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Many Christians may never have heard of;
While most Pastors may have heard about this, they attach no importance
to it.
Hence, in practice, they perceive no reason to allude to it in their
sermons.
However, from a Christian viewpoint, it represents an extremely important
topic!
Those aware of the history of the tribes of Israel know that following
the reign of Solomon the nation of Israel split into two nations. These
nations being referred to as the 'house of Israel' located in the north
and the 'house of Judah' in the south.
The northern kingdom, the 'house of Israel', was composed of ten tribes.
After the passing of a few centuries, God acted (via the Assyrians)
to remove the people of the 'house of Israel' from the Promised Land.
After the removal of the people of these tribes God placed the people
of other foreign conquered nations (via the Assyrians) in the Promised
Land.
This effectively permanently prevented the large scale return of the
ten tribes to the Promise Land.
[ NB: The 'house of Judah' was later taken captive by
the Babylonians, but they were able to return. ]
So what was the fate of the people of the 'house of Israel'?
Obviously this is an important question. These ten tribes represented
a significant majority of the descendants of Jacob!
Some in searching for these lost ten tribes have assumed these tribes,
in modern times, would be actively observing some form of the Old
Covenant faith.
However, the history of the 'house of Israel' depicts that from their
establishment they set up pagan idols. The house of Israel failed to
maintain loyalty to the Old Covenant.
Scripture advises that when the house of Israel was first established
there had been Levite cities present within the borders of the 'house
of Israel'.
However, circumstances compelled these Levites to quickly depart.
2Chr 11:14 For the Levites left their common-lands and their
possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for
Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from
serving as priests to the Lord.
:15 Then he appointed for himself priests for the
high places, for the demons, and the calf idols
which he had made.
Despite having turned to paganism. The 'house of Israel' retained
awareness of their ancestry. As they dwelt adjacent to the 'house
of Judah'.
However, after their Assyrian relocation, subsequent migrations and
the passing of many centuries this awareness dissipated.
NB: It is worth noting that some fringe elements within Christianity
have shown a great deal of interest in tracing the modern day
descendants of these ten tribes.
Unfortunately, for some of these Christian groups this pursuit
has been a distraction from the broader study of Scripture.
When one stands back, and takes an overview of God's Work, one can
begin to grasp God's planned ongoing intent for the house of Israel.
Does God cast away people He foreknew?
Rom 11:1 I say then, has God cast away His people?
Certainly not! ...
:2 God has not cast away His people whom He
foreknew. ...
:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are
irrevocable.
The context of this teaching references those of the Jewish faith
who remained trapped in the Old Covenant faith. However, the overall
sentiment, 'the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable', can
equally be applied to the descendants of the ten tribes.
In the transitional era, at the dawn of the New Covenant, it was
clearly anticipated that the bulk of those encompassed within the
Old Covenant faith would not be able to adapt.
Rom 11:11 I say then, have they stumbled that they
should fall? Certainly not! But through
their fall, to provoke them to jealousy,
salvation has come to the Gentiles.
[NB: The word 'Gentiles' can also be
be rendered 'nations'. The notion
of 'nations' reminds us that the
promise to Abraham included a
"nation and a company of nations>".
Gen 35:11 And God said to him;
"I am God Almighty. Be fruitful
and multiply; a nation and a
company of nations will proceed
from you, and kings shall come
from your body. ]
With the instigation of the New Covenant God's message was initially
directed toward those of Jewish faith.
While Scripture does not record the mass return of the 'ten tribes',
it is evident that indeed some had returned. These settled in some
of the northern cities of the Promised Land.
Matt 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them,
saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles,
and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.
:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel.
Following the witness to Peter, the Gospel was to be spread to
those not encompassed by the Jewish faith.
In order to facilitate expansion, it was necessary to call those
of the 'nations'.
Luke 5:37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins;
or else the new wine will burst the wineskins
and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.
:38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins,
and both are preserved.
:39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately
desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"
An obvious new wineskin - the dispersed descendants of the people
of the 'house of Israel'.
By this means the 'house of Israel' would be brought back into
fellowship with God! Brought into a new and superior covenant.
This is not to say that every descendant of the lost ten tribes was
destined to become a Christian.
