|
Article:
The Plain Truth about the 'Lost Ten Tribes' and Why You Need To Know! by: David Ben-Ariel The United Kingdom of Israel split in two during the reign of Solomon's son, Rehoboam. The Northern Kingdom of Israel was composed of 10 tribes, headed 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 Judah was conquered by the Babylonians and the Temple destroyed (2 Kgs. 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 earlier to other areas (2 Kgs. 17:6) and have never returned. If you check the records of those who returned from the Babylonian exile it becomes clear that only those from the Southern tribes of Benjamin, Levi and Judah returned. Some carelessly assume that just because they're sometimes referred to as sons or children of Israel that 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! It is historically and biblically important to make this distinction between Jews and Israelites and to be careful not to blur their identities (Ezek. 44:23). After all, God has devoted four books of the Bible to do just that! But did God intend for Northern Israel to remain lost? Since we acted like pagan Gentiles God let us lose our spiritual minds and think we're 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 throughout and among many nations? Clearly God has never lost sight of who the 'Lost Tribes' really are and where they're located today: 'For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the House of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth' (Amos 9:9). If God's aware of a sparrow's condition, certainly He's more concerned with collective Israel's affairs, especially since we're beloved for the fathers' (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) sakes. Yet we see grief-stricken Israel feeling helpless and hopeless, dead to history, cut off from their roots, having given up any hope of being restored to national life, being reassured by God Almighty 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 a United Kingdom, One Nation under God! God will restore us to our ancient homeland and revive the Davidic monarchy to rule with but under Messiah. God's Sanctuary will again be found in Jerusalem, and shine as a sign to the whole world, since He'll return home with the exiles (Ezek. 36). Israel was only to remain lost until just before Messiah comes. That's 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 like no other 'claimants' to Israel's inheritance can: Manasseh has become the single great nation of the United States, and his brother Ephraim has become the British Commonwealth of Nations (Gen. 48:19), as clearly brought out in The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. After our prophesied 2520 years of exile, Israel began to grow and multiply and be blessed around 1800-1803. A Jewish Homeland reveals how our Jewish brethren also came into their own after the time of their punishment came to a close, and boldly declared their statehood in '1948
|
