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Modern Day Israel
Members of the Church of God, In Truth have many beliefs outside that of "mainstream" Christianity. For example, we believe in keeping the 7th day of the week for God's Sabbath. We keep the 7 annual Holy Days outlined in Leviticus 23, and the laws of clean and unclean meats. But perhaps the one belief that causes the most eyes to roll and brows to furrow is our belief that the United States of America is Manasseh, and Great Britain is Ephraim. Together, the modern day House of Israel. Why do we believe this? Well to quote that great detective of fiction, Sherlock Holmes,"Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."
Mainstream Christianity makes many assumptions about the identity of the modern State of Israel. Assumptions that simply cannot be in light of the Bible. Many assume that the term Israel and Jews are interchangeable, or that the Bible means Jews when it says Israel. 2 Kings shows that this is not so. "In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham king of JUDAH began to reign. Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord his God like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea and made his son to pass through the fire according to the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. Then Rezin king of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of ISRAEL came up to Jerusalem to war and they besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him. At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath and the Syrians came to Elath and dwelt there unto this day. Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglathpileser king of Assyria saying, I am thy servant and thy son, come up and saved me out of the hand of the king of ISRAEL which rise up against me" (2 Kings16:1-7). We see the first time the JEWS (JUDAH) are mentioned in the Bible, they are at war with ISRAEL. The kingdom of Israel was divided in the time of Solomon. "And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee"(1 Kings 11:31). The southern kingdom, whose capitol was Jerusalem, was made up of the tribes of Judah, some Levites and Benjamin. The northern kingdom, whose capitol was Samaria, was made up of the remaining ten tribes.
The Bible often refers to the southern kingdom as the House of Judah, and the northern kingdom as the House of Israel. So what is a Jew? A Jew is an Israelite of the tribe of Judah, a descendent of Judah. Was Moses a Jew? NO! Moses was a LEVITE! That is to say, a descendent of Levi. All Jews are Israelite, but not all Israelites are Jews. Some Israelites are Danites, some Rubenites, etc. As many know, the northern ten tribes were taken into captivity by the Assyrians, and presumably disappeared. What remains today in the modern state of Israel are the descendants of the two southern tribes (Judah and Benjamin), who returned from captivity in Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. The Levites, having no inheritance, are scattered among all the tribes. "And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation" (Num. 18:20-21).
The modern state of Israel is actually the southern kingdom, JUDAH. Another mistaken assumption is that the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are fulfilled in the modern state of Israel. What are these promises? We find the answer in Genesis 22 where God promises to Abrahams are found. "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice" (Gen. 22:17-18). Does this describe the modern country of Israel? According to World Book Online, the population of Israel is approximately 6,797,000. Compare that to the population of just one U.S. city, New York with 8 million, or with the entire U.S. population at over 280 million. Even Syria and Egypt, to whom God promised nothing, have populations of over 19 million and 76 million respectively. So whose population is more like the stars of heaven or the sands of the sea? Does Israel possess the gates of their enemies? In other words, do they control the comings and goings of their enemies, or are their enemies able to move about freely?
Does Israel control the Temple Mount? NO. Jews are not allowed to worship there. However, Muslims are. Does Israel control East Jerusalem? NO. Even though Israel captured it in 1967, and Jordan has given up all claims to it, Jews today are not allowed to settle there. Does Israel control the West Bank and Gaza? Not anymore. Those places are now under the control of their enemies. It now seems that Israel's enemies control Israel's gates.
Are all the nations of the world blessed by the little country of Israel? Is Israel a borrower nation or a lender nation? According to the C.I.A, (yes, THAT C.I.A.) Israel..."DEPENDS (emphasis mine) on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Israel imports substantial quantities of grain, but largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment and agricultural products [fruits and vegetables] are the leading exports.
Israel usually posts sizable current account deficits which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad, and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the governments external debt is owed to the U.S. which is its major source of economic and military aid. So we see, Israel has a difficult time "blessing themselves, much less, all the nations of the earth."
