With some Editorial Comments by Brit-Am). Part One.
Part One.
Contents:
Editorial Insert: Brit-Am Preliminary Note.
Nachmanides and the Ten Tribes
The Division in Scripture.
The Israelites were Not the Same as the "Jews".
The Ten Tribes Were Not Lost to the Almighty!
The Vital Difference Between Israel and Judah.
Until the end of the Exile, Judah and Israel will have continued to be two separate entities
Editorial Insert: Brit-Am Notes on Judah and Israel as Separate Entities.
(a) Judah and Israel Always Separate?
(b) Judah as well as the Ten Tribes may also be referred to as Israel.
(c) Judah ALSO Includes Members from ALL the 12 Tribes!
(d) The Onus to Respond will be on the Ten Tribes! And to some degree this is already the case!
(e) The Ten Tribes When they Return Will (at least initially) go First to Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan!
Part Two:
Different Tribal Groups, Differing Tasks.
Nachmanides and the Ten Tribes
The greatest Jewish Sage of all time Nachmanides (Moshe ben Nachman 1194-1270) knew very well of the existence of the Ten Tribes of Israel in exile. He was well aware of the difference between them and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin known collectively as Judah, whose descendants are now to be found among the present-day Jews. Nachmanides pointed out in his book 'The Book of Redemption' (Sefer Ha Geulah) that the overwhelming majority of the Ten Tribes had been exiled by the Assyrians and had never returned to the Promised Land though they were destined to do so in the future. The Ten Tribes, he said in 1260 a.c, were still in "Tserefath" (France and its neighborhood) and 'at the ends of the north,' meaning at that time the northern areas of Europe. According to Nachmanides, chapter 37 of Ezekiel speaks of a future Redemption for both Judah and Israel. The two kingdoms will unite into one kingdom under the house of David.
This is how Nachmanides (Ramban) explained the history of Israel's exile:
'Let me clarify the matter for you' The kingdom of Israel included the ten northern Tribes. These were exiled by Sancherib as it says, 'For he rent Israel from the house of David; and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king: and Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord, and made them sin a great sin' (2-Kings 17:11). 'Until the Lord removed Israel out of His sight' so was Israel exiled out of their own land to Assyria unto this day' (17:12). This is a proof that all the Kingdom of Israel was exiled to Assyria but the Kingdom of David remained as it was until Nebuchadnezzar exiled them to Babylon. 'There was none left but the tribe of Judah only' (2-Kings 17:18). The Kingdom of David included Judah and Benjamin, with Judah always being the dominant tribe. It is obvious from Scripture, continues Ramban that the term, "House of Joseph, applies to the Kingdom of Israel who are the Ten Tribes".
Nachmanides says in reply to those who would deny the separate existence of the Ten Tribes:
# They should be ashamed not to recognize this fact! When was the House of Joseph like a flame devouring the stubble of Esau (cf. Obadiah 1:18)?
Not in Biblical times!
# The Ten Tribes [in the Later Biblical Era] had already been exiled and they are still in Exile from Canaan even unto Zarephath#
Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Radak, and others say that Zarephath means France; Abarbanel says it means France and Britain.
Notice how this great scholar was upset with those people who could not understand the simple meaning of the prophecies of Obadiah (1:18) being aimed at the future. Instead they dismissed them as having already been fulfilled in the past.
The Division in Scripture.
In Scripture the Division is very well explained. In 1-Kings 11 God decided to punish Solomon for his sins, 'I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.' (Verse 11) To Jeroboam (servant) God Said: 'Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee' (Verse 31).
'So Israel rebelled against house of David unto this day' (1-Kings 12:19; II Chronicles 10:19).
The division of the United Kingdom of Israel into the two separate, politically independent states of Judah and Israel (the Ten Tribes) was initiated and designed by God Himself (1-Kings 12:15, 24). He had specific reasons for doing this. In the End Times, when He will reunite, ingather and redeem all families of Jacob, we will have fully understood in detail the Divine wisdom of the Creator's Plan.
Centuries before the Kingdom of Israel split, God told Jacob: 'Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins. Behold, I will make of thee a multitude of people' (Genesis 35:11; 48:4).
