British Israelism

British Israelism Examined
by an Israelite

IS British Israelism warranted either by Holy Scripture or by History? If it is not thus supported, why should the Christian meddle with it? Of course, one can prove any theory by quoting Scripture: but all Scriptures do not support any theories at all.

First --- What is British Israelism?

There is a group of people in the world who say that the Anglo-Saxons are the lost ten tribes of Israel, and that all the promises of God given to Israel are fulfilled in the British and American nations of to-day
.
The reader will know the fact that the ten northern tribes were taken into captivity by Assyria in the year 721 B.C. (2nd Kings 17 vs 3-6); Judah and Benjamin were taken to Babylon about 587 B.C. (2nd Chron. 36. vs11-20).

Now the exponents of the above theory say that only the tribe of Judah returned to Palestine from Babylon under King Cyrus, and that the ten tribes were lost, and now they can trace the ten-tribed kingdom in the British Nation. They also say, "Israel must never be confused with Judah, nor Judah with Israel; for the British are not Jews, they are Israel. These words are never used synonymously". Let us see if the above statements can be supported by Holy Writ.

While it is true that Israel and Judah are often spoken of separately, yet we must remember that Judah was as much an Israelite as any other of the ten tribes: for he, like the others, was a son of Israel, and therefore an Israelite.

The Word of God uses the word Jew and Israel as a synonym; for instance, in Acts 22 vs 3, Paul says, "I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus", yet in 2nd Cor. 11 vs 22, he says, "Are they Hebrews, so am I; are they Israelites, so am I". In Rom. 11 vs 1, "I say then, hath God cast away His people? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin". And when he prays for his brethren according to the flesh, he says, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer for Israel is that they might be saved" (Rom. x10 vs 1). Peter addresses them as one and the same people in Acts 2 vs 22 : "Ye men of Israel hear these words; Jesus of
Nazareth, a man approved of God among you, by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know." It is very strange, if the Israelites were not there, how Peter could address them, "Ye men of Israel", and say that our Lord was approved of God "among them", and that God did wonders by Him and signs "in the midst of them".

To show my readers to what unscriptural ways the holders of this theory resort, I will record this incident. I heard one of their speakers at a public meeting say that "Israel never crucified Christ, for how could they, if they were not there; we Israelites certainly had no hand in it; the Jews were there and they crucified Christ".

After the meeting, I told the speaker that he was misleading his hearers by what he said, and I read to him scripture which proved just the opposite. Acts 2 vs 36 "Therefore let the whole house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ".

In Acts 4 vs 8, Peter filled with the Holy Ghost, addressing his audience, said, "Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel"; also in verse 10, "all the people of Israel".

One of their most accredited speakers, Mr. Pascoe Goard, in the "National Message" of Jan. 26th, 1935, page 50, states that "in the time of the Apostle Paul, Israel had never heard of Christ". Yet Peter says, "The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ". That surely contradicts Mr. Pascoe Goard's statement. The Apostle Paul also contradicts the above gentleman's statement by saying that John preached before Christ's coming the Baptism of repentance to "all the people of Israel" (Acts 13 vs 23, 24), thus showing that the ten tribes were not looked upon as lost in our Lord's day, for the writers of the New Testament speak of them as being present in Palestine and the surrounding districts, and therefore address them as the "Children of Israel". There are no lost tribes in the Bible; our Lord is telling His disciples to "go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 10 vs 6), meaning by that, that they were spiritually like lost sheep. They were there right enough, else the Lord would not have sent His disciples to them.

You will say, "Where are the tribes of Israel to-day?" The answer is, that the people known all over the world as Jews, numbering over sixteen million, are largely representative of all the twelve tribes; for there is sufficient evidence in the Word of God to prove that many of the people of the ten-tribed kingdom joined their brethren of the two-tribed kingdom.

"And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him (to Rehoboam) out of all their coasts. And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek Jehovah the God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto Jehovah, the God of their fathers. So they strengthened the Kingdom of Judah, and. made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong" (2nd Chron. 11 vs 13, 16, 17).

In 2nd. Chron. 15 vs 9, we read, "And he (Asa) gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them, out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon; for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance when they saw that the Lord his God was with him". Surely those words, "they fell to him out of Israel in abundance", ought to be sufficient proof that many Israelites joined Judah. We also find that in the reign of Josiah, King of Judah, which is practically 100 years after the captivity of the ten-tribed kingdom, there must have been real fellowship with the other two tribes; for we see that from Manasseh, Ephraim, and all the remnant of Israel, they brought money for the house of God in Jerusalem (2nd Chron. 34 vs 6-9).

