Chapter One

How Jacob Became an Israelite 

Jacob and Esau were fraternal twins, the sons of Isaac, son of Abraham. Neither Jacob nor Esau were born Israelites. The name had to be earned through the development of godly character, because a very important calling came with it—the right to rule the world. This divine right had been given to Adam and was passed down to his children. Since it was ultimately to rest upon the Messiah, this calling determined who would be the Messiah’s earthly lineage.

The Two Mandates of the Birthright

Since Esau had been born first and was the oldest son, he was legally the one who was to inherit the birthright of his father. That is, when Isaac was dead, the family property was to be his.

There was also a spiritual heritage—a calling—that the Bible links to this birthright. This calling came in two parts, both given in embryo form in Genesis 1:28,

²⁸ And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Adam was called by God to “rule” the earth and “subdue” it. He was king by divine right, and so we call this the Dominion Mandate. This was not a calling to make it a Kingdom of Man, but to make it into the Kingdom of God.

The Garden of Eden was the embryo of God’s Kingdom, because it was relatively small. We do not know its dimensions, but it certainly did not cover the whole earth. It was small, because the population of that Kingdom was small. Thus, Adam and Eve were given a second mandate to “be fruitful and multiply.” This would serve to expand the Kingdom of God until it filled the whole earth with people who were in submission to the authority of God.

The Dominion Mandate and the Fruitfulness Mandate together formed the spiritual heritage of the birthright that was passed down from Adam to his descendants. After Adam died, the right to rule the earth passed down to the next birthright holder, the oldest son. Ultimately, it was given to Noah and then to his son, Shem. Shem lived to be 600 years old, and even outlived Abraham, to whom the birthright had been promised. And so Abraham never did receive the promise, because Shem outlived Abraham. The birthright was instead passed down to Abraham’s son, Isaac.

The Conflict Between Jacob and Esau

When Isaac had his twin sons, Jacob and Esau, a conflict arose over the birthright. Though Esau was the oldest son, it had been prophesied before their birth that “the older shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23). As the years passed, Jacob believed this prophecy, but Esau did not. The problem came, however, when Jacob—whose name means “a supplanter”—did not have the patience or faith to let God work out the details. He thought God needed a helping hand.

One day when Esau came home extremely hungry from an unsuccessful hunting trip, Jacob refused to give him any food until he agreed to sell the birthright to him. One might argue that this was just “good business,” but the fact is, this was not a Christian way of doing business—especially not to one’s own brother. When Jacob purchased the birthright for a bowl of soup, this sale was unlawful, according to Leviticus 25:14,

¹⁴ If you make a sale, moreover, to your friend [Heb. amiyth, “an associate, neighbor”], or buy from your friend's hand, you shall not wrong [Heb. anah, “oppress, mistreat”] one another.

In the context of buying or selling, to mistreat or oppress means to take advantage of someone’s situation, buying something at a very low price from someone desperate to sell, or selling to a desperate person at a very high price. Unfortunately, modern capitalism calls such things “good business.” But the law above reveals to us the mind of God in such matters, and Paul says in Romans 3:20, “through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” Jacob broke this moral law when he bought the birthright from Esau for a bowl of soup. Jacob would never have had enough money to purchase the birthright for a fair price, so he should have waited for God to give it to him.

Apparently, however, even in this early stage in history, the Dominion Mandate had already been separated from the Fruitfulness Mandate. The birthright that Esau sold to Jacob was only the Fruitfulness Mandate—of which we will have more to say later. After some time passed, Isaac became so sick that he thought he was going to die. Isaac then called for his son, Esau, and told him that he intended to give him the blessing of the Dominion Mandate. First, though, Esau was to go hunting and fix him a meal of venison.

But Isaac’s wife, Rebecca, heard Isaac’s words. She knew that Jacob was the one called of God to receive both of the divine mandates. So she dressed Jacob like Esau, making his hands and arms feel hairy like Esau’s. She also cooked some goat meat to give Isaac, and sent him to ask for the blessing. Isaac was nearly blind at that time (Gen. 27:1), so he could not recognize Jacob by sight. However, his hearing was not so impaired, and said in verse 22, “the voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

Even so, Isaac was still suspicious, because we read in verse 23,

²³ And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.”

Jacob deliberately lied to his father to make sure the prophecy did not fail. Some have argued that Jacob did a good thing, but the fact is, Jacob presumed that God was incapable of fulfilling His word and needed Jacob’s lie to help God. This was wrong.

The Promise to Esau

When Esau returned with venison and discovered that Isaac had already blessed his brother, he was understandably very angry (Gen. 27:34). He asked if there was any blessing for him as well. Verses 39 and 40 say,

³⁹ Then Isaac his father answered and said to him [Esau], “Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, and away from the dew of heaven from above. ⁴⁰ And by your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve; but it shall come about when you become restless [Heb., rood, “to tramp about; or to rule by trampling upon others”], that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

Isaac knew that Jacob had obtained this blessing by fraud, and so he recognized that Esau would break Jacob’s “yoke” (dominion) over him at some point in history. In fact, if we study the divine law that was later given by Moses, we find that theft had to be repaid at least double (Exodus 22:1-4). And so, for Jacob to pay restitution to Esau for his theft, Jacob would have to give the Dominion Mandate back to Esau and allow God to disinherit Esau in His own way and time—without help from Jacob’s ability to lie.

In fact, because Jacob had bought the birthright (Fruitfulness Mandate) at an unfair price, taking advantage of Esau’s hunger in a way that God did not approve, Jacob would also have to pay restitution to Esau for that sin as well.

This, then, is the foundation of the struggle over the birthright. Let us see how God has judged Jacob and has made him repay Esau in full accordance with Isaac’s prophecy.

Jacob Named Israel

It is said that Esau lived by his muscles, and Jacob lived by his wits. Wit, however, can be used for either good or evil. Jacob used his wits to deceive Esau and even his own father. Because of this, he had to separate himself from his family and live with his uncle Laban in the land of Syria. He spent 20 years there, working for his uncle. Laban was a bit unscrupulous also, and changed Jacob’s wages ten times (Gen. 31:7). However, Jacob was still able to outwit his uncle and became wealthy at his uncle’s expense. Finally, Jacob left Syria to return to his father’s house in the land of Canaan (Palestine).

On his way home, he stopped at the brook Jabbok, where he heard that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 armed men. He was afraid, of course, and that night he went out to pray. It says in Gen. 32:24-28,

²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ And when he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; and the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go until you bless me.” ²⁷ So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ And he said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Jacob literally means “a heel-catcher,” that is, a supplanter, or deceiver.” Israel means “God rules.” Some think that Israel means “ruling with God,” as if to say that Jacob won this wrestling match with the angel. But no man is stronger than God, and the meaning of the new name shows that Jacob won by losing. God gave him a new name after Jacob finally learned the sovereignty of God by losing this wrestling match. Dr. Bullinger writes in his notes on Gen. 32:28 in The Companion Bible,

“Israel = ‘God commands, orders, or rules’. Man attempts it, but always in the end, fails. Out of some forty Hebrew names compounded with ‘El’ or ‘Jah’, God is always the doer of what the verb means (cp. Dani-el, God judges).”

“prevailed = succeeded. He had contended for the birthright and succeeded (25:29-34). He had contended for the blessing and succeeded (27). He had contended with Laban and succeeded (31). He had contended with ‘men’ and succeeded. Now he contends with God—and fails. Hence his name was changed to Isra-el, God commands, to teach him the greatly needed lesson of dependence upon God.”

Like Jacob, we become Israelites by a change in our character. We must all learn the same lesson that Jacob learned. It is the lesson that we are not more powerful than God. It is the lesson that we should have faith in the sovereignty of God and not try to help Him fulfill His promises with a little help from the flesh. God does not need us to lie or defraud others, for whoever does these things is only a Jacobite and not an Israelite.

We see, then, that Jacob was not born an Israelite. He became an Israelite later in life after learning a very important lesson in the sovereignty of God. Hence, the term “Israel” was not a matter of genealogy, but a testimony of character. It was only later that Jacob-Israel’s descendants were called “Israelites,” to denote that they were physically descended from the man renamed Israel.

This original meaning is very important to our study of who is an Israelite.

Chapter Two

Joseph’s Sons Named “Israel”

 When Jacob-Israel was ready to die at the age of 147, he first blessed the sons of Joseph and gave them the Fruitfulness Mandate, which by this time was called the birthright. Jacob prayed over Ephraim and Manasseh in Genesis 48:16, saying,

¹⁶ The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and may my name live on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

Jacob was referring to the angel that he had wrestled earlier, the angel who had given him the name of Israel. He blessed his grandsons by making them the custodians of the birthright name, Israel. The blessing was specifically that of the Fruitfulness Mandate, for he said they would “grow into a multitude.”

Let us also point out that Joseph’s sons were not legally entitled to the name Israel until that name was given to them in the blessing. Natural sons are Jacobites; an Israelite is an inheritor of the birthright.

The Birthright Given to Joseph

Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob. His name means “Behold, a son!” He would have received the birthright, except that he was disqualified by sin. And so the birthright passed from him to Joseph. In Genesis 49:22 Jacob blessed Joseph, saying,

²² Joseph is a fruitful bough [Heb. ben, “son, branch from a family tree”], a fruitful bough by a spring; its branches [Heb. bath, “daughters”] run over a wall.

The Fruitfulness Mandate is described in terms of sons and daughters. In one sense it was the Kingdom, as distinct from the King (Dominion Mandate). The sons and daughters were the citizens of the Kingdom. In the highest sense, the Fruitfulness Mandate was the calling to bring forth the manifested sons of God, and not mere fleshly children. This would have gone to Reuben, but because of his lawless behavior, he was disqualified. More than that, Reuben was a type and shadow of those who attempt to bring forth the sons of God by carnal methods.

After Jacob separated the scepter from the rest of the birthright, the birthright itself came to mean just the Fruitfulness Mandate, the calling to bring forth the manifested sons of God—the true citizens and inheritors of the Kingdom. It is specifically called “the birthright” in 1 Chronicles 5:1, 2, hidden in the genealogy of Reuben:

¹ Now the sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel (for he was the first-born, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright. ² Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came the leader [nagid, “leader, ruler, prince”], yet the birthright belonged to Joseph.

It is clear from this that the genealogy of the kingly, Messianic line was part of the Dominion Mandate that was given to Judah, while the birthright itself was given to Joseph. Many years later, God anointed David to be king of Israel. He was of the tribe of Judah.

David and his son, Solomon, each ruled forty years over the United House of Israel. After Solomon died, his son Rehoboam became the new king. But the people revolted because he refused to reduce the high taxes that Solomon had imposed upon the people. The Kingdom was divided. The northern ten tribes retained the name Israel, while the southern two tribes reverted to the name of the dominant tribe, Judah.

The northern tribes had the right to keep the name Israel, because they included the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh—the tribes of Joseph. Recall that Jacob-Israel had given Joseph’s sons the birthright name of Israel. This division into two kingdoms essentially put a breach between the scepter and the birthright. The scepter remained with Judah in the southern kingdom; the birthright remained with Ephraim in the northern kingdom.

The Scepter Given to Judah

Genesis 49 records Jacob’s blessing upon all of his twelve sons. Here we see that the Dominion Mandate was given to Judah in Gen. 49:8-12, while the Fruitfulness Mandate (birthright) was given to Joseph in Gen. 49:22-26. Jacob said to Judah,

⁸ Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

The name “Judah” means praise. The Hebrew root word is yadah. Strong’s Concordance says that it means “to use (i.e., hold out) the hand; phys. to throw (a stone, an arrow) at or away; espec. to revere or worship (with extended hands).” When one swears allegiance to a leader or ruler, he is often required to extend a hand into the air and make his vow. And so, Jacob was telling Judah that he would rule over his brothers with the Dominion Mandate.

