Identifying Israel - Part 9

Israel in the Modern Era

By Jim Jester

Complete series available in book format:  Will the Real Israel Please Stand Up?

The Tribe of Gad

There are not very many nations left of Europe to choose from:  Germany, Belgium and Switzerland.  Belgium and Switzerland are mixtures of district ethnic groups.  Belgium is a mixture of Dutch and French and Switzerland is a mix of German-, French-, and Italian-speaking people.  This leaves Germany as the most likely candidate for the modern Gadites.  From Genesis 49:19:

Gad, a troop shall overcome him:  but he shall overcome at the last.

Gad is the only Israelite tribe prophesied to be overcome in the latter days.  Germany was indeed overrun by a troop of nations in World War II, yet they recovered after the war to be one of the foremost industrial powers of the world.

The Tribes of Levi and Simeon

These two tribes of Israel are addressed jointly in Genesis 49: 5, 7:

Simeon and Levi are brethren; Weapons of violence are their swords Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; And their wrath, for it was cruel:I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

It seems that these tribes were prone to violence, so God scattered them throughout Israel so they would not have a nation of their own If they did they would likely be very warlike.

In Genesis 34 Levi and Simeon massacred all the males of a town simply because one of them had premarital sex with their sister, Dinah, even though she had consented to the act It is likely that many of these descendants served in the military of other Israelite nations. In Genesis 37:18-20 Simeon had led the plot to kill Joseph before he was sold into slavery. Later Joseph let him languish in prison while the others were permitted to return to Canaan (Genesis 42:24).

There is on record that the “Simonii” arrived in ancient Briton in 720 B.C., a time when many Israelites were fleeing from Assyrian captivity. The Celtic Britons, who were fierce warriors which limited Roman advances into the British Isles, were likely Simeonites. The Celtic Britons were eventually pushed westward into Wales and northward into Scotland. Therefore, those of Welsh and Scotch ancestry would be candidates for Simeonite ancestry.

There is a good side to the Simeonites as well. After the Israelites split up into two kingdoms, various members of Israelite tribes moved south into Judah to worship God. II Chronicles 15:9 and 34:6 mention two occasions when Simeonites were prominent in joining the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in serving God.

Although the Levites shared the Simeonite capacity for violence they also had a zeal for the service of God. In Exodus32, when Moses asked “who is on the Lord’s side?”, the tribe of Levi came to him. Moses then assigned the Levites the job of executing 3000 ringleaders of this idolatrous event. It is my belief that the Parthian Magi who came to worship the Christ child were of the tribe of Levi, as God does not work with a pagan priesthood. It is also noted in I Chronicles 15 and II Chronicles 5 that Levites served as singers and musicians in ancient Israel, It is likely then that those today having an interest in entertainment, music, art, the ministry or the priesthood have Levite genes. The tribes of Simeon and Levi do not compose any particular nation today because they are scattered among other Israelite nations according to the prophecy in Genesis 49.

The Tribe of Judah

The “House of Judah” included members of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi. The tribe of Judah is the most well-known tribe of all. Most “Judeo-Christians” (a contradictory term) will think that the modern nation representing Judah is Israel. They are aware that the word “Jew” is a short version of “Judah” and feel like this is an easy one to figure out. However, as I have brought out in Part 2, the word “Jew” can have multiple meanings.

If the word “Jew” exclusively means “one descended from Judah” then that one would be an Israelite; but we know that word as used today has far more meanings attached to it. Not only are today’s Jews not of a pure Judahite race, but they promote a religion antithetical to Christianity and they even hate Jesus Christ A nation of people with this attitude cannot possible be of an Israelite tribe, for even Israelites who make no profession of faith in Christ certainly do not hate our Lord.

Collins thinks that Israel is the modern nation representing the prophecy about Judah, but that appears to be a contradiction, even in his own statement, that we must look for the Israelites today among the “White or Caucasian nations” of the world (p. 378 of The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel Found) He tries to say the Jews are White because of the Khazar (Semite) connection This may be true, but just because their skin tone is on the light side does not mean they are a part of Israel At the time of Christ there were racially mixed people living in Judea (just as there is in America today) Josephus records that the Judahites and the conquered Edomites became virtually one people (Josephus, Antiquities, XIII, VIII, 4 and XIII, IX, 1) In other words, they intermarried or were well assimilated into Judean culture Most of the Edomites were to the south (and in Jerusalem), which was why Jesus did not go into that area often He remained to the north in Galilee So there were those of Edomite blood and those of Judahite blood living in the territory of Judea at the time of Christ Speaking of Esau/Edom (Malachi 1:3, 4) God says:

And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness ...The border of wickedness, and, the people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.

