The History of the Ten "Lost" Tribes Part 4

[Footnote 16: See 2 Kings xxiii, 29, where the King of Babylon is called "King of a.s.syria."]

[Footnote 17: "It is inconceivable," says Dr. Pusey, "that, as the material prosperity of Palestine returned, even many of the Ten Tribes should not have returned to their country."]

[Footnote 18: Thus Strabo (quoted by Josephus in "Ant." xiv. 7, 2) could already say in his day that "these Jews had already gotten into all cities; and it is hard to find a place in the habitable earth that hath not admitted this race and is not mastered by it."]

[Footnote 19: "Everywhere we have distinct notices of these wanderers,"

says Dr. Edersheim, "and everywhere they appear as in closest connection with the Rabbinical hierarchy of Palestine. Thus the Mishnah, in an extremely curious section, tells how on Sabbaths the Jewesses of Arabia might wear their long veils, and those of India the kerchiefs round their head, customary in those countries, without incurring the guilt of desecrating the holy day by needlessly carrying what, in the eyes of the law, would be a burden; while in a rubric for the Day of Atonement we have it noted that the dress which the High Priest wore 'between the evenings' of the great feast--that is, as afternoon darkened into evening--was of most costly Indian stuff."]

[Footnote 20: Some have supposed that the 14th verse of Zechariah xi.--"_And I cut asunder mine other (or 'second') staff, even Bands (or 'Binders'), to destroy the brotherhood between Judah and between Israel_"--foreshadowed another division between the Ten Tribes and the Two Tribes subsequent to the partial restoration from Babylon, and after the coalescence of the people before and in the Exile--as a punishment for their rejection of their true Shepherd the Messiah, which is symbolically set forth in that chapter. But this is a mistake. The ?? ??????? ?(_achavah_), "Brotherhood," which was to be destroyed "between Judah and between Israel," is not to be understood in the sense "that the unity of the nation would be broken up again in a manner similar to that in the days of Rehoboam, and that two hostile nations would be formed out of one people," although the disruption of national unity which took place in the days of Jeroboam may be referred to _as an ill.u.s.tration_ of that which would occur again in a more serious form.

"The schism of Jeroboam had a weakening and disintegrating effect on the nation of the Twelve Tribes, and the dissolution of the brotherhood here spoken of was to result in still greater evil and ruin; for Israel, deprived of the Good Shepherd, was to fall into the power of the 'foolish,' or 'evil,' shepherd, who is depicted at the close of the prophecy."

?The preposition ??????? (_bain_), which is twice repeated, has the meaning not only of "_between_," but also of "_among_," and the formula, House of Judah and House of Israel, or simply, "Judah and Israel," is, as we have had again and again to notice, this prophet's inclusive designation of the whole ideally (and to a large extent already actually) reunited one people. I think, therefore, that we may rightly render the sentence "to destroy the brotherhood _among_ Judah and among Israel"--that is to say, among the entire nation. The consequence of it would be the fulfilment of the threat in the 9th verse: "Let them which are left eat every one the flesh of another"--solemn and awful words, which had their first literal fulfilment in the party feuds and mutualy destructive strife, and in the terrible "dissolution of every bond of brotherhood and of our common nature, which made the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans a proverb for horror, and precipitated its destruction."]

[Footnote 21: It has also been supposed that the references by Agrippa in his remarkable oration (reported by Josephus, "Wars," ii., xvi.

4)--to those who dwelt "as far as beyond the Euphrates," and to "those of your nation who dwell in Adiabene," upon whom the Jews might rely for help in their struggle against Rome, but would not be permitted by the Parthians to render them any a.s.sistance--were to some unknown settlements belonging to the Ten Tribes. But this is a mistake. These dwellers in Adiabene might or might not have belonged to the Ten Tribes, but they formed part of the known Dispersion and of "your nation"--the Jews.]

[Footnote 22: Jewish Encyclopaedia.]

PART III.

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

Note I.

ANGLO-ISRAEL "PROOFS" OF A SEPARATE FATE AND DESTINY OF "ISRAEL" AND "JUDAH."