One can quite understand that after a family quarrels it becomes divided, and the members become so at enmity with each other that there may even be open fights; but let sorrow come into the same family, and see how they all feel it. Thus, trial often becomes a means of bringing them together again, for "blood is thicker than water". This often happens in life to-day, and it happened in the life of the sons of Jacob.

When the ten-tribed kingdom was taken captive by an alien Gentile power, you may be sure the two-tribed kingdom grieved over it, and as brethren, they longed to see each other. This can be seen from the afore-shown passages. When the two-tribed kingdom was taken to Babylon, that feeling must have increased, for then they were all under the same affliction of captivity. These captives, though in two different countries, and though 130 years elapsed between the two captivities, must have come together, for the Assyrian power fell and became subject to Babylon. Babylon in turn fell into the hand of Persia, for we notice that Cyrus is called King of Persia in Ezra 4 vs 5; King of Babylon in 5 vs 13; and King of Assyria in 6 vs 22. In Neh. 13 vs 6, Artaxerxes is also called King of Babylon. Even 15 years after the restoration from Babylon, we find the Medo-Persian Empire stretching over 127 provinces-from India to Ethiopia, including the ancient Babylonian and Assyrian Empires (Esther 1 vs 1). This shows clearly that when Cyrus and his successors ruled over the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, the whole twelve tribes must have been among their subjects.

This is proved by Ezra in many places in his book, for when he established the ancient worship of Jehovah, their enemies came and wished to have a share in the building of the temple. Not only Jeshua and Zerubbabel, but also the chief of the fathers in Israel refused any compromise with their alien neighbours (Ezra 4 vs 3, and 7 vs 28).

That the Jews of to-day are representative of all the twelve tribes is also seen from the present order in the synagogue, for there you will find three kinds of Jews, the priest, the Levite and the Israelite. (The Israelite may belong to any of the ten tribes, for to-day they cannot tell to which they belong.) This is a very old order; indeed, it dates back to Ezra's day under King Darius (see Ezra 6 vs 16, and 7 vs 7).

Ezra Prepares to Teach God's Word to Israel

"For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments". In the decree of Artaxerxes to Ezra for his people, the king says, "Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, and scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace and at such a time. I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites in my realm, which are minded of their own free-will to go up to Jerusalem, go up with thee" (Ezra vii. 10-13). Surely Ezra would not prepare his heart to teach God's law to Israel if Israel were not there; neither would King Artaxerxes make a decree for a people who were not in his realm.

Representative of all the Twelve Tribes

There must have been a large number, representative of all the twelve tribes, under Ezra, for we read at the dedication of the restored temple, in Ezra vi. 16, 17, "And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy. And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel".

A Very Great Congregation of Israel

"Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel, a very great congregation of men, women and children".

The above Scriptures do not leave room for any legendary notions and concocted theories to prove the transmigration of Israel to the British Isles, or to identify them with the pagan and piratical Saxons and Angles. The British Israel theorists must need an argument very badly if they go to such fanciful theories to prove their case as saying that the word British means, in the Hebrew, "A man of covenant". Anyone with even a little knowledge of Hebrew would not entertain such a perversion.

Any public schoolboy knows that though the etymology of the word Britannia is uncertain, most writers think it is derived from the Celtic word Brith or Brit, meaning painted, referring to the custom of the inhabitants of staining their bodies to look more fierce in battle (Smith's Classical Dictionary).

Saxon, they say, means Isaacson. Let me give you the Hebrew for the son of Isaac, or Isaac's son, and see if you can find any similarity in it. "BEN-YITZCHAK" or "BAR-YITZCHAK". No intelligent reader will detect any likeness in the above.

"A Nation and a Company of Nations"

The British Israel friends refer to what God said to Jacob. "Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins" (Gen. 35 vs 11).
Surely, they say, this fits us, for we, as the British Empire, are a company of nations. They also quote the promise given to Abraham, "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and the sand which is by the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22 vs 17, 18).

They say that the British nation does possess the gates of her enemies, and we are a great multitude of peoples, and a blessing to the nations of the world. But why not be consistent and apply those promises to all Abraham's seed, for the promise was reiterated to Jacob, and Jacob had twelve sons, therefore the promises must stand good for them all, so that if the ten tribes are enjoying God's promises now, why do the other two not enjoy them?

