Fable of "British-Israel" (Part 3) The 2520-Year Fiasco

[Rebbe]

FUNDAMENTALS: The Fable of "British Israel" [3]

THE ORIGIN OF THE JEWISH STATE, ITS REBIRTH, & THE 2520-YEAR FIASCO

Copyright © BRI 2012 All Rights Reserved Worldwide
by Les Aron Gosling, Messianic Lecturer (BRI)

CAUTION: BRI Yeshiva notes are not available to the general public. They are not for distribution. They are not for reproduction. The notes may also bear little or no resemblance to the actual recorded BRI Yeshiva lecture.

" ...the ten tribes will not return [to Eretz Yisrael], for it is said, and cast them into another land, as is this day: just as the day goes and does not return, so they too went and will not return: this is r. Akiba's view. r. Eliezer said: as this day - just as the day darkens and then becomes light again, so the ten tribes - even as it went dark for them, so will it become light for them" - B. Talmud, Sanhedrin 110b

The lecture was originally designed to be a short one. It was to be followed by two more in this series. But I decided in my wisdom (or lack thereof) to reduce this lecture and the two forthcoming lectures into one. I have decided to do this because there are so many more things I wish to share doctrinally as Fundamentals. I really did not want to "get stuck" on Replacement Theology in any of its forms. Try and follow the flow here, as difficult as this may seem at first to be. Certainly, there will be one more lecture to follow on this subject of Israel and Replacement Theology. Let's call this lecture a "mopping-up" operation.

YESHUA PLUS NOTHING IS THE TRUE GOSPEL

Millions of Christians have come to believe in and to accept the idea of Replacement Theology. That is, the Christian Church has replaced the Jewish people as God's Chosen vessel or instrument to take the knowledge of God to the nations. According to this notion, the Jewish people have forfeited their great appointment as God's representatives on earth. Many of these same Christian folk have also accepted a false ideology of elitism based on a persuasion as to their racial identity as descendants of ancient "lost tribes" of Israel.

This has got to be, in fact as well as theory, the ultimate damnable "replacement theology."

I have even read literature from some of these cultic organisations which emphasise a necessity in believing  in the theory of the ten lost tribes of Israel (now, they say, to be located in our modern western and white Anglo-Saxon-Celtic nations: WASP nations -- White Anglo Saxon Protestant) as forming the very bedrock of their salvation!

The now dead dictator of the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert W. Armstrong, stated publicly in a ministerial conference in May 1976: "I began to see that the real message of the Bible is not known or understood ... by the churches that call themselves Christian. I began to see that  ... the blood of Christ is not the trunk of the tree. That is not the main point."

The main trunk of the theological and biblical "trunk" of the "salvation tree" was, according to Armstrong, the lost key to the identity of the white Anglo-Saxon races. This is in hostile contradiction to the biblical revelation. Is your salvation embedded in Yeshua the Messiah as the Son of God and YOUR Lord and Saviour? Or is it in the theory of British-Israelism?

The Word of God is foundational and CERTAIN in this matter.

"But as many as received him, to them gave he authority to become the children of God, even to them who believe on his name" (Jn 1.12).

"For God so loves the world that he gave his uniquely begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (Jn 3.15-16).

"Yeshua said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent" (Jn 6.29).

"And Yeshua said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst" (Jn 6.35).

"And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one who sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day ... Absolutely, absolutely, I tell you, that he who believes on me has everlasting life" (Jn 6.40,47).

"Yeshua said to her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (Jn 11.25).

"These things are written, that you might believe that Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through his name" (Jn 20.31).

"That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Yeshua, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom 10.9,10).

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God" (I Jn 5.13).

Your salvation, and my salvation, is not based on ANYTHING OTHER THAN YESHUA as our personal Lord and Saviour.

Your salvation, and my own, are not based on doctrines, ideas, belief systems, a sense of racial superiority or in anything we can do or not do to gain favour with God or to maintain that favour. Yeshua IS our salvation. Salvation is in him and him alone.

But this is not what is being preached in Christian Churches! In the churches of this present world system, Grace has a starting point and an ending point -- and Grace is extended, according to sectarians and others, only while we obey God. Well, that is what is being preached today. And this false Gospel is also circulating in the Messianic gatherings as well. They may not put it quite the way I have described it here and in other of my writings, but if we say we believe in Yeshua PLUS something else for salvation then we have become heterodox. We are counterfeits. We are not the legitimate heirs of salvation at all. THAT is just how important this understanding really happens to be.

And, bear this in mind as well. If we are truly and authentically believers in Yeshua as Lord of All, then we will desire to believe in TRUTH at all costs. Truth is a Person, not a mere collection or gathering of facts. And Truth as it is articulated from the mouth of the Mashiach is something to which we should align ourselves to become precisely what HaShem desires us to be. Is not this the case?

If for instance, British-Israel theory is true, we should accept it. If it is a lie, we should reject it.

BRITISH-ISRAEL THEORY REQUIRES A BELIEF THAT ....

Generally speaking, the theorists in the various divisions of the British-Israel (or, Anglo-Israel) dogma believe, among other things, that ...

[1] the British, American and northwestern European peoples of Anglo-Saxon-Celtic stock are the descendants of the "lost ten tribes" of Israel. According to this theory ...

[2] Britain and America are the tribe of Joseph. Joseph had two sons, part Egyptian -- Ephraim and Manasseh. Britain is Ephraim and the United States of America is Manasseh. (Some few sects of "B-I" who emphasise the "White Identity" philosophy reverse that order.)

