The baleful bubble of british israelism by lawrence duff forbes d d d litt

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1<!=>8?@!1><$ I have frequently described the “British-Israel” fantasy as the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera of prophetic interpretation. Unfortunately, whilst undoubtedly a comedy to the Scripturally enlightened, it possesses a sombre note of tragedy when its permeating leaven is discovered to distress, delude, and divide the Lord’s people wherever it is disseminated.

The baleful influences of the “British-Israel” bubble are sufficiently serious to justify us in pricking it with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. In this exposure I impeach the theory itself, not the unfortunate people ensnared by it.

AB<>CA1A$ THE BACKGROUND OF THE BUBBLE (1) The Undivided (2) The Unconstitutional (3) The Ultimate THE BLOWING OF THE BUBBLE (4) The Supposititious Soap (5) The Sanctimonious Swelling (6) The Sacrilegious Schism THE BURSTING OF THE BUBBLE (7) The Sword of the Spirit (8) The Sauce of the Satire (9) The Supremacy of the Sacrifice

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AD@!1><$><D$ THE BACKGROUND OF THE BUBBLE Error usually has some background of truth from which to deviate, and so that we can better discern the British-Israel error, let us first plant our feet in the background of truth.

From King Saul to the ultimate captivities, the history of the twelve tribes of Israel falls into three phases – (1) the undivided monarchy; (2) the setting up of the unconstitutional kingdom; (3) the ultimate captivities of both kingdoms. Let us briefly consider some salient points in these three phases.

(1) The Undivided.

The consideration of the twelve tribes as an undivided kingdom first claims our attention.

The Hebrew word “shavat” is variously translated in our English Bible by the words “rod,” “sceptre,” “staff,” “tribe.” The first use of the word is at Genesis 49:10 – “The sceptre (shavet) shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come.” Then at verse 28 of the same chapter we read: “all these are the twelve tribes (sceptres) of Israel . . .” These twelve sceptres or tribes were named Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph and Benjamin.

At a later date, the tribe of Levi was separated unto God’s service in a special manner and, as compensation, the tribe of Joseph was divided with regard to Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.

Thus the twelve tribes, with Levi, spun out their silken thread of possibility until the days of Samuel, when they foolishly exchanged the privilege and potential of the Theocracy for the checkered course of a human monarchy.

After the days of King Saul, all the twelve tribes were welded together into one undivided kingdom under David and, later, Solomon. King Solomon was born c. BC1033, and was crowned c. BC1015, and Israel’s supremacy and impact upon the nations under Solomon is a faint symbolic ray of the future glory and blessing under King Messiah.

It is worthy to note that David, not Saul, was the first king of the Messianic line, for Judah is the chosen tribe for the Messianic Regal glory.

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(2) The Unconstitutional Following Solomon’s death c.BC975, the folly of Rehoboam precipitated a revolt under Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite.

Be it observed that “all Israel,” acting nationally, were in this revolt, and “all Israel,” acting nationally, crowned Jeroboam King over “all Israel” (1 Kings, 12:19,20).

This caused two tribes of Israel, viz., Judah and Benjamin, to revolt against the revolt (1 Kings 12:21), and the counter-revolution was at the point of arms, when Rehoboam was Divinely ordered to resign himself to the situation.

This he wisely did, and being known as King of Judah, he ruled over “the house of Judah and Benjamin” and “the remnant of the people” (1 Kings 12:23).

This reference in 1 Kings 12:23 to “the remnant of the people,” in addition to “the house of Judah and Benjamin,” is striking; doubly so, because made at the very dawn of the revolt, and before the separation of that which was to become two kingdoms has hardened into any historic solidarity.

Jeroboam initially secured the official allegiance of all tribes of Israel, except Judah and Benjamin, but whether he secured the personal and individual active allegiance of all members of those tribes is quite another matter.

From this point we see Israel divided into two concurrent monarchies, one under Jeroboam, and one under Rehoboam.

Jeroboam then built the city of Shechem, a little distance north of Jerusalem, but fearing “lest the kingdom returns to the house of David” (1 Kings 12:26. Note the word “return”), he perpetrated that folly which for ever afterwards branded him as “Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin.”

Maintaining the title “Israel,” the rebels founded an unconstitutional kingdom, with its capital ultimately at Samaria, only a mere 35 miles north of Jerusalem. This Northern Israel Kingdom became the very centre of WICKEDNESS and IDOLATRY. The Southern Israel Kingdom continued its capital at Jerusalem, and in emphasis of its Divine constitutional character, was known as Judah.

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The unconstitutional, apostate Northern Israel Kingdom, by its consistent wickedness, soon had the Divine pronouncement of extinction pronounced upon it. It lasted 250 years, during which time it has 19 heterodox kings through nine dynasties, and not one of the 19 kings was any good.

During this awful 250 years, the name “Israel” became a stench in the nostrils of the orthodox. For this reason, doubtless, the Southern Israel Kingdom would not feel disposed to press their claim to the designation. Hence, during this period, the name “Israel” came increasingly to refer to the Northern Israel Kingdom, and less and less to the Southern Israel Kingdom. The latter proudly maintained the title of the Royal tribe, Judah, and retained the Davidic dynasty through its kings which, like its companion kingdom, were 19 in number.

