Judah. Signs of Recognition from the Bible
For a shorter version concerning Judah without Biblical Quotations in full, see: 25 Jewish Identifiers.
See Also: 23 Identifiers
See Judah as Rulers.
Questions have been asked about candidates who claim to be decended from the Lost Ten Tribes. These include Afro-Americans, Tribesmen of Burma, Pathans of Afghanistan, Pacific Islanders, Cherokee Indians, Indians, German Lutherans, others.Our understanding is that the Jewish People today are Judah of the Bible. Judah together with the Lost Ten Tribes make up the 12 Tribes of Israel. The Lost Ten Tribes today are to be found among the Peoples of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland, the USA, Canada, Austrlia, New Zealand, South Africa. In some of these countries the ten tribes are a minority and in others they may be the majority. We cannot say BUT we can be reasonably certain that the Ten Tribes are to be found in those places.
Descendants of the Hebrews comprise the 12 Tribes of Israel.
These Tribes divided into two different sections:
1. Judah, from whose descendants come the Jews of today. Judah comprises the Tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Levi, along with minority representatives of all the other Tribes.
2. The Lost Ten Tribes, whose awareness of their ancestry was lost to them. The Lost Ten Tribes are also referred to by the names of "Joseph" and "Ephraim." They derive from the Tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, Reuben, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulon, Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, and minority elements of the Tribes of "Judah."
Both these "Judah" and the "Ten Tribes" are mentioned in the Bible.
From a Biblical Perspective only Peoples with the following characteristics are liable to belong to either of the above 2 groups.
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A. Judah and the Jews. What Does the Bible Say?
1. Judah will always be recognizable as Jewish (Genesis 49: 10, Isaiah 49:21, Zechariah 8:23) .
2. Judah will have been persecuted (Zechariah 1:15, Zechariah 8:13, Isaiah ch.53, Isaiah 42:10, Psalm 44:22).
3. Judah will have been scattered all over the world (Isaiah 11:12, Midrash Breishit Rabah 73;5).
4. Judah will have kept the Four Fasts mourning the Destruction of the Temple (Zechariah 8:19).
5. Judah will Keep the Law. Psalms 60:9, 108:90; Genesis 49:10; Zechariah 8:23.
6. The Levites will be with Judah and be prominent among the Adjudicators of the Law.
2-Chronicles 11:13, 14; 13:9, Deuteronomy 17:8-9, Malachi 2: 4-7, Jeremiah 33: 17-21
7. Judah in the End Times will be known as Israel. Isaiah 48: 1.
8. Judah will become an Old/New Nation such as the State of Israel now is. Genesis 49: 9
9. In their Places of Exile Judah will have been defenceless but in the End Times things will change.
Hosea 1: 7
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1. Judah will always be recognizable as Jewish.
It was prophesied that Judah would keep his Tribal Identity (Genesis 49:10).
Genesis 49:
8 'Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father's children shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion's whelp [Hebrew: Gur Aryeh];
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He bows down, he lies down as a lion [Hebrew: Aryeh];
And as a lion [Hebrew: Lavi, full-grown old lion], who shall rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
11 Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey's colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
Judah would be recognized as Judah or Israel whereas the Lost Ten Tribes would not be so recognized until the end times:
Genesis 49:10 THE SCEPTRE [Hebrew: Shevet] SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH, NOR A LAWGIVER FROM BETWEEN HIS FEET, UNTIL SHILOH COME; AND UNTO HIM SHALL THE GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE[S] BE.
Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel, explained the above verse (in his book "Conciliator") as:
Judah shall always be recognizable as an Israelite Tribe. The Hebrew word translated above as SCEPTRE is 'Shevet'. This also means 'Tribe' i. e. Tribal recognition of his identity would always remain with Judah.
"UNTIL SHILOH COME" is usually explained to mean the Messiah who will rule in the End Times.
The Messiah will enable individuals know what Tribe they belong to. [Malachi 3:3 Ezra 2:3, Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, The Laws of Kings, ch. 12, no.3]. Until then they will not know or at least not be certain. Also until then Judah will keep the Law. See also Isaiah 49:21 in point 12 below.
THE PEOPLE. In Hebrew "amim" meaning "peoples" in the plural. Peoples will gather unto the Messiah.
Throughout the Bible and especially in the Prophetic works there are references to Judah that cannot and could not be fulfilled by anybody but the present day Jews. It was prophesied that Judah would suffer for being Jewish, keep the law, eventually be acknowledged by his brother tribes and the world, and never depart from his basic truth. It was also prophesied that the Ten Tribes would lose their identity. The opposite was said about Judah. Judah was to remain identifiable. The rest of Israel were not.
Judah retained their identity. In the Bible they are referred to collectively as "Judah" and sometimes as "Israel" (Ezra 2:2 2:59 2:70 3:1 etc, Ezekiel 2:3, 3:5 8:10 8:11 9:8 14:1, etc). They were the only portion of the original Twelve Tribes of Israel that remained as an identifiable entity.
This had been prophesied:
2-Kings 19:
30 The spared of the house of Judah who remain
will again take root below, and bear fruit above.
31 For from Jerusalem a remnant will go forth,
and escapees from Mount Zion.
Isaiah 49:
21 Then you shall say in your heart,
'Who bore these for me,
since I have lost my children and am barren,
a captive and a wanderer?