[3] The promises made by God to Israel were, are, and will be primarily fulfilled in the British and American peoples and not substantially in the Jewish race (although some "B-I" sects modify the latter view concerning the Jews).

[4] The unconditional promise by God of a never-ending Davidic Throne finds its continuation in the English royal family who are David's sole legal heirs. The throne of England is the Throne of David, which "Jesus" will return to occupy (Lk 1.32). Until its recent return to Scotland, the rock formerly located beneath the English Coronation throne was (and is) Jacob's pillow, or pillar, stone.

[5] There continues to be a vital distinction between Israel and the Jewish race for a variety of reasons, which means that ...

[6] The terms "Israel," "Judah," "the Jews," "the house of Israel" are not interchangeable in Scripture.

[7] Israel was to become "a nation and a company of nations."

If we can confidently expose all of the above principles to be fabrications without any biblical foundation then we can discard the ENTIRE theory of "British-Israelism" to the theological and doctrinal trash heap of what will become in the Millennial reign of Mashiach, "comic book heaven." One of the great problems Christians face when they come to hear certain doctrines which are alien to the biblical revelation is sorting out truth from error, and this is due to the fact that the church universally has jettisoned a balanced teaching ministry. People today are generally ignorant of the contents of the Bible and its central message. They are also generally ignorant of history. Gullibility is the result.

THE ORIGIN OF THE JEWISH STATE

In both biblical and secular history, the empire of a King was passed, at his death and as kingdoms usually are, to the King's (or Emperor's) son and heir. Jedidiah was the child of David and the notorious Bath-she'va, "her of Uriah," whom Matthew Levi the disciple of Yeshua would not even name in haMashiach's ideal genealogy (Mt 1.6). This was the Golden Age, a period which gave birth to the legends of Troy, the monumental epic the "Mahabharata" in India, King Bladud in Britain, and the rise of Japan as a mammoth trading power in the east under the rule of "the son of the Sun."

It is written in the Jewish Scriptures that Jedidiah became known as the magnificent and powerful Shlo'mo (2 Sam 12.24,25 Hebrew), or Sol-Om-On in our tongue, the name of the sun in three languages of the barbarous west, the Hindu east, and the Egyptian south -- a magical name with cosmic and occult significance.

The inheritor of his father's far-flung empire and widely celebrated (on the one hand) for his profound philosophical and metaphysical wisdom, and (on the other) for his tempestuous hedonistic pursuits, enormous architectural programs, and wild spending sprees, Solomon was sought by Mayan culture-heroes, Japanese Emperors and mysterious, sensuous dark-skinned African Queens (and I am sure that it was not just limited to the female sort).

Solomon's uncharted adventurous spirit, lucid enquiring mind, and fervent pursuit of an ever-elusive excellence is witnessed in his creation of magnificent marble harbours for the Canaanite Syro-Phoenicians, in his public financing of cultural and religious citadels including the immense glory of the Jerusalem Temple, and in his great exploration and maritime trading expeditions, in association with his Edomite cousins, the red-haired men of Phoenicia, some fleets taking three years and longer to return to port (1 Kings 10.22).

A comparatively recent find of a Hebrew inscription in Spain, bearing the name of Adoniram -- the collector of Solomon's tribute money -- and Israelite (and Phoenician) artifacts in South America and the continental U.S. is some indication of just how powerful and influential the Davidic kingdom actually was! The state had been active militarily under Israel's king Sha'ul (Saul) and in its immense expansion program under David, but under Jedidiah the Israelite Empire flourished commercially and culturally. It was a time of unparalleled peace, immense prosperity, and worldwide maritime trade.

The British Isles had long been colonised by Canaanites (Phoenicians), Babylonians and Israelites alike, the South American continent enjoyed similar economic trading and mining visitation rights, and the Minoans had established themselves in the heartland of the American continent. The Chinese were visiting Mexico and the Caribbean and Australia. The Egyptians also certainly knew about the "great south land" in the Antipodes, colonising coastal areas and populating the great inland lake region with exiled Phutian African slave- labour, initiating a lingering end to the indigenous aboriginal pygmy population which had long previously inhabited the island continent. Traces of Egyptian presence, and Phoenician landmarks, are known to exist along certain near-coast inland river systems of the Australian continent. The Australian bush supplied the essential eucalyptus for Egyptian funerary needs.

Indeed, archaeological, ethnographic and linguistic evidence establishes that dramatic and ancient links existed between the Old World, Europe and America dating back to before the Bronze Age. This ought not surprise the student of biblical history. After all, ancient Jewish burial plots in the woodlands of the American state of Tennessee and coins found in Kentucky dating to the period of the Jewish Messianic pretender Bar Kokhva (132-135 C.E.) are clear evidence that somehow refugees from the last disastrous Jewish insurrection against Imperial Rome had successfully made their way across the Atlantic in formidable numbers. So we ought also to appreciate the simple biblical record that during the reign of the Phoenician king Hiram and the flourishing of the Egyptian Queen She'ba (Shwa) "all the earth sought to Solomon" (1 Kings 10.24).

Yet at the zenith of Solomon's political and economic Shalom Egypt became the focal centre of plots against Israel, while at home the Israelite population began to experience the personal affects of Solomon's excessive taxation burdens. The LORD had said to the man of Wisdom, "I will surely rend the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant ... Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to your son for David my servant's sake" (1 Kings 11.11-13).

The Edomite Hadad had escaped to Egypt as a child when Joab, David's general, had devastated his nation and massacred his people. Hadad was originally a kingly title or appellation referring to the sun among the Syrians. Historically it is sometimes found in the form Hadar or Hader. Transferred to the king as the highest and mightiest son of the sun a "Hadad" or "Hadar" was considered the highest or most prominent of earthly authorities.

