Christian world bought into it.  Even the so-called more enlightened Protestants bought the same stupid thinking. 

 

Consequently, over the years, the Christian world has combined the same two incredibly stupid theories into one supposed belief.  Yes, most Christians some how suppose that the Yisrael of the Scriptures can be both the Jews as well as the collective Christian Church.  How this insanity and stupidity came about will be addressed in the following chapters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 122--Replacement/Displacement Theology

 

 

Do Christians Steal From Yisrael? 

 

The prophet Yirmeyahu wrote about an interesting concept when he observed that The ELOHIM is against some (false) prophets who steal His words from their neighbors (Jer 23:30).  As the “Soncino Books of the Bible” see it, the issue here concerns the theft of “prophecies.” 

 

The context suggests that these false prophets have nothing of truth to declare on their own.  So they misappropriate and steal YHWH’s words from true prophets and repeat them as their own to apparently gain some status, recognition and support from the people.  Obviously, with a little charisma, they often would achieve their desired ends. 

 

However, these words of Yirmeyahu do raise an interesting question.  Would Christians steal YHWH’s words since they really have little or nothing to offer to the people (as a minimum, the professional religionists/preachers would, as allowed in the Prologue)? 

 

Or more precisely, would Christians steal YHWH’s words, as pertaining to Yisrael, and claim that they apply to their respective denominations or the Christian Church in the generic sense? 

 

 

Mystery Babylon, The Whore and Mother of Harlots 

 

In the Revelation, Yohanan wrote about a vision he had about a symbolic woman named “Mystery Babylon” (Rev 17:1-18). 

 

As will be elaborated upon in succeeding chapters, that word “mystery” (which is a secret symbol or sign) appears (Rev 17:5, 7) to identify this woman (and her daughters) and link her to some very false, pagan worship (which will be identified and commented upon in subsequent chapters herein).  This is an important point one about Yohanan’s vision. 

 

Point two--Yohanan was so absolutely astonished and surprised that he marveled at the scene which he was beholding (Rev 17:6).  His Messenger then proceeded to offer some clarification on the mystery.  Beyond what he wrote, it’s hard to say how much more of an explanation that Yohanan received.  Perhaps he learned the whole picture or maybe just some bits and pieces of it. 

 

But the fact that he marveled about this vision would suggest that he did understand at first that this system involved a group of false worshippers who would come on the world scene, carrying the Scriptures of The ELOHIM around, quoting them and pretending to live by them.  Perhaps this reality is what surprised Yohanan. 

 

If Satan came as an angel of darkness, maybe a person could understand it.  But the Adversary doesn’t come that way.  He comes as an angel of light (II Cor 11:14).  And in terms of the whore woman and her harlot daughters, they carry their “Bibles” around, quote them, give them some credence and pretend to live by them--all the while that they secretly labor intensely against them. 

 

 

Yes, Thieves

 

In short, this false worship system (which is a real system) effectively stole the Words of YHWH from His true people (Yisrael).  After all, one must remember that the Scriptures were written by Israelites, about Israelites, for Israelites and to Israelites, as already established. 

 

Not content with just stealing YAH’s Words, this system went on and specifically stole about everything else it could find as applying to the people of YHWH. 

 

This publication at hand has or will describe elsewhere herein how this evil power has stolen (or at least attempted to steal) the promises, the adoption, the election, the blessings, the covenants, the salvation, the rewards, etc of Yisrael, and claim them as its own. 

 

 

The Bride 

 

For a classic illustration of how far this theft goes, please consider this same point; but with a slightly different twist, in saying that Christendom has theorized that the Scriptural references to Yisrael (the New Jerusalem), the future bride of YESHUA, are, in fact, references to the Christian Church. 

 

As F. Wallace Connon wrote, in an article on "Look Unto the Rock," appearing in the January 1993 "New Beginnings" magazine, this reasoning is impossible. 

 

Connon perceptively noted that The MESSIAH is correctly "the head of the body, the church" (Col 1:18); and therefore, He cannot possibly become the husband of His Own body as would be necessitated if the future bride was, in actuality, "the church."  To avoid this impossible paradox, it is Yisrael who will be the bride and not the true Assembly, much less the Christian Church. 

 

To Connon's enlightening comments, this writer would just add that any Scriptural references to the Assembly of the Called Out Ones, as possibly linking to the bride, should be put into the proper context.  Such an Assembly or Congregation will be one made up of Israelites.  Of course, it is Yisrael who is the bride, as the Word repeatedly maintains. 

 

Incidentally, Piska 22.5 (in “Pesikta De-Rab Kahana,” p. 347) notes that ten times in the Tanakh, Yisrael is described as the bride (SofS 4:8, 9, 10, 11, 12; 5:1; Isa 49:18; 61:10; 62:5; and Jer 33:11). 

 

The same source also indicates that YHWH, as The BRIDEGROOM, appropriately clothes Himself in the proper garments for each occasion, also ten times (Ps 104:1; 93:1; 93:1; Dan 7:9; Isa 59:17; 59:17; 59:17; 59:17; 63:2; 63:1). 

 

As hard as it may seem to most Christians, the truth is that Yisrael is the coming bride and YHWH YESHUA will be The BRIDEGROOM.  Nowhere is there any allowance for the Christian Church to be anything at the coming wedding supper of The LAMB. 

 

 

The Witnesses 

 

Another powerful sample of this theft and the incredible ignorance of hateful, sinful, rebellious Christians, in approving of this illegal seizure and misappropriation of the Scriptural words and messages for Yisrael, arises in the modern Jehovah’s Witnesses denomination. 

 

These foolishly uninformed Jehovah’s Witnesses grab Isaiah 43:10-12 and misapply it to themselves and their own false work. 

 

Of course, in Isaiah 43:10-12, The ELOHIM does say “you are my witnesses.”  But sinning Christian Jehovah Witnesses can never comprehend and get it through their thick heads that The HIGHEST YHWH was addressing fleshly Israelites and not confused and misinformed Jehovah’s Witnesses in that text (Isa 43:1, 10-12). 

 

 

Christian Misunderstandings 

 

Before proceeding on to deduce some other conclusions from this presentation, one more key fact about these Christian thefts needs some reflection and comment.  As just noted, it seems that some perceptive Christian scholars have realized the earlier described truth that the Scriptures represent a compilation largely about and absolutely for Yisrael. 

 

Beyond Yisrael, there is little or nothing in the Scriptures for any other peoples in this age to include the whole definition of Christianity.  This glaring truth has made some Christians try to find some way around this dilemma. 

 

The result of this Christian attention has been the development and perpetuation of the so-called replacement and/or displacement theology, as mentioned here and in former chapters.  This "replacement" theology takes many different forms and shapes.

 

 Although it is fundamentally flawed and ridiculous to even think about, the fact remains that Christendom has successfully taught it as factual truth for years and years with little or no opposition.  Ignorant and Scripturally shallow individuals get on this perverted bandwagon and never give the subject a second thought. 

 

In advancing these ideas, Churchianity runs the gauntlet in trying to misappropriate and steal the Words of the Scriptures, as they clearly pertain to Yisrael, and assert that they actually refer to the "church."  For example, the Roman Catholic Church has for ages declared that the Israelite throne of David (ultimately due YESHUA) is the Pope's throne where he sits and rules. 

 

Additionally, many misinformed Christians like to seize some or all of the Avrahamic promises and blessings as applying to "Christians," in contrast to what the Word actually declares.  A good example of this was discussed earlier in comments made in the article by Anthony Buzzard on "The Christian Hope:  Life in the Land of the Promise," as described before herein. 

 

 

Ernest Martin and His Seven Stages 

 

For another evident example of Christian confusion, misinformation and misunderstanding, the reader might be interested in one of the conclusions of the former Christian writer Dr Ernest L Martin (now decreased) when he outlined his concept of seven stages of spiritual understanding--to include a number six which alleged that “both Jews and Gentiles can now be considered (to be) Israel” through a belief in “Christ” (in the Mar 1994 “ASK Communicator”). 

 

Thus, Martin incorrectly believed that Christian (non-Israelite) Gentiles will “also inherit the promises given to Abraham.” 

 

Now, if any readers of this study wish to persist in accepting these teachings of “Biblical understanding” from supposed scholars, like Buzzard and Martin and the thousands of other so-called Christian scholars, then such readers might well still cling to the “tooth fairy” fables taught by so many foolish parents to receptive and gullible little children. 

 

Of course, these conclusions, as advanced by Christians, seem to be too crazy to be accepted by rational, intelligent, serious and believing students of the Word for the various reasons outlined at length so far in this study. 

 

Yet tragically, the world of rebellious Christendom has historically used these replacement and/or displacement theories for the very foundations of their existence. 

 

 

R. T. Woodworth 

 

The February 1997 “Pathfinder” had an article by R. T. Woodworth on “Who Are Israelites?” which offered some perception of this man’s uninformed (or rather, misinformed) view on Yisrael.  This man Woodworth is reported to be a Christian Identity preacher.  But a reader would never know it from the article which he wrote in the “Pathfinder.” 

 

Woodworth opens by saying that three chapters of Romans deal with the history of Israel.  He then charges that “Paul is trying to show Christians that they are these Israel people and ought to be aware of their identity and calling” (p. 1 of the Pathfinder article).  Woodworth doesn’t seem to understand that there are hundreds of millions of Christians out there who definitely are not and can never be Israelites. 

 

Jumping over to Hosea’s prophecies about Israelites who would not be called The ELOHIM’s people, but would become His beloved in the end time (alluding to Hosea 1:10; 2:23; I Peter 2:10), the Pathfinder writer says that “Christians are God’s covenant people.  God’s national promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel are fulfilled in Christian nations today” (p. 2 of the article). 

 

He also charges that “The record is clear.  The marks are here.  Only Christian peoples have fulfilled all these promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (of OT blessings in Genesis 12:2-3 and 17:1-7).  God’s covenants are fulfilled in Christ and Christians, not in Christ-haters and anti-Christians” (p. 2 of the article). 

 

The Pathfinder writer then went on to declare that “Christians have been called, foreknown, and predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  Only believers in Christ can be justified and glorified” (p. 3 of the article). 

 

The possibly confused Woodworth goes on to conclude his misinformation campaign by saying “Who are true Israelites?  Only those who fit God’s descriptions in God’s Word, who follow God’s Son and obey His commandments and worship the Lord Jesus Christ...” (p. 3 of the article). 

 

Again, one of the most striking features of this confusing literary effort is that Woodworth is reported to be a Christian Identity individual, who supposedly should know “something” (maybe not all, but surely something) about Yisrael. 

 

Even the “Pathfinder” newsletter is alleged to be a Christian Identity publication, which also should know something about Yisrael and that Christianity is not Yisrael, as alleged by Woodworth. 

 

 

Gene Justice

 

Christian writer Gene Justice, of the Foundation for Biblical Research (of Pasadena, California), wrote a book in 1984 on “The Israel Identity Syndrome” (p. 2-50) which offered some revolutionary thinking on the role of Christendom in replacing physical or terrestrial Israel. 

 

Of course, Justice is one more person who believes that the modern Jews constitute the whole, twelve tribes of Israel.  In later commentary in this study, Justice and his book will be addressed which theorized that the Khazars out of Eastern Europe constituted the ten lost tribes of the House of Israel with the House of Judah being present in the earlier Jewish definitions. 

 

This Pasadena author’s whole thesis was an attack on the modern “Israel Identity” movement (which offers some explanations on what happened to the ten lost tribes of Yisrael on their exit from Canaan land).  In order to have some hypothetical basis to support his attack, Justice had to deal with the status of Christianity, in the context of the Scriptures. 

 

For this approach, Justice (ibid, p. 2-5) quite naturally concluded that physical Israel was “cast aside” (as most other Christians believe) based on some of the writings of Shaul the Apostle which he just totally misunderstood and misused. 

 

Taking this thinking one step further, he went on to assert that with the abasement of (fleshly) Israel, there was an exaltation of the (non Israelite) Gentiles (who would become Christians). 

 

Put another way, this Christian writer alleged that “Israel was accursed” while the (non-Israelite) Gentiles are blessed. He then proceeded to claim that while the Scriptures describe blessings and riches for fleshly Israel, The HIGHEST has “offered far more riches directly to the Gentiles than Israel ever conceived of” which he concluded was because of their chance to become “new creations in Christ” (ibid, p. 44-45). 

 

He also went on to charge that all humans have “two pedigrees” --one fleshly and one spiritual (ibid, p. 5).  Supposedly, the spiritual pedigree is the “true pedigree” since it matters not who one’s fleshly parents are; but rather, who his or her “spiritual father” is (whether “God or Satan”). 

 

But Justice’s most revolutionary thinking surfaced in his remarks on the status of terrestrial Israel as opposed to something he calls “celestial Israel” (ibid, p. 44-50). 

 

As this seemingly confused Christian saw it, terrestrial Israel consisted of fleshly Israel (as descending from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) while converted Christian (non Israelite) Gentiles constituted celestial Israel. 

 

He justified his ideas on the presence of celestial Israel because the Word mentions the citizenship of the election as being in heaven (Eph 3:14-15; Phil 3:20), and that there is an allusion to a new Jerusalem, as being above (Gal 4:26; Rev 21:2).  As Justice concluded, this is proof for the existence of a heavenly or celestial Israel which would be the mother of converted Christians. 

 

 

More Examples 

 

Writing in “The Last Trump (p. 7),” Dr Ed Moore suggested that “Hence, we can begin to see that being the children of Abraham (today, under the New Covenant) has nothing to do with race.”  In truth, Moore missed the point because it is totally linked to race. 

 

Leonard Lee, in his (Seventh-day Adventist Church) book “Clouds over America” (p. 71), said:  “Since God rejected the Israelites as a nation, we can look for the fulfillment of His purposes only in (a) spiritual Israel... The (physical) Israelites have now passed off the stage of action.”  Again, another writer has completely failed to grasp what the Book says. 

 

A letter to readers (dated Dec 31, 1996) from Walter H Meyer, editor of the “Believer’s Advocate,” noted that Israelites were the “indestructible Jews” who “are the true olive tree, and we as Believers have been grafted in...as a wild olive.”  The writer involved seems to be confused and unable to tell the difference between an olive tree and a fig tree. 

 

In an article on “Who Are Israelites?,” appearing in the Oct 1997 “Sacred Name Broadcaster” (p. 3), directing elder and editor Jacob O. Meyer wrote that in the final analysis, the true Israelites are the spiritual people of “Yahweh.”

 

Mark Cook had an article in the Feb-Mar 1998 “Restitution Herald” (p. 18-20) on “The Church:  The Israel of God.”  Cook theorizes that Israel was “divided into two” parts or sections.  One was the many blinded Jews and the other part was the “remnant” (the church) that accepted The MESSIAH.  He says that Gentiles are grafted into this remnant to become a part of Israel by becoming members of the Christian Church. 

 

 

The Christian Dilemma 

 

Manifestly, many Christians choose to believe that Christianity is the religion of the Scriptures and certainly of the NT, if not the OT. 

 

Therefore, all that the Christian wishes to be able to do is to go to the Word and find the references that pertain to Christianity.   And this condition creates the essence of the Christian dilemma because Christianity cannot be found in the Scriptures. 

 

The word “Christian” itself is to be found exactly three times in the NT and nowhere else (Acts 11:26; 26:28; I Pet 4:16).  But these three usages do not communicate the meaning which Christendom would wish.  Future chapters herein on “Words of the Christian Church” will assess these three NT remarks to demonstrate that they do not mean what most Christians choose to believe. 

 

In any case, the place where one must eventually arrive is that there is absolutely nothing in the entire Scriptures from start to finish which would allow, suggest or imply that the religion of the Book is Christianity. 

 

This interesting reality then brings up a most fascinating question.  What if Christianity is not the religion of the Scriptures, OT or NT?  Ensuing chapters hereafter will answer that question. 

 

Above all else, there is totally nothing in writing which could ever connect Christendom to Yisrael.  It takes absolutely mind boggling misuse of the literal words of the Book to develop that specious theory. 

 

Anyway the subject is cut or dissected, the result is always the same.  Christianity is not mentioned or discussed in the Book (although the word Christian does appear three times in the Greek NT, but not in the context that Christians believe, as will be addressed in later chapters herein).  So there is no possible way to honestly and intelligently connect Christianity to Yisrael.  It simply cannot be done. 

 

 

Christian Interpretations, Revisited 

 

Yet, the proponents of the replacement and/or displacement theology carry their pretentious arguments beyond the realm of intelligent possibilities into the world of outright stupidity. 

 

These replacement/displacement proponents not only connect Christianity to Yisrael, but they carry their thinking even further by asserting that the word Yisrael means the "Christian Church" in variously desirable situations, as opposed to bad situations. 

 

Consequently, when people read the good things in YHWH's Word connected with Yisrael about coming blessings, happiness, prosperity, abundant living, rewards, security, safety, salvation, heaven, bliss, joy, everlasting life, etc; they are then supposed to understand that all of this "good" is for Christendom and not for fleshly Yisrael at all. 

 

Conversely, when a reader reads from the Book about the evil, sin, rebellion and wickedness of Yisrael and the coming curses, punishments and chastisements upon Yisrael, they then are supposed to recognize that these bad things apply to the ancient Israelites and to the modern Jews and not to the "righteous, holy, just, good" Christian Church (as they perceive it). 

 

The absolutely unbelievable presence of this incredible thinking is enough to tear up one's mind and mental faculties. 

 

Of course, ignorant thinking and speculation like this can only emanate from the halls of Churchianity where the typical Christian knows virtually nothing about YHWH's Word.  But surely, anyone with brains above the moron level must understand that this thinking is both stupid and hypocritical. 

 

 

Actually Christian Hypocrites 

 

Frankly, it is astounding that mentally stable persons can take the Scriptures and read the word "Israel," in one place, and say that it means the man Jacob Israel, and in another place, that it means the Jews, and in still another place, that it means the Christian Church.  All of this is, of course, quite arbitrary and absolutely stupid and it matters not how many degrees and credentials the proponents may possess. 

 

Maybe, there was some excuse for the ignorant and gullible masses to not understand and be misinformed on this theology in the "dark ages" when the Roman Catholic Church ruled the so-called civilized world and took stern measures to keep the masses in perpetual ignorance and confusion. 

 

After all, many of the people throughout the world in those trying centuries could not read and write.  And how many individuals in the various nations could ever hope to understand the Scriptures and portions of the preaching services available only to them in the foreign Latin language. 

 

Too, there was the famous Catholic Inquisition and murder of millions over the questions of religious conscience and religious freedom. 

 

With the threat of being burned alive at the stake or being put on a rack to be tortured to no end, when the rack began to pull the subject's entire body apart, there was very little incentive on the part of most of the population to care what the Scriptures really said.  Most were quite happy to accept whatever the pope and their local parish priests said. 

 

 

Impose the Kingdom by Force 

 

Therefore, this is precisely the conceptual attitude and mentality of much of Christendom and especially so today in the form of another strange Christian theory called the "Christian Reconstruction Replacement Theology," which not only says that the Christian Church is the true Yisrael, but also that the kingdom is to be imposed by that entity on the world, and by force if necessary. 

 

There is another twist on this Christian speculation about the kingdom.  It seems to be embraced in more still modern versions of the so-called “Christian Reconstruction” theology.  It envisions the establishment of YESHUA’s kingdom on earth by man, right now, “before” YESHUA returns.  Christian fundamentalist Dr Gary North is one of the proponents of this current unscriptural theory. 

 

As a matter of information, the Roman Catholic Church has historically asserted that she had and/or was establishing the kingdom here on earth for the past 1,960 years. 

 

Of course, Rome has been trying to impose this government on the world for ages, by force--with the sword and with the threat of death, punishment, and torture if necessary.  It was this thinking which induced and promoted the just mentioned Inquisition of 400 years ago. 

 

In more modern times, Carroll Quigley in “Tragedy and Hope” (p. 146) indicated that the members of Britain’s Round Table groups (1909-1913) were heavily influenced by Christian historian Lionel Curtis who taught that with the proper spirit and organization (federalism), they could establish the “Kingdom of God” on earth (this fascinating book will be addressed in some detail in later chapters). 

 

Surely, individuals with some capacity to think and reason and with intelligence above the moron level should be able to put two and two together and recognize that these various “Christian" speculations are too ridiculous to even be discussed by rational, civilized, Adam men. 

 

 

Truth Is Available! 

 

But with the 16th century Protestant Revolution and the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 (which formally allowed religious toleration and religious pluralism), the excuses for ignorance, confusion and outright stupidity have largely ended.  For some time now, multitudes have had the Word essentially available to them in the vernacular. 

 

Although there have been and are some poor translations of certain texts and portions of the Book, there always remained the availability of the Hebrew and Greek texts, concordances and lexicons to aid any one willing to spend a little time and effort on research and study.  Truth was never impossible to discover for the person really seeking it.  It is there and always has been there. 

 

This availability of verity is useful to the student of truth for not only Scriptural study, but also for the study of secular history.  Although historians have tended to rewrite, slant and twist the historical record over the years, there are secular records now extant which will allow the student of truth to discover some most fascinating facts. 

 

Many contemporary persons may recall how many Americans used to laugh and make fun of how the Russian Communists tended to rewrite their history books whenever there was a change of power in the Kremlin.  But what these Americans never realized is that American and other historians have been doing the same thing for ages, as will be proven in later chapters herein. 

 

 

Rewriting History 

 

Consequently, history is being regularly rewritten to conform to man’s changing ideas about right and wrong (and being done openly in the Christian society, where people are theoretically informed on current events).  Almost everyone knowingly seems to accept this deceitful and dishonest practice without a whimper of opposition. 

 

For a classic illustration of this altering of history, the “Universal Jewish Encyclopedia” of 1939 carried a full write-up on Adolf Hitler, which described his true name of Adolf Schicklgruber and his genetic linkage to the Jews, whom he passionately hated.  Even “Encyclopedia Britannica” and other older encyclopedias also reflected the true genealogy of Adolf Schicklgruber. 

 

Yet, the 1975 “Encyclopaedia Judaica,” under its article on Hitler, says nothing about his Jewish name and ancestry.  Today, a reader of “Encyclopaedia Judaica” on Hitler would suppose that he is reading about an evil German man named Hitler, instead of a very diabolically wicked Jew named Schicklgruber (who religiously was supposed to be a Catholic Christian). 

 

 

Burton L. Mack 

 

Part of the difficulty associated with the discovery of truth surfaces in Burton L. Mack’s book on “Who Wrote the New Testament? The Making of the Christian Myth,” discussed in previous chapters. 

 

As pointed out before, Mack’s thesis is that not only is Christendom a myth, but he attaches the same conclusions to the Christian “Bible” generally and the Christian NT in particular. 

 

Mack (p. 15) correctly notes that this myth has included the traditional Christian teachings that Christians had replaced or displaced the Jews (this teaching began at a very early time).  Mack charges that with the fall of the Second Temple (70 CE), the traditional Jewish model of the Israel epic was in total disarray.  In this void, Christian myth-making commenced in the late first century CE. 

 

He argues that Christians merely revised the historic Jewish epic to their favor, claiming that the history of Israel and the Hebrew Scriptures belonged to them in contrast to the Jews.  He says that this Christian myth, in the form of the “biblical epic,” granted the Christian Church its charter--effectively making it an heir to the history of Israel (ibid, p. 294). 

 

This process of seizing the Scriptural epic allegedly started with the production of the book of Mark in the 70’s CE.  Mack suggests that several attempts were made by the Christians to cast the Christian movement as the legitimate heir of Israel’s promise (ibid, p. 284). 

 

He says that by the time of Marcion in the second century CE (described in a previous chapter), the OT could no longer be read as Jewish history with “Christ” merely tacked on.  From then on, the Scriptures were distinctively Christian from start to finish (ibid, p. 285).  By the time of Constantine (early 4th century CE), the Jewish Scriptures and the apostolic writings had been transformed into the “Christian Bible” (ibid, p. 287). 

 

 

The Ante-Nicene Fathers

 

Mack’s conclusions have merit from the “Ante-Nicene Fathers.”  For example, in the mid second century CE, Justin Martyr told a Jew “The Scriptures are not yours, but ours.”  In about 177 CE, Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, said that the “Jews are disinherited from the grace of God.”  Tertullian (c160-230 CE) charged that “God had rejected the Jews in favor of Christians” (Sep 2000 “Bridges for Peace” newsletter, p. 3). 

 

In the 4th century CE, Christian leader and historian Eusebius said that the Hebrew Scriptures were for Christians and not the Jews, and that the curses were for the Jews. 

 

Eusebius added that the Christian Church was the continuation of the Old Testament and thus superseded Judaism, and that the Christian Church was the true Israel or “Israel according to the Spirit” and heir to the “divine promises while the Jews were Israel according to the flesh” (Sep 2000 “Bridges for Peace,” p. 3). 

 

 

Truth Can Be Found! 

 

Despite this early Christian effort to transfer the essence of the Scriptures from Yisrael to the Christian Church, the reality of truth can be discovered (certainly, from the Scriptures themselves, as demonstrated in the preceding chapters). 

 

Thanks to the efforts of people like Alexander Hislop (in “The Two Babylons”), C. J. Koster (in “Come Out of Her My People”), Darrell W. Conder (in “Mystery Babylon The Great”) and others, the reality of the church can emerge. 

 

Truth is available.  It just requires some work and effort to dig it out.  Later chapters will attempt to make several of those truths known (that are not presently understood in organized Churchianity). 

 

 

The Good News Was For Yisrael 

 

The glaring truth which one must come to is absolutely unavoidable.  The truth of this presentation cannot be denied by an honest student of the Word.  It is that YESHUA's charge to the disciples never changed (after all, YHWH YESHUA is the same now and forever and changes not). 

 

The objective, from the beginning and thereafter, was always to take the New Testament or New/Renewed Covenant Good News to the physical, lost sheep of the House of Yisrael of whatever religion, nationality or citizenship (Greek, Roman, etc) and wherever located in the Diaspora (the world-kosmos). 

 

And in going to cities containing Israelites, one must allow that, by chance, the Good News message could also be received by ger aliens who could legally respond to it by YHWH's Torah (Ex 12:48-49). 

 

Having brought up, in preceding commentary, the Hebrew terms nokri, nekar, ger, behemah and chaiyah, and the English dog and swine, as associated with certain humans/humanoids (all having some contact/relation to the lost sheep of the House of Yisrael), it has been necessary to define each of these terms, per the Hebrew Scriptures.  This was partly done earlier and will be further accomplished in later chapters. 

 

For sure, every so-called human being supposed to receive a call will be faced with that prospect, one day, when the ELOHIM is ready.  None of the people to receive a call will be short-changed on this question.  We can be sure of it! 

 

 

The Conclusion

 

The bottom line here is that Christianity has misappropriated and stolen the election and choice of Yisrael, the great commission to Yisrael, the call of Yisrael, and indeed, even the salvation for Yisrael in this age and lifetime (as will be further proven and established in the chapters to follow).  Yes, the Scriptures are for Yisrael and not for the Christian Church. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 123--History of Yisrael

 

 

Shem 

 

Here, while still in the introductory stage, it is crucial that the reader digresses into Old Testament history briefly to consider some historical information which does affect profoundly the topic under discussion.  On this, it is interesting to note that some very unique things happened to Yisrael in times past and things which traditional Christianity seems largely ignorant of or at least misinformed on. 

 

Briefly, the story of Yisrael starts with the man Abram (correctly Avram, a descendant of Shem), who obeyed The ELOHIM's laws; and thus, received promises of blessings for his descendants (Gen 26:4-5).  Shem was, of course, one of the three sons of Noah who repopulated a portion of the earth after the great flood. 

 

 

The Semite Problem

 

Descendants of Shem are correctly called “Shemites.”  At once, some confusion arises because the world has been bombarded with reports of certain people being called Semites (and particularly in the context of people who criticize the Jews--thus, anti-Semites). 

 

Though the word and concept of Semite theoretically come from Sem (the Greek form of Shem, “Davis Dictionary of the Bible,” p. 733), an article on “The History of Israel” in the April 1997 “New Beginnings” magazine perceptively notes that “the terms Shemite and Semitic are not, by any means, interchangeable.  The former refers to descendants of the progenitor (Shem) who first bore the name, Israelites among them. 

 

“On the other hand, ‘Semite’ is a linguistic term which connotes peoples of various races who spoke one of the so-called ‘Semitic’ languages--including the original Shemites” (p. 3).  Thus, Shemite has come to be a racial delineation of the descendants of Shem while Semite is a linguistic definition of people who speak a language of Shem. 

 

The point is well made in this article that it would not be proper and correct to call the Canaanites Shemites (since they were descended from Noah’s son Ham).  Yet, it would be proper to label them Semites since they spoke a Semitic language--as was true for a number of non-Shemite people living in the Middle East and speaking Semitic languages. 

 

 

The Hebrews 

 

This just mentioned man Avram was a descendant of another Old Testament character named Eber, a great grandson of Shem (Gen 11:15-17).  Later descendants of this Eber came to be called Hebrews (as resulting from his name). 

 

So, in time, Avram arrived on the scene (Gen 11:27-31).  Of course, it was naturally correct that this Avram was to be identified as “a Hebrew” (Gen 14:13).  And this seems to be the first important appellative associated with the so-called patriarchs. 

 

In time, Avram had an encounter with The ELOHIM YHWH Who blessed him and changed his name to Avraham, meaning that he was to become the father of many nations (Hebrew goyim--Gen 17:5).  Though Avraham eventually had several children, to include his oldest son Ishmael, born of Hagar, the promised blessings were to come upon his second son, Isaac (Yitzhak in the Hebrew), born of Sarah. 

 

Yitzhak, in turn, had twin sons whom he named Esau and Jacob (Jacob, the Hebrew Yakov, was later renamed Yisrael--by YHWH).  Although Esau was the first born, technically, he foolishly lost the birthright and most of the blessings to his brother over a bowl of pottage.  But while the promises had passed to Yakov, the role of Esau was far from over in history, as will be seen later on in this study. 

 

 

The Sons of Yisrael

 

In continuing, Yakov Yisrael had 12 sons (13 with the division of son Yosef into his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, who were both adopted by Yakov Yisrael as his own sons--Gen 48:5). 

 

These twelve sons were as follows:  Reuben (from Leah, Reuven in the Hebrew), Shimon (from Leah), Levi (from Leah), Yehudah (from Leah), Dan (from Bilbah), Naphtali (from Bilbah, Naftali in the Hebrew)), Gad (from Zilpah), Asher (from Zilpah), Issachar (from Leah, Yissakhar in the Hebrew), Zebulun (from Leah, Zevulun in the Hebrew), Yosef (from Rachel), and Benjamin (from Rachel, Binyamin in the Hebrew). 

 

 

Racial Jews from Yehudah

 

One of Yisrael’s sons was the just noted Yehudah.  Therefore, in Hebrew, Yehudah's bloodline descendants are called Yehudi (Jew in English); and in the plural, Yehudim at II Kings 16:6 (Jews in English).  In Greek, they are called Ioudaios. 

 

And except for Yehudah's descendants, it is important to observe here that the progeny of the other sons of Yisrael were not "Jews" from a racial or bloodline perspective at all.  This verity may be quite a shock to numbers of professing Christians since so much of Churchianity persists in believing and teaching that all Israelites are Jews, as well as their progenitors. 

 

Assuredly, this supposition is wrong.  Respecting this false thinking, it must be pointed out that besides the fact that the Israelites generally were not racial Jews (except for Yehudah's own descendants), there is furthermore no conceivable way that the patriarchs (Avraham, Yitzhak and Yakov) can ever be called Jews or thought of as Jews. 

 

No!  The truth is quite absolute that the racial Jews (Yehudim) came about solely through the seed line of Yehudah, one of the sons of Yisrael.  Neither Avraham, Yitzhak, Yakov or any of their descendants were racial Jews, except for the line of Yehudah.  Therefore, based on genealogy, only Yehudah's seed line can be called Jews.  This is an important fact to remember as one considers the 12/13 tribes of Yisrael. 

 

 

Ephraim and Yehudah 

 

Almost from the beginnings of the tribes of Yisrael, the tribes of Ephraim and Yehudah moved into the more preeminent positions.  Of course, it was inevitable that this succession would transpire since Ephraim was to receive the birthright and blessings while the throne over Yisrael would settle in with Yehudah.

 

By the time that Yakov Yisrael blessed his sons, to the time of Moshe, when he prophesied the future for the tribes, it was manifest that Ephraim and Yehudah would thereafter be Yisrael’s leading tribes. 

 

What was not clear, but what soon began to occur, was that not only would Ephraim and Yehudah be the leading tribes, the tribes of Ephraim and Yehudah themselves would separate and lead Yisrael into division. Though there were periods of reconciliation between Yehudah and Ephraim, this division and the pangs of conflict was to continue to some extent thereafter.

 

In a way, the tribe of Yosef, the progenitor of the Ephraimites, became estranged from the other tribes when his brothers sold him into slavery.  Of course, Yosef was the brother who became a primary leader of Egypt while the other brothers were somewhat subservient to Yosef after they too fled to Egypt. 

 

 

Ishbosheth and David

 

The next important resurfacing of this division and perhaps even conflict came about when the tribes, united under King Shaul, faced their first major problem when Shaul’s son Ishbosheth took the throne following the death of his father (II Sam 2:8).  Thereupon, the men of Yehudah came to David and anointed him King over the House of Yehudah (II Sam 2:4). 

 

Quickly, war/conflict developed between the House of Shaul (Yisrael) and the House of David (Yehudah, II Sam 3:1). The division of Yisrael into warring camps under David and Ishbosheth continued for the next seven and one-half years.  It was eventually resolved for a time when Ishbosheth was killed (II Sam 4:7) and David took over the kingdom which once again reunited (II Sam 5:3). 

 

 

Shlomo

 

David then ruled the united kingdom for the next 33 years.  Upon his death, his son Solomon (Shlomo in the Hebrew) took over and also ruled the united kingdom--actually for the next 40 years.  But trouble was brewing as Shlomo became increasingly more evil--evidently somewhat because of his tendency to marry so many pagan wives (I Kg 11:1). 

 

Before the death of Shlomo, the prophet Ahijah (the Hebrew Achiyah) came to Jeroboam (the Hebrew Yarovam), a leading Ephraimite, who was in rebellion against Shlomo.  The prophet Achiyah took a new cloak that he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 

 

He gave ten pieces to Yarovam and told him that The ELOHIM was going to tear the kingdom out of the hand of Shlomo and give ten tribes of Yisrael to him (I Kg 11:28-32).  Yarovam fled to Egypt, but he was ever in waiting for the time to come when he could take the kingship over the ten tribes to be split off from Yehudah. 

 

 

Rechavam

 

With the death of the Yehudi King Shlomo, his son Rehoboam (the Hebrew Rechavam) became king over all of the combined nation of Yisrael.  Very quickly,  Rechavam decided to be even more ruthless and evil than his father Shlomo (I Kg 12:10-12).  The opportunity for a division then arose when Yarovam returned from Egypt to make his play for rule. 

 

Rechavam assembled the people at Shechem to attend his coronation (I Kg 12:1).  When he announced his decision to be even more harsh than his father, the Northern ten tribes of Yisrael split and abandoned Yehudah and Rechavam (I Kg 12:16-17).  Yarovam then became king over the Northern ten tribes of Yisrael (all the tribes but Yehudah, Binyamin and some part of Levi). 

 

 

Houses of Yisrael and Yehudah 

 

Thereafter, following the ascension of Rechavam, the united realm of Yisrael was thus split and divided into two kingdoms--the House of Yehudah in the South (with Jerusalem) and the House of Yisrael in the North (with eventual Samaria). 

 

In connection with this partition, it is useful to note that these terms, the House of Yisrael and the House of Yehudah, were not brand new or original by the time of Rechavam.  In fact, from the days of the wilderness wanderings, the unified nation had been known as the House of Yisrael (Ex 16:31; 40:38; Lev 10:6; Num 20:29; Josh 21:45; Ruth 4:11). 

 

With the later ascension of Shaul, the kingdom was still the House of Yisrael (I Sam 7:3).  As described above in the preceding commentary, at Shaul's death, the kingdom of Yisrael initially went with Ishbosheth (II Sam 2:10)--except for the tribe of Yehudah, which split off temporarily to align with David and be called the House of Yehudah (II Sam 2:4).  

 

Within eight years, this early breach with Ishbosheth was healed and the kingdom stayed united under David and Shlomo until the days of Rechavam, under discussion. 

 

Essentially, the tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin, plus a portion of Levi, went with the House of Yehudah and Rechavam while the other remaining 10 1/2 tribes or so formed the House of Yisrael under the rulership of Yarovam.  With the separation, the people of the North, of course, were properly identified as Israelites and of Yisrael.  However, there is never a Scriptural reference to them as Jews. 

 

Categorically, the Northern tribes of Yisrael were not Jews; they were never called Jews; and there is no Scriptural reason to believe that they collectively will ever be referred to as Jews racially.  Of course, they had their own tribal identifications and had no linkage to Yehudah whatsoever that would justify them to be called Jews, or put into the category of Jews.  In short, they were not Jews! 

 

 

More on Yarovam

 

Yarovam had married an Egyptian woman while he was in Egypt.  He clearly became introduced to the evils of Egyptian sun worship--either from his wife and/or from his stay in Egypt. 

 

Upon becoming King of the Northern ten tribes of Yisrael (the House of Yisrael), Yarovam quickly introduced blatant sun worship into the Northern tribes and decreased the role of the legitimate Israelite teachers, the Levites, and the people’s attachment to the city of Jerusalem. 

 

As discussed elsewhere herein, Yarovam changed the feast of Sukkot from the seventh month to the eighth month and probably changed the religious distinction of the Seventh day Sabbath to the next day--Sunday. 

 

 

Movements South and Maybe North 

 

Since the Temple was in the South in Jerusalem and since Yarovam quickly began turning the Northern tribes into outright pagan sun worship, as just noted above, some of the more sincere and religious people in the Northern kingdom began to relocate to the South in order to be near the Temple and to maintain their Hebrew form of worship (I Kg 12:17, 23; I Chron 9:3; II Chron 10:17; 11:3, 13-17; 15:9; 16:1; 30:6, 10-18; 31:1-6; 34:9). 

 

These moving Israelites, from the House of Yisrael, although clearly connected to the persons of the North, because of their bloodlines, effectively became residents and citizens of the House of Yehudah, along with the then present peoples of Yehudah, Binyamin and Levi. 

 

And while one may not have all of the particulars of this relocation, it is possible that the House of Yehudah eventually had "some" representation from all or most all of Yisrael's 12/13 tribes, notwithstanding the fact that the vast majority of the individuals of the Northern kingdom surely stayed there in the North. 

 

Additionally, the student of truth might allow that some dissatisfied persons in the Southern kingdom may have moved North to escape the rule of Rechavam, although details of such seem lacking.  And if so, it would mean that the House of Yisrael in the North likewise had some representation from all or most all of Yisrael's 12/13 tribes. 

 

 

Tribal Identifications 

 

Since the non-Yehudah Israelites moving to the South were not racially Yehudim (Jews), they apparently tried to maintain their own tribal identifications even though they were residents of the Southern House of Yehudah.  Here, the same reasoning would apply to any persons of the Southern kindgom of Yehudah moving North. 

 

This fact of tribal recognition surfaces from time to time in the Word in respect to all 12/13 of the tribes.  For example, in the beginning of the Yehudah kingship, it was the racial Yehudim, alone, who followed the Yehudi King David long before his grandson Rechavam was even born, as was noted above. 

 

 

The House of Yehudah 

 

Thus, the tribe of Yehudah was clearly called the House of Yehudah by itself at a very early time, when the people of Binyamin were still allied with the other tribes to the North under the Binyaminite Ishbosheth (II Sam 2:9-11). 

 

Furthermore, in time, when the actual division of the kingdom took place and Binyamin became linked to Yehudah, it is significant that early on, it was only the persons of Yehudah who were called the House of Yehudah. 

 

Even then, Binyamin is separately identified and referred to, despite the political linkage (I Kg 12:21, 23).  No wonder that centuries later, the Apostle Shaul would be careful to note that he was racially of the tribe of Binyamin (Acts 13:21; Rom 11:1; Phil 3:5). 

 

Along this same line of thought, there are some good reasons, which will be discussed shortly, and which do suggest that perhaps most of the other early disciples (except Judas Iscariot) were likewise of the tribes of Binyamin or Levi--in difference to Yehudah. 

 

The divided kingdom continued for the next 250 years or so with both the House of Yisrael and the House of Yehudah becoming involved in periodic wars and conflicts between themselves, and a movement by both of them to more and more outright pagan sun worship. 

 

Occasionally, in Yehudah, a good king would arrive on the scene who would clean up some of the pagan worship--like with King Hizkiyahu (Hezekiah in the KJV).  But otherwise, the sun worship sin was pervasive and continued. 