The Anglo-Israel theory is based for the most part on the supposition of a separate history during the Dispersion, and a separate destiny of the Ten Tribes from that of Judah. I have already shown that the supposition is a false one, but it may be well to a.n.a.lyse here a few more of the Scripture "proofs" by which the contention is supported.

The following is from a truly amazing pamphlet, ent.i.tled "Fifty Reasons why the Anglo-Saxons are Israelites of the Lost Tribes of the House of Israel," a publication full of misinterpretations, wild fancies, and absurd fables, which are given out as facts of history.

But the reader may judge for himself of the method of this writer, who is a "D.D.," in handling Scripture.

"The Jews," we are told with an air of authority--

"are one people, the Lost Tribes are another.... The Word of G.o.d clearly intimates that Israel would lose their ident.i.ty, their land, their language, their religion, and their name, that they would be lost to themselves, and to other nations lost. 'I will scatter them into corners, I will make the remembrance of them to cease from among men' (Deut. x.x.xii. 26). 'The Lord hideth His face from the House of Jacob' (Isa. viii, 17). He was not any more to speak to them in the Hebrew tongue; but 'by another tongue will I speak unto this people' (Isa. xxviii. 11). They shall no more be called Israel, He will call them by another name. 'And thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name'

(Isa. lxii. 2). 'The Lord shall call His servants by another name'

(Isa. lxv. 15). 'The name Israel shall be no more in remembrance'

(Psa. lx.x.xiii. 4). 'And ye shall lose, or leave, your name, and the Lord shall call His servants by another name.' 'Why sayest thou, O Jacob! and speakest, O Israel! my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is pa.s.sed over from my G.o.d?' (Isa. xl. 27).

"'For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee'

(Isa. liv. 8).

"In Hos. i. 4, 7 the Lord says, 'I will cause to cease the kingdom of the House of Israel.... I will no more have mercy upon the House of Israel, but I will utterly take them away.... But I will have mercy upon the House of Judah.' Israel is to be called Lo-Ammi, for 'ye are not My people, and I will not be your G.o.d' (Hos. i. 7)."

Now let us look for a moment at the reference and quotations here given.

The first is Deut. x.x.xii. 26: "I will scatter them into corners," etc.

This occurs in the song which Moses was commanded to put into the mouth of the _whole nation_ at the very commencement of their history, which, besides being a vindication of G.o.d's character in His dealings with the nation from the beginning hitherto, is also a prophetic forecast of their whole future history. It is the _whole people_, which according to Moses was to be scattered into all corners as a special punishment for their apostasy, until such time as the Lord shall turn their captivity and have compa.s.sion upon them, and gather them from all the nations (Deut. iv. 25-31; xxviii. 64, 65; x.x.x. 1-7; x.x.xi. 16-22). This reference then has nothing whatever in it about a "lost ident.i.ty."

These forecasts are fulfilling themselves, not in lost tribes, but _in the Jews_. The second reference, Isa. viii. 17: "_The Lord hideth His face from the House of Jacob_," is (as is often the case in Anglo-Israel quotations) a sentence broken away from the context, and has not the least shadow of connection with "lost" or found tribes. It is an exclamation of the prophet Isaiah with reference to the condition of things then prevailing in _Judah_. Because of the wickedness of the people and its king, G.o.d's face seemed to be hid from the people. But Israel's prophets always looked beyond the present gloom and darkness, and exercised faith in G.o.d even in the most adverse circ.u.mstances, so he exclaims: "And I"--whatever the nation whom he sought to bring back to G.o.d may do--"will wait upon Jehovah that hideth His face from _Jacob_ (which stands for the whole nation) and will look to Him," _i.e._, "my hope shall be set on Him alone."

A quotation is made in proof that G.o.d would not any more speak to "lost"

Israel in the Hebrew tongue. The reference is Isa. xxviii. 11: "By (or with) another tongue will I speak to this people."