The title Hadad was like Pharaoh or David -- the latter term being a title, rather than a proper name, meaning "the General (of God)" and which was probably given to the youngest son of Jesse in his early days as a resistance Leader in his constant guerilla warfare against the Philistines. So David as a first name may not have been the case at all.

But Hadad had returned to Edom and had left his son Genubath in the Egyptian palace. Jeroboam, an Ephraimite subject of Solomon and head of the Israeli Internal Revenue Service, had deserted his post fleeing to Egypt when Solomon uncovered plans for the revolutionary overthrow of the Davidic Dynasty. Fearing an assassination attempt on his life by Solomon, Jeroboam remained in Egypt under Shishak's [Thutmose III] protection until Solomon's demise, and in the meantime established himself well by marrying the queen's sister, Ano (LXX). Thutmose III followed a policy of marrying off his sisters-in-law to enemies of the Egyptian crown, with the view of later undermining kingdoms. Certainly, Ano bore Jeroboam a son, Abijah, who was to rule Israel after his death (3 Kgs 12.24 LXX). Upon Solomon's decease Jeroboam returned from exile to rend Israel from Judah (1 Kgs 12.4-20).

Rehoboam, the son of Solomon by the Ammonite princess Na'amah succeeded to the throne of David, but would not ease the suffering of the people under the exorbitant burden of the imposed Solomonic taxation scheme. When the elders of Israel came to him beseeching that the impositions be made lighter Jeroboam their mouthpiece pleaded with Rehoboam, "Your father [Solomon] made our yoke grievous! Now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve you" (1 Kgs 12.4).

"My father," replied Rehoboam, "chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions!" (1 Kgs 12.14). While Rehoboam was certainly no psychologist, there was more to this blunt public proclamation than at first meets the eye. His reply actually included an astonishing insult which, in the Jewish thoughtform, has almost been lost and which denigration resulted in the immediate eruption of civil war. And the insult? "My little finger is thicker than my father's loins!" (See 1 Kgs 12.10.) But here our shocked translators and pious editors have resorted to the interpretive lever of introducing a euphemism. In the Hebrew thoughtform he was telling the elders of Israel and their spokesman Jeroboam, in no uncertain terms, "You will feel my little finger heavier upon you than you would my father's penis." Small wonder civil war broke out.

The ensuing civil war split the kingdom of Israel into two separate nations: Israel (with ten tribes) now known as the Northern Kingdom (with the capitol city at Samaria), and Judah with Benjamin as the Southern Kingdom maintaining their capitol in Jerusalem. As it is written, "So Israel rebelled against the House of David unto this day [that is, the day this document was written]. And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again [from exile - see 1 Kgs 11.40], that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over ALL ISRAEL: there was none that followed the House of David, but the tribe of JUDAH only" (1 Kgs 12.19,20).

Then "Rehoboam...assembled all of the HOUSE OF JUDAH with the tribe of Benjamin" (1 Kgs 12.21) to engage in hostilities against the House of Israel.

Notice this fact carefully! Rehoboam of the Davidic Dynasty had assembled the house of Judah (which now included the tribe of Benjamin) into a political consolidation totally separate and distinct from the House of Israel -- the ten tribes, headed by Ephraim and Manasseh. In fact, we do not meet with the term "Jew" until we locate it in 2 Kgs 16.6. Ahaz was reigning as king over JUDAH (2 Kgs 16.1) and he sat on DAVID'S THRONE (2 Kgs 16.2). Contemporary with Ahaz, Pek'ah was king of ISRAEL. Allied with the Syrians Pek'ah invaded Judah and besieged the Davidic king in Jerusalem (2 Kgs 16.5). "At that time Rezin king of Syria [Israel's ally, fighting with ISRAEL against JUDAH] recovered Elath to Syria, and drove THE JEWS from Elath" (2 Kgs 16.6).

Thus the very first place in the Scriptures where we read of the word "Jew" it is used of Judah and Benjamin in military conflict against Israel. It is a neglected fact of history that Jews and Israelites stem from different tribal peoples, all brothers to be sure, but their ancestry traced back to Jacob's twelve sons.

Abraham's grandson Jacob, who later had his name changed to Israel (Gen 35.10), also had daughters only one of whom, Dinah, because of her historical importance, is given an actual mention in the biblical narrative (Gen 30.21; 34.1). Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob to Leah, his first wife (Gen 29.32) who also gave birth to Simeon (Gen 29.33) and Levi (Gen 29.34) and Judah (Gen 29.35), who gave his name to his offspring. Later, her maid and Jacob's concubine, Zilpah, gave birth to Gad and Asher. Rachel, initially barren, took advantage of a concubine's surrogacy and "gave birth" to Dan (Gen 30.4-6) and by the same method, Napthali (Gen 30.7,8). Taking advantage of a new lease of life Leah later gave birth again to Issachar and her sixth son, Zebulun (Gen 30.17-20). At length Rachel, the true love of Jacob's heart, gave birth to Joseph (Gen 30.22-24) and finally, in a birthing that took her life, Benjamin (Gen 35.16-19).

These were the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel) who gave rise to their descendants, the twelve tribes.

However, these basic foundational factors notwithstanding, there were actually thirteen tribes in all, for Joseph had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were ceremonially brought into Israel's inheritance through their father Joseph and thus carried on Jacob's name and destiny in a special way (Gen 48 see esp. vs 16, "Let my name be named on them"). We can say confidently, then, that initially at least, while all Jews were Israelites not all Israelites were Jews. Certainly, the Jews are descended from Judah (and Benjamin, too, in the sense of the political alliance that forced the two tribes into close, family union and intermarriage).

