Prophecies Concerning the Lost Ten Tribes
(Adapted from the 1st chapter of "Hebrew Bride").
The forefathers of the Israelite nation were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who was re-named Israel. Jacob had twelve sons who fathered Twelve Tribes. One of these sons was Joseph whose descendants are sometimes listed as the Tribe of Joseph but usually counted as two separate tribal entities, Ephraim and Manasseh. Technically speaking there were therefore thirteen tribes. The Bible, as explained by Nachmanides (Deuteronomy 33:6), usually maintains a quorum of twelve by juggling with how the Tribes are numbered.
The Israelites went down to Egypt where they were enslaved. Moses led the Children of Israel out of Egypt. They received the Torah on Mount Sinai and wandered in the Wilderness for forty years. Joshua son of Nun from the Tribe of Ephraim led them into Canaan which they conquered. The Promised Land was then divided between the Tribes. A period of Judges was followed by the rule of King Saul from the Tribe of Benjamin. After Saul came David and then Solomon who built the Temple in Jerusalem. In the time of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Ten of the Tribes seceded and set up a separate rulership of Israel in the north (1-Kings 12:16, 12:21, 2-Chronicles 11:1, 20:29, 21:4). The Kingdom of Judah remained in the south centered on Jerusalem. The inhabitants of Judah gave rise to the core element of the Jewish people. Those who dwelt in the Northern Kingdom became the Lost Ten Tribes. The Assyrians were to conquer them and take them all to different sections of the Assyrian Empire. They became lost after being exiled by the Assyrians. They had assimilated into the ways of the nations around them and disappeared. The Exiles of northern Israel lost consciousness of their ancestry. Nevertheless they retained various traditions, and namesakes, etc., along with a degree of national cohesion. Different groups from amongst them tended to re-coalesce with each other.
Hosea
Hosea lived at the same times as the prophets Amos, Isaiah, and Micah. This was the period in which the Northern Tribes were exiled. The Ten Tribes were the majority of the Israelite Nation. They were destined to be exiled, disappear and loose awareness of their identity. Hosea (like the other Prophets) spoke of them and about what they would do in the future. By studying the Book of Hosea we may learn where and who these Tribes are today and what was predicted will become of them.
Significance of the Name Hosea
The name Hosea is pronounced in Modern Hebrew as something like "Hoshaya." It means "God Will Save." Joshua bin Nun from the Tribe of Ephraim who succeeded Moses as leader of the Israelites had also previously been named "Hosea" (Numbers 13:16). Joshua was from the Tribe of Ephraim and he led the Israelites when they conquered the Land of Canaan. The last ruler of the northern Kingdom of Israel was too named Hosea (2-Kings ch.17). - Rabbi Moseh David Valle (d. 1777) saw a mystical significance in both the first and last rulers having had the same name. - King Hosea of Israel and Hosea the Prophet were coeval. Hosea was also a contemporary of the Prophets Isaiah, Amos, and Micah. Hosea the Prophet authored the Book of Hosea about which this present study is concerned. The Book of Hosea is the first one of the Twelve Minor Prophets. They are termed Minor not because they were any less important but because their works are relatively shorter.
Son of a Prince of Reuben
According to tradition Hosea belonged to the Tribe of Reuben. He is considered to have been the son of Beerah a Prince of Reuben at their time of Exile (Midrash Yalkut Shimeoni). The Tribe of Reuben had comprised four different clans named after the sons of Reuben, Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi (1-Chronicles: 5:3). We have traced these groups to Western Europe especially to different ethnic groups that settled in France. One of the sons of Carmi, son of Reuben, was Joel (1-Chronicles: 5:4 HaGra Eliyahu of Vilna) of whom Beerah the father of Hosea and Prince of Reuben at the time of Exile was a descendant.
1-Chronicles: 5:
4 THE SONS OF JOEL WERE SHEMAIAH HIS SON, GOG HIS SON, SHIMEI HIS SON, 5 MICAH HIS SON, REAIAH HIS SON, BAAL HIS SON, 6 AND BEERAH HIS SON, WHOM TILGATH-PILNESER KING OF ASSYRIA CARRIED INTO CAPTIVITY. HE WAS LEADER OF THE REUBENITES.
