By Liaf
In Matthew 10:5-7, Jesus said to the disciples, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Clearly here, Jesus did not want them to go to non-Israelite people, but to his lost sheep of the house of Israel. Needless to say, Jesus did not call any of the non-Israelite Gentiles his "sheep" as evidenced by the persistent woman of faith in Matthew 15 who came to Jesus saying: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.". To this Jesus answered his position regarding the Gentiles, " I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." If you were not of the house of Israel, Jesus called one a dog. A dog is NOT a sheep. Well, who were the people of the house of Israel? Mainline Christianity simply calls them the Jews. In fact, they quote other Scripture that says "to the Jew first, then....". But are the Jews the only consideration here? Not according to John 10:16: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Of course we know from all the teaching here on this site that Jesus' "other sheep" are none other than the house of Israel (a.k.a. lost tribes) that he told the disciples to go to. The sheep of this fold are in fact, the Jews, no matter where they were (i.e., "his own" or the tribal people of Judah). There were "other sheep" and there was "this fold". The "other sheep" could not have been any Gentile as in the time that our Lord was on this Earth, he clearly stated that to the begging woman by calling her a dog (yet, Jesus was merciful and granted that Gentile "dog" grace because of her faith).
Clearly, then, Jesus described the people of Israel as TWO sheepfolds--- and as Ezekiel 37 puts it in end-time language, the "two sticks" which we so clearly taught will be rejoined in the last days. And Jesus' teaching of them becoming one fold again is simply his statement to what Ezekiel 37 says about the two sticks. When the centurion came to Jesus for his servant's healing, Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour." Again, this is an allusion to Genesis 28:14 where God said to Jacob: "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." And again Jesus said in Luke 13: Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last. Indeed, this pointed to a time of the physical posterity of Jacob to become numerous, spreading abroad (colonizing) and thru them become a vessel of God's grace. But the children of the kingdom (Judah, the tribe with who Jesus "drunk in their presence" and "taught in their streets") would be cast out. This is in agreement with Jeremiah's story regarding the marred, but workable vessel of clay representing the house of Israel, and the broken vessel (which cannot be worked), the house of Judah. When Israel played the harlot, Judah saw their punishment and did not take heed, and thus the punishment to Judah was so much worse than that to Israel when Judah sinned as well. When we consider this centurion, this is a glorious foretaste of Gentile conversion and acceptance in addition to Israel's. This was expressed in the Paul's story regarding the wild olive branch in Romans 11. Some of the branches were broken off (the unbelieving house of Judah) so that there was room for Gentiles to be graphed in. The remainder of the lost house of Israel indeed would be more accepting of the gospel message than the Jews. Again, this was stated over and over again by Jesus using parables. As Matthew 21 says: "Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you [Judah], and given to a nation [the house of Israel collectively] bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And Jesus turned to his disciples promising them according to the prophecy of Jeremiah 16:16 "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men." Of course, the house of Israel would be fished for, and thus becoming that nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Later on, notice this prophecy in Jeremiah tells of the desire for people to then hunt for them, as we and many like us in these last days want to teach people about the lost house of Israel.
Even the Jews of Jesus' day knew their ten-tribed brethren were gone. This is why when Jesus said in John 7 "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me", the Jews replied, "Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?" At the very least, these Jews understood that their ten-tribed brethren existed but were scattered about (which is what we've been teaching here on this site after the captivity), and even seemed to indicate that these tribes were acting as GENTILES. I cannot imagine they would EVEN THINK of Messiah teaching non-Israelite Gentiles, but rather their statement "teaching the Gentiles" was a reference to Israel in her exiled state amongst the Gentiles where they resided so that Messiah could teach them. This is one of those things where we must read between the lines regarding the reason why Jesus was not accepted as Messiah. I think it's a safe thing to say, however. One reason that Jesus was not accepted as Messiah was because the Jews would have expected Messiah to gather these tribes such as what is told in Ezekiel 37 and restore the Kingdom there in the land (c.f. Acts 1:6--- even the disciples expected that). Jesus did not do this at that time, but we as Christians know that ALL Israel, not just the Jews, will be regathered at the time of the end. In addition, Jesus would set up His Kingdom here on Earth. But the time was not yet during Jesus' first coming.
Alas, like that broken vessel, Judah would be the ones cut off until the time of the end while Israel would receive the gospel in the wilderness where she found grace (Jeremiah 31:2). If we read that same chapter in Jeremiah 31, we see later that a great company of the Israelites would then be regathered in end times. In addition, the Lord promised to keep them as He does his flock (to be declared in the isles). That's why in Matthew 9:14-17 Jesus compares Judah to old wineskins, but the hearer of the gospel to new wineskins. "Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." I often wondered why Bible commentaries do not say much about the "old" vs. "new" wineskins as if it went over their heads. Jesus was saying the equivalent of our slogan "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." (And maybe the mainline religious establishments are like those old dogs set in a groove of thinking that cannot see this truth.) Judah, the religious people, even the disciples of John were all caught in the "old way", including that of the law. Only the gospel could be compared to new wineskins for fresh and uninfluenced hearts could accept. Besides, the house of Israel (but not Judah) was divorced so that as a wife without a husband or name, would act as new Gentile converts--- they had no "Judaism" to influence them! One of the biggest misunderstandings of lost tribe critics is that they feel the lost house of Israel should have mannerisms "like the Jew" whatever that meant. No--- they were exiled because of their pagan idolatry. Even the house of Judah before her captivity was the same and many of them did not return to the land either! Those who returned were more inclined to keep the Law of the Lord so that their nation in the land would not be destroyed again.
Thus, Jesus said that which Paul reiterated later on in Romans 11. In John 15 he said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Paul of course referenced it as the "broken branches" of the olive tree where the wild branches (the non-Israelite Gentiles) were graphed in their places along with the natural branches of the house of Israel. I bet you did not know that Jesus' statement here had national overtones. "Where you get that idea?" a critic may furiously demand. We forget. The nation was synonymous with the people of God. The Old Testament "church" for want of a better term was expressed in the people and nation of Israel--- quite a national concept both understood by Jesus and his disciples.
Consequently, the sorry fate of Judah and the upcoming happy fate for the house of Israel was well expressed (and foreshadowed) in the actions of the disciples: "And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot [a type of the house of Judah who rejected Jesus (c.f. John 1:11)] the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve."