Here is a question for you: what would you think of a person who professes to know a certain family very well indeed, but nevertheless always calls the two sons of that family by the same name, i.e., the same Christian name? And, to add still more confusion, often calls both sons by some other different name altogether! Surely, you would feel like advising that person to sort out his facts! And yet, most amazingly, many Christians do exactly the same thing, when, in the Bible, they read of Israel, the House of Israel, the House of Judah, and the Jews; in their thinking. speaking, and writing, they mix them all up together and refer to all of them alike as "Jews".

No wonder there is so much misunderstanding abroad regarding this vital subject. In order to clarify the matter somewhat, let us do a simple basic Bible study, beginning in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. At Gen. 11/26 we read of Abram, (the name means 'Father of height' or 'High father'): Abram was a descendant of Eber (Gen. 10/24, Lk 3/35) and was therefore a 'Hebrew', (Gen. 14/13). In Gen. 11 we read that Abram and his family went forth from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran, and then, after the death of Terah, Abram's father, they moved to Canaan, at God's command, (Gen. 12/5). At around this time, the LORD made a number of specific promises to Abram, as shown in Gen. 12,13,15,17,18,21 and 22, these promises becoming known throughout Scripture as 'the Abrahamic Covenant'.

In this great covenant with His servant Abraham God promised "I will make of you a great nation; in you shall all families of the earth be blessed, unto your descendants I will give this land (from the river Nile to the river Euphrates, Gen. 15/18): I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth and the stars in heaven in numbers (Gen. 13/16; Gen. 15/5); kings shall come out of you (Gen. 17/6); You shall be a father of many nations (Gen. 17/4); and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies," (Gen. 22/17). The LORD also changed His servant's name from Abram to Abraham, (Father of a great multitude), (Gen. 17/5), the new name being a prophetic sign to express the planned purpose of God for oncoming ages when His people Israel, descended from Abraham, would be multiplied in the earth. It is vital to note that the promises were EVERLASTING PROMISES, made by the initiative of God Alone, and with 'no strings attached', as we might say, in our own day. GOD SAID TO ABRAHAM, "I WILL", NOT "IF YOU WILL..."

Further on in our study we will compare the two different types of covenant that are found in the Scriptures, but now let us look again at the family tree of Abraham with particular reference to the subsequent Israel line of descent, this being our major theme. Abraham the Hebrew and his wife Sarah were promised a son by the LORD, the child eventually being born when both parents were well past the age when procreation was humanly, possible; but God had promised them a son and as always His Word came to pass at His appointed time, the baby's name (Isaac) being given to them in advance by the LORD. And, of course, Isaac too was a Hebrew. In his turn Isaac grew to mature years, married RebekAh, and they too had a family, two sons named Esau and Jacob; our Bible study in the main now particularly concerns Jacob and his descendants, and of course, does not include all possible material, as simplicity, is our aim.

However, it should be mentioned that the promises of the covenant that God had made to Abraham had now, in the will of God, come down to Jacob, as the purposes of the Lord moved forward, step by step, stage after stage. Arising out of conflict between Esau and Jacob, Jacob left home with a view to seeking a wife from amongst his relatives at Padan-aram. Whilst on his journey he had a momentous encounter with God at Luz (Gen. 28), in which the LORD reaffirmed to him the promises of the Abrahamic covenant; it was at Luz (renamed Bethel by Jacob) that Jacob set up the stone that he had used as a pillow, and anointed it.

This stone was to become of immense significance in the future history of the Israel peoples, and indeed became a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and is so to this day, often being referred to as 'The Stone of Destiny'. Jacob was led by the LORD in his travels and settled down as intended amongst his relatives, eventually marrying four wives, Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah, (Gen. 29 and 30), and by them having twelve sons and one daughter, Dinah. The names of the sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher, (Gen. 35/22-26), and of course, they too were Hebrews.

As time went on, the LORD instructed Jacob to now return to Canaan (Gen. 31/11-18, etc) and at Jabbok changed Jacob's name to Israel, meaning 'A prince of God', or 'Ruling with God', (Gen. 32/28): from henceforth the children of Jacob were 'the children of Israel', although, naturally, still Hebrews, as were in turn their own future descendants. Some time after the family had settled in Canaan, God sent them to dwell at Bethel (Gen. 35), where Jacob/Israel had some years previously anointed the pillar/stone, and here at Bethel the LORD reaffirmed the change of name to Israel and again confirmed the Abrahamic covenant. Of particular importance is the statement at Gen. 35/11; "And God said unto him, 'I AM God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations ('a group of nations; Moffatt; 'a nation and an assembly of nations'; Ferrar Fenton) shall be of thee, and kings shall 'spring from you' (R.S.V.).

Please note, in passing, that this Scripture has never found its fulfilment in the people commonly known as 'Jews'. This is not surprising, for God never intended that it should; however, it has been perfectly fulfilled in the British Commonwealth of Nations, the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples being the lineal descendants of the vast majority of the original Israelites. At Gen. 37 we read of the dreams of Joseph, one of Jacob's children by Rachel, indeed her firstborn; Rachel was Jacob's best-loved wife, and Joseph was his favourite son, (Gen. 29/30 & Gen. 37/3).