It just means that the primary, but not exclusive, target audience
would be these people.
So in the context of this modern world, what does this mean?
If one wants to know who represent the descendants of the lost ten
tribes - one only has to look among the nations and see which nations
have a strong Christian presence.
From a Scriptural viewpoint there is no need to try and identify which
tribe manifested into what nation(s).
It is enough to grasp an overall indication of the presence of their
offspring in the modern world.
So in the final analysis what do we have?
We have the shadow of the 'house of Judah' in Judaism.
While the shadow of the 'house of Israel', is present in Christianity.
The structure of ancient Israel is in existence today, but present in
two faith forms.
Hence, we have;
1) the faith of Judaism
- representing the 'house of Judah',
and
2) the faith of Christianity
- representing the 'house of Israel'.
Given that Judaism has now existed for nearly 3,500 years, what is it
that God is now requiring of the Jewish faith?
Dan 9:24 ...
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
In the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles there was hardening
of the hearts of the Jews. Refer Romans 11:25. Hence, the above six
requirements could not be achieved.
However, now with the passing of nearly 40 Jubilees the opportunity
for voluntary acceptance is present.
In essence, God's prophetic Word is calling for their humility and
repentance!
However, nowadays, the current Jewish agenda often appears to be more
focused upon the establishment of an enhanced land owning/controlling
presence in and around the historic homeland of ancient Israel. Also,
to a lesser extent, there is some stated interest in the rebuilding
of the Jerusalem temple.
Given that God is actually calling for 'humility and repentance',
it seems that modern Judaism is currently, under the influence of
a false prophet message.
So what is the 'take home message' for Christianity and its divisions?
- They represent the wild olive branches (having a tendency to
adopt paganism). Leaderships of their divisions tend to favour
the traditions of their individual founding fathers. So as such,
they are not fully seeking God with all their 'heart, mind and
soul'. A serious flaw which will in due time necessitate their
judgement.
For the sake of completeness the history of the 'house of Israel'
and the fate of the Davidic covenant will be briefly reviewed.
FORMATION OF THE TEN TRIBES
Jeroboam, the first king of the newly formed 'house of Israel', was
given rulership over ten tribes.
Two tribes were retained by Rehoboam the king of Judah.
These were Judah and Benjamin. 2Chr 11:1.
(It is worth noting that the first human king of Israel, Saul, had
descended from the house of Benjamin. Hence there was an affinity
between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.)
The Levite tribe had initially been spread across both territories,
but as mentioned above they were disrespected in the 'house of Israel'
and they therefore became a third tribe in the 'house of Judah'.
This meant the ten tribes were;
Reuben
Simeon
Dan
Naphtali
Gad
Asher
Issachar
Zebulun
Manasseh (first born son of Joseph)
Ephraim (second born son of Joseph).
Mostly these tribes were located in the North or on the East side of
the river Jordan.
However, that was not the case with the tribe of Simeon. The land
of the tribe of Simeon was enclosed within the inheritance of Judah,
Joshua 19:1. Hence, at the time of the division the families of the
tribe of Simeon would have had to relocate.
2Chron 15:9 mentions the tribe of Simeon alongside Ephraim and Manasseh
in the time of the Judean king Asa. Asa was the king who reigned after
both Rehoboam and Abijam(Abijah). This confirms that the tribe of Simeon
had relocated within (or close to) the territory of these two important
tribes.
In the time of Asa 2Cron 15:9 we are told the righteous reign of Asa,
king of the 'house of Judah', attracted many from Ephraim, Manasseh
and Simeon (those who chose to sojourn in the territory controlled by
this Judean king).
THE FATE OF THE TEN TRIBES
The first removal was of the tribes east of the Jordan - Reuben,
Gad and half of Manasseh who were relocated by Tiglath-Pileser.
Refer 1Chron 5:26.
However, eventually all the ten tribes had been removed.
2Kin 17:18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel,
and removed them from His sight; there was none
left but the tribe of Judah alone.
[NB: The Hebrew word for 'tribe' can also be
rendered 'scepter'. None were left except
those under the 'sceptre' of Judah.
Meaning only the tribes under the
rulership of Judah remained.]
The following verse indicates the final Assyrian removal took place
about fifty years after the fall of the capital of the 'house of
Israel'.