 

 

Punishment for Sin 

 

Finally, YHWH grew disgusted with the Northern House of Yisrael and proceeded to divorce her and allow the Assyrians to enter Canaan land and subdue the Israelites. Thus, their rebellion and iniquity brought forth punishment and chastisement, as was demanded in the Torah for Yisrael (Lev 26; Deut 28). 

 

The House of Yisrael was the first to feel the pinch, evidently some 250 years or so after the division of the kingdom.  It happened to them in several motions when the Assyrians came down to defeat, enslave and remove the House of Yisrael far away to the land of Assyria in the Northeast and/or elsewhere. 

 

Conspicuously, the Assyrians, in their deportations, removed not only the House of Yisrael; but also, even much of the House of Yehudah--which certainly included persons of Yehudah and possibly even some people from Binyamin and Levi.  These persons of Yehudah by then were clearly connected with or absorbed by the House of Yisrael in the Assyrian captivity (II Kg 18:13). 

 

 

Status of Binyamin 

 

While some persons of Binyamin probably survived with Yehudah, in the Jerusalem area, in order to leave descendants there who would eventually return to Canaan from Babylon with the Jews (Ezra 1:5; Neh 11:4), the truth is that the tribe of Binyamin, itself, perhaps largely departed from the land, along with the House of Yisrael, during the Assyrian conquest since the Book says that all of Yisrael was removed with only the tribe of Yehudah remaining (II Kg 17:18). 

 

At a first glance, one may speculate that much or at least a sizable portion of the tribe of Binyamin was taken captive and removed by the Assyrians, along with the other deported Northern Israelites.  This course seems to gain some credence when one considers that they were surely present in the land just before the Assyrian capture of Samaria. 

 

Though part of Binyamin could have gone into bondage with Yisrael, there also remains the possibility that in some manner the tribe of Binyamin escaped to a place of safety since YHWH seems to allow some deliverance for them (Gen 49:27; Deut 33:12). 

 

Moreover, much of the surviving remnant of Binyamin (and there appears to have been one) may have eventually fled from the land--just before the later Babylonian invasion (Jer 6:1). 

 

However, regardless of what may have happened to Binyamin, the fact remains that many of the Israelite people largely left the land during the Assyrian deportations to leave essentially a portion of the tribe of Yehudah behind to face the subsequent Babylonians and their aggression. 

 

Furthermore, the Assyrian King Sennacherib intended to take all of Yehudah captive, as well, but he met disaster from YHWH when he came against Jerusalem (II Kg 19:34-36).  Thus, a remnant of the House of Yehudah survived in the Jerusalem area for the next 140 years or so--all the while that the House of Yisrael had long since been removed from Canaan land. 

 

This remnant remaining in Jerusalem appears to have been largely from Yehudah’s son Shelah and of the royal line of David (I Chron 4:21-23; Num 26:20).  Perhaps most (but not necessarily all) of the people from Yehudah’s other sons, Pharez (Peretz in the Hebrew) and Zarah/Zerah (Zerach in the Hebrew) from Tamar (I Chron 2:3), left the land voluntarily or otherwise went into Assyrian captivity. 

 

 

The Samaritans 

 

Nevertheless, the territory in the North, which had been formerly controlled and governed by Yisrael, was not to remain vacant and uninhabited for long.  Perhaps immediately, the Assyrians brought in foreigners and non-Israelites (actually Hamites) and settled them in the area of Samaria, previously occupied by the House of Yisrael (II Kg 17:24).  In time, these aliens became known as Samaritans. 

 

While this nominative of Samaritans stuck, it is useful to observe that from the seventh century BCE to the first century CE, these same persons were also known to be essentially Cutheans from Cuthah or Cuth over in the East in the old Persian empire (II Kg 17:24, 30; “Antiquities of the Jews,” book IX, chapter 14, verse 1), plus possibly some Hamitic persons from the other areas indicated in II Kings 17:24. 

 

The distinction between the Cuthean and Samaritan peoples was partially clarified by Josephus.  He wrote that the word Cuthean is from the Hebrew while the Greek reference to the same people is Samaritan (“Josephus, The Essential Writings,” p. 175). 

 

In the Tanakh, the II Kings’ remarks are made in the context of the racial or ethnic Cutheans who were brought into Canaan land by the Assyrians.  They were settled in a hill area called Samaria (which goes back in time to the House of Yisrael King Omri who built his capitol there--I Kg 16:24). 

 

Hence, the area was called Samaria at an early time in Yisrael’s history.  By the time of the Greek conquests and rule, the territory which the Cutheans had held was still called Samaria and its inhabitants then and later were known as Samaritans.  In this sense, the term Samaritan came to mean a geographical designation and definition. 

 

“Young’s Analytical Concordance” (p. 833) confirms that the word Samaritans refers to the inhabitants of the geographical province of Samaria which formerly was a part of Yisrael.  Besides the Cutheans and some likely Amalekites (to be later addressed), these inhabitants apparently included some apostate Jews in the area in the time of Alexander the Great (“Josephus, The Essential Writings,” p. 200). 

 

The early synagogue teachings, discussed earlier, in “Pesikta De-Rab Kahana,” cover special Sabbath presentations for 500 years.  This work has numerous references to the Cutheans in the context of the racial or ethnic people that were moved into the area which came to be called Samaria. 

 

It seems clear that the NT references to Samaria and Samaritans are largely geographical identification remarks and not necessarily racial or ethnic classifications (since the Hebrew word Cutheans correctly refers to many or most of the people brought into the area by the Assyrians).  This likely option will be explored and elaborated upon in later chapters. 

 

On the Cuthean relocation to Samaria, it is tragic that so much of Christendom knows so little about the Book that most Christians incorrectly "suppose" that the Samaritans are, in fact, of the House of Yisrael and thus are Israelites.  Of course, this is blatant nonsense and vain speculation (and even in the context of the “one” priest of Yisrael, who later joined in with the Samaritans--II Kg 17:28). 

 

In connection with these wild, ridiculous claims emanating from the ivory towers of Christendom, on the premise that the Samaritans are of the lost House of Yisrael, one can go the Scriptures and quickly put to rest for ever such vain imaginations and stark stupidity. 

 

 

Ezra 4:2

 

The writer Ezra observed that when the Second Temple was started in his days and following the release edict of Cyrus for the return of the Jews to the land, the Samaritans admitted and confessed that they were descendants of people brought to the Palestine area many years previously by the Assyrians (Ezra 4:2). 

 

They assuredly did not try to lie to the returning Israelites as to their ancestry.  Obviously, the returning Jews knew who the Samaritans were and would not have been taken in by any efforts from them in deceit and dishonesty.  In short, they could never have gotten away with lying to the Israelite Jews.  So evidently, they never bothered to even try it. 

 

Certainly, there is no conceivable way that an honest, fair, reasonable student of the Word can come forward now to charge that the Samaritans (collectively) are of the lost House of Yisrael.  They absolutely are not Israelites, as they, themselves, have stated the plain, Scriptural truth on this matter. 

 

In the context that Samaria was a geographical province in Palestine, in Second Temple days, it seems to be true that the NT term and reference to “Samaritans” would have been used on occasion in the vein of a territorial or geographical definition.  In fact, Samaria and Samaritans possibly might always be geographical references in the NT. 

 

In that sense, it perhaps was true that some Jewish Israelites did live there by the first century CE (as suggested by Josephus), although many of Samaria’s inhabitants were racial or ethnic Cutheans or Amalekites, as discussed above. 

 

 

John 4:12 

 

Despite the unmistakable records from the Scriptures, Josephus and other early Jewish writings, some Christians insist on arguing that the Samaritans were the remnant of the lost House of Yisrael with an absolute bypass of unarguable truth.  Some quote the statement of the Samaritan woman at the well when she referred to “our father Yakov” in her talk with YESHUA, as proving that she was an Israelite (Jo 4:12). 

 

While this single text could be a little complicated, it certainly doesn’t necessarily prove anything.  Maybe, this one woman and her particular family were descendants of the “one” priest of Yisrael who had joined in with the Samaritans some 700 years earlier (II Kg 17:28).  Maybe, this tradition had come down to her from her family. 

 

Also, it is possible that in the days of Ezra and Nechemyah, some number of the returning Jews had intermarried with the Samaritans, though they were not named, per se.  However, there is some implication of such marriages in the reference to the mixed blooded peoples in certain geographical areas in the land (Neh 13:23). 

 

There was too the situation with a Jewish priest who married the daughter of the Samaritan ruler Sanballat (Neh 13:27-28).  Apparently, he would not repent of his wickedness.  So Nechemyah chased him away.  Allegedly, he moved to Samaria and became high priest of the Samaritans.  A later chapter herein will describe this man in more detail (who was supposedly named Menachem). 

 

Could the woman at the well or her family descend from one of these illegal marriages or the apostate Jews who came to the land as allowed by Josephus?  Of course, the answer has to be yes. 

 

Moreover, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were written at least 500 years or so before YESHUA and the Samaritan woman even arrived on the scene.  There had been a lot of water going under the bridge during those 500 years. 

 

Is it plausible that some number of persons of Yehudah illegally intermarried over the years with some of the Samaritans (as they did with some Amalekites, to be later discussed) to produce more mixed blooded offspring (beyond the above described priest)?  Maybe, the woman’s family involved was a descendant of one of these illegal marriages over the years. 

 

Finally, YESHUA apparently did not dispute her claim or argue with her (or at least, Yohanan did not record such a disagreement, although it could have happened).  Again, this fact proves nothing one way or the other.  Many people do not go out of their way to create argument and strife with others, when lies and incorrect statements are spoken to them (either innocently, or with foreknowledge and deceitfulness). 

 

YESHUA was not wrong or acting incorrectly by not challenging the woman if she was, in fact, lying to Him.  Or perhaps, she was innocent and just misinformed and ignorant about her true ancestry.  Maybe, her family taught her a lie on this and she just didn’t know the difference.  Maybe, YESHUA let it pass without pressing her on it, as He later did when she lied outrightly about her marital situation. 

 

Beyond the woman, there are a couple of other texts in Yohanan’s presentation which suggests that some other persons besides the woman also believed YESHUA or on Him because He had told the woman “all” that she had done (Jo 4:39).  Again, these remarks do not necessarily prove anything in respect to the Samaritans. 

 

Was this belief the same as the concept of faith associated with salvation and the quality present in The MESSIAH’s true followers?  No, evidently not at all.  Again, it should be noted that in the first century CE, Samaria was a province in Palestine.  The term Samaritan can be a geographical identification, as noted earlier. 

 

So it’s hard to say for sure what those so-called Samaritans were racially or ethnically (although many were probably racial Cutheans or Amalekites).  A later chapter herein will focus on this meeting between YESHUA and the woman and her friends.  While Yohanan’s written record of the incident was true, there is some far reaching symbolism associated with this event which will stagger the mind of the believer. 

 

 

Samaritan Thinking 

 

As a significant side point here, the earlier Samaritans (apparently racial Cutheans and/or Amalekites, to be later addressed) actually approached Yeshua, Zerubbabel and the Jewish leaders with a proposition that they be allowed to participate and help in the rebuilding of the Second Temple after the return from Babylon (Ezra 4:1-4). 

 

But Zerubbabel, Yeshua and the other leaders emphatically declared "no way" would the Samaritans be allowed in such a righteous undertaking.  If they had been true Israelites, it is highly questionable about whether their help would have been rejected. 

 

Thereafter, the racially mixed Samaritans became adversaries to weaken, trouble and terrify the true Israelite workers on the Temple.  Actually, this situation, just after the Jewish return from Babylon, seems to have set a precedent of Samaritan reaction to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. 

 

In “A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ” (p. 289-309, v. ii, division 1), Emil Schurer points out some intriguing history not normally known about the later Samaritans.  A Jewish legend has it that in the time of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, the emperor granted permission to the Jews to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (c 117 CE). 

 

But as happened in earlier times, the Samaritans rushed in to protest and make lies and false representations about the enterprise.  Apparently, the pressure was so great from the evil Samaritans that Hadrian backed out on his plan to allow the rebuilding of the Temple. 

 

Perhaps this backdrop (or at least, the desire to rebuild the Temple) had something to do with the development of the Bar Cochba (Kokhba) or Bar Kosiba rebellion which occurred in 132-135 CE.  Simon Bar Kokhba became the leader of a Judean Jewish faction which declared its independence from Rome and fought a war with the Romans. 

 

Simon and his forces lost.  The Romans killed 580,000 Jews in the campaign and enslaved the rest.  Schurer says that the entire area of Judea was turned into a well-nigh desert.  Hadrian declared Jerusalem off limits to Jews and built a new Roman city there called Aelia Capitolina.  A temple to Jupiter (Zeus) was erected over the Jewish Temple site. 

 

Interestingly, the Hebrew Bar Kokhba means son of the star while Bar Kosiba means son of the lie.  In later Rabbinic literature, Bar Kokhba came to be called Bar Kosiba (“Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period,” p. 77).  This Rabbinic description about Simon being the son of the lie makes one wonder if he had some connection with the Amalekites (to be later discussed). 

 

Later chapters herein will raise questions over the possibility that some evil Amalekites were attached to or assimilated with the wicked Samaritans/Cutheans over the years in some fashion to allow them to also be oppressors of the Jewish Israelites in the efforts to rebuild the Temple. 

 

 

Not of Truth 

 

Regardless of the exact racial and ethnic peoples who may have been involved with the Samaritans, the fact of their oppression (especially in Zerubbabel’s time, but later also) does impact on the question of the Samaritan Pentateuch, discussed earlier. 

 

As YESHUA noted, these Samaritan people were not of truth (Jo 4:22).  The conclusion has to be that their Pentateuch would have to be a very questionable production and certainly one lacking authority, as concluded in the earlier presentation. 

 

Now, in the context of modern Christianity, is it conceivable that Christendom, collectively, would ever reject the help, money or whatever from people of the racial and ethnic class of the Samaritans?  Assuredly not! 

 

Obviously, this revealing little message in the Book should alert all readers that there are fundamental differences between Christians and true believers--just as there are differences between Samaritans and true believers. 

 

Not only were the Samaritans of non-Israelite racial stock, but it is useful to note that they continued to maintain and follow their historic pagan religions even after they came to Canaan land (II Kg 17:29-31)--all the while that they ostensibly "feared YHWH" (II Kg 17:32-34). 

 

 

Samaritan and Christian Similarities

 

Thus, the Samaritans have much in common with false Christianity, as will be proven in later chapters.  Both peoples have in their possessions all or part of The ELOHIM's Scriptures (the Samaritans have the Samaritan Pentateuch while Christians have the Old and New Testaments). 

 

However, beyond mere possession of portions of YHWH's Word, the religions of the two groups are both far removed from truth in practice, as the writer of Kings observed for the Samaritans (II Kg 17:32-34), and as this study will establish in future remarks for Churchianity. 

 

 

More on Yehudah

 

As noted above, this work by the Assyrians left the still independent House of Yehudah in the Jerusalem area; but seriously reduced in population to mainly some part of Yehudah and evidently parts of Binyamin, Levi and some of the other tribes whose people had moved from the Northern House of Yisrael to the Southern House of Yehudah over the years in order to be near the Temple and the true worship of YHWH. 

 

Thus, many and indeed likely most of the people who were formally a part of the House of Yehudah in the South soon became a part of the House of Yisrael which went into Assryian captivity. 

 

 

Yehudah and Judaism 

 

Despite the clear racial distinctions of the tribes of Yisrael in the South, it is also a clear fact of history that the racial House of Yehudah became the basis for the eventual Jewish religion (Judaism) and particularly so with her later exile to Babylon and return to Palestine. 

 

Therefore, while persons of non-Yehudah ancestry, living in the Southern kingdom, were not Jews, racially, they often identified themselves as such in the religious context (to be considered more carefully in future chapters).  Again, the NT man Shaul is an example of this reality (I Cor 9:20; Gal 2:15). 

 

Though it is most often true that the English word Jew (Hebrew Yehudi, Greek Ioudaios) theoretically refers to racial, ethnic or religious definitions, one must not lose sight of the reality that some persons in the geographical area or province of Yehudah (Judea after the exile) were known as Jews (Judeans), simply because of national/residential considerations (per “The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament,” v. III, p. 359-377). 

 

Of course, the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE and the deportation of the Jews worldwide largely ended that option, thereby leaving the birth and religious questions. 

 

So, whenever one reads or hears of the word Jew, he must be careful in defining it.  Because even today, in the modern Israeli state, there is much confusion and disagreement over exactly who is a Jew.  Is the issue here race or is it religion or something else? 

 

 

Alfred M. Lilienthal 

 

This dilemma over definitions was well illustrated by Dr Alfred M. Lilienthal, a noted American Jewish author, when he wrote that “the words Hebrew, Israelite, Jew, Judaism, and the Jewish people have been used synonymously to suggest a historical continuity.  But this is a misuse.  These words refer to different groups of people with varying ways of life in different periods of history. 

 

“Hebrew is a term correctly applied to the period from the beginning of Biblical history to the settling of Canaan.  Israelite refers correctly to members of the twelve tribes of Israel.  The name Yehudi or Jew is used in the Old Testament to designate members of the tribe of Judah, particularly at the time of Jeremiah and under the Persian occupation. 

 

“Centuries later, the same word came to be applied to anyone no matter of what origin, whose religion was Judaism” (“What Price Israel,” p. 216).  Lilienthal then notes that the word Judaism was first used by Flavius Josephus after the Jewish Roman wars (late first century CE). 

 

This informed Jewish author (Lilienthal) certainly has some good observations which will be addressed in some detail in further remarks in this study.  But the point here is that one must be careful about lumping all of these words into one pile without some discernment.  They really are not synonymous at all, despite the reality that many uninformed people believe that they are one and the same. 

 

 

More Definitions 

 

In addition to this concern of one being of the Jewish religion, generally, there was still further religious or philosophical definitions to assess in Second Temple times because the broader perspectives of Jews and Judaism perhaps involved seven or more major sects or divisions (like the Herodians, Essenes, Hellenists, Zealots, Pharisees, Sadducees and possibly the beginnings of the belief of the later Karaites), in addition to the disciples of YESHUA (the Nazarenes). 

 

Within the confines of the Pharisees, there were still further classifications and delineations.  For example, there were two dominating basis of thought--the Schools of Hillel and Shammai, to be described in later chapters herein.  Also, in practice, some Pharisees, evidently of the Hillel class, were recognized as being Hasidim or Chasidim, which meant that they were very pious or ultra orthodox. 

 

The just mentioned religious Jew, named Shaul (his actual Hebrew name, anglicized as Saul and later questionably changed to Paulus in the Greek NT), was more precisely a Pharisee (Acts 23:6; Phil 3:4-6), apparently of the School of Hillel since he had been a disciple of the famous Gamaliel, an actual grandson of Hillel and a respected teacher of that theology (Acts 22:3). 

 

 

The Division  

 

But going back into history, one finds that with the death of Shlomo the united commonwealth of Yisrael did divide into two kingdoms or governments--the Houses of Yehudah and Yisrael. 

 

Albeit, it is certain that the people of the Northern kingdom were Israelites, and while it is also evident that the people of Yehudah were Jews (by certain definitions), it is furthermore verity that most of the peoples of both states were racially Israelites and bloodline descendants of Yakov Yisrael. 

 

The Scriptures plainly assert that all 12/13 tribes were of Yakov Yisrael and were referred to in various circumstances as of Yisrael and Israelites, both before and after the partition of the kingdom and the later Babylonian exile. 

 

So while the people of the House of Yehudah were of Yisrael and were Israelites, they were not a part of the House of Yisrael, per se, though a few of them may have had some close bloodline linkages to the Northern tribes because of having moved to the South after the division of the kingdom. 

 

Please note that in this context, the word House is being used in a national or governmental sense; and from that viewpoint, it was largely dispensed with after the Jewish return to Palestine under Cyrus. 

 

 

Two Separate Nations 

 

But it is important to remember that the House of Yehudah was not and never will be the divided House of Yisrael.  Both governments, nations and entities were entirely separate and distinctly different.  Therefore, in the Book, these two realms were never the same, nor were they ever called the same. 

 

In fact, it is interesting and perhaps relevant that in the Scriptures these two kingdoms of Yisrael and Yehudah were frequently at war with each other, despite their common ancestry and relationship.  In a word, they were often divided enemies who were totally separated all the time that they were contemporaries in Canaan land. 

 

They were two nations (plural) and there is no other way to view it.  Effectively, the main thing that these two states seemed to have in common was their similarly rebellious and sinful conduct in terms of YHWH's laws.  Both countries pursued sin and contempt toward YHWH with but few exceptions. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 124--Yisrael Divorced

 

 

The Bill 

 

Another interesting fallout of the Assyrian deportations, described in the previous chapter, was that the House of Yisrael was categorically divorced by The MOST HIGH (II Kg 17:18, 23; Isa 50:1; Jer 3:1-8; Ezek 23:9; Hos 2:2-4). 

 

This act of divorcement by YHWH (for Yisrael's sins of adultery--Ezek 20:39) legally terminated the covenant (marriage) relationship between Himself and the House of Yisrael. 

 

This larger part (the House of Yisrael) of the once greater Yisrael was no longer connected with The ELOHIM.  Since this act of divorcement legally terminated the covenant and marriage between YHWH and the House of Yisrael, they were no longer His people (Hos 1:9).  They were literally cut off and in a "lost" condition with no observable hope of reconciliation. 

 

Importantly, the remnant of the House of Yehudah, which remained in the Jerusalem area, was not divorced and put away.  And in fact, this remnant seemingly was never divorced and put away, despite its adultery and sin. 

 

Effectively, this remnant of the House of Yehudah remained in covenant relationship with The HIGHEST even after they were punished in the Babylonian captivity (although they later played a leading role in killing YESHUA, c30 CE; thus, likely also then ending their covenant relationship with Him).

 

 

Provisions of the Divorce 

 

As a part of her divorcement, the House of Yisrael people were no longer to be known and recognized as Israelites, in covenant with YHWH.  They had their name changed (Isa 62:2; 65:15; Hos 1:9), lost the Hebrew language and spoke another tongue (Isa 28:11), and became blind as to their racial identity, ancestry and origin (Isa 42:16-19; Hos 1:9-10; 2:6, 17; Rom 11:25). 

 

Without going into any detail on these changes, which came upon Yisrael, it would be well to highlight the fact that in the dispersion the House of Yisrael Israelites lost the Hebrew language and spoke a new tongue or tongues.  In other words, they lost or gave up their former Semitic language and spoke something new or different. 

 

In this sense, it probably would be correct to say that these House of Yisrael people were no longer Semites, as they had been while they were speaking Hebrew in Canaan land.  But they remained Shemites (descendants of Shem) because of racial factors, as outlined in the previous chapter. 

 

 

But the Promises Remained 

 

Despite these negative features of the divorce, the fact remains that a number of promises remained of numerous blessings to befall on Yisrael.  For example, they were to receive a new home (land) in an appointed place (Isa 24:15; 41:19-20; 49:1; Jer 31;10); to spread abroad North, South, East and West (Gen 28:14; Jer 3:12; 23:8); and to grow in number--like the stars of the heavens (Ex 32:13). 

 

Of great importance to the House of  Yisrael and her future after the divorce, she was to live in islands and coastal areas (Isa 41:1-2; 49:1-3; 51:5; 60:9; Jer 31:7-10).  Specifically, she was to be known Scripturally as “Yisrael in the isles of the sea” (Isa 24:15)--apparently, after she was emptied from the land of Canaan (Isa 24:3). 

 

Moreover, Yisrael was to become a great nation (Gen 12:2; 18:18) and nations--plural (Gen 17:4, 6, 15, 16; 35:11; 48:19); to multiply and be fruitful (Gen 12:2; 17:6; 22:16-18; 24:60; 26:1-5; 27:26-29; 28:14; Isa 27:6; Hos 1:10); to enjoy wealth, abundance and greatness (Gen 22:16-18; 48:13-20; 49:22-26); to possess the sea gates of enemies (Gen 22:17; 24:60); and to be ruled over by one continuous dynasty of rulers (II Sam 7:12-29; Ps 89:20-37; Jer 33:17, 21, 26). 

 

The interesting thing about the promised blessings for Yisrael is that they were all made unconditionally to Avraham, Yitzhak and Yakov Yisrael and had to come about irrespective of the sins and rebellion of national Yisrael. 

 

Another relevant feature is that these promises never came to physical Yisrael in the land of Canaan, nor have they ever fallen upon the House of Yehudah or the Jews collectively under any circumstances (after all, the birthright and blessings were for Yosef and his line and not for Yehudah--Gen 48:1-22).  Consequently, they were future at the time of the fall of the House of Yisrael to the Assyrians. 

 

Since they were certain, they have had to be fulfilled during the last 2,700 years to our time here in the age end of the early 21st century.  Therefore, the student of truth interested in pursuing this theme can spend a little time with the history books and get a pretty good idea on what happened to the divorced House of Yisrael upon her departure from Canaan land. 

 

 

Yisrael Does Exist--Now! 

 

Before continuing, it would be well to recall here a far reaching statement by Yirmeyahu the prophet made long “after” the Assyrian conquests of Yisrael and just before the demise of Yehudah at the hands of the Chaldeans in the 6th century BCE. 

 

He declared that as long as the sun, moon and stars stand to provide light on earth, the posterity of Yisrael shall exist as a nation or people before YHWH--through the ages (Jer 31:35-36), and in the context of the House of Yisrael (Jer 31:33). 

 

The point was just made in this section that the House of Yisrael is out in the world today in 2003.  Yirmeyahu’s words prove it conclusively--since the sun, moon and stars are still up in the heavens, providing light to earth.  The essence being from Yirmeyahu's statement is that the divorce did not terminate the reality of Yisrael. 

 

Alternatively, Yisrael was to persist; but with a new identification, language and recognition, as cited above.  Consequently, Yisrael was then in existence when Yirmeyahu spoke and would continue to be in existence for some time in the future, as both Yirmeyahu and Yechezkel assert. 

 

Of course, the House of Yisrael nations are alive and physically present right now in time somewhere on planet earth.  If they had ceased to exist, then it is quite manifest that YHWH’s Word would have been broken.  The Book declares that the Scriptures cannot be broken (Jo 10:35).  Therefore, it is only a question of finding the lost House of Yisrael.  She is out there--somewhere. 

 

“The Jewish Chronicle” of May 2, 1879, put it well by declaring that “The Scriptures speak of a future restoration of Yisrael, which is clearly to include both Yehudah and Ephraim (the Ten Tribes). 

 

“The problem then is reduced to its simplest form.  The ten tribes are certainly in existence.  All that has to be done is to discover which people represent them” (quoted by Bernard Bateson, in an article on “A Jew Speaks Out” in the Oct 1995 “New Beginnings,” p. 10).   

 

In today’s modern world, there are 12 great Arab nations which are readily identified and known as descending from Ishmael.  They know who they are and most scholars have the same perception.  Moreover, there are a number of large nations also associated with Esau, as will be described in later chapters.  Does it not make perfect sense that Yakov Yisrael would also produce a number of great and powerful nations? 

 

 

The Lost Name 

 

Moreover, the truth also emerges from the Scriptures that in the divorce the House of Yisrael "lost" an understanding of the pronunciation and meaning of the personal name (the Tetragrammaton YHWH, the Name, called in Hebrew Ha Shem) of her former Husband (Isa 64:6-7; Jer 23:27; Amos 6:7-11). 

 

As early as Genesis 4:26, the KJV has it that men began to call upon the name of YHWH.  The “Soncino Chumash” (p. 21) notes that the “righteous began to teach the Name.”  In “Christianity Unmasqued” (p. 261), Dan Israel says that this text correctly reads-- “then began men to call themselves by the name of Yahweh.”  For sure, true believers became attached to the name of YHWH. 

 

In the “Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets” (p. 708), Barbara G. Walker writes that in terms of both magic and religion, the name of anything was considered identical with the thing itself and that early people seldom could distinguish between the reality and the name of an object.  Assuredly, a man’s name is extremely important in relation to him. 

 

The Apostle Yohanan also saw the importance of a name when he wrote that YHWH YESHUA gave the status of sons to those who received Him and believed on His name and/or put their trust in His name (Jo 1:12).  Actually, Yohanan’s words were not new because the Psalmist wrote centuries earlier that YHWH will set on high those believers who have known His name (Ps 91:14). 

 

In the Translator’s Preface to the “The First Five Books of Moses” (p. xv), Everett Fox wrote that names play a central role in Scriptural stories.  Fox adds that in the Word and throughout the ancient world, names were often used to give clues about their bearer’s personality or fate.  Hence, the OT frequently gives the meanings of names of the actors on stage.  Obviously, these names must have meant something important.  

 

Apparently, in the ancient Hebrew culture, the idea of a name meant everything that a person was (“Jewish New Testament Commentary,” p. 154).  No wonder the Scriptures would place such an emphasis on a person’s name.  However, a name in the context of trust and belief should not be construed to possess magical qualities to benefit evil people. 

 

 

The Curse on the House of Yisrael

 

Amos best put the curse on the House of Yisrael (in the divorce) by declaring that they could no longer make mention of or speak (pronounce) the name (Amos 6:10, per the Bethel and Amplified translations), although the name appears some 7,000 times in the Hebrew OT.  Hence, the lost tribes of Yisrael lost the pronunciation and meaning of the most important word in the universe. 

 

Therefore, even today, almost all Israelites of the lost tribes incorrectly believe the name to be the “Lord, God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Yahuweh, Yahoweh, Yahaweh, Yaheweh, Yahowah, Yahuwah, Yahewah, Yahvah, Yahovah, Yahuvah, Yahavah, Yahevah” or something similar. 

 

It is especially true within the Sardis Sacred Name movement (which will be addressed in some detail in subsequent chapters herein) that there is no end to the stupidity and ignorance of Sacred Namers as they devote lifetimes and enormous energy to try to dream up some uncanny and impossible pronunciation for the Tetragrammaton.  There seems to be no end to this mass of Sacred Name confusion.  

 

Christians and Sacred Namers seem to have no idea at all on the meaning of the name YHWH though some might try to go to Exodus 3:14, which really does not clarify its meaning. 

 

 

The Masoretes, Revisited 

 

Years ago, it became obvious to this writer that the word “Jehovah” was not the name (as the Rotherham and other translations explain).  To understand this reality, it is necessary to recognize that historically Hebrew writings were written with 22 consonantal letters (as described in a former chapter). 

 

Fearing the loss of pronunciation, the previously mentioned Jewish Masoretes placed vowel points on the Hebrew Tanakh writings when they did their work many centuries ago. 

 

“Jehovah” was apparently an invention of Ashkenazi Masoretes when they took the vowel points for Adonai and attached them to the Tetragrammaton to tell them to pronounce the name as Adonai.  Ignorant Christians, lacking understanding of Hebrew, mistook this hybrid word and called it the name of “Jehovah” for years. 

 

It is interesting to note that the Sephardim evidently never altered the Tetragrammaton whatsoever.  In fact, their Tanakh Scriptures have the Masoretic vowel points on all words except the Tetragrammaton.  This writer has seen Tanakh texts expressed in this fashion. 

 

 

Still Lost in 2003 

 

This writer once believed that the name was “Yahweh” because of its popular usage in some translations and among the Sardis Sacred Name people.  In modern times, almost all of the Christian world has incorrectly come to accept this name “Yahweh” as being Scriptural, despite the fact that it cannot be found in the Hebrew Scriptures. 

 

A Messianic Jewish friend of this writer, living in Jerusalem, told me years ago that Jewish savants invented the name of “Yahweh” as an alternative when they realized that Christian scholars were beginning to understand that “Jehovah” was wrong.  They wanted the name to continue to be hid from both Christendom and the world. 

 

This discussion carried a lot of weight because the Messianic Jew involved spoke Hebrew and came from a historic, Sephardic, cohen (priest) family who had been schooled and trained to be a Rav (teacher).  He was informed and knew what he was talking about. 

 

In a later examination of an important, ancient, Hebrew, Tanakh scroll, his explanation of the name was verified and proven in a very conclusive fashion.  Categorically, the pronunciation and meaning of the name YHWH can be known from the Hebrew Old Testament. 

 

The fact that ignorant and ill-informed Christians and Sacred Namers do not know the name does not alter the fact that it can be known.  The problem over the name is reduced to the ignorance and lack of understanding present in Christendom at large--to include its Sacred Name and Christian Identity factions. 

 

 

It Can Be Known 

 

Once a person comes to a proper understanding of the name (both its pronunciation and meaning, which contain some incredible revelations), it then becomes manifest why informed Jews have hid the name from the world.  By the way, the Hebrew Tanakh does contain conclusive information on both its pronunciation and meaning--which should dispel any doubt about it whatsoever. 

 

The point that the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton is not “Lord, Jehovah, Yahweh, Yahvah, Yahuweh, Yahoweh, Yahaweh,” etc goes to validate the statements made above.  The ELOHIM’s true people will know His name--both its meaning and pronunciation.  Obviously, all of these proponents, advocating a worldly accepted and recognized name, are considerably off base.  They don’t know the name. 

 

Perhaps this factor also has some impact upon the question of evil people using or rather attempting to use Ha Shem (the Hebrew, meaning the Name) for improper purposes (as a fetish or for magical purposes).  They will likewise be in the dark and in a state of ignorance.  They may think that they know His name.  But in fact, they do not know it--because it is lost and something in secret only for the eventual election. 

 

 

YHWH’s Name Went On Yisrael in the Marriage 

 

Although few people may realize or grasp the importance of the loss of The CREATOR's name, the fact remains that it symbolically has had a profound impact of extraordinary magnitude.  The premise for such a statement lies, to a large extent, upon the situation in a marriage relationship where the woman takes her husband's name, goes by it, and is recognized by it. 

 

In the case of Israelites, The MOST HIGH placed His personal name on them in the wilderness at the commencement of the covenant and marriage relationship (Num 6:27; Deut 28:10; II Chron 7:14).  In giving them His name and His blessings, they, in turn, became His possession (Ezek 16:8) and were under the marriage obligation of obedience of His Torah (Ex 19:5). 

 

Just like Christianity has not done over the centuries, the one thing which Israelites never did do was to obey The HIGHEST.  From the beginning, they embarked upon a path of contempt and rebellion toward His Torah--to include outright adultery.  Of course, in time, the House of Yisrael was divorced and cut off from The EVERLIVING ONE, as just noted above. 

 

In the divorcement, the House of Yisrael lost an understanding of both the meaning and pronunciation of the personal name of The SOVEREIGN (the Tetragrammaton), as mentioned above.  This was to have an enormous impact upon them over the years. 

 

Naturally, with the loss of the pronunciation and meaning of the name of YHWH, the House of Yisrael peoples lost almost everything else of religious importance--to include the weekly and annual Sabbaths, which also serve as marks of identification (Ex 31:13-17; Ezek 20:12, 20). 

 

 

Lost Yisrael 

 

In short, the House of Yisrael became the "lost tribes of Yisrael" which is correctly understood by many students (both Christians and Jews) of YHWH's Word even today.  Encyclopedias generally recognize this reality of the lost tribes of Yisrael and/or lost Yisrael (“The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia,” p. 421). 

 

The Jewish author Dr Alfred Lilienthal, quoted earlier, outlined the position of many educated Jews by saying “No one knows what happened to the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel” (“What Price Israel,” p. 215-216). 

 

Effectively, this divorce of the House of Yisrael by The SOVEREIGN was one much like some of them presently whereby the divorced woman moves out and away from her husband, gives up her marriage name, resumes her maiden name and severs all contact and relationship with her former husband. 

 

By the way, it is relevant to note here that in the age end, the seven assemblies (women) of Revelation 1 to 3 all seem to try to take hold of YHWH YESHUA in order to be called by His name and thus be saved from disgrace (Isa 4:1). 

 

Hence, these seven assemblies (to be present in the age end, just before The MESSIAH returns) will recognize the importance of the name and want it for their own.  This theme will be explored in future remarks. 

 

 

The Divorce’s Impact  

 

In attempting to understand exactly who was to receive the Good News of the New Testament, it is crucially important to appreciate some more issues about the impact of the divorce on the subsequent peoples of the House of Yisrael.  True, Yisrael and Israelites generally became “lost,” as to their identity and relationship with YHWH. 

 

However, something far greater was to happen to them which can just about blow one’s mind when reviewing the divorce from a historical perspective.  Again, it must be recognized that YHWH was married to the nation of Yisrael, per the Sinai Covenant.  He was The HUSBAND and Yisrael was the wife (who was supposed to obey her Husband). 

 

Over the years of the marriage/covenant relationship, Israelite children born in the nation were clearly the children of The MOST HIGH.  He was Ha AV (Hebrew words meaning the father) of the Israelite persons being born over the years.  But this situation was to change with the divorce. 

 

When Yisrael went off into fornication and adultery, and when YHWH divorced her, the later children born by Yisrael were born from fornication and out of wedlock.  They were “not” sons and daughters of The HIGHEST ELOHIM.  In a word, they were and are illegitimate offspring from Yisrael’s harlotry. 

 

This reality has a profound impact upon many, many, New Testament words, phrases, thoughts and teachings, such as the grafting in of the wild olives, adoption, blotting out of ordinances against Israelites, etc.  These issues were described earlier and will be further commented upon later on in this study.

 

But please keep this theme in mind as you proceed to read these words. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 125--Changes in Yisrael

 

 

Human Confusion 

 

Previously, in this study, the point was made that The CREATOR does not change.  Instead, it is Satan, Babylon, Christendom and limited, little humans who are express instruments of confusion, contradiction, uncertainty, ambiguity and tragic change.  In short, the worldly system under man's government is filled with the enigma of excessive confusion resulting from frequent change. 

 

On this reality of confusion in man, this study later on provides a classic case of this very thing in point of occurrence. 

 

In terms of the House of Yisrael, the reader will note that limited, indecisive, confused and changing Christians have dogmatically identified all kinds of people in the world as the lost Israelites--all the way from mixed blooded Samaritans to American Indians to Black Ethiopians to Russian Khazars, etc (as we will shortly see). 

 

Of course, such wild unsubstantiated claims have all come from the hearts and minds of supposedly "intelligent" men (actually entrapped in Babylon) and not from the Word of YHWH.  Truly, the capacity of uninformed people to invent absolutely stupid and ridiculous theories is enough to wreck a thinking mind if one is not careful. 

 

 

The Fall of Yehudah 

 

Otherwise, after the fall of the Northern kingdom to the Assyrians, the remnant of the House of Yehudah survived in the South for the next 140 years or so.  But since they too were rebellious and sinful, the promised chastisement and punishment eventually came upon them as well. 

 

It happened to the House of Yehudah in the 6th century BCE, when the Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, laid siege to Jerusalem and conquered it in a most horrible fashion.  He killed and slaughtered many of the Judeans and took most of the balance of these people captive to Babylon. 

 

The Babylonians did leave a small remnant of the poor--which included Yirmeyahu and King Zedekiah’s (Tzidkiyahu in the Hebrew) daughters in the land after the fall of Jerusalem (II Kg 25:22-24). 

 

After a short period of time, this remnant left Canaan land and went to Egypt (II Kg 25:25-26) where Yirmeyahu and at least one of the king’s daughter later moved on to another land (as will be discussed more fully in future chapters herein). 

 

This punishment on the House of Yehudah was similar to that which fell on the House of Yisrael in that both national entities were extremely rebellious and sinful.  The one thing which neither party ever wanted to do was to obey The MOST HIGH. 

 

However, and as noted earlier, these Yehudah Israelites were never divorced (as was the House of Yisrael); and thus, effectively never lost their identity, tongue and recognized relationship with The SOVEREIGN.  It is this factor which promotes and allows the world to suppose that the remnant of the House of Yehudah constitutes the covenant people of The HIGHEST. 

 

At this juncture, it should be acknowledged that the despot Nebuchadnezzar went to great length and effort to try to dramatically change and alter the life style of these people of the House of Yehudah during their enslavement (Dan 1:4). 

 

For example, the Hebrew language they used was partly displaced in the vernacular by Aramaic and the very fabric and backbone of their culture was generally changed from an agricultural orientation to a more mercantile, commercial and business focused society. 

 

 

Jews Turned To Banking and Commercialism 

 

The exchanging of moneys, lending at usury and other wicked banking practices, forbidden by Moshe (Ex 22:25), gained acceptance by the Jews in Babylon, and were evidently spread by them to other parts of the globe (Neh 5:1-10; Matt 21:12; Mk 11:15).  Perhaps it is this backdrop which has motivated the Jews/Jew pretenders to become the leading international bankers in the world for the last several centuries.  

 

Even the former Hebrew religion followed by many of the people came under an immediate assault from the Babylonians and their successors, as they attempted to impose changes on the way the Jewish captives perceived things (Dan 1:4-8; 6:10-16). 

 

Also, indications are that during this exile, the oral Jewish "traditions of the elders" (portions of the Talmud) gained sufficient prominence and legitimacy to eventually displace some of the authority of the written Old Testament within Judaism (Matt 15:2-6; Mk 7:5-13). 

 

Notwithstanding these efforts to change and alter the population of Yehudah in bondage, it is both significant and interesting that portions of this labor did meet with some definite failures.  Strangely enough, these non-successes seem to have more often surfaced in religious matters rather than in secular subjects, as one may suppose.   