And who has brought these up?
I was left alone;
from where did these come?'
Zechariah 8:
23 Thus says the LORD of Hosts: In those days ten men from every language of the nations will take hold of the garment of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'
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2. Judah will have been persecuted.
The Jews were persecuted by the Gentiles as it had been prophesied Judah would be: Zechariah 1:15, Zechariah 8:13, Isaiah ch.53, Isaiah 42:10, Psalm 44:22.
Zechariah 1:
14 So the angel who spoke with me said, Cry out, saying: Thus says the LORD of Hosts: I have a great jealousy for Jerusalem and Zion. 15 And I have a great anger for those nations who are at ease, for while I was angry but a little, they helped to increase evil.
Zechariah 1:
13 And as you have been like a curse among the nations, O house of Israel and house of Judah, I will deliver you, and you will be a blessing. Fear not, and strengthen your hands!
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3. Judah will have been scattered all over the world.
Manasseh ben Yisrael quoted from Isaiah 11:12 HE WILL RAISE AN ENSIGN FOR THE NATIONS, AND WILL ASSEMBLE THE OUTCASTS OF ISRAEL, AND GATHER THE DISPERSED OF JUDAH FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH. Manasseh explained this verse as meaning that the Lost Ten Tribes are the OUTCASTS OF ISRAEL who must be at the ends of the earth gathered together in specific areas whereas the Jews (Judah) are THE DISPERSED OF JUDAH i.e. the Jews who are scattered all over the world.
Midrash Breishit Rabah 73;5 Said Rabbi Yehudah Bar Simon, Not to the same place that the Ten Tribes were exiled to, were Judah and Benjamin exiled. The Ten Tribes were exiled beyond the Sambation. Judah and Benjamin were scattered all over the world.
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4. Judah will have Kept the Four Fasts Mourning the Destruction of the Temple.
Zechariah (MEV) 8:
19 Thus says the LORD of Hosts: The fast during the fourth and fifth months, and the fasts during the seventh and tenth months, will become rejoicing and joy and pleasant feasts for the house of Judah. So love what brings truth and peace.
The Jews keep the four fasts of mourning over the Destruction of the Second Temple as prophesied by Zechariah 8:19 i.e.
the fast of the fourth month, -17th Tammuz
the fast of the fifth, - 9th of Av
and the fast of the seventh, - 3rd of Tishrei (Gedaliah)
and the fast of the tenth, - 10th Tebeth (Tevet).
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5. Judah will Keep the Law.
The Jews kept the Law as it had been prophesied that Judah would: Psalms 60:7, 108:90; Genesis 49:10.
Psalms (MEV) 60:
7 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is My helmet;
Judah is My scepter [Hebrew: MeChokaki, i.e. Lawmaker];
cf. Psalms 108:90.
Genesis 49:
10 THE SCEPTRE [Hebrew: Shevet] SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH, NOR A LAWGIVER FROM BETWEEN HIS FEET, UNTIL SHILOH COME; AND UNTO HIM SHALL THE GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE[S] BE.
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6. The Levites will be with Judah and be prominent among the Adjudicators of the Law.
2 Chronicles 11:13
And the priests and Levites in all Israel came before him from all their territories.
2 Chronicles 11:14
For the Levites left their pasture lands and properties, and they traveled to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his sons excluded them from serving as priests to the LORD.
2 Chronicles 13:9
Have you all not driven out the priests of the Lord, even the Levites and sons of Aaron, and made for yourselves priests from the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to be dedicated and has in his hand a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest to what is not a god.
Deuteronomy 17:
8 If there arises a matter too difficult for you in judgment, between one kind of bloodshed and another, between one kind of lawsuit and another, and between one kind of assault and another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you must arise and go up to the place where the LORD your God shall choose. 9 You must go to the Levitical priests or to the judge in office those days, and inquire, and they will show you the verdict of judgment.
Malachi 2:
4 And you will know that I have sent this command to you, that My covenant with Levi may remain, says the LORD of Hosts. 5 My covenant with him was for life and peace, and I gave them to him. With awe he feared Me, and he was reverent before My name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and with uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity. 7 For a priest's lips should preserve knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
Jeremiah 33:
17 For thus says the LORD: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; 18 nor shall the Levitical priests lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.
19 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying: 20 Thus says the LORD: If you can break My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night so that there should not be day and night in their season, 21 then also My covenant may be broken with David My servant, that he should not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the seed of David My servant and the Levites that minister to Me.
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7. Judah in the End Times will be known as Israel.
Isaiah predicted that the descendants of Judah would be known as Israel
Isaiah 48: 1 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel,
and have come forth from the waters of Judah;
who swear by the name of the LORD,
and invoke the God of Israel,
but not in truth or in righteousness;
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8. Judah will become an Old/New Nation such as the State of Israel now is.
Genesis 49:
8 'Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father's children shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a young lion [Hebrew: Gur Aryeh];
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He bows down, he lies down as a mature lion [Hebrew: Aryeh];
And as an old lion [Hebrew: Lavi, full-grown old lion], who shall rouse him?
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9. In their Places of Exile Judah will have been defenceless but in the End Times things will change.
Hosea 1:
7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by battle, or by horses, or by horsemen.
See:
Why The Jews Are Judah!
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/jew/judah.html
For a CONTINUATION to this article see: