BRITISH-ISRAEL

Southland Times, Issue 22351, 16 June 1934, Page 11

BRITISH-ISRAEL

EXPOSITORY COLUMN. —No. 9 — (By Historicus). Having covered the historical grounds we have for believing that we AngloSaxons are of the stock of Israel, I can now with a good conscience go on to consider also the Scriptures which plainly prophesy of just such an Empire as ours is, and hope to show that the coincidence between the Israel Empire prophesied of and that, of which we New Zealanders are subjects, is so striking as to compel belief in the truth of the British-Israel claims, provided only that we do accept the Bible as the Word of God. The Chosen People. It is commonly stated with some heat in the writings of opponents that the distinction between Israel and Judah which the 8.1. believer makes is only an arbitrary one —a distinction for which we have no sure Biblical warrant, and which is made by us only to bolster up our case. If this was so, there would really be no case to bolster up at all, and I would certainly abandon it. I propose, however, to try and show that I do not fear the strictest and most searching examination of these terms by the searchlight of Holy Writ. Israel in the widest sense of the word —l2-tribed Israel—means the descendants of all 12 sons of Jacob who was surnamed Israel, each of whom gave his name to the tribe which derived from him. Levi had no territory assigned to him by Joshua, but was given cities in all the tribes. Joseph dropped out as a tribal name, his place being taken by the names of his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. This kept the reckoning at 12. These 12 tribes are again and again called in the Scripture God’s chosen people. Here is one of the dozens of such passages: “For the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deut. V 11.6). That there should be a chosen people at all is highly offensive to many modern Christians, but the Bible says that this chosen people is not just God’s pet-race; it is His servant-race. Through it, all the families of the earth are to be blessed. Jewish Opinion. Instructed Jews do not claim, and never have claimed, to be descendants of all the 12 tribes to whom Moses spoke in the wilderness. I could assemble many statements to this effect

from the works of leading Jews, but will quote only one. On November 18, 1918, the Chief Rabbi wrote as follows to the Rev. Merton Smith, a 8.1. believer, who had questioned him in his official capacity on this point. “The people known at present as the Jews are descendants of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with a certain number of the tribe of Levi. As far as is known, there is no further admixture of other tribes. The 10 tribes have been scattered among the nations of the world. We look forward to the gathering of all the tribes ‘at some future day.” Thus the official Jewish opinion is that they represent only two tribes and part Levi, and as they above all peoples have kept apart, and have taken national pride in their genealogies, it is idle to doubt their official word on this question. “Jew.”

The term “Jew” is just an abbreviation of Judah, the name of their ancestor. In German the derivation from Judah is still more obvious, the word for Jew being “Jude.” Josephus says (Ant.X1.5.7) that the name was given to them when they came back from Babylon, and hence they were called Jews, and the land Judaea. The word “Jew” occurs first and seldom in the late Kings and Chronicles. These few occurrences are probably due to these books having been edited by Ezra or Nehemiah after the Return, when the term was in common use. Members of the 10 tribes, or of the 12 tribes before Rehoboam, are never once in the Bible called “Jews.” The Bible term is always either Hebrews or Israelites. One has to read modern historians and theologians to find out that there are 12 tribes of “the Jews”; that Araham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samson, and the others were “Jewish” heroes. By what right do our clergy commonly speak in their pulpits of the “Jewish” exodus from Egypt, or the “Jewish” sojourn in the wilderness, when the Bible never once does so? An Italian writer of a modern Life of Christ—Papini—actually refers to Adam, the father of the human race as a Jew! Could learned ignorance blunder further? Is Israel Hidden? A Jewish rabbi said about half a century ago that if it was true that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and was to come again shortly, then 10-tribed Israel ought to be manifest somewhere, for Judah had to walk to her before the Messiah was to come. He had evidently read his Old Testament to better effect than many a Christian leader. Some thoughtful Christians, however, while not accepting our identification of Britain with Israel, are quite sure that Israel and Judah are necessarily different people, Judah —the 2 tribes and Levi—being visible to the world as the Jews, while Israel

—the 10 tribes—are in the world somewhere, but hidden from view. They are to be revealed in God’s good time when the union of the Two Sticks (Ezek. XXXVII) is to take place. Till then, Israel is lost from sight. The difficulty in accepting such a view is to find a place in the world where 10tribed Israel could now be concealed in this century of wireless and travel, when so many run to and fro and knowledge is increased. If the descendants of two tribes number 15 millions, as the Enc. Brit, states, the descendants of 10 tribes should now number about 75 millions. Wh re could such a multitudinous nation be now hidden from view? The Term “Israel.” Israel was the name given to Jacob when he underwent a great change of character and heart at Peniel. Until then, his character was in keeping with his name Jacob, which means “supplanter.” After Peniel his character is noble, and he became one of the prophets of Israel. Any of his descendants can rightly be called Israelites, but only those who are of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, or who are proselytes to the Jewish religion, can rightly be called Jews. All Jews are of course Israelites, but all Israelites are not necessarily Jews. In the same way, all New Zealanders are British, but all the British are not New Zealanders. It is frequently thrown up against us that God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also the prophecies spoken by Moses and Balaam, were spoken of all 12 tribes of Israel. For us therefore to apply them, as we do, to 10-tribed Israel is said to be wrong. I submit, however, that this application is in accordance with that common-sense which God has given us to use in discerning truth. Being Divine prophecies, they must necessarily find a fulfilment somewhere in the history of the 12 tribes of whom they were spoken. If virtually no fulfilment has taken place in 2-tribed Israel—i.e., in the Jews — then we must necessarily look *for a fulfilment in 10-tribed Israel and nowhere else. If they are not fulfilled in 10-tribed Israel, the God has not been true to His word—but that is unthinkable. If we find them fulfilled only in Britain, then Britain is necessarily 10-tribed Israel, quite apart from the evidence I have already presented for thinking so. How then can Israel be hiding her light under a bushel somewhere? She must necessarily be a city that is set on a hill which cannot be hid. The prophecies spoken of Israel are so glorious, and inevitably demand such publicity in the fulfilling of them that they could not be done in a corner. The whole world should be able to see her fulfilling the. prophecies if those prophecies be Divinely inspired. The matter will be further investigated next week.