In the overall plan of the LORD, many of the covenant promises were destined to be fulfilled in the ultimate descendants of Joseph, and it is significant that in Gen. 37 we read of Jacob/Israel giving to his son Joseph a special coat, the famous so-called 'coat of many colours'. In actual fact, here we have an old Eastern custom. The Bedouin sheikh or chief wears a long Kamise, a shirt with long sleeves, and the heir is also distinguished by a similar garment. It was this shirt, not a coloured coat, that Jacob gave to Joseph, hence the jealousy of his brethren. They knew that the birthright promises were to be continued through Joseph, all, that is, except the promise of 'kings', which particular promise would be fulfilled through Judah, see 1 Chron. 5/1-2.

As we know, Joseph was sold by his brothers to Midianite traders, and in turn they sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer in the court of Pharoah. In Egypt he went through many troubles, having been unjustly accused, but in the providence and will of God he was eventually, raised to great prominence, becoming second only to Pharoah. He married Asenath and had two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 41/45-52), after which came the famine that God had earlier revealed to him when he was called to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh (Gen. 41). This famine was so widespread that it caused Joseph's brothers to go down into Egypt to buy corn (Gen. 42), and ultimately resulted in the move of the family to that country, where they and Joseph became now reunited, (Gen. 46).

Seventeen years later, knowing that his time had almost come to die, (Gen. 47/28-31), Jacob/Israel told Joseph of God's promises to himself, at the same time prophesying by the Holy Spirit that the descendants of Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, would have great but separate distinct destinies, (Gen. 48). Manasseh was to become a great people, but Ephraim even greater, indeed a multitude (fullness) of nations, as per Gen. 35/11, "a nation and a company of nations".

At the time of prophesying, Jacob also 'promoted' Ephraim and Manasseh from their position as his grandsons to a higher status, that of sons, equal to e.g. Reuben and Simeon, (Gen. 48/5), Jacob's first two children, by his marriage to Leah. Soon afterwards, Jacob called together all his sons (Gen. 49) and again prophesied, this time regarding the future of their separate tribes down the 'corridors of time', and especially regarding the last days, i.e. the period of this Christian dispensation.

We particularly note the prophecies regarding Judah (vv 8-12) and Joseph (22-26). The future royal house (sceptre) was to be of Judah, whose 'family tree' would rule 'until Shiloh come', Shiloh being a symbolic term for the Lord Jesus Christ. Who will take the Throne of David when He returns soon to govern the nations upon Earth? As for Joseph, his branches (Bible margin, 'daughters') would 'run over the wall', a word-picture of the future expansion and development of Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, into the great people (The United States of America) and nation and company of nations (The British Empire); that God had promised. And so, Jacob/Israel died, as did also of course in due time "Joseph, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty, and the land was filled with them". (Exodus I/6-7).

In Exodus 1 we read of the gradual enslavement of the twelve tribes of Israel by the Egyptians, exactly as God had foretold many years previously to Abraham, (Gen. 15/13-14). However, the time for their deliverance ultimately came, and the LORD sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians with a ministry of miracles, signs and wonders, to confirm His Word, "Let My people go!" As we know, at first Pharaoh refused, and the LORD multiplied His judgments, increasing the pressure on the Egyptians until the final two judgments, namely the deaths of all the Egyptian first­born, followed by the destruction of their army in the Red Sea. And so Israel, having left Egypt in great haste, were now on their way to inherit the land that God had promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, i.e. themselves. This 'Exodus' is very, briefly summed up at Ex. 12/40-41: "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was 430 years. And it came to pass, at the end of the 430 years, even the self same day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt".

In passing, we note that repeatedly, throughout Scripture the LORD makes mention of His basic reason for delivering His people Israel and causing them to experience His blessings, despite their oft-repeated sins and backslidings. One such typical Scripture is at Ex. 6/5, with its surrounding context, the dominant feature being these words of our Ever-Faithful God: "AND I HAVE REMEMBERED MY COVENANT". Indeed, He has always done so, and He always will.

And so, around 1480 B.C., Israel left Egypt and began their journey, towards the promised land of Canaan, reaching Sinai in "the third month", as we read at Ex. 19/I. It was here, at Sinai, that another covenant was initiated, this one to be known ever afterwards as the 'Mosaic Covenant', by, virtue of Moses being the 'go-between' between God and Israel. Note particularly, Ex. 19/5-8, and we quote, "Now therefore, IF YOU WILL OBEY MY VOICE INDEED, (said God to Israel) AND KEEP MY COVENANT, (the covenant being now instituted at Sinai), then you shall be a peculiar (special) treasure unto Me above all people, for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation... And all the people answered together and said, 'All that the LORD has spoken WE WILL do'. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD".