Today’s Esau/Edomite Jews are excluded from God’s covenant since their racial heritage is not of Israelite origin God even says He hate them many places in the Bible It is true that they can be claim to be of Abraham (see John 8:33-59 and thus be Semitic (from Abram’s forefather Shem; see Genesis 11:10-27) But the problem arises because the father of their race was Esau, who was excluded from the covenant The Bible is a racial book following those people of the covenant, God’s people Over and over again God says he is “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (named changed to “Israel”); never has God said he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Esau.

More Missing History

Just as there is missing history about Jesus Christ (18 years), there is also some missing history of about 500 years from our Bible It is the period between the two testaments Part of this time is known as the Hasamonean Dynasty of Judea and is covered in the first and second books of the Maccabees This untold story is significant in identifying Israel as well, or I should say, identifying those today who say they are Israel yet really are not (as Jesus warned us about).

The Maccabean revolt was caused by the attempt of Antiochus IV (Epiphanies), king of Syria (175-164 B. C. ), to force Hellenism upon Judea Here is some background behind the Maccabean revolt from Wikipedia:

Conflict over the appointment of the High Priest and corruption contributed to the causes of the Maccabean Revolt The High Priest in Jerusalem was Onias III His brother, Jason, who favoured the Seleucids, bribed Antiochus to make him High Priest instead Antiochus was insensitive to the views of religious Jews and treated the High Priest as a political appointee and one from whom money could be made.

Menelaus (who was not even a member of the Levite priestly family) then bribed Antiochus and was appointed High Priest in place of Jason Menelaus had Onias assassinated His brother Lysimachus took holy vessels from the Temple, causing riots and the thief's death at the hands of the rioters Menelaus was arrested and arraigned before Antiochus, but he bribed his way out of trouble Jason subsequently drove out Menelaus and became High Priest again Antiochus sacked the Temple and re-installed Menelaus

From this point onwards, Antiochus pursued a Hellenizing policy with zeal This effectively meant banning traditional Jewish religious practice In 167 BCE Jewish sacrifice was forbidden, Sabbaths and feasts were banned and circumcision was outlawed Altars to Greek gods were set up and animals prohibited to Jews were sacrificed on them The Olympian Zeus was placed on the altar of the Temple Possession of Jewish scriptures was made a capital offence The king’s motives are unclear He may have been incensed at the overthrow of his appointee, Menelaus, he may have been responding to a Jewish revolt that had drawn on the Temple and the Torah for its strength, or he may have been encouraged by a group of radical Hellenizers among the Jews.

Judah Maccabbee led an army of Jewish dissidents to victory over the Seleucid dynasty in guerrilla warfare, which at first was directed against Jewish collaborators, of whom there were many The Maccabees destroyed pagan altars in the villages, circumcised children and forced Jews into outlawry

The revolt itself involved many individual battles, in which the Maccabean forces gained infamy among the Syrian army for their use of guerrilla tactics After the victory, the Maccabees entered Jerusalem in triumph and ritually cleansed the Temple, reestablishing traditional Jewish worship there and installing Jonathan Maccabee as high priest A large Syrian army was sent to quash the revolt, but returned to Syria on the death of Antiochus IV Its commander Lysias, preoccupied with internal Syrian affairs, agreed to a political compromise that restored religious freedom.

From this we can see there was much political turmoil and corruption; not only among the changing superpowers of the day but in Judea itself Of course, once again, it is no different today

The Hasamonean dynasty was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after his brother Judah the Maccabee defeated the Seleucid (Greeks) army during the Maccabean Revolt in 165 B. C The Jewish feast of Hanukkah (“Dedication”; see John 10:22) commemorates the re-dedication of the temple in Jerusalem in 165 B. C., after Judah Maccabee removed the pagan statuary It also commemorates the “miracle of the container of oil.”According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil.

When the Maccabean John Hyrcanus conquered the region of Idumaea (the Edom of the Bible) in 140-130 B. C., he required all Idumaeans to obey Jewish law or to leave; most Idumaeans thus converted to Judaism Josephus confirms this (as cited above) From this we can see there was certainly a large racial mix of people who lived in Judea at the time Christ came on the scene, many of them of Edomite ancestry They were fully entrenched in the religious hierarchy of the day One of them (Menelaus) had even held the position of High Priest.