During the life time of the first kings of Judea and Israel, these two kingdoms were at bloody war: 'And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days' (1-Kings 14:29)
'And there was war between Abijah (King of Judah) and Jeroboam (King of Israel). And Abijah and his people slew them (The children of Israel) with the great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men' (2-Chronicles 13:2, 17).
These wars were not limited only between Judah and Israel; there had been wars among the other Israelite Tribes as well.
'Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead (Manasseh), and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim. And there fell at the time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand' (Judges12: 2, 6).
The Israelites were Not the Same as the "Jews".
The Kingdom of Israel lasted 209 years (930 b.c- 721 b.c.). Israel went into Assyrian captivity circa 721 b.c. and somehow mysteriously disappeared from the face of the earth. They became known as the legendary 'Ten Lost Tribes of Israel'. Since then world history has been dealing with the nation of Judah, from the former State of Judea, who later were called Jews.
Most people do not understand the difference between the people of Judah and the people of Israel. Quite often we may hear such expressions as 'Moses led the Jewish people out of Egypt'; 'The Torah was given to the Jews'; or 'The Jews conquered the Land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua'; and so on.
At that time the word 'Jews' was not in existence! And in the beginning there was no Jewish state of Judea.
In fact, the correct formulations should have been constructed as 'Moses led the Israelites (or Hebrews) out of Egypt'; likewise, 'The Torah was given to all Twelve Tribes of Israel" (not to the Jews only!).
The concept that the Ten Tribes of Israel have been lost 2800 years ago and therefore have no part in the World-to-Come, is wrong and has been rejected by God, the Sages of the Talmud and Rabbinical literature. Many Rabbis and scholars have misunderstood teachings concerning Biblical Israel and the End Time Prophecies of Reunification, Ingathering and Redemption of all the Tribes of the House of Israel and have applied the fulfillment of all these future events to the Jews only.
The Ten Tribes Were Not Lost to the Almighty!
The Jewish people have not heared the awakening cry of their brothers and sisters from the Ten Tribes of Israel in Exile.
How could they, if they have no knowledge of their existence?
Hundreds of millions of Israelites have been replaced in popular consciousness by the Jews alone! The Ten Tribes are thought of as a fairy tale, a myth and a fantasy. The Jewish Rabbis are unwilling to hear the true story. They are against ingathering these people into the Land of Israel. The leadership of Judah, instead of obstructing the greatest Prophecies of final Reunification, last Exodus and Redemption of all the Tribes of Israel, should open their hearts and spirits to the Israelites, go to them in the countries wherever they live in exile and do everything in their power to bring them to the Promised Land. Judah and Israel need each other. That is what the Almighty wants, and eventually that will be precisely done! (Jeremiah 3:18).
God always has kept an eye on His people Israel in the exile:
'And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am the Lord, their God.' (Leviticus 26:44)
Even after Israel went to Assyrian captivity, God reaffirmed that 'Mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from My face' (Jeremiah 16:17).
It is concerning Israel, the Ten Tribes in Exile, of whom the Almighty speaks:
'I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles' (Isaiah 42:6).
God regards the house of Israel (Ten Tribes) 'as a light to the Gentiles, as My salvation unto the end of the earth' (Isaiah 49:6).
'You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified' (Isaiah 49:3).
The time is coming when Israel, the servant of God, will be rewarded for their righteousness, 'And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people; all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord has blessed' (Isaiah 61:9).
In light of this, we would like to tell to all those who confuse (whether by lack of knowledge or ignorance) the Israelite peoples as something other than the Ten Tribes together with the Jews; to be careful. Do not make this grave mistake. Listen to what God has said on this matter. Learn history and rethink your position.
This problem is not new. At the time of the prophet Ezekiel (592 b.c.) the Jews of Jerusalem turned away from the ten tribes of Israel in exile and spoke against their coming back to the land of their fathers. Listen how God rebuked them:
'Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the man of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the Lord; unto us is this land given in possession. Therefore say, thus saith the Lord God; although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.' (Ezekiel 11:15-16)
The Vital Difference Between Israel and Judah.
In Scripture, God has carefully shown us the difference between the house of Israel and the house of Judah, between the people of Israel and the people of Judah. Judge for yourself:
'And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth'Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim' (Isaiah 11:12-13).
'In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers' (Jeremiah 3:18).
'For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against Me, saith the Lord' (Jeremiah 5:11).
'And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first' (Jeremiah 33:7).