Now, please take especial note of our next major point, which is most relevant to our Bible study. We saw very early in our study that when God made His covenant with Abraham, as we stated, there were 'no strings attached'. God said to Abraham, 'I WILL'..., (not, If YOU will, I will'). There are a number of covenants throughout the Scriptures, but only two categories, Conditional and Unconditional. The CONDITIONAL covenants between God and mankind were dependent for their continuity and fulfilment upon the obedience and faithfulness of the persons with whom God made them, for it naturally follows that God Himself would never ever break His Own promises, i.e. His 'side of the bargain'. Disobedience and unfaithfulness meant a loss of all the blessings contained in the particular covenant in question, also (as in the covenant at Deut. 28, made as Israel were about to enter the land of Canaan) that the penalties of the broken covenant/agreement would be incurred. Compare Deut. 28/I-2 (the blessings of the covenant) with Deut. 28/15 onwards (the curses/penalties of the covenant). Numerous Scriptures could be used to amplify and illustrate the issue, but for purposes of simplicity just one will suffice, Ex. 19/3-8; God says to Israel "If YE will keep My covenant, (I will bless you, etc), and all the people answered together... 'All that the LORD has spoken WE WILL do'. History records, sadly, that they repeatedly failed to keep their side of the covenant, generation after generation, and therefore came under its penalties.

What, now, of the UNCONDITIONAL covenants of Scripture? Thankfully, all such covenants were and are always dependent for their fulfilment and continuity upon the faithfulness and Character of God Alone, those same covenants expressing His declared will, His intention, His purpose, regardless of human fickleness, disobedience, unfaithfulness and sin. All UNCONDITIONAL covenants are notable forjust two words, "I WILL". Not, "If YE will, then I will". And, again, history records that the LORD has always kept His promises and watched over His Word to bring it to pass. Examples of God's unconditional covenants, e.g. are at Gen. 9/8-17 (The Noahic), also Gen. 12/2-3; Gen. 13/16-17; Gen. 17/6-8; 16-19; 2 Sam. 7/11-16; Psalm 89/3-4, 28-37, namely the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants, the latter instance having its fulfilment in our day in our own British throne. For, as has been well proven, our own queen's ancestry is traceable back through the centuries to King David; this of' course will not in any way surprise Christians who believe that when the LORD makes a promise, (and His covenant with David was a promise, of course) He keeps His Word. Our God is faithful.

Continuing our Bible study, as is well known, the children of Israel had to wander in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula for some forty years because of their unbelief and disobedience, and we will not dwell on the many happenings of those times. Because of his own act of disobedience in striking the rock instead of speaking to it that it give forth life-giving water, (Num. 20), Moses died in the land of Moab (Deut. 34), and Joshua was then appointed by God to lead the nation into the land of Canaan. Apart from one or two individuals who had been faithful to God, this was now a new generation that had grown up in the wilderness. And so the twelve tribes of Israel entered the Promised Land, the LORD giving to them victory after victory as they obeyed Him, and chastising them when necessary. Incidentally, careful Bible students will have noted that the nation was at all times named either 'Israel' or 'Hebrews'; it is truly amazing how many times we read in Christian literature etc of "the 'JEWS' entering Canaan after their Exodus from Egypt". There were, of course, no such people as the 'Jews' until many centuries later, in the days of the Babylonian captivity, circa 600 B.C., and even then, they were only a small fraction of the original 'all-Israel', being a section of the tribe of Judah only. In Canaan, the land was divided amongst the twelve tribes (Joshua 13 onwards), each distinct tribe occupying its own area, although in actual fact Israel did not completely obey the LORD in driving out and destroying all the previous idolatrous inhabitants, hence there were many problems, as is recorded in Judges chapter one. Following the death of Joshua, the LORD raised up judges to judge and deliver the twelve tribes, until the time of Samuel, the last of the judges, at which time Israel demanded a king from amongst themselves, wishing to be like all the other nations around them. Until that time, God Himself had been their KING (1 Sam. 12/12), but now, in the permissive will of the LORD, first Saul and then David were anointed/appointed to rule, (1 Sam. 10 and 16), and after David, Solomon. It is significant that the throne upon which they ruled over Israel is described as being 'the Throne of the LORD' (1 Chron. 29/23); men and women were to be merely 'stewards' as it were, filling in the time until the Lord Jesus Christ takes that Throne at His Second Advent, as the Scriptures repeatedly promise, (Isaiah 9/6-7; Lk 1/31-33).

Towards the latter part of the reign of Solomon there was some considerable unrest within the twelve tribes of Israel, and at this time the LORD sent His servant Ahijah the prophet to a man named Jeroboam to tell him that He was about to divide the nation into two separate parts: he (Jeroboam) would rule as king over ten of the tribes, and Solomon's son (Rehoboam) would rule as king over the remaining two tribes, (1 Kings 11/26-43). Rehoboam, after Solomon's death, attempted to have his own way and continue ruling over all twelve tribes, but the LORD intended otherwise as He had already shown, and once again God spoke through one of His servants, Shemaiah by name (1 Kings 12/22-24).

God now told Rehoboam and the two tribes over which he ruled, (Judah and Benjamin), that the division of the tribes into two separate units was His Doing, ("For this thing is from Me"); "They hearkened therefore to the Word of the LORD, and returned to depart, according to the Word of the LORD." This item in our Bible study must not be missed. From this time (circa 975 B.C.) onwards, there were now TWO NATIONS in the promised land instead of the original ONE; ten tribes occupying the north, with their capital at Samaria, THESE TEN TRIBES BEING NOW NAMED 'THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL', and the remaining two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) occupying the south, and having for their capital Jerusalem, these two tribes now known as THE HOUSE OF JUDAH. The tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe, was divided between the two Houses. This 'new thing' of two separate Houses or Kingdoms in the land continued for about a further two hundred and fifty years, with rulers (some of them good and many of them bad) over both kingdoms until around 721 B.C., when, because of repeated wicked conduct and defiance of God, the Northern Kingdom (the House of Israel) was overthrown as a result of several invasions by the Assyrian power, and the people were driven into exile in northern Assyria, (2 Kings 17/6-23).

FROM THIS CAPTIVITY AND EXILE THE TEN-TRIBED HOUSE OF ISRAEL NEVER RETURNED, apart from a few individuals, and Bible history is silent regarding their further movements. Bible prophecy, however, has a great deal to say about them and their subsequent place in the plan of God for the nations of the world, developing as they eventually did throughout many centuries until they became the (British) "nation and company of nations" as promised by, God to Jacob, (Gen. 35/11).

Returning now to the other House, the House of Judah. They too continued as a nation in Canaan for some one hundred and twenty years after the deportation of the House of Israel, but because of similar sins to Israel, they too were overcome by another nation, first, by Assyria (2 Kings 18/13), and then later by the Babylonians, who were by then the dominating power in that part of the world, and they likewise went into captivity, but to Babylon, (2 Kings 24 and 25). IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE WORD/NAME 'JEW(S)' BEGINS TO APPEAR IN SCRIPTURE AT AROUND THIS TIME: indeed the very first time that the word is used in Scripture is at 2 Kings 16/6, in the days of Isaiah the prophet, and of course even then it only refers to some members of the House of Judah, i.e. the southern two-tribed nation. There were no 'Jews' at all prior to that time: the word 'Jew' actually being an abbreviation of 'Judahite' and therefore of course applying only to some members of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the latter tribes being joined to Judah from the time of the division of the twelve tribes in 975 B.C.

You will understand therefore that to refer to any previous and/or other members of the tribes of Israel as 'Jews' is to show a very definite lack of knowledge of basic Bible history. And yet, to return to our original thoughts regarding the "mixing-up of the family", how often one hears and reads statements such as 'Moses led the Jews out of Egypt', and 'Joshua led the Jews into the promised land', or 'The Jews are God's chosen people', etc. etc. The writer possesses many such statements from a variety of Christian literature, magazines and books alike. Sadly, one has to record, quite often such incorrect and un-Biblical statements are made by very well known Christians! It is a great pity that they do not know their Bibles better; the truths/facts are in God's Word for all to read, quite plainly.

At the close of the Babylonian captivity, which lasted some seventy years, (in the days of Daniel), a remnant of the people now known as 'Jews', approximately fifty-thousand in all, were permitted to return to Jerusalem and the land of Judah (i.e. Judea) and establish themselves therein, (see Ezra and Nehemiah). The descendants of these people were the Jews of the days of the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, and by that time they had become racially intermingled with many people from non-­Israel nations, i.e. Gentiles. See, for example, Ezra 9 and 10, Nehemiah 13, and Esther 8/17. The nation of the Idumeans, too, was absorbed by the Jews in the time of John Hyrcanus (one of the Maccabees), circa 125 B.C. Not long after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Jews rebelled against their Roman overlords, and in A.D. 70 were destroyed as a nation in the land, exactly as Jesus had foretold, (Lk 21/24).

Back now to the House of Israel, the ten tribes removed to captivity in Assyria, 2 Kings chapters 15, 17 and 18. Into their homeland (Samaria) the king of Assyria then brought Gentiles of various nationalities (2 Kings 17/24) to occupy the land and settle down there; their descendants became the Samaritans of the days of Christ's ministry. Bearing these facts in mind, we can therefore understand the customary animosity etc. between the two peoples, Jews and Samaritans, as revealed sometimes in the gospel accounts; for as the woman at the well of Sychar remarked to Jesus (John 4/9), "the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans".

But what happened to the House of Israel when eventually their years of captivity in Assyria ended, as they did of course when the Assyrian empire was succeeded by the Babylonian? When we realise that the House of Judah, the far smaller section of the original twelve tribes, was preserved throughout their particular captivity, how much more certain it is that the far larger House of Israel, comprising five-sixths of the whole of God's covenant people, would survive. Indeed, not merely survive, but after that their chastisement in Assyria was over, God would continue to watch over them and over His promises to make a blessing to all the families of the earth. For, as the psalmist tells us, (Psalm 94/14), "the LORD will not cast off His people, neither will He forsake His inheritance". Israel would be disciplined by God, but never abandoned, despite their oftimes recurring sinfulness. One very telling Scripture (Amos 9/8-9) reminds us of the LORD's faithfulness to His word and His people. "Behold, the eyes of the LORD GOD are upon the sinful kingdom (the House of Israel), and I will cut it off from the land (literal translation, i.e. by the captivity in Assyria), saving that I will not utterly destroy the House of Jacob, saith the LORD. For, lo, I will command, AND I WILL SIFT (Bible margin'CAUSE TO MOVE') THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AMONG ALL NATIONS, LIKE AS CORN IS SIFTED IN A SIEVE, YET SHALL NOT THE LEAST GRAIN FALL UPON THE EARTH". So then, the House of Israel would be on the move again, after its Assyrian captivity; but as we know, the Ten Tribes did not return to Canaan. To quote the Bible footnote at 2 Kings 17 in the Scofield Reference Bible; "From this (Assyrian) captivity the Ten Tribes have never been restored to Palestine. A remnant of Judah returned under Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, and individuals out of the Ten Tribes (called, after the division of Solomon's kingdom, 'Israel' in the historical books and Prophets, also 'Ephraim' by the latter) went back, but the NATIONAL restoration is yet to be fulfilled". Now: if the House of Israel did not return to Palestine (Canaan), WHERE DID THEY GO? The following quotations will help us in our quest.