⁹ Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion who dares rouse him up?

The Dominion Mandate gave Judah the symbol of the lion. That is why many years later, when Jesus was born of the tribe of Judah, He became known as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Rev. 5:5). But with this symbol of great strength also came a great responsibility—to give one’s life for his brethren. And so the lion had to be willing to lie down in death. The true ruler, as finally portrayed in Jesus Christ, had to have the strength of a lion and the meekness of a lamb. This is why Jesus was both the Lion and the Lamb at the same time.

¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

Here again we see the royal “scepter” being given to Judah. But yet it is clear that something was destined to change when Shiloh came. It says that the scepter would not depart from Judah “until Shiloh comes.” Shiloh was the town in Ephraim where the Ark of the Covenant was first placed (Joshua 18:1). After the priesthood became corrupted in that place, God moved the Ark to Jerusalem, which became the capital city of the Kingdom of Judah.

Jesus was born of the tribe of Judah, but His throne was usurped by the priests and leaders of the Sanhedrin. This is portrayed in Jesus’ parable in Matt. 21:33-45, especially in verse 38, where the “vine-growers” said, ‘This is the Heir; come, let us kill Him and seize His inheritance.” When Jesus came of Judah to claim the Dominion Mandate, the leaders recognized Him as the Heir, but disagreed with His peaceful ways. He came as the Prince of Peace, rather than as an armed general to fight the Romans. So they killed the King and usurped His throne.

Because of this, Jesus the “King of the Jews” was never proclaimed King in the earth during His life as a Judahite. Those disciples who DID recognize Him as King were the true Judahites, as Paul says in Romans 2:28, 29, but Jesus ascended without being crowned on earth. Because the Church was the continuation of the tribe of Judah, it received the scepter of Judah temporarily until Christ’s second appearance.

In Christ’s second appearance, He will come not from the tribe of Judah, but as it were, from the tribe of Joseph. Thus, the scepter departs from the true Jews (the Church) and is given to Yashua the Ephraimite and to His body, the overcomers. His second work is a Joseph work. This is why Rev. 19:13 describes Christ as coming “with a robe dipped in blood.” Joseph’s robe, his coat of many colors, was dipped in blood also (Gen. 37:21). A more complete study of this can be found in chapter 11 of my book, The Laws of the Second Coming.

The fact that Judah must give way to Joseph’s rule is shown also in Joseph’s dream about the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him. The dream prophesied that Joseph’s parents and brothers ultimately would bow to him. And this is what happened in the story of Joseph. This teaches us what the word “until” means when Jacob said to Judah, “the scepter shall not depart from Judah . . . UNTIL Shiloh comes.” The scepter was given to Judah only temporarily until Joseph came into his calling.

There was a carnally-minded element within Judah, however, that coveted power. This group wanted it all—the scepter and the birthright together. These men of the tribe of Judah (and its Levitical priesthood) had rebellious hearts and ultimately formed the group of “evil figs” mentioned in Jeremiah 24. We described these people fully in our book, Who is a Jew?, showing that  there were two groups of Judahites, one good and one evil. The good figs accepted Christ, while the evil figs crucified Him and usurped His throne. Today, this same group of evil figs desires to usurp Joseph’s birthright as well.

Zionism is the New Replacement Theology

Carnally-minded men seek to increase their power over others, and they are often willing to resort to violence to accomplish their goals. There has been a power struggle over the scepter and the birthright for thousands of years, and it is yet with us today. In the first coming of Christ, the struggle centered primarily around the scepter—that is, the right to rule. In the time of the second appearance of Christ, the struggle has centered around the birthright and the birthright name of Israel.

In each of these two struggles, both sides lay claim to the callings—first of Judah, and secondly, the calling of Joseph. Jesus and His disciples are the true inheritors, but they are violently opposed by “evil figs” who proclaim that they are the true inheritors of both callings. From a biblical perspective, however, these violent men are usurpers who seek to overthrow and replace the true inheritors of the promises.

Jesus came as the Messiah, born of the kingly line of Judah. He was the rightful Heir to the throne of David. But in the opinion of the chief priests, He was too peace-loving and too submissive to the Romans to be the Messiah. So the chief priests killed the Messiah in order to usurp His throne, as Jesus stated in His parable in Matt. 21:37-39,

³⁷ But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

The parable shows that they recognized Him as the Messiah, the Son, the Heir. They were not blind in this. The common people were blinded by their leaders, but the chief priests knew exactly what they were doing. Their actions showed them to be antichrists. To usurp the throne is to be antichrist, for anti in Greek means “in place of” or “to replace.” Matt. 2:22 says (NASB),

²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of [Greek: anti] his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.

In 2 Samuel 15, we read that Absalom usurped the throne and replaced David as king of Israel. He ruled “anti-David.” And since David was a type of Christ, Absalom became a type of anti-christ. To rule in place of another is not wrong in itself, but to usurp the throne unlawfully is to be an anti-king. David himself ruled upon the throne of God (Christ). The difference was that he did not rule in rebellion, nor did he secure the throne by usurping it. He was anointed by God to rule in His throne. He ruled in submission to Jesus Christ, the Yahweh of the Old Testament, bound by God’s law.

The Jewish rulers, however, did not secure the throne in a lawful manner. They got it in the same way that Absalom got it. Because of that, they became antichrists, as John describes them in 1 John 2:18-23. He says that an antichrist is one who denies the Father and the Son. It was a direct reference to the Judaism of that temple in Jerusalem that had denied the throne to Jesus Christ, the Son. To deny the Son also denies the Father.

In the first coming of Christ, the controversy was over the scepter of Judah. However, in the second coming of Christ the controversy is over the birthright of Joseph. Zionism has become the primary movement designed to usurp the Kingdom itself, for what good is it to usurp the throne of David without having the birthright as well? The birthright is the Kingdom itself. They want to rule the world—the Kingdom of God—as God’s “chosen,” but they want to do it by violence and force. They certainly do not intend to rule their Kingdom in submission to Jesus Christ, for Jesus said of them in Luke 19:14,

¹⁴ But his citizens [of Judah] hated him [Jesus], and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

The usurpers succeeded in gaining control of Joseph’s birthright and the birthright name Israel in 1948. In calling themselves Israel, the Zionist “Jews” have claimed to replace Joseph-Israel as the birthright holder. So they first replaced the King of Judah, and then replaced the King of Israel, both times by violence and force. The first time, they had to violently kill the King of Judah. The second time in the 1940’s they had to use terrorist tactics to drive out the British. Thus have they established their own brand of replacement theology.

The Jews in 1948 were not content to name their country Judah, or Judea, knowing that they needed to convince the Christians that they were fulfilling the prophecies of the regathering of the lost tribes of the house of Israel. So they named their nation “Israel,” usurping the name given to the sons of Joseph in Gen. 38:48:16. The Zionist state of “Israel” has unlawfully usurped the place of Joseph and has replaced true Israel in the minds of men. They have convinced much of the Church that they are the inheritors of the birthright given to Joseph and his children. They have convinced many Christians that the Old Jerusalem, ruled by Jews, is the beginning of the Kingdom of God upon the earth. Every time Christian Zionists call them Israel, they acknowledge the usurpers as the inheritors of the birthright of Joseph.

This is the real issue confronting the Church today. The birthright represents the Kingdom, even as the scepter represents the King. The Jewish priests have replaced Jesus on the throne, and now the Zionist state of “Israel” has replaced the true Israel as the Kingdom of God upon the earth. This is their brand of replacement theology.

The Lost Sheep of Israel

Israel was the name that the prophets gave to the northern ten tribes, as distinct from Judah. When the northern house of Israel was conquered and deported by Assyria, they took the birthright with them into captivity. There is no place in Scripture where God says that Judah would replace the tribes of Joseph as inheritors of the birthright. In fact, when the tribes of Joseph became “lost sheep,” they followed the pattern of their father, Joseph, who was also a “lost sheep” and who set the original prophetic pattern. The birthright was lost, but not irretrievably lost.

The life of Joseph was prophetic of what would happen to his descendants, the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Joseph was “lost” and presumed dead for many years. But he was not dead, nor was he lost from the sight of God. While in Egypt, Joseph became the world ruler, and ultimately, his brothers bowed before him. Joseph eventually was “found” when he revealed Himself to his brothers.

So it is with the lost house of Israel. They were considered to be “lost” by men, as we read in Ezekiel 34:8, “My shepherds did not search for My flock.” That is because the shepherds presumed Israel to be dead or lost. Therefore, in Ezekiel 34:11 God says,

¹¹ For thus says the Lord God; Behold I myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.

It was Judah’s idea to sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt (Gen. 37:26, 27). Judah stood to gain the most by getting rid of Joseph. Reuben had been disqualified from receiving the birthright, because he had defiled his father’s bed (Gen. 35:22; 49:4; 1 Chron. 5:1). The next two oldest sons, Simeon and Levi, had been disqualified, because of their legalistic cruelty that made their father’s name stink among the nations (Gen. 34:30). Judah must have known by this time that he was the next in line to receive the birthright. The only one who stood in his way was Jacob’s beloved son, Joseph.

So Judah proposed selling him as a slave into Egypt. No doubt his motive was to replace Joseph as the birthright holder. And indeed, it seemed as if the plan would work, because Joseph was lost for so many years. It looked as if Judah would get it all. But in fact, Judah never received the birthright. The birthright was simply held in abeyance until Joseph was found. In the end, Joseph was found, and his father gave him the birthright.

The divine law tells us that we are responsible to take care of lost sheep until their owner comes to claim them. It is found in Deut. 22:1, 2 says,

¹ You shall not see your countryman’s ox or his sheep straying away, and pay no attention to them; you shall certainly bring them back to your countryman. ² And if your countryman is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall remain with you until your countryman looks for it; then you shall restore it to him.

Ezekiel tells us that God’s sheep are the House of Israel and that they are “lost.” God scolds the shepherds for not looking for His sheep. Prophetically, this means that the shepherds (pastors) generally refuse to search for the lost sheep of the House of Israel. They say that God has a sufficient number of sheep in the Jewish people, so why should they take the time to search for those other lost sheep? God’s response is to search for His sheep Himself (Ez. 34:11). He will certainly find His sheep, but is it not more pleasing to Him for the shepherds to follow His instruction in Deut. 22:1, 2 and search for His sheep?

The purpose of this book is to search for His sheep on every level. Because so few have bothered to search for those lost tribes of Israel, the Zionists have been able to usurp Joseph’s birthright and even call themselves Israel. Because so many Christians do not know the basic difference between Israel and Judah, many have been deceived into supporting a counterfeit Israel, a counterfeit Zion, and a counterfeit Kingdom.

Christians have been deceived into thinking that the old Jerusalem can bring forth the promised Seed. But Paul tells us that the old Jerusalem is Hagar and can never bring forth the promise (Gal. 4:24). The old Jerusalem is NOT the capital city of the Kingdom of God. Jesus is NOT coming to rule in that old city or in a rebuilt temple there. Jesus is NOT of Hagar, but of Sarah. Yet, instead of casting out the bondwoman and her son, as Paul tells us to do in Galatians 4:30, Christian Zionists have instead cast out Sarah and her son!

This is what makes it very important to search for God’s lost sheep. Let us not allow Hagar to replace Sarah. Let us not allow Ishmael to replace Isaac. Let us not allow the old Jerusalem to replace the New Jerusalem. Let us not allow the Jews to replace Israel. Let us not allow the antichrist to replace the true Christ. Let us not support the new replacement theology of the Christian Zionists to deceive us into supporting usurpers.

 Chapter Three

The Breach: Israel and Judah

 During the time of the United Kingdom under Saul, David, and Solomon, the tribes of Judah and Joseph (i.e., Ephraim and Manasseh) were united. Judah benefited from the birthright of Joseph, and the tribes of Joseph benefited from Judah’s Dominion Mandate. David was a righteous king, for when he sinned, he also repented. His son, Solomon, however, started out as a righteous king, but when he fell into sin, he did not repent. So we read in 1 Kings 11:9-13,

⁹ Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, ¹⁰ and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the Lord had commanded. ¹¹ So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. ¹² Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.

