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From these verses, the evidence is clear that the “ lost” ten tribes are not lost at all, and that the contention of the Anglo-Israelites that the people o f the Kingdom of the North remained separate from the Kingdom of the South is with out Scriptural support. Let us now turn to the New Testa ment and see how plain are the state ments that the twelve tribes were in the land of Palestine during the life of the Lord. Let us see how this fact complete ly annihilates the position of the Anglo- Israelites which is based upon the sup position that only Jews, people of the tribe of Judah, were in the land at that time: And there was one Anna, a proph etess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser [A sh er]: she was of a great age, and had lived with an hus band sbven years from her virginity (Luke 2:36). How did it happen that Anna of the tribe of Asher was in Palestine at the time, when, according to Anglo-Israel- ism, she should have been in Great Britain or Ireland? Further proof: He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 15:24). The house of Israel was not lost phys ically but spiritually, and when the Lord Jesus Christ came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, He found them in Palestine and not in Britain. In Matthew 10:5, 6 we find the twelve disciples com missioned by the Lord. What were their marching orders? These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way o f the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep o f the house of Israel. They were not sent to the lost sheep of the house o f Judah, merely, but to “ the house of Israel.” Where did they find the lost sheep of the house o f Israel? In Britain? In Denmark? In the Darda nelles? In Ireland? In the United States? Surely not! They were in Palestine, and to the twelve tribes the twelve disciples ministered. Numbers in the Bible have a significance,- and the disciples were twelve in number, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. The fact that twelve disciples were sent by the Lord to the house of Israel is evidence that the twelve tribes were in the land of Pales tine at the time. Let us read Peter’s message at Pente
cost, observing how the theories of An- glo-Israelism are overthrown: But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men o f Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and won ders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the deter minate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have cruci fied, both Lord and Christ (A cts 2 :l t , 22, 23, 36). 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 o f Christ, in the light of Acts 2:36? Stephen’s message before the San hedrin, recorded in Acts 7: 51-53, also undermines this theory: Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised 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 showed before of the com ing o f 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. A fter reading these verses, to say that Israel did not crucify the Son o f God is either to be grossly ignorant of the Word o f God, or to twist the Scriptures deceitfully. For further proof that the twelve tribes were known then and were in Palestine, read a portion of Paul’s de fense before Agrippa: 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 Phavisee. (Continued on Page SO) T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Under these conditions, we can un derstand the feelings of the people in the Northern Kingdom at the time o f the approach of the feast days. The kings of the North attempted to establish places of worship within their own bor ders, but these would not satisfy the hearts of the men and women of the Northern Kingdom who studied the book of the law and desired to obey its com mands. Jerusalem was the only place where worship could be given accepta bly; consequently, there were thousands among the northern tribes who crossed the border, journeyed to Jerusalem, and dwelt thereafter in Judah. Thus all the true worshipers from all o f the twelve tribes were located in the Southern King dom, leaving only apostates in the North. Note how God later addresses the twelve tribes in the South: Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solo mon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin (2 Chron. 11:3). Consider the order in which the people came from the Northern Kingdom into the South. First, those of the tribe of Levi: The Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: fo r Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest)s office unto the Lord: . . . And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusa lem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers. So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon (2 Chron. 11:14, 16, 17). Later, during the reign of Asa, another great company came from the North: He gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Sim eon: fo r they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him (2 Chron. 15:9). Page Ten
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