Apocrypha (R.V.) 2 Esdras 13/40-45: "These are the Ten Tribes, which were led away out of their own land in the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar the king of the Assyrians led away captive, (2 Kings 17) and he carried them beyond the River, and they were carried into another land. But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes which they had not kept in their own land. And they entered by the narrow passages of the River Euphrates. For the Most High then wrought signs for them, and stayed the springs of the River, till they were passed over. For through that country there was a great way to go, namely of a year and a half, and the same region is called Arzareth" (that is, 'another land'; see Deut. 29/28).

Flavius Josephus, learned Jewish historian, A.D. 38-100, in his Book XI, chapter 5, states: "Wherefore there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the Ten Tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers". The Jewish Prayer Book (The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire): "As for our brethren, the whole House of Israel, such of them as are given over to trouble or captivity, whether they abide on sea or on dry land, may the All-Present have mercy upon them and bring them forth from trouble to enlargement, from darkness to light, and from subjection to redemption now, speedily and at a near time, and let us say Amen." (Note: that particular statement/prayer by official Jewry is an open acknowledgement of the fact that the House of Israel, i.e. the Ten Tribes, are not found in Jewry today).

Dr Alfred Edersheim: "In what has been said, no notice has been taken of those wanderers of the Ten Tribes, whose trackless footsteps seem as mysterious as their after fate... Still the great mass of the Ten Tribes was, in the days of Christ, as in our own, lost to the Hebrew nation". Dr Neubauer, in The Jewish Quarterly Review: "The hope of the return of the Ten Tribes has never ceased amongst the Jews of the exile". C. and A.D. Rothsehild, in The History and Literature of the Israelites, vol. 1, page 489: "The Ten Tribes of Israel were irretrievably lost, and a deep and impenetrable silence clings round their dispersion. The thick folds of the veil have never been lifted". Isaac Leiser, in The Jewish Religion, vol. 1, page 256: "By this return of captives - from Babylon -the Israelitish nation was not restored, since the Ten Tribes ... were yet left in banishment, and to this day the researches of travellers and wise men have not been able to trace their fate".

Israel Zangwill, well-known writer, referring to Jewish persecution, at a conference in 1903 said: "To live and not to live is worse than to die. That is our position. I had rather we died and were done with. I thank Heaven that Ten Tribes at least were lost". (The Voice of Jerusalem, page 85). And from a letter from the Chief Jewish Rabbi, dated Nov. 18th, 1918 (5679) to the Revd Merton Smith: "The people known at present as Jews are descendants of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin with a certain number of descendants of the tribe of Levi. As far as is known, there is not any, further admixture of other tribes. The Ten Tribes have been absorbed among the nations of the world. We look forward to the gathering of all the tribes at some future day".

And in June 1950 a further letter from the Chief Rabbi stated: "The Jews of today do not represent the whole of the twelve tribes. What happened to the Ten Tribes who occupied Northern Palestine in Bible times is not definitely known. Modern Jewry is considered as being descended from the ancient tribe of Judah, and to a lesser extent, the tribe of Berijamin". Kitto states: "After the captivity, we hear very little of the territories of the Tribes, FOR TEN OF THEM NEVER RETURNED". In the year 1131 A.D. the famous Rabbi Moses Maimonides, called by the Jews their 'Second Moses', wrote: "I believe the Ten Tribes to be in various parts of Europe". Sharon Turner, the famous historian, states: "The Anglo­Saxons, Lowland Scots, Normans and Danes have all sprung from that great fountain of the human race which we have distinguished by the terms Scythian and Gothic. The first appearance of the Scythian tribes in Europe may be placed in the seventh century before the Christian era ... The migrating Seythians crossed the Araxes, passed out of Asia, and suddenly appeared in Europe in the sixth century B.C." (Note: This was the exact time of the release of the Ten Tribes from their captivity in Assyria).

Dr George Moore says: "The name of Goth, as already surmised, was probably transferred from Palestine to the neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea, where the Getae, and the Sacae, the Goths and the Saxons, are historically found together". Du Chaillu, in his work The Viking Age declares: "A careful perusal of the sagas will enable us, with the help of the ancient Greek and Latin writers, and without any serious break in the chain of events, to make out a fairly continuous history which throws considerable light on the progenitors of the English-speaking peoples; their migrations northward from their old home on the shores of the Black Sea; their religion; and their settlement of Scandinavia and of England". Prideaux finds that the Cimbrians (Kumrii) came from between the Black and Caspian Seas, and that with them came the Angli. The famous John Milton, writing in his History of Britain (1670), says of the Saxons: "They were a people thought by good writers to be descended of the Sacae, a kind of Scythians in the north of Asia, thence called Sacasons, or sons of Sacae..." (pp 506-7, l835 edn). (Sacae was derived from Saac, another name from the same people. The name Saac was derived from Isaac, the 'I' being unpronounceable in Hebrew, as they had no letter 'I'. Hence also Saac-sons).

