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One of the main things a lot of Christians today don't understand and haven't been taught in church, is that the Bible, all of the Bible, is about God's "Chosen People", the Hebrews or Israelites as they later became known. God's promises and Covenants, including both the Old Covenant or Testament, and the New Covenant were made with these people. Who were they, and can they be identified today? To understand who they were we will do a brief study of the history of these people as recorded in our Bible. We will start our study with Abraham and the Covenant God made with him. Abraham was a very important man in our history, and is mentioned in every book of the Bible, including sixty-six times in the New Testament. _ Genesis 17: 1-7 · 1When Abram was ninety-six years old, the Ever-Living revealed again to Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty, walk before Me and be perfect; 2and I will make a Covenant between Myself and you; and I will increase you very, very greatly." 3Abram then fell on his face, and God spoke to him saying, 4"I now make a Covenant with you, and you shall be a father of many nations; 5so your name shall be Abraham; for you shall be the father of many nations. 6And I will make you very fruitful, and I will make nations and kingdoms proceed from you. 7I will also establish My Covenant between Myself and you, and with your descendants after you from generation to generation for ever, to be a God to you and your race after you. (Ferrar Fenton Translation) It is important to notice that in this Covenant, God promised that Abraham's descendants would be many nations and kingdoms. We will get into this more later on. This blessing or Covenant was then passed on to Abraham's son Isaac and his descendants. _ Genesis 26: 3-6 · 3"Remain in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you, for to you and your race I will give the whole of this country as a dwelling; and I will complete the oath which I swore to your father Abraham; 4And I will increase your race like the stars of the sky; and I will give to your race the whole of this country for a home, and I will bless all the nations of the earth through your Heir. 5In accordance with what I promised to Abraham according to My words; - 6 'if you will carefully keep My commands and statutes and laws.' " (Ferrar Fenton Translation) Isaac went on to have two sons, Jacob and Esau, and most of you are probably familiar with this story. Esau regarded his birthright lightly, and sold it to Jacob for a bowl of stew. Esau's name was later changed to Edom, and he became the father of a people known as the Edomites. Yet because he despised his birthright, and married strange women (Canaanites) which Yahweh had forbidden, he was cursed to be a servant to his brother Jacob. _ Genesis 36: 9 · Esau is Edom. - Esau was the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir. _ Hebrews 12: 16-17 · 16Let none be a reckless or common man, like Esau, who for a single meal gave up his birthrights. 17For you know that afterwards, wishing to inherit the blessing, he was not allowed; for he found no place for a change of purpose, although he sought it with tears. _ Genesis 27: 38-40 · 38But Esau said to his father; "Is there then only One Blessing with you my father? Bless me also my father;" and Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 39Then Isaac his father answered and said to him; "Yes! In the most fertile land shall be your dwelling. And with the dew from the skies above. 40And you shall live by your sword, but shall serve your brother; Yet when you extend, you shall break his yoke from off your neck." (Ferrar Fenton Translation) The promise which God gave to Abraham and Isaac was then passed on through Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, and his descendants. _ Genesis 35: 9-12 · 9God also appeared another time to Jacob, on his return from Padan Aram, and spoke with him, 10when God said "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, for Israel shall be your name;" 11so He called his name Israel; and God said to him, "I am the Almighty God. Be fruitful and multiply. A Nation and an Assembly of Nations shall come from you, and Kings shall proceed from your loins; 12and the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and the same land I will give to you and your race after you." (Ferrar Fenton Translation) Notice again God said that Jacob's or Israel's descendants would become an Assembly of Nations, and Kings would proceed from them. Now we must ask a question. What happened to the descendants of Israel, and who are they in the world today? Are the Jews in the tiny nation of Israel, which is about the size of New Jersey, all that is left of the descendants of Jacob today? If so then God didn't follow through on His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob concerning the Covenant He made with them, for He said they would be a multitude of nations, and as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand of the seashores. We know this isn't so because God doesn't change, and His word is True. The truth of His word is the one constant in the universe. It will always come to pass! Yahweh also told Jacob that his descendants would spread out in every direction over the whole earth. _ Genesis 28: 13-14 · 13And he saw the Ever-Living stationed above it, Who said; "I am the Ever-Living God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac, - the land which you now lie upon I will give to you and your race; 14And your race shall be like the dust of the earth, and shall spread West and East, and North and South, and all the Nations of the world shall be benefited by you and your Heir." (Ferrar Fenton Translation) So now if we put all the parts of this Covenant together, we see that Abraham's descendants through the line of Isaac and Jacob would become many nations and kingdoms, as numerous as the stars of the sky and the dust of the earth, and that they would spread out in all directions over the earth. Did they? We will find out as we continue our study now of the history of the Nation of Israel. Before we do I want to point out the reason for God having a "Chosen People" at all. It is pointed out in the last verse of the Scriptures we just read. These people were to be a blessing to all the Nations of the world. They were to be the example of God's prosperity and blessing to a people that would serve Him and follow His Laws, and through the prosperity which God showered upon them all the nations of the earth would be benefited. Perhaps some of the other nations and peoples would then turn their hearts to Yahweh, realizing that He is the One True God, and also follow His Laws. God's chosen people, Israel, were to be the messengers of God on earth, showing forth His Glory and His Righteousness. As we will see later, there is only one group of people on earth that have come close to fulfilling these purposes. Now Jacob had twelve sons and one daughter by his two wives and two handmaidens. The twelve sons became the founders of the twelve tribes of the Nation of Israel. They migrated to Egypt in about 1850 B.C. because of a famine in the land of Canaan. They eventually became enslaved there by the Egyptians until God provided a deliverer, Moses, to lead them out of bondage and back to the "Promised Land" about 1450 B.C. By this time they had been in Egypt about four hundred years and numbered around 3 million people! Each tribe received a portion of land in Canaan, and they became a prosperous, unified empire as a result of following God's Laws. In effect, they were a single nation divided into twelve "states", one for each tribe of Israel. This prosperity reached its height under King David around 1000 B.C., but when he died, his son Solomon became king and caused the people of the Kingdom to sin, which resulted in the nation being divided into two separate Kingdoms. Over taxation was another factor which contributed to this split-up of the nation. Jeroboam became king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, just as Akhiah the prophet had told him. _ 1 Kings 11: 29-32 · 29But on one occasion when Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, Akhiah the Reciter, the Shilonite, met him in the road, when he was clothed in a new robe, and both were alone in the open country, 30where Akhiah seized the new robe which was upon him, and tore it into twelve pieces, 31and exclaimed to Jeroboam, "You take ten pieces! for thus says the Ever-Living God of Israel, 'I will tear the kingship from the hand of Solomon, and I will give to you ten of the tribes! 32But the one tribe of Judah to him, because of My servant David, and because of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel.' " (Ferrar Fenton Translation) About five years later this all came to pass exactly as the prophet had said, after the death of Solomon, while Rehoboam, his son, was king. _ 1 Kings 12: 15-17 · 15Thus the king did not listen to the people, for the Ever-Living caused the people to revolt for the purpose of establishing the word that the Ever-Living spoke by the means of Akhiah, the Shilonite, to Jeroboam-ben-Nebat. 16Then all Israel saw that the king would not listen to them, consequently the people returned the king word to say, "What is our share in David? For we have no inheritance from the Son of Jesse! To your tents, Israel! Now look to your own house David!" And Israel went to its tents. 