 

 

Jews Retained Much Truth 

 

Thus, while the Jews became linked to commercialism, business and banking, they never did give up fully their identity or the Hebrew language and religion.  True, Aramaic gained some acceptance.  But the Hebrew language remained alive for the next 2,500 years--despite enormous efforts to crush it (even by Catholic Christians). 

 

Alternatively, the Jews preserved the Hebrew Old Testament, as they were commissioned to do so by YHWH (Rom 3:2).  And while their religious procedures and beliefs were evidently contaminated somewhat by Talmudic scholars and interpretations, they did preserve and teach much truth from the Word, though they often failed to live by it themselves (Matt 23:2-3). 

 

Of extreme relevance for the Jews, some of their religious leaders did retain the knowledge and understanding of how to pronounce the ineffable name (the Tetragrammaton)--although publicly, they never speak it (Jer 8:14; Lam 2:10). 

 

They never speak it publicly because Yirmeyahu proclaimed that the name would “no longer be pronounced by the mouths of the men of Judah” (Jer 44:26, per Ferrar Fenton and the “Bible in Living English” translations). 

 

“The Book of Legends Sefer Ha-Aggadah” (p. 170) has an ancient Jewish legend from the Talmud of Second Temple days, which seems to explain how it came about that the Jews quit pronouncing and using the Tetragrammaton. 

 

This story says that during the Greek oppression of the second century BCE, the Greeks had issued a decree that the Name of Heaven (YHWH) could no longer be mentioned by the Jews. 

 

Subsequently, the sages became concerned and decreed the discontinuance of mentioning the name.  Thus, the Jews came to the place of never pronouncing or speaking the name.  In any case, during the restoration under the Maccabees, these legal bonds were abolished (on the third day of Ethanim).  But apparently, the Jews continued the practice of never pronouncing the name.  

 

Yeshayahu put it well by saying that true believers could call upon the name only while alone or while under YAH’s dominion (Isa 26:12-19, “Rotherham” and “Ernest Martin” translations--per “The Suppression of the Divine Name”).  There is also the question of some very powerful statements in the Torah which limit any misuse of the name (Ex 20:7; Lev 19:12; 22:32; 24:15-16, per the “Bethel” and “Concordant” translations). 

 

Some Sardis Sacred Namers, who do not understand the name (Hebrew Ha Shem) or how to pronounce it, take these Torah references and try to claim that the sin arises because of non-use of the name.  This is not true.  These references clearly relate to the misuse or abuse of the name and not its non-use. 

 

 

Christians Are Not Supposed to Know 

 

Obviously, if sinning Christians understood and knew how to pronounce the single, most profound, important and set apart (Hebrew kodesh) word in the entire universe (the great Tetragrammaton), they would do it as they do with the words “Lord, Jesus, Christ and God.”  They would paint it on buildings along the highways, on toilet stools, on automobiles and even on the bottoms of their blue jeans. 

 

They would laugh and make fun of it, all the while that they run it through the gutter and sewer of the vulgar society with its propensity for profanity and vulgarity.  The name became lost to the people of the lost tribes of Yisrael (including its Christian population) because of their sins and YAH’s judgment on Yisrael because of those sins. 

 

They do not know it (thankfully), and they are not supposed to know it.  Can the reader perceive the horrible tragedy that would arise if the personal name of The MOST HIGH was profaned, cussed with and cursed daily with the American Christian culture, society and people, as they do with their “Jesus, Christ, God and Lord?”  Sinning Christians will never know the name. 

 

The presiding Jewish Rav at synagogue services pronounces the ineffable name once a year at Yom Kippur, when he whispers it.  Even people present in the audience generally cannot understand his pronunciation.  Thus, most Jews don’t even know how to pronounce the name.  Otherwise, the Jews do their best to hide and suppress usage of the name to prevent its misuse and abuse by false worshippers. 

 

 

The Sabbath Laws 

 

Additionally, the Jews took to heart The MOST HIGH's Sabbath laws--so much so that they went overboard in the Talmud in trying to put an improper hedge around them.  It is important to realize that the Sabbath laws are similar to the name in that they allow people to know The MOST HIGH (Ex 31:13-17; Ezek 20:12, 20). 

 

Undeniably, the Jews’ stay in Babylon never took on the characterization of the House of Yisrael exile to Assyria, where those Israelites literally lost almost everything in terms of identification, language, religion, the Sabbaths and the name. 

 

About all that the Northern tribes of Yisrael from Samaria retained (after their divorce) was perhaps their cultural orientation towards agriculture for subsistence.  They never did make good bankers and traders like the Jews.  But they did make good farmers.  Truly, the House of Yisrael persons have been historically people of the land. 

 

In this Israelite dilemma of not knowing the name and rebelliously be in opposition to the Sabbaths, is there any hope for them? 

 

Yes, The SUPREME is calling out a people from the House of Yisrael nations presently in the age end (called the election, as mentioned earlier and as will be described in detail in future chapters).  These elect persons will ultimately learn the name (both its pronunciation and meaning) and be sealed with it (Rev 7:3; 9:4; 14:1; 22:4). 

 

Actually, there are a host of Scriptures which conclusively establish the profound importance of the name.  Perhaps Yeshayahu best put it when he wrote that the people of The MOST HIGH will know His name (Isa 52:6).  Obviously, that coming time when the election of the House of Yisrael learns the name appears to be still future here in the year 2003.  

 

However, upon learning the most wonderful and far reaching single word in the universe, the elect will also learn to keep silent about it in terms of the vulgar secular society (Amos 5:13, per the “Holy Name Translation”), and use it only in private personal worship (Isa 26:13). 

 

 

The 70 Years Exile 

 

Yet, the House of Yehudah exile to Babylon was not to continue forever, as YHWH put a cap on it (Jer 25:11-12; 29:10; Dan 9:2, 24).  As you may recall, after a 70 years period of punishment in Babylon, a portion of those people did return to Palestine and apparently resumed their covenant relationship with The ELOHIM. 

 

This return of the “remnant” of the House of Yehudah is described in quite some detail in the post exile writings of Ezra and Nechemyah, principally, but also to some extent in the later prophets of Haggai, Zekharyah and Malakhi and the evident editorial remarks in I and II Chronicles (supposedly written or edited by Ezra). 

 

The Scriptures actually went to the trouble to name and identify all of the Jews in the return by their different clans and by their leaders (Ezra 2:1-70; Neh 7:6-73).  Both Ezra and Nechemyah number the total people (correctly men) in this return as being 42,360 persons (Ezra 2:64; Neh 7:66). 

 

The Word is quite precise in saying that this return was from the people involved in the Babylonian captivity (Ezra 1:3; 2:1; Neh 7:6).  In numerous Scriptural texts, the returnees were identified as being persons of the tribes of Yehudah, Levi and Binyamin. 

 

 

Yisrael With Returning Yehudah? 

 

In another reference, the Tanakh made mention of the returnees--who settled at Jerusalem, as being persons of the tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin, and also, interestingly, of Ephraim and Manasseh.  Obviously, this reference would have had to include Levites and priests from the tribe of Levi as well, though they were not mentioned by name (I Chron 9:3).  

 

There is no question but that these persons from Ephraim and Manasseh were descendants of people who came to Yehudah from the House of Yisrael before the Assyrian deportations, as mentioned earlier herein--since the Book explicitly links these people to the “Babylonian exile” (I Chron 9:1). 

 

Additionally, it is clear that some of these persons who came to Yehudah in Hizkiyahu’s days were probably alluded to in context by Ezra (I Chron 4:41; II Chron 30:1, 10-11).

 

Finally, in New Testament days, there was a widow woman named Anna of the tribe of Asher who came to see the child YESHUA at the Temple (Lu 2:36). 

 

The Scriptural evidence is quite convincing that this woman probably was a descendant of some of the people of Asher who came to Yehudah in Hizkiyahu’s day (II Chron 30:11). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 126--The Return of Yisrael

 

 

Christian Confusion on the Return 

 

In almost any attempt to go to the various Christian writings and literature (from Christian scholars) on the question of what happened to the House of Yisrael after her departure from Canaan land, only confusion and pandemonium appear to result.  No one seems to know much about the ten tribes. 

 

In the old days, before the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel in 1948, confusion and uncertainty were certainly the order of the day whenever the subject of the ten lost tribes of Yisrael would come up in study or conversation.  Since 1948, that stance has been altered somewhat (but not much).

 

 

John McClintock and James Strong 

 

In their excellent reference work of the “Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature” (v. II, p. 109), first published in twelve volumes from 1867 to 1887, authors John McClintock and James Strong (yes, the James Strong who compiled the famous “Strong’s Concordance”) attacked the problem with some candor and honesty, which is not often done by Christian scholars and church leaders. 

 

These two writers acknowledged some of the Jewish positions on this theme (which will be covered later in this chapter) as well as the then current Christian thinking.  Specifically, they noted that “Many attempts have been made to discover the ten tribes existing as a distinct community... The imagination of Christian writers has sought them in the neighborhood of their last recorded habitation.” 

 

This Christian “imagination” included such speculations as finding lost Israel in the Afghan tribes, at the foot of the Himalayas, among the Black Jews of Malabar, with the Tartars, with the Nestorians and even with the Indians of North America (this is the popular Mormon theory, attributable to the confidence man Joseph Smith, discussed earlier). 

 

McClintock and Strong then went on to say that “though history bears no witness of their present distinct existence, it enables us to track the footsteps of the departing race in four directions after the time of their captivity,” which are:  (1) some returned and “mixed” with the Jews, (2) some were left in Samaria to mingle with the Samaritans and become bitter enemies of the Jews, (3) some remained in Assyria and mingled with the Jews, and (4) most probably apostatized in Assyria. 

 

To their credit, the team of McClintock and Strong did not seem to go off in wild speculations beyond the listing of the different theories. 

 

However, these Christian theories were to change somewhat over the years and particularly so since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.  Most modern Christian scholars will now go on record and be very dogmatic respecting their imaginations and suppositions. 

 

 

Modern Christian Thinking 

 

Merrill C. Tenney, general editor of “The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible” (published in 1975), asserts that some House of Israel peoples remained in the land of Israel to be assimilated with pagan settlers (but the Word says that they were all removed and none remained--II Kg 17:18). 

 

Tenney (v. 3, p. 344) then concludes that the “Samaritans were a mixture of Israelite and foreign elements,” which was one of the above possibilities mentioned by McClintock and Strong.  Of course, this Christian view is in sharp conflict with what the authoritative Ezra wrote some 2,500 years ago (Ezra 4:2). 

 

With the more recent significant movements of Khazars out of Russia and the Black Falashas out of Ethiopia to the state of Israel, many Christian scholars have all of a sudden concluded that either the Khazars or the Falashas or both are now persons from the lost tribes of Israel. 

 

Christian writer Dr Ernest Martin, formerly of Portland, Oregon, was convinced in his writings for some years that the Khazars were from the lost tribes of Israel. 

 

More recently, in a May 1997 Letter Forum of his ASK work (p. 2), Martin changed his position when he said that “There is a basic characteristic sign that identifies who is a real Israelite today... The sign is not so much a racial (that is biological and physical) distinction as it is an emotional and religious one.” 

 

Another Christian writer, named Gene Justice of the Foundation for Biblical Research of Pasadena, California (quoted earlier herein), shared the same earlier view of Martin that the Khazars were lost Israel in his book on “The Israel Identity Syndrome” (p. 38-41).  This Khazar topic will be studied in a future chapter. 

 

In “Lost Israelite Identity” (p. 63-63, 268-269, 276, 296), Yair Davidy also tries to link the Khazars to certain Israelite people, but offers no proof beyond the fact that the lost tribes of Israel migrated through the Caucasus Mountains in their movements out of the Middle East. 

 

In time, the Khazars moved into these same areas and occupied some of the same places formerly inhabited by true Israelites.  The real Israelites of the lost tribes had left some of their names to these geographical places in their migrations and the later Khazar habitation used the old established names.  

 

Furthermore, Davidy seems to confuse some of the migrating and wandering people (evidently Edomites) who passed through the Caucasus (before the Khazars arrived) with being Israelites.  Some of these peoples had links to the Khazars, as will be assessed in later chapters herein. 

 

 

The Most Popular Theory of All

 

But the most popular theory of all surfaces because many modern Christians are so misinformed and uninformed about the Scriptures that they actually believe that after the 70 years of the Babylonian exile, "all" of the 12/13 tribes of Yisrael returned to Palestine, including the tribes of the House of Yisrael (which had been removed around 210 years or so earlier by the Assyrians). 

 

To support and justify this view, a few ignorant and uninformed Christian scholars have spent some time on this subject and have actually dug out the two references, as described in previous comments (I Chron 9:3; Lu 2:36), and claimed that those two texts alone “prove” that the House of Yisrael returned to Palestine with the Jews after their release from Babylon. 

 

 

Explanations 

 

Some misinformed Christians would argue the merits of these two Scriptures (I Chron 9:3; Lu 2:36) to no end, despite the clear and precise words of Ezra.  Ezra implied, as a minimum, that those people linked to earlier persons who came from the House of Yisrael to the House of Yehudah in Hizkiyahu’s days and later and who went into Babylonian (not Assyrian) captivity (I Chron 4:41; 9:1; II Chron 30:1, 10-11). 

 

Beyond the several clarifications in I and II Chronicles on how some persons in the old House of Yisrael kingdom moved and settled in the House of Yehudah (which allowed them to avoid the Assyrian deportations), another most interesting piece of information surfaces from “The Targum to the Five Megilloth” (p. 10), edited by Barnard Grossfeld, in its presentation on Lamentations 1:3. 

 

This Targum says that the House of Yehudah people went into captivity because they afflicted widows and orphans and because of the great servitude with which they were oppressing their brethren, the children of Yisrael, who had been sold to them, and that they did not proclaim liberty to their male and female slaves who were of the seed of Yisrael. 

 

The reference just cited seems to have some powerful support from the Tanakh.  The prophet Yirmeyahu was careful to point out that some of the Judeans had Hebrew slaves which they would not set free in the seventh year, as provided for in the Torah (Ex 21:2; Lev 25:10; Jer 34:8-22).  Nechemyah also may have alluded to this situation after the return (Neh 5:11). 

 

The point of this is that beyond all of the individual people who migrated from the House of Yisrael to the House of Yehudah, over the years, the House of Yehudah apparently purchased some House of Yisrael slaves from the conquering Assyrians at the fall of the segments of the Northern kingdom. 

 

Though these House of Yisrael people evidently did not gain their freedom as YHWH’s Torah dictated, they assuredly were assimilated and particularly so during the Babylonian exile. 

 

The point is that there are several explanations on why there were some House of Yisrael people living among the Jews and practicing the Jewish religion. 

 

Since this condition is clearly brought out and described in some detail in the Scriptures and Targums, why is it that Christians want to continue to believe, teach, and swear that the whole House of Yisrael was to be found among the Jews following the Babylonian exile? 

 

 

The House of Yisrael Never Returned  

 

Thus, such misinformed individuals persist in believing that the House of Yisrael peoples collectively returned along with the Jewish remnant. 

 

This vain speculation by stupid persons is so incredible and so absolutely contrary to Scripture that it boggles one's mind as to how in the world supposedly intelligent people ever could be entrapped and duped into believing such ridiculous claims. 

 

Surely, students of the Word above the moron level should not be taken in by fairy tales and vain imaginations from uninformed fools.  Also, as noted earlier, the genealogies of the returning exiles from Babylon were carefully laid out in great detail in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. 

 

Importantly, these writers pointed out at the beginning or ending of each genealogical presentation that the enumerated returnees were persons or descendants of persons who were largely Jewish, and who had been taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in his 6th century BCE deportations (Ezra 2:2-27; 8:1-20; Neh 7:5-73). 

 

There is absolutely nothing in either Ezra or Nehemiah that would allow for the return of “any” individuals from the House of Yisrael who had been deported to the Northeast by the Assyrians. 

 

Of course, it is true that the returnees (either Jews racially and/or religiously) were sometimes called "Yisrael" (Ezra 2:1-2; etc), which is technically correct since they were a legitimate part of the larger definition of Yisrael. 

 

And it is additionally true that Nechemyah, at least once, even uses the phrase "all Yisrael" (Neh 7:73).  Howbeit, he does so in the context of the list of returnees which he had just identified by clan name and in the view of them being persons from the Babylonian captivity of Nebuchadnezzar (Neh 7:6). 

 

It is likewise important to note here that the returnees were never called the House of Yisrael in any of the Old Testament books, nor were they ever lucidly so called or mentioned in any New Testament book.  Too, after the exile, the term "House of Yehudah" was no longer used in the Book for the returnees--except in one, isolated instance (Neh 4:16). 

 

 

Essentially--Yehudah Only 

 

Except for the persons covered in the preceding comments and certain prophetic references, there can be no doubt whatsoever about who did return from the Babylonian exile. 

 

A perusal of the entire post-exile Scriptures categorically reveals that, in the main, the returnees from the Babylonian exile were persons of the tribes of Yehudah, Binyamin and Levi, many of whom were identified as settling in the Jerusalem area (Neh 11:3-36). 

 

Moreover, beyond the various references to the three tribes of Yehudah, Binyamin and Levi, in the context of the return, nothing was furthermore said about any of the other tribes of Yisrael, except in a couple of isolated instances, as described in previous remarks. 

 

Surely, this is verity because both Ezra and Nechemyah make it quite clear (repeatedly, over and over) that "all" of the returnees were linked to the Babylonian deportations which occurred some 140 years after the House of Yisrael had been carried into Assyrian bondage. 

 

None of the returnees from Babylon were ever associated directly or indirectly with the Assyrian deportations of the 7th and 8th centuries BCE (beyond the earlier discussed slaves, who had been reportedly sold to Yehudah). 

 

Heretofore, mention was made of the fact that much of the tribe of Binyamin was captured by the Assyrians or departed the land for some other reason at that time, leaving essentially the tribe of Yehudah behind in the Jerusalem area (II Kg 17:18). 

 

While it appears that the tribe of Binyamin, per se, may not have persisted in the land of Yehudah after Samaria fell and up to the Babylonian exile, some individual Binyaminites certainly did survive (along with some persons from Asher, Manasseh and Ephraim) in order to go into Babylonian bondage and return later with the Jews to Palestine during the time of Ezra and Nechemyah (Ezra 1:5; Neh 11:4). 

 

Despite the fact that some of these individuals of the tribes of Binyamin and the Northern House of Yisrael or their descendants did go into Babylonian exile and return later to Palestine under Cyrus' release, the truth is quite manifest that these persons, surely few in number, did not constitute the whole of their tribes (which assuredly never did return to the land in recorded history).  

 

 

The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 

 

The fact that the House of Yisrael did not return to Palestine with the return of the Jews under Ezra and Nechemyah is well substantiated in the Jewish Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha literature, some of which was written as early as 300 BCE (per Dr James Tabor, in Vol 1, No 4 of “Jezreel’s Call,” Kislew 5755).  Many of these ancient historical records acknowledge this truth quite positively. 

 

In these interesting writings, mention might first be made to “The Testament of Moses” which stated that the “two” tribes (obviously, of the House of Yehudah) will continue in their appointed faith while the “ten” tribes (certainly, of the lost House of Yisrael) will increase among the Gentiles during the time of their captivity (Test. of Moses 2:5; 4:7-9). 

 

Please note that the above quote from “The Testament of Moses” links the lost ten tribes of the House of Yisrael to the word Gentiles (Hebrew goy/goyim).  The prophet Yeshayahu (Isa 61:9) seems to have had some perception when he wrote that the seed of Yisrael will be found among the Gentiles (Hebrew goyim). 

 

While Yeshayahu’s words might not be as clear as was those in the Testament of Moses, both do say the same thing.  Jewish writer Yair Davidy goes on to note that according to Jewish law (in the Talmud), the lost tribes had become “Gentiles, to all intents and purposes” (Yebamot 17, Talmud, quoted in “Lost Israelite Identity,” p. 52). 

 

This linkage of the ten lost tribes to the Hebrew word goyim (Gentiles) is quite important to recognize and appreciate since Christendom regularly associates the English words gentile and gentiles to non-Israelites.  This condition has been and/or will be analyzed in some detail in other chapters herein. 

 

Wherefore, the evidence is quite abundant that in the Jewish psychic and mentality for the last 2,500 years or so (clearly, from the return from Babylon), the lost ten tribes were and are in the same status as of the goy/goyim which the Jews recognize as being the non-Jewish “nations” of the world. 

 

In short, lost Israelites could technically be called Gentiles (that is non-Jews), although that description causes confusion in the typical Christian’s mind. 

 

 

Yisrael--Nation/Nations? 

 

As a matter of information, some 26 of 37 references to “nation/nations” in the KJV of the New Testament has in the Greek text, the article “the” linked in context to demonstrate that the Jewish writer involved perhaps had in mind the lost ten tribes of Yisrael in writing about these peoples (per Thomas Jones, in his book “The Elect: Who Are They?--A Scriptural View”). 

 

The point Jones is making is that the connected article “the” specifically makes the reference applicable to the lost tribes of the House of Yisrael and not to the broader classification of nations.  This study addressed this issue earlier when discussion focused on the Greek ethnos (often translated as “nation” for the Hebrew “goy”). 

 

While many uninformed Christians are acutely aware of the fact that Jews refer to the non-Jewish nations as goy/goyim, few have ever had the perception that the Jews also did refer to the lost tribes of Yisrael as goy/goyim. 

 

Actually, in Christendom’s clouded eyes, the words goy/goyim link to “non-Israelite” nations in the broad, general sense.  A non-Israelite can be considerably different than a non-Jew.  The two are not necessarily the same at all! 

 

In other Apocrypha literature, like the “Psalms of Solomon” and the “Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs,” similar statements can be found alluding to the House of Yisrael as still being in a “lost,” far away profile and as having never returned to Canaan land in Second Temple days. 

 

 

The Book of Tobit, Revisited 

 

A former chapter herein mentioned the historic book of Tobit, which is found today as a part of the Apocrypha.  As the “Dictionary of Judaism in the Biblical Period” (p. 636-637) indicates, the book of Tobit was probably written in the third century BCE.  But it must have been based upon a much older tradition in circulation. 

 

In any case, the book of Tobit was a popular Second Temple writing which found much acceptance among the Jewish population (although it never became a part of the OT canon).  Certainly, it was popular in the Qumran community in the first centuries BCE and CE since four copies of it were found in Aramaic and one in Hebrew in the Qumran caves. 

 

The importance of Tobit is that it is a narrative (supposedly fictional) about two House of Yisrael families (apparently from the tribe of Naftali in the Galilee area) in captivity in far away Assyria.  Though it is extremely complicated, it is a beautiful story and one with possibly much insight, which must have whetted the appetite of the Jews in Second Temple Palestine.  

 

The primary importance of this book is that it is a story about lost Yisrael which was known and kept alive in Palestine by Second Temple Jews. 

 

Assuredly, the whole context of the writing and its preservation is cast in the vein that Yisrael was still absent from Palestine and presumably still in Assyrian bondage when the story first commenced (certainly, by the third century BCE; and perhaps earlier, even in First Temple days). 

 

 

II Esdras 

 

Another key witness of events in early Palestine was the writer of the apocalyptic II Esdras, who either compiled or at least edited this work essentially by c150 CE (per "Asimov's Guide to the Bible"). 

 

Whomever the writer of II Esdras was, he certainly recognized that the ten Northern tribes of Yisrael, carried off by the Assyrians, had never returned to the land and were not a part of then Palestine Jewry, but were still in existence in some far away country (II Esdras 13:40). 

 

While the purpose of this study is not to examine the book of II Esdras, per se, or even to attempt a complete tracing of the ten lost tribes of Yisrael, it still would be useful to note that the II Esdras writer did also point out that the lost Israelites spent some year and a half in leaving the “multitude of the heathen” and in going through the narrow passages of the river (Euphrates) to reach a further country where “never mankind dwelt” (II Esdras 13:39-45). 

 

This conclusion by the II Esdras writer will prove to be quite profound and extraordinary as this study will later establish in a coming chapter.  At the moment, the reader can make his/her own interpretation of the importance of these remarks. 

 

 

Early Rabbinic Thinking 

 

The Nisan 5755/April 1995 issue of the “Jezreel’s Call” paper had an article by Dennis Jones on “Will the Lost Tribes Return?” which contained an analysis of the lost tribes from early Rabbinic literature.  While this article was somewhat abbreviated, it did reflect some interesting Rabbinical thinking from over the years. 

 

Quoting R. Akiva and some of his students from around 117-138 CE (from the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 110b), Jones points out that the “question before the Rabbis was only whether they (the ten lost tribes) would ever return and not whether they had ever returned.”  Of course, Rabbinical authorities knew full well that the lost tribes had never returned.  The issue was if and when would they return in the future. 

 

Contrary to some of his scholarly opponents in those early days, Akiva did not believe that lost Yisrael would ever return from their exile.  Others, like R. Eliezer, acknowledged that while lost Yisrael was then in darkness, there would be “light for them” in the future. 

 

The gist of these early Rabbinical writings is that the ten lost tribes were not annihilated, but were only in a state of exile to be returned to Canaan land in a future time period when “light” would be granted to them.  Obviously, here in 2003, that time is still future. 

 

 

Josephus On Yisrael 

 

Even as late as the time of the first century CE, the Jewish priest, scholar and historian Josephus and obviously other informed Jews in Canaan land were cognizant of the fact that the House of Yisrael had been removed and was still far away from Palestine and had not yet returned (“Antiquities of the Jews,” book IX, chapter 14, verses 1-3 and book X, chapter 9, verse 7). 

 

Since Josephus was both a seemingly intelligent man and a first century CE resident of Palestine, his remarks are especially valid and do carry some weight.  He was an astute historian who was no slouch in terms of what was going on in Judea in his day.  He was informed. 

 

Importantly, he says that there are but two tribes (of Yisrael) in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates "till now" and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers (“Antiquities of the Jews,” book XI, chapter 5, verse 2).  Thus, Josephus believed that the House of Yisrael peoples were quite large in numbers in a far away land in his day. 

 

 

The Talmud and the New Testament 

 

Here also, the student of truth should focus some attention on the Talmud, portions of which may have been placed in writing as early as 200 CE by Talmudic Jewish scholars (to be described later herein).  Clearly, these writings date back in whole or in part to traditional oral transmissions, dating perhaps from the Babylonian exile. 

 

In John D Lightfoot’s marvelous “Commentary on the New Testament From The Talmud and Hebraica” (v. 4, p. 291), reference is made to the ten tribes in Lightfoot’s discourse on I Corinthians 14.  These findings are especially relevant. 

 

Lightfoot suggests that from the Talmudist’s perspective, the ten lost tribes had been taken to Assyrian lands which bordered those of the Babylonians where the Jews were later exiled.  In these far distant lands, the lost House of Yisrael had “remained there in after ages” --only to be reunited with the Jews in a still “future call.” 

 

Additionally, Lightfoot observes that the Talmud reports that these lost ten tribes in those far removed lands had become “people of impure blood” --obviously, from their miscegenation with the heathen nations (while in exile, following the Assyrian conquests). 

 

Thus, from the Talmudic overview, the Jews (with their better blood lines) should not mingle or have social contact with the Israelites of the lost ten tribes and their impure blood lines.  Clearly, in the eyes of the early Talmudists, the lost ten tribes of the House of Yisrael had become goy/goyim, as the rest of the nations in the world. 

 

Incidentally, these remarks by the Talmudists on the believed “impure” bloodlines of the House of Yisrael peoples will carry extraordinary weight when one considers how exclusive the Jews were in New Testament days in refusing to have social contact and intercourse with people (actually brethren) of the House of Yisrael, whom they came into contact with.  Kefa, of course, typified this viewpoint. 

 

 

Other New Testament Views 

 

As outlined elsewhere in this production, the various New Testament writings have been addressed in an effort to show that the writers and compilers of the NT books, without exception, were perfectly aware of the fact that the peoples of the “lost” tribes of the House of Yisrael had never returned to Palestine by the age of the Apostolic Assembly in the first century CE. 

 

Actually, there is a vast host of such Scriptural references which leave no doubt over this issue.  Since they have or will be later addressed and studied, there is no present need to broach them here in any detail, rather than to acknowledge their existence.  But three of these references are so extraordinary and relevant that they need to be briefly mentioned at this time. 

 

The three writers Yakov, Yohanan and Shaul were all cognizant of the entire “twelve” tribes of Yisrael.  Yakov directly addressed these peoples in his epistle (Jas 1:1).  Yohanan was aware of a future sealing of them (Rev 7:1-8).  And Shaul discussed them in the context of his commission with King Herod Agrippa II (Acts 26:6-7). 

 

 

Commodianus 

 

Professor David Flusser, formerly of Hebrew University, quoted from the work of the Latin Christian poet Commodianus, who wrote in the middle of the third century CE (“Judaism and the Origins of Christianity,” p. 563-564). 

 

Commodianus appears to have quoted some of his material from and/or used data from the earlier apocrypha works of IV and V Esdras in their references to the ten lost tribes of Yisrael.  But he went further and added some thinking beyond Esdras IV and V.  Unless Commodianus deceptively made up his theory, it is very suggestive that he also used other early sources to compile his writings. 

 

He postulated the movement of the lost ten tribes of Yisrael out of the East to come to the city of Jerusalem in the end of days.  He described them as being an ideal people who would break through in a miraculous military campaign to eventually occupy Jerusalem.  Does this sound like Allenby’s conquest of Palestine in 1917 or something to come in the future since Allenby came from the West and not from the East? 

 

In Flusser’s comments on this Christian work, he also alluded to V Esdras in its comments on a “coming people,” made up of “Christian Gentiles” (which link to the lost tribes), who would come to and receive Jerusalem where they would dwell together with the three Patriarchs and the prophets of the old dispensation (“Judaism and the Origins of Christianity,” p. 564). 

 

 

Alfred Edersheim 

 

The famous Jewish Christian writer, Alfred Edersheim (1825-1889), offered a lengthy write up on the issue of the lost tribes of Israel from the modern Jewish perspective--at least, from that perspective in his day in the 19th century (“Life and Times of Jesus The Messiah,” p. 9-11).  Edersheim called upon historic Jewish writings--such as the Talmud, Mishnah, Rabbinic sources, 4 Esdras and tradition. 

 

He categorically affirmed that the ten lost tribes of Israel did not return to Palestine with the Jewish return from Babylon.  He mentioned the various possibilities of where lost Israel could be in the context of the various references which he cited.

 

Alfred Edersheim reflected pretty well the thinking of all informed Jews for the last 2,000 years.  None of them have ignorantly linked the lost tribes of Israel to the Jewish return from Babylon (as Christians regularly do).  And the only authoritative position that informed Jews can take on the subject are the remarks of the several ancient sources--as they all have been generally quoted herein. 

 

Importantly, Edersheim not only discussed the reality of the House of Israel being lost currently, but he focused upon Jewish understanding that the lost tribes would one day be discovered, returned to Palestine and reunited with the Jews--in the context of their conversion under a second Messiah or in the dawn of the new Messianic day (per R. Eleizer).  This course will be broached in subsequent chapters. 

 

 

More Recent Thinking 

 

The July 1999 “Kingdom Digest” magazine (p. 46-51) had an article by F. F. Bosworth on “The Bible Distinction Between ‘The House of Israel’ and ‘The House of Judah’” which offered a number of other relevant Jewish observations on the future of lost Israel.  As Bosworth noted, Orthodox Jews even in his day were well aware that the modern Jews do not include the ten-tribes of the lost House of Israel. 

 

For example, on the Day of the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, Orthodox Jews pray a prayer that Ephraim Yisrael (the ten tribes) may one day be united with them.  Bosworth cited a number of authoritative Jewish writings which recognize that lost Yisrael is not a part of modern Jewry. 

 

The article also quoted Dr J. H. Hertz, late Chief Rav of the British Empire, who said that “People known at present as Jews are descendants of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin...we look forward to the gathering of all the tribes at some future date.”  The learned Isaac Leiser suggested that the “Israelitish nation was left in banishment after the return of the Jews from Babylon.” 

 

Bosworth additionally quoted Professor Neuhauser who wrote that “The hope of the return of the Ten Tribes has never ceased among the Jews in exile.”  Dr V. Herman Adler, another former Chief Rav in London, also was quoted.  He asserted that “The Ten Tribes did not return to the Holy Land.” 

 

Although writer Bosworth and his article focused upon Jewish reactions on the status of lost Israel, he also quoted the Christian Jerome, who, in the fourth century, said that “The Ten Tribes inhabit at this day the cities and mountains of the Medes.” 

 

Besides this article, there are other more recent statements.  For example, Abba Eban, the well known Israeli diplomat and former Ambassador to the United Nations and the United States, wrote in 1984 that the Assyrian invaders completely obliterated the Kingdom of Israel and that its people, henceforth, to be known as the “ten lost tribes,” were deported and dispersed (“Heritage--Civilization and the Jews,” p. 56). 

 

Historian Paul Johnson wrote in 1987 that “In taking their last, forced journey into Assyria, the ten tribes of the North moved out of history and myth... They lived in later Jewish legend, but in reality they were simply assimilated into the surrounding Aramean population, losing their faith and their language” (“A History of the Jews,” p. 70). 

 

While Paul Johnson’s statement has some things wrong with it, the fact remains that he does present some truth in terms of modern thinking.  Certainly, the lost tribes did lose their faith, their language and indeed their identity.  However, it is clearly an error (as this study will prove) to charge that they were “assimilated” (in the collective sense) into the Aramean population. 

 

A summation of modern Jewish thinking was offered in the Jul-Sep 2000 “Hebrew Roots” (p. 34), which said that “Orthodox Judaism teaches that they (the ten tribes of Yisrael) are still ‘lost’ and must return (at least, a remnant of them) to the land of Israel before The Messiah comes. 

 

“The rest of Judaism (non-Orthodox) claims that all twelve tribes are to be found among today’s Jewish population.”  This non-Orthodox teaching is the primary Christian position found among most Christian denominations. 

 

Perhaps the best statement of all on the lost tribes of Yisrael appears in “The Jewish Encyclopedia” (1909 edition, v. 12, p. 249), in an article on “Tribes, Lost Ten,” viz:  “If the Ten Tribes have disappeared, the literal fulfillment of the prophecies would be impossible.  If they have not disappeared, obviously, they must exist under a different name.” 

 

 

YHWH’s Far Reaching Promises

 

In an earlier chapter, discussing the fall of Yisrael to the Assyrians, the prophet Yirmeyahu (who lived over a hundred years after the Assyrian conquests) was quoted in his fantastic statement that as long as the sun, moon and stars stand to provide light on earth, the posterity of Yisrael shall exist as a nation or people before YHWH through the ages (Jer 31:35-36). 

 

Obviously, the House of Yisrael was in existence somewhere in NT times--just as they are still in existence somewhere today in 2003.  Furthermore, The ELOHIM YHWH made some similarly fantastic (unconditional and irrevocable) promises to David which are just as profound and extraordinary today as they were 3,000 years ago when they were first spoken. 

 

Specifically, The HIGHEST declared that David always would have (actually, never want for) a descendant to sit on his physical throne in rulership over Israelites (II Sam 7:12-16; I Kg 2:4; 9:4-5; 11:11-13; II Kg 19:32-36; I Chron 17:11-15; 22:9; 28:4-5; II Chron 7:18; 13:5). 

 

The MOST HIGH YHWH then went on to tell David that as long as the sun, moon and stars are in the heavens above to shine light on this earth, David’s throne will be in existence to rule over Israelites (Ps 89:20-37; Jer 33:17-20). 

 

Although most of the world can never understand it, but the truth is that David’s throne was not terminated or vacated at the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem.  This fact will be considered in some detail in future chapters. 

 

 

Apparent Conclusions 

 

Some obvious conclusions can be deduced from this excursion into history about the ten tribes.  Of most importance, they were dispersed by the Assyrians some 140 years or so before the Jewish dispersals.  And of profound importance, they historically never returned to Palestine. 

 

They are still out in the world somewhere and thought to be goyim (Gentiles) in the eyes of most informed Jews.  Furthermore, the NT remarks by Shaul, Yohanan and Yakov on the “twelve tribes” demonstrate their thinking on this subject. 

 

Clearly, it is manifest that all three of these apostles were familiar with the prophets and knew and recognized that the entire twelve tribes of Yisrael collectively were still in existence somewhere on planet earth--even as they wrote references about them. 

 

And next, it is certain that all three of these apostles knew precisely where the twelve tribes were in existence out in the world.  This “where” is made plain by those three men in their various statements in the NT, and in the sense that the twelve tribes of Yisrael then were scattered abroad outside the land of Palestine. 

 

So while the collective Jews in Canaan land in the first century CE might refer to the tribes of Yisrael as being “lost” (just as multitudes of both Christians and Jews have done so for the last two thousand years), the truth is that those twelve tribes actually were not “lost” to The ELOHIM and His chosen Apostolic Assembly apostles. 

 

The place one must come to is that the so-called “lost” ten tribes of Yisrael were never lost (to The ELOHIM YHWH), but were categorically goy/goyim/gentile outsiders in Jewish eyes, likely from the fall of Samaria forward (c700 BCE when they were divorced by The SUPREME), and that they never had returned to Palestine by the time of the Jewish removals in the early years of the first and second centuries CE. 

 

Now, if any misinformed and/or uninformed Christians want to come forward and declare that the House of Yisrael returned to Palestine before 70 CE, then such people are showing their absolute ignorance of history as they would be contradicting Josephus and numerous others (including Yakov, Yohanan and Shaul) who were eye witness observers of events in the land and time of Second Temple Judaism. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 127--The Return is Future

 

 

The Prophesied Return 

 

Despite the fact that the House of Yisrael was removed from old Canaan (now called Palestine), in the 8th-7th centuries BCE, by the Assyrians, the Tanakh prophets were all explicit in predicting that in a future age and time, all of Yisrael would return and be reunited.  Categorically, the time of that return is still future, here in 2003.  It has never happened in history.  But assuredly, it will happen! 

 

Importantly, these predictions of the return have been made in the context that the House of Yisrael is in a state of slavery, captivity and bondage at the time of this return (Lev 26:39; Deut 28:49-68).  Essentially, what Yisrael faces is something much like the previous Egyptian bondage of 3,500 years ago when YHWH used Moshe to deliver Yisrael and take them to the promise land of Canaan. 

 

There will be one profound difference between the historic Egyptian slavery and the coming age end captivity of Yisrael.  Whereas, the nation of Yisrael was present in Egypt in a collective body or entity of Israelites and moved as a group out of Egypt, the future return will be done by The ELOHIM from all over the world where Israelites will be scattered as individuals or in small entities. 

 

If this sounds like double talk, and in view of the previous comments on Yisrael, an examination of a number of prophecies and their historic fulfillments after Yisrael left the promise land offers clarification and makes the case for this position. 

 

 

Yechezkel is the Key 

 

To appreciate the modern history of the House of Yisrael, one must study and learn from Ezekiel.  This book, above all other writings, has the most detailed and useful information of all on the House of Yisrael. 

 

Yechezkel was a Jew (actually a cohen or priest from the House of Yehudah), who was exiled to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.  He started his writings in Babylon some seven years or so before the fall of Jerusalem to the Chaldeans.  He was to record this seven-year block of time in some detail and go on to document the fall of Jerusalem and provide an abundance of data after that. 

 

The student of truth will at once realize that the Babylonian conquests of Yehudah happened some 140 years or so after the Assyrian conquests of the House of Yisrael.  Thus, the House of Yisrael was long gone from Palestine by the time that Yechezkel arrived on the scene in Babylon. 

 

But despite the fact that the House of Yisrael seemed to have been lost in history, Yechezkel was commissioned to be a prophet to and watchman for the House of Yisrael (Ezek 3:4-5).  Consequently, his message essentially is to, for and about the House of Yisrael.  This is most interesting in view of the fact that Yisrael’s supposed fall, conquest and enslavement had happened many years earlier. 

 

And importantly, the book of Ezekiel conclusively proves that Yechezkel knew the difference between the House of Yisrael as opposed to the House of Yehudah.  He periodically spoke of both houses and clearly differentiated between the two.  Hence, whenever he wrote the “House of Yisrael,” he meant the House of Yisrael (which was not to be confused with the House of Yehudah or the Jews). 

 

As a minimum, all of Yechezkel’s words were still future for the House of Yisrael when he wrote them (starting around 561 BCE).  But a complication arises because he often seemed to be writing about Jerusalem.  An explanation is needed since he was a watchman for the House of Yisrael.  Yet, he was writing about Jerusalem in Canaan--especially, in his early chapters. 

 

The prophet clarifies this dilemma when he early on pointed out that the trouble then coming upon Jerusalem was to be a sign for the House of Yisrael (Ezek 4:3; 14:8).  Thus, among other things, Yechezkel was laying out the fall of Jerusalem as an example for the House of Yisrael.  In other words, what happened to Jerusalem will happen to the House of Yisrael. 