Professor Freeman, in his Origin of the English Nation, has the following passage: "Tribe after tribe, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, poured across the sea to make new homes in the Isles of Britain. Thus grew up the English nation - a nation formed by THE UNION OF VARIOUS TRIBES OF THE SAME STOCK. The Dane hardly needed assimilation; he was ANOTHER KINDRED TRIBE, coming later than the others. Even the Norman was a KINSMAN".

Sir Francis Palgrave, in his English Commonwealth, says: "Britons, Anglo-Saxons, Danes and Normans were ALL RELATIONS; however hostile, THEY WERE ALL KINSMEN, SHEDDING KINDRED BLOOD".

In 1590, A.D., M le Loyer, a French magistrate, said: "The expectations of the Hebrew prophets are being fulfilled in England and her people". (Counsellor le Loyer issued a large volume, The Lost Ten Tribes Found, and from an account published in the Petit Parisien of June 24th 1913, "Le Loyer says he has found the Israelites, and that today they form the English people".

The Reverend Dr Dean Jean Jacques Abbadie, the greatest scholar in Europe of his day, 1654-1727, and of an old Huguenot family, in his Le Triomphe de la Providence et de la Religion, published in Amsterdam in 1723, stated: "Unless the Ten Tribes have flown into the air, or have been plunged to the centres of the earth, they must be sought for in the north and west, and in the British Isles".

The writer of this Bible and secular study feels a very special affinity with Dr Abbadie, as his own family ancestors too were French Huguenots, Protestant Christians who had to flee from France to England several centuries ago to escape dreadful persecution or death because they believed the Bible as the Word of God, and not the Papal (Roman Catholic) doctrines. Remarkably enough, Dr Abbadie applied for English denizenship in 1687, as did some of the writer's own Huguenot ancestors (the Seguin's) in the same year, (obtaining naturalisation subsequently): Dr Abbadie soon afterwards became the pastor of the London French Protestant Church known as The Savoy, with some of the Seguin's as members of his church congregation. Hence the feeling of close affinity. I find it very remarkable to know that three hundred years ago a French Huguenot 'B.I.' taught my ancestors, and now in my own generation I likewise teach these precious truths. The reference in Dr Abbadie's statement to the Ten Tribes being in the north and west, and in the British Isles, is quite simply due to the fact that as a scholar, he knew that, e.g. the prophecies of Isaiah which are addressed to Israel 'in the isles' pertained to the BRITISH ISLES, for, as Hebrew scholars have noted, those isles are clearly identified in the Hebrew language of Scripture. One small example relating to Israel being in isles north-west of Palestine is at Isaiah 49/12; it should be understood that the Hebrew language has no equivalent for 'north-west', but instead would be 'north AND west'. Ferrar Fenton renders the verse "Look! these came from afar! these from the north-west!" The whole chapter is a wonderful example of the LORD's unfailing faithfulness to His covenants with Israel, here shown to be in isles north-west of Palestine.

Professor Odlum, formerly of Tokyo University, says: "The proof that the Anglo­ Saxon people are the House of Israel in a national and official sense is as clear to my mind as the noonday sun is to the eyes of mortals". King George 6th, broadcasting to the nation on the eve of 'D-Day', June 6th 1944, said: "We dare to believe that God has used our nation and Empire as an instrument for fulfilling His High purpose". And the Rt. Hon. Winston Spencer Churchill, British Prime Minister, speaking to the United States Congress in 1942, said: "He must indeed have a blind soul who cannot see that some great purpose and design is being worked out here below of which we have the honour to be faithful servants". In the Times newspaper of 7th May 1919, the late Lord Fisher, Admiral of our Fleet, stated: "Why we win, in spite of incredible blunders, is that we are the 'lost' Ten Tribes of Israel". Professor Piazzi Smyth, late Astronomer Royal for Scotland, said: "The effect of the discovery of the identity of the Anglo-Saxons with Israel is two-fold. First, it causes us to behold and acknowledge therein the accomplishment of a true miracle, and of the mightiest kind through the ages, consummated in our own days. Second, it causes the Bible to become for us, as it was for the tribes of Israel of old, an infallible Book for national guidance in politics, as well as a collection of inspired instruction for each individual soul in religion". William Tyndale, the Protestant martyr, and translator of our English Bible, stated: "The properties of the Hebrew tongue agree a thousand times more with the English than with Latin". Canon Lyson compiled a list of four thousand Hebrew words from English dictionaries and stated: "The Hebrew is the structure on which the English language was built". Professor Max Muller of Oxford University stated that English contained eight hundred Hebrew roots. The Rev Jacob Torillin, in his Comparative Vocabulary of Forty-Eight Languages, states: "About one fourth of the words in our own Saxon tongue bear an affinity with the Hebrew in primary or secondary degree. Not only in words does this affinity exist... but in the arrangement of ideas and in the single structure of the sentences it also has a near agreement". The Rev. Eliezer Williams. Vicar of Lampeter (1784) states: "The roots of the ancient British, or real Welsh, words, may be regularly traced in the Hebrew (language)... Scarcely a Hebrew root can be discovered that has not its corresponding derivative in the ancient British language". Alex. Geddes, LL.D., says: "Luckily for an English translator of the Bible, he will not be often under any great necessity of departing much from the arrangement of the Hebrew, especially in the poetical parts of Scripture, where the two idioms are so congenial as to appear almost like twin brothers".