Yes, at one time in biblical history all Jews were Israelites but not all Israelites were Jews. The adherents of British-Israel theory on this point are correct -- but only up to a point. For, history is a detailing of events which occur while we are busy making other plans. [John Lennon's famous quote "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" which appeared in his song Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) was not original to him. Cartoonist and writer, Allen Saunders, is quoted in Readers Digest much earlier than the Lennon quote of 1980; January 1957 in fact.] The fact is, as we have documented, that Jews today are composed of ALL the tribal descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel.

So far in our travels through the records of biblical history we have witnessed the FACT that refugees from the northern kingdom of Israel (called variously Israel, Samaria and Ephraim in Scripture) during the civil war, and later just prior to and during the Assyrian invasions of the Ten-tribed northern kingdom, swelled the borders of the southern kingdom of Judah, and that by the time of the later Second Temple Period Jews were a composite nation comprising ALL the tribes of Israel. We have evidence from the mouth of Yeshua in the Gospels, evidence from Luke, Paul, John, Peter and James. This is evidence denied, purposely ignored, or unwittingly overlooked, by the adherents of "British-Israel" theory.

THE 2520-YEAR FIASCO

We have already dealt sufficiently with a few of the above 7 major points of British-Israel belief, but there is an area we all need to address, and that is the belief that God gave a period of 2520 years for the rise and outworking of Israel's sovereignty. Given Israel went into Assyrian captivity in 721 BCE (a date which is highly questionable which is why I usually propose 721/718 BCE) many proponents of B-I lay tight hold of the year 1800 CE as vital to their notion of British-Israel supremacy. Some of them have actually abandoned the 2520 year scenario as non-biblical, and of course in this they are absolutely correct. But there are those who desist and continue to embrace this ignorance. For this reason we need to look closely at its mechanics.

I have purposely discarded from these lectures an in-depth analysis of the recently (somewhat) forsaken British-Israel belief in the 2520-year punishment (721 BCE - 1800 CE) as nothing more than an article of blind "faith." It is sheer literary nonsense. As stated, many adherents of "B-I" propaganda have abandoned the reckless gibberish of the "seven times" of Leviticus 26.18 as pertaining to the "postponed" birthright promises of Israel's national power and international political influence. They have come to realise there is absolutely NO biblical support for the 2520-year scenario, and have been honest enough to admit to its sheer falsity. They appreciate the fact that nowhere in the Scriptures is there even a scant reference to a 2520-year punishment exacted upon God's people, Israel.

[According to this theory a "time" is equal to a period of 360 days, or a year in biblical prophecy. Of course, today we know that a year is 365.25 days in length, the time it takes for our planet to orbit around our solar star or, in other terms, the time it takes for the same solar star to course throughout the Zodiac along the ecliptic. 360 "biblical days" is totally unprovable. The 360 days becomes 360 years -- using the highly questionable "day for a year" concept -- so 360 years x 7 = 2520 years.]

This jettisoning of such a doctrinal aberration is to their credit.

I might also clarify at this juncture that there exists another school of Replacement Theology which propounds this 2520-year fabrication, and that is the Seventh Day Adventist denomination. They launch their 2520 years from a different date than that which is recorded by history, but this does not seem to matter to their scholars. But they establish this dating system, or dating period, not to establish that they are the descendants of ancient Israelites. Rather, pointing to Daniel's prophecies, they do it to prove that the heavenly sanctuary was cleansed in 1844. They are clearly deluded to the truth of the matter but as I have already descried they also believe in Replacement Theology to the extent that they are now the chosen people of God rather than the Jews -- they are tenacious in their teaching that the Jews have forfeited their calling and election and been replaced by the Christian church (and which they espouse themselves to be).

The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is a doctrine of demons, and no true believer ought to associate themselves in any way with such a heinous belief system.

However, in brief, there is a fundamental reason WHY many adherents to British-Israel theory have thrown away this appraisal. It is simply this:

The "times" in the term "seven times" located in Leviticus 26 does not exist in Hebrew.

The word "times" has been supplied by translators and revisionists who thought they were making the holy Spirit-inspired text clearer. As usual, they muddied the purity and clarity of the water of God's Word.

Listen! On four occasions God promises to punish Israel by "seven." What the Hebrew indicates is very simply that the nation of Israel will experience a sevenfold punishment IN INTENSITY (see modern translations and versions such as Moffatt, New Berkeley and the Jerusalem Bible as prime examples of the recognition of this fact of the Hebrew language). Further, if we literally take the four occasions the "seven" is mentioned (Lev 26.18,21,24,28) and we arbitrarily turn that tally into years, we would arrive at a figure of 10,080 years - not 2520 years. For this reason (and others) some better informed "B-Is" have long ago dropped the idea as being thoroughly fallacious. Moreover, they recognise that England reached its prominence in 1763, not 1800, when the 2520 years were supposed to terminate.

What happened historically that was in any way remarkable in the year 1800? Well, not a whole lot really. Unless we count the election of Thomas Jefferson to the American Presidency. According to no less an authority than Langer's Encyclopaedia of World History ...

"1763, February 10. Treaty of Paris between Great Britain, France, and Spain ... In consequence of this peace and her acquisitions in India, Great Britain approached the SUMMIT of her extent and power" (435).

By 1800, Britain had already lost North America!