 

In that sense, any person wanting to know and understand the future of the House of Yisrael (now in the early 21st century) should spend some time to learn and study about the fall of Jerusalem, first to the Babylonians and next to the later Romans, since these falls both have much similarity and significant prophetic relevance. 

 

 

But Still More 

 

Yechezkel opens his message and witness in a 30th year (the possibilities for dating Yechezkel’s 30th year will be described in a future chapter).  While some portions of his work were dual or had historic typical fulfillments, the evidence is that virtually everything Yechezkel wrote about will ultimately take place (starting likely here in the age end). 

 

In that sense, it all seems relevant in the immediate future right now.  Chapter 4 quickly introduces a foreign siege on Yisrael (following 390 years of accountable sin) which sees the destruction of her government(s) and the slavery of her people some 390 days later (perhaps sometime during Yechezkel’s 33d year). 

 

It appears that this siege marks the commencement of Yisrael’s final punishment to prepare her for the millennial rule of YESHUA, to include the wedding supper of The LAMB.  Manifestly, it will be this punishment (just as a father punishes and chastises a child to teach discipline and righteousness) that will make a change in Yisrael to good for the first time in 3,500 years. 

 

Chapters 4 to 33 describe the seven years of Yakov’s Trouble--which possibly starts in or near Yechezkel’s 30th-31st years and expires some seven years later.  Ezekiel 13:1-23 and 34:1-10 focus on the preachers and pastors of Yisrael.  YHWH greatly condemns them for their wretchedness and evil, just as He has also done in numerous other Scriptures. 

 

After all, it has been Yisrael’s pastors, preachers, teachers and priests who seem to bear much of the guilt for the sins in Yisrael.  Chapter 34 (starting in verse 11) to chapter 37 explicitly focuses on the beginnings of the return or at least the return of some part of the people of the House of Yisrael to Palestine (see Jer 3:14 and Ezek 36:8; 37:1-23). 

 

Isaiah 54:7-8 notes that for a moment (the seven years of Yakov’s Trouble), YHWH has forsaken Yisrael and hidden His face from the Israelites; but in time, He will show the Israelites mercy and (re)gather them (to Palestine).  Jeremiah 31:10-11 indicates that YHWH has scattered Yisrael (during Yakov’s Trouble) and will gather, redeem and watch over the Israelites as a shepherd watches over his flock. 

 

Please note that the Israelites in the age end are scattered and YHWH YESHUA must search them out to (re)gather them (Lev 26:44-45; Ezek 11:17; 34:11-16; 36:24; 37:21;39:27; Jer 3:12-17; 23:3; 29:14; 31:8-11; 32:37).  It is also important to realize that, in this return, YHWH at last unifies the House of Yehudah and the House of Yisrael for the first time since the division under Rechavam (Jer 3:18; Ezek 37:16). 

 

In order to appreciate that the House of Yisrael seems to have a national existence in twelve or so governmental entities in Ezekiel 4 to precipitate the siege, war and captivity (which ends when YHWH YESHUA returns to gather the scattered Israelites), much history and many other Scriptures must be consulted. 

 

 

The Background 

 

As commented upon in previous sections, the House of Yisrael largely left or was expelled from Canaan by the conclusion of the Assyrian conquests of about 700 BCE.  The truth is that most Israelites were scattered in the Diaspora in groups (some small and some large), evidently for many long centuries thereafter.  Most of these groups or bodies of Israelites ended up in various countries of Adam. 

 

From about 700 BCE to 1200 CE, these scattered groups of Israelites began moving West to the Isles of the Sea, the prophesied destination of Yisrael upon leaving Canaan ((Isa 11:11; 20:6; 24:15; 26:15; 41:1-2; 42:4-12; 49:1-3; 51:5; 59:18; 60:9; 66:19; Jer 31:10; Ezek 39:6; Dan 11:18). 

 

As noted elsewhere herein, the throne of David (which was prophesied to perpetually exist) also was removed to these same Isles of the Sea in order to rule over Israelites. 

 

Starting in 1607, some (not all) of these Israelites, accumulated in this express body in the Isles of the Sea, started separating by tribes and commencing a further movement to their eventual individual tribal homelands.  This motion to separate by tribes was to continue even into the 20th century. 

 

Beyond this movement from the Isles of the Sea, many of the other Israelites, still scattered throughout the land of Adam in other countries, also began moving to the same new tribal homelands.  Thus, there was a “regathering” of scattered Israelites by their tribal identities from all over the civilized lands of Adam. 

 

The prophet Yechezkel, writing in about 561-539 BCE, also prophetically mentioned these subsequent, various regatherings in the Isles of the Sea and later into their particular tribal homelands, which would serve them for long ages (Ezek 20:34-39).

 

But Yechezkel apparently discussed these regatherings as an ante-type or example of the still future coming regathering to Palestine (a second time, again or once more--Isa 11:11)--which he proceeds to also mention at Ezekiel 20:40-42 (this ultimate regathering is described above in various Scriptures). 

 

In other words, on leaving Canaan land, c700 BCE, Yisrael was temporarily scattered to the winds to be regathered eventually into new tribal homelands where the tribes were to reside and live for the next several centuries to await another second scattering to the winds. 

 

These intermediate homelands were therefore also temporary since the Israelites living there would continue in rebellion, evil and sin and have to be punished again, a second time (just as they were punished by the Assyrians in 700 BCE).  This punishment is called Yakov’s Trouble and it is now upon the House of Yisrael in terms of Yechezkel’s 30th-31st years (to be detailed in Appendices D and E). 

 

 

II Samuel 7:10 

 

There is an interesting prophesy by Shmuel that says in the KJV that YHWH will appoint a place for His people Yisrael where they will move no more and the children of wickedness will afflict them no more (II Sam 7:10).  Most Christian Identity people accept the King James translation and are accordingly led astray in interpreting this text. 

 

These Identity believers generally believe that this place is the temporary regathered places of the tribal homelands, outlined above, and that Yisrael will stay in those places to never move again.  While the case “might” be made that the temporary places of regathering are involved in Shmuel’s comment, there is also another explanation. 

 

The better view seems to be that this place mentioned by Shmuel is the ultimate promise land in the Middle East in its entirety (which is more vast and covers a far larger territory than anything envisioned historically--to be later commented upon) in the future Kingdom age when truly the children of wickedness no longer can afflict the people of Yisrael. 

 

Obviously, the presence of this stipulation makes it clear that this place is not where the House of Yisrael has dwelled during the past 2,700 years.  Manifestly, the Israelites have been subjected to the children of wickedness greatly in the last 2,700 years in their temporary homelands.  Even now, in the early 21st century, Israelites are under enormous oppression, as will be established in later chapters herein. 

 

 

Christian Misunderstanding 

 

This time frame is clearly still future (to actually occur in the millennium).  The “Soncino Books of the Bible” (p. 227) gives a better translation of II Samuel 7:10, as being that Yisrael will be planted “and be disquieted no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more.” 

 

Samson Raphael Hirsch gives it as “have implanted them that they may dwell in a place of their own, and have to tremble no longer, and the children of wickedness shall not continue to afflict them as be-fore-time” (The Haphtoroth of “The Pentateuch,” p. 255).  In other words, the Hebrew text is not that they move no more; but rather, that they tremble or fear no more from the children of wickedness. 

 

The Christian Identity people, who persist in the incorrect KJV interpretation, as outlined above, go on to try to suppose that there is a New Israel or New Jerusalem in this regathered (intermediate and temporary) territory of the tribal homelands. 

 

Again, they have it wrong.  New Jerusalem is a future city that will be quite large, measuring 1,500 miles square--or perhaps even a cube, depending upon how Revelation  21:16 is to be interpreted. 

 

Manifestly, New Jerusalem is not the United States, Washington, DC or London, England.  It never has been and never will be.  New Jerusalem will be the capitol of the world and it will evidently center on the Mount Moriah site of Old Jerusalem in the land of Palestine during the millennium. 

 

 

Jeremiah 32:32-44 

 

Another very popular text among the Christian Identity people is at Jeremiah 32:37-38 which effectively mentions a regathering of scattered Yisrael to a place where YHWH will be their ELOHIM and where He will cause them to dwell in safety. 

 

Christian Identity types insist on believing this place to be the regathered Yisrael in the Isles and/or into their later national homes over the years from 700 BCE to the present.  Manifestly, Christian Identity people have had a bad interpretation on this text--just as they have had on II Samuel 7:10. 

 

Inevitably, they link this text by Yirmeyahu to II Samuel 7:10 and Revelation 21:2-22, in the context of a New Israel or New Jerusalem.  But the Identity people fail to read, accept and understand precisely what was said by Yirmeyahu in the context of Jeremiah 32:32-44. 

 

Verses 32-35 make it plain that the theme concerns both the children of Yisrael and children of Yehudah and their evil and “defilement” of the Temple.  Students of truth must ask when has the children of the House of Yisrael ever defiled the Temple in the last 2,700 years following their dispersal by Assyria? 

 

Verse 36 outlines a type of punishment on Jerusalem (which was being delivered into the hands of the Babylonians in c554 BCE) as applying to both the children of Yisrael and Yehudah.  When has the House of Yisrael historically faced this type of punishment after 554 BCE? 

 

Verse 37 then brings up a regathering (obviously, after a scattering) of these people of Yisrael and Yehudah to “this place,” Old Jerusalem, where Yirmeyahu was speaking and where YHWH will cause Yisrael to dwell safely.  Obviously, the people of the lost House of Yisrael have not been dwelling safely in the past 2,700 years.  That prophecy is most assuredly still future here in the early 21st century. 

 

In verse 38, YAH says He will be these Israelite people’s ELOHIM and they shall be His people.  Can anyone name a nation in the world today in 2003 where YHWH is its ELOHIM and the people are His people?  Some may try to link this to the United States.  But that speculation just won’t hold water presently. 

 

Verse 39 says that The HIGHEST will give these people a new heart and one that they may fear Him for ever for the good of them and their children.  Doesn’t this sound like something in connection with the future, coming New Covenant outlined in Jeremiah 31:31-34 (which was assessed in detail in a former chapter)? 

 

 

The New Covenant is Future 

 

Clearly, the subject of a coming New Covenant is broached in verse 40 (as was covered in the prior chapter on that subject).  It will be an everlasting covenant in which the people fear YHWH and do not depart from Him.  Surely, anyone with brains above the moron level realizes that there is no nation today in the world (including the US) which fears YHWH and has not departed from Him. 

 

Yirmeyahu writes in verse 41 that The ELOHIM will rejoice over them (in this coming time frame) and plant them in “this” land--this land of Canaan where Yirmeyahu lived and wrote his book.  Manifestly, this land has to be the one Yirmeyahu lived in, as he wrote the prophecy down. 

 

Verse 42 mentions the great evil (punishment) that The MOST HIGH has just brought on this people, so that He next will bring all of the good on them as He has promised.  Verse 43 states “this” land which is given into the hands of the Babylonians in Yirmeyahu’s day. 

 

But the greatest misunderstanding in Jeremiah 32 occurs because of the failure to read and understand Jeremiah 30:3-7 which clearly dates to the age end and Yakov’s Trouble in the Day of YHWH.  At that time, Yisrael is in captivity, once more, to be redeemed in a second Exodus, and to return to the land of their fathers (Palestine, in the Middle East).  These words were written in c575 BCE and are still future in 2003. 

 

There is no question about it.  Most of the entire prophecies in Jeremiah 30-32 are still future here in the early 21st century.  They have never happened in history.  There is no way that the temporary or intermediate regathering of Yisrael in the Isles of the Sea or subsequently to the tribal homelands can be linked to these words. 

 

This is a future regathering back to Palestine where Yisrael was dispersed from c700 BCE.  Future comments and chapters herein will provide a full and complete explanation for this prophecy of Yirmeyahu that will communicate understanding. 

 

 

The Return of the Jews--an Ante-type of Yisrael’s Return 

 

Some students of the Book have looked upon the movement of the Jews from all over the world to Palestine in the last 130 years or so as a fulfillment of the many OT prophecies dealing with the regathering of Yisrael to old Canaan land.  Though this return has been quite profound and extraordinary, it is not the return of the House of Yisrael, as provided for in the Word. 

 

While some true Israelite Jews have been involved in this return (Aliyah) to Palestine, the view of truth is that the greater House of Yisrael is not a part of world Jewry now or ever in the past.  Therefore, the present Jewish return has not encompassed what the prophets foretold in the context of the return of the House of Yisrael. 

 

The essence of the Tanakh prophecies on this theme focuses on either the House of Yisrael or Yisrael in the collective sense.  Hence, most of those prophecies must find fulfillment in the future in the context of the House of Yisrael. 

 

To the extent that world Jewry has included the remnant of the old House of Yehudah, this return could have some application to them in the form of an ante-type of what is to later happen to the House of Yisrael in the future age end. 

 

 

The Dead Sea Scrolls, Revisited 

 

Beyond the host of Second Temple literature establishing that the lost tribes of Yisrael never returned to Canaan and were in existence in far away lands, discussed previously herein, the Dead Sea Scrolls joined in with some of their thinking which is most unique in the context of the conditions facing Yisrael in the age end. 

 

For this option, one can turn to some early Qumran scroll fragments which addressed the lost tribes (“The Dead Sea Scrolls, A New Translation,” p. 331-334).  Some specific remarks in one document focused on the exiled tribe of Yosef with a belief that these Israelites would one day be led to repent and turn from their evil ways (in the context of a prayer of Yosef). 

 

This prayer notes that Yosef had been given over to the power of foreigners who drained his strength and shattered his bones almost to the point that he would perish.  The theme of this document is assuredly apocalyptic and age end.  Consequently, it could have some application to modern Israelites of today. 

 

The gist of this document is that the tribes of Yosef are still in an exiled condition (from Canaan) in the climax of the age end.  And most importantly, they will be given over to foreigners at some point in time and will ultimately be in a state of slavery--almost to the point of extinction. 

 

There is then a plea that Yosef will not be forsaken in the grips of the nations.  The prayer is a statement of repentance for the previous rebellion and evil and a plea for deliverance from the bondage.  Manifestly, the essence of this short record is a powerful parallel to Yechezkel, now under discussion.  The writer of this Qumran document was probably a dedicated student of Yechezkel. 

 

 

The Bottom Line on Yechezkel 

 

The bottom line of this theme is that Yechezkel seems to be essentially future as of early 2003.  Starting on the fifth day of the fourth Scriptural month of some year (Ezek 1:1), it will likely begin to be fulfilled very rapidly.  Its prophetic significance extends into the millennium when YHWH YESHUA rules earth (Ezek 40-48). 

 

Most importantly, it will open with a quick barrage of trouble for the House of Yisrael nations.  This trouble will be intense and run its primary course over a period of 390 terrible days, which may possibly subside briefly in the summer of Yechezkel’s 33d year (although thereafter, slavery aspects of the punishment starts in earnest). 

 

While Yechezkel’s message has assuredly been delivered to Yisrael in the past in the sense that it is a part and parcel of the Hebrew Scriptures now in the homes of most all Christian Israelite families (thus, nothing further is actually needed in order to meet the witnessing requirements that The ELOHIM placed upon Yechezkel), one must still allow the possibility of another physical witness of Yechezkel to Yisrael in the age end. 

 

Such an Yechezkel witness (whether by him or by some modern person or work operating under his spirit and influence--just as Yohanan the Baptist functioned in the spirit of Eliyahu in the first century CE) may possibly correlate to a corresponding witness of Yirmeyahu to Yisrael in the age end which could also start as early as Yechezkel’s 30th year. 

 

 

To Recap 

 

In a way of recapping this travel into history, the point is that the post exile inhabitants of Canaan land never were called the House of Yisrael.  Although they were occasionally called (correctly) Israelites and of Yisrael, they often were referred to as Jews and particularly so for those living in the Jerusalem area, as one can easily verify from any good concordance. 

 

Clearly, when YESHUA came to Galilee and Judaea in the early first century CE, He physically came to a land whose inhabitants were recognized as being Jewish (either racially, religiously, or by some other definition) and not persons of the "lost" (so-called lost, by the Jews) House of Yisrael--wherever they then lived and whomever they then were thought to be. 

 

It is these lost tribes of Yisrael (lost in history and exiled from Canaan in c700 BCE) which form the basis for the book of Ezekiel.  The prophet Yechezkel was specially commissioned as a watchman in the climatic age end to go and warn these exiled people to repent and change their ways.  Otherwise, YHWH will come swiftly and execute judgment upon them. 

 

Prophetic Yisrael (surely the tribes of Yosef) will face the breaking of her power, a devastating drought and famine, disease epidemics, internal racial problems, a siege of 390 days and finally war and a conquering and invading foreign army.  Most of the people will be killed.  The survivors (minus the very elect) will face a coming second Egypt of slavery and bondage. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 128--David’s Throne

 

 

The Throne and Yehudah

 

As pointed out in previous commentary, the coming throne of David became linked to the tribe of Yehudah.  So while YHWH allowed the people’s desire for someone like Shaul, a Binyaminite, to prevail, for a season, His choice was to eventually surface when the throne passed to David of Yehudah. 

 

Once the throne was settled in with David, the evidence from history is that it has been with David’s descendants ever since.  This possibility, indeed reality, is absolutely astounding and hard for some students of the Word to believe and accept.  This chapter will address this course in history.  

 

 

European Royalty 

 

Just as many Adamic peoples in the Middle East eventually migrated into Europe to populate it (as described in former chapters), another strange migration occurred out of the Middle East which has had an enormous import upon world history. 

 

Prior chapters have discussed the prophetic messages about the permanence of the throne of David and the possibility that some of YESHUA’s brothers and sisters migrated to Europe and intermarried with European royalty.  Both of these presentations have a very interesting connection to the whole subject of European royalty, which will be briefly assessed now. 

 

Beyond the former presentations, there are many secular records of history for the last 3,000 years which suggest that, in fact, most or perhaps even all of the kings in Europe have been of the line of Yehudah.  This is an extraordinary idea to even entertain.  But it seems to have merit. 

 

Some years ago, a chart was prepared by the Covenant Publishing Company, Ltd, of London on the “Heritage of the Anglo-Saxon Race” which gave not only the Scriptural references to the line of kings, but traced those persons to various secular rulers in Europe over much of the last 3,000 years. 

 

The essence of this work was an outline of five lines of Yehudah into modern times as kings, apparently in Europe.  The first line was to Peretz-David, which led down to Tzidkiyahu’s daughter (reported to be Tea Tephi, who will be addressed in comments to follow below and in the succeeding chapter). 

 

This line had a branch off to Jehoiachin’s (Yehoyakhin in the Hebrew) descendants and to YESHUA.  This genealogical outline means that the line of kings involved were all physical relatives of YESHUA.  This also means that any person connecting his genealogy to this line of kings also automatically becomes a physical relative of YESHUA.  This is absolutely astounding to think about. 

 

Actually, the patriarch Yehudah had two other sons besides Peretz--Shelah and Zerach.  Shelah, from a Canaanite woman named Shuah (Gen 38:2-5), was a half brother to Peretz and Zerach. 

 

 

The Breach 

 

Correctly, Zerach and Peretz were twin brothers and a breach or conflict occurred between them when a question developed over which one of them became the first born (Gen 38:27-30). 

 

However, Peretz received the first born designation, which left Zerach out and caused a breach of sorts to develop between the twins that was to last many centuries before it was finally resolved. 

 

Consequently, the Peretz line with David became the ruling line of Davidic kings in Jerusalem.  The twin brother Zerach missed out on this important distinction in the Scriptures. 

 

Zerach in time fathered Mahol (I Kg 4:31), who fathered Darda and Calcol (I Kg 4:31; I Chron 2:6).  Calcol’s descendants went to Ireland and included a man named Gadhol who became a king and sired a line which will be further assessed in comments below.  

 

 

William Dankenbring 

 

The “Prophecy Flash” magazine of Jan-Feb 2000 (p. 41) had an article by William F. Dankenbring on “Overturn, Overturn, Overturn” which assessed the movements of Israelites into Ireland at a very early time. 

 

Dankenbring suggests that Judahites from the line of Zerach migrated into Ireland and Northwest Europe during the reign of David.  They were known as Milesians and their insignia was the “Red hand” on their flag and coat of arms--a symbol that went back to Zerach himself (Gen 38:30). 

 

Possibly, this movement by the Milesians was the earliest relocation of some people of Zerach to Ireland, although the movement there could have started much earlier. 

 

Going on, William Dankenbring says that even David, himself, went to Ireland, and there, he married his daughter Tamar into the line of (Israelite) Irish nobility which had migrated there at that time or earlier. 

 

In a sense, one could build the case that this linkage of the line of David (from Peretz) to the family of Zerach healed the breach (if Tamar did, in fact, marry a descendant of Zerach) which occurred centuries earlier with the birth of the two boys.  However, there is a subsequent healing of this breach which is even more profound, as will be covered in comments to follow. 

 

Certainly the throne of David did not transfer to Ireland when David’s daughter Tamar was taken there by her father to be married into Irish (Israelite) nobility (likely, of Zerach, Dan or some other group of Israelites). 

 

At that early time, the throne remained in Jerusalem with the royal descendants of David--from Sholomo on down to the last Judean King in Jerusalem--Tzidkiyahu. 

 

The whole movement of Israelites from Palestine to Ireland (and the generic British Isles) is quite extraordinary and will be assessed in some detail in later chapters herein.  Suffice to say, at this point in time, there was a relocation of some Israelites to Ireland which seemingly included some people of Zerach. 

 

 

Healing the Zerach-Peretz Breach 

 

The above mentioned Calcol (of the lineage of Zerach) produced a line of Irish kings down to a king named Eochaidh the Hermon.  It was this Eochaidh who married the above cited Tea Tephi (who was brought to Ireland by Yirmeyahu the prophet, as will be described in comments to follow).  This marriage began the line of Irish and Scottish kings to James I of Great Britain. 

 

In the April 2002 “Kingdom Digest” (p. 46-47), writer Ernestine Young had an article on “Judah His Sanctuary” which suggested that the line of Zarah left Israel at a very early time with some part of it going to Europe/Ireland (Young cited I Chron 2:6 as the last mention of Zarah--but this conclusion is wrong by Young because there were some people of Zerach who went into Babylonian captivity and returned to Canaan from that exile, I Chron 9:6). 

 

Young also tries to build a case that the line of Pharez furnished the Judahites taken captive by the Assyrians (II Kg 18:13-14).  Actually, this is a common view of most all uninformed Christian Identity persons.  Thus, per this explanation, the line of Shelah was the one of Yehudah left in the land for the Babylonian exile. 

 

This division of Yehudah in the land and the dispersal of the people of Yehudah will be broached in a later chapter. 

 

Suffice to say, the Scriptural evidence is strong that indeed the line of Shelah, which was a mixed line of Canaanites and Israelites (Gen 38:2, 5), was the primary one left in the land after the Assyrian deportations (Num 26:20; I Chron 4:21-23); but not the only line as certainly some of the lineage of David through Peretz survived and lived there to propagate the ruling king line from Hizkiyahu to Tzidkiyahu and forward to New Testament days and YESHUA. 

 

In any case, the royal line of David came from Zerach’s brother Peretz.  For sure, some of the royal Peretz line did stay in Jerusalem to face the Babylonian exile and the still later Roman deportations (since YESHUA and His family were of this line of Peretz)--along with some persons of Zerach. 

 

The consensus of most Christian Identity people is that this breach between Zerach and Peretz was healed when Tea Tephi of the Davidic Peretz line was brought (reportedly by Yirmeyahu) to Ireland and married to a descendant of Zerach--which united the two lines of Yehudah and healed the breach (perhaps as prophesied by Ezekiel 17:22-24, in parable form).   

 

 

More on Darda 

 

Darda’s lineage (cited above) eventually spilt into three lines of kings.  One led to a king named Assaracus, who fathered a line down to Brewt or Brutus, the famous Trojan king.  His king line continued until a girl was born centuries later named Frea. 

 

Another list of kings from Darda commenced with Hector--whose line eventually saw the French kings, including Charlemagne.  A girl, perhaps a sister of Hector, married Memmon and began another line of European kings which led to Odin.  Odin married Frea, from the Brutus line, and commenced the early Saxon and Danish kings. 

 

Odin’s descendants eventually included Prince Albert, who married Queen Victoria; and Queen Alexandra, who married King Edward VII, son of Albert and Victoria.  These lineages eventually produced Queen Elizabeth II.  Manifestly, Elizabeth is a Jew, a real Jew racially, just as was YESHUA.  Literally, Elizabeth sits upon the throne of David!   

 

Incidentally, author Glen Kimball (on the Coast to Coast AM radio program on June 12, 2000) said that the famous King Arthur (who also was one of the ancestors of the House of Windsor) was a descendant of the royal House of David, as well as being a descendant of Joseph of Arimathea (Matt 27:57; Mk 15:43; Lu 23:51; Jo 19:38) and of Constantine I of the fourth century CE. 

 

It was not clear whether Constantine and Joseph were of the House of David or not.  But the point of their relationship to King Arthur is interesting.  If Kimball has it right, it means that Constantine, Arthur and Britain’s royal family are all related to YESHUA, since Joseph of Arimathea was reportedly an uncle of the virgin Mary. 

 

 

More on YESHUA’s Family 

 

Per Kimball, Joseph brought Mary and some of the other NT persons to Britain.  This course of events has much secular evidence because Glastonbury, England has long had a tradition that Joseph of Arimathea came there and founded the town and had some relationship with the local tin mines. 

 

Apparently, there was quite a trade in tin ore from the Glastonbury area to Palestine in the first century CE.  Anyway, much traditional knowledge has persisted tying Joseph to Glastonbury.  Yair Davidy outlines this tradition in his book “Lost Israelite Identity” (p. 362-366) and goes on to assert that Joseph of Arimathea truly was an ancestor of King Arthur. 

 

These remarks by Glen Kimball seem especially interesting in view of the thinking of Israeli author Barry Chamish, discussed in a prior chapter.  Chamish posits that the brothers and sisters of YESHUA went to France and became some of the progenitors of European royalty. 

 

While YESHUA’s half brothers Yakov and Yehudah are both accounted for in the Book (as cited earlier, a recent archaeological find of an ancient ossuary [burial box], reading in Aramaic “Yakov, son of Yosef and brother of Yeshua” [dated at 63 CE?], has allegedly been found in Yisrael--Nov 1, 2002, “Jerusalem Post” p. 7), the other children (like Shimon, Yosef and the others, per Matt 12:55) did vanish somewhat from NT history (as noted earlier). 

 

Though Barry Chamish may or may not have it completely right on the possible linkage of the family of Joseph and Mary to European royalty, it is utterly fascinating that he expressed his views (based upon some documentary evidence which he reportedly possessed) that these brothers and sisters of YESHUA went to France. 

 

If Mary and her uncle Joseph of Arimathea did go to Britain (as Kimball suggests), then this issue of some of Mary’s children going to France (or maybe, even to Britain) is highly plausible. 

 

 

More From “Prophecy Flash” 

 

The Mar-Apr 2002 “Prophecy Flash” (p. 36-37) had a lengthy report on this subject in an article on “The Knights Templar, Masons, PLO, and the Temple Mount.”  There is still another fascinating story associated with the siblings of YESHUA, who reportedly went to France to sire a line of kings. 

 

This story involves some mysterious scrolls and writings and the Knights Templar organization which gained fame in the Middle Ages.  These portions of the story will be addressed in later chapters herein that broach the Temple Mount in some detail.  In the meantime, the “Prophecy Flash” story did offer some very interesting information on this family of YESHUA. 

 

This article agreed with Barry Chamish that indeed the brothers and sisters of YESHUA did go to France and sire some of the lines of European royalty.  Specifically, the Flash article (ibid, p. 36) places this movement to France after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans.  With this explanation, the story is that all four brothers (allegedly including both Yakov and Yehudah) and the two sisters went to France. 

 

The previous commentary that addressed this issue noted that Yakov and Yehudah were evidently involved with the Apostolic Assembly and perhaps in Palestine.  Thus, the question was only over the other two brothers and the two sisters.  Per this “Prophecy Flash” report, all of the siblings went to France (except YESHUA). 

 

Apparently, this family stayed in Europe and provided much of the impetus and lineage for the Knights Templar, who went to Palestine in the Middle Ages to supposedly install “Christian” rule over the “holy sites and land.” 

 

In the fourteen century CE, the French king Philip the Fair coordinated with the Pope and the Vatican on a purge of the Knights Templar from Europe.  The property and assets of the Knights were seized in Europe and the Templars had to flee.  A group of these people of the Saint Clair clan fled the French siege in order to reach Scotland, then ruled by Robert the Bruce. 

 

The Knights (evidently under the leadership of one William Sinclair) built a chapel in Rosslyn near Edinburgh.  Reportedly, these Templars were the people who founded the Masonic order in Britain in later years. 

 

 

More on the Throne of David 

 

The above presentation might be a surprise to many Christians because they have been erroneously taught that David’s throne ended with the fall of Jerusalem in c554 BCE. 

 

Not so!  True, Nebuchadnezzar executed Tzidkiyahu and all of his male heirs, but some of his daughters survived and were taken by Yirmeyahu to Egypt (II Kg 25:7; Jer 43:6). 

 

From Egypt, traditional knowledge indicates that at least one of the girls (the above mentioned Tea Tephi) was taken to a far off land (II Kg 19:30-31; Isa 37:31-32; Jer 1:10; 15:11-14) with a king and Israelite people from the earlier dispersals (dispersals before or by the time of the Assyrian conquests of around 700 BCE, per J. H. Allen, in “Judah’s Scepter and Joseph’s Birthright”). 

 

As noted in preceding commentary, this daughter of Tzidkiyahu (of the line of David and Peretz) was married to the local Israelite king, Eochaidh, a descendant of Zerach (thus, healing the breach between these twin sons of Yehudah). 

 

This movement of the throne of David, by the earlier mentioned prophet Yirmeyahu, will  be fully described and commented upon in the following chapter.  Suffice to say, there is much Scriptural and secular evidence allowing for this movement to have occurred with the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians.   

 

 

A Real Physical Throne 

 

The recognized, legal, physical throne (which YHWH YESHUA will sit upon in the millennial Temple) seems to be essentially in the form of a strange stone, which interestingly is mentioned several times in the Book (Yakov’s Pillar Stone, see Gen 28:10-22; 35:1-15; 49:22-24; Ex 17:8-16; Num 20:5-11), and perhaps a very unique ancient chair (this stone and chair will be described in the succeeding chapter). 

 

Manifestly, when YESHUA returns, He comes to take over a real, genuine, physical throne.  There will be no myths or speculations about this throne when YESHUA assumes it.  Truly, YESHUA will be The Coming KING OF KINGS Who will literally sit upon the throne of His ancestor David. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 129--The Stone of Destiny

 

 

Westminister Abby 

 

For vast ages, visitors to Westminister Abby in London have been impressed with one particular chair on display there. 

 

It is a very ancient chair which may have been in use in Scotland and certainly was in use later during the reign of King Edward I, as was briefly introduced in the former chapter.  For centuries, this ancient and strange chair had a unique stone (also previously cited) directly under its seat.  Thus, any person sitting in the chair would sit directly over the stone. 

 

This chair has been particularly important to the Anglo Saxon peoples because it was prepared at least as early as 1297 CE specifically to house and hold the strange rectangular stone which has historically been housed under it.  The chair is called and known as the Coronation Chair.  Importantly, the strange stone historically under the seat is called the Lia-Fail, Stone of Destiny and/or Yakov’s Pillar Stone. 

 

All of Britain’s royalty since Edward I (except Edward V and Edward VIII) have been crowned while sitting in this chair over this interesting Stone of Destiny.  If Elizabeth II dies and Charles assumes the throne, it is anticipated that he too will sit in the Coronation Chair over the Lia-Fail. 

 

As will be discussed below, the stone has now been removed from Westminister Abby where it was held on display to the public.  Reportedly, for future coronations of British sovereigns, the stone will be returned to the Abby where it can be placed once more under the King  Edward I chair of 1297 CE. 

 

The purpose of this present discussion is to focus precisely upon this strange stone, its historical background and other facts about it which make it an utterly unique monument in all of history. 

 

 

Yakov’s Pillar Stone

 

The coronation stone has also been traditionally known as Jacob’s (correctly Yakov’s) Pillar Stone, as cited above and in the preceding chapter. 

 

The Hebrew Scriptures first introduces us to Yakov’s Pillar Stone in Genesis 28:10-22 when Yakov was on his way from Canaan to Haran in the East.  When retiring to sleep one night, Yakov selected some nearly stone(s) to use as a pillow.  He had a fascinating dream in which he had an encounter with YHWH and was told that The MOST HIGH would be with him. 

 

Yakov was impressed with his dream and accordingly took the stone and anointed it with oil and set it up as a pillar.  He called the place “Bethel.”  This is the place where Yakov openly declared that YHWH was his ELOHIM and that it would be ELOHIM’s house or linked to ELOHIM’s house. 

 

On his return trip to Canaan, Yakov again stopped at the place of Bethel and there built an altar to YHWH (Gen 35:1-15).  It was on this visit that YHWH changed Yakov’s name to Yisrael, which means overcomer with EL. 

 

A later remark in Genesis (Gen 35:22-24) suggests that this pillar stone went to Egypt with the children of Yisrael where, by then, it was called the Shepherd, the Stone of Yisrael. 

 

Furthermore, the Lia-Fail is also thought to be the very stone which Moshe struck to bring forth water following the Exodus from Egypt which suggests that the stone was removed by the Israelites when they left Egypt to go into Canaan (Ex 17:8-16; Num 20:5-11). 

 

Once in the promised land, this very stone seems to have played a key role in the coronation and anointing of the judges and kings to rule over Yisrael (Deut 17:18-20; Jud 9:6; II Kg 11:12-14; 23:2-3; II Chron 23:13; Ps 118:22). 

 

In II Kings 11:14, the Word says that the King stood near the pillar, as the manner was.  This very wording suggests that by then it was a custom for kings to be near the stone for their coronations. 

 

 

More on the Stone

 

In “Judah’s Sceptre and Joseph’s Birthright,” J. H. Allen wrote about the work of a Dr Poole in England who examined the stone many years ago and wrote of it as follows: 

 

“This stone is a dull, reddish or purplish sandstone, with a few small embedded pebbles; one of these is quartz and two others of a dark material.  The rock is calcareous and is of that kind which masons call freestone.  Chisel marks are visible on one or more of its sides.” 

 

Writing possibly as early as 1902, Allen went on to say that “There is no such rock of this kind (as cited by Poole) in England, Ireland or Scotland.” 

 

In the early 1950s, a specimen from the stone was examined by a petrologist at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.  He compared the stone to a sample of sandstone from Bethel in Palesine.  He said:  “The two stones were so much alike as to have made it possible for them to have come from the same rock bed.” 

 

The Stone of Destiny under discussion is reported to weight about 350 pounds and be about 26 3/4 inches long, 16 3/4 inches wide, and 10 3/4 inches thick. 

 

Each end of the stone has an iron ring emplaced which seems to have been used to facilitate the transportation and movement of the stone.  These rings are worn very thin.  Such wear is doubtful in Britain because the stone has not seen frequent movements and not by handling the rings.  The stone has a serious crack in it.  There is much weathering present and its appearance suggests that it is quite ancient. 

 

 

The Ties to Britain

 

Yes, the recognized, legal, physical throne (which YHWH YESHUA will sit upon in the millennial Temple) seems to be essentially in the form of the just cited Yakov’s Pillar Stone, mentioned several times in the Book (Gen 28:10-22; 35:1-15; 49:22-24; Ex 17:8-16; Num 20:5-11), to perhaps include the chair prepared to house the stone some 800 years ago by England’s King Edward I (although a newspaper report from 1837, to be quoted below, suggests that the chair was used earlier by the Scottish kings). 

 

On entering Canaan, the later Israelite kings seemed to have been crowned while sitting upon or standing near this pillar and with a certain vocal pronouncement of some Scriptural significance, essentially still used in the line of David today--specifically “God Save the King.” 

 

This familiar “God Save the King” expression pops up in II Kings 11:13.  It also appears in I Samuel 10:24; II Samuel 16:16; I Kings 1:25, 34, and 39; II Chronicles 23:11.  Of course, this very expression “God save the King” (or Queen) is commonly cited at the coronation of the British sovereigns to this very day. 

 

As a part of the coronation ceremony, the Archbishop of Canterbury also anoints each new monarch with oil and says:  “...Be thy head anointed with holy oil:  as kings, priests and prophets were anointed:  and as Solomon was anointed king by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, so be thou anointed, blessed and consecrated queen (as in the case of Elizabeth II, on June 2, 1953) over the peoples, whom the Lord thy God hath given thee to rule and govern” (Mar-Apr 2002 “Philadelphia Trumpet,” p. 9). 

 

Yes, the manner of crowning Britain’s monarchs has an incredible parallel with the realities of Scriptural history. 

 

On being crowned, the new British monarch takes an oath in which he or she must swear to maintain the “Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel.”  This very oath reminds one of a similar event described in Deuteronomy 17:18-20 and II Kings 11:17. 

 

 

Edward I

 

On taking possession of the stone in 1296, England’s King Edward I said that “It is the primeval monument which binds together the whole empire” (per Dean Stanley, in the “Memorials of Westminister Abbey”). 

 

 

James I

 

On entering London in 1603, to become the King over the united kingdom of Scotland and England, James passed through the Aldergate (the Gate of the Elders), which was subsequently torn down in 1761. 

 

In the “Stone of Destiny,” F. Wallace Cannon wrote that a replica of this gate now sets in the railings of the churchyard of St Botolph’s Church off of Alderstreet in Little Britain.  Cannon says that the gate had arch figures over it of the prophets Samuel and Jeremiah with these words under the figures: 

 

Under Samuel:  “And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you.” 

 

Under Jeremiah:  “Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and this city shall remain for ever.” 

 

 

Oliver Cromwell

 

During the time of the Commonwealth in Britain, the British leader Oliver Cromwell sat in the Coronation Chair when he was installed as Lord Protector in the Abbey (c 1648-1650).  However, the stone was not under the chair as it had been removed before Cromwell was seated. 

 

 

Charles II

 

On sitting down in the coronation chair, to be crowned King in 1651 (this date may have been in 1661), Charles II was addressed by the minister, Robert Douglas, as follows (p. 191-201 of a pamphlet prepared by Sir James Balfour, the Lord Lyon King-of-Arms, who officiated at the ceremony of Charles II, per J. H. Allen):  

 

“Sir, you are set down upon the throne in a very difficult time; I shall therefore put you in mind of a Scriptural expression of a Throne; it is said:  ‘Solomon sats on the Throne of the Lord.’  Sir, you are a king, and king in covenant with the Lord. 

 

“It is the Lord’s Throne.  Remember that you have a King above you, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, who commandeth thrones. 

 

“Your Throne is the Lord’s Throne, and your people are the Lord’s people.  Let not your heart be lifted up above your brethren.  They are your brethren, not only flesh of your flesh, but brethren by covenant with God. 

 

“Your Throne is the Lord’s Throne.  Beware of making His Throne a Throne of iniquity. 

 

“But as the Throne is the Lord’s Throne, let the laws be the Lord’s laws, agreeable to His Word. 

 

“Lastly, if your Throne be the Throne of the Lord, take a word of encouragement against Throne adversaries.  Your enemies are the enemies of the Lord’s Throne.” 

 

Yes, it may be a hard pill for some to swallow, but that throne of the United Kingdom belongs to the line of David.  In time, its rightful owner, YESHUA, will assume it and rule over His people Yisrael (Ps 2:6; Isa 24:23; Lu 1:32-33). 

 

 

Victoria 

 

When Victoria was crowned Queen of the British Empire in 1837, the London “Sun” newspaper had an article in its June 28th edition which said: 

 

“This chair, commonly called St. Edward’s chair, is an ancient seat of solid hardwood, with back and sides of the same, variously painted, in which the kings of Scotland were in former periods constantly crowned, but, having been brought out of the kingdom by Edward I, in the year 1298, after he had totally overcome John Baliol, king of Scots, it has ever since remained in the Abbey of Westminister, and has been the chair in which succeeding kings and queens of this realm have been inaugurated. 

 

“It is in height six feet and seven inches, in breadth at the bottom thirty-eight inches, and in depth twenty-four inches; from the seat to the bottom is twenty-five inches, the breadth of the seat within the sides is twenty-eight inches, and the depth eighteen inches. 

 

“At nine inches from the ground is a board, supported at the four corners by as many lions.  Between the seat and this board is enclosed a stone, commonly called Jacob’s, or the fatal Marble Stone, which is an oblong of about twenty-two inches in length, thirteen inches broad and eleven inches deep; of a steel color, mixed with some veins of red.  History relates that it is the stone whereon the patriarch Jacob laid his head in the plains of Luz.” 

 

 

The Promise to David

 

When David was chosen to be King over Yisrael, The MOST HIGH made a series of promises to him and his descendants that his throne would be established for ever and that he would always have a descendant of his sitting on that throne over the people of Yisrael (II Sam 7:16; Jer 33:17). 