In Genesis 27, we find these promises being passed on to Jacob. Here God promises to give Jacobs descendants the "fatness of the earth and plenty of corn and wine" (Gen.27:28-29). Does that describe the modern country of Israel? As stated earlier, Israel must import "substantial quantities of grain." A country who occupies the 'fatness of the earth' certainly would not have to do that. Also in verse 29, God says nations will bow down to Jacob's descendants, and they will be lord over their brethren, the other tribes of Israel. Do nations bow down to Israel today? No, they do not. With the exception of the U.S. and British Commonwealth, almost every other nation on earth does everything they can to hamstring or destroy Israel. Is Israel lord over their brethren? What nations do they tell what to do? The answer is, NONE . On the other hand, how many times has Israel done what the United States and Britain have asked them to do?
Israel has signed numerous peace agreements prodded by the U.S. In the 1991 Gulf war, when attacked by Iraq, Israel refrained from retaliating at the request of the United States. In the Suez crisis of 1956, Israel joined the Anglo-French alliance at the request of Britain and France.
Yet another promise is contained in Genesis 28:14. In addition to Jacob's seed multiplying as the dust of the earth, and all the world being blessed by them, God says that Jacob's descendants will spread abroad to the east, west, north and south. Does this describe modern Israel? How many colonies and territories does Israel have? None. Now how many colonies and territories does Britain and the United States have or had? At last count, the British Commonwealth had 53 member states around the world, and the United States, besides the 48 contiguous states, has 2 outlying states and 9 territories. Certainly the United States and Britain have spread abroad to east, west, north and south, but not Israel.
The final mistaken assumption is the idea that the northern 10 tribes of Israel are lost. We find another prophecy in Genesis 49. Notice when this prophecy is for in vs.1...THE LAST DAYS. Here Jacob gives a prophecy for all the 12 tribes of Israel and what will become of them in the end time. In order for these prophecies to come true, all 12 tribes must be in existence in the last days, don't they? "And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days"(Gen. 49:1).
Just because the vast majority of mankind doesn't know where or who these tribes are today, doesn't mean they do not exist. God keeps His promises and fulfills His prophecies. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob kept their end of the deal, God must keep His. So, if the 10 "lost" tribes aren't lost, and modern Israel isn't the recipient of God's promises, Who Is? All these promises are called the birthright.
Abraham passed it to Isaac, Isaac passed it to Jacob, and Jacob passed it to Joseph. Some of you may be saying right now "not so, Jacob passed the birthright to Ephraim and Manasseh" (Gen. 48:18). That is true, but the Bible does sometimes refer to Ephraim and Manasseh as Joseph. "For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's" (1 Chron. 5:2).
The Bible makes it crystal clear that Judah, which is the modern state of Israel, did not receive the birthright promises. Here the Bible shows that the kingly line was to go through Judah, which it did, but the birthright was Joseph's. Genesis 48 tells the story of Jacob passing the birthright on to Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Vs, 19 says that Manasseh shall become a great people, one nation, but Ephraim shall become a multitude of nations. "And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh" (Gen. 48:19-20). God makes it even more clear. God tells Jacob that..."a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins" (Gen. 35:11). This is speaking of Manasseh, Ephraim and Judah respectively. So where are Ephraim and Manasseh today? Whose populations are as "the stars of heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore?" U.S.A. population 281,421,906. British Commonwealth population 1.8 BILLION. Who has possessed the gates of their enemies? Who controlled the Straits of Gibralter, the Suez Canal, the Gulf of Aqaba, Cape Horn, the Panama Canal, the Straits of Hormuz, the Cape of Good Hope, the Khyber Pass, Hong Kong, and Singapore?
There was a time when You could not go anywhere in the world without the permission or acquiescence of the United States and British Commonwealth. Alas, because of our personal and national sins, God is taking away these gates.
Finally, in what two peoples have all the nations of the world been blessed? Who gives out billions in economic aid every year? Who does the world turn to when famine, earthquake or tidal wave hit? And what two peoples have saved the world from tyranny in TWO world wars? One a great nation, the other a company of nations. The United States of America and the British Commonwealth, the two half tribes of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Prove All Things Reprint
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