Will "Israel" (the Ten Tribes) all be gathered in before Judah?
A new source, highly revered, and worth noting.
Isaiah ch. 11 speaks of the Jews (Judah) and the Ten Trbies (Ephraim) as shown below.
Isaiah (NKJV) 11:
12 HE WILL SET UP A BANNER FOR THE NATIONS,
AND WILL ASSEMBLE THE OUTCASTS OF ISRAEL,
AND GATHER TOGETHER THE DISPERSED OF JUDAH
FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH.
13 ALSO THE ENVY OF EPHRAIM SHALL DEPART,
AND THE ADVERSARIES OF JUDAH SHALL BE CUT OFF;
EPHRAIM SHALL NOT ENVY JUDAH,
AND JUDAH SHALL NOT HARASS EPHRAIM.
The expression "OUTCASTS" OF ISRAEL is understood to refer to the Lost Ten Tribes who were driven out and outcast from their Land but relatively speaking remained together as a coherent group or separate groups that re-coalesced with each other.
This is in contrast with "THE DISPERSED OF JUDAH" who were scattered.
The expression in Hebrew for Scattered" (nefutsot) and Driven Out (nIdchai) are also found in Deuteronomy 30:
Deuteronomy (Ki Tavo, NKJV) 30:3 THAT THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL BRING YOU BACK FROM CAPTIVITY, AND HAVE COMPASSION ON YOU, AND GATHER YOU AGAIN FROM ALL THE NATIONS WHERE THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS SCATTERED YOU. 4 IF ANY OF YOU ARE DRIVEN OUT (outcast) TO THE FARTHEST PARTS UNDER HEAVEN, FROM THERE THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL GATHER YOU, AND FROM THERE HE WILL BRING YOU. 5 THEN THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL BRING YOU TO THE LAND WHICH YOUR FATHERS POSSESSED, AND YOU SHALL POSSESS IT. HE WILL PROSPER YOU AND MULTIPLY YOU MORE THAN YOUR FATHERS. 6 AND THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL CIRCUMCISE YOUR HEART AND THE HEART OF YOUR DESCENDANTS, TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, THAT YOU MAY LIVE.
Concerning the above passage Rabbeinu Bachai understands the ones who were SCATTERED" to be Judah, and the ones who were DRIVEN OUT to be the Ten Tribes.
Rabeinu Bachai (Bahya ben Asher, 1255-1340, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain) on Deuteronomy 30:
3. AND GATHER YOU AGAIN FROM ALL THE NATIONS. I have already mentioned that [this case] alludes to the First Temple that was destroyed due to idolatry and therefore it warns against idolatry and its punishment with exile to another land,
4. DRIVEN OUT TO THE FARTHEST PARTS . Where it says "DRIVEN OUT". it is speaking of the Ten Tribes who were exiled by the hand of the King of Assyria to Halah and the Gozan River and Cities of the Medes (2-Kings 17).
# And the passage following this one will also prove that he is speaking of the Exile of the Ten Tribes who Scripture refers to. It therefore it begins with the expression (Deuteronomy 30);4 DRIVEN OUT (outcast) TO THE FARTHEST PARTS. The LORD your God will speak to them, because they are the majority of Israel. HE will speak to them. After that group it mentions another group of Exiles and they are the Scattered Ones meaning us, i.e. we here, Judah and Benjamin whom the enemies and the haters have persecuted, and here we are scattered and dispersed in their lands.... #
And he mentioned twice "and bring you" alluding to the gathering in of Two Exiles meaning of two groups, the exiles of the Ten Tribes and the exiles of Judah and Benjamin. And on this the Prophet (Isaiah 56:8) said, "THE LORD GOD, WHO GATHERS THE OUTCASTS OF ISRAEL, SAYS,YET I WILL GATHER TO HIM OTHERS BESIDES THOSE WHO ARE GATHERED TO HIM. This means that besides the group of the Driven Out ("Outcasts" i.e. the Ten Tribes), there is another group of those who are to be gathered in, and they are Judah and Benjamin. It follows as seen from the language of Scripture that the main Return with Repentance concerns them (i.e. the Ten Tribes). This is what he said (Deuteronomy 30: 1....AMONG ALL THE NATIONS WHERE THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS DRIVEN YOU, 2 AND YOU RETURN TO THE LORD YOUR GOD AND OBEY HIS VOICE..." They (the Ten Tribes) were the ones who were driven out (and not scattered like Judah). He speaks, promising their Return with Repentance. After speaking of their redemption he continues to say: (Deuteronomy 30: ..THAT THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL BRING YOU BACK FROM CAPTIVITY, AND HAVE COMPASSION ON YOU, AND GATHER YOU AGAIN FROM ALL THE NATIONS WHERE THE LORD YOUR GOD HAS SCATTERED (DISPERSED) YOU.
This is a second group that will also be redeemed, that is us, Judah and Benjamin, the Dispersed...
We saw that Rabbeinu Bachai (1255-1340) in effect suggests that the Ten Tribes must Return with Repentance before Judah can do so.
Let us go over it again but from another direction:
The same Hebrew word ("NIdach") is used in Isaiah 11 for "OUTCAST" as is used in Deuteronomy 30 for DRIVES YOU and for DRIVEN OUT.
In Isaiah 11 the OUTCASTS OF ISRAEL parallel EPHRAIM the DISPERSED OF JUDAH parallel JUDAH.
Rabeini Bachai takes thise equivalents (OUTCASTS i.e. DRIVEN OUT for Ephraim and Dispersed for Judah) and applies them to Deuteronomy ch. 30.
According to Rabeinu Bachai (1255-1340) all expressions in YELLOW refer to Ephraim, i.e. the Ten Tribes, those in CYAN BLUE apply to Judah. The Ten TrIbes had been DRIVEN OUT but they remained together. Judah had been SCATTERED. Rabeinu Bachai understands the passage to imply that the Ten Tribes will return with complete repentance before Judah. Other sources say the opposite BUT the sources also indicate that a portion of Judah will return first of all, then the TEN TRibes will realize their origins and return to the outskirts of the Land (Lebanon, etc) after which they will repent entirely. The rest of Judah also returns and the two halves re-unite. We will wait and see BUT this may be beginning in some ways in our own time.
From our point of view at this stage: It does not matter who comes first or how exactly the differet Tribes be ingathered. It is enought to know that they all will be brought back. It is also important to know who the Ten Tribes are.