 

With the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, in about 554 BCE, it looked like the Kingdom over Yisrael was ended when Tzidkiyahu and his sons were all slain and removed from power (II Kg 25:7).  But as noted in previous commentary, the prophet Yirmeyahu was commissioned to secure the throne and remove it from Canaan land to a place where it could once more rule over Yisrael (Jer 1:10; 43:5-7; 44:14-28). 

 

 

The Overturn to Ireland

 

As mentioned in the former chapter, Yirmeyahu, following the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, took the king’s daughters and fled with them and obviously the throne of David (in the form of the Stone of Destiny) to Egypt (and evidently, in time, on to Spain on a movement West to the Isles of the Sea). 

 

From Egypt/Spain, Irish traditional knowledge indicates that this entourage went on to Ireland where King Tzidkiyahu’s daughter Tea Tephi was married to Eochaidh, an Irish descendant of Yehudah, Zerach and David--also as covered in the preceding commentary. 

 

Can the rule over Yisrael pass through a woman?  Yes, as pointed out by Christian Identity preacher Dan Gayman of the Church of Israel, it happened with Athaliah (Atalyahu in the Hebrew--II Kg 11:3); and of course, a surviving daughter can inherit in the absence of a male heir (Num 27:6-8; Josh 17:3-4). 

 

 

Burton E. Leavitt 

 

The April 2002 issue of “Kingdom Digest” (p. 38-41) had an article by Burton E. Leavitt on the “History of Tea Tephi” which addressed this relocation of the girl from the stock of Yehudah, Peretz and David from Palestine to Egypt and finally to Ireland where she was married to Eochaidh. 

 

As will be described in some detail in later chapters, there was an early Phoenician settlement in Ireland.  And in time, numbers of Israelites also relocated there.  Over the years, some portion of these two peoples probably miscegenated and amalgamated in Ireland.  But in the early settlements from Canaan, it is highly plausible that the two peoples had separate settlements in Ireland. 

 

Thus, this separation could explain why and how that there could be Israelite people in early Ireland with an Israelite king from the lineage of Zerach (contemporary with a Phoenician settlement which probably had its own Phoenician king). 

 

 

The Irish Chronicles and the Stone 

 

Leavitt’s article on Tea Tephi mentions the Irish Chronicles which contain much of the early history of Ireland.  From this source and the genealogical information on the kings of Ireland, Leavitt presents the traditional explanation of what happened with Tea Tephi and her immigration to Ireland. 

 

As pointed out above, the Scriptural record is that Yirmeyahu took the king’s (Tzidkiyahu’s) daughters and fled to Egypt.  Leavitt says that initially they took refuge in Egypt at Tahpanhes, a fortress and palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh Hophra in the Eastern part of the Delta of the Nile. 

 

In time, the princess Tea Tephi was brought from Egypt to Ireland (via Spain) in the sixth century BCE by an aged prophet named Ollam Fola, who started a school for prophets in Ireland following his arrival with the Hebrew girl (who was known in Ireland as the daughter of a Pharaoh or King).   

 

The accepted belief on this man Ollam Fola is that he was Yirmeyahu the prophet who had a commission from YHWH to reestablish the throne of David in Ireland, following its demise in Canaan (Jer 1:10).  A bust of the prophet Yirmeyahu is in Dublin castle and the name Jerry is extremely popular to this day in Ireland. 

 

Tea Tephi married the local Israelite king and commenced a line of royalty which ran through all of the Irish kings, and eventually intermarried with the royal families of Scotland and England. 

 

The traditional belief is that both Ollam Fola (Yirmeyahu) and Tea Tephi died in Ireland and are buried there at Tara’s Hill (or the great Mergech, a Hebrew word meaning a repository or palace of hidden treasure, per Leavitt). 

 

This article ties the whole movement of the aged Hebrew prophet and the young Hebrew princess to the prophecies of Ezekiel 17 on the lofty Cedars of Lebanon, which are thought to be a symbol of the royal House of David (as will be discussed in comments to follow in some detail).  Tea Tephi is thought to be the tender twig in this great prophecy. 

 

The prophet Ollam Fola also brought with him an ancient stone called the Lia Fail (or Stone Wonderful and/or the Stone of Destiny). 

 

The Stone of Destiny became the coronation stone in Ireland (with the later Irish kings being crowned while seated over the stone).  It was used there up until about 500 CE. 

 

 

To Scotland

 

From Ireland, the stone was carried to Scotland and used in Scotland for the crowning of the Scottish kings. 

 

 

Dr Geoffrey Keating

 

In a writing on “Forus Feasa ar Erim” (as translated by David Comyn), Dr Geoffrey Keating wrote (per J. H. Allen): 

 

“...It is it (the Stone) that is called ‘Lia Fail.’ and it is it that used to roar under each king of Ireland on his being chosen by them... and it is that stone called in Latin ‘Saxum Fatale.’ 

 

“This stone which is called ‘Lia Fail,’ another name for it is the Stone of Destiny; for it was in destiny for this stone whatever place it would be in, that it is a man of the Scotic nation, i.e. of the seed of Mileadh of Spain, that would be in the sovereignty of that country, according as is read in Hector Boetius in the History of Scotland...

 

“When the race of Scots heard that the stone had this virtue, after Feargus the great, son Earc, had obtained power in Scotland, and after he had proposed to style himself King of Scotland, he sends information into the presence of his brother Muircheartach, son of Earc, of the race of Eireamhon, who was the king of Ireland at that time, to ask him to send him this stone, to sit upon, for the purpose of being proclaimed King of Scotland on the same stone, and he was the first King of Scotland of the Scottish nation.” 

 

 

Fiona Macleod

 

In “An Iona Anthology,” Fiona Macleod noted (evidently per J. H. Allen):

 

“On this stone--the old Druidic Stone of Destiny, sacred among the Gael before Christ was born--Columba crowned Aidan, King of Argyle.  Later the stone was taken to Dunstaffnage, where the Lords of the Isles were made princes:  thence to Scone, where the last Celtic Kings of Scotland were crowned on it.” 

 

 

George Buchanan

 

In the “History of Scotland,” George Buchanan wrote (also perhaps from J. H. Allen): 

 

“The marble seat which Simon Breccus is said to have imported from Spain to Ireland. and Fregus, son of Ferchard, carried thence to Argyle (Dunstaffnage) in Scottish Albium, he caused to be removed from Argyle to Scone on the river Tay, and set it there enclosed in a chair of wood.  In that seat the kings of Scotland used to receive the title and insignia of Royalty until the time of Edward I of England.” 

 

 

To England

 

The stone remained in Scotland until the thirteenth century CE when Scotland was conquered by the English King Edward I.  The stone was then transferred to London, England where it became the symbol par excellence of British royalty. 

 

It has been used for coronation purposes ever since in England (where it rightfully belonged in view of the English ties to Yehudah, as will be addressed in chapters to follow). 

 

In the reign of Edward I, a magnificent chair was built to house or contain the stone so that the monarch could sit in the chair and be directly over the stone (the former Scottish kings also had the stone housed under a chair.  Possibly the Scottish chair was an earlier chair and not the one built by Edward; though some witnesses do attach the Edward chair to Scotland). 

 

For vast centuries, this chair and stone were on display at Westminister Abbey in London, as discussed above. 

 

 

“Encyclopedia Britannica”

 

The “Encyclopedia Britannica” (in its 1929 ed), gives this summary of the movement of the stone in an article on Inisfail--viz:

 

“INISFAIL, a poetical name for Ireland.  It is derived from Inis ‘island’ and Lia-fail, the celebrated stone, identified in Irish legend with the stone on which the patriarch Jacob slept when he dreamed of the heavenly ladder.  The Lia-fail was supposed to have been brought to Ireland by the Dehannans and set up at Tara as the ‘inauguration stone’ of the Irish kings; it was subsequently removed to Scone where it became the coronation stone of the Scottish kings, until it was taken... to Westminister and placed under the coronation chair in the Abbey, where it has since remained.  Inis-fail was thus the island where monarchs were crowned at Tara on the sacred inauguration stone.” 

 

 

More on Yechezkel and the Throne

 

With the above description, more questions might arise on the Scriptural basis of how the throne of David moved from the Middle East to the British Isles.  For an answer here, one must turn to the book of Ezekiel (with an analysis and quotation from the above cited Burton E. Leavitt). 

 

Some of the great prophecies of Yechezkel were discussed in some detail in previous chapters.  Without repeating those remarks, it would be well here to take note of the fact that the book of Ezekiel prophetically laid out much of the future associated with the throne of David. 

 

Yechezkel offered some great prophecies on the movement of the throne of David from Palestine, along with the regathering of Yisrael in the Isles of the Sea (Ezek 17-21). 

 

While the tender twig (of Ezekiel 17:4) likely was a daughter of King Tzidkiyahu, who was taken by Yirmeyahu to the new land of Yisrael in the Isles of the Sea (as was cited in the above presentation and as will be further discussed in later chapters), she was surely an example or ante-type of a still future, coming twig. 

 

Again, this whole book of Ezekiel is future in early 2003.  This small twig will have a great typical fulfillment--possibly in the context of the coming Philadelphia Assembly of believers which can have a major role to play in the coming movement of David’s throne--eventually back to Palestine. 

 

 

Ezekiel 21:27-28

 

Ezekiel 21:27 seems to describe three overturns of the throne.  Many students of the Book (particularly Christian Identity people) have studied the removals from Canaan to Ireland to Scotland and to England and perceived in them the fulfillment of this prophecy recorded in Ezekiel 21:26-27 (which seems to outline three overturns of the throne over Yisrael before it is finally restored to its rightful owner--YESHUA). 

 

But this reasoning has problems because already the throne has moved effectively again recently, as will be discussed below, in the context of Yakov’s Pillar Stone.  Christian Identity people can’t explain this most recent move. 

 

While these three historic overturns may have some support, they can only logically represent ante-typical fulfillments at best.  This writer looks for three great movements of that throne after 2003 to bring it back to Palestine to await its rightful owner (YESHUA).  We all will have to watch what happens on this course. 

 

 

A Recent Movement 

 

As just broached above, a problem with this understanding on Ezekiel 21 has now arisen in the last several years when the Stone of Destiny was removed from England and taken to Scotland. 

 

In the last few years, an agreement was struck with the Scottish people that allows the stone to be on permanent display in Scotland and to be returned to London whenever there is a coronation of a new British monarch. 

 

As noted, this writer suspects that the Yechezkel prophecy on the three overturns may have had an ante-typical fulfillment in ancient times; but that the actual prophecy will reach fulfillment in the age end.  This option suggests that the three overturns are all now future.  Later chapters will offer some ideas on how this will come about. 

 

 

More on The Present Situation 

 

Persons familiar with this throne and its present location on planet earth are very cognizant of the turmoil developing around David’s throne in recent years and particularly so with its recent movement and with the developing hostility of the Israelite peoples to their prince scheduled to rule when the present Queen dies. 

 

While the present Queen seems to be a person of some honor and integrity, the same cannot be said for the prince in line to succeed her. 

 

Both he and his former wife seem to have led scandalous lives of adultery, fornication and sin which was more than sufficient to have disgraced both of them.  She was fornicating with a mixed blooded mamzer in the back-seat of a car the night that she was reportedly killed in a traffic accident in Paris in 1997. 

 

Moreover, the surviving prince is a classic New Ager who uses ouija boards, talks to plants and reportedly has seances with his dead uncle.  He is at serious odds with the state church plus the Scriptures.   His conduct has raised important questions about how much support he will have to be king when his mother dies. 

 

Finally, this very situation may be used by The ELOHIM to reject this prince (or one of his descendants) at some point in time from rule over Yisrael.  In other words, his sins and shortcomings may cause the throne to be overturned and removed from him and his lineage.  If this happens, it assuredly will set the stage for YESHUA to take possession of it when He soon returns. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 130--Locating the House of Yisrael I

 

 

Race is Important 

 

Since race has had to be broached herein, in all fairness to approach truth, this publication has went the extra mile so far in not attempting to relate the Scriptural definitions and terms associated with race precisely to many specific peoples living in today’s world. 

 

While there have been some revealing hints, inadvertent remarks and a few isolated exceptions (like for the Edomites, as broached earlier), by and large, this production has largely bypassed any exact interpretations of which moderns may constitute the various Scripturally described peoples.  Or at least, this writer has tried to avoid being overly dogmatic on who may be the lost House of Yisrael. 

 

So, to try to be as innocent as a dove and yet as wise as a serpent, this work has not attempted so far to definitely link the historic House of Yisrael nations to specific peoples today (beyond the few inadvertent clues and remarks outlined, as being necessary for communication purposes). 

 

The same is partly true with the behemah and chaiyah.  In other words, the reader can do his/her own study and make some conclusions about who most of these peoples are without precise identifications being made herein. 

 

 

Clues on Adam 

 

While also not wishing to attach the word Adam to any specific group of people on planet earth, some benefit can arise for the student of truth if a few very revealing clues are given.  For example, the word Adam is a proper noun name which in Hebrew has a specific meaning that goes a long way in explaining whom Adamites are racially in the world at large. 

 

A lengthy study of the meaning of the word Adam can be very revealing and the student of truth should spend some time on this pursuit.

 

The “Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament” (v. 1, p. 78-79) seems to etymologically connect Adam to the “skin” and “to be red” --in the sense that after washing the new born Adamic baby, the normal human color is a reddish brown (the bringing of redness to the surface of the skin occurs when washing, rubbing or pinching the new born Adamic baby). 

 

To help clarify what is involved, a thorough study will eventually lead a person to conclude that the best explanation for Adam is to bring red to face--to blush (as several scholars have indicated--see “Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary,” # 119, 120 and 121, per Dan Gayman of the Church of Israel). 

 

Find some humans who can blush and you have found Adam. 

 

 

The Word on Race 

 

The student may wish to check various Hebrew lexicons on this, as well as a survey of the contextual uses of the word.  Moreover, there are several Scriptural texts using the Hebrew “yapheh” (meaning fair) which likewise are most revealing in terms of Adamic peoples--such as Genesis 12:11-14; I Samuel 17:42; II Samuel 13:1; 14:27; I Kings 1:3-4; Job 42:15; Jeremiah 11:16; etc. 

 

Please note that David was both fair and ruddy (I Sam 16:12; 17:42) and may have had red hair.  David’s descendant YESHUA was “white and ruddy” (SofS 5:10).  Moshe was exceedingly fair (Acts 7:20) and Queen Esther was fair and beautiful (Est 2:7).  The Talmud says that Yosef’s face was pink like a rose (Sota, p. 36, quoted in “The United States and the British Empire Foretold in the Bible,” p. 10). 

 

One of the Dead Sea Scrolls had a commentary on Genesis 12:14 which said that Sarah was “very fair” --literally meaning bright or light because of her whiteness--on this meaning, see Esther 2:7; Lamentations 4:7; and Song of Songs 5:10 (“The United States and British Empire Foretold in the Bible,” p. 10). 

 

One of Avraham’s nephews was named “Laban” (correctly Lavan in Hebrew), which means “white” (“Young’s Analytical Concordance,” p. 581).  Lavan was the brother of Rebekah and the father of Rachel and Leah. 

 

 

Adam and Geography 

 

It appears that in the traditional sense, one whole continent was allocated just to the descendants of Adam.  In this continent, a portion of it has been largely inhabited by descendants of Shem.  Another segment is essentially Hamitic with descendants of Ham, plus a lot of miscegenation with the behemah.  Son Japheth, whose line has miscegenated with the chaiyah, has his descendants in another part. 

 

If a person was to attempt to apply these definitions to Europe, for example, it “might be” that the people of Shem can be classified as Nordics, the people of Japheth as Slavics and the people of Ham as Mediterranean. 

 

There are twelve tribes or entities of Arabs (from Ishmael) in the Middle East and in North Africa.  Some of the sons of Keturah may have settled in South-central Asia, as discussed earlier.  A remnant of Yehudah is in Palestine, of course. 

 

Finally, the Edomites seem to be inhabiting Southern Ireland, Southeastern Europe, Turkey and and parts of Southern Asia; while the Amalekites are attached as parasites on Yehudah and the House of Yisrael nations (to be later described).  In terms of the rest of Asia and Africa, it should not be too difficult to figure out which humans/humanoids live there. 

 

Of course, there has been much moving around by various individuals and significant migrations of other humanoids from other areas into these traditional lands of Adam.  Once different peoples are together, miscegenation and amalgamation proceeds, as it is doing presently in the United States (unless strict laws of segregation are maintained, as was true in the Old South). 

 

Beyond this one continent which is historically Adamic, it is clear that Adam’s line has an appreciable presence on the other continents as well--along with the behemah and chaiyah peoples and numbers of mixed blooded peoples from the years of miscegenation.  This is particularly true of Yisrael which was allocated a number of specific areas all over the globe. 

 

One of the great difficulties in trying to assess the racial and ethnic identifications of peoples in a given area is the fantastic years of moving around, coupled with much miscegenation.  It appears that religion is one of the primary factors of identification and should be kept in mind. 

 

Language has had some importance in the historic sense, but not so much in modern times because of the movement and amalgamation of various peoples. 

 

 

More Clues on Yisrael 

 

While this production has so far not found it desirable to give precise and specific identifications for all of the various peoples across the globe, it would be remiss to proceed on in this effort without sharing some very appropriate clues from the Word which will help and assist the student of truth in particularly identifying the various lost tribes of Yisrael in our time. 

 

As the Scriptures plainly communicate, these lost tribes were to continue to exist and have a racial or ethnic identification throughout history.  The evidence is most persuasive that all thirteen of them are in the world today, beyond the remnant of Yisrael found among the Jews. 

 

Yes, thirteen because not only did the ten Northern tribes of Yisrael go into Assyrian captivity--but the Word suggests that portions of Yehudah, Binyamin and Levi did as well (as discussed before herein). 

 

In short, there is a recognizable nationalistic presence of these 13 tribes out there somewhere, despite the fact that they are called and known as goyim, ethne and/or gentiles. 

 

These thirteen tribes seem to be bound by a “common” law (although they often ignore it), common language, common culture, common religion (which is not the Scripturally correct Hebrew religion--because Yisrael lost that faith in the divorce) and common racial/ethnic considerations.  Therefore, there is a grouping of them very plainly identifiable in history and contemporary times. 

 

 

Yisrael in the Land 

 

To begin to assess the removal of Yisrael from the promise land, it is imperative to look at a little history in the vein of the tribal dispersions of Yisrael in Canaan land.  This discussion will center on a map presented in my 1892 “KJV Bible.” 

 

The reader may wish to check any atlas or book on Canaan geography during Yisrael’s kingdom age to get an overview of the following comments. 

 

One of the half tribes of Manasseh and the tribes of Gad and Reuven were East of the Jordan in a North-South line.  The other half tribe of Manasseh, Ephraim and Binyamin were in the central area, West of the Jordan.  Yissakhar and Zevulun were directly North of Manasseh and specifically Manasseh West of the Jordan. 

 

Naftali and Asher were North of Zevulun and adjacent to Phoenicia on the coast.  Yehudah and Shimon were in the South (although a part of Shimon later settled East of the Jordan, certainly by the time of Hizkiyahu, if not earlier--see I Chron 4:24-43). 

 

One half tribe of Dan was North of Manasseh, mainly East of the Jordan.  The other half tribe of Dan was in the West-central area and along the coast between Philistia and Phoenicia.  The Levites were scattered in towns throughout Yisrael. 

 

 

The Voluntary Dispersals 

 

A prior chapter assessed the question of the House of Yisrael out in the Diaspora and in the context of many of the dispersions from Palestine over the centuries.  There is no intent to repeat that material.  But some of it is especially relevant in the present discussion and needs to be recalled. 

 

As outlined in that chapter, the possibility must surface that some Israelites actually left the overall national entity on a voluntary basis, perhaps as early as the wilderness wanderings, following the Exodus. 

 

This writer has no specifics on this option.  But some scholars have suggested it as plausible--and especially in the sense that the population did not increase during the 40 years following the Exodus (as outlined in a former chapter). 

 

As discussed in a former chapter, there are reasons to believe that many (not all) of the descendants of Yehudah’s son Zerach left at an early time.  As noted in that previous discussion, there might be reasons to suspect that some persons of this line left Yisrael as early as the Exodus. 

 

So, if some Israelites left, where did they go?  Likely, they would have migrated on to Europe or Asia. 

 

On entering Canaan land under Yehoshua and thereafter, there is again a possibility of some voluntary dispersions out of Palestine, although details of such remain obscure or hidden.  The case with one of the half tribes of Dan will be shortly assessed along this line. 

 

 

The Invasions 

 

Finally, there are the three major invasions of the Canaan area--by first, the Assyrians, c700 BCE; next, the Babylonians, c554 BCE; and last, the Romans, c70 CE--as outlined in former chapters. 

 

The Assyrian conquests are most important because the House of Yisrael largely left Canaan during those years.  This removal will be broached in some detail in subsequent comments herein in this chapter. 

 

Moreover, it is clear that numbers of Israelites from the Northern kingdom departed Canaan land voluntarily on the approach of the Assyrian army, as discussed earlier and to be elaborated upon shortly.  The coming trouble was known in advance and it’s doubtful that all of those people would have stayed around to be conquered and enslaved. 

 

Many of these Israelites were not totally stupid.  They could see the trouble coming and would have voluntarily packed up and left in anticipation of the advancing sword. 

 

Also, as commented upon elsewhere in this production, there are possibilities that the early Romans under Romulus were Israelites fleeing Palestine--in advance of the approaching Assyrian army.  The Romulus settlement of Rome came immediately in advance of and near the time of the start of the Assyrian conquests in Canaan land. 

 

As discussed earlier, many of the early Romans were clearly Israelites of the lost tribes (or at least, the converts to Judaism and YESHUA were fleshly House of Yisrael Israelites). 

 

Writer Steven Collins builds a case that the early colony of Carthage was settled in the ninth century BCE by Israelites fleeing the drought in place in the House of Yisrael during the days of Eliyahu and the evil king Achav and his diabolical wife Jezebel (p. 55, Jan 2006 “Kingdom Digest”). 

 

Historically, the Phoenicians get credit for this settlement.  But since Jezebel was a Phoenician princess, it is very plausible that some Israelites were involved with the Phoenicians in this effort.  Collins notes a legend that the Phoenician queen who founded Carthage was a niece of Jezebel. 

 

Also, the earlier June 2001 “Kingdom Digest” magazine (p. 18) had a provocative article from “Destiny” which suggested that the early Spartans were of Yisrael.  II Maccabees 5:9-10 offers some remarks suggesting a kinship tie between the Spartans and the Jews. 

 

The “Concise Columbia Encyclopedia” (p. 799) says that the ancient city-state of Sparta was founded by Dorian Greeks (in Southeast Greece), who conquered Laconia and Messenia in c735-715 BCE.  These dates would seem to conform to the fall of the House of Yisrael to Assyria. 

 

Moreover, there are the previously discussed reasons indicating that numbers of Israelites settled in Asia Minor and Southeast Europe since they were there by the first century CE (per the NT people reached by the apostles).  One must wonder if these Israelites could have surfaced from the Sparta settlements or from the inhabitants of the legendary Troy (which may have involved Israelites). 

 

Also, there was the previously mentioned ties of Galatia to the Celts (who could have been Israelites).  Finally, an enormous Israelite population existed in Bohemia and Transylvania and in the Balkans (which also involved some Celts). 

 

 

The First Danite Motion 

 

As outlined above, the tribe of Dan was spilt and divided in old Canaan land.  In their allotment of the promise land, they were given territory along the coast, apparently between the Phoenicians to the North and the Philistines to the South (Josh 19:40-48).  The famous Samson lived and judged in the Southern part of Dan. 

 

But some of the Danites were unhappy with their allotment.  They proceeded to move far North of Naftali and Manasseh and settle the Northern border of Yisrael and establish a town called Laish (Jud 18:11-29).  Laish and the Danite border with Manasseh seem to have been mostly East of the Jordan River, in a territory called Bashan.  

 

There were a couple of other prophecies which likely tell what was to later happen to Dan.  First, Moshe wrote that Dan was a lion’s whelp and was to leap from Bashan (which must have been the Northern part of Dan). 

 

The next one was by Deborah when she predicted that Gilead abode beyond Jordan (on its East side) and why Dan remained in ships (Jud 5:17)--which the “Soncino Books of the Bible” (Judges, p. 199) expressly link to the Danites living in the North and not those to the Southwest. 

 

By putting these two references together one can speculate that the Northern part of Dan would in time jump from their land by ship over water to relocate somewhere else. 

 

Some years ago, a man named Frederick Haberman wrote a book on “Tracing Our Ancestors” which focused upon the Irish Chronicles.  These ancient writings suggest that the “Tuatha de Danaan” (tribe of Dan) leaped from Bashan by ship to relocate to Ireland which was then inhabited by some Phoenicians. 

 

Haberman goes on to offer a date when this likely occurred by quoting a 9th century CE Jewish writer named Eldud who said that Dan left Canaan land in Yarovam’s time (perhaps this involved a part of the Southern area of Dan), as they were unwilling to shed their brethren’s blood (perhaps in the context of the conflict with Yehudah). 

 

 

William Dankenbring, Revisited 

 

The previously quoted “Prophecy Flash” magazine of Jan-Feb 2000 (p. 41) had an article by William F. Dankenbring on “Overturn, Overturn, Overturn” which assessed the movements of Israelites into Ireland at a much earlier time than that allowed by Haberman. 

 

Citing Judges 5:17, this article says that people from the Tuatha de Danaan (the Tribe of Dan) migrated to Ireland in ships during David’s reign (evidently from Bashan). 

 

As commented upon earlier, Dankenbring suggests that Judahites from the line of Zerach also migrated into Ireland and Northwest Europe during the reign of David. 

 

Going on, William Dankenbring says that even David, himself, went to Ireland, and there, he married his daughter Tamar into the line of (Israelite) Irish nobility which had migrated there earlier.  Reportedly, David founded the “Doud’s Town” or David’s town and a college called Tara (or Torah) in Ireland.   

 

While a determination of exactly what happened to these Danites from Bashan seems difficult, it is reasonable to believe that over the centuries they were amalgamated into the larger Phoenician peoples then inhabiting Ireland.  In this eventual assimilation, they became Gaelic Celts or Celtiberians, just like the Phoenicians.  The Judahites from Zerach in early Ireland may have relocated to England. 

 

 

More on Dan 

 

It has to be important to note that Dan was an adder along the way who left his name or mark on many geographical places that he visited in his wanderings.  Sometimes, Dan is manifested as Dun, Don or Den. 

 

Consequently, whenever one comes across a place name like Denmark or the Danube River, a question must arise as to its likely linkage to the tribe of Dan in its migrations over the years. 

 

In Hebrew, the word dan means judge; and in Irish, the word dunn means judge.  In Ireland, the marks of Dan have been left in these place names--Dans-Laugh, Dan-sower, Dan-dalk, Dan-drum, Dan-egal Bay, Don-egal City, Dimgloe, Dingle, and Dunsmore (meaning “more Dans”). 

 

Although the tribe of Dan (the “Tuatha de Danaan”) assuredly divided in Canaan land, a question must now arise on whether they would later join back together in their eventual homeland in Ireland.  That question will be shortly addressed in the context of the removal of the rest of Dan.   

 

 

An Overview of the Assyrian Conquests 

 

As a prelude to the Assyrian attacks, the Aramaeans under Hazael smote and surely enslaved portions of the Israelite tribes East of the Jordan in the reign of Jehu (II Kg 10:31-35).  This historic event paved the way for a number of persons living East of the Jordan to become absorbed into the overall Aramaean population. 

 

Since the ancient Aramaeans apparently formed the eventual Dutch people of Holland, it becomes crystal clear why that there has been such a fantastic link between the Netherlands and the House of Yisrael and why so many Dutch people are actually Israelites (as will be broached in the following chapters). 

 

In time, the Assyrians conquered Syria held by the Aramaeans.  So it is likely that those Israelites East of the Jordan, under Syrian control, eventually came under Assyrian domination, along with the Aramaeans. 

 

Otherwise, Assyria came against the rest of Yisrael to take captives and reduce it in at least five motions (which could be relevant in terms of the five motions of destruction upon the later Yehudah).  The Assyrian Pul came first, during the reign of Menahem, and for sure took some tribute (II Kg 15:19). 

 

Soon, Pul and Tiglath-Pileser came against the remnant of the tribes of Manasseh, Reuven, Gad and any portion of Shimon living East of the Jordan.  These two Assyrian kings conquered those Israelites East of the Jordan and removed them to the Gozan River area to the Northeast in Assyria (I Chron 5:26). 

 

During the time of Pekah, Tiglath-Pileser arrived again and took certainly Naftali and other Northern areas (II Kg 15:27-30). 

 

Shalmaneser came during Hoshea’s rule and took Samaria and the rest of Yisrael captive (II Kg 17:3-6).  Some eight years later, the Assyrians returned under Sennacherib and took most of Yehudah (and likely the balance of Shimon) captive--other than those persons in the Jerusalem area (II Kg 18:13). 

 

 

More

 

Per an earlier discussion, this Assyrian captivity of Yehudah may have focused upon the Peretz line since some part or perhaps most of the Zerach line was already gone and much or all of Shelah’s descendants were to remain in the Jerusalem area to face the later Babylonian captivity.  

 

Thus, all of Yisrael was gone beyond a portion of the House of Yehudah in the Jerusalem area (II Kg 17:18). 

 

It was these people in the Jerusalem area, mainly from Yehudah (along with some Levites), who stayed in the Jerusalem area for the next 140 years and eventually formed most of the later Babylonian exile.  It appears that a majority of the Assyrian captives were taken East to an Assyrian territory to the North of Babylon, to be shortly discussed. 

 

 

Still More on the First and Second Conquests 

 

As outlined above, the first Assyrian conquest must have been the one which occurred during the reign of Menahem, when Pul came and took some tribute (II Kg 15:19).  Whether he enslaved any Israelites or not at that time is unclear to this writer. 

 

Next, the Assyrians Pul and Tiglath-Pileser came against the remnant of the tribes of Manasseh, Reuven, Gad and Shimon, still living East of the Jordan.  As noted above, these two Assyrian kings conquered those Israelites East of the Jordan and removed them to the Gozan River area to the Northeast in Assyria (I Chron 5:26). 

 

The portion of Dan which was East of the Jordan in Bashan was probably gone by this time.  But if any part of that element of Dan still existed in Canaan land, they would likely have been enslaved and deported, along with the other Israelites East of the Jordan. 

 

 

The Next Removal 

 

The next important Assyrian conquest of Yisrael happened during the time of Pekah, when Tiglath-Pileser arrived again and took certainly Naftali and other Northern and Northwestern tribal areas (II Kg 15:27-30).  Beyond enslaving Naftali, there are reasons to believe that this Assyrian conquest included Asher, Yissakhar, Zevulun and whatever was left of Dan (likely still in the Southwest). 

 

As outlined earlier herein, there is a strong possibility of some number of Israelite captives being taken in Phoenician boats to the West (and perhaps some or all of them were slaves under the Phoenicians--because the Phoenicians likely bought some Israelite slaves from the conquering Assyrians). 

 

It is probable that much of the population of the tribes near Phoenicia (possibly some portion of Naftali and Asher) were involved in these Phoenician removals. 

 

There are reasons to believe that these removed Israelites were also known in time as Celts.  They probably provided many of the Israelite settlements in the West (interestingly, from Bohemia to Spain, to France, and to Great Britain).  They seem to be distinguished from the earlier Celts in the sense that they were of the Cimmeroi (Cimmerian) class, to be described in the following chapters. 

 

In “The New Testament A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings” (p. 304), Bart D. Ehrman notes that Celtic people inhabited the Northern part of the province of Galatia in Asia Minor. 

 

As discussed in prior chapters, it is interesting that the early NT writings were written to House of Yisrael people scattered in the Middle East and Southeastern Europe. 

 

 

The Final Removals, Revisited 

 

As briefly noted above, the next removal from Canaan land occurred during the time of Hoshea’s rule when Shalmaneser came and took Samaria and the rest of Yisrael captive (II Kg 17:3-6).  This removal would have included Ephraim, the half tribe of Manasseh and any other Israelites in the central area around Samaria. 

 

Some eight years later, the Assyrians returned under Sennacherib and took most of Yehudah (and likely the balance of Shimon still living South of Yehudah) captive--the rest of Yisrael, other than those persons in the Jerusalem area (II Kg 18:13). 

 

These last two removals were made to Assyria in the Northeast.  In time, it is probable that Israelites in these last two removals became known as the Sakei (or Sacae), Angli and Jutes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 131-- Locating the House of Yisrael II

 

 

The Khorsbad Annals 

 

As briefly touched upon in a former chapter, King Sargon II of Assryia recorded the following boast of victory in the Khorsbad Annals: 

 

“At the beginning of my royal rule, I besieged and conquered Samaria (Sa-me-ri-na)... I led away as prisoners 27,290 inhabitants of it (and) [equipped] from among [them (soldiers to man) 50 chariots for my royal corps... [The town I] re[built] better than (it was) before and [settled] therein people from countries which [I}] myself [had con]quered.  I placed an officer of mine as governor over them and imposed upon them tribute as (is customary) for Assryian citizens.” 

 

While this 27,290 figure does represent a large number, it was by no means all of the people deported in the several deportations.  This number seems to have been of men only.  For certain, there was a large number of other Israelites involved. 

 

And as noted earlier from “Lost Israelite Identity” (p. 18-19, 39), Yair Davidy explains the 27,290 remark by Sargon as being the number of Israelite captives taken for their own military purposes (either to serve as soldiers or field workers supporting the Assyrian army). 

 

 

More

 

As established in that earlier presentation, the Assyrians took huge quantities of Israelites in their several invasions of Canaan.  So it’s a little hard to be exactly sure of what the total numbers were.  In the Assyrian campaigns against Yehudah, Sennacherib, in the famous Sennacherib prism, claimed 200,150 captives alone (“Lost Israelite Identity,” p. 19).  This 200,150 figure must, again, be of men alone. 

 

It is easy to see that several million Israelites could have been involved in the several Assyrian deportations. 

 

But even before the Assyrian conquests, the removal of people from Yisrael started.  As noted elsewhere herein, the evidence is massive that Israelites started to break away and leave their brethren as early as the Exodus from Egypt. 

 

Clearly, the census returns in the Torah show no population growth during the wilderness wanderings.  This seems unlikely--thus, suggesting that some Israelites left the main body even this early and migrated on to other lands. 

 

Earlier discussions have mentioned the situation with Israelites leaving their nation in the time of David and thereafter.  Many of them migrated by ship/boat to other lands, far removed from the Middle East. 

 

The migrations out of the Middle East probably took several processes in the several motions.  As discussed earlier, there are reasons suggesting that numbers of Israelites moved West either by ship/boat or by migration over land.  In almost all cases, the primary destination of Yisrael was West to the Isles of the Sea; although some of this process was slow occurring and involved many decades or centuries of movements. 

 

Much of it was by ship or boat, perhaps initially to lands across the Mediterranean Sea.  This option opens the door on why numbers of Israelites went to the Italian peninsula, Asia Minor, Southeast Europe and so forth to populate Rome and other cities in these areas, as was pointed out in previous commentary. 

 

That’s why in the first century CE there were huge numbers of House of Yisrael Israelites in the various cities cited in the New Testament which were typically visited by Shaul and the other NT leaders. 

 

Yes, when Shaul visited Ephesus, Philippi, etc, he was making an effort to reach the lost sheep of the House of Yisrael in those lands; who, by the way, were then in the process of conversion to Judaism in the synagogues (as is proven and established by other comments herein). 

 

 

By Land

 

Of course, it was not only the movements over water because the record is clear that numbers of Israelites also moved in more slow migrations over land.  Yes, as will be shortly shown from secular records, there is much evidence showing the movement of Israelites out of the Middle East by land to areas North and principally West. 

 

Some even reportedly moved East before finally being able to commence a more Westerly motion to reach their desired destinations.  Obviously, some of these movements took centuries to complete.  This means that it was the children, grandchildren and other descendants of the original Israelite migrants who would ultimately reach their next promised land. 

 

 

Both Voluntary and By Force

 

Here, in recognizing this motion of Yisrael out of the Middle East to the North and West, it must be stated that much of this effort was carried out voluntarily by Israelites simply striking out on their own--either because of fear of an approaching enemy army or perhaps just something in their genes to make them want to move to new lends in hopes of having a better opportunity in life. 

 

Too, as noted in the former chapters, much of the Israelite migration out of the Middle East was necessitated simply because of force.  They were conquered and enslaved people and forced to move. 

 

 

Some More History 

 

Samaria was established as the capitol of the House of Yisrael by a man named Omri (I Kg 16:23-28).  Omri was a very evil king and he fathered a boy named Achav, who succeeded him on the throne to introduce far more sun worship wickedness and evil than ever before into the House of Yisrael. 

 

The people became so grossly evil and wicked in Baal sun worship that The MOST HIGH, in time, commissioned the Assyrians to come down and conquer them and impose servitude upon them.  Now comes up a most fascinating fact. 

 

“Bible Light On The News” (v. 7, No. 2, p. 34) had an article by John Hulley on “Ephraim--Super Power?” which addressed this Assyrian conquest of Yisrael.  Per Hulley, the Assyrians called these people the Omrii, in difference to their former King Omri (who must have had some notoriety). 

 

The Mar-Apr 2000 “America’s Promise” newsletter (p. 7) mentions these Omrii as Khumri.  The famous black obelisk monument of Assyria found some years ago has an inscription referring to some of the captive Israelites as “Bit Khumri” --meaning the “House of Omri.” 

 

This name Omrii (or Khumri) stuck to and became an identifier for at least one portion or group of the Israelite captives.  In time, this word Omrii varied to Gimirri in parts of the Assyrian empire.  Later, it was identified in Greek as Kimmeri.  And in Western Europe, it became Cimmeri (as introduced in preceding comments). 

 

The writer of this study at hand believes that these Cimmerians were made up of some of the Northern Israelite tribes which went into Assyrian bondage, mainly during the time of Pekah when Tiglath-Pileser arrived and took certainly Naftali and other Northern areas (II Kg 15:27-30).  In time, these Cimmerians came to be known as Brythonic or Cymric Celts. 

 

This enslavement must have included Naftali, Asher, Yissakhar, Zevulun and whatever was left of the tribe of Dan.  In view of the above comments from different sources, it might be that this enslavement took two different directions.  Perhaps some part of it involved the Phoenicians who transported some of the these captives directly to the West while some of the others were taken East to Assyria. 

 

 

Yisrael Breaks Free of the Assyrians 

 

In terms of the Israelites taken East to old Assyria, there is evidence that they broke free of the Assyrians during a time of internal trouble and turmoil in Assyria (II Kg 19:7, 32-37; II Esdras 13:39-45) and moved North through the Caucasus to new lands in Armenia and Southern Russia.  Different groups of them became known as the Sakei, Sacae, Angli and Jutes--as they migrated on North and West. 

 

A former chapter herein quoted Yeshayahu the prophet who correctly observed that in a future day of YHWH, lost Yisrael would be gathered from the land of Assyria (Isa 27:12-13--here, the KJV incorrectly translates the Hebrew “ahvad,” meaning lost, to perish).  In another instance, Yeshayahu followed up with a similar message (Isa 49:5, 20-22). 

 

While these words of Yeshayahu may still be future, they also have an ante-type connection to the past. 

 

John Hulley, discussed above, goes on to indicate that some of the Cimmerians, also in Assyrian captivity in the East, eventually escaped or left Assyria as well to enter Asia Minor and go on North into Europe (perhaps at the same time as the others broke free or in a different time frame). 

 

In time, the Cimmerians and likely the rest of the Israelites from Assyria in the East proceeded on to the area of modern Denmark, before leaving there later for the West.  Since Denmark is Dan’s mark, it is certain that some Danites were in this Cimmerian motion. 

 

Without being dogmatic, this writer would take a guess and suppose that the divided Southern Danites in Canaan (perhaps in the Cimmerian motion) did eventually rejoin their Northern Danite colleagues in Southern Ireland to become Gaelic Celts, along with the predominant Catholic Phoenicians. 

 

 

Terry Blodgett 

 

In “Phonological Similarities in Germanic and Hebrew,” Terry Marvin Blodgett describes the work of the Russian Archaeological Society in the Middle East. 

 

According to Blodgett, this group found tablets at Nineveh which describe the rebellion of the Sakei, Sac-Suni, Saac-soni (sounds like the sons of Isaac) or Esak-ska peoples who broke free of their Assyrian captors, during the time that Sennacherib was in siege against Jerusalem. 

 

This would agree with the Scriptural references, cited above (II Kg 19:7, 37).  They escaped through the narrow passages of the Euphrates River to the North (II Esdras 13:39-45).  Blodgett goes on to note that the archaeological team found over 700 Hebraic inscriptions in the Crimean Peninsula and the area around the Black Sea (which was called the Sea of Israel in the inscriptions). 