Many years ago, the distinguished antiquary, the late Sir William Betham, Ulster King-at-Arms, said to the Rev. A. King, who had intelligently consulted him respecting a family crest: "I see you are interested in this: I am an old man, you are young; if you take my advice, you will follow up the study of heraldry, AND IF YOU GO FAR ENOUGH IT WILL LEAD YOU INTO THE CAMP OF ISRAEL'. The writer's own experience confirms this marvellous fact. For some considerable years now he has researched his own family tree, and possesses numerous photocopies of authoritative statements pertaining to his own surname and its origin. I have already intimated that the family name in France was Seguin (or, De Seguin), having become anglicised when the family moved to England. According to Dr. P.H. Reaney, A Dictionary of British Surnames (1976)... (Seekins: Identical with French Seguin which Albert Dauzat (Librairie Larousse, Paris) derives from OG (VISIGOTHIC) Sigwin 'Victory-Friend', etc. etc. Well-informed British-Israel Christians will not need to be told that the Visi-Goths were a major part of the House of Israel who moved across Europe circa 100-500 A.D., exactly as we have already shown in our numerous scholarly quotations. To which I would add this further fact. My own photocopies taken from Armorial General (Tome II) by Johannes Baptiste Rietstap, showing some of the numerous Arms of the various branches of the French Seguin's down the centuries, illustrate amongst these branches the twelve-stoned breastplate, the eagle, and the serpent, the latter two being of course connected with the tribe of Dan. And (if I may be forgiven) just one more confirmatory statement pertaining to one's own personal ancestry, to show yet again the original descent from Israel. In Dictionnaire De La Noblesse, by Francois Alexander Aubert De La Chenave-Desbois Et Badier, (Paris 1873), for example, the author gives much detail regarding a number of the Seguin's nobility, e.g. Aldebert De Seguin De Borne, Seigneur and Baron de Prades, Rochevalier, and autres Terres, Gentilhomme ordinaire de la Chambre du Roi LOUIS XIII, serving in this capacity in 1624. The word 'Gentilhoiilme' is particularly, significant, as is explained by Charles E. Lart in his Huguenot Pedigrees, and I quote: "Neither was gentilhomme the equivalent of 'Gentleman', which usually signifies a person of education, manners or social position; THE FRENCH TERM BEING STRICTLY APPLIED TO THOSE OF ANCIENT RACE, WHOSE ORIGIN WAS LOST IN THE NIGHT OF TIME. IT WAS THE ONE TITLE WHICH EVEN THE KING COULD NOT CREATE, FOR HE COULD NOT MAKE A 'GENTILHOMME', WHO WAS THE PRODUCT OF RACE AND TIME: NOR COULD HE UNMAKE HIM, FOR 'ONCE A GENTILHOMME ALWAYS A GENTILHOMME'." The same book by Lart describes the (De) Seguin's as an 'ancienne Famille noble', i.e. an ancient noble family. The writer of this particular Bible and secular study is greatly humbled as he meditates on the unfailing faithfulness of our covenant-keeping God, Who has preserved His people Israel, of which I am proven to be one, down through milleniums of time.

Bruce Harmay, in European and Other Race Origins, says: "The hypothesis that the British are the modern representatives of the ancient Beth Sak (i.e. House of I-saac) is one that is hardly open to doubt; except by minds that deliberately refuse to accord just weight to the facts, inferences, and probabilities upon which that hypothesis is based". Charles Hulbert, in his Religions of Britain (1825) states: "So near is the resemblance between the Druidical religion of Britain and the Patriarchal religion of the Hebrews, that we hesitate not to pronounce their origin the same". Cassell's History of England states: "The Druidical rites and ceremonies in Britain were almost identical with the Mosaic ritual".

Sir William Temple (Chambers's Encyc.: 1628-99), British Diplomatist and Essayist, Ambassador in Netherlands, Moderate, Protestant Statesman) states (of the early Britons) "In their system of jurisprudence; in the administration of law by twelve judges; in their social order; in the rights of property; in the provision made for ministers of religion; in the institutions of chivalry; in the science of heraldry, or symbols; in architecture, carving, guilding, in the use of metals, in needlework, poetry and music, WE TRACE OUR ISRAELITISH ORIGIN". Sir Edward Creasy, in his History of England, states: "The British tin mines mainly supplied the glorious adornment of Solomon's temple, and thence also came the chief material of the armour of the kings and chieftains of heroic Greece". As is well known, there was regular trade between the Middle East and Britain in Solomon's day, and the writer had thrilling evidence of this when my wife and I had a holiday break at Mount Avalon, Glastonbury, a good many years ago. Visiting nearby Somerton, in conversation with a local lady newspaper reporter, she asked me if we had ever been to see 'King Solomon's Alabaster Mines' nearby! Needless to say, this was a very thrilling suggestion, knowing as we do our Israel heritage. Suffice it to say that we very quickly motored to the place indicated, obtained permission from the farmer on whose land we had to investigate, (he showed to us a bowl carved from a piece of such alabaster) and brought home some pieces of alabaster, which we possess to this day. A very remarkable link with our Israelite ancestors, after some three thousand years.