Instead of repenting, Solomon attempted to kill Jeroboam, the man God had chosen to rule the house of Israel (1 Kings 11:40). So Jeroboam fled to Egypt and remained there until the death of Solomon.

Ahijah’s Prophecy

After Solomon died, the kingdom was split by civil war because of the high taxes that Solomon had imposed upon the people. The story is told in 1 Kings 11 and 12. In 1 Kings 11:29-36, we read,

²⁹ And it came about at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had clothed himself with a new cloak; and both of them were alone in the field. ³⁰ Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak which was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will tear the Kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes.

We see from this that God Himself had decreed that the Kingdom would be taken from Rehoboam, the King of Judah, son of Solomon. Why? God was judging Solomon for his sins. God left Rehoboam with the scepter itself and the single tribe of Benjamin in order to fulfill His promise to David. But this division was designed to separate the kingdom from the king.

This is very important, because these ten tribes included the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh—the birthright tribes who were the custodians of the name Israel. Thus, the Kingdom belonged to the tribes of Joseph, not the tribe of Judah, even though Judah had the scepter. Judah was to bring forth the King; but Joseph possessed the Kingdom.

In fact, legally speaking, only the tribes of Joseph and those united with them could be called Israelites. If the tribe of Dan or Naphtali or Gad had separated themselves from Ephraim and Manasseh, they would have had to call themselves by their tribal name only. They would not have had the right to call themselves Israel.

1 Kings 11:34, 35 continues,

³⁴ Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who observed My commandments and My statutes. ³⁵ but I will take the Kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you [Jeroboam], even ten tribes.

The birthright tribes separated themselves from Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, and so the northern tribes retained the right to call themselves Israel. Judah was not the tribe that had the right to use the name Israel, except by the consent of the birthright holders. Jacob had given this name to the sons of Joseph, who were now part of the revolt against Judah.

This is why the Jews are not Israel as the prophets used the term when they spoke of the regathering of the house of Israel in the last days.

The Prophets Speak of Judah and Israel

Most of the prophets lived during or after the kingdom was removed from the Judahite kings. They used the term Israel in the commonly accepted manner to refer to the northern ten tribes. They used the term Judah when referring to the southern house of Judah. Each nation had its own line of kings. After the division, Rehoboam continued to rule Judah, but Jeroboam ruled Israel, even as Ahijah had prophesied in 1 Kings 11:35 (quoted earlier).

For example, in Isaiah 5 the prophet writes a song “concerning His vineyard” (5:2). This is the song that Jesus referred to in His parable in Matt. 21:33-45. The Lord gave the interpretation to the prophet in Isaiah 5:7, saying,

⁷ For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His delightful plant. . . .

The vineyard is the house of Israel, the Kingdom of God. Judah, as one of the tribes, was a plant in the vineyard. But Judah was not the vineyard itself, but only a part of it.

When the prophet Isaiah gave a prophecy to King Hezekiah of Judah, he said in Isaiah 37:31,

³¹ And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

Most of Isaiah’s prophecies were directed toward the northern house of Israel. Isaiah lived during the time of the Assyrian invasion when Israel’s capital, Samaria, was captured in 721 B.C. Isaiah had moved south to the city of Jerusalem to escape. We find him in Jerusalem eight years later in the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:2) prophesying to King Hezekiah that God would destroy the Assyrian army.

Isaiah saw the conquest and deportation of the Kingdom of Israel. Much of his prophecy was designed to speak comfort to those ten tribes. For this reason, the bulk of Isaiah’s prophecies were directed at the ten tribes that the Assyrians had deported. Many times Isaiah speaks of them as the house of Jacob (Is. 29:22), rather than the house of Israel. This was to emphasize the fact that Israel was not acting in accordance with the name Israel. They were acting like Jacob, the supplanter and deceiver. They certainly did not recognize God’s rulership, as the name Israel implies. Israel means “God rules.”

A century later, the Lord called the prophet Jeremiah to prophesy in the last days of the house of Judah before their Babylonian captivity. The bulk of Jeremiah’s prophecies are directed toward Judah and Jerusalem, but he also makes reference to the house of Israel where appropriate. For example, in Jeremiah 11:10 he says,

¹⁰ . . . the house of Judah AND the house of Israel have broken My covenant, which I made with their fathers.

In other words, both nations of Israel and Judah had broken the covenant God made with them in the days of Moses. For this reason God said Jer. 31:31,

³¹ Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Jeremiah understood that God would make this “new covenant” with both Israel and Judah. It would be made with a United Kingdom under one Head, Jesus Christ. As we showed in Who is a Jew? the house of Judah are those “good figs” who were Jesus’ disciples—not the “evil figs” who crucified the King and usurped His throne. The Christian believers, along with converts who became citizens of true Judah by faith in Jesus, were the true House of Judah. The unbelievers were cut off from their people.

These members of the tribe of Judah must be united with “Israel” under one Head in order for the New Covenant to be fully established in the earth. Hence, we must know who Israel is. In fact, even as natural branches were cut off from the tribe of Judah, so also are natural branches cut off from Israel. Just because one is descended from one of those lost tribes does not automatically make him an heir of the promise to Israel.

Those Israelites in the Bible were so idolatrous that God cut them off and sent them into captivity. None of those idolatrous Israelites will rule the world in the Kingdom of God. They will be judged like any other sinner, for the law is impartial. It does not indulge the sins of Israelites, as if they enjoy some privilege to sin that God does not allow with other people.

Idolatry and lack of faith in God was the reason for both captivities. In Isaiah’s day Israel was taken to Assyria. In Jeremiah’s day Judah was taken to Babylon.

The Captivity of Natural Israel: 721 B.C.

At the time the Assyrians laid siege to Samaria, the capital of Israel, Hoshea was king of Israel in Samaria, while Hezekiah was king in Jerusalem over Judah. 2 Kings 18:1 says,

¹ Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king.

Hoshea was the last king of Israel, and during his reign, Hezekiah became king of Judah. 2 Kings 17:5, 6 tells us,

⁵ Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years. ⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

This was not the Babylonian captivity of Judah and Jerusalem. This was instead the captivity of Israel with its capital city of Samaria. 2 Kings 17 lists the sins of Israel and concludes with verse 18,

¹⁸ So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah.

Scripture makes it very clear that the tribe of Judah was not taken to Assyria in this captivity. It also makes the distinction between Israel and Judah very clear. This does NOT mean, however, that every individual Israelite was deported to Assyria. On the contrary, there were many individuals who escaped, and many of these were later invited by King Hezekiah of Judah to keep the Feast of Passover with them (2 Chron. 30:5). But individuals do not make a tribe, regardless of their numbers. The “tribe” is where the prince of the tribe is located. The tribeship resides with its leader. The leaders of all the tribes had been deported to Assyria, and so the tribes were said to be deported.

In fact, many individual Judahites had also been taken to Assyria, but this did not mean that the tribe of Judah had been taken. No, the tribe of Judah was where king Hezekiah was. Assyria conquered all of the walled cities of Judah (2 Kings 18:13) and deported them to Assyria, but they failed to conquer Jerusalem. Hezekiah survived this siege of Jerusalem, and so the tribe of Judah remained in Jerusalem, even though many of the individual Judahites had already been captured.

Individuals do not constitute the tribal unit itself. The prince of the tribe gives the tribal unit its legal status as a tribe. And so the fact that there were Israelites in the tribe of Judah does not mean that we can call Judah by the name Israel. The prophets never treat Judah as if they could fulfill the prophecies of the house of Israel. 2 Kings 17:22, 23 says,

²² And the sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; and they did not depart from them, ²³ until the Lord removed Israel from His sight, as He spoke through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.

This verse clearly shows that “Israel” referred to the northern ten tribes that had been given to Jeroboam through the prophet Ahijah. Israel was not Judah. Israel and Judah were two different nations, having two different callings, or mandates. There were also two different captivities. First Israel was deported to Assyria; then a century later Judah was deported to Babylon.

I emphasize this point because there has been much confusion in the past century, due to a simple lack of historical teaching in the Church. I myself was raised thinking that Judah and Israel were synonymous terms. I recall when I finally learned the difference between them, I shared this with my father. He expressed surprise that he had never understood this before, especially since he had been a graduate of Taylor University, a pastor, and a missionary for many years. Strangely enough, he had been taught about the divided kingdom and knew that Israel and Judah were separate nations. But when it came to understanding Bible prophecy, he had been taught that the Jews were Israel! To his credit, he saw the utter contradiction of this almost immediately as I pointed out the Bible passages that speak of the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

As long as we understand the distinction between Israel and Judah, we will be able to understand and apply the Scriptures properly. This is the most important key in understanding that the Israeli state is not the Israel of Bible prophecy. The prophets were speaking of the “ten lost tribes,” not the two tribes that were never lost.

The Captivity of Natural Judah: 604 B.C.

The Assyrian Empire came to an end in 607 B.C. when one of its provinces revolted successfully. That province was Babylon. Its king conquered Assyria’s capital, Nineveh, in 607 B.C. and then continued its conquests through Syria, Israel, Judah, and Egypt. Babylon captured Jerusalem in 604 B.C. Later, because Judah tried to revolt—contrary to the prophetic word of Jeremiah—the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C.

Judah’s citizens and its kingly line were taken to Babylon, where they spent 70 years in exile. Then Babylon was in turn conquered by the Medes and Persians under Darius and Cyrus in 537 B.C. King Darius the Mede organized the new Empire from Babylon for a few years, putting Daniel in the position of Chief Governor (Dan. 6:1-3). Then history records that when King Cyrus of Persia finished his conquests, he returned to rule as the dominant power, and his father-in-law, Darius, returned to his own country in Media.

During Cyrus’ first year as king, he issued a decree allowing the people of Judah to return to their own lands (Ezra 1:1). About 50,000 of them (Ezra 2:64, 65) returned under Zerubbabel, who was appointed by the king as their leader (Ezra 3:2). Zerubbabel himself was of the royal lineage of David, and he also was the ancestor of Jesus Himself (Luke 3:27).

It was necessary that Judah be allowed to return to the old land, because the prophet had prophesied in Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Thus, the captivity of Judah could not be permanent.

On the other hand, God would not allow Israel to return to the old land from their captivity in Assyria. First of all, there is no historical record that they ever returned. But more importantly, such a return would have been contrary to biblical law. This will become apparent in our next chapter.

Chapter Four

Divorce and Dispersion

The prophets treat God’s covenant with Israel and Judah as a marriage covenant. It was, of course, an Old Covenant marriage, not a New Covenant marriage. An Old Covenant marriage is one where the wife is a bondwoman, called to obedience as a good servant to her husband. This was the nature of the marriage covenant made at Mount Sinai, where Israel swore obedience to God (Jesus in His pre-incarnate form), and God promised to bless her if she remained obedient (Ex. 19:5, 6).

Israel was unfaithful to God for many centuries, so God finally gave her a bill of divorce, according to the law. This is recorded in Jer. 3:8,

⁸ And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.

If God had not been married to Israel, there would have been no need for a writ of divorce. But God was following His own lawful procedure here that He had set forth in Deut. 24:1-4. We quote here from Rotherham’s The Emphasized Bible,

¹ When a man taketh a wife and marrieth her, then shall it be if she find not favour in his eyes, because he hath found in her some matter of shame, that he shall write her a scroll of divorcement, and put it into her hand, and shall send her forth out of his house.

The law is prophetic, because it shows us how God deals with nations. In this case, the law prophesied of the way God would handle His marriage with the house of Israel. The law did not allow Him to send Israel into captivity (“out of his house”) until He had first given her a writ of divorce, or a “scroll of divorcement.” The divorce is what makes it lawful to send the wife out of the house.