In 37 B. C., Herod the Great took back Judea with Roman support Herod turned Antigonus II Mattathias over to Mark Anthony, who had him beheaded, ending the rule of the Hasamonean dynasty and starting the Herodian Dynasty Now the Edomites totally control all of Judea; just as they do in Amerika today From the death of Antigonus, the last legitimate king, to the dedication of the temple in 165 B.C. (128 years prior), shows us that today’s Edomite Jews have stolen a special day which really belongs to the true Judahites (Israelites/Caucasians) The miracle of the oil was God’s blessing on the Maccabean effort to reform the nation under God’s laws.

The New Covenant

The only reason I can see why Judea remained as long as it did was for our God to bring us the Christ and establish the New Covenant in His blood Jesus Christ came through Judah’s bloodline The Old covenant is passed away, not all the law as some say, but only the part of the sacrifices Christ is now sacrificed for us The temple is gone (as of 70 A.D.) and so are the animal sacrifices We are now under the New Covenant.

There is no nation today representing the tribe of Judah, for Jeremiah the prophet said Judah was like a broken pot, never to be put back together again:“...Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel that cannot be made whole again…” (Jeremiah 19:11).

Another reason that today’s geo/political nation of Israel cannot be of Jacob/Israel is that Jesus said in Matthew 23:38, “Behold, your house is left unto desolate.” It became “desolate” in 70 A.D. by the Romans Does not this language from our Lord sound identical to the statement in Malachi 1:3 about Esau, “I hated Esau and laid his mountains and his heritage waste…”? There are no true Judahites left in the original land of Israel today They were assimilated by the Edomites The Jews (Edomites) today simply cannot hear the voice of God according to Jesus Christ Here is part of Jesus argument with the Pharisees, the forerunner of today’s Jews, from John 8:43-44:

Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

This is why so much that goes on in our world is a lie and deception The Jews, even take an oath every year to avoid consequences of their deceitfulness with the Kol Nidre prayer, “All vows which I shall make during the year shall be of no value.” yes;">Lying and other forms of wickedness are prominent with them They rejected our Lord then, they reject Him today, and they will always reject him in the future

The House of Israel has already been dispersed (fall of Samaria, 722 B.C.), and at this point the House of Judah has been held captive in Babylonia (fall of Jerusalem, 586 B.C.) But the prophets speak of a time of renewal when both Houses will be joined into one Ezekiel (chapter 37) gives us the picture of a “valley of dry bones” and the parable of “two sticks” (representing two Houses) Just a few of these scriptures will suffice:

And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king over them all: and they will no longer be two nations, and will no longer be parted into two kingdoms Ezekiel 37:22

Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gathered him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. Jeremiah 31:10

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah  Jeremiah 31:31

This has been fulfilled with the New Covenant.

It is my opinion that members of the tribe of Judah are scattered among all the other Israelite nations as was Simeon and Levi, so they have no particular nation today While there is a prophecy concerning Judah in Genesis 49, it does not appear that it is referring to a particular nation in the last days (although that is the context) The term “last days” is an unspecified length of time It is my opinion that the “last days” is the age of the New Covenant This is verified by its use in the New Testament books, Hebrews and Acts (which is a quote from Joel 2:28):

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past into the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. (Hebrews 1:1, 2)

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God; I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. (Acts 2:17)

So the “last days” or “latter days” can clearly be a long period of time from our perspective The prophecies given in Genesis 49 would not necessarily be predicting events near the end of this age, but within this age So there is no Bible evidence that today’s nation of “Israel” (established in 1948) are the descendants of Judah Today’s nation of “Israel” is just another “gentile.” Now for the prophecy about Judah in verses 8-10:

To you, Judah will your brothers give praise: your hand will be on the neck of your haters; your father’s sons will go down to the earth before you Judah is a young lion; like a lion full of meat you have become great, my son; now he takes his rest like a lion stretched out and like an old lion; by whom will his sleep be broken?The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right to it, and the people will put themselves under his rule. 