The fact is, that Israel and Judah are still not possessing their possessions; for when Christ possesses Israel (the whole twelve tribes), then, and not before then, will Israel possess her possessions. It will be when Christ comes again that this will be fulfilled.

"Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the world. In His day Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his name whereby he shall be called, Jehovah Tzidkenu, the LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jer. 23 vs 5). At present neither Judah is saved, nor does Israel dwell safely, but they will be so when the king, the righteous Branch, comes.

The words "a nation and company of nations" are misunderstood by the Westerners, like a good many passages in this precious Eastern book. It is Eastern language, and they are not Western ideas of nations and kings.

Remember, God gave these promises to a small people in the small land of Palestine, and the promises were to be fulfilled in the small land of Canaan.

You cannot read into these passages great kingdoms and nations, for it would be absurd. First of all, it is God's figurative way of speaking. Notice in Deut. 1 vs 10 and x10 vs 22, "The Lord thy God hath multiplied you, and behold ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude". The above is surely Eastern figurative language, as it is in chapter 10 vs 22. Even in Solomon's day such language can only be understood as figurative expressions (1st Kings 3 vs 8). Read into it Western ideas and there will be confusion.

"Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies". Who were Israel's enemies? Where are they? They certainly were not the nations outside the near East; they were not the people of which the British Israel friends speak as possessing their gates, the gates of their enemies, like Malta and Gibraltar. Israel's enemies were the Edomites, the Moabites, Hivites, Jebusites, the Philistines, Assyrians, and Bablyonians. God's promises for His people are to be fulfilled in the land and not outside it, for nationally God has given them a land, and in that land they will enjoy all His promises, and that under the sway of Christ. God says, "For I will take you from among the nations (that is, where God's earthly people Israel are to-day), and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land" (Ezek. 36 vs 24). In the same chapter of Ezekiel God is challenging the mountains of Israel to get ready to shoot forth their branches and to yield their fruit for His people Israel, for they are ready to come, or at hand to come (Ezek. 36 vs 8). This verse shows that Israel is not yet enjoying the blessing of their own land, but it looks to a fulfilment in the near future.

"For behold I am for you, and I will turn unto you and ye shall be tilled and sown. And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the wastes shall be builded" (Ezek. 36 vs 10).

If the British and American nations are the lost tribes of the house of Israel, it will be a hard time for them if they have to be squeezed in upon the mountains of Israel. Remember, God says it is going to be upon the mountains of Israel that He is going to multiply them, and it will be "all the house of Israel, even all of it". In Ezek. 34 vs 13, 14, God says, "I will bring them out from the people (in the Hebrew it says MIN-HOAMIM', i.e., from among the nations) and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the rivers and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture,
and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be; there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel".

The above language again shows that Israel's prosperity and safety will not be outside the land of Israel. "I will bring them from among the nations and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land". First of all, the British and American nations are not scattered among the nations and in all countries, and secondly, if they were, they could not possibly fit into the small country upon the mountains of Israel.

"The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you"

The British Israel friends say that Christ told His people in Matt. 21 vs 43, "Therefore say I unto you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof". They say Britain and America are the nation to whom the kingdom was given, and that they are bringing forth the fruit thereof.

This claim rather disqualifies Great Britain from being Israel, for as we have proved from previous chapters of this Book, the people to whom our Blessed Lord and His disciples ministered were the people of Israel, and to them Christ said, "The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to another nation;" therefore Great Britain cannot be Israel.

"Which in Time Past were not a People"

Where is the nation to whom this kingdom was given? 1st Peter 2 vs 1-10, gives the answer. For brevity's sake I will only quote three verses; the reader can look up the others at his leisure. Verses 5, 9 and 10-"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priest- hood, an holy nation (here is the nation), a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy".

Israel of Christ's day failed God, for though He made them the custodians of His Word, and also to them He sent His Son, Who is the Living Word, they rejected both. They would not have Him nor His Word. So what did God do? He has chosen a people who once were not a people, but now through His mercy have become the people of God, and to this people Christ is precious. "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious" (1st Peter 2 vs 7).

It is a people taken out of all peoples who form the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, a peculiar people and a holy nation, who will show forth the praises of Him Who hath called them out of darkness into His marvellous light.

