BRITISH-ISRAEL IDENTITY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16558, 23 May 1914, Page 8

BRITISH-ISRAEL IDENTITY.

(By J. LIDDED KELLY.)

As Air Edward Evaus has now concluded his series of articles designed to prove that all the tribes of Israel are to be found among the people called Jews, I crave a brief space for a final presentation of the opposite view: that the Ten Tribes who disappeared from view in Babylonia some two thousand years ago are now existing in the British nation and allied people.’ It is not my intention to seek to convince Air Evans; he is in the position of a section of Israel, of whom it was aforetime said: "Ephraim is joined unto his idols, let him alone.” Ho has the big battalions on his side—the multitude of ingenious people who are so wedded to the theory of " Spiritual Israel” that they close their eyes to the plain literal meaning of the prophecies concerning Israel as a people. The whole thing is a question of interpretation; for every one of the texts quoted bv Air Evans to prove Ins case is relied upon by tho BritishIsraelites to establish theirs. But there is this important difference: the British-Israelites can accept the allegorical as well as the literal intrepretation; thev do not deny the “ Spiritual Israel” so ably described by St Paul, but neither do they reject the . promises to the fleshly Israel recorded, by the prophets: Alv desire is to interest the. masses in the question of Britain’s position as a peculiar nation, predestined for a great work in the world._ I wish to reach the “ average citizen,” the “ general reader,” even " the man in the street,” and induce them to look into tho subject for themselves. I ask their attention, by way of prelimmarv, to the following facts:— . (1) The learned Jews—the rabbis. Hebraists, and students of the Sacred Scriptures—agree that tho Ten Inbes are lost to them. Tfiey cannot say what became of their brethren of Israel, but they are satisfied that the dis- . persed Jews consist only of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with half the tribe of Levi. (2) Leading atheists— notably Thomas Paine, David Hume and Charles Bradlaugh—have declared that tho Scriptures’ are false, because they record God's promises to Abraham’s seed, that they should be a great people, with an "everlasting kingdom,'’ and these promises have not been kept- " Where is that kingdom now?’ asked Bradlaugh. “Do not tell mo that it is meant figuratively; do not tell mo that it is not literal. God swore that it should be for ever, and now it is a thing of the past: and yon tell n# that the God of the Bible always speaks the truth. Ido not believe it.” (3) The facts carefully marshalled by British-Israelites show that the literal kingdom promised to Abraham s seed has”been continued without a break from David of Israel right down to George V. of England, thus upholding the honour of the Almighty and_ the truth of the prophecy against the jeers and sneers of the ungodly. The kingdom is not, and never can become, extinct. Allow’ mo to add a fact- that may have some weight with doubters. One qf the ablest advocates of Britishlsrnelism to-dav is Air Reader Harris. K.C., of London. (See his booklet. "The Lost Tribes of Israel,” published by Messrs Robert Banks and Son, Fleet- Street. London.) Air Harris a few years ago was a complete sceptic regarding tho facts of British-Israel-ism; but he was led to study the question, with the result 'that he became fully convinced that we of Britain are the descendants of tho Ten-Tribed kingdom. It is surely something to find an eminent man of trained lega. intellect compelled by facts to abandon his former prejudices on this great subject. . ~ Though I cannot lay claim to ini eminence, it may nevertheless induce some to look into the matter when L sav that for forty-five years I have believed in the identity of Britain with Israel, that I have watched the evolution of events in the light of that belief, and have every year found something to confirm me ui the mew that the British are God’s chosc-n people, and are doing the work and enjoimg the privileges promised to Israel. More strenuous work and moro glorious blessings await us in the near future, lienee the importance of consciously realising a- destiny which we have hitherto pursued instinctively. Search the Scriptures.”