 

In the Crimea, a grave epitaph was found which said:  “This is the tomb of Buki, the Priest, may his rest be in Eden at the time of the salvation of Israel, in the year 702 of our exile.”  Another one remarked:  “Rabbi Moshe Levi died in the year of our exile 726.” 

 

A third one related:  “Zadoc, the Levite, son of Moshe, died 4,000 years after the creation, or 785 of our exile.”  From the Assyrian conquests in the 8th century, these tombstones would seem to date about 700 plus years or roughly at the time of The MESSIAH in Palestine (which is around 4,000 years after creation). 

 

Another inscription said:  “I am Jehudi, the son of Moshe, the son of Jehudah the mighty, a man of the tribe of Naphtali, of the family of Shimli, who was carried captive in the captivity of Hoshea, king of Israel, with the tribe of Simeon, together with other tribes of Israel.” 

 

One more, in the Crimean Peninsula, was about a man named Avraham-Mar-Sinchah.  It seems to have been dated 682 in the year of his exile.  It also mentions Tiglath-Pileser, who exiled the sons of Reuven and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh and permitted them to settle there (?) and from which they were scattered throughout the East, even as far as China. 

 

Thus, the evidence is that Yisrael did escape Assyrian captivity in the Middle East and commence a trek North through the passages of the Euphrates into new lands in Armenia, the Crimea and Caucasus Mountains of Asia.  From there, they still later migrated on North and West to still other lands. 

 

 

More Connections 

 

Various encyclopedias seem to describe such an Eastern people.  They are called “Scythians.”  To the Persians, these Scythians were known as the Saka.  A 516 BCE inscription by King Darius of Persia was found near Behistun in modern Iran.  It mentions these Saka (Scythians), as in subjugation to the Medes and Persians. 

 

Apparently, some part of Yisrael dwelt among the Medes and Persians.  In that context, it is possible that some part of them were Medes and/or Persians, or absorbed into the Medeo-Persian peoples in some manner.  In mentioning this reality from history, there is no intent to link these ancient Israelites necessarily to the modern Iranians who seem to be a largely different people. 

 

As elsewhere discussed herein, there is a possibility that the Iranians might be descendants, in part, from Keturah, and cannot be confused with Yisrael (though there could be some crossing between the two lines in centuries past before the people from Keturah miscegenated with the Arabs, Edomites and other Colored peoples of the Middle East.  The Moshe marriage to Zipporah is a sample of this crossing). 

 

The Greek historian Herodotus (c484-425 BCE) noted that in his day the Saka Humavarga people were located East and Southeast of the Sea of Aral, even as far as Turkestan and the borders of India. 

 

Diodorus, in the first century BCE, said that kindred Saca peoples spread from the Araxes to as far West as the Don and that they settled two colonies from Assyria and Media on that river (to the Northwest in Europe). 

 

Also, in the first century BCE, Strabo mentioned a dominant people who conquered the area from Cappadocia to the Caspian.  They gave their name to Sacasone, the fertile region of Armenia.  Phiny, in the first century CE, recognized that the Saca were a part of the Scythian people, whose territory originally abutted the boundaries of Persia itself and was called Sacae-Sani. 

 

 

They Continued On

 

From across Europe, these Israelites breaking free of Assyrian bondage continued their Western migrations until they eventually reached their Western destination--which was the anticipated Isles of the Sea. 

 

The point of this outline is that over the ages Yisrael was scattered to the four winds--particularly in Europe and Asia.  This was especially the prevailing situation during Second Temple days in Palestine after the Jews returned from Babylon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 132--Locating the House of Yisrael III

 

 

Some Specifics On the Present Situation 

 

There are a number of prophecies directly focusing on the different 13 tribes of Yisrael.  The most important one of these was made by Yakov-Yisrael as he blessed his sons (Gen 48-49).  Moshe was to also record a series of prophecies--just before Yisrael was to enter the promised land (Deut 33). 

 

The book of Judges similarly has several important prophecies focusing on specific tribes (Jud 5:12-20).  All of these predictions must be consulted, along with other relevant remarks, to appreciate what was to eventually to happen to each of the 13 tribes. 

 

Although this writer does not have the specifics on this in any detail, there is some relevance of the sequential number each son was born in to Yisrael (thus, Binyamin was number 12 in sequence which must be important). 

 

Too, the number of sons each of the sons of Yisrael had (and in some instances their grandsons whom are named in Gen 46) is also relevant in terms of the eventual modern configurations of the tribes, or at least with their flags (Binyamin had ten sons which has to be important in looking at his modern descendants). 

 

 

The Modern Layout

 

Next, at the Exodus, YHWH decreed that there was to be a certain marching order and encampment display for Israelites in their wilderness wanderings.  Specifically, He charged that they be divided into five distinct groups around the Tabernacle. 

 

When camped, Yehudah, Yissakhar and Zevulun were to be on the East side; Reuven, Shimon and Gad on the South; Ephraim, Manasseh, and Binyamin on the West; Dan, Naftali and Asher on the North; and Levi in the middle with the Tabernacle (Num 1-2). 

 

This layout seems to be precisely what one can find for these peoples in today’s modern world.  In respect to each other, they appear so grouped. 

 

Yehudah (symbol--a lion), with three surviving sons, was to hold the scepter, the throne of David (Gen 49:8-12; Deut 33:7).  Zevulun (symbol--a ship), with three sons, was to be by the sea and a seafaring people with a haven for ships and a flank toward Zidon (Gen 49:13; Deut 33:18-19). 

 

Yissakhar (symbol--a donkey indicating industriousness and work), with four sons, carries a big (physical) work load for Yisrael (Gen 49:14; Deut 33:18-19).  And from the words of Deborah, there is a remark suggesting that the princes of Yissakhar were with Deborah (Jud 5:15). 

 

While Deborah’s projection is quite complex, it may have some meaning by restoring the Hebrew properly to say the princes “in” Yissakhar (per “Soncino Books of the Bible”).  Is it possible that the later ruling line of David would have princes in or of Yissakhar?  If so, this would be a great clue to define Yissakhar. 

 

Dan (symbol--a serpent), with one son, miscegenated greatly with the Phoenicians (as discussed previously herein) and evidently adopted the most gross forms of false Christian worship to preclude Dan from having an election in the coming Messianic kingdom (Gen 49:16-17; Deut 33:22; Rev 7:1-8). 

 

Naftali (symbol--a hind), with four sons, was to have a lake (per the Berkeley and Amplified Translations) in its South (Gen 49:21; Deut 33:23).  Asher (symbol--an olive tree, signifying oil), with four sons, was to have his foot dipped in oil and dwell near the sea or ocean (Gen 49:20; Deut 33:24; Jud 5:17). 

 

 

More 

 

Reuven (symbol--a man; a seeing son and of a good nature, per Philo, p. 349), with four sons, was to be substantially smaller in numbers (Gen 49:3-4; Deut 33:6).  Deborah speaks of the divisions of Reuven where there were great resolves of heart (Jud 5:15, which means that they would wait to see which side was winning before joining in--per “Soncino Books of the Bible”). 

 

Gad (symbol--a tent), with seven sons, was to be enlarged in territory (Gen 49:19; Deut 33:20-21); and Shimon (symbol--a dagger; of learning and instruction, signifying listening, per Philo, p. 349), with six sons, was also to be small in number and be divided and/or scattered (Gen 49:5-7). 

 

Ephraim (symbol--a unicorn; of memory and fruit-bearing, per Philo, p. 229, 349) was the adopted 13th son of Yisrael who received the birthright with the greatest of blessings and wealth to benefit a people in history (Gen 48:8-20; 49:22-26; Deut 33:13-17).  His name means “double fruit.” 

 

Genesis 49:22-26 says that in the last days, Yosef (Ephraim) will be a fruitful bough near a well (water); archers will shoot (arrows) at him; and he has a bow and strong arms to use in strength from YHWH.  Psalms 60:7 and 108:8 indicate that Ephraim is the strength or support of The ELOHIM’s head. 

 

Hosea 4:17 and 13:2 note that Ephraim is tied to idols; Hosea 13:1 is more specific is saying that Ephraim is involved in Baal sun worship (and dies from it--see also Hosea 10:5 and Isaiah 17:3-10); Hosea 8:11 communicates that Ephraim pursues foreign intrigue and entanglements; Hosea 7:1 accuses Ephraim of fraud and thefts and says that he is wicked; Hosea 10:11 recognizes that Ephraim will be a great agricultural nation; Hosea 11:8 ties great wealth to Ephraim; Hosea 7:1 suggests that Ephraim is proud and arrogant in attributing his supposed wealth and strength to himself; and Hosea 7:7-8 points out that Ephraim recklessly mixed (integrated and miscegenated) his people interracially with others (who devoured his strength). 

 

 

A Company of States

 

Importantly, Ephraim’s government is made up of a company or group of nations or states.  Deborah appears to link Ephraim’s root (or remnant) to an age end Amalekite issue/trouble (Jud 5:14). 

 

As outlined in a previous chapter, Psalms 82:6 has a curious reference to the children of The MOST HIGH.  Yair Davidy notes in Talmudically authorized Aramaic, the word is “Angli” (“Lost Israelite Heritage,” p. 65-66). 

 

Davidy goes on to say that the Angli (i.e. Angles of the Anglo Saxons) were also known as Aegli (Hebrew bull-calves) and thus links to Ephraim, as cited previously.  In Hebrew, the word “Aegel” is a nickname applied to Ephraim (“Lost Israelite Identity,” p. 66).  The reader can draw his/her own conclusion on these remarks. 

 

Manasseh (symbol--a tree--eventually placed in part or symbolically on his flag; of recollection out of forgetfulness, per Philo, p. 349), the eleventh son in sense of Yosef, was to have about ten percent of the people that Ephraim had and was to share in some of the blessings (Gen 48:8-20; 49:22-26; Deut 33:13-17). 

 

Prophetically, Manasseh and Ephraim, the two sons of Yosef, were to bear Yisrael’s name (Gen 48:16).  Ephraim, in particular, represents Yisrael in Hosea and some of the other prophets.  This fact means that many of the Scriptural prophecies which address Yisrael pertain to these two sons of Yosef or Ephraim individually, and not necessarily, to the larger House of Yisrael or to the overall definition of all 13 tribes.  

 

Binyamin (symbol--a wolf), with ten sons, was to dwell safely between Yehudah and Ephraim (Gen 49:27; Deut 33:12).  Levi (symbol--a garnet stone), the last son and grouping, with three sons, may not have been destined to have a separate national identity, as was true with the other tribes.  Thus, Levi was to be dedicated to YHWH and to be divided and scattered in Yisrael (Gen 49:5-7; Deut 33:8-10). 

 

 

The Regathering in the Isles of the Sea 

 

Another remark must be made about the “regathering” of Yisrael, mentioned several times in the prophetic Tanakh (and heretofore as well).  There are actually several cases of this phenomenon, covering a whole span of years. 

 

In the first instance, portions of the tribes of Yisrael and particularly those of the House of Yisrael migrated to the islands in the sea (their first primary destination), probably starting from the time of the Exodus from Egypt up to 1600 CE (Isa 11:11; 20:6; 24:15; 26:15; 41:1-2; 42:4-12; 49:1-3; 51:5; 59:18; 60:9; 66:19; Jer 31:10; Ezek 39:6; Dan 11:18). 

 

The prophetic mention of the islands in or of the sea in the context of Yisrael is a most important reference.  Many persons have read the various verses involved in the sense of being the islands in the Mediterranean Sea--like Sicily, Cyprus, Malta and any number of small islands off Greece and Italy. 

 

Certainly, many Israelites went to these islands, as well as to Southeast Europe and Asia Minor, at early times before moving on West or being absorbed by the more dominant Edomite populations (that’s why there were whole groups of House of Yisrael people in the NT places reached by the apostles in the days of the Apostolic Assembly, as discussed in former chapters). 

 

But otherwise, one should not lose sight of the fact that there are a number of islands off of Europe in the context of the British Isles.  The British Isles are significant because they consist of a number of fascinating political and geographic subdivisions. 

 

For instance, there are the Channel Islands, Wales and England (in the East?); Republic of Ireland (with its heavy Phoenician population), Northern Ireland and Scotland (Celtic lands in the North?); and the small island of Man of whatever relevance it may bear. 

 

 

The Commonwealth

 

Moreover, the English speaking, British peoples (Anglo-Saxon-Celtic) are interestingly scattered around the world in places like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa (in the South?) and Canada and the US (in the West?). 

 

Of course, some would not call North America an island; but certainly, Newfoundland is (which has an absorbing history of her own).  Newfoundland could conceivably separate from Canada, as also appears likely for Quebec in the age end.  Thus, Canada has an Eastern and Western separation--at least, in the case of Quebec (with its heavy Moabite, French population mixed in) vis-à-vis the rest of Canada. 

 

 

The Binyamin Problem

 

There is one final entity which must be acknowledged in this discussion upon the disposition of the White, Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples.  It is Iceland which seems to be extremely Danish at a first glance (language, culture, etc).  But the important symbol of a wolf does figure in its heraldry. 

 

Though having some significant differences from Britain, it is interesting that in the early days, Norsemen, in Iceland, without women, went and kidnapped or stole many women from Britain (principally Scotland), and brought them back to Iceland (see Jud 21:21-23).  Too, many other peoples of Britain went there voluntarily over the years.  So Iceland has a British tie (just as Britain has a Norse tie). 

 

 

More Migrations 

 

While the Israelites were to remain settled in their new islands in the sea homes for several centuries, some of them, in time, began breaking away and moving to new areas on the basis of their tribal identifications. 

 

This removal process started for the sons of Yosef about 390 years ago--early in the 17th century.  Later, some of the other tribes started for their particular lands to establish their own national identities. 

 

Beyond this initial relocation of Yosef’s sons, there was a type of regathering over the past 390 years when people of Yosef from all over the world migrated to the two uniquely blessed lands that were allocated to Ephraim and Manasseh.  This motion has included many scattered Israelites from the Diaspora, as well as numbers of nokri/nekar, ger, behemah and chaiyah aliens. 

 

For example, Germany is not Yisrael or a part of it.  Yet, numbers of Yosef Israelites have lived there and many of them were regathered to the lands of Yosef (in the West) over the years, primarily because of religious persecution (like various groups of Anabaptists).  The same is true with Holland which has had many Israelites present. 

 

France is certainly not Yisrael, but Israelites have lived there.  The Same is true with Switzerland.  Many of the people of faith from Yosef have left France and Switzerland to come to the lands of Yosef over the years (i.e. the Huguenots of years ago).

 

Italy is assuredly not Yisrael.  However, some Waldensian Israelites from Yosef left Northern Italy and migrated to the lands of Yosef in the 19th century. 

 

Just as the descendants of Yosef eventually relocated to their new nations and land areas over the centuries, the same thing has also been on-going for all of the tribes.  Wherever their people had been scattered in the Diaspora, there has been a movement to their national tribal lands over the past 390 plus years. 

 

 

The House of Yehudah Example 

 

The situation with the House of Yehudah after the Babylonian exile is a classic illustration of a regathering of Israelites to Palestine after being expelled from there.  This one is significant because it is laid out in some detail in the Word. 

 

It is important to note that after being regathered and returned to Palestine, the House of Yehudah was again expelled in the first century CE by the Romans. 

 

Another type of the great regathering of Yisrael also happened with the House of Yehudah over the past 100 years because of the earlier Roman expulsions. 

 

True Jewish Israelites have been regathered from all over the world to return to Palestine.  Tragically, it is also verity that numbers of Amalek-Edomites, Canaanites, Kenites and other nokri/nekar and behemah peoples have also come with the true Jews in this return (a mixed multitude, like at the Exodus).  This miscegenation problem within Yehudah will be discussed at length in later chapters herein. 

 

Just as there were two scatterings of Yehudah and two regatherings, the same analogy applies to the House of Yisrael.  She has faced one great scattering and a regathering over a period of some 2,700 years.  Now, she is due for another scattering. 

 

Then, the final, great typical regathering of the House of Yisrael occurs in the future when YHWH will gather the surviving Israelites of the lost tribes and return them to Palestine at the start of the millennium. 

 

For the age end, the House of Yisrael nations will be destroyed and survivors (other than the very elect who escape) will ultimately be thrust once again into slavery, as a part of Yakov’s Trouble.  It is these slaves who will undergo a second great Exodus from servitude to come to the promise land for the final regathering of Yisrael in Palestine when YESHUA returns. 

 

 

The House of Yisrael Can Be Found 

 

With the above clues, coupled with an understanding of how these tribes were separated into the four different directions of the compass, one can study a world map and focus on some twelve national/political entities which are racially and ethnically connected--apparently with the same language and culture (Dan and possibly Binyamin, being the only exceptions). 

 

Incidentally, the book “Lost Israelite Identity,” as quoted herein, was published by Yair Davidy, an Orthodox Jewish scholar in Jerusalem.  He traces the missing lost tribes of Yisrael from old Canaan land and the Assyrian conquests of the 8th century BCE to new lands in Northwest Europe, far removed from the Middle East. 

 

One might expect such an effort from Christian Identity people.  But it has to be most interesting and relevant that an Israeli scholar in modern Palestine would put out such a work here in the late 20th century.  Perhaps it is almost time for the lost tribes to be revealed to the world. 

 

Actually, this thinking by Davidy is not new among Jewish scholars.  For the past two hundred years, numbers of Jewish intellectuals have asserted that the lost tribes of Yisrael could be found among the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples of the British Isles. 

 

The August 1999 “Kingdom Digest” (p. 212-24) had an article by T. Ransom on “How Old is Our Faith” which named earlier, famous Jews with thinking very similar to that of the later Davidy--to include Israel Zangwill, Max Nordau, Mark John Levy and Dr Moses Margoliouth.  Margoliouth was a professor of Oriental Languages at Cambridge University.  Before a gathering of British scholars, he publicly declared his belief. 

 

In April 1951, “United Israel Bulletin,” a Jewish publication, said:  “We believe the ten tribes of Israel exist within the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic-Scandinavian-American people; and that they, in fact, constitute them.  And that they are Hebrews in the same sense that Judah, Benjamin and Levi with the Jewish people are Israelites.” 

 

Could these various Jewish scholars and intellectuals be right in their assertions?  Are they dependable?  Is it possible that they are better informed on lost Yisrael than modern Christian scholars? 

 

 

A Regathering in America 

 

If America is a part of this combine, as suggested by Jewish scholars, is it possible that she (with her link to the number 13) is indeed Yisrael’s 13th tribe of Ephraim.  Manifestly, all of the great blessings of wealth and abundance were promised to Ephraim in the form of the birthright. 

 

In history, America has indeed enjoyed these blessings, more so than any other national entity in history.  In America’s heraldic emblems, the marks associated with Ephraim are found. 

 

For example, the May-Jun 2002 “Prophecy Flash” (p. 3-19) had an article by William F. Dankenbring on “Heraldic Emblems Prove the Modern Identity of Ephraim” which took note of the great seal of the United States with its 13 stars, 13 stripes on the shield, olive branch (with 13 leaves) and fruit and 13 arrows in a bundle (which tie to Genesis 49:22-26). 

 

Dankenbring quoted a writer named W. H. Bennett who linked the bough and fruit of Genesis 49:22 specifically to olives based on the Scriptural references to boughs linking to olives (like at Romans 11:24). 

 

Too, there is an amazing parallel between the history of the US as compared with that of Ephraim.  In their beginnings, both entities were totally linked to the throne of David. 

 

With Ephraim, she broke from Jerusalem three to five years before the start of a 390-year mark off.  After about 250 years, Ephraim went into Assyrian captivity.  Yehudah remained for the next 140 years or so, to complete some 390 years of sin (to be discussed later). 

 

The US had her start at Jamestown (1607-1610).  Some 166 years later, she broke from London and David’s throne.  Now (to 2003), the US has enjoyed about 227 years of independence (totaling a little over 390 years from her inception).  In breaking from David’s throne, there were several warring conflicts between the House of David and Ephraim (following the separations). 

 

Both powers experienced an internal civil war and a division into two parts for five years (after they had separated from David’s throne).  Ephraim (in the form of the House of Yisrael) had two kings, after about 50 years (Omri and Tibni--I Kg 16:21-23); while the US was divided in the Civil War, after some 85 years (with Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis).  

 

 

A Group of Independent States

 

Certainly, America is a nation made up of separate, individual states (13 of them in 1776-1789).  Thus, the United States is made up of a multitude, company or group of nations/states, as was the situation that continued in the US up to the Civil War which ended the separate states for all purposes--because of the raw power which the federal government assumed over the states in 1861 (Gen 35:11; 48:19). 

 

Other remarks stated above have cited the several conclusions from the book of Hosea on Ephraim--on Ephraim’s wealth, idolatry, sun worship, wickedness, pride and vanity, interracial mixing, fraud and thefts, involvement with foreign nations, agricultural benefits, and so forth.  The United States significantly fulfills all of these words from Hosea. 

 

And by all means, Ephraim pursues an East wind, meaning that she must be found in the West (Hos 12:1, May-Jun 2002 “Prophecy Flash,” p. 26).  Manifestly, the North American continent is in the West.  Even China and Japan are correctly in the Far East (as is also true with Australia and New Zealand). 

 

Finally, Ephraim’s preachers are actually workers for the sun god Baal to cause Ephraim’s people to err (Jer 23:13).  This charge will be conclusively proven herein in later chapters which assess the Christian religion in some detail. 

 

 

Regathering of Ephraimites? 

 

Is it plausible that the early American colonists from England were actually Ephraimites?  How about the later Welsh, Scotch and Scotch Irish from Northern Ireland.  Then there was the early Dutch, German, Swiss and later Scandinavian settlers.  Could all of these people have been scattered Ephraimites? 

 

Last, there were the great religious migrations--starting at Plymouth Rock, with the English Puritans and Separatists.  Many of these early people came for one reason and one reason only--religious liberty and freedom.  Was it in their genes to come to America? 

 

In time, more scattered people of religious faith came--like the French Huguenots; German Mennonites and Amish; Bohemian Brethren and Moravians from Bohemia, Silesia and other parts of Eastern Europe; and finally Waldensians from Northern Italy. 

 

Could all of these people have been scattered Ephraimites (from Palestine into the Diaspora) which were regathered into Ephraim America for the bestowal of the birthright upon them collectively? 

 

In mentioning this likelihood, there is also another facet to this question.  In terms of the residents in old Samaria (which was not only made up of primarily Ephraimites) and old Yehudah (which contained, at first, numbers of Judahites), there is much evidence suggesting that some people from the other tribes also chose to locate in Samaria and Yehudah.  This course was noted in prior chapters herein (and proven with Yehudah). 

 

But since it happened in the days of the divided kingdom, there are reasons to believe that it has happened or will happen in more modern times.  Clearly, many Israelites of the different tribes will choose to relocate to Jerusalem in the age end (to be discussed in a later chapter). 

 

Otherwise, it is plausible that some members of the various tribes also chose to locate to Ephraim over the years (because of Ephraim’s size, large population and realization of the birthright).  In this context, it is likely that the Israelite residents of Ephraim is made up first of Ephraimites and second of probably some presence of persons from the other twelve tribes as well (though of much lesser numbers). 

 

 

The Others 

 

If this regathering happened with Ephraim, is it not plausible that it also happened with the other Israelite tribes which were scattered in the Diaspora, only to be regathered in the last many years into tribal homelands in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Union of South Africa, the Channel Islands, Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic (despite the huge presence of Phoenician Edomites in Ireland)? 

 

By recognizing and understanding the birthright of wealth, blessings, etc (promised to Avraham, Yitzhak and Yakov-Yisrael), as falling upon the United States, it is possible to study the Scriptural attributes of the other tribes (outlined previously herein) and ascertain the distribution of all of the tribes. 

 

Thus, it might be that in the West Manasseh is Canada (note the maple tree leaf on her flag [the tree is the symbol of Manasseh, Dec 1993 “New Beginnings, p. 3-4], the fact that her population is about 10% of that of Ephraim-America--Deut 33:17, and the situation with her eleven subdivisions). 

 

In the South, surely Reuven is New Zealand (though the Isle of Man is possible, but it is in the North instead of the South) with its four subdivisions and four stars on its flag. Gad, with its seven major territories, is Australia.  And Shimon, with six subdivisions, is South Africa where the people are scattered (both South Africa and Australia have heavy Dutch populations). 

 

In the North, it could be that Dan is the Irish Republic (but heavily miscegenated with the more dominate Phoenician Edomites).  Naftali is Northern Ireland (with its large lake).  And Asher is Scotland (with its offshore oil deposits). 

 

In the East, Zevulun must be the Channel Islands with its three subdivisions.  And Yehudah (mainly Zerach and some of Peretz) is England.  Please note that after the fall of the House of Yisrael to the Assyrians, the tribe of Yehudah was split into two parts--one part remained in the South as the House of Yehudah and the other part went into Assyrian captivity with the House of Yisrael. 

 

The same is true today with Yehudah divided in England and among the Jews. 

 

 

More

 

Finally, in the East, Yissakhar is likely Wales with four subdivisions.  John Hulley notes that Cymru is the Welsh name for themselves, which connects them to the Cimmerian deportations.  Hulley adds that there is in Wales a Cambric peninsula, which also was the former name of Denmark (“Bible Light On The News,” v. 7, No. 2, p. 35). 

 

Some small part of Levi is probably found scattered throughout these House of Yisrael nations. 

 

Of course, a part of Yehudah (mainly from Shelah and Peretz), much of Levi and perhaps even a part of Binyamin is found among the contemporary Jews (principally in the modern state of Israel).  Some of these Israelites, found as Jews, have heavily miscegenated with the Amalekites (as will be discussed in later chapters herein). 

 

Perhaps some of the more religious Jews (like the Sephardi Orthodox) have better gene lines from Yisrael with less chance of miscegenation with the evil Amalekites.  Many Jewish “rabbis” and religious teachers are logically from Levi.  Hopefully, there are some good gene lines in the key people who have been and will be working on restoring the Temple. 

 

The only remaining issue is Binyamin.  As it now stands, Binyamin logically might be found in Iceland or Newfoundland (if Newfoundland should reassert itself nationally and break from Canada)--or maybe the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Bermuda or some other place. 

 

The best guess on Binyamin is Iceland, though it is not as readily identifiable in the vein of the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples which generally make up the House of Yisrael. 

 

 

Bound Together 

 

There has been several factors binding these House of Yisrael nations together.  First, there is the issue of race. 

 

From 700 BCE on forward, Yisrael was scattered in pockets and small groups of people throughout Europe and portions of Asia.  But they had a racial connection which bound them together. 

 

So, over the years, the people of Yisrael (in the form of the Celts, Angles, Saxons (Isaac or Sac’s sons), Jutes, Romans, Normans, Norsemen, etc (then scattered out across Europe and parts of Asia) slowly begin migrating West to the British Isles, as outlined above. 

 

From 1607 on, the different tribes, either in the British Isles or still scattered elsewhere in Europe and/or Asia, began relocating to their tribal homelands in America, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and so forth (to perhaps include Rhodesia which once was a part of this system, before it was sold out to Black nationalists). 

 

It must be noted that the House of Yisrael peoples essentially speak the English language (even in Iceland, though English is not the national language of Iceland).  Also, the Israelites are generally Protestant Christians and have essentially used the Authorized (King James) Version of the Word since 1611-1612. 

 

Except for Ephraim, they are bound together by the throne of David--occupied by Britain’s monarch, and Yakov’s pillar stone/the stone of destiny now in Scotland (as noted in preceding remarks).  Thus, YHWH’s promises to David have been fulfilled in the British royal family.  When YESHUA returns, He comes to take an existing throne. 

 

In Hebrew, the word “berit” (which can form “brit”) means covenant; and in Welsh, the word “ish” means man or people of.  Thus, the word “British” means a covenant man or covenant people (per the Internet, www.JahTruth.co.uk).  Yes, the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic or British people are the Covenant people of the House of Yisrael of the Scriptures. 

 

 

Some Remarks on Prophecy 

 

Since the entire Scriptures are focused upon Yisrael and usually on the House of Yisrael, the writings of the Old Testament prophets deal extensively with Yisrael and especially in the last seven years of the age end (in the context of the seven years of Yakov’s Trouble, to be described in subsequent chapters herein). 

 

Beyond the reality that the Scriptures are filled with data (both historical and prophetic) on Yisrael, there is another fascinating little gem of truth associated with the ten lost tribes of Yisrael in the Word.  Here, it is absolutely amazing that The MOST HIGH uses the number ten in association with various objects or definitions to refer to Yisrael. 

 

In “The United States and the British Empire Foretold in the Bible” (p. 6), writer Harold Hemenway offers these references as applying to the lost tribes of Yisrael--the ten servants of the rich nobleman (Lu 19:11-27), the ten virgins waiting for The Bridegroom (Matt 25), the ten pieces of the woman’s silver (Lu 15:8), the ten lepers who were healed (Lu 17:12) and the other sheep of YESHUA (Jo 10:16). 

 

Along with these clear prophecies relating to the House of Yisrael, YESHUA also uttered His famous prophecies regarding the mixed up reality of the wheat and tares and sheep and goats (as discussed elsewhere herein).  And this is the present condition in the House of Yisrael nations.  There are both Israelites present in those countries plus many goats and tares (nokri/nekar aliens, etc). 

 

This condition has hurt many of the Christian Identity groups which accept these nokri/nekar tares/goats on the premise that they are Israelite sheep and wheat.  The famous Aryan Nations/Church of Jesus Christ Christian of Hayden Lake, Idaho has often stupidly allowed this precise condition to develop internally in its group to bring great hurt upon the membership (as elsewhere noted herein). 

 

 

The Identity Problem

 

Admittedly, the ability to identify or distinguish between the two types is a complicated process that most of us lack the ability to do. 

 

But in the world tomorrow, YESHUA will separate the two factions--apparently using the Urim and Tummin (per Vendyl Jones in the March 2002 “Vendyl Jones Research Institutes Researcher,” p. 1-3).  This separation has been commented upon in preceding chapters and needs no further attention now in this presentation on the House of Yisrael.

 

On one more prophetic issue, one of the great prophecies in the Tanakh mentions the coming of the prophet Eliyahu.  While he will do several things, one of his most important functions will be to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers (Mal 4:5-6). 

 

This future could take at least two directions or more.  One, it could suggest a boom in genealogical studies and research, as has been happening in the House of Yisrael lands for the last 50 years. 

 

Otherwise, is it possible that the spirit of Eliyahu will move upon selected people to motivate them to begin to go further back to their ancestry in ancient Yisrael of 3,000 years ago to learn about their real Scriptural identity? 

 

 

Revelation or Study? 

 

Finally, one of the better known teachers of British-Israelism in the 20th century was radio preacher Herbert W. Armstrong. 

 

Armstrong was reported to have believed that understanding of the British-Israelism teaching was contingent upon revelation as opposed to Scriptural study.  Thus, per this view, a person can not simply come to this comprehension through study alone.  Somehow, something more is needed. 

 

While it is true that most things are adequately laid out in the Book and history to allow study and analysis in order to gain intellectual knowledge and understanding, this fact does not always surface in trying to perceive racial identities--and particularly the identity of lost Yisrael.  When deliberate, adverse brainwashing on race is added to the mix (as happens throughout modern society), comprehension is in trouble. 

 

Possibly, it does take an extraordinary miracle of a revelation to selected people for them to grasp an understanding of Yisrael.  The same may be true for identifying other Scriptural peoples--like the Hamites, Amalekites, Shemites, etc. 

 

But in fairness, even the presence of revelation allows that revelation can be supplemented with study as “some” material is available in history/the Word to often verify/confirm the revelation. 

 

 

The Genuine Approach

 

In allowing for study/revelation (from The EL or even demonic powers) to impart knowledge and/or understanding on race, it must be stated that some people gain some knowledge from the words of others without study or revelation because man is capable of believing anything, and even in the absence of intellectual input (yes, men can be led to believe that the moon is made of cheese or that Bill “Slick” Clinton is honest and trueful and a man of integrity). 

 

When one comes to some knowledge/understanding from personal study/revelation (from The EL or even demons), the experience is more genuine with real commitment, zeal, dedication and passion. 

 

Conversely, when one gains knowledge (like on racial IDs) from superficial contact with others (without real study/revelation), the result is apathy, indifference, unconcern, shallowness, etc--instead of dedication, commitment, etc. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 133--Christian Israelites Return

 

 

The Essentials

 

In the comments to follow, on the return of the House of Yisrael to Palestine, it is important to recognize that there are at least two returns mentioned prophetically in the Book (as was described earlier).  A previous chapter discussed the primary return in the context of Ezekiel 33-39 which seems to actually take place after YESHUA comes back and begins to install His government over earth. 

 

However, there is another mention of a return prophetically of “some” House of Yisrael people--involving primarily Philadelphia, some parts of the other Assemblies of Revelation 1-3, and some heathen, Christian worshipers who merely escape their doomed lands to flee to Palestine some years before YESHUA returns (actually, before the great tribulation commences, as will be discussed in later chapters). 

 

Persons who have read and are familiar with the Book are acutely aware that both national names, the House of Yehudah and the House of Yisrael, are used a few times in the Word--during and after the Babylonian exile in the sense of future prophetic events (mainly, in Jeremiah Ezekiel and Zechariah, and a few times in the New Testament), beyond the previously discussed historical realities before the fall of Samaria. 

 

Essentially, these prophetic references refer to the time, in the future, when the two collective peoples of the Houses of Yisrael and Yehudah will be once more combined into one united kingdom in Palestine under the rule of YESHUA The MESSIAH, as just cited above and as described elsewhere herein.

 

Despite Christendom’s confusion over the historical roles of the House of Yehudah and the House of Yisrael and total ignorance about the lost tribes of Yisrael, the fact remains that the Scripturally defined, final reunification has never occurred.  Many informed and intellectually honest Christian scholars reluctantly admit it. 

 

 

Reunification After YESHUA Returns 

 

Yechezkel (Ezek 37:11-22) describes this ultimate future merging event in some detail as happening "after" the House of Yisrael (a second time) and other worldly nations go through a final time of trouble and drink of YHWH's age end anger (Ezek 4 to 36). 

 

It occurs simultaneously with, or after, the return of The ANOINTED ONE and the eventual establishment of His kingdom on earth, as discussed earlier (Ezek 37:22-25). 

 

Actually, this is the time of the execution of the New (or Renewed) Covenant which is mentioned in the Book (Ezek 37:26-27), and which evidently relates in time to the typical invasion of Gog and Magog or shortly thereafter (Ezek 38-39). 

 

Without a doubt, the establishment of the New/Renewed Covenant and the Gog and Magog conflict both happen "after" the return of YESHUA The MESSIAH (Rev 20:6-8), although there will surely be an ante-typical fulfillment of the Gog incident possibly eight years or so earlier (to be later discussed). 

 

 

Teleo, Revisited 

 

By the way, the KJV and most English translations mistranslate the Greek word “teleo” to fulfilled (in Rev 20:3) and expired (in Rev 20:7), in the context of Satan being released from his pit prison at the “supposed end” of the 1,000-year millennium. 

 

E. T. Tennyson, in his book “Unspeakable Words” (p. 55), indicates that teleo correctly means “to set out for a definite point or goal.”  This word was addressed in previous comments by Dr David Stern on Romans 10:4--where Stern essentially agreed with Tennyson by saying that it meant “goal, purpose, consummation.” 

 

Thus, Yohanan was writing about the fact that Satan will be released for his final work near when the millennium is reached or set out. 

 

Consequently, the real Gog and Magog conflict mentioned in Revelation and Ezekiel will actually occur after YESHUA returns and just before the start of the millennium (although there will be a former ante-typical fulfillment of it a few years previously, as just noted above). 

 

All of this wonderfully scheduled reunification of the Houses of Yehudah and Yisrael, under discussion, is amply described in several Old Testament prophecies, and especially in Yechezkel.  Of course, this merger ushers in the soon coming re-establishment of the Davidic kingdom in Palestine under the millennial rule of The Davidic King YHWH YESHUA. 

 

 

The Coming Limited Return of Yisrael 

 

While Yechezkel quite clearly establishes the actual reunification of the Houses of Yehudah and Yisrael at or just after the age end return of YESHUA, and before the execution of the New Covenant, it should be noted that both Yechezkel and the prophet Zekharyah seem to describe a limited return of apparently some persons of the House of Yisrael to Canaan land some time (perhaps around six years or so) before the actual reunification takes place, as allowed above and in previous chapters (Ezek 8-12; Zech 8-10). 

 

Obviously, this small return is done without regard to YESHUA's ultimately scheduled appearance to properly restore and unify the two Houses of Yehudah and Yisrael together in the land. 

 

For many persons, in this return, their motivation seems to be predicated upon the hope of safety and survival in the modern state of Israel (Palestine) and not upon moral and religious convictions. 

 

As suggested in other comments elsewhere in this study, there is every reason to believe that Jerusalem is to become an international (open) city of some sort to allow this extraordinary movement of non-Jewish Christians and Messianic believers to come into it with a visa allowing a stay.  For sure, any Christian Identity people or right wingers would have a hard time gaining admission otherwise. 

 

Because Amalekite rulers in the state of Israel (who will be later defined) may not allow Christian Identity people and right wingers to traverse Israel to reach Jerusalem, there could be an alternative here.  Territory East of the Jordan (in modern Jordan) may prove to be a haven and place of safety and transit for these escapees (as will be described in later chapters). 

 

Once in Jordan, believers could then reach Jerusalem (which will be open to the Jordanian Arabs). 

 

 

The Status of Jerusalem 

 

The likelihood of a new political status for Jerusalem is not as far fetched as one may first suppose.  A Special Office Brief in the January, 1998 “New Beginnings” (p. 15) makes mention of the Israeli-Arab situation and the fact that the Vatican favors a form of UN control over Jerusalem, under a kind of liberalistic patronage of the Vatican. 

 

The “Jerusalem Post” of May 23, 1998, outlined that “The Vatican is again calling for a special status for Jerusalem with international guarantees... (they) ask the international community to assume its responsibility of conserving the holy and unique character of the Holy City...” 

 

The point of these 1998 news reports is that the Vatican has her eyes set on Jerusalem.  At the first break of global trouble, the Vatican will seemingly use her influence upon the European Union to impose controls on Jerusalem. 

 

Ultimately, this Roman power could prove to be a good thing--if it results in Jerusalem being an open city to all faiths, including the politically incorrect ones. 

 

 

The Initial Problems 

 

As will be covered in later chapters, a number of individuals from the House of Yisrael seem to come to the land (of Palestine) when their own national governments and evidently most of their own peoples are being destroyed in a series of terrifying judgments which come upon the age ending House of Yisrael (in the form of Yakov’s Trouble). 

 

This coming reality will be hard to appreciate by modern Christians, but the Book is empathic that the House of Yisrael nations are in gross sin in the age end and YHWH will accordingly destroy all of them nationally. 

 

This does not mean the end of the House of Yisrael peoples.  It just means an end of their present national governments (as happened in the ante-type at the hands of Assyria in the 8th-7th centuries BCE). 

 

This age end crisis for the House of Yisrael commences with the collapse of her financial empire, in conjunction with a bad drought--when the rain stops coming and when much of the underground water supply dries up (because of the greed of farmers and others to greedily exploit it with no concern over future needs). 

 

While many people act on the premise that modern man has an unlimited source of water, this is not the truth at all.  Usable water is extremely finite and there is a limited amount of it. 

 

The summer of 2000 produced a serious drought over much of the US which has already spelled a disaster.  More drought occurred in 2001-2003 (when the rains came, they came in floods which merely ran off and gave the soil little benefit). 

 

America has been profoundly blessed with enormous and far reaching blessings and benefits.  This has included vast water resources which now are beginning to be limited.  The great Oglala aquifer has supplied water for years to a large segment of the Great Plains for drinking and agricultural uses. 

 

There are now signs that this vast source of water is drying up.  The same is true with numerous other cases of large underground water supplies.  If many of these giant aquifers dry up, in connection with a horrible drought, it will spell absolute disaster to America and the American people. 

 

 

End of the Present National Governments of Yisrael 

 

Per the Scriptures, there is an initial drought on Yisrael that turns to famine, to disease epidemics, to terror from the present beasts of the field (the behemah) and to a foreign embargo and/or siege--all of which seem to be the start of likely some seven years of great trouble and disaster for the wicked Israelites (Lev 26; Deut 28). 

 

As will be covered in subsequent chapters, these several calamities suddenly combine to force the surviving Israelites into cannibalism--just before their foreign enemies launch a nuclear attack, invade and carry the still alive Israelites off into slavery and bondage (Ezek 2-7). 

 

Manifestly, what precipitates this future collapse of the House of Yisrael national governments is a prophetic time period of 390 years of accountable sin and rebellion by the House of Yisrael which occurs in a future time frame (after 560 BCE) and certainly after Yechezkel wrote about it, as discussed earlier (Ezek 4:3-5). 

