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PROPHECY
(ContinuedfrofY! page 14)
as a
national
name
does not mean
JEw! Whoever the Lost
Ten Tribes of Israel are today,
they are not the Jews !
Whereveryou see the name "Israel," or"houseoflsrael," or
"Samaria," or "Ephraim" used in prophecy, remember
this: IT NEVER REFERSTOTHEJEWS, but to Israel, which was
at war against the Jews!
House of Israel Not Jews
No place in all the Bible does the term "Israel" refer to the
Jews exclusively. When the sense is not national but
individual, the term " Israel" alone, or "children oflsrael,"
or "men of Israel," may, and sometimes does, refer to or
include
the Jews. Such an expression, for instance, as "ye
men of Israel," which frequently occurs in the New
Testament, refers to Israelí tes as indivíduals in a collective
sense,
not
a national sense. lt usually refers to Jews as
individual descendants ofthe patriarch Israel (Jacob).
Moses may not, scripturally, be called a Jew. He was a
Levite. Abraham was not a Jew. Neither was Isaac nor
Jacob-nor Adam or Noah for that matter. The descen–
dants of the patriarch Judah are racially Jews and also
aH who joined themselves nationally to the tribe of
J
udah- those of the tribes of Benjamín and Levi.
Jews are Israelites, just as Californians are Americans.
But
most
Israelí tes are not Jews, just as most Americans
are not Californians. The Jews are the house of Judah
only,
APART of the Israelites. But when these people are
spoken of as
nations,
rather than as collective individ–
uals, the term "Israel" never refers to the Jews. "House
of Israel"
never
means "Jews." The three tribes at Jerusa–
lem under the Davidic king are called, merely, the
house
ofJudah.
But ofEphraim and Manasseh, sons ofJoseph, the dying
Israel had said, "Let my name be named on
them"
(Gen.
48: 16) . And truiy they now bear the name oflsrael.
From here on, the tribe of Judah, wíth Benjamín and
the tribe of Levi, is called
"JUDAH"- not
IsRAEL. The ten
tribes, headed by Ephraim and Manasseh, from this
time on are called "Israel." They are not Jews and never
were called Jews! From this time on, the cbildren of
Israel, twelve tribes in all, are
divided into two nations!
And now, for the first time, the birthright goes into
one natíon, Israel, headed by Ephraim-Manasseh, while
the sceptre remains in
another nation,
called the "house
of Judah." The two phases of the promises to Abraham
now are divided between two entirely separate nations!
For many generations Israel and Judah remained as
separate nations, in adjoining territories, having their
own separate kings. Why should ministers and professed
Bible students be in ignorance of this, when four whole
books of the Bible, 1 and 11 Kings and I and 11 Chroni–
cles, are devoted to explaining it and recording the
36
history of these separate, rival kingdoms? Look at the
maps in the back of yo'Ur Bible. There you will see the
territory of each nation plainly shown.
Judah retained the city of Jerusalem, its capital, and
the territory known as Judea . Israel occupied the terri–
tory
north
of Judea. Samaria became its capital city, and
the house of Israel often is called "Samaria" in proph–
ecy. This, too, is a vital "key" to understanding proph–
ecy. "Samaria" never refers to the Jews in prophecy- but
always the
ten
tribes, the house oflsrael.
We want to impress, here, that Israel and Judah are
not two names for the same nation. They were,
and still
are,
and sball be till the second coming of Christ, TWO
SEPARATE NATIONS. The "house of Judah"
always
means
"Jew." This distinction is vital, if we are to understand
. prophecy. Because most so-called Bible students are in
ignorance of this basic distinction, they are unable to
rightly understand prophecy!
The next place where the term "Jew" is mentioned in
the Bible, the house of Israel had been driven out into
captivity, lost from view, and the term applies
only
to
those of the house of Judah.
Israel Rejects God's Rule
Immediately on becoming king over the house of Israel,
Jeroboam (tribe of Ephraim) set up two golden calves,
introducing idol worship in the kingdom (I Kings 12:28-
33). Jeroboam was afraid lest his subjects, in going once
a year to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles,
should return to Rehoboam and he should lose his new
throne. The introduction of idolatry was to prevent this
and to keep the people home.
This idolatry with Sabbath-breaking (Ezek. 20: 10-24)
was the great national sin which became such a curse to
Israel. Generation after generation ·God pleaded with
the house of Israel to turn from tradition- from their
fathers' ways-and to return to keeping God' s command–
ments. But through nine different dynasties under 19
kings, Israel continued these national sins- sins so great
in God's sight that finally God caused them to become a
conquered, captive nation.
Now Jet us note a passage which has been consistently
misinterpreted. In I Kings 14:15-16 we find , "The Eter–
na! shall smi te Israel [not Judah), as a reed ís shaken in
the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good
land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter
them [not Judah) beyond the river, because they have
made their groves, provoking the Eterna! to anger. And
he shall give Israel [not Judah) up because of the sins of
Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin."
This is dealing specifically with tbe result of Jero–
boam's idol worship in
Israel-in
the northern ten-tribed
kingdom which possessed the birthright promises.
It
is
these
people who were to be rooted up and scattered
beyond the river. Not the Jews. Yet this passage is
quoted by nearly all students of prophecy as pertaining
The
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1979