Also, for 2520 years to conclude at the height of British power and prominence, some "B-Is" realised that they would have to adjust the year of Israel's captivity by four decades or so. In no way could this be properly accomplished. They also recognised that to apply the so-called "seven times" to the House of Judah (which went into captivity in 604 BCE) they would arrive at 1917 -- which year they say saw the end of God's chastisement of the Jews.

Oh, really?

Have they conveniently forgotten the horrendous pograms under Stalin? Have they overlooked recent German history? Were Dachau, Buchenwald, Auschwitz and other death camps truly fabrications, distortions and contrivances of history (which some "White Identity" B-I organisations claim to be the case, in order to bolster the 2520-year perversion)? For those that have surrendered (albeit reluctantly) the drivel of the "seven times" -- ascription where ascription is due.

An associated dogma of "B-I" focuses on the Jacobian prophetic inference that his descendants were destined to become "a nation and a company of nations" (Gen 35.11). Again, according to "B-I" ideas, ISRAEL HAD TO WAIT FOR OVER 3500 YEARS (from the first utterance of the prophecy by Jacob) BEFORE FINDING A FULFILMENT in the continental United States of America and the British Commonwealth. The assumption "B-I" makes is that this promise was never fulfilled in the biblical historical period. Let's look for a moment at this prediction.

"So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with him ... And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall spring from you, and kings shall come out of your loins: and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to you will I give it, and to your seed after you will I give the land" (Gen 35.6,11,12).

The key phrase in this passage, quoted to the max in "B-I" literature, is "a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee" avidly quoting from the King James Version.

The adherents of this dogma see the fulfilment of this prophecy in the rise to power of Great Britain. Are they not aware of the fact that Ishmael was given the SAME IDENTICAL PROMISE?

"And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation" (Gen 17.20).

Ishmael was to become not only twelve tribal federations (headed by twelve princes -- just like the nation of Israel) but also "a great nation"! Not only is this the case, but God says of Ishmael,

"And the angel of HaShem said unto her [Hagar, the mother of Ishmael], I will multiply your seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude" (Gen 16.10).

Ishmael was to become twelve powerful tribal federations, be ruled by twelve princes, be recognised as a great nation, and be known for its multitudes. Anglo-Israelites, in their own literature, push the idea that "multitudes" of people is to be interpreted as a "company of nations."

Let's get real for a moment. Did Ishmael become the great and powerful USA and Great Britain with its numerous colonies? Why is such an argument preposterous? "B-I's" promulgate the very same thing, substituting "Israel" for "Ishmael."

For those who love to read ancient history, it is apparent that Persia was composed of a "company of nations." If I am not mistaken, so was the neo-Babylonian Empire at its zenith, and Alexander the Great's Grecia, and let's not forget Rome. All were comprised of a "company of nations." All of them! Why then is Great Britain singled out as fulfilling "prophecy" in this matter? Isn't it time we sought for sincere and undiluted TRUTH instead of FABLES?

In answering the other particular "articles of faith" (and more) -- from the Bible itself -- it is incumbent to research the Scripture and secular history into the origins and recent political restoration of the Jewish race.

ISRAEL - A NATION REBORN FROM THE DEAD

"Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who has heard such a thing? who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children" (Isa 66.7,8).

It is the prophet Isaiah who foresaw the birth of the modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948 when the Jews declared themselves to be a united and sovereign nation for the first time in 3000 years. The USA recognised Israel's right to sovereignty and only hours beforehand the UN brought British rule to an abrupt conclusion. In just a 24 hour period -- a single day -- modern Israel came into existence as a State in her own right.

The prophet Isaiah acknowledged something else associated with the birth of the modern State of Israel: the existence of highly unusual labor pains AFTER the event.

All are agreed that Israel was originally born from a movement called Zionism which emerged as a powerful force in the nineteenth century to ostensibly encourage Jews to resettle the Land. In the early decades of the twentieth century the horrors of the European Holocaust were unleashed, bringing Zionism into political focus.

Hosea had correctly seen the creation of Israel as a result of a frightening sickness and wound (Hos 5.13) -- estimates of between 4.5 and 6 million dead Jewish men, women and children at the hands of anti-Semitic Germans and others. Hosea went on to show God's displeasure in Israel turning as she did, to the Germans for reparations (Hos 5.14 See BRI Internet Lecture on the Assyrians which reveals that at the time of the Great Edomite Migrations some Assyrian tribal groups migrated with Edomites through Europe settling finally with the Saxons in what is now Germany).

Two and a half years after the end of the Second World War the State of Israel was born and then went into immediate labor pains with the invasion of their borders by the armies of surrounding Arab nations. Israel has survived, despite overwhelming odds against it, and vowed never again to be subjected to the terrorist tactics of the Gentile nations.

The existence of the Jewish State was predicted by the Spirit of Prophecy to re-emerge at the EndTime as both a State in its own right and a political and economic power with which to reckon. The Psalmist prophesied that the Jewish people would eventually be surrounded by hostile Arab neighbours (Ps 83) and that she would be known as a "State" or "nation" by the name "Israel" (verse 4). Israel became a State in 1948. The prophets noted that Israel was destined to become the radical axis of world policy, economic, military and scientific power fulfilling the pronouncement of Moses and the Levitical priests, "This day you are become a nation to HaShem your God" (Deut 27.9).

It should be noted that the seer Isaiah also stated that Israel, as an infant, would initially be nourished by the worldly Gentile powers.

"And KINGS shall be your foster fathers, and their QUEENS your nursing mothers; they shall bow down to you with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet: and you shall know that I am HaShem: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me" (Isa 49.23 Heb).