This prophecy shows us that Judah became the ruling class which was dispersed among all the Israelite nations From the time of their dispersion throughout Asia they ruled over their brother tribes known by other names throughout history An early leader of the Scythians (also called Sacae or Saka after Isaac; 653 B.C.) was “Phraortes” (Hellenized version of “Phares”; line of King David), fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah 33:17 that those descended from Judah would rule over “the house of Israel.” Later in the Parthian Empire (approx. 250 B.C.) the royal dynasty descended from Judah/Phares/David, referred to as “Arsacids,” were those from whom the next king was chosen A prominent city in Parthia was “Assak,” almost identical to Isaac The Parthian Magi elected the next king of the empire by bicameral vote This was much like the beginnings of a “Parliament” and foreshadowed the Magna Carta which enabled the nobility to check the power of English kings Parthian kings could even be “recalled” if they sufficiently offended the nobility, the wealthy citizens and priesthood of the empire

Rawlinson states in The Sixth Oriental Monarchy, p. 86, that the Magi:

....were a powerful body, consisting of an organized hierarchy which had come down from ancient times, and was feared and venerated by all classes of people Their numbers at the close of the Empire, counting males only, are reckoned at 80,000; they possessed considerable tracts of fertile land, and were the sole inhabitants of many large towns or villages, which they were permitted to govern as they pleased.

The Magi paralleled the priesthood structure of ancient Israel The tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe of the Israelites and they were given separate cities to live in according to the Law of Moses in Numbers 35:1-5 Since the Parthian Magi were a hereditary body of priests who elected kings from the Arsacids, it is no wonder that they traveled to honor the child Jesus who was of the same lineage.

After the fall of Parthia, the Arsacid dynasty continued to rule in Armenia until 429 A.D. (Britannica, Persia, p. 580) History records that the Arsacids moved with the massive migration of Parthians (Israelites) into Europe and became the many royal families of the Israelite nations (today called “gentiles”) It is also known that many Arsacids were killed over these centuries just as Herod attempted to kill Jesus Christ (an Arsacid) God was faithful in keeping his promise to David up until the end of the age when Jesus Christ will take that throne as “King of Kings” (the exact phrase of the Parthians; found in Revelation 19:16).

It should be well-known today that Queen Elizabeth of England can trace her genealogy back to King David (This list is available on the Internet) In the 6th century B.C. a band of Judahites led by Jeremiah went into Egypt (Jeremiah 42:7) This group included Jeremiah’s scribe, Baruch, and King Zedekiah’s daughters, direct descendants of King David From there they went to ancient Ireland where one of the daughters, Tea Tephi (born 565 B.C.), married the Irish king, Herremon, continuing David’s bloodline in the British Isles Thu God kept his promise to David both in Asia and in Europe (these bloodlines eventually intermarried) The tribes of Israel were never really lost; they can be identified by locating those nations which had David’s descendants as rulers Judah has rule over his brothers, the other 10 tribes of the northern “House of Israel,” just as prophesied Not only was the prophecy of Genesis 49 fulfilled in the “last days” of our age (the New Covenant), but it included the time before the advent of Christ.

Conclusion

God’s people have been deceived by the establishment But, identifying Israel is really not all that difficult, if we define it as the Bible does: Israel is not a country, it is a people The point of learning history and identifying Israel is to show that there is a direct correlation between honoring God and the rise and fall of nations The western Anglo-Saxon (White) people, for multiple reasons, do not know who they are The Bible warns us about forgetting our heritage:

Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you (Deuteronomy 4:23).

Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: (Deuteronomy 8:11).

Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him (Isaiah 51:1, 2).

The prophet Isaiah (in the above passage) strongly implies that Israel has forgotten their God, as do other scriptures teach. On the other hand, this forgetfulness has never applied to “Jews”, for they have always claimed to be from Abraham Neither have they “followed after righteousness,” as the Israelites, but have always opposed Jesus Christ and Christian values This passage, therefore, cannot be speaking about them If the Israelite people know who they are (and perhaps this will become more evident in the future) maybe they would be more serious about serving the God of their fathers After all, it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who gave them the Law God’s people can choose to keep it for their blessing or choose to violate it for their cursing.

Another reason to study history is to show to the secular world that the Bible is true, and that the God of the Bible keeps his promises God is still working with the nations of Israel today All other nations not of Israel are “gentiles” (using establishment terminology), including the one in the Middle east which calls itself “Israel.” If the majority of the tribes of Israel have died off or been lost, as the liars contend, and so many foolishly believe, then God has not kept the promise He made in Jeremiah 31:35-56:

Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar….If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.