This is another instance of breaking away an isolated text from its context, and giving it a meaning which was never intended. In that chapter we read how the leaders, not of the Ten Tribes, but of Judah, perverted the Word of G.o.d, which He intended should bring "rest" and "refres.h.i.+ng" to the weary (ver. 12), and turned it into so many isolated "precepts" and commandments. But because the words of grace and salvation He was speaking to them through the prophets were scorned and abused, G.o.d threatens that He will speak to them in judgment--"with strange lips and with another tongue"--in which there may be included also a reference to their being carried into captivity, "where they would have to listen to a strange language," which they understood not (Psalm lx.x.xi. 5; cxiv. 1).

The next references in proof that the "lost" tribes were "no more to be called Israel," but by another name, is a typical instance of the perversion of even the most beautiful spiritual truths of the Bible for mere outward, I was going to say, _carnal_, ends. The first quotation in proof of this point is from Isa. lxii. 2: "Thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name." This short chapter is one of the most precious and beautiful in the whole Old Testament, and it is like laying hold of an exquisitely delicate and beautiful work of art with a rough and dirty hand to treat it as Anglo-Israel "theologians"

do. The chapter begins: "For _Zion's sake_ will I not hold My peace, and for _Jerusalem's sake_ I will not rest until her righteousness go forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burneth." The speaker is either the prophet, or very probably the servant of Jehovah, the Messiah, who is the speaker in the preceding chapter. The subject is "Zion" or "Jerusalem," which includes the people. I believe that it includes the _whole nation_ of which Jerusalem is the G.o.d-appointed metropolis; but if it is to be limited to any part of the people, then it is certainly _Judah_, of which Zion or Jerusalem is the capital, and not the Ten Tribes who are here spoken of.

This Zion, for whom the Messiah makes unceasing intercession, is now ?called ?????????--"forsaken," and her land ???????????--"desolate"; but when G.o.d's light shall again break upon her, and her righteousness goes forth as a lamp that burneth, "Thou shalt be called? ????????-?????? ?(Hephzibah, _i.e._, My delight is in her); and thy land ???????????" (Beulah, _i.e._, married). But the new name by which the mouth of Jehovah shall then call her shall not only answer the outward transformation which shall then come over the people and the land, but will describe the _inward_ transformation and the true character of the people. In fact, we are told in this very chapter what the new name shall be. They shall call them--Saxons? Britons? No, "they shall call them the Holy People, _The Redeemed of the Lord_." This is also the "other-name" in Isa. lxv. 15, by which G.o.d shall call His true servants in contrast to the unG.o.dly in the nation, who shall be "slain," and leave their name (_i.e._, their remembrance) as a proverbial "curse" unto His chosen.

The next reference given in proof that the Ten Tribes were to lose their name is Psalm lx.x.xiii. 4: "The name of Israel shall be no more in remembrance." This is a typical and characteristic specimen of the manner in which Anglo-Israel "theologians" deal with Scripture. It reminds one of the grounds adduced by a certain individual for paying no heed to the Old Testament because it is written, "_Hang_ the law and the prophets" (Matt. xxii. 40). It is certainly most easy to prove almost anything from the Bible by breaking away an isolated sentence from its connection, and attaching to it a meaning which was never intended.

Psalm lx.x.xiii. is an impa.s.sioned cry to G.o.d for His interposition and deliverance of His people from a confederacy of Gentile nations, who are gathered with the determined object of utterly destroying them as a people.

"O G.o.d, keep not Thou silence: Hold not Thy peace and be not still, O G.o.d; for lo, Thine enemies make a tumult: And they that hate Thee have lifted up the head: They take crafty counsel against Thy people, and consult together against Thy hidden ones.

They have said: Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel be no more in remembrance."

This historical occasion of this Psalm may perhaps have been the great gathering of the Moabites, Ammonites, and a great mult.i.tude of other against "Judah,"[23] who, in the Psalms belonging to that period, is invariably called Israel. At the same time there is a prophetic element in the Psalm, for all the past gatherings of the nations against Jerusalem foreshadow the final great gathering under Antichrist, when the battle-cry of the confederated armies shall indeed be, "Come, let us destroy them from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance." But note, part of the furious cry of the Gentiles in their onslaught against Jerusalem is broken away from its connection and used by Anglo-Israel writers to prove that the Ten Tribes would lose their ident.i.ty and that the very name "Israel" would be "lost."