Jeremiah tells us that He did this with Israel through the written word of the prophets. First God divorced Israel, and then He sent her out of His house into what has been called “the dispersion.” God’s divorce made the dispersion lawful.

The Law of Divorce and Remarriage

Deut. 24:2 proves that divorce really is divorce, and is not merely a legal separation. Divorce ends the marriage relationship in the eyes of God and makes it lawful for the divorced wife to be married to another man. The law says,

² And when she cometh forth out of his house, then may she go her way and become another man’s.

Once lawfully divorced, she is free to remarry. This law sounds as if it contradicts Jesus’ words in Matt. 5:32, but the problem is in the translation of Jesus’ words—not that Jesus was putting away the law. The NASB translates Matt. 5:31, 32 like this,

³¹ And it was said, Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of dismissal; ³² but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The NASB is usually a good translation of the Scripture, but it does make some key errors according to the bias of the translators. This, however, is a blatant mistranslation that makes Jesus put away the law, even after He said earlier in verses 18 and 19,

¹⁷ Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. . . .

How then can these translators tell us that Jesus abolished one of these laws? Have either heaven or earth passed away yet? More importantly, are these translators trying to qualify as the least in the kingdom? Jesus was not destroying or changing even the least of the commandments. He was instead explaining the true meaning of this law, because it was being abused, destroyed, and put away through men’s traditions.

The Greek word for “divorce” is apostasion. It appears in Matt. 5:31, but not in 5:32. Here is how these verses actually read in the Greek:

³¹ And it was said, Whoever shall release [apolue, “put away; send away”] his wife, let him give her a writ of divorce [apostasion, “divorce”].

Apolue describes the act of sending away. Apostasion is the divorce itself. These two words are not the same, and they do not have the same meaning. The law mandates that divorce must take place before it is lawful to send away one’s wife. In other words, it is unlawful to send her away without divorce papers.

The ten lost tribes of Israel were sent out of God’s house after being given a writ of divorce. The divorce is the legal paperwork that makes it lawful to send her away. There is a difference between the divorce and the act of sending her away. Failure to make that distinction has been the cause of much confusion and lawlessness. Matt. 5:32 continues,

³² but I say to you that everyone who releases [apolue] his wife, except on account of fornication, causes her to commit adultery; and he who marries the released one [apoluo] commits adultery.

Take note that the word “divorce” does not even appear in this verse. Jesus was talking about releasing, putting away, or sending away one’s wife without proper divorce papers. If a man sends his wife out of the house in violation of the divine law—without giving her a writ of divorce—then he causes her to commit adultery. Why? Because she will probably have to find someone else to marry in order to survive, and if she cannot find anyone, she will probably resort to becoming a harlot.

If she were to marry someone else without having lawful divorce papers, then she would be committing adultery. Take note that if she had been properly divorced, then even if she became a harlot, she would not be committing adultery. It would be fornication, but not adultery. One must be still married to commit adultery. And that is why the one who marries one who has been sent away without divorce papers commits adultery as well.

Now let us consider why Jesus said, “except on account of fornication.” He implies that it is lawful to merely put away one’s wife if the relationship is one of fornication—that is, an unlawful union that God does not recognize as a lawful marriage. Examples of fornication include not only whoredom, but also incest (1 Cor. 5:1) and homosexual relationships (Jude 7). While man’s laws may recognize such relationships as lawful marriages, God does not.

For this reason, divorce papers are not required in such cases. Separation or “putting away” is the solution. A man does not need to give divorce papers to a harlot. A man having sexual relations with his mother, as Paul describes, does not need to give her a writ of divorce, but merely to separate from her—quit the relationship immediately. Homosexual “partners” do not need divorce papers, but must separate.

And so, putting all this together, we can paraphrase Jesus’ words as follows:

“But I say to you that everyone who simply puts away his wife without divorce papers (except for fornication, where this IS the solution) causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries such a woman who has been merely put away commits adultery.”

The verse now makes perfect sense and does not make Jesus contradict the law. For a more complete study on this question, see my book, The Bible Says: Divorce and Remarriage is NOT Adultery.

The point of this is to show that when God divorced the house of Israel, He did so in a lawful manner. He gave her a bill of divorcement, as Jer. 3:8 tells us. Hosea confirms this in Hosea 2:2, where God says,

² Contend with your mother [Israel], contend, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband.

Only after God gave Israel a bill of divorcement did He send her out of His house. Divorce came first—then came the dispersion. Israel’s divorce ended her marriage relationship with Jesus that had been established by the vows of the Old Covenant. Israel’s dispersion was the act of sending her out of His house.

Divorce really is divorce, not merely an unlawful separation as many Churches have taught. God had to divorce Israel in order to end the Old Covenant and bring in a New Covenant. If divorce were unlawful, then Christians have no right to claim a New Covenant, for we would all have to seek to marry God in an Old Covenant marriage. That would make us all as Hagar, rather than as Sarah, and we would have to remain in bondage forever. We can thank God for providing for divorce in the law, so that He would be able to lawfully divorce Israel and provide for remarriage under the New Covenant.

Israel Repents in the Wilderness

Hosea was told to marry a woman named Gomer. She was either already a harlot, or became a harlot later. Scholars have debated the question, but if she truly represented the house of Israel, we know that Israel did not become a harlot until after she had married Jesus Christ at Mount Sinai. So this was probably the case also with Gomer.

When they had children, they were named prophetically to indicate what God was going to do with the house of Israel. Gomer committed adultery with other men, even as Israel had committed adultery with other gods. And so Hosea’s son was named Jezreel, or Yezreel, which is almost the same name as Yisrael, or Israel. The name means “God scatters,” because God intended to scatter the house of Israel by sending her out of His house.

Hosea and Gomer then had a girl, who was named Lo-ruhamah, “not pitied.” Next came a son named Lo-ammi, “not my people,” because God was divorcing the house of Israel. And yet, Hosea 1:10 says that the population of Israel would increase as the sand of the sea even in their captivity. There is no word here about Israel being lost to God. In fact, He says that in their scattered state, they would be called “the sons of the living God.” We can gather from this that Israel would become a Christian people during the time of their dispersion.

In fact, as we will see, no one—Israelite or otherwise—can become a manifested son of God apart from Jesus Christ. Hence, we can say that only those dispersed Israelites who would come to accept and know Jesus Christ can fulfill this prophecy, along with many non-Israelites who would come to know Christ.

Hosea 2:7 alludes to this conversion to Christ also, saying,

⁷ And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; and she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now!’

Israel actually had many lovers and many husbands. But the prophet puts words in the mouth of Israel, making her think to herself, “I will go back to my FIRST husband.” In speaking of God as her first husband, it is plain that Israel had been divorced and that she had remarried at least one other husband during her exile.

This is one of the prophecies that is mistakenly applied to the Jews today. Bible teachers mistakenly identify Israel with Judah and fail to recognize that Hosea’s prophecy was addressed specifically to the lost ten tribes of the house of Israel—not to Judah. For this reason, they have given evangelical Christians the false hope of a soon-coming mass conversion of Jews to Christ. They are mistaken.

Israel was to seek her first Husband, Jesus Christ, while in the wilderness—not after returning to God’s house. The Zionist state simply does not fit this prophecy. To end a Jewish dispersion and bring the Jews back to Palestine—without their turning to Christ first and being married to Him—is morally unacceptable to God and to His law.

The Second Betrothal

Hosea then gives Israel hope even during her exile, saying God will betroth her once again in preparation for the great remarriage:

¹⁴ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness, and speak kindly to her. . . ¹⁹ And I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in loving kindness and in compassion, ²⁰ And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord. . . ²³ And I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they will say, ‘Thou art my God!’

Hosea says that God will betroth Israel to Himself even after having divorced her. This prophecy is remarkable, because it appears to violate the law in Deut. 24:3, 4 (Rotherham’s The Emphasized Bible),

³ But if the latter husband hate her and write her a scroll of divorcement, and put it into her hand and send her away out of his house, or if the latter husband die, who had taken her to him to wife, ⁴ then may her first husband who sent her away NOT again take her to become his wife, after that she hath been defiled, for that were an abomination before Yahweh—lest thou bring sin upon the land which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee for an inheritance.

Israel had remarried other gods. Thus, Hosea’s prophecy that God would betroth her again in righteousness was debated in rabbinic writings. How could God remarry His divorced wife without violating His own law? They did not even remotely consider the fact that God might come to earth as the Messiah, that He would die, and that He would be raised again as a new creature—a different Person in the eyes of the law.

Jesus’ death and resurrection made Him eligible as a New Creature to remarry the house of Israel. This is how His death freed him from the law that forbids a man to remarry a former spouse after she has been remarried. Being free from the law does not mean we are free to sin that grace that may abound. We are never free to be lawless. But Jesus’ death did free Him from the law forbidding Him to remarry Israel.

Yet this remarriage could not take place while Israel was still married to false gods, for God would not marry a woman who was already married. When Jesus died and rose again, He became an eligible bachelor. But Israel was not an eligible woman. Israel was still worshipping other gods and was dispersed among the nations.

The old land represented the original house of God—the place where He placed His name. Israel had been put away, sent out of His house. God could not lawfully bring a woman into His house that He had divorced and who had remarried other gods. It was not lawful for God to allow Israel to co-habit with Him outside of the bond of marriage.

Israel Did Not Return with Judah

Judah’s return from Babylon was only lawful because God had not divorced Judah. It was a temporary separation, after which time Judah returned to God’s “house” in the old land. But Israel had been divorced, and so it was not lawful for her to return with Judah at that time. Those who insist that Israel reunited with Judah and returned with them to the old land simply do not understand the divine law that barred such a thing. Jesus could not take back His first wife along with Judah—not until He had died on the cross, for that made Him a “new creature,” eligible in the eyes of the law to remarry her.

The fact that Israel did not return with Judah is well known to virtually all historians and to the Jews themselves. The Jewish Quarterly Review, 1888 (Vol. 1) ran an article by Dr. A. Neubauer, saying on page15,

“The captives of Israel exiled beyond the Euphrates did not return as a whole to Palestine along with the brethren the captives of Judah; at least there is no mention made of this event in the documents at our disposal.”

The Jewish Encyclopedia (online) says under the heading, “Tribes, Lost Ten,”

“As a large number of prophecies relate to the return of "Israel" to the Holy Land, believers in the literal inspiration of the Scriptures have always labored under a difficulty in regard to the continued existence of the tribes of Israel, with the exception of those of Judah and Levi (or Benjamin), which returned with Ezra and Nehemiah. If the Ten Tribes have disappeared, the literal fulfilment of the prophecies would be impossible; if they have not disappeared, obviously they must exist under a different name.

This tells us that they recognize the prophecies of “Israel” to be referring to the so-called “lost tribes of Israel,” and not to the Jews themselves.

And so, to apply these prophecies of Israel to the Jewish people is not supported by Jewish historians. Either they disappeared and the birthright was lost—or they did not disappear, but “exist under a different name.” As we will see in our next section, they do indeed exist under different names. The lost birthright of Joseph is not really lost, but only temporarily hidden by divine intent until the Joseph is found. When they are revealed to the world, then the Zionist state will have to give up its name Israel.

Israel was NOT incorporated into Jewry at the end of the Babylonian captivity, as some have claimed. Israel did NOT return with Judah to form one nation again. So their teaching that the Jews are Israel is false. And thus, their claims that the Zionists are fulfilling the prophecies of the regathered house of Israel are equally false.

Worse yet, many Christians have been induced to support the Zionist state in their attempt to return to God’s house without accepting Jesus Christ as their Husband. Will Jesus agree to live with a woman outside of the bonds of matrimony? No, this counterfeit Israel is a harlot, biblically speaking. It is trying to live in God’s old house without first being married to Him—that is, without accepting Jesus Christ. That is harlotry.

