The United Kingdom of Israel was divided in two during the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was made up of 10 tribes, led by the tribe of Joseph, in their new capital called Samaria. The Southern Kingdom of Judah continued to rule from Jerusalem, with the Royal House of David presiding over them. Both sinned against the God of Israel and were patiently warned by the prophets, but northern Israel fell first and was deported by the Assyrians approximately 130 years before the Babylonians conquered Judah and destroyed the temple (2 Kings 17).
After 70 years, a small number of Jews returned and restored Jerusalem and built the Temple. The Jews had been deported to Babylon and were from the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The northern Israelites had been taken captive before to other areas (2 Kings 17: 6) and never returned.
If you look at the records of those who returned from exile in Babylon, it becomes clear that they were basically just those from the southern tribes of Benjamin, Levi, and Judah. There are some exceptions to this rule, certain individuals from Ephraim and Manasseh, and undoubtedly some of the other tribes that joined Judah (1 Chronicles 9: 3). Some carelessly assume that just because the returnees are sometimes called sons or sons of Israel, it means they were from the Northern Kingdom of Israel. However, Jacob-Israel had twelve sons who were the patriarchs of the twelve tribes. Every Jew is an Israelite, an ethnic descendant of Jacob-Israel, but not every Israelite is a Jew! The Northern Kingdom of Israel, as a whole, remains in exile as the “Lost Ten Tribes”.
It is historically and biblically important to make this distinction between Jews and Israelites and be careful not to blur their identities (Ezekiel 44:23). After all, God has dedicated four books of the Bible to doing just that!
But did God intend for northern Israel to remain lost? Since we act like pagan Gentiles, God allowed us to lose our spiritual mind and think that we are Gentiles, but was the punishment for our religious sins supposed to last forever? Didn’t God promise that He would preserve Israel’s unique identity even though they were scattered across many nations? Clearly, God has never lost sight of who the “Lost Tribes” really are and where they are today: “For, behold, I will order, and sift the House of Israel among all nations, as corn is sifted through a sieve. But not a grain will fall on the ground “(Amos 9: 9).
If God is aware of the condition of a sparrow, certainly He is more concerned with the collective affairs of Israel, especially since we are loved by parents (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob). Yet we see Israel, afflicted with grief, feeling helpless and hopeless, dead to history, cut off from its roots, having given up any hope of being restored to national life, being reassured by Almighty God that He will restore their physical identity.
Once God begins the healing process, the life-giving spirit of reconciliation between Judah and Israel will result in our restoration as the United Kingdom, One Nation under God! God will restore us to our ancient homeland and revive the Davidic monarchy to rule with but under the Messiah. The Sanctuary of God will be found again in Jerusalem, and it will shine as a sign to the whole world, as He will return home with the exiles (Ezekiel 36).
Israel would only remain lost until just before the Messiah comes. That is when we would begin to fulfill our tribal destinies as prophesied by Jacob and Moses (Gen. 49; Deut. 33). The sons of Joseph, the Anglo-Saxons, have fulfilled the prophecies as no other “claimant” of the inheritance of Israel can: Manasseh has become the great single nation of the United States, and his brother Ephraim has become the Commonwealth. British of Nations (Gen. 48:19), as clearly shown in the United States and Great Britain in Bible Prophecy, influenced by Herbert W. Armstrong, one of the greatest proponents of this biblical truth.
After our prophesied 2,520 years of exile, Israel began to grow, multiply, and be blessed around 1800-1803. A Jewish Homeland reveals how our Jewish brothers also came to life after the time of their punishment came to an end, boldly declaring their statehood in 1948, keeping the Promised Land in trust for all the Twelve Tribes (Romans 3: 2 ).
Joseph and Judah are the two main leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel. It was around the ordained time that God began to bestow Joseph’s birthright that he began to restore Israel’s identity among both the Anglo-Saxons and the Jews (1 Chron. 5: 2). Some have embraced this wonderful truth and consequently have drawn closer to one another as brothers, but others have foolishly allowed Satan to create enmity and drive us away. Soon that “sibling rivalry” will be a thing of the past (Isa. 11:13).
Some rabbis / ministers have stubbornly refused to seek out the “Lost Ten Tribes” and have let them wander in their pagan Gentile ways and days! GOD HOLDS MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR NOT HELPING TO RESTORE ISRAEL’S ROOTS AND RESPONSIBILITY! (Ezekiel 34: 4). He will personally remove them from the pulpit and strip them of their duties! They have proven unworthy to shepherd God’s people in Israel and have lost their future as leaders (Ezekiel 34:10; Matt. 12:30). However, God has raised up others to fulfill this urgent mission of “search and rescue” (Ezekiel 34:16).
Surely God would not leave His Church in the dark about the identity of Israel, especially since the Gospel should go first to the Israelites and then to the Gentiles. And the Gospel is A GREAT PROPHECY! .
Fortunately, there are a growing number of groups and organizations, books and articles, both Christian and Jewish, that are helping this GREAT WORK OF ISRAELITE IDENTIFICATION. They are helping to proclaim, “I am Joseph your brother” (Gen. 45: 4). The Jerusalem-based Brit-Am Israel The organization (founded by the Israeli Orthodox Jew Yair Davidiy) is a pioneer among our Jewish brothers.
God reveals our Israelite identity and expects us to help restore our brothers to their biblical senses (Isa. 42:22; 51: 1-2). Those ministers who do not respond to God’s call to seek and rescue Israel have robbed them of a right relationship with God and our ancestors, substituting God’s holy days for pagan hollow days (Isaiah 63:16; Hosea 5: 7; Malachi 4). : 4-6). They have stubbornly put their idolatrous traditions above God’s commandments, preferring doctrinal darkness and captivity over the spiritual light and freedom of the Messiah.
However, several have been called from the womb to help restore Israel’s identity and religion (Isaiah 49: 5-6), destroying Babylon and cleaning up the reefs of religious confusion (Isaiah 57:14; 58: 1, 12 ). ). Even if our people as a whole reject the plain truth by popular error (2 Chron. 30: 5-11), a few will always respond to God’s call to leave Babylon (traditional Christian / Jewish myths) and return to our biblical roots. . and responsibility (I Kings 18:21, 36-37; Revelation 18: 4).
It is vital to know who Israel is so that they can return to biblical faith once they have delivered it. Why? To allow them to be saved from the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble”, the “Great Tribulation” that is prophesied to fall with special force on our heads. God expects us to work together to remember our Hebrew roots and responsibility, and to guide and steer our Israelite nations in the right direction (Jer. 31:21).
To warn Israel of the many prophecies that anticipate our coming captivity (due to our idolatry and immorality), it was first necessary for God to restore our identity. God has now restored our identity, he is again warning our nations, and it is up to us what will happen next.
That we take the Word of God seriously, let us return to the God of our fathers and have hope: “If my people, about whom they are called by name, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn away from their evil ways then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land “(2 Chron. 7:14).
