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less their identity and name were lost. This applies to the
LOST tribes, not to the Jews.
Now notice Isaiah 8:17: "And 1 will wait upon the
Lord, THAT HIDETH HIS PACE PROM THE HOUSE OF JA–
COS." Jacob's name was changed to Israel. In other
words, this applies to the house of Israel- the ten-tribed
kingdom- who were cut off from the presence of God.
They consequently lost the knowledge of the true God,
and the true religion.
The Eterna! would cease speaking to them in their
own Hebrew tongue, but with "another tongue will he
speak to
this people"
(lsa. 28:1
1).
This cannot apply to
the Jews, who still read their Bibles in the Hebrew
tongue.
lsaiah 62:2: "And the Gentiles shall see thy righteous–
ness, and all kings thy glory [after Christ returns]: and
thou shalt be called by a
NEW
NAME, which the mouth of
the Lord shall name." While this prophecy refers di–
rectly to the future, after Christ's return, it has also been
fulfilled,
typically,
foreshadowing that time, by the fact
that Israel is known by a ditferent name today. That
cannot apply to the Jews. They were known then, and
today, as Jews.
Israel Never Returned
The house of Israel did
not
return to Palestine with the
Jews in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, as sorne errone–
ously believe. Those who returned to rebuild the Temple
and restore worship in Jerusalem at that time,
70
years
after
Judah's
captivity, were only those of the house of
Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried to Babylon.
Note well these facts.
1) In 721 -718 B.C. ISRAEL began to be "carried away
out of their own land to Assyria"
(11
Kings 17:23). They
were soon al! rernoved- completely. "There was none
left but the tribe of Judah only"
(11
Kings 17:18). JuoAH,
only, remained.
2) More than 130 years later, Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon carried the Jews- Judah-who only remained in
Palestine away to Babylon. So
none
of the house ofIsrael
dwelt in Palestine at the time of this captivity of
Judah.
3)
Those who
returned
to Palestine to rebuild the
Temple and restore worship
70
years after Judah's cap–
tivity were ALL of the house of Judah-a/1 JEws- all of
those whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away. Tbey
returned again "unto Jerusalem and Judah,
every one
unto his city"
(Ezra
2: 1).
Only
those of the tribe of Judah, together with rem–
nants of Benjamín and Levi, who constitu.ted the house
of Judah, returned at that time. "Then rose up the chief
of the fathers of
Judah
and
Benjamín,
and the priests,
and the
Levites"
(Ezra
1:5).
There are, of course, those who
reject
this truth God
has seen fit now, in our time, to reveal- and who falsely
represen! that ALL Israelites, including the ten-tribed
~8
house of Israel, returned to Jerusalem at the time of Ezra
and Nehemiah.
They will sift out instances where the word "Israel" is
used in connection with individuals or people of the
HOUSE OF JuoAH and misrepresent that they are the
HOUSE OF ISRAEL. Let it be repeated for emphasis: Jews
are
Israelites-but only
part
of the Israelites are Jews.
The term "Jew" is a nickname for the
national
name
JuoAH. Jews are, truly,
men of Israel-or people of
Israel-but
they are not of the NATION called the HOUSE
OP ISRAEL, or KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.
Those who refuse this truth turn to such a passage as
this: "And the residue of Israel, of the priests, and the
Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, every one in his
inheritance" (Neh.
11:20).
Because the word "Israel" is
used, they will claim these are al! twelve tribes. But it is
specifically speaking of priests and Levites-and they are
of the
house ofJudah,
but not of the ten-tribed house of
Israel. They were truly the "residue of Israel"-the "resi–
due" of the twelve tribes; they were lsraelites, but
they were not of the nation called the house of Israel.
They returned to their inheritance in the Jand of
Judah.
Nehemiah says plainly: "These are the children of the
province, that went up out of the captivity [the captivity
to Babylon- captivity of JuDAH,
not
the house of
Israel).
of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchad–
nezzar the king of Babylon had carried away ..." (Neh.
7:6).
And
none
of the Ten Tribes had been left in
Palestine after the Assyrian captivity more than
lOO
years before
(11
Kings 17: 18).
Ezra says: "And the children of IsraeL the priests, and
the Levites, and the rest of the children of the capt ivity,
kept the dedication ..." (Ezra
6: 16).
These were people
of the kingdom of
Judah - not
the kingdom of Israel- but
they were "children of Jsrael."
Names and genealogies are given in Ezra and Nehe–
miah of those who went back to Palestine from Baby–
lon-and there was
none
from any of the Ten Tribes!
Consequently those in Jerusalem at the time of Christ
were of these three tribes,
not
of the house of Israel. And
most, if not all , of those converted were of the tribe of
Benjamín, as Paul said he was.
The house of Israel became known as the LOST Ten
Tribes! Now known by
another
name, speaking
a
ditfer–
ent language!
By what name are they known today? Whoever they
are, wherever they are, it is
they,
and not the Jews, who
are the birthright possessors. It is
they,
not the Jews, who,
after the ending oftheir punishment in A.D.
1800-1803,
must inherit the UNbreakable promises to Abraham of
national greatness, resources, wealth and power.
It
is
Manasseh who was to become the world's greatest single
nation; Ephraim a great
commonwealth
of nations! Who
can they be today?
(To Be Continued)
The
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1979