Modern prophecy teachers are in great error in this when they teach that “Israel” has returned to the land (God’s house) apart from the bonds of marriage with Jesus Christ. That teaching is now manifested in our culture, for since 1948 it has become legally acceptable for men and women to live together without being married. The promiscuous laws of the Western nations have been conformed to the promiscuous prophetic teachings of the Church in regard to Zionism and the Israeli state.

Once again, that state is a counterfeit. It is NOT the betrothal “in righteousness” that Hosea prophesied. It is an unrighteous counterfeit in violation of the divine law.

The New Testament speaks of the “marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:7-9) after the Bride has made herself ready. The marriage cannot take place before the Bride has put on her white robes of righteousness. Though Jesus is eligible to remarry her, she is not eligible until she is “ready.” This is why the marriage has not yet taken place. Up to now, she has not been ready, and Jesus Christ will not marry her before she is ready.

So if natural Israel did not return with Judah after the Babylonian captivity, were did all those Israelites go? How were they lost? Can they be found?

Natural Israel: Lost and Found

The term “natural Israel” is usually applied to the Jews today. It is common to hear men say, “The Jews are natural Israel.” However, this is contrary to Scripture. Israel is not Judah. They were two separate nations. There are natural Jews and natural Israelites, but they are not the same people. So it is necessary for us to explain the difference.

The tribes of Israel were lost because they lost their name Israel. When their nation was destroyed, and the people deported, their genealogical records were destroyed, and their captors called them by other names. But the people themselves were not all killed, nor were all of them simply assimilated by other nations. A closer look at the archeological records of those nations tell us clearly who the Israelites were in the land of their captivity.

The most important key is knowing that only Israel called itself Israel. The other nations called Israel by other names. The most important name for Israel was the House of Omri, because Omri was one of Israel’s greatest kings (1 Kings 16:23-28).

The Black Obelisk of Shalmanezer is one of the most well-known of all the Assyrian monuments. Every historian knows about it, and even history books written by evangelical Christians are fully aware of this monument. It pictures King Jehu of Israel giving tribute to Shalmanezer of Assyria.

In this monument, Israel is called “the House of Omri,” or literally Beth-Khumri. It is sometimes spelled Beth-Ghomri, Bit-Khumri, or Beth-Humria. Merrill Unger’s book, Archeology and the Old Testament, p. 243 says,

“. . . The initial contact between Israel and Assyria evidently occurred during Omri’s day, for from that time on Israel appears in cuneiform records as Bit-Humri (‘House of Omri’). This official appellation was applied to Samaria, the capital city. Moreover, the designation of an Israelite King became Mar Humri (‘son,’ i.e., ‘royal successor of Omri’). Tiglath Pileser III’s reference to the land of Israel over a century later by its official name Bit Humria evidences the significance of Omri as a ruler in the history of Israel.”

Omri, or Humri, was originally pronounced Ghomri, or Gomer. It is the same as the name of Hosea’s wife, Gomer, who prophetically represented the house of Israel. This is shown in The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia, by Theophilus G. Pinches (1902),

“It is noteworthy that the Assyrian form of the name Yaua (‘Jehu’) shows that the unpronounced aleph at the end was at that time sounded, so that the Hebrews must have called him Yahua (‘Hehua’). Omri was likewise pronounced in accordance with the older system, before the ghain became ayin. Humri shows that they said at the time Ghomri.”

Israel was lost because they lost their name. They lost their name because the other nations did not call them by the name Israel. To find lost Israel is simply a matter of tracing the Beth-Khumri, or Ghomri. And when we do that, it becomes readily evident that the Beth-Khumri migrated into Europe to become the Celtic people.

The fact that Israel was known as Gomer has been one of the keys to how Israel was lost, because there are two Gomers in the Bible. The first was a son of Japheth listed in Genesis 10:2; the second was the wife of Hosea who represented Israel. Dr. Bullinger’s notes for Genesis 10:2 reflects this mixup when he comments on Gomer, the son of Japheth, saying,

“Gomer. In Assyrian, Gimirra (the Kimmerians of Herodotus). Progenitor of the Celts.”

Dr. Bullinger would have been accurate if he had put this note in Hosea, rather than in Genesis 10:2. But he, like so many others, was confused over the two Gomers, and so he identified the Gimirra with Gomer, the son of Japheth, rather than with the Israelite King Omri (Ghomri), after whom Israel was named.

This simple case of mistaken identity is how God caused the house of Israel to become lost to historians. God’s plan was truly brilliant! Who else would have thought of such a way to strip Israel of its birthright name after the great divorce? The tribes of Joseph had to be lost even as their forefather had to be lost. Joseph’s identity was not revealed even after he was elevated to power, because Pharaoh changed Joseph’s name to Zaphnath-paaneah (Gen. 41:45). Likewise, Israel’s identity remained lost as well, because their name had changed to Beth-Khumree.

The Assyrian records call the nation Ghomri, the people Gimirra, and their territory the land of Gamir. Virtually all historians, Christian and nonchristian alike, recognize that the Gimirra migrated into Europe and became known as Celts. Dr. Bullinger recognizes that as well. This is why so many prophecy books tell us that Germany is the Gomer of Bible prophecy. Germany (and most of Europe) contain many Celtic people, But they are not descended from Gomer, son of Japheth, but from Gomer-Israel.

This is also proven positively by the Moabite Stone. The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia (1970 edition) under “Omri,” says on page 1471,

“According to the Moabite Stone, he [Omri] subdued Moab. The Assyrians called the kingdom of Israel by his name for the rest of its existence.”

The big secret that no one wants to put into print is the fact that the Assyrians continued to call Israel by the name of Omri (Ghomri) even after the nation was destroyed and the Israelites deported to Assyria. This name did not disappear from history, nor did the people of Israel. They were simply given a new name.

In fact, the last king of Israel was Hoshea. Thus, Hosea’s marriage to Gomer pictured Hoshea’s “marriage” relationship with Israel—the king married to his kingdom. It is remarkable that the name of the prophet Hosea would foreshadow the name of the last king of Israel, and that his harlot bride, Gomer, would be the very name that the nations historically called Israel.

Hosea is the main prophet of the lost house of Israel, and his marriage with Gomer provides us with the key to finding the lost house of natural Israel. Europe was primarily populated by Gimirra-Israelites migrating from the land of Assyria through the Caucasus Mountains, through the Crimean peninsula, and into Europe.

Another group of natural Israelites were called the Sakka, or Beth-Sak (“house of Isaac”). The Behistun Rock is the tomb of Darius the Persian, and it contains an inscription of 23 ethnic groups that Darius ruled. They are each listed three times in three languages. In the Babylonian language the list reads “Matu Gimiri,” or “land of the Gimiri. These same people are called in the Persian language Saka, and in the Susian language Sakka. They lived in what is now modern Armenia, but in those days it was called Sacasene. It was just south of the Caucasus Mountains, where the Assyrians had placed the deported Israelites. This proves that the Saka and Sakka were the same people as the Gimiri (or Gimirra).

The Sakka became known to the Roman historians as Saxons and to others as Sacae and Skuths (Scots) or Scythians. They were all the same people and became an immense multitude as Hosea had prophesied. When these ex-Israelites migrated from Assyria through the Caucasus Mountains, they became known to historians as Caucasians. As they settled the dense forests of Europe, they became the first major population to settle in Europe, other than the settlements on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

In other words, the lost sheep of the house of Israel became the European nations in the modern world. Ethnically speaking, they are called Caucasian, because so many of them crossed the Caucasus Mountains as they migrated from Sacasene into Europe. From there they spread to America, Canada, Australia, and other places around the world.

This is the story of natural Israel. All of this is simply a matter of historical record and has been proven by archeology in the past two centuries. There are many books that specialize in the history of the wanderings of natural Israel from Assyria to Europe and elsewhere. Such writings are, of necessity, full of strange-sounding names that are difficult for most people to remember. But all of the history of the lost sheep of the house of Israel can be reduced to the few simple facts that we have shown here. These facts are well known to all historians and are beyond dispute.

It is evident that natural Israel is not to be found in the people called “Jews” today, who have done everything in their power to remain separate and distinct from Caucasian natural Israelites. In fact, their desire for separation has largely been based on the fact that natural Israel became Christian in one form or another. So it was a separation based upon religion.

If anyone had the right to call themselves Israel, it would have been the Caucasian nations. They did not do so, however, because God stripped them of their name when he divorced them. And no Israelite or ex-Israelite will have the right to take that name again until they fulfill the conditions that God requires for remarriage. They can only become Israel again by accepting Christ as King of Judah and as King of Joseph-Israel.

They must first become citizens of Judah by faith in Jesus in the work He did in His first appearance. Then they are eligible to begin moving into Sonship, the second work of Christ that is accomplished through the calling of Joseph-Israel. Not every Christian has that vision or desire, however. Some are content to be true “Jews.” But those who desire to go all the way into Sonship are those who will have the right to the name Israel.

The Dispersion in the New Testament Era

Jesus Christ—the God and King of Israel—divorced the House of Israel and then sent her out of His house from 745-721 B.C. But He promised through Hosea and other prophets that she would be betrothed to Him once again (Hos. 2:19, 20) with a view toward remarrying her. As we have seen, this could only take place if Israel’s former Husband would die and come back to life. Jesus Christ did this.

He then sent His disciples into the world to preach the Gospel to every creature. This included the scattered House of Israel, who by this time were dominant in northern and eastern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Great numbers of them were still living in “Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,” as we read in 1 Peter 1:1. Peter addressed his letter to these Israelites, saying (The Emphatic Diaglott),

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the sojourners of the Dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² chosen, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of Spirit. . .

This was NOT the dispersion of Judah, for this was written before Judah was dispersed. Hence, Peter was not addressing “Jews” living in those areas, but Israelites of an earlier dispersion. Later, in 1 Peter 2:9, 10 he says to these Israelites,

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰ for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Peter quotes Hosea, reminding them of their past. Hosea’s son, Lo-ammi, meant “not my people,” and his daughter’s name, Lo-ruhamah, meant “no mercy, or not pitied.” Thus Peter specifically identifies them as ex-Israelites of the dispersion. How did Peter know where those ex-Israelites were located? The Jewish historian, Josephus, who lived at the same time as Peter, wrote in his Antiquities of the Jews, XI, v, 2,

“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.”

Peter sent his letter to Christians in those regions. That is, they were converts to Christ from the lost tribes of Israel. And so, on that basis, Peter was able to call them “chosen” once again. He could tell them that they had now become God’s people again. He could tell them that they had obtained mercy through Christ’s death on the cross. Peter’s goal was, of course, to bring all of these ex-Israelites into the knowledge of Jesus Christ, for only in that way could they be married to Him and be “chosen” once again.

Likewise, the Apostle James also wrote his letter “to the twelve tribes in the dispersion” (James 1:1). He was not specifically addressing the Judeans, but all the tribes. His letter included those Judeans who were already dispersed, not by the Roman war in 70 A.D. but by moving to other lands.

These letters show us how the ex-Israelites of the dispersion may once again become God’s people, Israel. With them are gathered many others, as the prophets wrote.

Chapter Five

Israel in Romans 9-11

Many have stumbled over Paul’s writing in Romans 9-11, because they think that the apostle was writing about the Jewish nation. He was not. The actual Scriptures that Paul quoted in those chapters prove that he was discussing cast-off Israel in dispersion. This was the dispersion of the lost tribes of Israel that occurred in 721 B.C., not the Jewish dispersion of 70 A.D. that had not even occurred yet when Paul wrote his letter.

Paul introduces this subject by expressing concern for Israel in Rom. 9:1-4,

¹ I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, ⁴ who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises.