The EndTime, when Israel would be gathered back into Statehood ushering in the Advent of Messiah, would occur AFTER 2000 years of Diaspora. Hosea prophesied of Israel: "After TWO days he will revive us, the THIRD day we will stand before Him" (Hos 6.2).

Moses, according to oral tradition (Ps 90.4 cf 72.20) and the apostle Peter (2 Pet 3.8), understood that a day with the Lord is "as a thousand years." The Zohar (Chadash 16b) recognises that the six days of creation week parallel the six millennia of recorded human history. So does the Talmud (Sanhedrin 38b) the Midrash, the Cespar Mishnah and Gemarah (Arnold D. Ehlert, A Bibliographic History of Dispensationalism, 1965, 11). "A Jewish tradition of the six thousand years, followed by the Sabbath millennium, dates at least from the second century BC" (ibid., 10).

In fact, the tradition that God has given humankind six thousand years (based upon the literal six day week) to reach the pinnacle of civilisation without God, while reserving a millennium to enforce the right values upon that same rebellious humankind (at His personal appearance) can be found not only in Jewish and Christian sources but Islamic teachings as well. It was a doctrine even held by the pagan world in Chaldea, Egypt, among the Etruscans, and in Median and Persian writings.

The regathering of Israel (as twelve tribes) would begin AFTER two days. That's AFTER two days -- not DURING the second day, or BEFORE the third day, or at the DAWNING of the third day: AFTER. So, according to the prophet Hosea, at sometime IN the third millennium of Israel's Diaspora, she will be regathered, revivified, resurrected, brought back to LIVING distinction and DYNAMIC prominence in the world -- resuscitated literally back to life (Eze 37).

Ezekiel stated specifically that Israel would one day be converted, and would seek wholeheartedly after God. It is God who would grant repentance and eternal life to Israel in their seeking of Him. Yahweh Himself would be the One to give them LIFE from the dead. Notice it now. Its commonly referred to as the Vision of Dead Bones (Eze 37).

"The hand of HaShem was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of HaShem" [much like the experience of John the apostle some centuries later], "and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry."

This scene pictures the House of Israel in its present state of spiritual vacuity and the return of the Jews to Israel, but they are spiritually malnourished to the point that they are considered dead by God.

"And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O HaShem my GOD, you alone know. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O you dry bones, hear the word of HaShem. This is what is said by HaShem unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live:"

This is a spiritual rebirth, which can be engendered only by the holy Spirit of God.

"And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am HaShem. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, This is what HaShem says ; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, THESE BONES ARE THE WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus says HaShem; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves [the ceremonially unclean lands of the Diaspora], and bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am HaShem" [Israel will finally recognise the connection between Yeshua and Yahweh: that they are one and the same] "when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, AND SHALL PUT MY SPIRIT IN YOU, AND YOU SHALL LIVE, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall you know that I HaShem have spoken it, and performed it, says HaShem."

What God reveals next is as astonishing as it is profound.

"The word of HaShem came again unto me, saying, Moreover, human being, take you one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in your hand."

The northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah will be one entire House of Israel again.

"And when the children of your people shall speak unto you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these? Say unto them, This is what HaShem says; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand. And the sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes. And say unto them, This is what HaShem says; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 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 at all. Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant [Yeshua, David's Greater Son, in all likelihood, however this could also be a reference to the resurrection of king David to rule under Yeshua the Messiah in the Kingdom of God] shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, AND WILL SET MY SANCTUARY IN THE MIDST OF THEM for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yes, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I HaShem do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore" (Eze 37).

There are a number of things specified by God in this lengthy text.

Firstly, take note that Israel will be again a State in their own right in the eyes of the rest of the nations of the world.

Secondly, they will be subjected to a mighty miracle of God in their conversion to Yeshua by the power of the holy Spirit.

Thirdly, they will not only be restored to their own Land but the Temple of God will be in their midst again. It is the presence of the Temple in the Land which creates a SANCTIFICATION of Eretz Yisrael. Without the Temple of God there is no sanctification of the people of Israel. (In synagogues around the world the Jews seek to "feel" the presence of God, and a sanctified sense of hallowed reality -- true holiness -- in their lives. This sanctification continues to elude them week in and week out. Of course! The lands of the Diaspora are unclean. Even Israel is presently in a state of uncleanness. Only when the Temple is restored to Israel will the Land of Promise become, again, HOLY.)

Much of this has now transpired, and continues to be fulfilled on a DAILY basis with the constant flow of Jewish emigration to Eretz Israel. By working out the gematria of Ezekiel the Kabbalist rabbis were able, well in advance, to correctly determine 1948 as the year of Israel's Statehood, and 1967 as the liberation of Jerusalem -- facts ignored by a largely ignorant Gentile church!

Now notice some intriguing comparisons: Moses informs us that a Jewish baby must be circumcised on the eighth day after birth. "He that is eight days old shall be circumcised" (Gen 17.12). How is this applicable to the State of Israel? Listen!

Precisely eight days after the declaration of Israeli independence (after Israel's BIRTH) the armed might of five major armies of TEN Arab States (Ps 83) descended on that baby with the intention of destroying her very existence and driving remaining individuals into the Mediterranean Sea. Israel was in an unarmed state and virtually helpless. She was heavily outnumbered -- 141 to 1. We all know what eventuated. God intervened. Israel was miraculously saved. The war turned out to be Israel's brit-milah -- her circumcision.

Not only so, but Moses tells Israel, "All the firstborn sons, you shall redeem" (Ex 13.13). The "firstborn sons" were redeemed on the 30th day. Again, how is this applicable to the State of Israel?