Isa 7:8 Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken,
So that it will not be a people.
[NB: 1) The name of the leading tribe 'Ephraim'
is a reference to all the 'house of Israel'.
2) The 65 years appear to have expired during
the reign of Manasseh, king of Judah. ]
WAS THE DAVIDIC KINGSHIP TRANSFERRED
An aspect of the Abrahamic promises was a 'scepter' promise made to
the tribe of Judah.
Gen 49:10 The scepter does not turn aside from Judah,
"And a lawgiver from between his feet,"
Until his Seed comes; And His [is]
the obedience of peoples.
(LSV - Literal Standard Version)
[ NB: 'scepter' - literally 'rod'.
Not necessarily 'royalty'.
(This is a critical point!)
A 'staff' - a sign of authority.
Authority amongst the tribes.
Over at least some of the tribes. ]
Subsequently there were promises made to David. Promise of a seed
whose kingdom would be established.
Many centuries later, toward the end of the reign of the Judean kings,
the book of Jeremiah confirms.
Jer 33:17 "For thus says the Lord: 'David shall never lack
a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;
Notice the promise to David had also included the maintenance of some
form of the priesthood system.
Jer 33:18 nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to
offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain
offerings, and to sacrifice continually.' "
However, following the Babylon captivity, a Judean king no longer
reigned over the Judean people.
Ezekiel talks about the crown being overturned, being no more, until
given to him whose right it is.
Ezek 21:26 thus says the Lord God:
"Remove the turban, and take off the crown;
Nothing shall remain the same.
Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted.
:27 Overthrown, overthrown,
I will make it overthrown!
It shall be no longer,
Until He comes whose right it is,
And I will give it to Him."
So the question arises, "How was the throne and crown promise honoured
by God?".
This has caused some speculation that the crown was overturned and
moved out of sight. Moved into a position within the cast out 'house
of Israel'. (Where it is envisaged it would remain until the Branch
of righteousness arrives.)
It is interesting to notice that at the time of the Babylon captivity
the sons of Zedekiah and all the Judean princes and nobles had been
killed. Jer 52:10 'princes' and Jer 39:6 'nobles'.
However, there still remained the daughters of the king(s).
Jer 43:5 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains
of the forces took all the remnant of Judah who had
returned to dwell in the land of Judah, from all
nations where they had been driven -
:6 men, women, children, the king's daughters, and
every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the
guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam,
the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet and
Baruch the son of Neriah.
:7 So they went to the land of Egypt, for they did
not obey the voice of the Lord. And they went as
far as Tahpanhes.
They were taken to Egypt.
The men of Judah, who relocated to Egypt, died there.
However, a few surviving Judeans returned to Judah.
Jer 44:27 ... And all the men of Judah who are in the land of
Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine,
until there is an end to them.
:28 Yet a small number who escape the sword shall return
from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah; ...
Presumably Jeremiah, Baruch and possibly one or more of the 'king's
daughters'.
Many supporting the notion that the kingship was transferred to an
element of the 'house of Israel' will quote Jeremiah.
Jer 1:9 Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched
my mouth, and the Lord said to me:
"Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
:10 See, I have this day set you over the nations
and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant."
[NB: Hence, they ask the point, "What did
Jeremiah do to 'build and plant'?".
Did this have something to with helping
one of the king's daughters to marry a
king - to perpetuate the Davidic line. ]
For the author, it seems unclear whether the Davidic kingship was
indeed transferred to the 'house of Israel' or had something else
happened?
It should be noted that an interesting event seems to have subsequently
occurred.
The captive king Jehoiachin was released from prison and he was allowed
to live out his life in a position of great honour.
Jer 52:31 Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of
the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the
twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month,
that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year
of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king
of Judah and brought him out of prison.
:32 And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a more
prominent seat than those of the kings who were with
him in Babylon.
:33 So Jehoiachin changed from his prison garments, and
he ate bread regularly before the king all the days
of his life.
:34 And as for his provisions, there was a regular ration
given him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each
day until the day of his death, all the days of his
life.
[ NB: Also documented in 2Kings 25:27-30. ]
So why had Jehoiachin been released and shown such respect?
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