Yes, Paul was speaking of his kinsmen according to the flesh—that is, genealogical Israelites. Paul was a Benjamite, and so he was of the one tribe of Israel that had been given as a light to Judah when the Kingdom was divided (1 Kings 11:36). Benjamin himself was the only full brother that Joseph had, since these brothers were the only sons of Rachel. In fact, when Joseph’s brothers had sold him as a slave into Egypt, Benjamin was probably the only brother who really missed him! And so, Paul, like Benjamin, loved and missed his brethren of the tribes of Joseph who had been deported by Assyria in 721 B.C.

Christian Bible teachers have long applied this passage in Romans to the Jews, but that is a mere assumption based upon the idea that the Jews are Israel. That view also takes Romans 9 as a new thought, instead of connecting it with the previous chapter, which speaks of Sonship (8:14-23). Sonship, as we have seen, was the Birthright given to Joseph, the leader of the lost tribes of Israel. Paul certainly would have known this. In fact, when he speaks of “the adoption as sons” in Romans 9:4, his thoughts would have gone back to Jacob’s adoption of Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 48).

Have the Birthright Promises Failed?

In view of Israel’s dispersion, Paul brings up a critical point in Romans 9:6-8,

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are from Israel; ⁷ neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but “Through Isaac your descendants will be named.” ⁸ That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

God’s promises to Israel have not failed, even though Israel was divorced, cast off, and lost. God promised to remarry Israel, and He will. However, He will not marry a carnal people. Just because one is descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-Israel does not make one an Israelite. “They are not all Israel who are from Israel.” As we have seen already, the name of Israel was taken away from them, and the only way they may regain that title-name is to come into the adoption of sons, the huiothesia, “Son Placement.”

In other words, only Christian believers among those ex-Israelites of the dispersion are eligible to be called by the name Israel. God stripped that name from them years ago because of their unbelief and idolatry—in effect, for rejecting Jesus, the God of Israel. And so the term Israel is no longer applicable in the same national sense that it was used in the Old Testament. The name will be applied more specifically to those whose character reflects the meaning of the name. The name means “God rules.” It is a name that signifies a person’s testimony to the sovereignty of God. Any natural Israelite who continues to reject Jesus Christ is not an Israelite at all in the sight of God.

Paul also brings up Hosea’s prophecy to Israel. Romans 9:24-26 says,

²⁴ Even us, whom He also called, not from among the Jews only, but also from among Gentiles [Greek: ethnos, “the nations”]. ²⁵ As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people’, and her who was not beloved, ‘Beloved’. ²⁶ And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.”

In that Hosea’s prophecies were directed toward Israel, and not Judah, it is plain that Paul was not speaking of the Jews. The only way one can apply this to the Jews is if we first assume that Judah and Israel were the same nation and then extend this to mean that the Jews are Israel. But as we have already shown, this is not historically accurate.

Who Benefits?

Paul says that God has called people not only from among the Judean nation, but also from among the other nations where Israel had been scattered by the Assyrians. But in calling those ex-Israelites of the dispersion, and in regathering them, He also has gathered many others with them into His Kingdom, as we have already seen.

In fact, Jesus taught this as well in His short parable in Matthew 13:44,

⁴⁴ The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.

We know from Matthew 13:38 that “the field is the world.” Exodus 19:5 speaks of Israel as His “peculiar treasure” (KJV). When God scattered Israel and caused them to lose their name Israel, He hid them in the world. The only way Israel could become “lost sheep” was to hide them among the nations.

But Ezekiel 34:11 says that God Yahweh Himself would come to search for His lost sheep. Yahweh God came to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ, in part to search for His lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 15:24). So the “sheep” are also the “treasure.” Jesus sold all that He had, in that He gave up everything to come and die.

The most important element in this short parable is the fact that He did not merely take the treasure when He found it, for that would have been theft. In order to obtain the treasure, He had to purchase the field in which it was hidden. Once He owned the field, then He could lawfully claim the treasure in the field. This teaches us that in order to re-claim His people, Israel, He purchased the entire world, for “the field is the world.”

This was the divine plan from the beginning, for in this way the world benefited by Israel’s fall. Romans 11:12 says,

¹² Now if their transgression be riches for the world and their failure be riches for the Gentiles [ethnos, “the nations”], how much more will their fulfillment be!

The divine purpose was to gentilize Israel. By God divorcing Israel, she became like all other nations in the sense that she was not married to God. But because of the promises given in Hosea and other places, God bound Himself to remarry and regather Israel into His house. Matthew 13:44 teaches, however, that He was to do this by purchasing the entire field. Ultimately, this means that the entire field will become Israel, not by physical genealogy, but by obtaining legal citizenship in the Kingdom of God.

In regathering Israel, the Gospel went to all the nations among whom those Israelites lived. All began to hear the Gospel and have opportunity to gather into God’s Kingdom. The way into God’s Kingdom is the same for all people, “for there is no partiality with God” (Rom. 2:11).

The “Gentiles”

It is important to recognize that the ex-Israelites of the dispersion were “gentiles.” They had been divorced from God and so they were no more married to Jesus Christ than any other nation was. The term “gentile” simply means “nation; people; ethnic group.” It does not necessarily mean a non-Israelite per se. In fact, the word is often used in the Bible to describe the “nation” of Israel or Judah. For example, John 11:48-51 says,

⁴⁷ Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation [ethnos]. ⁴⁹ But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, ⁵⁰ nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation [ethnos] should not perish. ⁵¹ Now this he did not say on his own initiative; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation [ethnos].

Three times in this passage the word ethnos is used, and each time it refers to the nation of Judea itself. Yet no one presumes to translate the word “gentile” in this passage. The chief priests were worried that the Romans would destroy “our nation,” that is, the nation of Judea. See also Luke 7:5; 23:2; Acts 10:22; 24:17; 26:4; 28:19).

We conclude, then, that when Paul quotes Hosea (above), saying that God has called men from among the nations, he is not excluding those ex-Israelites of the dispersion. In fact, he is including them, for the prophecy is specifically addressed to them even though it is applicable to those of all nations who would come to Christ.

The Chosen Remnant—the Overcomers

There is a difference between Israel and the chosen remnant. Though Israel as a nation was “chosen,” this did not mean that every Israelite individual was “chosen” by virtue of being a physical Israelite. In this many have erred, thinking that to be a “chosen” Israelite was a privileged position of grace. Some have thought that people could remain as Israelites regardless of their unbelief or sin. By way of contrast, they have thought that those who are NOT physical Israelites enjoy no such privilege. Yet the simple fact that God divorced Israel and stripped their name from them proves beyond shadow of doubt the error of that doctrinal position.

Paul makes this very clear by quoting from Isaiah in Romans 9:27-29,

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; ²⁸ For the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, thoroughly and quickly.” ²⁹ And just as Isaiah foretold, “Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a posterity, we would have become as Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah.”

God’s purpose in scattering Israel was pictured in Hosea’s son, Jezreel. Jezreel means “God scatters,” or “God sows.” One must scatter the seed in order to sow it in the earth to reap a greater harvest. God’s purpose was to sow Israel in the field (“the world”—Matt. 13:38) in order to reap a greater harvest at the end of the age. Those scattered Israelites did indeed multiply by the millions. But how many of them came to believe in Jesus Christ? Only “the remnant” came to Him. Only a remnant, then, can truly be called “Israelites.” The rest were blinded.

Nonetheless, all will ultimately be drawn to Christ, for He said in John 12:32, 33,

³² And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. ³³ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.

Jesus will indeed draw all men to Himself in the restoration of all things. But at this present time, we do not see all things put under His feet (Heb. 2:8). Only a remnant will come to Christ prior to the first resurrection. The rest will be “harvested” each in his own order (1 Cor. 15:22, 23). All will certainly become citizens of Israel, but most will come in by means of some kind of judgment, as the Scripture teaches.

Israel and the Nations

In Romans 9:30-33 (below) Paul makes a statement that can be confusing to those who assume the Jews are Israel and that the “gentiles” are non-Israelites:

³⁰ What shall we say then? That the nations [ethnos] who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; ³¹ but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. ³³ just as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.

Paul was speaking of two time periods here. In the time when Israel was a nation prior to her divorce, the people pursued a law of righteousness, but did not fulfill the law. That is, they cast it aside and substituted the statutes of Omri in its place (Micah 6:16). Omri, the king whose name was applied to Israel, repealed God’s law and substituted in its place “the statutes of Omri.” Perhaps this is why God removed His name Israel from them and gave them Omri’s name instead (Ghomri).

After Israel was divorced and cast off among the nations, they became just one of the nations (ethnos). In that condition—while they were in the wilderness, as Hosea tells us—God came to them and spoke to their heart (Hos. 2:14). Jesus sent the Gospel to the ethnos, including the nations of ex-Israelites, and they began coming by faith to Christ. Thus, while they were yet known as Israelites in the old land, they did not attain the Promise, but later, while they were ethnos, they did begin to obtain the promise. It took judgment—divorce and dispersion—to bring those lost Israelites to Christ. And through it all, this was a blessing to the other ethnos of the world, because the Gospel also went to them at the same time. Romans 10:11-13 says,

¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” ¹² For there is no distinction between the Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; ¹³ for “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The procedure for obtaining citizenship in the tribe of Judah or the Kingdom of Israel is the same for all men, whether they are Jews or Greeks by nationality. Neither are there any second-class citizens in God’s Kingdom. No man is more chosen than another on the basis of his genealogy. God gives callings to people according to His sovereign choices without distinction.

Thus, we disagree with Christian Zionists who say that Jews are more chosen than Christians themselves. And we disagree with others who say that those descended from the divorced house of Israel are somehow more chosen than others. They are certainly privileged in the sense that the oracles of God were first entrusted to them (Rom. 3:1, 2), and in later years the Gospel went to them first. They had the first opportunity, and so the chances are good that there will be more overcomers among these Israelites than among other nations, but even so, God is calling all men to Himself.

The Law of Jealousy

In Romans 10:19-21 Paul speaks of the law of jealousy, which is another concept that is severely misunderstood because of prior assumptions.

¹⁹ But I say, surely Israel did not know did they? At the first Moses says, “I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you.” ²⁰ And Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who sought Me not, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me. ²¹ But as for Israel He says, “All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

God has a way of fulfilling prophecy that does not fit our assumptions. When God told Hosea to name his son, Lo-ammi, “not My people,” it was a prophecy that Israel was to become “not a nation” in the eyes of God. Thus, when the nation of Israel was destroyed by Assyria, the people were deported and lost their nationhood. The people were made citizens of Assyria, paying taxes to the Assyrian government and subject to their laws.

As long as Israel was a nation, they were a “disobedient and obstinate people.” But after they became “not a nation,” they began to find Christ! While they had their own nation called Israel, they did not seek after Him, but after they were divorced and dispersed in Assyria, they found Christ. So it is written, “I was found by those who sought Me not, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

Of course, the same can be said of all the other ethnos of the world. They, too, found Christ, although they had not sought Him. Because of this, many have assumed that this prophecy did not include those ex-Israelite ethnos of the dispersion. But it did.

The principle of jealousy works like this. Israel was God’s wife. But Israel was having many affairs with other gods. This made God “jealous,” for He says in Ex. 34:14,

¹⁴ for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

God said that if Israel provoked Him to jealousy by giving herself to false gods, then He would do the same to provoke her to jealousy. He would begin to bless other nations and treat them as if they were His bride. He would honor them by giving them authority over Israel. In fact, this is precisely what happened six times in the book of Judges. Every time Israel began to worship the gods of other nations, God put Israel under the authority of those other nations.

This served to provoke Israel to jealousy. Israel was jealous of God’s favor toward those other nations. So after serving those nations for a certain number of years, the Israelites began to cry out to God for deliverance.

This is the law of jealousy. The climactic situation occurred, of course, when God favored Assyria and sent Israel out of His house. God treated Assyria as if it were His “chosen nation.”