 

This 390 years of iniquity by the lost tribes of Yisrael appears to conclude just about the time that the mentioned siege or embargo (of 390 days) unfolds (Ezek 4:1-8).  Yechezkel seems to date the end of this destruction of the modern House of Yisrael nations evidently around two or three years after a specified 30th year in some cycle (Ezek 1:1). 

 

This event is frequently labeled as the time of “Jacob’s Trouble” (correctly Yakov’s Trouble, as cited earlier herein) in the Scriptures and involves the most terrible, trying days to ever befall the House of Yisrael in her entire 3,800-year history. 

 

Most of the millions of Israelites then alive will die in the trouble (as will be described in later chapters herein).  Those surviving will face enormous trials, troubles and tribulations before they eventually learn to start obeying YHWH. 

 

Actually, the future being outlined is quite complex and far reaching and deserves some explanation (which will be forthcoming in later chapters on prophecy). 

 

Nevertheless, for now, the student of truth needs to recognize this limited return at this early time of the age end and realize that this return is not the final one, where real reunification takes place, as correctly dictated in the Book. 

 

 

Christian Israelites? 

 

Seemingly, some few persons of the House of Yisrael escape from their doomed lands (before, during or after the siege, but probably in a window formed when the initial embargo or economic trouble ends, and before it resumes in earnest for the 390 days siege) to find safety in Palestine or in an international Jerusalem (with the Israelis or Jordanians). 

 

With an identification of the House of Yisrael nations in the age end, it is quite easy to identify the religion of the people in the generic sense.  The House of Yisrael abandoned whatever semblance of the true Hebrew religious faith that she possessed at the division of the kingdom under Rechavam. 

 

As described elsewhere herein, Yarovam changed the religion of the people grossly.  In his ruling years, Achav went still further with more profound changes.  The House of Yisrael peoples never returned to their ancient Hebrew religion.  In fact, in the divorce, previously discussed, they lost their language, identity, the Sabbaths, the Name (Ha Shem) and on and on. 

 

In the last 2,000 years, these House of Yisrael Israelites were exposed to Christianity--primarily because of the work of the Roman Catholic Church.  Hence, they became Christians.  Correctly, they are today Christian Israelites.  Or more correctly, they are largely Protestant Christian Israelites--at least, in the generic sense, although here in the age end, some few of them are turning to truth to become the election. 

 

Yechezkel puts it well by declaring that Palestine or Canaan land becomes to these Israelites "a sanctuary for a brief period of time" (Ezek 11:16).  Of all of the Tanakh prophets, Yechezkel seems to offer the most details on this movement by apparent Christian Israelites and what they do in Palestine upon arrival. 

 

In timing, this move to Palestine surely starts about the time that Mount Moriah is sufficiently cleared and a recognized force (like possibly the UN, EU or perhaps even the US to some extent) has brokered a seven-year pact or agreement with the Israeli Jews and the Moslems (which will probably allow the rebuilding of the Temple). 

 

Thus, by the time that these House of Yisrael individuals arrive, a Third Temple is being rebuilt or ready to be rebuilt on Mount Moriah and with the complete authority and blessing of The SOVEREIGN YHWH (Mal 3:1-18; Rev 11:1-6). 

 

 

But Trouble in the Land 

 

On this movement of true Israelites to Palestine, it is interesting to observe that the present non-Yehudah inhabitants of Jerusalem do not like these new immigrants (who are actually true Israelites and racial, genetic brethren of the real Israelite Yechezkel) in their land and say to them "you have gone far from The MOST HIGH and this land, therefore, this land is given to us for a possession" (Ezek 11:15; 36:5-- “Amplified Translation”). 

 

Indeed, this feeling and thinking by supposedly real descendants of Yehudah toward their racial brethren would have to be perceived as a most unusual and extraordinary event.  Surely, a position like that would likely come from evil Amalek-Edomite usurpers (as will be defined and discussed at length in later chapters herein) and not from the true people of Yehudah extraction. 

 

Thus, while any true Israelite Jews might not have hostility or adverse feelings toward the arrival of the Christian Israelites from a fallen or falling House of Yisrael, the Amalek-Edomites effectively in charge of the Israeli state will not appreciate them.  Their response will be bitterness and hatred. 

 

It is this Amalek-Edomite hatred and opposition toward the incoming Christian Israelites which goes on to suggest that Jerusalem will likely have to be an international city or otherwise, most of these Christian Israelites probably would not be allowed in by Israeli authorities. 

 

Certainly, right wingers, Christian fundamentalists and Christian Identity people would be unwelcome by ruling Amalekites in Israel.  Because of this reality, some of these persons may have to seek safety in modern Jordan (or a Palestinians state) and hope that they can periodically go with the Arabs to Jerusalem to worship, as allowed in the above comments. 

 

The prophet Yechezkel also had another pungent little remark about Esau's diabolical efforts to seize and control the land and promises when he wrote of YHWH's anger toward all Idumea because they had appointed His land to be their possession for a prey with joy in their hearts and despiteful minds (Ezek 36:2-5). 

 

By the way, on this topic of Amalek-Edomite usurpers coming to the promise land of Canaan in an effort to control, enjoy and rule over it, the prophet Malakhi poignantly hurls at us a most amazing prophecy about the descendants of Esau who say "we are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places" (Mal 1:2-4). 

 

Question--does this text not tie in some way to the modern Israeli state (as will be answered in later chapters herein)?  In this same Malakhi reference, The EVERLIVING ONE calls these same Amalek-Edomites "The people against whom YHWH has indignation for ever" (Mal 1:4). 

 

As a part of the later discussion on the Amalekites and their presence among the modern Jews, these texts on the Amalekites will make perfect sense.  In any case, the arriving Christian Israelites will not be welcomed in the modern state of Israel with open arms by the ruling Amalek-Edomites. 

 

 

Two Types of Returnees 

 

These escapees of the House of Yisrael lands involve two classes of individuals. 

 

In the first place, part of the age ending election generally and much of the very elect in particular (as described in some detail in previous chapters of this publication) will seemingly escape to Jerusalem to help in the rebuilding of the (Third) Temple and possibly to work with the first two prophets and/or two final witnesses (to be described later), in their work of restoring true worship (Hag 1:4-2:18; Zech 1:1- 4:14; Mal 1-3). 

 

In effect, the land of old Canaan becomes a place of eventual safety and deliverance, as is communicated in numerous Tanakh texts (Deut 12:5; II Kg 19:31; II Chron 7:15-16; Ps 20:1-2; 50:5; 53:6; 102:14; Isa 35:10; 37:31-32; 45:20; 46:12-13; 50:4-5; 51:3-11; 56:8; Jer 3:12-15; 31:6-7; 51:10; Joel 2:18-32; 3:16-21; Mic 5:3; Zeph 3:13-20; Zech 2:7; 8:11-12; Heb 10:25). 

 

Otherwise, the escapees from the House of Yisrael include some persons at large who are not true believers or followers of The HIGHEST YHWH.  Upon arrival in the historic city, these escapees undertake a campaign to force their will upon people either working at the Temple site or worshipping at the Temple, once it is sufficiently rebuilt for worship (much like the Samaritans of old). 

 

Some of these heathen escapees (apparently Christian Israelites) of the House of Yisrael, finding safety in Jerusalem, actually have the gall to try to incorporate their pagan (false worship) beliefs, idols (perhaps crosses, obelisks and so forth), practices (likely Easter, Christmas, etc) and images (probably pictures and statues of the long-haired, effeminate Gee-Zeus) into the Temple's inner court, near the sanctuary (Ezek 8:3-12; Rev 11:2). 

 

All of these pagan beliefs have been or will be described in some detail in other chapters herein.  The reader is asked to be patient and truth will eventually emerge. 

 

In timing, it seems that this Christian Israelite defilement of the Temple/Temple Mount area may first surface in Yechezkel’s 31st year--apparently after work is started on the Temple (per Ezek 8:1, 5). 

 

An attempt will be made in a later chapter to date Yechezkel’s years to contemporary dates.  Obviously, once Yechezkel’s 30th year is dated, all of his other dates mesh together.  As will also be covered later, it might be that the prophecies outlined for Darius 2 (in Haggai and Zekharyah) will dovetail with or near Yechezkel’s 30th year.  If so, the dates of Darius can also be tied to modern dates. 

 

With an understanding of the importance of Darius 2 to events at the Temple, it could be that some Christian agitation against the Temple stops construction at some point in time (just as happened in Second Temple days). 

 

 

Jim Ammerman 

 

Actually, this suggestion that Christian Israelites will escape their doomed nations to go to Jerusalem is not as far fetched as some may suppose.  A well known Christian preacher named Jim Ammerman had some most fascinating comments on this idea in his 1997 video on the “Imminent Military Takeover of the U.S.A. II,” produced and distributed by the Prophecy Club. 

 

It seems that this Jim Ammerman is a retired full colonel (chaplain) from the US Army. His talk implied that he is still involved in some work of placing Christian chaplains in the military and in certain civilian concerns as well.  Evidently, he has been doing this for some years and has had contacts with hundreds of Christian chaplains and preachers. 

 

In the course of his video presentation, this retired colonel made a statement to the effect that he and a number of his chaplain colleagues are looking forward to going to Jerusalem to look for the return of their anticipated Gee-Zeus, so that they can go to heaven before or with the approaching age end.  This statement was interesting in view of his talk on the pending destruction of America and the closeness of the end. 

 

Perhaps Ammerman and the other Christians have wanted to be in Jerusalem at the time of the believed Christian rapture (which is quite unscriptural, as will be proven later in this study).  However, it is important to note that many Christian Israelites would indeed flee to Jerusalem without much provocation when trouble comes to their home lands. 

 

 

Luke 21:23-24 

 

There is an interesting prophecy by YESHUA which could have some relevance here.  Just before His death in 30 CE, He offered some far reaching prophetic statements to His disciples from the Temple Mount (Matt 24; Lu 21).  In that presentation, He spoke of the coming great tribulation and placed it in context as coming when “the times of the Gentiles (ethnon) are accomplished.” 

 

Actually, He clarified His statement somewhat by saying that this people (evidently then in Jerusalem) will fall by the sword and be led captive into all of the nations (Greek ethne), and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the ethnon till the times of the ethnon may be accomplished (Lu 21:23-24). 

 

While the presence of the article “the,” preceding the ethne, may be suggestive of the tribes of Yisrael (as brought out in a previous chapter herein, on the discussion of the meaning of nations made by Thomas Jones in his book “The Elect:  Who Are They?--A Scriptural View”), the context could be communicating a broader view of nations from the standpoint of the non-Israelite world. 

 

In any case, the two mentions of ethnon appear to link to the lost tribes of Yisrael.   And if so, it might be that YESHUA is saying that some House of Yisrael Israelites (surely Christian Israelites) will trodden down Jerusalem (especially the Temple?)--just before the age end, until the times of the House of Yisrael nations come to an end; which, of course, in timing, must precede the great tribulation. 

 

Such an interpretation would clarify this prophecy (which is now largely misunderstood) and make it of extreme importance to the House of Yisrael, in contrast to the Jews.  Of course, if the ethnon are the House of Yisrael peoples, it is manifest that these words tie directly to Ezekiel 8-9. 

 

 

Righteous Executions 

 

The above described wickedness (of polluting YHWH’s Temple) by presumable Christian Israelites angers The MOST HIGH, so much so, that He inspires some of His representatives involved with possibly the first two prophets or final two witnesses in Jerusalem to righteously slay these evil Israelites who would dare defile the Temple with their probable Christian abominations (Ezek 9:4-11). 

 

Also, at some point in time (possibly during one of the invasions of Palestine by external forces and certainly by Yechezkel’s’ 34th year), other wicked and depraved House of Yisrael exiles hiding out in Palestine are likewise judged by YHWH and are expelled to a geographical area--just outside the Israeli state, but near its borders, seemingly in Southern Lebanon (Ezek 11:10-15; Zech 11:1). 

 

There, these rebellious sinning House of Yisrael people (apparently Christians) are similarly condemned and thrust into slavery and bondage by a foreign power, just as their relatives and associates were exiled sometime beforehand in their previous homelands (Ezek 2-7). 

 

Probably, at this juncture, most Christians will get all excited and upset over these critical remarks made above about the presence of outright paganism and wickedness in traditional Christianity and a coming punishment on Christians.  However, these comments are not being made lightly or irresponsibly.  They have been or will be elaborated upon and conclusively proven in other chapters herein. 

 

 

Other Similar Perceptions 

 

Other writers have also seen a linkage of certain Christians to the House of Yisrael, although in a different light than what the writer of these lines recognize.  For example, Dr Alfred Lilienthal, quoted earlier, noted that “in anthropological fact, many Christians may have much more Hebrew-Israelite blood in their veins than most of their Jewish neighbors” (“What Price Israel,” p. 233). 

 

Bernard L. Bateson, also quoted formerly, remarked that “it is not so foolish after all to believe that the descendants of the ‘Lost Tribes’ (of Yisrael) are to be found amongst the Christian peoples” (“New Beginnings,” Oct 1995, p. 11). 

 

In quoting Lilienthal and Bateson, some clarification is needed.  While many fleshly Israelites (of the House of Yisrael) are Christians, all cannot be so labeled.  Importantly, all Christians are not Israelites of the House of Yisrael.  In fact, “most” Christians are not fleshly Israelites at all since Christianity encompasses vast numbers and multitudes of ger, nokri, mamzer, behemah and chaiyah peoples and nations. 

 

Therefore, the two terms (Christian and Israelite) are not synonymous at all.  These concepts are worlds apart, as one is able to ascertain in other comments herein.  So one should not be entrapped into supposing that Christianity is an exclusive religion of the House of Yisrael peoples and nations. 

 

True, the bulk of the peoples of the lost House of Yisrael are modern Christians (generally Protestant Christians) in terms of religious persuasion.  But in terms of collective Christendom, there are vast numbers of Christians in many of the other non-Israelite nations in the world.  Yes, Christianity is a world religion, involving “all” kinds of peoples all over the globe. 

 

The House of Yisrael Israelites have been identified in previous chapters as being essentially the White Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples of the US and British Commonwealth.  Of course, White Anglo-Saxon-Celtic racial/ethnic peoples are surely individual Israelites wherever they are located--in Europe, Asia, Africa or wherever. 

 

There is some semblance of Protestant Christianity in the rest of Northwest Europe which is not Israelite.  Of course, the huge areas of Catholic Christianity are not Israelite with their populations of nokri/nekar, mixed blooded peoples. 

 

 

Some Clarification 

 

Having mentioned above and in earlier comments the fact of this limited return of Israelites to Jerusalem at or near the fall of the House of Yisrael nations (in the context of including part or all of the election), some further clarification is needed. 

 

It seems plausible that the headquarters’ organizations (or governing authorities) of the seven assemblies of Revelation 1-3 (as will be described in later chapters herein) will ultimately relocate to Jerusalem, also around the time of the trouble on or fall of the House of Yisrael. 

 

Such a motion in conjunction with the trouble upon their national governments may prompt many or all persons in the election of the 144,000 (from the seven assemblies, to be discussed in succeeding chapters) to find it prudent to also relocate to Jerusalem, as indicated above. 

 

For sure, much of Philadelphia will eventually relocate to Palestine and certainly before the great tribulation.  Also, of enormous importance, it seems likely that the final assembly, Laodicea, will organize and come into existence in Jerusalem and probably while the first two prophets and/or two final witnesses are restoring true worship. 

 

 

Correction and Restoration 

 

Previous comments have mentioned the reality of the coming of seven years of Yakov’s Trouble which will spell out enormous hurt and punishment (in the form of correction) upon the House of Yisrael because of her vast sins. 

 

With the conclusion of Yakov’s Trouble, restoration and healing comes--which will include the final return of the House of Yisrael to the promise land of Canaan (as noted above). 

 

Historically, this process took place in an ante-typical fulfillment following Yisrael’s sojourn in Egyptian slavery and the Exodus under Moshe and the entrance of Yisrael into the promised land under Yehoshua (Joshua in the KJV).  The great Exodus came from Egypt upon the completion of a mark off of punishment of 430 years.  It occurred during the Feast of Unleavened Bread--which symbolizes the move out of sin. 

 

Another ante-type of this process came about with the Jews--starting in 1869 and accelerating until 1948 and thereafter with the establishment of the Jewish state (as discussed elsewhere herein).  Yehudah fell from Jerusalem in c554 BCE and was not completely restored to Jerusalem until the Six-Day War of 1967. 

 

Prior comments in this chapter outline the limited return of some Christian Israelites from the House of Yisrael to Palestine, as their nations begin to fall under the provisions of Yakov’s Trouble.  The case can be made that this anticipated limited return is also an ante-type of the real thing (which will still be future). 

 

These various ante-typical fulfillments are all, of course, projecting the real coming punishment upon the House of Yisrael (under Yakov’s Trouble) and her ultimate return to Palestine, as will be described in some detail in later chapters herein.  Yisrael will be punished (corrected) during the seven years of Yakov’s Trouble. 

 

YHWH will then restore her to the promised land in a second great exodus (which will possibly occur, in part, during a coming festival of Sukkot). 

 

 

The Seven Times

 

In the outline of the punishment coming upon Yisrael (in the form of Yakov’s Trouble) in Leviticus 26, Moshe mentions seven times of punishment some three times (Lev 26:18, 21, 24).  The first of these events involve the breaking of Yisrael’s pride and then a drought.  The next one comes when the behemah go wild and begin to terrify the Israelites (as the welfare programs end).  The last one comes with a foreign conquest. 

 

While one looks upon the reference to the seven times as being a prophecy of time (seven years or 2520 days), it would be well to note that the phrase can refer to intensity of punishment. 

 

Thus, the three references to seven times can be to time or intensity or both.  Possibly, the first reference is to seven years and the following two indicate an increase in the intensity of the trial. 

 

 

Some Dating Possibilities 

 

There are some exceptional problems involved in trying to date these events.  As will be established later, the evidence is that Yechezkel’s 30th year may see the start of the seven years of Yakov’s Trouble. 

 

Since Yakov’s Trouble eventually may end around seven years later in Yechezkel’s 37th year, the chronology would suggest that part or most of Yisrael’s physical restoration to the land could occur in Yechezkel’s 37th year or thereafter (probably most of the surviving fleshly Israelites return to the promise land of Yisrael in Yechezkel’s 38th year which will be some seven years after Yechezkel’s 31st year that may see the start of some of the final intensity of Yisrael’s chastisement). 

 

Actually, events seem to have already unfolded in 2000-2002 which imply or suggest the commencement of at least the first signs of Yakov’s Trouble.  These events will be outlined in later chapters that describe some things which happened on Bul 15 of 2000 and later.  However, none of the years 2000, 2001 or 2002 were Yechezkel’s 30th year (as hindsight has so proven). 

 

Nevertheless, with this beginning trouble, how can it then be true that the ultimate seven years of Yakov’s Trouble (perhaps the final aspects of it) may unfold in Yechezkel’s 30th year (to end in Yechezkel’s 37th year or thereafter in a phased motion, as will be described in later chapters).  For an explanation here, there might be another case of prophetic duality surfacing. 

 

Possibly, the beginning of trouble in Bul 15 of 2000 (which was the anniversary of Yarovam’s establishment of sun worship in Yisrael) and thereafter (as it accelerated for the balance of 2000--with the stock market troubles, the election debacle and other year end difficulties) may be just one more ante-type of the real thing.  Maybe, this punishment was merely the beginning signs of trouble or an ante-type of it. 

 

For example, seven Scriptural years from Bul 15 of Yechezkel’s 30th year takes one to Bul of Yechezkel’s 37th year and just after YESHUA’s likely entrance into Jerusalem with the election.  Seven times of 2520 days from the fall of Yechezkel’s 30th year may end somewhere near Bul 15 of Yechezkel’s’ 37th year.  Maybe the 31st-33d years may be reflective of the time when trouble really gets serious. 

 

 

More on the Return 

 

While this writer cannot be specific, it is plausible that some fleshly Israelites could start to return about this same time frame in Yechezkel’s 37th year (along with the election which will then be changed to immortality).  If the very elect had any children or young adults under age 30, they likely will enter Canaan land in the flesh and not as persons changed to immortality (as will be true for the election). 

 

When the election is at the Sea of Glass (to be discussed in a later chapter herein), it seems unclear where any of these fleshly Israelites might be.  If from the very elect class, will they go to Petra and the Sea of Glass with their parents?  This writer is not sure about this question. 

 

But it is likely that any underage children of the very elect class can be protected in some manner and may enter Jerusalem about this same time frame as their parents. 

 

The return of Yisrael to Palestine was discussed earlier, and will be further addressed in later chapters herein.  It is adequately described in the Scriptures (Lev 26:44-45; Deut 30:1-5; Jer 3:12-17; 23:3; 29:14; 31:8-11; 32:37; Ezek 11:17; 34:11-16; 36:24; 37:21;39:27; Mic 4:11-13; Zep 3:18-20).  Again, the book of Ezekiel seems to be the best witness of this return. 

 

The remarks of Yechezkel on the return (Ezek 34:11-16; 36:20-37:28, 39:27) are placed in the Book--largely before the Gog and Magog invasion (which may occur as late as Yechezkel’s 40th year, to be described in subsequent chapters). 

 

 

Therefore

 

Thus, much or all of the return of the House of Yisrael to the land should happen before Yechezkel’s 41st year (actually, the return of fleshly Yisrael may largely occur in Yechezkel’s 38th year and perhaps may extend into Yechezkel’s 39th year).  In any case, Yisrael has returned before the Gog invasion.  This writer is not prepared to say which Scriptures precisely date the return of fleshly Yisrael. 

 

The best option seems to be that the return starts around Bul 15th in Yechezkel’s 37th year (at least for the age ending election changed to immortality and maybe some few fleshly Israelites) and will largely conclude for the surviving fleshly Israelites at Sukkot in Yechezkel’s 38th or 39th year (where the bulk of the Scriptures on the return of fleshly Yisrael will be fulfilled for perhaps 2.4 million Israelite people). 

 

If Yakov’s Trouble starts officially by Yechezkel’s 30th year and intensifies the next year (in a phased-in motion, starting with the breaking of Yisrael’s pride--Lev 26:19), it surely ends completely with the second great exodus from slavery (which could start around Bul 15 of Yechezkel’s 37th year, but which may primarily occur at or near Sukkot in Yechezkel’s 38th and possibly into Yechezkel’s 39th year for fleshly Yisrael). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 134--Yehudah

 

 

More History on Yehudah 

 

With the fall of the House of Yisrael to the Assyrians, the survivors of the House of Yehudah in the South continued their sin and evil (despite the efforts of the good King Yoshiyahu to change them).  They soon came under YHWH’s judgment when the Babylonians invaded and conquered the Southern Kingdom in about 554 BCE. 

 

These Southern House of Yehudah people were then carried captive to Babylon where they were to remain for the next 70 years to fulfill YHWH’s Word. 

 

At the end of the 70 years of punishment, many of the surviving people of the Southern Kingdom returned to Canaan land to rebuild the Temple and recommence true worship of YHWH (under leaders like Ezra, Zerubbabel, Yeshua, Nechemyah, etc). 

 

 

But Much Yisrael Was in the Diaspora

 

By this time, the earlier ten tribes of Yisrael (plus much of Yehudah, Binyamin and likley Levi) were long gone into history as the tribes of Yisrael. 

 

With the re-establishment of the House of Yehudah in Canaan land, following the Babylonian exile, there remained large numbers of other Israelites out in the Diaspora.  First, there was the reality that all of the Judeans, who either fled Canaan or were taken captive by the Babylonians, did not return to Canaan with the return cited in Ezra and Nehemiah. 

 

That’s why there were numbers of Jews remaining in Babylon and out in the Diaspora, even after the supposed return of Yehudah to Canaan land.  This condition was discussed in some detail in preceding chapters to account for the huge number of Jewish Israelites found in NT times in the general Roman empire. 

 

Beyond these dispersed people from the House of Yehudah, there was also the huge number of Israelites in both the former House of Yisrael and those from the House of Yehudah who had went into Assyrian captivity--also as found in various parts of the Roman empire, like in Asia Minor (as noted earlier). 

 

 

Movement to the Isles of the Sea

 

In time, the House of Yisrael Israelites began breaking free of their exiled locations and moved North and West to the Isles of the Sea where some of their other brethren had also relocated over the years. 

 

This assembling of Israelite people in the Isles of the Sea was to last from its beginnings (evidently starting as early as the time of the Exodus, and certainly from the time of the Assryian deportations until the 20th century, as is detailed elsewhere herein). 

 

From the Isles of the Sea, many of these Israelites in time began a further removal to their individual tribal homelands (as noted earlier and to be further addressed later). 

 

In his wisdom, YHWH clearly produced a dispersal of the House of Yisrael and House of Yehudah from the land of Canaan.  Many of the people of Yehudah were brought back to Canaan land following the Babylonian exile. 

 

Many or most of the House of Yisrael people (plus those persons from Yehudah and Binyamin who also left Canaan with the Assyrian conquests) eventually moved to their own tribal lands, in far away territories. 

 

Beyond these persons, who ended up in their own lands from the sixth century BCE to the time of YESHUA, there also remained huge numbers of other Israelites simply out in the Diaspora.  As noted above, many of these Israelites were in Asia Minor and South East Europe. 

 

 

The Jews and Judaism

 

Those Israelites in Canaan soon developed the Jewish religion and largely became known as Jews--despite enormous miscegenation and amalgamation with the pagan nations that they were in contact with (like with the Amalekites, as will be covered in subsequent chapters herein). 

 

The Israelites from the Assyrian deportations and earlier removals became largely lost as to their identity and nationality.  It is these people who are the so-called lost tribes of Yisrael.  They exist somewhere.  The problem is that they lost their identity while the Jews retained their identity (since the Jews were never divorced, per se). 

 

The Jews, living in Canaan land after the Babylonian exile, produced, of course, the famous Maccabees during the Greek oppression (c 168 BCE) and in time, YESHUA The MESSIAH.  While some corruption came into their Hebrew religion, it was basically Scriptural and received favorable recognition when YESHUA and His disciples and followers regularly worshipped in the Synagogues. 

 

Tragically, for the sake of the Palestinian Jews after the Babylonian exile until the time of YESHUA, the Jews assimilated the evil Amalekites (like Herod and the Herodians), as noted above and as will be assessed in some detail in later chapters.  These Amalekite workers of evil brought much hurt on the Jewish people and laid the groundwork for the second major deportation of Jews from Canaan land. 

 

 

The Second Exile

 

The second Jewish exile came during the Jewish-Roman war of 66-73 CE and later in the so-called Bar Kochba rebellion (in about 135 CE).  This essentially ended the Jewish presence and remnant of the House of Yehudah in the land of Canaan for the next many centuries.  But it did set the stage for a second recovery and gathering together of Israelites from out in the Diaspora to Canaan land in modern times. 

 

This second recovery of Israelites and restoration of them to Canaan land (to be described in chapters to follow) has become a prophetic anti-type of the situation of the lost tribes of Yisrael, also out in the Diaspora; but in a state of ignorance about their own racial ancestry and heritage. 

 

Yes, as strange it may seem, the members of the lost tribes of Yisrael in the Diaspora, now in their temporary tribal homelands, are about to face a second period of punishment and exilement to be followed with a recovery to Palestine.  These lost Israelites will, like the Yehudim of 70 CE, face an external foe who will conquer them and destroy their national governments. 

 

These Israelite survivors will then revert to the typical fulfillment of the Egyptian servitude which their ancestors faced 3,500 years ago.  They will go through the wringer to be cleaned up to anticipate the return of their MESSIAH YESHUA. 

 

 

The Recovery of Yisrael to Palestine 

 

It will be YESHUA Who will then recover these scattered Israelite survivors and bring them to the land of their ancestors--old Canaan land where they will at last be reunited in one government, under YESHUA, with the House of Yehudah (as is described in Ezekiel 33-39). 

 

All or this will happen after YESHUA returns in the future to establish His Messianic Kingdom over planet earth.  All of Yisrael will then know their identity and will once more be in the promised land of Avraham. 

 

In summary, both the House of Yisrael and the House of Yehudah will end up in two separate exiles and dispersions and two recoveries and restorations.  Yehudah has now had two experiences.  The House of Yisrael has only seen one of its two experiences.  The second one is still future at this time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 135--Aliyah and Zionism I

 

 

The Aliyah Factor 

 

The concepts of both Zionism and Aliyah have been allowed in former chapters herein without much of a definition or expatiation.  This chapter will address both ideas to some degree.  The two concepts are related and linked, as will now be established herein. 

 

Importantly, the word “Aliyah” means going up to Erez Israel (the land of Yisrael).  The idea inherent in Aliyah is one of Jewish immigration to Palestine (although it will soon be a Hebrew concept for the lost House of Yisrael as well).  Theoretically, Palestine was emptied of Yisrael in the Roman Wars of the first century CE and/or later during the periods of Muslim and Crusader occupation. 

 

However, the evidence seems persuasive that the Jewish removals and/or expulsions were never 100%, as supposed.  Practically speaking, there seems to always have been “some” Jewish presence in the land, ever since the return of the Jews under Ezra and Nechemyah, following the Babylonian exile. 

 

By the time of the Ottoman Turk’s conquest in 1516 CE, there was admittedly very few Jews in Palestine.  Though the Turks were a little more friendly to the Jews than earlier conquerors, they, too, did not open the doors to much Jewish immigration (and especially from European Jewry).  But there was some from time to time.  Howbeit, it was very small. 

 

 

The Unassimilable Jew 

 

Certainly, from the time of the Roman conquests of Palestine and the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Jewish population was largely expelled to the winds throughout the world.  Despite this dispersed condition, the Jews have maintained the Hebrew Tanakh and the Hebrew language, though all of the odds for such were against them. 

 

Also, of profound importance, the Jews maintained some semblance of identity and culture--again, despite the odds against them.  For many students of the Word, one of the great proofs of the Scriptures has been the continuing presence of the Jews.  Logically, they should have been absorbed by other peoples long ago. 

 

There seems to be no good reason for the presence of the Jews, the Hebrew language or the Hebrew Tanakh.  But all three survived and are present in the world today.  Manifestly, their existence spells out the reality of The Great SOVEREIGN Who oversees all of the activities of man--both for good and bad. 

 

 

The Sephardim 

 

Please understand that in any discussion on good Jews, the focus must be primarily on Sephardim (to include the Oriental Jews)--who apparently owe their roots to Second Temple Jewry and not particularly to the Ashkenazi Jews of Europe, who largely stem from Amalekite Khazars (who converted to Judaism in the 8th century CE, as will be described in later commentary herein). 

 

Though the Khazars would maintain some Jewish identity over the years, they were never as dedicated and committed to Judaism and the idea of being a Jew, as was the case of the Sephardim, who evidently were and are far more likely to have roots back to Second Temple Jewry. 

 

So the Sephardi Jews maintained an existence and a better understanding of the Hebrew language than the Khazars, who had problems almost from their very beginnings, as will be addressed at length later herein. 

 

Man is truly blessed today by the Sephardi Jews and their efforts to preserve the Tanakh, Hebrew language and the Jewish culture. 

 

 

The Problem 

 

But this Jewish desire to maintain some separation (Hebrew kodesh) from the various peoples and countries where they lived also brought on much Jewish persecution and opposition by the host countries.  It seems that everybody in Adam’s world hated Judaism, the Tanakh and Hebrew words and writings in general. 

 

The sun worshipping peoples (and particularly the later Christians) took their hatred and spite out on the ethnic Jews for most of the last 2,000 years.  Many scholars have stated the problem.  The Jews would not assimilate and intermarry with the host countries (the Khazars being a slight difference, however).  This reality has infuriated other peoples who wanted to miscegenate. 

 

 

Hibbat Zion 

 

In this condition of trying to live and exist in the Diaspora, the dedicated and committed Jews developed a love of Zion (in Hebrew, “Hibbat Zion”).  This love and commitment to Palestine became the basis for the later Aliyah and Zionist movements (“Encyclopaedia Judaica,” v. 16, p. 1037). 

 

The love of Zion combined with Messianic expectations to create quite an interest in settling Erez Israel (the land of Yisrael in the Hebrew) in the 19th century (primarily by 1869).  Soon, two primary spokesmen for the movement surfaced. 

 

One of the most influential persons promoting the idea was R. Judah Alkalai (1798-1878), an undistinguished preacher in a Sephardi community in the Balkans (ibid, v. 16, p. 1034).  Starting in the 1840s, Alkalai started to propagate his view of a Jewish national unity, using the Hebrew language and a resettlement to Palestine. 

 

The other key proponent of this message was Zevi Hirsch Kalischer, a German Rabbinic scholar of Polish origin (ibid, v. 16, p. 1035).  As early as 1836, Kalischer contacted the super rich Rothschilds to buy the whole of Erez Israel from the Ottoman Turks or at least Jerusalem and/or the Temple Mount (ibid, v. 16, p. 1035).  Later, Kalischer made the same request to Moses Montefiore. 

 

But nothing concrete was to come out of these early ideas.  However, by the Jubilee of 1868-1869, the Hibbat Zion motion was established and a reality.  Though not much had been accomplished over the years, things were to change in the latter part of the 19th century. 

 

 

The Settlements 

 

In 1870, one of the most noteworthy events of all occurred with the establishment of Mikveh Israel, an agricultural school, on 650 acres of land East of Tel Aviv and Jaffe.  This school was founded by the Alliance Israelite Universelle.  By 1914, Hebrew had become its language of instruction. 

 

In the years 1878-1881, a group of Jerusalem Jews decided to establish an agricultural village in Israel’s coastal plain.  It became Petah Tikvah (Gateway of Hope).  With financial aid from Baron Edmond de Rothschild, the village survived, despite many obstacles (ibid, v. 16, p. 337). 

 

With the establishment of Petah Tikvah, the stage was set for the wonderful changes in Palestine in the 1880s. 

 

First, in 1881, Eliezer Ben-Yahuda came.  Ben-Yahuda was perhaps the most important person of all in the establishment of the Hebrew language in the vernacular (as will be proven later).  His work was to be one of the most profound in all of history. 

 

In 1882, the first great Jewish Aliyah commenced to Palestine (“Encyclopaedia Judaica,” v. 8, p. 766).  In 1883, Baron Edmond de Rothschild began financial help to Jewish settlements in Palestine (like at Petah Tikvah). 

 

The Zionist movement became a reality in the 1890s.  It provided the impetus for the second great Aliyah in 1904 and everything to follow.   

 

 

The Zionist Movement 

 

The story of the wonderful Zionist movement is lengthy, although its history is primarily limited in time to the last 100 years. 

 

There has come to be some confusion over the word Zionism (both its political and religious/social aspects, to be addressed below), as evident in the various attempts at defining it. 

 

For example, Funk & Wagnalls’ “Standard Desk Dictionary” (p. 799) gives it as “A movement for the resettlement of the Jews in Palestine.”  “The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia” (p. 941) says it means a “movement for reconstituting a Jewish state in Palestine.” 

 

The backdrop for these differences is that in the beginnings of the movement, in the 19th century, the political situation was such that intelligent Jews could not dare come out and say that they were going to establish a Jewish state in Palestine (which was then governed by the Ottoman Turks and largely inhabited by Arabs). 

 

However, Jewish intellectuals could and did openly talk in terms of Jewish immigration to Palestine.  Once the Jewish state became a reality with British and United Nations actions in 1947-1948, the movement took on the more political aspect of the establishment of a Jewish state.  In any case, the word Zionism conveys both images.  

 

 

More Than Politics

 

Perhaps because of these earlier political considerations, many persons even today believe that Zionism represents a political motion.  This is particularly true in America and other countries which have given vast aid and assistance to the State of Israel--either in money or otherwise. 

 

Right wing sources in America and especially those that are nationalistic, like the “American Free Press” paper and various patriot groups, are generally opposed to the financial support of Zionism on the premise that the movement is political and is detrimental to the United States (at least, in terms of the continued give away of vast US funds to Israel). 

 

Despite the attempts to make the motion totally political, the better view is that some part of it has been a social and religious movement--predicated upon the concept of Hibbat Zion, discussed above.  Put another way, the Aliyah to Palestine and the Zionist establishment of a Jewish state have been strongly in the hearts, minds and mentality of numbers of Jews since the 1860s. 

 

Something largely overlooked by everyone is the fact that this motivation and mental attitude seems to be directly from The MOST HIGH, Himself.  Since it seemingly has involved The Sovereign YHWH from day one, its future success was assured.  No human being could have ever stopped, interfered with or limited Zionism, as it developed over the years since the 1860s. 

 

 

Theodore Herzl 

 

To appreciate the Zionist movement (the love of Zion idea), the focus must be directed to a European Jew named Theodore Herzl (who is further discussed at some length elsewhere herein), who seems to have been largely a secularist who did maintain political ambitions for a Jewish state. 

 

Herzl was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1860, just as the first thoughts of Hibbat Zion were beginning to surface.  Though he was educated a lawyer and practiced that profession for awhile, his real interests seem to have been in writing and political reporting. 

 

Per “Encyclopaedia Judaica” (v. 8, p. 408), Herzl’s first real focus on the plight of the Jews and the so-called Jewish problem came while he was a reporter in Paris in 1891-1895 for the Vienna “Neue Freie Presse,” where he worked. 

 

Judaica says that the Dreyfus case (involving treason accusations against a French Jewish officer) convinced him of the need for a Jewish resettlement in a land of their own. 

 

Herzl was a Socialist and seems to have had little interest in religion.  Likely, he was an Amalekite racially which must have motivated him to become obsessed with so-called anti-Semitism (which seems to completely dominate the thinking of most Amalekites, as outlined in other commentary herein). 

 

In any case, Herzl contacted the well known Jewish philanthropist Baron Maurice de Hirsch in May 1895 over the plight of the Jews.  Judaica says that their meeting in June 1895 was the first act by Herzl in pursuit of Zionism.  From then on, Herzl seems to have devoted most of his time and energy to Zionist ideas. 

 

By August 1897, Herzl was instrumental in promoting the first Zionist Congress which met in Basel, Switzerland.  At that time, the World Zionist Organization was formed with Herzl as first president.  From there on, Herzl and others began talking and trying to promote the idea of a Jewish homeland with possibilities in Palestine (if wealthy Jews could buy it from the Turks) or in Africa or Cyprus, as alternatives. 

 

 

Herzl Goes to Constantinople 

 

Therefore, in 1899, Theodore Herzl traveled to Constantinople to attend meetings (which continued up to 1904) with the Sultan Abdul Hamid and his minister N. Bey.  Herzl came armed with enormous financial backing from the Rothschilds and other wealthy Jews of the day.  He came to buy Palestine.  Negotiations were intense. 

 

The Sultan was stubborn and in the end would not agree to the proposed sale.  Therefore, he effectively sealed the fate and future of the once great, Ottoman, Turkish Empire. 

 

Soon, the big money powers and super rich set the Turks and Germans up to lose WWI--probably to a large extent over the Sultan’s refusal to give in to Herzl.  Hence, the Ottomans lost Palestine, as well as much of the rest of their former land holdings. 

 

 

Other Alternatives   

 

The British government in particular (under Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain) considered alternatives at Cyprus and elsewhere for a Jewish settlement.  Soon, there was much talk of a Jewish homeland in East Africa.  Although Herzl off and on considered the African plan, it was largely rejected by most of the Zionist leadership. 

 

Somehow, most Jews could not move off stage from the love of Zion ideas already outlined.  Therefore, Africa, Cyprus and all other (non Palestine) alternatives were destined to failure.  In the main, the Jewish mind and mentality were focused upon Palestine, though Jews could do little about it in the early 20th century.  This then set the stage for what was to follow in WWI. 

 

 

WWI 

 

WWI broke out in 1914 when the Serbian Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo in the Balkans (where the great powers are now gathered in conflict).  It pitted the allies of Britain, France, Russia and ultimately the US against the so-called Central Powers of Germany, the Austro Hungarian empire and the Ottoman Turks. 

 

At the first opportunity, the British Foreign Secretary dispatched a British officer named T. E. Lawrence to Arabia to instill grandeur ideas of Arab greatness, land, glory, plunder and on and on in them--if they would but join in the fight against the Turks.  The famous Lawrence of Arabia was very persuasive.  So the Ishmaelite Arabs joined the allies. 

 

In the meantime, it was beginning to be obvious to everyone in 1917 that the Central nations would lose the war.  Since there was the enormous Ottoman empire in Southeastern Europe and the Middle East, allied leaders began to think about how they would break it up and portion it out to others. 

 

 

The Balfour Declaration and the Mandate 

 

This background sets the stage for the work of Arthur James Balfour (an evident Amalekite Jew), British Foreign Secretary during the war.  On Nov 2, 1917, he wrote a letter to the super rich, plutocrat Amalekite--Baron Lionel Rothschild--on how the British government was favorable to the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. 

 

Though many historians would come along and try to claim that the Balfour Declaration was prompted by the need to induce the Jews to support the war, the real reason is obvious.  By November 1917, the Central Powers were beaten and General Allenby was about to march into Jerusalem.  This reality prompted the Amalekite plutocrats to pressure the British government to respond as she did.