Surely there is no nation on earth to-day that can claim to fit into the above people. It is the Church of God to whom Christ is precious; it is that people who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and who, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, walk in fellowship with the Father and with His Son, that are showing forth the praises of Him Who loved them and gave Himself for them. The kingdom the Lord took away from His earthly people, and gave it to a spiritual and heavenly people.

"My Kingdom is not of this World"

An earthly kingdom is for earth dwellers, but our Lord said, "My kingdom is not of this world''. The people to whom God gave the Kingdom are not looking upon Great Britain as their inheritance, for they are not an earthly, but a heavenly people, so they can say, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again (a born again people) unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1st Peter 1 vs 3-5).

(Thank God this may be the language of every Britisher who trusts Christ, but it certainly is not the language of the British nation.)

Sufficient has been said to prove that the nation to whom the kingdom was given is the Church and not the British Empire.

No Ten-Tribe Kingdom in God's Plan

The ten-tribe kingdom was permitted by God because of Solomon's sin (1st Kings 11 vs 11). "I will surely rend the kingdom from thee and will give it to thy servant". God gave the ten-tribe kingdom to Jeroboam, first as a punishment to Solomon, and also conditional with regard to Jeroboam (1st Kings 11 vs 38); so it was only for a time.

It is striking that when the prophet carries a message from God to Jeroboam he does not say that God is going to establish his ten-tribe kingdom for ever, but in the. case of David, he says, "David my servant shall have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there" (1st Kings 11 vs 36).

Nowhere in Scripture do we find God giving His promises to a ten-tribed Israel, but all His promises are given to all the twelve tribes, and they will be fulfilled to them, when they are in Christ and upon the mountains of Israel in the Holy Land (Ezek. 37 vs 21-23).

To show that the ten-tribe kingdom was not in the mind and purpose of the Lord, one has to read Hos. 8 vs 3-4, "Israel hath cast off the thing that is good, the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by ME, they have made princes and I knew it not; of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they be cut off".

The Ten-Tribe Kingdom to be Destroyed

"Behold, the eyes of Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob" (Amos 9 vs 8).

It is well to note that both Hosea and Amos spoke to the ten northern tribes. Again in Hos. 1 vs 4, "And Jehovah said unto him call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the. house of Jehu, and I will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel".

No King during Israel's Apostacy

"For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king (for two and a half milleniums they have been without a king), and without a prince; afterwards shall the children of Israel return and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days" (Hos. 3 vs 4, 5).

The very fact that Great Britain has not been, and is not now, without a king, disqualifies her from being Israel. The above Scripture also speaks of a converted Israel for they return and seek Jehovah their God.

"They shall be scattered among the nations"

"For lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth" (Amos 9 vs 9, 10). "All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, the evil shall not overtake nor prevent us".

Again, "Israel is swallowed up; now shall they be among the nations as a vessel wherein is no pleasure" (Hos. 8 vs 8).

"My God will cast them off, because they did not hearken unto him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations" (Hos. 9 vs 17).

"Sifted among the nation".

"Swallowed up among the nation".

"Wanderers among the nations".

Do the above descriptions fit the British nation ? When was Great Britain sifted among the nations? When were they swallowed up among the nations, or when were they wanderers? Whilst that is not true Scripturally or historically of the British people, it certainly is true of God's earthly people Israel, whom we commonly call Jews.

Some of the British Israel writers take the above Scriptures and apply them to the Jews by saying this does not refer to the ten-tribed kingdom, but to Judah. This surely is another proof of the distortion of Holy Scripture. How awful for them in the light of Deut. 4 vs 2, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it". "Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar" (Prov. 30 vs 6).

In the last chapter of the Bible God is warning people against the danger of either adding or taking anything from His book (Rev. 22 vs 18, 19).

So, my dear reader, it is very important that we take heed how we treat God's Word. Do not take a text out of its context and try to build a theory upon it. Remember, half a truth may become a whole error. I shall never forget hearing an infidel in Hyde Park say to a missionary, who urged his hearers to go to the law and the prophets, "Why do you ask us to read the law and the prophets; did not Christ say, 'hang all the law and the prophets?'!" All that the infidel did was to leave out, "On these two commandments", and oh, how dreadfully it altered and distorted the words of Matt. 22 vs 40.