Although the British had withdrawn their forces from Israel's soil by May 14 [1948] the sea blockade continued to prevent the unarmed Jews from getting much needed weapons. When President Truman saw that the British blockade was not going to be lifted, he called Winston Churchill. "Inform your Admiralty to withdraw the blockade or I will send our fleet to escort the ships going to Israel."

The blockade was instantly lifted. This fact of history is all the more astonishing when we realise that the U.S. State Department had declared an arms embargo against Israel that was not repealed until 1971 by Nixon.

On the 30th day after the declaration of independence, the first ship arrived in the port of Haifa bringing munitions to Israel. When? On the 30th DAY after Israel's rebirth!

There are a number of rabbis who predicted that in 1961 Israel would be recognised as a nation by the international community. That year would be the year of Israel's "national bar-mitzvah." The U.N. Recognised Israel in that very year. How did the rabbis know this? Very simply.

A Jewish boy enters manhood at 13 years of age. One must expect a necessary correlation between Israel's ancient customs (as revealed in the Sinai Torah) and God's election of the Jewish people. Israel was looked upon in Scripture as God's "son." There is to be expected, therefore, an absolute parallel.

In 1967 Israel became 20 years old. In that same year the State of Israel entered a New Era of Manhood exactly as the Torah reads in Numbers 1.3: "From 20 years old and upward, all that are able to go to war in Israel: you and Aaron shall number them by their armies."

Further, in Ezekiel 37, the "Dry Bones" stand up in resurrection as an "exceeding great army." The word "armies" in Numbers instead of "army" suggests that the verse is not just restricted to that particular occasion when Israel came out of Egypt and conscripted a fighting force for the desert. Rather, the use of "armies" in the plural, rather than "army" in the singular, hints that this verse also has application today in Israel's Third Commonwealth. For, Israel became a man of war in 1967. It remains to be seen if the parallels can be maintained over the next couple of decades before the collapse of civilisation and the subsequent advent of Messiah.

BACK TO EDOM

Returning now to the first century of our era, when the Idumean Herod, the puppet-king of Rome, heard of the birth of a royal descendent of David as a claimant to the throne he was singularly "astonished, and all Jerusalem with him" (Mt 2.3).

It is apparent that utmost secrecy had surrounded the descendants of King David. For the same political reasons secrecy was yet involved concerning David's descendants (Messiah's) during the reign of the blasphemous Domitian, who called himself (and expected to be referred to as) "Lord and God," as early writers take pains to point out. Two of Judah's grandsons (Judah, the brother of Yeshua) were brought before the emperor as surviving descendants of David, but were set free when they were discovered to be mentally deficient (or, at least, they claimed to be thus).

Concerning Yeshua, the pagan astrologer-priests from the east were looking for a Davidic king but even the Jewish chief priests and scribes were cautious, when Herod enquired of them where this anointed one [Messiah or King, the terms are interchangeable in the Jewish thoughtform], was predicted to be born for they side-stepped the kingly issue and referred to "he that is to govern" as issuing forth from Bethlehem (Mt 2.4-6).

The priests were circumspect in avoiding all reference to Bethlehem as the town of David. And, for good reason. Some of these priests guarded secret knowledge of the whereabouts of the descendants of David, and they were expecting -- based upon a computation of the prophet Daniel's mysterious dating system -- a restored Davidic Dynasty during the occupation of Edomite Roman troops on Israel's soil.

Unfortunately for the Jewish nation, they were about 2000 and some years out in their calculations. But they were correct in their assessment that Edom would be the last world empire, based on their understanding of passages such as Isaiah 34, and further that the Jewish people would figure significantly as a major political and military power in the "last days" of the civilisation of planet Earth.

The red-haired and fair-haired Edomites are now so prolific they dominate the entire world. "Edom" and "Adam" spring from the same Hebrew root, "DM." In fact, the Edomites have virtually become humankind in general. They have intermingled with all races of men and presently populate the entire continent of Europe (including the British Isles), the Americas, South Africa, and the remnants of the British Commonwealth. Traces of Edomite genes can be found among the Amerindians, the Pacific islanders, and the darkest skinned of the Australian aboriginals.

But then a descendant of the family of Yeshua will arise who will have come from the bowels of hell.

"The son of Satan will appear and declare: 'I am God! Bring me the laws I gave you!' He will then say to the Jews: 'Bring me your Torah. I don't believe in this Torah!' The righteous Jews will answer: 'You are Satan!'" (Midrash Talpios).

"The son of Satan will arise and tell Edom: 'I am your Messiah! I am your god!' The people will immediately believe in him and unite under his leadership. He will summon the Jews and say, 'Bring me your Torah and declare me your god!' The Jewish survivors will flee into the wilderness" (Midrash Heichalos).

John the apostle prophesied: "And the entire world in amazement followed after the Wild Creature" (Rev 13.3). "And the woman [the remnant of Israel] fled into the desert, where she has a place prepared by God ... and was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she could fly to her place in the desert" (Rev 12.6,14).

JOSEPH -- COMING HOME

One of the major planks in the British-Israel hypothesis retained tenaciously by Destiny Publishers and the Armstrongites and their offshoots (and others), is the dogma that Britain is the tribe of Ephraim, and that America consists of the tribal peoples of Manasseh -- the children of Joseph.

When the Northern Confederacy (the ten tribes of Israel) were carried away into captivity, British-Israel theory has them emigrating to the British Isles and becoming major world powers in their own right. God says specifically that these tribes were scattered among the goyim (the nations) -- NOT that they would become great and powerful political, economic and military entities in their own right -- and that at the return of the Messiah they would finally be gathered back into the Land. To be "gathered" back into their own land would necessitate an awareness of their own personal identity. And, indeed, this is precisely what we find.

