The Migrations of Israel---Part I
(Where the "Lost Tribes" Ended up)
By Liaf
If you have read the messages about Abraham and the Scepter and Birthright promises (and you should before reading this), then we saw the great things God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What were these things promised? Abram was to become a great nation with a great name. He was to become a blessing. In addition, many descendents would come from him. The dust or sand of the seashore referred to physical descendents while the stars of heaven represented spiritual descendents. He was promised both. God promised the land of Canaan to his descendents. Later on, God changed his name from Abram to Abraham (meaning the father of many nations) because God said, I will make nations [plural] of thee, and kings [plural] shall come out of thee. Besides multiplying his seed, they would also possess the gate of their enemies. This means that they would become great and militarily mighty, not a second rate people at all. And these promises were understood to take place immediately as Abraham and his family grew to become all that God promised. Naturally, it would take some time from generation to generation for this to eventually take place, but Abraham saw it as already true which was the basis for his faith that God was pleased with. These promises were not meant to take place during or after the Second Coming of Christ as some would have us believe. The purpose and logic for this belief simply is not there.
These promises were passed down as the "birthright" blessings as one unit to each successive generation. God reiterated these with Isaac, and again with Jacob (renamed ‘Israel’). That is to say, all the blessings were one until Jacob split them at his deathbed blessings to each of his twelve sons (who were the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel). To Joseph and his two sons went the birthright or the majority of the blessings. They were to bear his name (Israel). Joseph’s son Ephraim was to become a multitude of nations while the older son Manasseh was to become a people [i.e. a nation]. On the other hand, Judah (from which we get the word ‘Jew’) received the scepter and right to rule. That is all! Theologians see this prophecy in Genesis 49:10 as applicable to King David and eventually Christ, but the birthright to Joseph is glossed over without much thought. They say that nations and kings from Abraham were fulfilled in Middle Eastern countries that could trace their lineage to Abraham as well. However, these nations and kings were not of the blessed lineage! Notice that these birthright promises went to Isaac, then Jacob, and then finally Joseph (see I Chronicles 5:1-2). The problem with mainline Christendom’s theory that Middle Eastern nations were the fulfillment of these promises is that it stops in Abraham’s generation. However, when tribes of Israel later were promised to become nations, we run into problems with this theory. When did any "Jewish" tribe become a great nation or multitude of nations? It is amazing how Bible footnotes are mysteriously silent about Genesis 48:19.
The promises did not stop in Genesis, either. In Numbers 23 King Balak wanted the prophet Balaam to curse the approaching Israelites. What did Balaam end up saying instead (to Balak’s dismay)? Who can count the dust of Jacob, and number of the fourth part of Isarel? In another blessing he said of Israel that he shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. That goes with the "possessing the gates of their enemies" promise. They would be a mighty seafaring people according to this. And again in Deuteronomy 33:17 Moses blessed Ephraim and Manasseh by saying, his glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns [i.e. a wild bull]: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth. This means a power that subdues people to the remotest parts of the earth. Some theologians try to water this down by saying these tribes became dominant in the land of Israel and the "earth" simply meant land. Well, if that is the case, what about the nations of Ephraim and nation of Manasseh? Let’s continue reading the passage. And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim and thousands of Manasseh. That sounds akin to the multitude of people that God promised Abraham, not some populous tribe or tribes that clean up the little land of Canaan.
When Moses led the people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, and they entered under Joshua, the people did not originally have a king ruling over them. The Lord raised Judges for several hundred years before they asked for a king. Now some take issue with the fact that I claim there were kings over Israel from the time of the scepter promises onward (Genesis 49:10). They claim that kings ruling over Israelites outside of the Promised Land do not count, and that this "gap" until King David proves that the promise to David of an eternal throne can start from the Second Coming of Christ onward since this would be a similar gap. In other words, they say the throne is eternal, but did not start yet. Well then I must respectfully ask where this promise claims it must be in the land? If events outside of the land "do not count’, then I must ask the purpose of Moses, of Joshua, of Israel’s whole ordeal in Egypt, and in earlier times the experiences of the Patriarchs. You see, if this were the case, the whole fabric of the Bible story would fall apart under that assertion. You cannot apply a rule to one thing (such as the ruling of kings) and not to another (such as the Law given to Israel outside the land). The promise was that kings would rule from the tribe of Judah (and that can be from anywhere). Later, God extended that same promise that the "outsider" people of Zarah already had to the family of David as well. And later on they would be conjoined again. That was the purpose of the Pharez-Zarah story of these twins. This story foreshadowed something (see the message about the three overturns).