The Perpetual Throne of David

The supporters of this theory often quote Jeremiah 33 vs 1 7- "David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.'' They say that our gracious Queen Elizabeth is sitting on David's throne, and therefore it is a proof that we, in the British Empire, are the lost ten tribes.

Will you kindly notice how they here again badly disturb the text, and thus destroy the meaning. In verse 14 of the same chapter God speaks the promise to Israel and to the house of Judah. "Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto (both houses) the house of Israel and to the house of Judah". Of course, it suits the theory to omit the above verse.

Please also notice how they do not quote verse 18, for the promise is not only about the king, but the priest, too. "Neither shall the priests, the Levites, want a man". They carefully leave this verse out, for it does not fit in with the British Empire. If there is the king, where is the priest, for they must go together?

While the writer of these pages is proud of the fact that he is one of the loyal subjects of Her Majesty, yet he feels he would be dishonouring his Heavenly Father and disloyal to our gracious Queen if he placed her on the throne of David. "David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne, for there is the Blessed Man at God's right hand. He is the King, the righteous Branch of David. He is also the priest King" (Zech. 6 vs 12, 13).

That same One and none other, who is occupying the chief place at God's right hand, will soon come and reign. Of Him God is saying, "Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion" (Psa. 2 vs 6).

In spite of what the nations and kingdoms have said and done against God and His Christ, we are told, "He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure" (Psa. 2 vs 4, 5). In the next verse we see the King, God's exalted One, Who is also a priest of God's own appointing. God will not give David's throne to anyone else but His Son, Who will reign over the whole house of Jacob, the twelve tribes, for never in Scripture do we find that Christ should reign over ten tribes. "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1 vs 32, 33). This shows that no one else can sit upon the Throne of David but Christ.

"The Valley of Dry Bones"

It is true of every individual, as well as of the whole nation of Israel without Christ; they are described as dead in trespasses and sin. Israel is depicted without Christ as a valley of very dry bones (Ezek. 37.). Thank God we. need not ask any theologian for an interpretation of this wonderful chapter. God is the best interpreter, and He says in verse 11, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel". This is a true picture of God's scattered and down-trodden Israel to-day. They are in the graves among Gentile nations, but God speaks of a time when He will make them come out of their graves and bring them into the Land of Israel and put His Spirit upon them and they shall live (Ezek. 37 vs 12, 13).

All God's promises to Israel nationally will be fulfilled to them as a converted people in their own land, so if Great Britain claims to enjoy Israel's promises, she ought to be a converted nation and also dwell in the Holy Land and not in the British Isles. In verse 13 of Ezek. 37., "And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, 0 my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And I shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land; then shall ye know (conversion) that I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and performed it, saith Jehovah".

The Jew To-day

The Jews of to-day do not tolerate the idea of the ten lost tribes. While they believe that many of their brethren of the house of Israel are still scattered and not known by them; yet they look upon their own people as representative of all the twelve tribes. That is why the educated son of Abraham prefers to-day the title Israelite or Hebrew rather than Jew. He will say "Jew is not my name, but Israel is". The pious Hebrew believes that under the sway of the Messiah they will be a united people again; "a united Israel in the land of Israel". "Thus saith the Lord God; behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations. Neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all" (Ezek. 37 vs 21, 22).

No Jewish historian ever suggested that his people have migrated to these shores, and thus become identified with the Anglo-Saxon peoples. Surely a nation should know her own history. No other historian in the world has ever attempted to locate the sons of Abraham among the wild Teutonic races, and that for no other reason than that it would be against historical facts.

Though the present day number of sixteen and a half million Jews is largely representative of all the sons of Jacob, it is certain that there are many still in other lands, only discovered within the last hundred years, like China, Afghanistan, Africa, and Kurdistan, where they still bear the name of "Bnay-Yitrael", children of Israel.

These will God gather, and unite them with the others in their own land, and that will be under the sway of their King, Messiah; for then "Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely" (Jer. 23 vs 6).

To-day, neither are they saved nor do they find safety among the nations. The chief Rabbi said not long ago in one of the great synagogues that "never was there a time when our people were less safe than they are to-day". Christ is their safety, and only in their land under the sway of Him Who is "Jehovah Tzidkenu" will they prosper.

