King's Business - 1957-02

us in the introduction to the Epistle of James, chapter one, verse one: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.” T hese biblical references have been called to your attention in order to show conclusively that there are no lost tribes. The Jews today are Israel, temporarily set aside, but they are to be the re­ cipients of God’s grace in the day of the revelation of Christ. I quote from Baron, noted Jewish authority: "The name Jew and Israelite became synonymous terms from about the time of the captivity. It is one of the absurd fallacies of Anglo-Israelism to suppose that the term Jew stands for a bodily descendant of Judah. It stands for all of those from among the sons of Jacob who acknowledge themselves subjects in the Kingdom of Israel. Anglo-Israelism teaches that the members of the ten tribes are never called Jews and that Jews are not Israelites; but both assertions are false. In the New Testament the same people that are called Jews 174 times are also called Israel no fewer than 75 times.” Compare such statements as given in Acts 21:39; 22:3; Rom. 11:1; 1 Cor. 1:22; Phil. 3 :5 ; Rom. 9 :4 ,5 . Brethren, we are certainly in the last days. Cults and sects which boldly attack the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith are flourishing on every hand, leading multi­ tudes away from God. Together with these, there are vagaries being projected in order to destroy the testimony of those among God’s people who are untaught in the sacred Scriptures. I call upon you to exercise care about accepting any system of teaching until it has been placed under the lens of Holy Writ. For example, Christian Science cannot stand when it is submitted to such a test; neither can Anglo-Israelism. This is true of dozens of other religious systems that are today taking hold upon the hearts and minds of men. In the Revelation magazine some years ago appeared the following which I consider a striking comment upon the false teachings of Anglo-Israelism: "W e must see the ter­ rible danger in Anglo-Israelism, not only in its substitution of a counterfeit Messiah, not only in its denial of God’s purposes for Israel, not only in its questioning of the promises of God and the substitution of a worldly British empire for the kingdom of God on earth, but also because the whole system substitutes confidence in the flesh for faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Anglo-Israelism is 'another gospel’ (2 Cor. 1 1 :4 ). St. Paul knew that he belonged to the chil­ dren of Israel. He was of that stock, of the tribes, a Hebrew of the Hebrews (Phil. 3 :3 -8 ). Confidence in his family tree, confidence in his association with Israel by his ancestry, he counted as dung that he might win Christ. Anglo- Israelites go to this dung-heap, pick up its morsels and make it their only gospel. The fact that Paul belonged to the tribes and was able to trace his ancestry back1to Adam counted him nothing. Any confidence in the flesh, any claim to racial superiority is only a detriment to the indi­ vidual if he trusts in it instead of trusting -in Christ. In the same chapter Paul tells us that those who mind earthly things, and certainly this is a description of Anglo-Israelism, are 'enemies of the cross o f Christ’ (Phil. 3 :1 8 ).” May God deliver you from this false teaching, my friends, and enable you to help others to see its errors in the light of His holy Word. END.

ANGLO-ISRAELISM continued the theories of Anglo-Israelism are thereby eliminated: "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Y e men o f Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words.” "Y e men o f 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 youi as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. "Therefore let all the house o f Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2 :1 4 ,2 2 ,2 3 ,3 6 ) . In these verses Peter calls those who were listening to him "Jews” and "men of Israel” and "all the house of Israel.” How can Anglo-Israelites declare then that only those of the tribe of Judah were responsible for the death of Christ, in the light of the statement recorded in Acts 2 :36 ? Read the verse carefully; “. . . let all the house of Israel . . . Jesus, whom ye have crucified” are very sig­ nificant statements. Then, too, Stephen’s message before the Sanhedrin re­ corded in Acts 7 also undermines the Anglo-Israelite theory. In his address, Stephen traces the history of Israel from its earliest times down to this day and closes with these words in verses 51 and 52: "Y e stiffnecked and uncircum­ cised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers.” These charges were made against the whole house of Israel and not against Judah only. To say that Israel did not crucify the Son of God after reading these verses is to be either grossly ignorant of the Word of God or to deceitfully handle and wrest the Scriptures. What could be more clear than these words from Acts 4:26-28: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.” For additional proof that the 12 tribes were known then and were in Palestine, read a portion of Paul’s defense before Agrippa in Acts 26:4-7: "My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.” The service mentioned in verse 7 was rendered in the temple, and consequently all of the 12 tribes were repre­ sented there. The identity of the 12 tribes is also set before

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THE KING'S BUSINESS

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