A century later, God set up Babylon as His “chosen nation.” After this came Medo-Persia, then Greece, then Rome. God was the One who established all of these nations into their positions of power. His purpose was to provoke the true chosen ones to jealousy.

So here is the sequence of events: First, God strengthened Assyria to make Israel jealous. He also strengthened Babylon to make Judah jealous. Assyria and Babylon were “not a nation” (lo-ammi) in the sight of God, yet they were used to provoke Israel and Judah to jealousy. Assyria and Babylon were also nations “without understanding,” as Rom. 9:19 tells us.

This law of jealousy would also be applicable to the evil figs of Judah (as it is usually applied) when God empowered the Romans to destroy Jerusalem and disperse those people. This certainly had the effect of making them jealous of the Romans, but unfortunately, it only made them angry at God for “mistreating” them. Those who continued to call themselves “Jews” were certainly “a disobedient and obstinate people,” as Rom. 10:21 says, but they are not the ones Paul was specifically addressing. He was speaking of the Israelites prior to their dispersion in 721 B.C.

Has God Rejected His People?

The answer to this question is Yes and No. Romans 11:1, 2 says,

¹ I say, then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

Many have applied this to those who call themselves Jews, but who yet reject Christ. The verse has been used to condone all sorts of sin, as if God would not divorce His “chosen people” no matter what they did. In the 1940’s, terrorists like Menachem Begin and his Irgun Gang could blow up the King David Hotel, killing 91 people, but he was still a “chosen one” in the eyes of many Christians. Yitzhak Shamir could order his Stern Gang to assassinate Count Folke Bernadotte in 1948, but yet he was still a “chosen one” in the eyes of many Christians.

It seems that terrorism is not terrorism at all if done by a Jew. To such people, Israelites are a privileged people who are not held to the same standard as others.

The fact is, God DID divorce Israel and sent her out of His house. The fact is, God DID cast off both Israel and Judah, as Jer. 7:15 tells us,

¹⁵ And I will cast you [Judah] out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim.

So the question is, what did Paul mean when he insisted that God did not really cast off Israel? Was Paul contradicting the clear word of Scripture? No, Paul was making the point that God had made a way for both Israel and Judah to remain “chosen,” that is, married to God. It was NOT apart from Christ, but THROUGH Christ.

God made provision for a person to either remain a true Jew or to become one. This is covered in my book, Who is a Jew?

Likewise, God has made provision for a person to become a true Israelite. That is the subject in our present study.

The way to remain part of the tribe of Judah was to accept its King-Messiah, Jesus Christ. And the way to become a “chosen” Israelite is to accept Jesus Christ as the Heir of Joseph. While individuals of natural Judah or natural Israel were certainly cast off and died apart from Christ, the nations themselves lived on in embryo form. They were peopled by the true believers, who were, of course, a small but important minority.

We showed in Who is a Jew? that Jesus’ disciples themselves remained citizens of the tribe of Judah, because the tribeship resided in Jesus, the prince of the tribe. Even though the majority of natural Judah was cut off from the tribe for violation of the law, this did not leave the tribe without its citizens. The same is true with Israel. There have always been overcomers (“the remnant”) in every age. Thus, there have always been citizens of Israel, in spite of the fact that the majority were cut off for violation of the law.

Paul’s example to prove his point is found in Rom. 11:3-5, where he appeals to the story of Elijah. Elijah thought he alone was left, but God said there was a 7,000-man remnant that He had reserved for Himself. Paul took this word as an indication that regardless of what happened to the nation of natural Israel, God had always reserved for Himself a remnant of people—the core of Israelite citizens that would carry on the name of Israel in the eyes of God.

Thus, there have been Israelites in the eyes of God even after the destruction of the nation called Israel. Israel as a nation was cast off, it is true, but God always kept for Himself the seeds of a new nation that would arise at the end of history. Those little seeds are the overcomers, the chosen remnant. There were 7,000 in the days of Elijah. And the fact is, they were the only true Israelites in the entire nation of Israel! Out of the millions of natural Israelites that comprised the nation, only 7,000 were Israelites in the eyes of God. These 7,000 of the chosen remnant were the overcomers of their day.

It is the same today. The Jews are not God’s chosen people. Neither are the ex-Israelites of the dispersion. The “chosen” or “elect” are elected to rule, and only the overcomers will rule (Rev. 20:6). Yes, one must be an Israelite to be chosen, but one must be an overcomer to be an Israelite in the eyes of God. One must be disciplined and trained in the same manner as Jacob himself was disciplined and trained before he was able to become an Israelite. Hence, Paul writes in Romans 9:6-8,

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from [natural] Israel; ⁷ neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but; “Through Isaac your descendants will be named.” ⁸ That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

The only true Israelites are the overcomers. These are the ones who will be entrusted to rule in His Kingdom during the thousand-year Messianic Age. These are not a people of privilege who can sin with immunity. These are people who—like Jacob himself—have been disciplined and trained to have the character of Jesus Christ. They will then teach others by example how to become true Israelites.

Verse 7 concludes,

⁷ What then? That which Israel is seeking for, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen [exloge, “the elected ones,”] obtained it, and the rest were hardened.

Paul then goes on to show that Israel’s fall was for the benefit of the world. Even those idolatrous Israelites, who died apart from Christ, will ultimately come into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. They will not inherit the first resurrection that is reserved for the overcoming remnant. Nevertheless, they will be part of “the reconciliation of the world” (Rom. 11:15). God locked them up in disobedience so that He might have mercy upon all (Rom. 11:32). But that is a subject covered in other books and is too lengthy for this study of Who is an Israelite?.

Chapter Six

Remarriage and Regathering

The solution to Israel’s divorce from God is for her to remarry Him in the person of Jesus Christ. This is the background that one must know to understand the “marriage supper of the Lamb” in Revelation 19:7. Each one of us must apply this in a personal way, but there is an appointed time in history where Jesus Christ will marry His corporate Bride. The corporate Bride is the sum total of all the individuals who have been married to Him throughout history.

Some do not believe in a corporate Bride or that Christ will marry that body of people at a future time. Their understanding is limited to the personal, individual level. Others see only the corporate fulfillment and do not understand the personal application. We need to understand both levels to know the full plan of God not only for us as individuals but also for the world as a whole.

On the personal level, there are three steps toward coming into this marriage bond with Jesus Christ. The first step is to be justified by faith in the blood of the Lamb—that is, to experience the Feast of Passover. The second step is to be filled with the Spirit—that is, to experience the Feast of Pentecost. These steps cannot be bypassed if one wants to experience that final feast of Israel, the Feast of Tabernacles, or Booths.

Passover and Pentecost were both fulfilled in 33 A.D. Jesus became the Passover Lamb when He died on the cross while everyone was killing the lambs for Passover that year. After His resurrection, He ascended and then returned at the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:1) to fulfill that feast. This concluded the work of His first coming—the work that He had to do as the Messiah-King of Judah.

The autumn feasts (Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles) are fulfilled in the events surrounding the second coming of Christ, when He comes as the heir of Joseph’s birthright. This is the time of the “marriage” that the book of Revelation describes.

The fulfillment of Pentecost in 33 A.D. allowed us as individuals to come into a marital relationship with Jesus Christ. However, because of our spiritual immaturity and imperfections, our relationship with Jesus Christ is not instantly perfect the moment we are justified by faith—or even when we experience Pentecost. We still have much growing to do. Hence, this marriage bond is not what it will be.

The Bible speaks of two types of marriages and two kinds of brides. One is perfect, the other is imperfect. Both are legally perfected by the blood of Jesus Christ, who calls things that are not as though they were (Rom. 4:17). Jesus loves even His imperfect Bride, but He is not content with leaving her in that condition, always having to call what is NOT as though it were. Hence, there are two brides, and they are illustrated by Hagar and Sarah. There are two types of marriage covenant, called the old and new covenants.

Pentecost itself began at Mount Sinai on the day God married the House of Israel. Pentecost is therefore a commemoration of the Old Covenant. It is the kind of marriage covenant that is conditional, having “if” clauses (Ex. 19:5). The Old Covenant permitted divorce. It had to, simply because marriages between imperfect people do not always work the way they should. As we have already seen, God divorced the House of Israel. This was not only permissible (Deut. 24:1), but it was also necessary in order to institute a New Covenant with a perfected Bride—a marriage that would never end, because both Husband and Bride were perfect and always in total agreement.

And so the Church that God “married” at Pentecost in Acts 2 is also an imperfect Church. This is self-evident, because it is made up of imperfect Christian individuals. In this stage of development, the Church is another Hagar. While it professes to be under the New Covenant, it is in actual practice an Old Covenant relationship. It can be no other, because it was instituted under Pentecost, not Tabernacles. In fact, the purpose of Pentecost is to learn how to be led by the Holy Spirit—in other words, to learn obedience until we come into full agreement with Him. Then obedience gives way to agreement.

When a marriage is rooted in full agreement in all things, where both parties speak with one voice and have one mind, there will be no need to teach each other to “know the Lord,” for “all will know Me” (Heb. 8:11). Jesus will not have to command His Bride to do anything, for she will be one with her Husband and will do all things as He would do, and speak all things as He would speak. This is the nature of the New Covenant. This is the marriage of the new Mount Sion (Heb. 12:22) under the Feast of Tabernacles in the New Jerusalem. This is Sarah. This marriage produces the promised Seed, which is Christ manifesting in you.

I have given a full account of these two marriage covenants in my book, Old and New Covenant Marriage, so this much is sufficient for our current study.

The Corporate Bride is Israel

When John was shown “the Bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:9), he saw a city whose gates were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev. 21:12). It is not a city with a single gate named “Judah,” nor was it a city with three names on its gates: Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. The city was meant to portray all the tribes in a unified nation, the United House of Israel.

Furthermore, verse 27 indicates that this city includes only believers in Jesus Christ,

²⁷ and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

If we apply this to the theme of the great remarriage between Jesus Christ and Israel prophesied in Hosea and other places, we see that the regathering of Israel into God’s house comes after the marriage itself. The remarriage is legally necessary before God ends Israel’s dispersion and brings her back into His house.

This is not to say that the Bride is composed exclusively of natural Israelites, as some have claimed. Israel’s pedigree was not a factor when Jesus Christ divorced her in 721 B.C., nor will it be a factor in her salvation. Neither does this exclusive marriage with Israel as a nation exclude those who are not natural Israelites. Isaiah 56 prophesies,

⁶ Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant; ⁷ Even those I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples. ⁸ The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “Yet others I will gather to them, to those already gathered.”

Isaiah was referring to Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple. In 1 Kings 8:41-43 he prayed,

⁴¹ Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Thy people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Thy name’s sake ⁴² (for they will hear of Thy great name and Thy mighty hand, and of Thine outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, ⁴³ hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and do according to all which the foreigner calls to Thee, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Thy name.

And so it is evident that although Israel was a chosen vessel to bring the Gospel and the knowledge of God to the rest of the world, they were not the only ones to be saved. In fact, their job was to bring the Good News of Salvation to the rest of the world, so that all nations might receive the blessings of Abraham. In that way the promise to Abraham could be fulfilled, saying, “in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:3; Acts 3:25).

Thus, Israel as a nation is composed of people of all races and nationalities who have transferred their citizenship to the Kingdom of God. To be specific, every Christian believer by definition is a “Jew,” and every true “Jew” who continues on into full Sonship is an Israelite. Keep in mind that there are no more natural Israelites in the world. There are only ex-Israelites of the dispersion. Many people today have ancestors that used to be Israelites, but that does not make them Israelites in the sight of God today. Their Israelite status ended with the great divorce. The only way to regain such a title is through coming into Sonship, which is attaining the Birthright of Joseph. This is done in the same way, equally and impartially, regardless of a person’s genealogical heritage.