When the writer visited the Near East he met sons of Abraham from Abyssinia, Persia, Kurdistan, and Mesopotamia, and as he looked at them and compared them with those he met in other lands, he said how wonderful God's Word is. There they are as sons of Israel, scattered all over the world amongst every nation under the sun, and yet never losing their identity. "Lo, this people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations". Remember this was spoken of the whole twelve tribes. (Num. 23 vs 9).

A Reproach and a Byword

British Israel teaching asserts that the Jew and not Israel is to be a reproach and a byword among the nations, but God says to all the twelve tribes, "Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb and a byword among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee" (Deut. 28 vs 37), and so all the sons of Jacob are in every land. The above passage surely forbids the theory that it refers to Judah only, seeing it was spoken to all the sons of Israel.

It is also very remarkable that these various families of the sons of Israel who were discovered during the last century, it matters not where they are, are recognised as Semites; they retain their Israelitish features, their dietary laws, their names and habits, and they practice a great deal of the Mosaic laws; they keep the Sabbath and the rite of circumcision.

You find none of the above in the Anglo-Saxon races.

The Israelites write from right to left. The Anglo-Saxons are not even alike in that. I said to a British-Israel friend the other day, "I wish I could claim you as my second cousin, but I cannot for you do not look like an Israelite, you do not act like one, you do not speak like one". In other words, there is not a trace of Israelitish blood to be found in the Anglo-Saxon race.

A Warning to God's People

Often people say, "there is no harm in thinking that we Britishers are the ten tribes of Israel". There is more harm in such wrong thinking than you realise, for this theory is so attractive to the flesh that people become obsessed with it to the exclusion of everything else. Let a church, chapel, or mission hall begin to meddle with this theory and its testimony soon wanes, for it wants more and more of this theory and less and still less of Christ.

A friend writing to us the other day said, "I am keeping clear of them because they can talk of nothing else".

That is also true of the individual. Once a person begins with this, there is no time for Christ, for everything becomes subsidiary to this theory. The enemy of our souls delights in anything like this. If only he can make people occupy their time, and spend their substance and energy with anything and everything pertaining to this earth, he knows it will keep them away from the things of Heaven, and therefore, away from Christ. This is how he accomplishes his destructive work in their lives. The saint of God, by this teaching, is reduced to a mere earth dweller.

One of their stalwarts, speaking on what saints are, says, "Christians are saints; but there have been, and still are, saints who do not know Christ". "This statement will raise a question in the minds of many, and the answer is obvious. There are many Israelites, probably many millions of Israelites, who have been born and raised for generations in the Mohammedan faith, and who have never had an opportunity of learning to know Christ. Again, there are many saints who have been born and raised in Jewry, and who have been taught from their birth onwards, that Jesus Christ was a mythical figure, having no historical reality".

The above quotation will show the dangerous and unscriptural teaching of this theory, re the saints of God. "There are saints who do not know Christ", they say. "Many millions of Mohammedans who are saints and many Jews who look upon Christ as a mythical figure, having no historical reality"; these, too, are saints. This is what British Israelism says the saints are.

Now let us see what God says about the matter. In 1st Cor. 1 vs 2, Paul writes, "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the Church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours".

This shows whom God's word designates as saints. "Sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints". "And all that call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord". That surely does not mean Mohammedans and Jews who do not know Christ.

The saints in Christ do not look for an earthly inheritance, nor for an earthly kingdom, for they have a much more glorious heritage than any earthly country can give.

The Danger of Confusing the Earthly with the Heavenly

The Christian can say, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ". We are a heavenly people, enjoying all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies (Eph. 1 vs 3). British Israelism seeks to drag the Christian down to earth and make him engage himself with earthly blessings. Christians look to be caught up out of this scene, whether in Great Britain or elsewhere. The British-Israel teaching is to make the Christian settle down in this scene. It also teaches us to look to the British Empire for our inheritance.

The Christian again can say in God's language, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1st Peter 1 vs 3, 4).

We have been called to an eternal inheritance (Heb. 9 vs 15). All national inheritances are temporal, and therefore, will fade away.

Another example of how the British-Israel theory tries to nationalise and materialise God's promises to His earthly people (who will enjoy it as a converted people in the Millennium) and apply it to Britain now, is Isa. 27 vs 6 : "Filling the earth with fruit". On this wonderful verse their exposition is : "The development of land by British settlers in the Colonies shows a truly remarkable condition of fruitfulness, the more so when it is remembered that some of the lands so productive were considered useless by the people of other nations. How great a work has been done may be best appreciated by those who visited the Empire Exhibition at Wembley, or those who pay attention to the posters of the Empire Marketing Board. And it is to be noted that such work has never been done nor even attempted by the Jews." What a mix up !