To conclude our list of evidences of our national descent from Israel, just a few more witnesses add their testimonies to our by no means exhaustive study. The great painter artist, Holman Hunt, who studied the Hebrew physiognomy in Palestine, made the noteworthy declaration that, after careful observation, he believed that the ancient type of the Hebrew nation approached nearer to the Anglo­Saxon than to any other. The Revd Elieser Bassin, C.M. Ph.B., born in Russia of both wealthy and pious Jewish parents, tells us in his book British and Jewish Fraternity: "The Hebrew Scriptures point to the British Isles as the home of God's first-born". (i.e. Ephraim, the collective name for the Ten Tribes, see Jer. 31/9); he has also stated; "It is my conviction that Britain is the nation with whom God has from first to last identified Himself. I, an Israelite of the House of Judah claim you as Israelites of the House of Ephraim (i.e. the House of Israel). As believers in the faithfulness of our covenant-keeping God, I call you to awake from your sleep".

Professor Totten, of Yale University, said: "I cannot state too strongly that the man who has not seen that Israel of the Scriptures is totally different from the Jewish people is yet in the very infancy, the mere alphabet - of Biblical study".

Sir Charles Marston, F.S.A., the famous archaeologist, author of The Bible is True, The Bible comes Alive etc., speaking at a meeting of lay churchmen at the Caxton Hall, Westminster, on Saturday, 2nd February 1929, said: "Great Britain was the first of all nations to adopt Christianity. Bible study and the results of the Great War are forcing me to the certain conclusion that today, we, as a nation, represent the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel... A statement from The Jewish Chronicle of 2nd May 1890 is very much to the point regarding the House of Israel, i.e. the ten so-called 'lost' tribes: "The problem, then, is reduced to its simplest form. The Ten Tribes are certainly in existence. All that has to be done is to discover which people represent them". And, from The Jewish Encyclopaedia, 1925 edition, vol. 12, page 249: If the Ten Tribes have disappeared, the literal fulfilment of the (Bible) prophecies would be impossible. If they have not disappeared, obviously they must exist under a different name".

Which is, of course, the exact truth of the matter, and we could add to our testimonies to this effect, many times over. There are many 'facets' to this great 'British-Israel' Truth, each one of which would be a further long and detailed study in its own right; perhaps just one or two facets might be very briefly touched upon. Throughout the centuries, time and time again, the LORD has answered prayers and delivered our nation from its enemies, e.g. the Spanish Armada, Napoleon, from defeat in the 1914-18 Great War, and a generation later, from Hitler etc.

Psalm 124 is very much to the point: "If it had not been the LORD Who was on our side, (despite our many sins as a nation, we would add, and because of His covenant with Abraham), now may Israel say; if it had not been the LORD Who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick..."

Then, too, there are many Bible prophecies that tell us that the purpose of God for the House of Israel would be an on-going one, throughout centuries of time and this present age also, until eventually Israel and Judah are re-united at the time of the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He will govern this world in righteousness, ruling on the Throne of David. Ezekiel 37/22 is very clear: "And I will make them ONE NATION... 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".

Jesus told the Jewish leaders (Mt 21/43) "Therefore say I unto you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, (from the Jews) and given to a nation (not the church) bringing forth the fruits thereof". History records that, despite our many imperfections etc. the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic House of Israel peoples have led the world in producing such 'fruits'; taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to the 'four corners' of the world, and ever at the forefront in humanitarian action. And all this despite our national blindness to our Identity as the House of Israel. Finally; what then is the major significance of the proof that we, the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples, are the House of Israel?

Following the failure of all twelve tribes to keep their promises to God, as detailed under the old Mosaic Covenant, God promised that He would provide a New Covenant, an everlasting Covenant, with the Houses of Israel and Judah, (Jer. 31/31-­37; Jer. 32/40 etc). That New Covenant (Heb. 8 etc) was ratified by the Blood of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, on the cross at Golgotha, and the way is now open for all Israel to return to the LORD in sincere repentance. This they will most certainly do, in God's Own good time, for as the hymn has it: 'God is working His purpose out, as year succeeds to year', and He has sworn that He will have His way with His people. So then, as all Christians well know, there is a Living God, and as Christians who have had their hearts and minds opened to 'B.I. Identity Truths' will also understand, God's great plan includes the present and future welfare of our own British nation. All who love the LORD, the Ever-Faithful Covenant-Keeping God of Israel, must 'watch and pray' to see what He would have us do, in these last days. We who have consistently sought the LORD down the years are convinced that a great move by the Holy Spirit is imminent in our land, and we echo the words of Isaiah of old: 'Here am I, send me'.

Amen and Amen