To become part of the Bride of Christ, one must become an Israelite. God will only marry a nation composed of Israelite citizens. Yet citizenship is a legal issue, not a genealogical issue. Citizenship is open to all people, but they must become citizens of Israel to be married to Him. Hence, the Bride is exclusive nationally speaking, but inclusive of all individuals who meet the legal requirements of citizenship.

The United Kingdom of Israel

 The prophets speak of the regathering of both Israel and Judah together to show that the great breach between these two nations has been repaired. The Divided Kingdom must be reunited before the marriage and regathering can take place. Jesus came first to set up the Judah phase of the Kingdom. His disciples became true “Jews.” The second coming of Christ is required to set up the Joseph (Israel) phase of the Kingdom. Those true Jews who also become true Israelites are the citizens forming the United Kingdom of Israel. These are the ones who receive Christ as both the King of Judah and the King of Israel. They accept Him by faith as their Passover Lamb as well as their pattern of the Manifested Son. This is the only path to citizenship in Israel, and it requires a person to become an overcomer and thus fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles.

Once a person has become a legal citizen of Judah, then he may continue on to become a citizen of the United House of Israel. This is a greater Kingdom. In fact, it is no other than the Kingdom of God itself. But to become an Israelite one must be joined to Joseph, the birthright holder. In Christ’s second coming, He comes as the Heir to the birthright of Joseph. Therefore, one must believe that the true inheritor of Joseph is Jesus Christ and the overcomers (the Joseph company). These are the chosen ones who will rule with Him for a thousand years (Rev. 20:6).

Joseph speaks of Sonship. Jesus was the first of the manifested sons of God. He was the pattern, the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18). Those who go beyond Passover and Pentecost into the experience of the Feast of Tabernacles are the overcomers who will become the manifested sons of God described in Romans 8:19-21. The way is open to every believer, but not every believer is an overcomer. One can accept Christ as his Passover without accepting Him as his Tabernacles.

The manifested sons of God are those who not only have accepted Jesus Christ, but they have also come into the maturity of Sonship. Paul describes this in Galatians 4:1-7 and other writings as the huiothesia, the “placement of Sons.” He says that as long as we are yet immature children, we are no different from slaves or servants, even if we are heirs of all things. A baby is born into a family and is an heir of his father’s house; but he is not placed as a Son until he reaches maturity.

So also it is with this matter of Sonship. A baby Christian can be an heir of all things, but he is only placed in the legal position of a Son when he reaches maturity. Only then does he exercise the full authority of the Father. To reach such a place of maturity requires going through the developmental steps laid down in Israel’s feast days: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. One must be justified, sanctified, and then glorified. One must be fully saved in spirit, soul, and body.

When a person meets these requirements, then and only then can it be said that he is an Israelite indeed. It took Jacob 98 years to reach that point in his life when he became an Israelite. It ought not to take that long for us today, for we may learn from his mistakes by studying his life in the Scripture. Even so, we must see the difference between being a true Jew and being a true Israelite.

Hosea 1:11 says,

¹¹ And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one Leader, and they will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

The Leader that Judah and Israel will appoint is Jesus Christ. He is the rightful Heir to the throne of Judah and to the Kingdom (birthright) of Joseph-Israel. The verse above does NOT say that this Leader will appoint Himself as King over Judah and Israel. It says that “they” will appoint Him to be their Leader. This is important in view of the fact that His leadership has been disputed. When Jesus came as the Heir to the throne of David, the chief priests disputed His claim. They did NOT appoint Him as their Leader. They wanted someone more willing to use military force to overthrow the Romans. He did not fit their idea of the Messiah.

And so, they killed the Heir in order to seize His inheritance (Matt. 21:38). In other words, they disputed His right to be the Leader, or King of Judah. But those who DID accept Him were the true Jews, and in the eyes of God they remained as true citizens of Judah. The rest were cut off, according to the law, but their ranks were filled by people of other nations who gladly accepted Jesus Christ as their King. Together, they formed the Kingdom of God—though this Kingdom was still in an early stage of development.

It was essentially a Judah Kingdom. It became known as “the Church,” but it was Judah in the eyes of God. It would require a second coming of Christ to usher in the full Kingdom of Israel. Even as King David himself was first king of Judah before becoming king of Israel, so also is it with Jesus Christ. The Church has proclaimed Him King of Judah during the past 2,000 years, but now in His second appearance He is going to be proclaimed King of Israel—the United Kingdom of Israel.

Yet once again, His right to the Birthright of Joseph is being disputed by the Zionists and by many Christian Zionists who support them. The Zionist state of “Israel” by its very nature claims to be the Kingdom of God, or the beginning of it. If that were true, then Christians would have to join the religion of Judaism in order to become part of the Bride of Christ. Yet Judaism requires men to reject Jesus as the Christ. The only way a Christian can become a Jew is if he deceives the rabbis into thinking that he rejects Jesus Christ. Such lies are not a Christian virtue.

To support Zionism today is the equivalent of playing the role of Judas. Judas was Jesus’ disciple who thought he could force Jesus to use His power to declare Himself the Messiah. So he betrayed Jesus into the hands of the chief priests. Judas was wrong. Likewise, today, Christian Zionists are betraying Jesus Christ once again in the matter of the Birthright of Joseph. They are desperately trying to help God fulfill prophecies in order to force His return. It is as if they want the Israeli state to stir up such hatred among the Arabs that they threaten to destroy the Zionists. The Christians seem to want to bring about “Armageddon” in order to force Jesus to come and save the Zionists from utter destruction. This was Judas’ method. What will they do when their plan backfires? Judas hanged himself.

Here, then, is the great irony. The Christians seem to love the Zionists, but actually, they are urging them to their doom and often paying their way into the destruction that will certainly come upon the old Jerusalem. On the other hand, I see this destruction coming, and have published these things to warn Jews not to immigrate to “Israel,” where they would be in great danger. For my trouble, I am called “anti-semitic” and stand accused of hating Jews! What an irony! If I really hated Jews, I would donate money so that more of them could immigrate to Tel Aviv. Then when Jeremiah 19:11 is fulfilled, and God destroys Jerusalem, I could rejoice that I was responsible for a few more Jewish families being killed.

But no, I do not hate Jews. I hate no one. My opposition to Zionism is based upon my understanding of Scripture. I do not want to become a modern Judas, whose office was given to another (Acts 1:20). It is my desire that all men be saved and that all come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Yet because the Scripture prophesies the casting out of the bondwoman (Hagar, the old Jerusalem), I must point to the way men may escape the judgment to come.

The way to become part of the Sarah-Bride company that Jesus will marry by means of a New Covenant is this: Accept Jesus as King of Judah, and then go on into birthright of the placement of sons. In this way, you will appoint Christ as the Leader of both Judah and Israel, and you will become a citizen of the United Kingdom of Israel.

The Repairer of the Breach

Jesus Christ is the great repairer of the breach mentioned in Isaiah 58:12,

¹² And those from you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

The two comings of Christ repair the breach between Judah and Israel. In coming from the tribe of Judah, He qualified to be its King—the holder of the Dominion Mandate. But in His second coming, He comes to claim the birthright, and hence, he comes as Joseph—the man whose robe was dipped in blood (Gen. 37:31; Rev. 19:13).

In my book, The Laws of the Second Coming, I showed how Christ fulfills the law of the two doves in Leviticus 14 that were needed to cleanse lepers (mortals). The first dove was killed in an earthen vessel, and so Christ had to come to be killed in a mortal body made of the dust of the ground. The second dove was to be dipped in the blood of the first dove and released into the open field (Lev. 14:7). This prophesied of the second coming of Christ, as He is released into the world with His robe dipped in blood. Matt. 13:38 tells us, “the field is the world.” Thus, the law prophesies of two comings of Christ.

In coming the second time as Joseph’s Heir, He unites both the scepter and the birthright in one Head, under one Leader, as Hosea 1:11 says. In this great remarriage of the United House of Israel, He will marry a mature wife, one who is in agreement with Him, one who understands Him and is like Him. He will not be unequally yoked with a wife like Hagar, the bond woman, but will be yoked with a Sarah Bride that is free. He will not be yoked again to Hagar—the old Jerusalem—nor to its children, the Ishmael company. He will be yoked only to Sarah—the New Jerusalem—and to her children, the Isaac company.

And so, the Bride of Christ in His second coming is a mature Sarah Bride made up of mature Christian believers who inherit the Kingdom, the Birthright of Joseph, as true Israelites.

Nathanael, the True Israelite

Jesus talked to Nathanael in John 1:47, 48,

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile [dolos, “deceit”]!

Jesus recognized that Nathanael was not like deceitful Jacob, but was like the man, Israel, after he had wrestled with the angel. Why did Jesus call Nathanael an Israelite indeed? Were not the other disciples Israelites from Galilee, the home of Benjamin?

⁴⁸ Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

No man can become an Israelite until he first comes under the fig tree of Judah. Becoming a true “Jew” is a pre-requisite to becoming an Israelite indeed. One must first accept Jesus in His Judah work before one can accept Him in His capacity as Joseph.

⁴⁹ Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”

When Jesus was on the Cross, the sign above His head proclaimed Him to be the King of the Jews, that is, the King of Judea. But Nathanael proclaims Jesus to be “the King of Israel.” Yes, there is a difference. Solomon’s son was a mere King of Judah. David and Solomon were both kings of Israel—the United Kingdom of all the tribes.

In this passage in John (above), Nathanael is a type of mature Son who is a pattern for us all, if we aspire to Sonship. Those who are content with their justification by faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection—and see nothing further—are probably not among the overcomers who attain Sonship. But these things are written to challenge our readers with greater things. There is more to the Christian life than just accepting Christ and then waiting for Him to return while we go about living as if there is no further experience with God. Justification is the door-opener to a whole new experience with God, by which we learn to hear and obey His voice, being led by the Spirit daily.

Being an Overcomer

An overcomer is motivated by the voice of God, rather than by responding to men. Since faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17), an overcomer therefore moves by faith, not by sight. Overcomers do not suffer from hardness of heart, for Paul mentioned in Romans 11:7,

⁷ What then? That which Israel is seeking for, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened.

Overcomers are those who practice the art of forgiveness. Jesus told a parable in Matthew 18:22-35 to illustrate how those who cannot forgive others will lose their Jubilee and will receive judgment according to their own standard of measure. This does not mean that such people will lose their salvation. It only means that they will be classed as unrighteous servants that must receive “few stripes” or “many stripes” (Luke 12:48) before they are given life.

Overcomers are those who have learned obedience by the things that they suffer in the earth. An obedient heart is the opposite of a lawless nature. Jesus said in Matt. 7:21-23 that many would come in His name saying, “Lord, Lord,” as if to show submission to Him. However, He would say to many of them, “depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (anomia, from nomos, “law”).

The overcomers are mature in their ability to love one another. Jesus taught in Luke 14:12-14 that those desiring to inherit the first resurrection ought to have unconditional love. The illustration he used was inviting people to dinner who do not have the means to repay in kind. Such acts will be repaid “at the resurrection of the righteous.” This is not the general resurrection, but the first resurrection, as shown in my book, The Purpose of Resurrection.

Finally, an overcomer is one who is in agreement with God, for this is the basis of a New Covenant marriage relationship. God is looking for an “Amen” people, those who follow the example of Jesus, who said only what He heard His Father say, and did only what He saw His Father do. Jesus was the “true and faithful Witness” (Rev. 3:14). A witness is one who testifies to what he has seen or heard. God is looking for witnesses. No man can be God’s witness without hearing or seeing something.

But more than that, God is developing a Bride that is free, a Sarah Bride of the New Jerusalem. That Bride will be more than obedient. Even Hagar had the potential of being obedient. A Sarah Bride goes beyond obedience to agreement. Everything she does is what her Husband would do. And that is the only kind of Bride that can possess the full authority of her Husband without abusing that authority.

Make that your goal, and be an Israelite indeed.