Tilgath-Pilneser the King of Assyria is otherwise known as Tiglath-Pileser. Beerah "Leader of the Reubenites" at the time of their exile is identified with Beeri father of Hosea (Radak on Hosea 1:1). The Reubenites had dwelt to the east and north of the Jordan alongside the Tribe of Gad and the half-Tribe of Manasseh.
1-Chronicles 5:
25 AND THEY WERE UNFAITHFUL TO THE GOD OF THEIR FATHERS, AND PLAYED THE HARLOT AFTER THE GODS OF THE PEOPLES OF THE LAND, WHOM GOD HAD DESTROYED BEFORE THEM. 26 SO THE GOD OF ISRAEL STIRRED UP THE SPIRIT OF PUL KING OF ASSYRIA, THAT IS, TILGATH-PILNESER KING OF ASSYRIA. HE CARRIED THE REUBENITES, THE GADITES, AND THE HALF-TRIBE OF MANASSEH INTO CAPTIVITY. HE TOOK THEM TO HALAH, HABOR, HARA, AND THE RIVER OF GOZAN TO THIS DAY.
The Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half-Manasseh had been located east of the Jordan. They were exiled to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan. Other Israelite Tribes were taken by the Assyrians to Assyria (2-Kings 15:27) and to parts of the Assyrian Empire. They were re-settled in "Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes" (2-Kings 17:6). These were the Ten Tribes who had separated themselves from Judah and created their own Kingdom after the death of Solomon. The Ten Tribes had been in the north and were often referred to simply as Israel. The Tribes of Judah, Levi, and Benjamin were in the south and they were called the Kingdom of Judah (2-Chronicles 11:17). The Tribe of Simeon had also been in the south but politically and culturally Simeon was to be considered part of the Ten Tribes: Simeon was exiled alongside them. Altogether the whole of the Northern Kingdom of Israel along with Simeon and other parts of the south were exiled. Along with the exiles from the Ten Tribes there were very many from the Kingdom of Judah. The Exiles to Assyria were destined to all lose their identity. They are often designated "The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel." Much of the Prophecy of Hosea concerns these lost Tribes. These Prophecies in many ways are pertinent to our own times. They also help us identify who and where the Ten Tribes are today.
The Era of Hosea
Hosea (1:1) prophesied "IN THE DAYS OF UZZIAH, JOTHAM, AHAZ, AND HEZEKIAH, KINGS OF JUDAH, AND IN THE DAYS OF JEROBOAM THE SON OF JOASH, KING OF ISRAEL
Jeroboam the son of Joash (i.e. Jeroboam-2) is the only king of northern Israel mentioned in this verse. Jeroboam however was not the only Israelite king who ruled in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah! One explanation is that Jeroboam-2 was the last legitimate Israelite King in the eyes of Hosea: He was the only Israelite monarch whom Hosea considered worthy to be listed as parallel to the Kings of Judah. The other kings who came after Jeroboam-2 were all usurpers. Each one of them came to power by murdering his predecessors and seizing the Kingdom by force. Hosea having been himself a former inhabitant of the Kingdom of Israel may have been extra sensitive as to who the rulers were.
King Uzziah of Judah was the first king listed by Hosea as those monarchs within whose reign he had had prophesied. Uzziah was also known as Azariah (2-Kings 14:17). During the reign of King Uzziah over Judah, Jeroboam-2 the son of Joash ruled over northern Israel. Uzziah was followed by Jotham. During the reign of Jotham over Judah, there ruled over Israel Zechariah, Shalum, and Menachem. After Jotham King of Judah came Ahaz.
During the reign of Ahaz over Judah, there ruled over Israel Kings Menachem, Pekahia, Pekah, and Hosea. King Ahaz of Judah was succeeded by his son, Hezekiah.
During the reign of Hezekiah in Judah, King Hosea continued to rule over Israel. He was the last monarch of the northern Kingdom of Israel. In his time the last remaining members of the Ten Tribes were exiled by the Assyrians.
In the Book of Hosea, the Prophet is called upon to perform tasks that represent the fate of the Ten Tribes.