Once the people of Israel were safe and secure in their land, God (through the prophet Nathan) made a promise of an everlasting throne to King David in II Samuel 7. What many people fail to notice is that in that promise God said, Moreover I will [yet future] appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them. Suppose God said to you that you and your kids were given this nice home to live in. But later, God says, "I will appoint a home for your kids." There you are in your home already just as the Israelites were in their land already, then God says, "I will appoint a home for your kids." What does that suggest? You are already in your home and yet your kids are going to get a home? What gives? That suggests a home other than your home. Likewise, "a place" is not "this place". And who bears the name Israel? The sons of Joseph bear that name, the dominant tribes of the Northern ten tribes of Israel (later to become "lost"). Therefore, Israel was yet to go to another appointed place! It is amazing how theologians, translators, or whoever severely wrest the scriptures into having them say, "I have appointed [past tense] a place for my people Israel." That’s because they cannot see where God will lead his people, and they do not believe the Bible. They must translate it to fit their notions. Do yourself a favor. If anybody does not teach, or at least acknowledge the truth in what I say here, then run (do not walk), but RUN from them. They are false prophets! These characters can bewitch people into "accepting Christ" at altar calls until Christ (or the cows) come back, but they are no less a child of hell themselves.
Now David and Solomon were kings over a united nation of Israel, although to show the Israel-Judah distinction that started back with Jacob’s prophecy, God allowed David to be King over Judah first, then all Israel. And the promise of the eternal throne was meant to go through Solomon and his descendents (I Chronicles 29:23). Unfortunately, things turned sour with Solomon as his many women corrupted him into idol worship. This sowed the seeds for the division of the kingdom, and a rebel by the name of Jeroboam from the Northern house of Israel encountered the prophet Ahijah in a field. The prophet tore off Jeroboam’s new garment and rent it into twelve pieces. He gave Jeroboam ten pieces (I bet that garment needed more than a dry cleaning). Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee. But he shall have one tribe [i.e. Benjamin] for my servant David’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. (I Kings 11:31-32) Do you, dear reader, understand that the ten tribes splitting off from Solomon’s kingdom was God’s doing? This prophecy was fulfilled when Solomon died and his son Rehoboam became king. The people asked him to lighten the taxes. But in effect he replied that he would increase the burden! So in I Kings 12:16 the reaction was What portion have we in David? To your tents O Israel! These were Israelites rebelling against the Jews to put it simply. Specifically, they were rebelling against the house of David and because God promised an eternal throne to David, he kept one tribe (Benjamin) along with David’s own tribe of Judah for him to rule over. Getting ahead a little, Jeremiah 33:17 says For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel. Who was the house of Israel? They were the ten Northern tribes! This demonstrated that a change in the monarchy from Judah to Israel (see the message about the three overturns) would eventually take place. But for the time being, the Davidic Kings would rule over Judah with Israel having their own (self-appointed) lineage of kings. The prophecy of Jacob (where he split the birthright) came to fruition here historically when Judah and Israel split as separate ruler-birthright people. Until each separate kingdom was taken captive, they sometimes warred and other times united to fight a common enemy. Eventually, the Assyrian empire rose to power to take the house of Israel captive. The Babylonian empire rose to power later and took the house of Judah captive over one hundred years later.