God gave four unambiguous promises to Israel, through the prophet Jeremiah, concerning their regathering at the end of the age. The prophet pinpoints from WHENCE the vast overwhelming majority would be gathered. British-Israelites are not ignorant concerning the existence of these prophetic texts. Notice it now:

"The days are coming, declares HaShem, when people will no longer say 'As surely as HaShem lives who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt ...' but they will say, 'As surely as HaShem lives who brought the Israelites up OUT OF THE LAND OF THE NORTH, AND OUT OF ALL THE OTHER COUNTRIES where he had banished them.' For I will restore them to the Land I gave to their forefathers" (Jer 16.14,15).

This does not sound like Israel is a great and powerful conglomerate of national identities at the end of the age, does it? Indeed, Yeshua referred to "other sheep." That's other "sheep" -- individual sheep, or small collectives of sheep, NOT "sheep NATIONS."

Hear the words of Messiah himself: "I lay down my life for the sheep. And, I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall become one flock with one shepherd" (Jn 10.16).

Jettisoned from its Jewish setting and context, this statement could be wrested (and has been wrested) to intend a prophecy concerning the "grafting in to the natural olive tree" (the Jews) of the "unnatural branches" (Gentiles) to make "one new body, the Christian church." Nothing could be further from the truth! Please note that Yeshua is not talking about Gentiles but Israelites to be located elsewhere at a future time period, and not merely amongst the Jewish people, or in the Jewish sphere of influence, of the Graeco-Roman world of his day.

Yeshua is basing his forecast on a prophecy of Ezekiel. Because Gentiles have long neglected the prophets they are in darkness as to the true meaning of Scripture.

Listen! In this incident, Yeshua is talking about the regathering of the lost sheep of Israel -- all of them. Yeshua IS the Shepherd of the prophet Isaiah who "gathers the outcasts of Israel" and says "Yet will I [God] gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him [at his first advent]." He IS "the LORD God who gathers the dispersed of Israel [declaring] 'Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered' (Isa 56.8) ...  "For thus says HaShem, 'Behold! I myself will search for my sheep, and seek them out'" (Eze 34.11).

Yeshua based his mission in Jn 10.16 on this text -- and it does not refer to the Gentiles ("spiritual Jews" or otherwise). It refers to Israel.

Although the Israelites of the Northern Confederacy of the Kingdom of Israel were shaken by the throat by the LORD God, and scattered throughout the nations like so much grain sifted through a sieve by the Assyrian warlords, God has promised that "not one grain would be swallowed up [and lost] in the earth" (Amos 9.9 cf Hos 8.8).

Look once more at Jeremiah 16.14,15 which we have already quoted at the commencement of this section. The former Soviet Union is the only region directly north of Israel that boasts a significant Jewish population. Not only so, but many of these Jewish people can trace their roots further back than the Babylonian Captivity to the Kingdom of Israel itself. Their heritage is to be located in their names.

These Israelites are to one day soon realise restoration in the Promised Land. No Gentile government can stop it, no anti-Semitic Israeli cabinet can prevent it. Yes, I stated anti-Semitic Israeli cabinet. While they stupidly argue and violently bicker over "who is a Jew" (maternal side/paternal side/Messianic beliefs/otherwise) Adolf Hitler showed more intelligence than these professors of "righteousness." God has said He will override the decisions of mere men, and He will. The days are coming when Jews will make wholesale aliyah -- no matter where they are found, and no matter if they are Jewish "Christians" professing a righteous belief in Yeshua haMashiach. Jews have a right to return to Eretz Israel, and God backs up that right. The Jews will come to Israel, swept along by the Spirit of a holy God. Nothing will prevent it.

Jeremiah also said, "The days are coming ... when people will no longer say, 'As surely as HaShem lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt ...' but they will say, 'As surely as HaShem lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north, and out of all the other countries where He had banished them ...' Then they will live in their own land" (Jer 23.7,8).

Are Jeremiah's prophecies in Jer 16.14,15 and Jer 23.7,8 identical? Compare the last few words of each text. "I will RESTORE them to the Land I gave to their forefathers" and "then they will LIVE in their own Land." What is the difference between being "restored" to the Land and "living" in the Land?

Look carefully at the entire chapter of Jeremiah 23. It is a sweeping indictment of Israel's "end of days" leadership. We are not as yet in the horrendous final "End of Days," although I certainly believe we are in the end of the age.  Politicians are proficient liars. This is what the term stems from in Latin. I honestly do not believe you can be an honourable and upright man and also be a politician. For no small number of politicians "money answers all things" as a wise person once wrote in Ecclesiastes. Politics is the "art" of learning to lie effectively.

The present political parties that manipulate Israel's Knesset will eventually vanish. The Land will directly revert to a RESTORED Davidic Dynasty, and the Throne of David will again set the stage for RIGHTEOUS judgments in the Land of Promise.

In the next few years just ahead of us now Eretz Israel is yet to become, according to the prophets, an appropriate pastureland in which HaShem in flesh (Yeshua) will heal and satisfy His sheep. It is those same sheep that will have been gathered in to green pastures of an economic wonderland.

Joseph is currently finding his way back to the Land of Israel. Once the Russian Federation opens its doors to allow Joseph enmasse the exit visas he needs, the wanderers will have finally come home.

In our final lecture on this subject of Replacement Theology, we shall consider an event that occurred around a thousand years ago when an entire nation of people converted to Judaism. There is much nonsense circulating about these folk, but it is important to realise the truth of their origins. We shall discuss them then.