Pa.s.sing on to the next two references, Isa. xl. 27 and Isa. liv. 8, I would ask the intelligent Bible-reader what relevancy or connection these precious Scriptures have with the subject of the identification of any "lost" tribes? They are glorious words of consolation and promise addressed to the Jewish nation, or rather to the G.o.dly remnant in exile, a.s.suring them that G.o.d's eye is ever upon them, and though, on account of their sins, His face has been turned away from them, as it were, "for a moment," He will yet return to them with "everlasting kindness and have mercy upon them." It is like sacrilege to misapply such beautiful Scriptures and great spiritual truths to prove a theory which has no basis in fact, and with which they have not the remotest connection.

The last reference is Hosea i. 4-7; the words are plain enough, and if they prove anything in connection with this subject it is the very opposite of what the Anglo-Israel writers a.s.sert. Hosea did speak primarily to the Israel of the "Ten Tribes" shortly before its final overthrow by a.s.syria, and what he announces is that G.o.d would cause that kingdom, _as a kingdom_, "to cease," and that He would no more have mercy upon them. As a people they would be preserved, but, as it were, disavowed of G.o.d, and therefore called "Lo-Ammi" (_i.e._, "not My people"). But what is said here by Hosea of the condition of the people of the "Ten Tribes," after they shall have ceased to exist as a kingdom, is true also, as we know from many other Scriptures, of those who belonged to the southern kingdom of Judah. It is now the Lo-Ammi period for the _whole nation_ of the Twelve Tribes, and they shall continue to be disowned of G.o.d nationally (not as individuals) until they as a nation acknowledge and own their long-rejected Messiah. Then, in the final trial, when the spirit of grace and of supplication is poured upon them, and they shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and mourn, G.o.d will look down upon them and say, "Ammi"--"It is My people": and they shall say, "Jehovah is my G.o.d" (Zech. xiv. 9).

And it is not only the prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament which are abused in this manner, the plainest statements in the Gospels and Epistles are also twisted and perverted to mean the very opposite of what was intended. The following is from a booklet, "The Lost Tribes of Israel," by Reader Harris, K.C., "founder of the Pentecostal League," in which all the absurdities and misinterpretations found in all the Anglo-Israel publications are embodied:--

"NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECIES.

"Let us now turn to the New Testament. It is perfectly clear that Israel, who had been dispersed for more than 700 years, was much in our Lord's mind during His three years' ministry upon earth, for many were the references to Israel made by Him. As an example, let us turn to the commission He gave to the twelve apostles in Matt x.

5, 6:--

"'These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.'

"These apostles were not to go to the Gentiles, nor to the Samaritans--who were the descendants of usurpers of Israel--'but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel'; and they obeyed this command as far as was then possible. The only tribe that they could reach which had any connection with Israel was Benjamin, and Benjamin as a tribe was won to allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Benjamin had gone into captivity with Judah, and had come back with Judah; but in the prophecies of G.o.d, Benjamin had been always a.s.sociated with the Ten Tribes of Israel. It is a remarkable fact that the majority of our Lord's disciples at the time of His earthly ministry were connected with the tribe of Benjamin. It is also of interest that, when Jerusalem was afterwards besieged by the Romans under t.i.tus, the members of what had become the Christian tribe of Benjamin escaped.

"Christ Himself declared, in Matt. xv. 24, this was His own mission: '_He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel._'

"Again our Lord says, in Matt. xxi. 43: '_Therefore say I unto you_ (He was speaking to the Jews), _the kingdom of G.o.d shall be taken from you, and given to a nation_ (the Jews had long since ceased to be a nation) _bringing forth the fruits thereof_.'

"The Jews themselves evidently so understood His statement, for in John vii. 35 we read:--

"'Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will He go, that we shall not find Him? Will He go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?'

"So the Jew quite understood our Lord to refer to Israel.