The history of Israel being taken captive by Assyria is recorded in II Kings15-18 with a long theological reason for the Lord doing this to Israel. In short, they were idol worshippers. They failed to keep the Sabbath (Saturday), and did not follow God’s Law. Even way back in Leviticus 26 (e.g. v18) God gave them warnings as to what would happen if they did not follow his Law (he also promised blessings if they followed it). And if ye will not yet for all this [i.e. the punishments they would receive for disobedience] hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. This "seven times" punishment is interesting. God was referencing a prophetic timeline here. This is a subject of study in itself. However, a "prophetic year" consists of twelve months of 30 days or 360 days. A "time" means a year. Some theologians see this as a seven year punishment to take place in the seven year Tribulation later. That is called a short fulfillment. Some theologians (and I agree) also see this as a period of time (long fulfillment) consisting of 2520 years, given that 7 "times" or years of 360 days equals 2520 days. Why 2520 years instead of the "short" 2520 days? The basis for this belief is found in Ezekiel 4:6 where God appointed a day for a year and applied this same principle to the punishments that Israel and Judah would receive. In other words, Israel would loose her blessings and be punished in exile for quite some period of time. Later on we shall see an interesting phenomenon regarding this 2520 year timeframe. A similar warning is given in Deuteronomy 29:28 where Israel would be cast into another land. Grant it, they were traditionally taken captive by Assyrian and Babylon, but the dispersion does not have to stop there. As a matter of fact, the apocryphal book of II Esdras 13 seemingly alludes to this passage when speaking of the "lost" tribes of Israel returning in end times.
When Assyria took Israel captive and Babylon took Judah captive, who were the returning exiles in Ezra and Nehemiah’s time? Let’s read the Bible and understand. But before we do, this is where we part company with mainline Christendom. They teach that the returning exiles consisted of all Israel and that in effect was the rejoining of the two houses. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The returned exiles had a bad habit. They married foreign women and Ezra was concerned this would turn away their hearts from the Lord. As a matter of fact, he was more than concerned. The guy literally pulled his hair out over grief. God was merciful to save the remnant of the nation to return to the land, and they were doing these things. If God would turn away from them, there would not even be a remnant saved to live in the land and Ezra was worried about loosing that act of grace that God granted. So according to Ezra chapter 10 he made a proclamation for all the exiles to assemble at Jerusalem to consider putting away their foreign wives and children. He wasn’t going to miss anyone. Ezra 10:9 says who all these exiles were: Then all the men of Judah and Benjamin [the same two tribes as the house of Judah only] gathered themselves together unto Jerusalem within three days. That’s it! Only the house of Judah returned. The house of Israel (the other ten tribes of the North) were still in exile, and they never returned to the land until this day! Historians call them the "Lost Ten Tribes" of Israel. But unlike what we teach here, historians don’t have any more faith in the Bible than run-of-the-mill showmanship evangelists do. Historians believe they were assimilated and lost their racial uniqueness whereas we teach that they became other nations and people because of the promises of God. That is the difference. Mainline evangelists don’t even believe they are lost at all, but returned with the Jews thereby denying bother verifiable history and the promises of God. "Well", protests an evangelist, "the book of Ezra says that the returned exiles offered sacrifices for all Israel. Therefore, all twelve tribes must have been there." And I reply, "Tell me where the Law of Moses says to spare sacrifices because tribes are missing? Offering for all twelve tribes, even in their absence, indicates they had faith that they all would one day be restored." The reason an evangelist would even think of sparing sacrifices indicates to me that they would have done it this way had they been among the returning exiles. This, in turn, indicates to me that they would be doing things their way instead of God’s way, a sure indicator of rebellion and being the son of the Devil to begin with.
If we believe the Bible at face value, we see that only the house of Judah returned, and even at that, only a fraction of them returned. What about the house of Israel? What happened to them? This is where I will pick up in the next message (part II). I will introduce some important links that show they were called by other names. If we can link the Israelites to people called by other names, the rest is just history. However, I will not stop there. We shall see in the Bible itself what their characteristics are, their purpose, the promises of God to them, and ultimately their end-time return to the land. When we see that the Bible agrees with history and archeological evidence, we can piece together a story and divine purpose for the exiles of Israel. We will then understand the reason for all that happened (and trust me, it’s an important reason).