'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, I will perform that good things which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah' (Jeremiah 33:14).
The best description concerning the destiny of Israel and Judah in the last days can be found in the famous 'Two Sticks' prophecy of Ezekiel 37: 16-24:
'And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more' (Ezekiel 37: 22).
These verses are convincingly clear and very understandable!
This reunification has never taken place in history, so it is definitely an event of the future. Until it happens, Judah and Israel will remain as two different entities.
Is more evidence needed?
With pleasure:
'Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together' (Hosea 1:11).
'Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah saw his wound'' (Hosea 5:12-13).
Does anyone know that God speaks here of the Middle East 'Peace Process' between Israelis and Palestinians as 'Judah's wound'?
What of 'sick at heart' adulterous and godless Israel' -Great Britain, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and almost a good dozen of European countries, with their combined population of hundreds of million people?
'And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong' (Zechariah 8:13).
'And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord, their God, and will hear them' (Zechariah 10:6).
In all these passages the Almighty speaks separately of the house of Judah and the house of Israel. Nowhere in the Hebrew Bible does God say that Judah and Israel are the same!
By the way, when God mentions the names of Joseph, Manasseh or Ephraim. This refers to Israel, i.e. the 'lost' Ten Tribes of Israel in exile. Ephraim or Manasseh are collective terms used in the Bible to identify the entire body of the Ten Tribes of Israel.
When God speaks of the house of David, Judah or the house of Judah, Zion or inhabitants of Jerusalem, this automatically means Jews, the Jewish people. Sometimes the term 'Israel' might apply to all Twelve Tribes, depending of the context of the verses, as, for instance, in Ezekiel 38 and 39. The term 'Judah' always means the Jews, i.e. Zephaniah 2:7; Zechariah 12-all.
Some people propagate the idea that the tribes of Israel have disappeared; in exile been assimilated amongst the nations; completely lost their identity; vanished; died out and unable to play any role in prophetic future; that God really does not care of their fate. They have been consigned to the realm of myth and fiction.
This is not true! God does remember His people. He has a Plan for the future reunification and redemption of all Israel, Judah and the 'Lost' Ten Tribes of Israel, in the Holy Land.
Just take a look at these passages of Hosea 1:10:
'Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which can not be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.'
Is it not impressive?
Until the end of the Exile, Judah and Israel will have continued to be two separate entities
'Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together'' (Hosea 1:11).
Simple and clear!
Many people, especially after the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948, began to call the Jews, "Israelites", sincerely thinking that the ancient Israelites are the same people as the Jewish nation today. But they are not the same. Prior to the splitting in ancient times of the United Kingdom of Israel, there were no Jews at that time, no Jewish nation. The Bible tells us that the people Moses led out of Egypt called themselves Hebrews: Abram the Hebrew (Genesis 14:3), Joseph the Hebrew (Genesis 39:14), God of the Hebrews (Exodus 5:3), or Israelites (Exodus 31:13; 33:5 and countless more). The very same people were recipients of the Torah on Mount Sinai. It is not correct to say that the Torah was given to the Jews. In fact, the Torah was given to all tribes of Israel, to the Hebrew nation. Of course, the Israelites consisted of the twelve tribes, but nobody called at that period of time the separate tribe a nation, like the Issachar nation, the Nation of Reuben, Nation of Joseph, Nation of Simeon, or Nation of Judah, and so on. They all were called Israelites or Hebrews.
Judah became a nation after the division and establishing of their own state called Judea. The word 'Jew' also became known much later after the Babylonian captivity and the Greek domination over Palestine, most likely during the time of the Roman Empire.
Why would, after the separation, the northern kingdom call itself by the name of Israel?
Because Manasseh and Ephraim were given this name by their grandfather in Jacob-Israel's blessings (Genesis 48:16), and they were leaders of the rest of Israelite tribes.
And why did the southern kingdom call itself Judea?
Because of Judah, who represented the most populous and dominant tribe, and was highly praised by his father and the brothers (Genesis 49:8). After the separation and exiles, Judah and Israel became absolutely different nations, living in different countries in the four corners of the earth.
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Brit-Am Note on Judah and Israel as Separate Entities. We agree with the above remarks by Alex Zephyr in principle but a few niceties of detail should be noticed.