17Some Israelites, however, continued to reside in Judah and Rehoboam reigned over them. (Ferrar Fenton Translation) At this point, the unified Nation of Israel split into two separate Kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom, or "House of Israel" consisted of ten tribes. They elected Jeroboam as their king and made Samaria their capital. The Southern Kingdom, or "House of Judah" consisted of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Rehoboam remained their king and Jerusalem was their capital. The tribe of Levi was split among the two nations where they performed their priestly duties, although most remained in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. This divided condition continued for about 250 years. Then because of idolatry and a turning away from the Law of God, the Northern Kingdom, or House of Israel, was overthrown and invaded during a series of attacks by the Assyrian Empire, and the people were carried away captive into Northern Assyria. This process took about 20 years, and was complete around 720 B.C. _ 2 Kings 15: 29 · In the time of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-Pilazer, king of Assyria, came and seized Aion and the meadows of Beth-Makah, and Janokh, and Kadish, and Khatzur, and Gilad, and Galilee, with all the country of Naphthali, and removed them to Assyria. _ 2 Kings 17: 5-6 · 5The king of Assyria also invaded the whole country, and ravaged it for three years. 6In the seventh year of Hosea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and transported Israel to Assyria, and settled them in Khalakh, and adjoining the river Gozan, and the cities of the Medes. (Ferrar Fenton Translation) This constituted the divorcement of the House of Israel and the loss of their covenant relationship with Yahweh, which would continue until the coming of their Redeemer and Messiah, Jesus Christ. Eventually they disappeared from history (at least under their former name of Israel). We will discover later that they didn't really disappear, they merely lost their identity over the years. The Southern Kingdom, or House of Judah, remained intact for about another 130 years. Then because of sins similar to the House of Israel's, they were attacked about 586 B.C., and eventually conquered by the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar their king. The people of Judah were deported to Babylon where they were destined to remain for 70 years. _ 2 Chronicles 36: 19-21 · 19Then he burnt the House of God, and threw down the walls of Jerusalem, and burnt all the Palaces with fire, and destroyed all their costly furniture, 20and transported to Babel the remnants from the sword, and they became slaves to him, and his children, until the Empire of the King of Persia, 21and accomplished the Message from the Ever-Living by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths, for all the time it was waste, it rested, for a complete 70 years. (Ferrar Fenton Translation) During this 70 year time period, Babylon was overthrown by Persia. As another fulfillment of prophecy, Cyrus, King of Persia allowed those of the exiled House of Judah to return to their homeland, Jerusalem, to rebuild the Temple of God which had been destroyed. We are still talking about the Southern Kingdom of the House of Judah only. The Northern Kingdom is not included in this offer to return to their homeland. Remember, Samaria was their capital. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah. This offer by Cyrus was to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. _ 2 Chronicles 36: 23 · "Thus says Cyrus, King of Persia to all the Kingdoms of the earth; the Ever-Living God of the Heavens gave to me the whole Empire of the earth. He has also appointed me to build Him a Temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Whoever of His People is with you, - the Lord God is with him, let him go up." (Ferrar Fenton Translation) The book of Ezra records the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the Temple. It also tells us exactly how many returned. _ Ezra 2: 64-67 · 64The whole caravan inclusive was, Forty thousand, three hundred and sixty, besides their men and women servants, 65who were Seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven, with two hundred singing men and women. 66Seven hundred and sixty horsemen; two hundred and forty-five mules; 67four hundred and thirty-five camels; six thousand, seven hundred and twenty asses. (Ferrar Fenton Translation) The total then that returned was 48, 657. What happened to the other millions of Israelites that were taken captive and deported by the Assyrians that didn't return to Jerusalem? Archaeology and history will help us answer this question. We will be studying in detail, these ten lost tribes of Israel as they migrated into other countries and other parts of the world. We will be looking at the Old Testament and New Testament, as well as material written by Christian authors and Biblical Archaeologists. It is a fascinating study and one that is very relevant for this particular time in our lives. Yahweh has been involved with His People since the beginning of time, and will continue to speak to those He has chosen; those who will hear, see, and understand. The word must go out to His "called and chosen ones" about who they are and what their end-time mission must be. We cannot tarry in spreading the message of Christ's return and the urgency to be prepared for coming world events. We must prepare ourselves, our families, our friends, and anyone who will listen to this life saving message. |
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