 

Despite the new pledges to the Jews, there was the situation with the Arabs; who, too, were promised grand and glorious things in the Middle East.  Of course, the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine did not set well with them.  They didn’t like the plan at all. 

 

The UN’s predecessor organization, the League of Nations, was functioning at the end of WWI.  This group prepared a Mandate for Britain and France to administer and govern much of Palestine.  Britain obtained possession of most of the Southern area that once was old Canaan. 

 

However, this territory was inhabited largely by Arabs who were also promised the land by the British and T. E. Lawrence earlier.  Obviously, the Arabs were upset with the existing Balfour Declaration and the prospects of a national Jewish state in Palestine. 

 

To appease the Arabs, the British government issued a number of so-called White papers to try to placate both the Jews and the Arabs by formally limiting Jewish immigration into Palestine by specific numbers.  But these efforts really satisfied neither party. 

 

 

WWII and the Jewish State 

 

WWII erupted in 1939 when the allies of Britain, France, Russia and eventually the US took on the axis powers of Germany, Italy and Japan.  Again, Germany and her colleagues were defeated.  Howbeit, this time, things were a little different for the Jews who had suffered considerably under Nazism in Europe. 

 

Many Jews were homeless and sitting in displaced person camps, hoping to go to Palestine, but could not go because of the British limitations on immigration.  However, the Jews had a lot of sympathy from around the world.  So pressure was applied on Britain to change things (coupled with Jewish terrorism against the British in Palestine).  By 1947, Britain had had enough. 

 

She announced that she would end the mandate in 1948.  This set the stage for the United Nations to step in and vote in November 1947 to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.  The Jewish people in Palestine, led by David Ben-Gurion, declared their independence on May 14, 1948--which brought on the first Arab war (an interesting date, in view of Jamestown, Virginia on May 15, 1607).  

 

 

Some Amazing Prophetic Fulfillments 

 

Some years ago, this writer was privileged to learn of something absolutely incredible in the context of the modern state of Israel.  There is, for some important and fantastic reason, an incredible parallel between the fall of the Jewish state to the Babylonians in the 6th century BCE and with the restoration of the Jewish state in the post WWII days. 

 

Most Christians fail to pick up on it.  But the books of Samuel and Kings are not only historical books, but they are prophetic as well.  In the Jewish canon, discussed in a former chapter, the books of Samuel and Kings are placed with the other prophets. 

 

In any case, the fall of ancient Jerusalem is laid out in some detail in II Kings, II Chronicles and Jeremiah.  It is fascinating that there was a unique pattern of the attacks upon Yehudah which reduced her and resulted in the total removal of the Jews from Palestine, until their eventual return some 70 years later. 

 

 

The Events 

 

First, Egypt came into Yehudah in a motion to destroy her sovereignty, take captives, plunder her wealth and install a puppet government in the form of Yehoyakim (II Kg 23:29-35; II Chron 36:1-4). 

 

But very quickly, the international situation changed and the Babylonians became the world leaders with a conquest of Egypt in Yehoyakim’s fourth year, following three years of his rule (Jer 25:1; 46:2).  Apparently, Yehoyakim did not initially submit to the new world government in Babylon. 

 

Though Yehoyakim was to eventually rule 11 years, this change of world power and his initial rebellion in his fourth year (against the new Babylonian rulers) was to alter his future.

 

The Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, invaded Yehudah, reduced its sovereignty, took captives, plundered her wealth and continued Yehoyakim as ruler, but as a puppet of Babylon (II Kg 23:36-24:1).  Please note that this first Babylonian attack happened something over three years after the Egyptian conquest. 

 

Yehoyakim ruled another eight years as a vassal of Babylon.  He apparently then revolted against the Babylonians and soon died (II Kg 24:6; II Chron 36:6-8). 

 

He was replaced by his son, Yehoyakhin, who only ruled three months (but served an earlier 8 to 10 years as a co-regent with his father) before Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem a second time after the revolt of Yehoyakim and the unwillingness of Yehoyakhin to submit at once to Babylon (II Kg 24:8-16; II Chron 36:9-10). 

 

This second Babylonian invasion took place some eight years after the first one.  As before, Nebuchadnezzar took captives, plundered the wealth and created a puppet government under Yehoyakim’s brother Tzidkiyahu. 

 

Under the new vassal state, Tzidkiyahu was to rule eleven years before he, too, revolted, necessitating another conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in c554 BCE (II Kg 24:17-25:11; II Chron 36:10-20; Jer 52:1-15). 

 

This third Babylonian conquest took place eleven years following the second one.  This time Nebuchadnezzar terminated the government and took all of the Israelites captive--save some of the poor of the land (plus Yirmeyahu and some of the persons in his entourage), whom he left behind under a governor named Gedaliah (Gedalyahu in the Hebrew; II Kg 25:12-24; Jer 52:16). 

 

But things were not to go well for the remaining Jews living in Palestine because some time later a renegade Jew named Ishmael murdered Gedalyahu (II Kg 25:25).  The surviving people then fled to Egypt.  So some five or six years later, Babylon invaded a fourth time and took the rest of the people captive (actually from Egypt, per Josephus, “Josephus, The Essential Writings,” p. 180). 

 

This series of the last three Babylonian invasions and captivities of the Jews were laid in sequence by Yirmeyahu (Jer 52:28-30). 

 

 

The Prophetic Significance 

 

Now, all of this may seem well and good from the standpoint of history.  But what about its prophetic implications?  Well, exactly some 2,520 years later (seven prophetic times) from each of the five foreign attacks and invasions upon Yehudah, the modern Jewish state was restored to power in precisely five motions by The ELOHIM. 

 

In 1945, at the end of WWII, the Jewish revolution and War for Independence from Britain commenced in Palestine.  Some of the Jews began murdering British soldiers and even blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.  Britain soon gave up her efforts to hold onto the land and announced that the British mandate would end in 1948, as noted above. 

 

So, when 1948 came, Britain withdrew and the UN partitioned Palestine into Jewish and Arab states.  The modern state of Israel was announced by the Jews in May 1948.  Immediately, the Arabs launched their first war against the Jews in an effort to drive them out and terminate their government. 

 

This war failed.  So eight years later, the Arabs commenced their second war against the Jews in Palestine.  This one failed as well.  So another eleven years was to pass and the Arabs launched their third war against the Jews in Palestine.  This one, the Six-Day War, failed as well for the Arabs.  But importantly, the Jews took possession of the old city of Jerusalem.   

 

Finally, some six years was to pass and the Arabs launched their fourth and final war against the Jews in Palestine, as the Yom Kippur War of 1973.  This one also failed for the Arabs as well. 

 

At the moment, there seems to be no reason whatsoever to anticipate another Arab-Israeli war.  Instead, the Israeli government will undoubtedly conclude an Arab-Israeli peace treaty of some sort by Yechezkel’s 30th-32d years. 

 

As elsewhere described herein, there will surely be a Russian invasion (in alliance with various Moslem states), as an ante-type of the Gog-Magog invasion, in a few years--in which the invaders will miraculously be defeated and their armies destroyed (just as happened when the Assyrians came against Jerusalem in Hizkiyahu’s days). 

 

But this future invasion (probably in the fall of Yechezkel’s 33d year) seemingly cannot link to the conquest of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. 

 

 

Absolutely Astounding   

 

In any case, it is absolutely astounding that the Jewish War for Independence against the British in 1945 came some 2,520 years after the Egyptian invasion and conquest.  The Jewish War for Independence against the Arabs in 1948 (three years later) came some 2,520 years following the Babylonians’ first attack and invasion. 

 

The 1956 war (some 8 years later) came some 2,520 years after the Babylonians’ second war and attack upon Yehudah which terminated Yehoyakhin’s rule. 

 

The Six-Day War in 1967 (some 11 years later) came precisely 2,520 years after the Babylonians’ third war against Yehudah which saw the fall of Jerusalem.  This Six-Day War of 1967 came in a Jubilee year, as will be later established.  It is profoundly important because the old city of Jerusalem was once more in Jewish hands, after 2,520 years (and in a Jubilee year). 

 

Finally, the Yom Kippur War of 1973 (some 6 years later) came some 2,520 years later--following the last invasion and conquest of the Jews by the Babylonians, as described by Yirmeyahu (Jer 52:30). 

 

All of the right-wingers, Christian Identity prophets and Zionist haters should take a few minutes and carefully read, study and reflect upon the fall of Jerusalem to the Egyptians and Babylonians in the sixth century BCE and compare this termination of Jewish power over Jerusalem with what has happened in Palestine since 1945.  It is absolutely mind-boggling. 

 

 

YHWH Is In Charge

 

And above all else, this prophetic fulfillment is one more great proof of The ELOHIM’s involvement in the whole Zionist movement.  Many people can never get it through their thick heads, but YHWH is A Total SOVEREIGN.  He is in charge of everything and particularly everything that is now going on in Jerusalem. 

 

YHWH is getting ready to see to it that the Jews rebuild the Temple, complete with His approval, guidance and oversight.  To accomplish His purposes in Jerusalem and indeed around the world, it was imperative that the Jews return to Palestine and take possession of Jerusalem. 

 

And whether anyone likes it or not, very soon, the Jews will obtain possession of part or all of the Temple Mount to allow the rebuilding of the Temple.  On this issue, there is no question over whether, the only question is when.  Here, in early 2003, the “when” seems to be around Yechezkel’s 30th-31st years--as will be established in subsequent chapters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 136--Aliyah and Zionism II

 

 

A Great Proof of YAH’s Role 

 

Though there are a whole host of proofs that YHWH has been involved in the Zionist movement from the start, one of the greatest of all occurred in the Jewish War for Independence from 1947-1949, as outlined in the prior chapter.  In 1948, Palestine had some 750,000 Jews.  They were facing some 50 million hostile Arabs. 

 

The first phase of this war was from November 1947 until the British withdrew in May 1948.  For it, the Jewish settlers fought a defensive fight against marauding bands of Arab terrorists who tried to jump the gun in the fight.  The second phase was fought from May 1948 until July 1949. 

 

With the British withdrawal, things turned more serious as the regular armies of five neighboring Arab states invaded the new state of Israel.  It was this situation which prompted the Jews to not only defend themselves, but to launch an offensive which saw them even gain territory which had been partitioned to Jordan.  This was the beginning of the Palestinian refugee problem. 

 

When 1948 rolled around, the Jews had no organized army, per se.  They had a badly divided and unorganized, small militia of a few thousand people and three airplanes (one was a piper cub). 

 

But this force, called the Haganah (which worked in league with the separate Jewish Palmah military force), was not really equipped, trained or manned to theoretically put up much of a defense.  Otherwise, the Jews used women, girls and 12 year old boys, armed with broomsticks and limbs off of trees, to pretend guns. 

 

The Arabs came with tens of thousands of trained and armed government troops (with tanks, guns, airplanes, etc), including the crack Arab Legion--organized, trained and equipped by the British.  The Arab leaders thought that it would be a push over to roll into Israel and push the surviving Jews (those not killed in the attack) into the Mediterranean Sea (this has been the ambition of the Arabs ever since 1948). 

 

But nothing was to work out the way the Arab planners and even the outside observers were to imagine.  On the contrary, the settlers and their ragtag army banded together to put up not only a fight, but a very victorious fight which guaranteed Jewish independence. 

 

 

Andrew N. Dugger 

 

Andrew N. Dugger, now deceased, and a former leader of the Sardis Church of God (7th Day) entity, wrote a tract on the “Rebirth of Israel” some years ago which focused upon this Jewish War of Independence. 

 

In one section, Dugger wrote about the bees fighting for Israel.  This story was carried in a number of US newspapers.  Its background was that the 10,000 man Arab Legion came in to fight, but quickly lost many of its tanks trying to get across the Jordan.  The rest were blown up by Israeli suicide squads; who, armed with bottles of nitro glycerin, threw themselves up against the tanks. 

 

The Legion, without their tanks, continued their push to the West.  On approaching Tel Aviv, the thousands of ground soldiers were suddenly attacked by swarms of honey bees from the groves of Petah Tikvah, mentioned previously.  The Arabs dropped their guns and retreated en masse.  Was this event predicted earlier (Deut 7:20; Josh 24:12)? 

 

A. N. Dugger had a second story on angels appearing on the battlefield.  In 1947-48, the many Jewish villagers quickly dug trenches around their compounds.  When the war started, the Jewish boys and girls would man the trenches with their broomsticks and tree limbs to try to fool the Arabs about the nature of the defenses. 

 

In one sector, several thousand Egyptian soldiers thought that the targeted villages were heavily defended.  So they procrastinated and waited to attack.  Soon, they saw a large army of a million men or so on the surrounding hills.  Thereupon, the Egyptians surrendered for fear, never understanding that the Jews had no defenses, except for the unarmed people around the Jewish villages. 

 

 

More From Dugger

 

The third incident told by Dugger concerned the attack from the North--involving Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.  Again, this force of tens of thousands of soldiers poured South, expecting no resistance from Arab farmers in the region.  They planned upon soon linking up with the Jordanians and Egyptians. 

 

On the eve of battle, this Northern army was bivouacked at an assembly area in the Jezreel valley (the site of the famous Armageddon).  The soldiers collectively came down sick with a dysentery plague.  The soldiers were too weak and ill to continue their push South.  Soon, they were under attack by a Jewish force which drove them from the area in retreat. 

 

This whole situation brings to mind Deuteronomy 32:30 where Moshe wrote how one man can chase a thousand and two can put ten thousand to flight.  Obviously, such victories are possible when The Rock YHWH is on one’s side.  If YHWH is on a person’s side, who can be against him? 

 

It was not only the Jewish War of Independence which produced incredible results and Jewish victories, but the same thing happened time and again in the succeeding wars.  The Arabs would train, equip and produce a large military force to try to come into Israel and drive the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea.  But always, the same results occurred.  The Jews won and the Arabs were defeated. 

 

 

YHWH Is Involved! 

 

One of the most profound events in the last 2,000 years occurred in June 1967 when the Arabs again attacked Israel with plans to drive the Jews into the water.  As before, the outcome was in YAH’s hand.  Quickly, the Arabs lost the fight, plus the old city of Jerusalem, as noted earlier.  At last, the Western Wailing Wall was in Israeli hands. 

 

The thing which the Arabs and indeed the world at large never understood was that The Sovereign ELOHIM was involved in the Zionist movement and on the part of the Jews in their various conflicts.  Because of this wonderful reality, the attacking, superior Arab army never had a chance.  They were destined to be destroyed on the battlefields (see Zech 12:1-6). 

 

In 1976, a group of Arab terrorists hijacked an airplane load of passengers, mainly Jews, and took them to Entebbe airport in Uganda where they were turned over to the Black dictator, Field Marshal, Doctor, President Idi Amin Dada (who was discussed in a prior chapter, because of his obsession over his military uniform). 

 

Israel organized a successful commando raid (with YHWH’s help) to go to Uganda and free the hostages.  Other countries, like Germany (in the Munich hostage case) and the US (in Iran), failed miserably in their efforts to free hostages. 

 

The point of all this is that the return of the Jews to Palestine (starting in the late 19th century), the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948 and the Israeli seizure of Jerusalem in 1967 were all necessary steps in the fulfillment of prophecy and YHWH’s great plan of the ages.  Just as YHWH could raise up stones to do His will if necessary, He has used both evil Amalekites and good Jews in Palestine to do His will. 

 

As will be covered in some detail later herein, one of the prime features of this whole process will be the building of a Third Temple--complete with the approval of The MOST HIGH.  Christians may not like this coming event.  But nevertheless, it is coming and cannot be stopped--because The SOVEREIGN OF THE UNIVERSE is behind it.  YHWH is having His way in Palestine! 

 

Many so-called right-wingers and Christian Identity people can never begin to grasp it.  But the whole Zionist movement of the Jews to Palestine (yes, both good and bad Jews) has been a work of The SOVEREIGN.  There simply is no way to miss it.  The Arabs have out-numbered the Israelis profoundly.  Yet, in each and every conflict, they totally lose (because The MOST HIGH has been fighting on the side of the Israelis). 

 

 

Some Non-Zionist Jews 

 

Before the 1860s, most of the immigration into Palestine was on a religious plane with some Orthodox attention.  But all of this was to change.  From the beginnings of the larger Jewish returns to Palestine after 1860, the Aliyah more often involved secular Jews.  Religious Jews did not immediately get on board.  It’s hard to say why this condition came about.

 

Especially, after 1900, the newcomers were mainly Socialists and secularists who were very much anti-religious in philosophy (“Encyclopaedia Judaica,” v. 16, p. 1054).  So while some religious Jews liked the love of Zion idea, it turned out for years that much of the immigration was from apparent, Amalekite Khazars.  After all, they were the primary founders of the early communistic kibbutz enterprises. 

 

By the rise of the Nazi power in Europe, attitudes began to change--especially among Orthodox persons.  However, surprisingly, many Reform Jews remained opposed to the Zionist movement and especially in the US.  In 1948, the American Council for Judaism (a Reform group) said that the state of Israel is not the state or homeland of the Jewish people (ibid, v. 16, p. 1145). 

 

 

The Ultra Orthodox 

 

And of all people, an Ultra Orthodox group, headed by Satmer Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, condemned the Zionists for trying to hasten the (Messianic) redemption by establishing a heretical state (ibid, v. 16, p. 1145).  This group has continued its opposition to this day, on the premise that Israel could not be restored until The MESSIAH comes. 

 

As late as 1970, the Ultra Orthodox Neturei Karta’s Brooklyn, NY chapter said that the “Zionists and their fellow travelers do not speak for the Jewish people.  Indeed, the Zionist conspiracy against Jewish tradition and law makes Zionism--and all its activities and entities--the archenemy of the Jewish people today” (per their ad, published in the “New York Times” of Jan 20, 1970). 

 

To show their sincerity (in opposition to the Zionists and the state of Israel), the leadership of Neturei Karta held a joint news conference with Louis Farrakham’s Nation of Islam in March 2000 to express their new alliance, in opposition to the state of Israel (Mar 20, 2000, “Spotlight,” p. 2). 

 

Neturei Karta leader R. Yisroel David Weiss says that most people who claim to be Jews are not Jews (note--has Rav Weiss been reading Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 in the NT?).  Weiss added that “It’s Zionism, not Judaism.”  Neturei Karta also says that the WWII Holocaust was punishment upon the Jews for pushing their ideas of a Jewish state in Palestine. 

 

Rav Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the Sephardi Ultra Orthodox Shas sect echoed some similar feelings in Israel in August 2000.  Per the Aug 11, 2000, “Jerusalem Post” (p. 1), Yosef said that the Jews who died in the Holocaust were reincarnations of sinners.  Ashkenazi Jews were shocked and upset over Yosef’s link of the WWII persecution to sin.  One leader called Yosef “an old fool.” 

 

 

Christian Views 

 

Many Protestant Christians came on board for the Zionists early on because they correctly saw the restoration of the Jews to Palestine as a step toward the next coming of The MESSIAH YESHUA.  Many Protestants have even understood the necessity of a rebuilding of the Temple by the Jews. 

 

Of course, some Jew haters, like the Christian Identity people, have been adamantly opposed to the Zionist movement from day one.  The real reason for this opposition will be addressed in later chapters.  It is tragic that so many ignorant and uninformed Christians hate Judaism so much that they are utterly blind as to what The HIGHEST is doing in Palestine and among the Jews. 

 

It is true that there is a vast horde of very evil Amalekite people hiding out in the world today as Jews (and some as Christians as well).  Because of the presence of these sons of Satan, much unnecessary and very wrong persecution has come upon innocent, good, Jewish Israelites. 

 

But it is also true that believers in YHWH YESHUA are not to hate the evil Amalekites and by all means are to allow the tares and wheat to grow together until harvest time when The ELOHIM will separate the two peoples.  This is a hard pill for a lot of people to swallow. 

 

 

The Present 

 

In terms of the present state of Israel, it is clear that many of the early inhabitants were evil Amalekites.  But things have been changing there in the last thirty-plus years since the Six-Day War of 1967.  For some time now, many of the wretched Amalekites have been leaving Palestine for the United States and Britain.  The recent Palestinian Intifada has acted to speed up this exodus of Amalekites from Israel. 

 

Even today, as numbers of Amalekite Khazars leave Russia, only small numbers of them go to Israel to stay.  Many Amalekites reportedly go to Palestine and use it as a transit point to move on to the United States and White British Commonwealth nations where they can resume their historic role of being parasites to bleed others. 

 

The preferred destination of choice for the Amalekites has become America.  If this trend continues, the time will come (probably has come) when most of the Amalekites are centered in large US cities, awaiting judgment from YHWH. 

 

In the context of this fascinating scenario, it is possible that in coming days there may not be large numbers of Amalekites left in the state of Israel.  In that case, the promised conversion of the Jews (manifestly religious Jewish Israelites) can become a reality (Zech 12:10; 13:1-9). 

 

In this instance, perhaps the conversion of the Jews to YESHUA for the last 2,000 years was interfered with and delayed precisely because of the presence of the evil Amalekites. 

 

Perhaps it has been the reality of the Amalekites with the good Jews which has not allowed the good Jews to understand and appreciate YESHUA and His work of 2,000 years ago.  This will surely change in Palestine in the next few years. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 137--Return of the Jews

 

 

The Return of Yisrael to the Land 

 

Former chapters herein mentioned the certainty that Yisrael will return to old Canaan land or Palestine.  This is one of the most extraordinary, profound and important messages in the entire Scriptures and particularly in the Old Testament. 

 

All of Yisrael will return to old Canaan land--not whether, but only one of when.  Positively, YHWH will search the Israelites out to (re)gather them to Palestine (Lev 26:44-45; Deut 30:1-5; Jer 3:12-17; 23:3; 29:14; 31:8-11; 32:37; Ezek 11:17; 34:11-16; 36:24; 37:21; 39:27; Mic 4:11-13; Zep 3:18-20). 

 

Not only does The MOST HIGH promise the return of Yisrael, but He categorically couches that return in the context of both the Houses of Yisrael and Yehudah--in the sense that the kingdom, divided in Rechavam and Yarovam’s days, has never been reunited since then (Jer 3:14, 18; 30:3-11; 33:7, 14; Zech 8:7-8, 13; 10:6-12). 

 

While the prophets are quite precise and explicit on this return of both Yehudah (meaning the good, real, true Jewish Israelites and not necessarily the Amalekite sons of Satan, who have attached themselves to Yehudah) and the House of Yisrael, there seems to be some concern over the actual sequence of this return. 

 

In the real world, it has been working out that Yehudah has been returning first (since 1869) with the obvious reality that the House of Yisrael will return later.  As this condition seems to be building up on the global scene, one would wonder if it can be supported from the Scriptures.  And the answer seems to be yes. 

 

 

Yechezkel Is The Key 

 

Yechezkel appears to hold the key.  As discussed in prior chapters, the book of Ezekiel, above all other writings, seems to hold the chronology and outline on the age end in the context of the House of Yisrael.  Yechezkel opens his early chapters with the fall of the House of Yisrael nations and the captivity of the surviving Israelites, as noted earlier. 

 

Later, Ezekiel 36:20 to 37:15 records the wonderful and fabulous regathering of some Israelites (in a second Egyptian Exodus) from Yakov’s Trouble to return and restore them in Palestine, as before times.  But this series of Scriptures talks only of the House of Yisrael with no mention of the return of the House of Yehudah (which is also promised).  

 

In fact, the book of Ezekiel never seems to address or date the return of Yehudah.  Why is this so?   Well, the reason seems crystal clear.  Yehudah is already returned to the land when Yechezkel’s 30th year commences.  This reality is brought out very carefully in Zechariah 12:7 and in the context of the general chronology of the book of Ezekiel. 

 

YESHUA evidently returns in Ezekiel 34.  Thereupon, one of His most important acts is the regathering of the House of Yisrael (Ezek 36:20-37:15). 

 

 

Yeshayahu on the Return 

 

This wonderful regathering of the outcasts of Yisrael was cited by Yeshayahu (Isa 11:11-12; 27:12-13) when he wrote that they would be regathered a “second” time. 

 

Please understand that Yeshayahu prophesied during the fall of the House of Yisrael to the Assyrians.  It was only natural that he would focus upon her instead of upon the Jewish state which fell 140 years later during the time of Yirmeyahu.  The first regathering of Yisrael was to the Isles of the Sea and the temporary tribal homelands, as was described in some detail in prior chapters herein. 

 

Yeshayahu’s words focus upon the second regathering while the House of Yisrael is in a second captivity (Zep 3:18-20).  If the first regathering has any significance, it is only in the context of an ante type of the second, more important one. 

 

With this second regathering underway (it may take some time for completion), the House of Yehudah and the House of Yisrael will once again be reunited in the land into the new Davidic kingdom under YESHUA (Ezek 37:16-19).  Ezekiel 38-39 follows with the Gog and Magog invasion which will be discussed in subsequent chapters. 

 

When Ezekiel 37 arrives chronologically, there is no need to say anything about the return of the true, Israelite Jews because they are already in the land and have been there from chapter 1, verse 1 of Ezekiel (in his 30th year).  It is because that they are in the land that YHWH will do well for them and save them first (Zech 8:15; 12:5-7).  Yes, Yehudah is to be saved first and Yisrael second. 

 

Manifestly, the chronology and events of Yechezkel make it abundantly clear that the true, Jewish Israelites return first to the land while the House of Yisrael exiles are returned later at the end of Yakov’s Trouble--when YESHUA is in Jerusalem ready to commence His government. 

 

 

Study of Judaism and Jewish History 

 

One of the most neglected themes in the modern Christian world is a study of Second Temple Judaism (which was practiced by YESHUA The MESSIAH) and Jewish history.  Traditional Christians hate Judaism so passionately that they don’t know anything about it and don’t want to know.  They are largely happy with their gross state of ignorance.  This is too bad. 

 

Back in 1890, Dr Emil Schurer wrote his famous “A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ.”  Schurer (v. I, p. 1) opened his mammoth work of five volumes with these words: 

 

“In the fullness of time, the Christian religion sprang out of Judaism; As a fact, indeed, of divine revelation, but also inseparably joined by innumerable threads with the previous thousand years of Israel’s history.  No incident in the gospel story, no word in the preaching of Jesus Christ, is intelligible apart from its setting in Jewish history, and without a clear understanding of that world of thought--distinction of the Jewish people. 

 

“Thus it becomes the bounden duty of Christian theologians to examine into and describe that realm of thought and history in which the universal religion of Christ grew up.  Nor is it enough to know simply that older literature which has been collected together in the canon of the Old Testament.  On the contrary, the gospel of Jesus Christ is much more closely connected with its immediately contemporary surroundings, and the tendencies of thought prevailing in that particular age.”

 

It’s hard to improve at all on Schurer’s marvelous assessment.  He seems to have hit the nail on the head--maybe not on all points (certainly, Schurer’s ideas that Christianity came from Judaism are wrong, as will be proven in later chapters herein); but at least, he was right on the importance of Second Temple Judaism. 

 

Any proposed follower of YHWH YESHUA must pull his head out of the sand on this theme and take a new look at particularly Second Temple Judaism and the history of the Jews during that period.  The knowledge and information for that period and indeed later is fantastic and is of inestimable value. 

 

 

YHWH’s Wisdom 

 

In fact, the real believer must pull head out of the sand on the whole issue of the Jews.  When a person looks upon the evil of the Amalekites and how much harm and hurt they have imposed upon Adam generally and Yisrael particularly, there is a tendency to want to passionately hate these people (which is wrong, as will be covered later).  Too often, this hate translates to a hatred of the collective Jews and/or Judaism. 

 

When the Israelite kingdom divided in the days of Rechavam and Yarovam and subsequently, YHWH implemented His plan to use the ensuing Jews to preserve His Word (the Hebrew language), the Tanakh (the OT Scriptures) and the Hebrew culture.  He could have chosen the House of Yisrael for this mission.  But He did not do so.  Instead, He commissioned the Yehudim (per Romans 3:2). 

 

In terms of a charge or commission to man, this has to be one of the most profoundly important ones in all of history.  In His wisdom, The MOST HIGH decided that the Yehudim (the Jews in the modern English vernacular) would be the people with the right character and mentality to safeguard, protect and perpetuate the Hebrew language and OT and the Second Temple culture over the millennia to the age end. 

 

Two thousand years ago, the world was at a crisis point because the Hebrew language and Tanakh were in the awful position of almost being destroyed forever.  Certainly, if the developing Roman Catholic Church would have had her way over the next 15 centuries, the Hebrew language, OT and culture would have been forever obliterated (though the Eastern Orthodox may have preserved the Septuagint). 

 

 

Work of the Jews 

 

But The EVERLIVING ONE made the right decision.  The Jews took action in the years after the fall of Jerusalem (70 CE) to canonize and standardize the Hebrew OT text (which became the Masoretic text). 

 

By adding vowel points to Hebrew words in the Tanakh (since the Hebrew language was effectively written in consonants only), by preserving the Talmud (in Hebrew and Aramaic and with its incredible value in the restoration of the Hebrew language) and by presenting regular Hebrew classes in the synagogues, the Hebrew language was likewise preserved. 

 

Today, the Hebrew language is once more spoken in the vernacular in the state of Israel (because of the wisdom and action of the collective Jews).  The Hebrew OT is remarkably correct, as all scholars now agree--based upon the findings from the Dead Sea Scrolls (in contrast to the situation with the Greek OT and NT). 

 

Knowledge, understanding and practices associated with the Scriptural luni-solar calendar have persisted--along with the Sabbaths, Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, clean foods and many other things which were never a part of traditional Christianity (with its focus upon the solar calendar, Sunday, Christmas, Easter and pork).  Again, the Jews did their job (per Romans 3:2). 

 

The modern Jewish state became a reality in 1948.  The city of Jerusalem passed to Jewish control in 1967.  And very soon, the Jews once more will perform another commission.  They will rebuild the Temple (which is a crucially important step in order for the Word of YHWH to be fulfilled). 

 

It would be easy to hope and wish that true Israelite Jews did all of this and that the evil Amalekites had nothing to do with what has happened.  This writer would not dare take a position on this one way or the other.  But if White Anglo Saxons (later Americans and Britons) would not preserve the Hebrew language or the Hebrew OT or rebuild the Temple, why should any critic try to second guess the Jews. 

 

 

Mere Rocks and Stones Could Have Been Used, Revisited 

 

If evil Amalekites (who will be described in detail in later chapters herein) have served The HIGHEST in any capacity on these needs, then one must say that it is good.  After all, the NT does communicate that if necessary, The ELOHIM could and would raise up mere rocks and stones to fulfill His will and to serve Him, as noted elsewhere herein (Matt 3:9; Lu 3:8; 19:40). 

 

So maybe, YHWH chose to accept the service and work of some evil Amalekites, instead of commissioning some Anglo-Saxons, Christians, Identity adherents, or even rocks and stones to do His will.  Yes, The ELOHIM is A Total SOVEREIGN over the creation and He will do whatever He pleases with it.  

 

Consequently, in terms of some of the greatest needs to endure over thousands of years, The MOST HIGH commissioned the House of Yehudah (the Yehudim or Jews, per the modern word) and not the House of Yisrael.  Surely, He could have chosen the House of Yisrael if that was the right thing to do (as pointed out above).  But instead, He chose the Yehudim (the Jews). 

 

Because the Jewish people would sin and allow evil Amalekites to become Jews (to be discussed later herein) did not and could not alter YHWH’s wisdom in His grant of the commission.  He made the right decision.  To whatever extent that these evil Amalekites have helped the collective Jews in the fulfillment of their commission, then it has worked together for good to serve The ELOHIM. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 138--Why Were the Jews Omitted?

 

 

The Commission, Revisited 

 

Preceding chapters have discussed at length YESHUA great commission to the lost sheep of the House of Yisrael, then out in the Diaspora during the first century CE.  Any person reading this presentation must have some inevitable questions. 

 

Consequently, at this juncture, the reader must surely pause for a moment to ask "why" did The MESSIAH specify the Israelites of the "lost" House of Yisrael; and seemingly, in His statement of the true commission (described in previous chapters), utterly ignore the Israelites of the present remnant of the House of Yehudah and/or the Jews in general. 

 

On this, one must bring to mind that "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22); or evidently, more correctly, "salvation comes from among the Jews" (as the “Amplified Translation” gives it for John 4:22). 

 

And of course, the message did go out repeatedly to the Jew first (of the remnant of the House of Yehudah) and then to the peoples of the lost tribes of the House of Yisrael, as one can shortly see (Rom 1:16; 2:9-10, etc). 

 

While this study cannot be dogmatic on the answer as to “why” for this enigma, there may be several possibilities which are worth considering.  At this early stage on this question, it would be well to initially broach one of the more common theories in Christendom on the place of the Jews in respect to the Good News message and salvation. 

 

 

The Fig Tree Parables 

 

Many Christians actually go to the extreme of charging that the Jews can’t be saved at all in any age.  Hellfire and brimstone preachers have historically consigned all of them to the throes of hell for infinity with no hope of deliverance and reconciliation--ever. 

 

Of course, some in Churchianity do not believe in an ever burning hell.  So, for them, the position would be simply eternal death.  In a book on the “Remnant Message To Modern Israel” (p. 23-25), Christian writer William J. Walker took this stance. 

 

Walker’s belief on the Jews was predicated essentially on an understanding of one of the fig tree parables stated by YESHUA in which a certain man had a fig tree in his vineyard.  For three consecutive years, the man came to the fig tree looking for fruit. 

 

For all three years, the man never found any fruit on the tree at all (Lu 13:6-9).  In response to this situation, the man cut the fig tree down.  Allegorically, the fig tree was used in the Tanakh for the House of Yehudah--thus, figs were and are Jews (Jer 24:1-10).  As Walker noted, the man in the parable of the fig tree was The MESSIAH. 

 

 

Jews Permanently Cut Off? 

 

In interpreting this parable, Walker theorized that YESHUA had gone to the Jews of the Judean nation for three straight years and in all cases found that they bore no fruit for Him (then or thereafter).  Hence, they were “cut off from His Inheritance.” 

 

Turning to another relevant text, the Remnant book writer observed that in a later situation, The MESSIAH went to a fig tree and found nothing on it but leaves (again, no fruit).  So He cursed it and it withered and died (Matt 21:18-19; Mk 11:12-14, 20-21).  Walker linked this parable to the earlier one. 

 

William attempted to tie both parables together by quoting from the conclusion of the parable of the absentee landlord (to be later elaborated upon) who let his land out (with a vineyard which may have had a fig tree present) to a husbandman and went away to a far country (Matt 21:33-45). 

 

The landlord sent his servants and even his own son to the husbandman to collect the fruits.  But in all cases, the husbandman killed them.  The Word suggested that certain priests and Pharisees were the (husbandman) subject of the parable (Matt 21:45), although there might be a problem with the vine since it was traditionally linked to the House of Yisrael (as has been/will be discussed elsewhere herein in this production). 

 

As Walker pointed out, the conclusion of this parable was that the kingdom was to be taken from them (the Judeans involved) and given to another nation or people who would produce fruit. 

 

Based on these parables, the Remnant writer summarized his position as being that the Jews still reject The MESSIAH; thus, they “cannot possibly represent God’s people Israel.”  Despite the validity of the cited parables, there was still one more extremely relevant little remark which Walker did not relate in his theory. 

 

This one surfaced in some of YESHUA’s final instructions before His impalement.  In His discourse on the age end, He said that when the fig tree’s branch is yet tender and puts forth leaves, one can know that summer is near (Matt 24:32; Lu 21:29-30).  Because of this reference, many believers have felt that in the age end, the fig tree would bloom (and even produce fruit). 

 

Actually, the writer of this study at hand leans in the direction of interpreting the latter parable with a view that in the age end, the fig tree will truly bloom and produce fruit.  In a later chapter, this approach will be elaborated upon at length in discussing the prophecies of Haggai, Zekharyah and Revelation. 

 

So while the Word is quite clear that YESHUA did bypass the Jews and the House of Yehudah collectively, in His commission, there could be other important reasons on why He took this action and what the long range impact of that decision will ultimately prove to be. 

 

 

Other Explanations 

 

Unquestionably, it is manifest that YESHUA (SALVATION) assuredly did come forth from or out of the Jews, as noted above (Jo 4:22).  But also, it is quite evident that SALVATION was to be "for" Yisrael, apparently in the generic sense (Deut 33:26-29; Heb 2:16). 

 

Perhaps John 4:22 really means that The MESSIAH comes from or out of the Jews for the express purpose of going to the House of Yisrael.  Along this same line of thought, the Apostle Shaul said that YESHUA had become a servant and minister to the Jews in order to confirm the promises for Yisrael (Rom 9:3-14), as given to the patriarchs (Rom 11:8). 

 

If so, does this mean that in the New Testament environment The ANOINTED ONE was not necessarily sent to the Jews for the “then” purpose of them having an election and calling “at that time” for salvation?  Strangely enough, this possibility seems to be the exact situation, as will be shortly outlined herein. 

 

Of course, since Moshe stated the law as he did (Deut 33:26-29), one can be sure that if the Jews are a legal and proper part of Yisrael (as some evidently were in YESHUA's day), then he can bank on it that at some time (maybe not back then in the first century CE), they will have their call for salvation (see Rom 11:15, 31). 

 

 

The Covenant? 

 

Also, on this issue, there is some question about the status of the covenant relationship with Yehudah and particularly so when YESHUA uttered those words of His commission around 26-29 CE.  As pointed out earlier, the House of Yisrael was cut off from YHWH and in a divorced state, perhaps from about 700 BCE or so. 

 

Yet, The MOST HIGH had seemingly remained married and in a covenant relationship with the House of Yehudah, clearly up until His death as YESHUA, c30 CE, when it might be argued that the remaining covenant link was severed by the Jews over the role they played in His execution.  Could this reality have something to do with The MESSIAH's statement of His commission?  Well maybe. 

 

 

Many Jews Were in the Assyrian Deportations 

 

For another possibility, there were certainly large numbers of Yehudah's descendants in the Assyrian captivity who probably were thought of as being a part of the House of Yisrael by YESHUA's time because of their break with the House of Yehudah around 700 BCE when they went into Assyrian captivity, as discussed earlier. 

 

In effect, The ANOINTED ONE’s mission to the House of Yisrael would have surely included those persons of Yehudah, as suggested by Yohanan in his writings on the elect 144,000 Israelites (as was discussed at length in a preceding chapter)--evidently, as saved during the Apostolic age (Rev 14:1). 

 

So SALVATION was going to numbers of people from Yehudah in the context of the House of Yisrael, although some in Palestine might seem to have been ignored.  Effectively, the Good News would appear to be going to all of the tribes of Yisrael in this precise environment. 

 

 

Genetics 

 

Alternatively, another reason for the first century CE bypass of the Jews might well be because of their genealogical makeup.  Importantly, this topic of genetics is one which most modern peoples, especially Americans, flee from in absolute stark panic and terror, as if it is a diabolical invention of Adolf Schicklgruber (alias Hitler, as described in prior commentary) in conjunction with the Adversary himself. 

 

Consequently, it is being brought up reluctantly at this time in terms of the Jews.  Nevertheless, this theme must be brought up as it has been so far and must be considered here in respect to the present discussion (because genetics is factually germane to the overall subject of the recipients of the Good News). 

 

In truth, the Scriptural evidence, as now outlined herein in former chapters, is quite persuasive that the topic of race is one of the most important subjects in The ELOHIM’s Word, despite Americans’ fear of even allowing the word race to be used in their vocabulary. 

 

Contemporary persons, Americans and Christian Americans, in particular, have been so profoundly mesmerized by Hollywood, television and the media that it is almost impossible and out of the question to intelligently discuss genetics in any forum whatsoever--including one emanating from the Scriptures. 

 

 

Race Is Important 

 

Yet, the topic of race has been and is one of the most important and far reaching in the Book as now proven. 

 

Not only has the promises and salvation both been couched into the definition of Yisrael, as was shown in the prior chapters; but also, as cited earlier, the Word sees fit to tell us that Noah found grace in the sight of The HIGHEST--evidently because he was perfect and without spot or blemish in his racial genealogy (Gen 6:8-9), following a period of extensive miscegenation (Gen 6:2). 

 

So, whether anyone likes it or not, the issue of the ancestry of certain peoples must be addressed if one expects to grasp anything of relevance on the subject at hand.  On this, and in terms of those persons in Judaea in historical times, it's worth noting that many of them, racially, were not of the line of Yehudah at all, despite the fact that they were thought to be Jews (as briefly touched upon in prior comments). 

 

This question of Jewish racial and ethnic origins will be further addressed in later chapters.  Suffice to say, things contemporarily present and believed in the world today are not as they first seem.  Historians have lost sight of some profound information which affects all so-called human beings alive on this globe today. 

 

Above all other people, the lost House of Yisrael should be informed about the Jews.  And of equal importance, all modern Jews should likewise be informed about the existence and presence of the lost House of Yisrael. 

 

Because race is important, in terms of assessing the Jews, that issue will be covered at length in the succeeding chapters.