God, by the prophet Isaiah, foretells in the above verse how converted Israel will be a blessing, and become spiritually fruitful, bringing fruit to the whole world. At present Israel is as the Branch broken off (Rom. 11), but God will make them to take root again, and then Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit (Isa. 27 vs 6).

How any intelligent Christians can apply such a promise to Israel to the present fruit-growing Colonies of Great Britain is beyond my comprehension. But there, it is just like all their teaching.

My Christian reader, remember, such distortions of God's Holy Book will do more mischief to your soul than you realise. The devil is trying to divert men's attention from things spiritual and eternal, and against this, one has carefully to guard.

One of the foundation fallacies of this theory is that it applies to the British Nation to-day, blessings and promises that God has given for Israel to enjoy when they are a converted nation under the rule of their King Messiah, in the Millennium. It also produces in its adherents, a false national pride, for it nationalises God's promises and blessings in this dispensation. It produces carnal confidence that Britain, in virtue of her supposed identity with the tribes of Israel, will become the possessor of all the gates of her enemies, and thus become the master of the world.

Such thinking certainly diverts people's attention from the one thing needful, and from the only means which God has provided by which they can be accepted before Him.

This dispensation is surely a time in which God deals with the individual. He is calling out a people unto His Name out of all peoples; and to these God is making all His promises "Yea and Amen" in Christ. But, to apply God's promises at the present day to a nation composed of millions of unbelievers is pure and simple apostasy.

The main thing to-day is whether men are in Christ or not. If they are Christians their destiny is neither connected with Palestine, nor Great Britain, nor any other country, but with an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, and which fadeth not away, and therefore is eternal. If all the money and energy spent by these theorists to convince unconverted Britishers of their identity with the lost tribes of Israel were spent to point them to Christ, what a God-glorifying work they could do.

Extravagant Claims

I would like further to warn my Christian friends who are in any way connected with this theory, that some of their extravagant claims are almost blasphemies; for instance, they say, "That the blasting furnaces, the gas, the steam engines, and the cloud of smoke arising from the same sources" would represent the cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night in Israel's camp (J. Wild, D.D.). When you think of it, that the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night which was the expression of God's Shekinah Glory in the midst of His people, is compared with the smoky chimneys and burning furnaces of the Black Country, that surely is blasphemy.

The Stone Cut Out Without Hands

Another one is the prophetic picture of Christ's Kingdom, the stone cut out without hands; that stone which crashes all those four Empires of Nebuchadnezzar's image (Dan. 2). This glorious Messianic picture of the Son of God's reign is applied to the British Empire.

Also, another wonderful prophetic picture of Christ in Gen. 44 vs 24, "the stone of Israel" is applied to a material stone which lies in Westminster Abbey.

You will remember the above verse speaks, as well as the verses from 22-26, of Joseph, who is a type of the Lord Jesus, who is called "the shepherd, the stone of Israel". To compare the "Shepherd Stone of Israel" with an ordinary stone lying in Westminster Abbey, is not short of blasphemy. The Bible tells me, "That Rock is Christ" (Deut. 8 vs 15, 1st Cor. 10 vs 4). Only those who are resting upon Christ as "The Rock" are safe, not only for time, but for eternity, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, but those who do not trust Him (whether they be the sons of Jacob, British, or any other) to them He is the "stumbling Stone and Rock of offence" (Rom. 9 vs 33).

The Westminster stone story is built merely upon an Irish legend, like the Jeremiah and his Jewish princess story is built upon a legend in the same country, and my experience of that country is such that I should not like to believe every story invented there! In fact, the Irishmen themselves do not believe them.

The Divine injunction for the child of God is "Do not give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions rather than godly edifying, which is in faith'' (1st Tim. 1 vs 4). "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness" (1st Tim. 4 vs 7).

"Shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness, and their word will eat as doth a canker" (2nd. Tim. 2 vs 16, 17).

The Christian Must Study the Word of God

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2nd Tim. 2 vs 15).

A number of well meaning Christians have become entangled with this theory, simply because they have not learned to "Rightly divide the word of truth". Now may I suggest a few points to my readers that may help them in a right study of the Word of God.