The term "Israel" when used in juxtapostion with "Judah" does mean the Ten Tribes. Otherwise "Israel" may refer to all the 12 tribes, or to the Ten Tribes only, or to just Judah. It depends on the context. In the Books of Ezra and Nechamia the term "Israel" refers mostly to the Jews who returned from Babylon. In the Book of Ezekiel the term "House of Israel" can refer to either Judah or "Joseph" or both of them together.. In the other Prophetical Books "House of Israel" usually refers to the Ten Tribes especially when the expression is juxtaposed to "House of Judah". (c) Judah ALSO Includes Members from ALL the 12 Tribes! Members of ALL the Twelves Tribes are to be found amongst the present-day Jews even though contingents from the Lost Ten are minorities and do not express their Tribal distinctiveness. See Nachmanides, "Sefer HaGeulah": # Those from the Tribes of Ephraim and Shimeon from Israel that were present (2-Chronicles 35;18) with Judah were they who dwelt in the Land of Judah or perhaps to some degree also those who had dwelt in their own territories adjoining Judah and had fled to Judah. They are referred to in a general sense as “from Israel†(in 2-Chronicles 35;18) and not by their specific tribes since they represented only a small portion of their tribe. These are they who returned under Ezra with the Jews from Babylon. They were not expressly mentioned by their tribes since they were attached to Judah. They all settled in the cities of Judah. There was no Redemption for the Ten Tribes who remained in exile.#In a sense the presence of the other Tribes in Judah may be considered a contingency reserve. Judah at some stage in the future should go out and call to Joseph to return. [ We doubt very much that this should be done now. As we explained above, more knowledge is needed and more needs to be done.] (d) The Onus to Respond will be on the Ten Tribes! And to some degree this is already the case! When Judah does go out, it will be the obligation of Joseph to respond. The ball will be in the field of Joseph. To some degree that is also the case at present. Brit-Am sends out its message mainly to Joseph and needs help in doing so. The Commentator Tifereth Yisrael, explained the conclusive and authoritative opinion of Rabbi Eliezer (Sanhedrin chapter 11) that the Ten Tribes would return as being based on the prophecy of Ezekiel 20:33, "As I live, says the LORD God, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I be King over you." The Almighty, in HIS time, will force the Israelites to repent and return. See Also: Will the Lost Tribes Return? An Analysis of the Lost Tribes in Rabbinic Literature by Dennis Jones In the End Times: ...the Gentile nations will bring the Jews and Israelites who live amongst them to the King Messiah as an offering of acknowledgement (Isaiah 66:18-22). We understand this to mean that some of the so-called "Gentile" Nations will help the Jews return to the land of Israel to prepare the way of the Messiah. Manyn of the "Gentiles" who offer such assistance will themselves be revealed as Israelites who had lost trace of their ancestry. The Midrash (Yalkut Shimeoni on Psalm 89) says: # And I will also take of them for Priests and for Levites # (Isaiah 66:22). God will take from the Gentiles who are bringing Jews to the King Messiah [i.e. helping them return to the Land of Israel]. . HE will sort out from amongst them all those who are Israelites. Rabbi Pinchas bar Chama said: “ ...the secret things belong unto the LORD our God" (Deuteronomy 29:28). God will count as Israelites those of the Gentiles who help the Israelites return. They too will be counted as Israelites as if that very minute they had been reborn. (e) The Ten Tribes When they Return Will (at least initially) go First to Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan! According to tradition based on Prophecy a Divinely Appointed Leader ("Messiah Son of Joseph") will lead the Ten Tribes when they return. This leader will be Divinely Inspired and have the status and authority of a Prophet. No-one like that exists today as far as we know. The Ten Tribes when they come back will do so as one main group. They will settle at first along the outskirts of the Promised Land i.e. areas such as parts of Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Zechariah 10: 7 Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man... 8 I will whistle for them and gather them, For I will redeem them; And they shall increase as they once increased. 9 I will sow them among the peoples, And they shall remember Me in far countries; They shall live, together with their children, And they shall return. 10 I will also bring them back from the land of Egypt [in Hebrew "Mitsrayim" which can also connote regions in the north] And gather them from Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, Until no more room is found for them. Micah 7: 12 In that day they shall come to you From Assyria and the fortified cities... 14 ... Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, As in days of old. 15 As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders. |