24/11/2022
I have responded to many posts on Facebook with this information. The last time I did that, the person removed their post. So I am going to put it here (so that I know where to find it)
The topic is all about "who is Israel?" and "Where are the 10 Lost Tribes?" Here are the questions from a friend who was confronted with this by a knowledgeable expert who has "spent 15 years of their life studying the scriptures to convey this to others".
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1. Are we, as in you, me, and everyone else outside of the Southern Kingdom of Israel/(Judah) ... are we actually the Northern Kingdom of Israel referred to in the Bible who were displaced by Assyria and disseminated across the world?
Answer: No, we are gentiles (wild olives branches grafted in)
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2. Did the Northern Kingdom, or any of it, ever come back and join with the Southern Kingdom?
Answer: Yes, in fact the Bible says that there were many from the 10 tribes that moved over to Rehoboam and Judah right at the beginning of the split. The heresy of the lost tribes stems from the two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, being taken into captivity at different times (about 130 years apart). Here's a short explanation which does not include any of the numerous verses which talk about the two nations once again becoming one (Ezekiel 37:16-22 being a prime passage)
- Israel was captured by Assyria whose policy was to disperse captives around the empire.
Question: When Assyria took the Israelites into captivity, were did they put them? Answer: They spread them broadly throughout the Assyrian Empire
- Assyria was in turn conquered by Babylon who then captured the nation of Judah. Babylon's whose policy was to bring all the captives into Babylonia proper in order to assimilate them into the culture. (apparently they settled the Judeans into three main cities.
Question: If Babylon conquered the Assyrian empire, where was that empire? Answer: Within the borders of the Babylonian empire.
Question: When Babylon conquered Assyria, where were all the Israelites who were spread around the Assyrian empire? Answer: Still within the [smaller] borders of the former Assyrian empire and therefore within the borders of the [now larger] Babylonian empire.
- Babylon was then conquered by the Medes and Persians under whom everyone of Jewish descent was allowed to return to the land.
Question: When the Medo-Persian's conquered the Babylonians, where were all the Israelites? Answer: Still within the boundaries of the old Assyrian empire.
Question: Therefore, in 538 BCE when King Cyrus granted the descendants of Jacob the right to return to their land and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem - (Ezra 1:2-4) - who went? Answer: All twelve tribes!
There were never any "10 lost tribes" It's not rocket science.
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3. Is being a Jew predominantly determined by bloodline ... or culture?
Answer: Biblically bloodline through the father unless you are a gentile proselyte.
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4. What is the difference between a Jew, a person from the northern kingdom, and a Gentile?
Answer: There is no difference today between a Jew and a descendant of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob from the Northern Kingdom. The difference with gentiles is that we are not descended from A, I & J.
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5. The main thrust of the message given is that because we are actually Israel - as in 'the northern kingdom' - we stand to inherit the blessings given by Joseph. My take is - we are already inheritors through the blood of Jesus and through being grafted into the vine.
Answer: We do not inherit the land. That was a specific promise given to the physical children of Abraham
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6. I thought the term 'Jews' referred to people from the nation of Israel and that they are the descendants from the 12 tribes of Israel who resided in the north and the south? I am told this is incorrect and that Jews are from the tribe of Judah in the southern kingdom only, not the northern kingdom.
Answer: You are correct and he is wrong.
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7 The deeper question for me is, where does this teaching stem from? And why has the person teaching this fallen for it and spent 15 years of their life studying the scriptures to convey this to others?
Answer: It stems from wanting to be a partaker of the physical promises of blessing given to Abraham ($$$$$$) and from not being satisfied with Christ. Remember, Paul HAD all of that and still said he’d throw it all away just for the joy of knowing Jesus
As I said to my friend who sent me these questions, I am in the middle of preparing messages for consecutive weekends at opposite ends of the country (Invercargill and Russell) and do not currently have the time to hunt up all the verses which pertain to this, but it is an important topic so I will be on to it before the end of the year.