An Eastern Book

1.        Remember the Bible is an Eastern book, and therefore, you must not read into it Western thought, for if you do, you will bring confusion. But look at God's book from an Eastern point of view and through Eastern eyes and it will become to you a wonderfully simple and clear book.

2.        Before our Lord came in the flesh, the human family was divided into two, the Jew and the Gentile; but since the day of Pentecost, the human family has become divided into three, viz., "the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church of God" (1st Cor. 10 vs 32).

3.         In view of the above division you must study the Word of God from three points of view :-
(a) What God's purposes are for the Jew or Israel.
(b) What are His purposes for the Gentile.
(c) What are His purposes for the Church.

4.         If you keep these separate, you will save a great deal of confusion. Do not forget that the Jew is not the Gentile, neither is the Gentile the Church, for in the Church there is "neither Jew nor Gentile", but the new creation in Christ. Do not read Israel into the Church, or the Church into Israel, nor the Gentile nations into
Israel or the Church, for if you do not carefully study this way, you will not rightly divide the word of truth.

5.         Remember God has a heavenly people and an earthly people; do not confuse the two. Who are His heavenly people? The Church of God whom He is calling out of all peoples, a twice-born people; His new creation in Christ (2nd Cor. 5 vs 14-21). His heavenly people, the Church, has a heavenly outlook, with a heavenly heritage, with a glorious heavenly kingdom before which all earthly glory fades.

6.          God has also an earthly people. Who are His earthly people? Of course, all the sons of Jacob. This people is still a scattered nation amongst the Gentiles, still without a king. (Hos. 3 vs 4). Nationally, they are still in unbelief, and therefore without Christ. But God will once again gather them and they will be converted to Christ, and during the Millennium they will become God's instrument in leading the then living Gentile nations to Christ. But remember their promises are all earthly blessings for an earthly people and for an earthly kingdom, and that awaits fulfilment for them until they are converted at the coming of Christ in glory and majesty and power. For the clear understanding of the Scriptures, do not mix them up with God's heavenly people, the Church, who will have been caught up previous to Christ's coming for Israel (1st Thess. 4 vs 16-18). So, if you are a member of the Church of God, you will be taken out of this scene at the coming of Christ, whether you be a Britisher, German, or any other nationality.

7.            Remember, also, that God's earthly people will not seek God's face until they pass through the afflictions; a time called in the Bible "The Time of Jacob's trouble" (Jer. 30 vs 7); also called "The Great Tribulation" (Matt. 24 vs 21; Rev. 7 vs 14). Therefore, we find in Hosea these words, "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face; IN THEIR AFFLICTIONS they will seek me early" (Hos. 5 vs 15). This prophet spoke the above prophecy to and of Israel. In fact, this tribulation is not only going to be a time of sorrow to God's earthly people, Israel, but to all the Christ-rejecting world, for it will be worldwide, as can be seen from Isaiah 24.

Now, therefore, my Christian friends, remember you are members of the body of Christ, which is His Church. You neither belong to the earthly people, Israel, nor to the world. You belong to a much higher category as Christ's blood-bought ones. Then why give up the greater for the lesser, for that is what you are doing if you are occupying yourself with this theory rather than with Christ. Why not look to Him who will not only keep us from falling, but will present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24). But, you will say, you are not giving up anything by being a British Israelite. Very well, then, you cannot be both, for you have become a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ (Gal. 3 vs 26), and therefore, you ceased to be a Gentile, though you may have belonged to the Gentiles after the flesh. The same as in my case, when I became a Christian, I ceased to be a Jew, for I belong now to the family of God, the Church, where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, and you and I, as Christians, do not glory in the flesh.

Now, in closing, let me beg of you not to substitute an earthly kingdom for the Church of God; not to put an earthly king upon the Heavenly throne, thus destroying the heavenly character and calling of God's redeemed people.

It is very striking that those sons of Jacob who chose the well watered, fertile lands of Bashan, east of Jordan, were the first to be taken captive (Num. 32 vs 1-5; 2nd Kings 25 vs 27-29). It was so with Lot, who chose the fruitful land of Sodom. Be careful, my friend, do not lose sight of your heavenly calling and fall into the snare of Sodom.

With your position in Christ, no earthly glory can compare. During the little while left before He calls us into His presence, in order not to be side-tracked by the Devil, let us be occupied with Christ, and things precious to His heart.

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace."

MARK KAGAN.