As already indicated, Northern Israel’s history is consistently steeped in the unrelieved blackness of sin and idolatry, but the records of the Southern Israel Kingdom’s spiritual condition reveal many glorious highlights of revival. Southern Israel had eight good kings to refresh its people.

(3) The Ultimate Surely “righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people!”

The iniquity of the Northern Israel Kingdom reached its fullness, and God’s judgement fell upon it by the hand of the Assyrian power, first under Shalmaneser and then under Sargon. Samaria, the Northern Capital was captured in BC722, and the kingdom of “Israel,” so far as the term related to the unconstitutional monarchy, capital and worship, was permanently extinguished. Scripture declares it will never exist again as a separate entity, but in the future, “Israel” will be joined to “Judah” as one glorious Kingdom of Israel, with Jerusalem as the Capital. Perhaps the beginnings of this movement are even now in sight.

The Southern Israel Kingdom, Judah, continued its existence for a further 135 years, but the cancer of sin had done its deadly work in spite of the example of its eight good kings and, in BC587, Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian monarch, destroyed Jerusalem, and the Southern Israel Kingdom was extinguished temporarily.

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Since the Capitals of these kingdoms were only 35 miles apart, intercourse and interexchange, sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile, was consistently maintained between the peoples, right through the whole of the divided kingdom period.

Such is the background of truth relative to the twelve tribes of Israel up to their respective ultimate captivities.

AD@!1><$!E>$ THE BLOWING OF THE BUBBLE (4) The Supposititious Soap.

We have given an epitome of Israel’s history regarding (a) the undivided period; (b) the setting up of the unconstitutional kingdom, and (c) the ultimate of the peoples up to BC587.

From this background of truth let us now watch the blowing of the egregious BritishIsrael bubble!

Three major ingredients are used to manufacture the supposititious soap from which the bubble is blown, viz: (a) THE TRIBAL-BLOCK THEORY (b) THE FIXED IDENTIFYING LABEL THEORY (c) THE LOST TEN TRIBES THEORY

Let us now consider each conjectural ingredient before the supposititious soap is reverently placed in the bubble-pipe of wishful thinking, and puffed into the bubble of “British-Israel Truth” (!). (a) THE TRIBAL-BLOC THEORY. Let the British-Israel paper “The National Message” proclaim this theory in its own words: “Israel – The ten-tribed Northern Kingdom or House of Israel, who kept the surname Israel. Judah, – The two-tribed Southern Kingdom or House of Judah. Of this latter House only are the Jews.” (Page 3)

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It is thus unscripturally and gratuitously assumed that the Northern Kingdom consisted of exactly ten tribes compacted like a WATER-TIGHT COMPARTMENT in insular separation from the Southern Kingdom.

It is also unscripturally and gratuitously assumed that the Southern Kingdom consisted of exactly two tribes compacted like a WATER-TIGHT COMPARTMENT in insular separation from the Northern Kingdom. (b) THE FIXED IDENTIFYING LABEL THEORY. Again let “The National Message” speak: “The differentiation between ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ is clearly marked throughout the Scriptures. They are not interchangeable terms.” “Of this latter House of Judah ONLY are the Jews. Hence some Jews are Israelites, but all Israelites are not necessarily Jews. Jews, the name given to the remnant of Judah after the captivity.” (Page 3.)

Thus it is unscripturally assumed that the terms “Israel” and “Jew” are fixed identifying labels, and are NOT INTERCHANGEABLE.” (c) THE “LOST TEN TRIBES” THEORY.

For the third time let British-Israelism propound its own theory: “The House of Israel sinned through idolatry, and were cast out of the land in 721 B.C., and did not return.” (The National Messenger,” Page 33.)

We are, therefore, required to assume that the Northern Kingdom, as a Tribal-Bloc of Ten Tribes, was carried away captive in toto, from Samaria into Assyria by Sargon c.BC722, and THUS LOST. Then the “lost” “ten tribes” re-appear much later in history as BRITAIN and AMERICA, with perhaps Japan and Scandinavia thrown in!

This leads to the erroneous assumption that therefore only the Southern Judean Bloc of Two Tribes was carried into the Babylonian captivity by Nebuchadnezzar c.BC606.

Hence it is alleged that only two tribes, to whom they incorrectly confine the term “the Jews,” were in Palestine at the time of Christ. Thus they affirm the “Jews,” not “Israel,” crucified Christ!

Behold this awful statement in “The National Message.”

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“Israel had nothing to do with the crucifixion, being at that time away beyond the Euphrates, beginning their migration through Europe. The Jews cried, ‘Crucify him! Crucify!’.” (Page 34.)

Enough of this supposititious soap has been manufactured with which to blow the baleful bubble of British-Israelism. Let us watch the sanctimonious swelling!

(5) The Sanctimonious Swelling We have the soap. Who blew the bubble?

The bubble was blown by an eccentric naval officer named Richard Brothers (17571824), who said he was the “Nephew of God,” and prophesied that he would be revealed to the world as Prince of the Hebrews on 19th November. 1795. It is understood that he was a little hampered in his intention owing to detainment in a lunatic asylum.

Further puffs were given to the bubble pipe in England in 1871, by a man called Edward Hine. He was followed by others.

I have space to record only the following puffs; but they will be sufficient for us to observe the sanctimonious swell of the bubble: Puff One: That the “lost” “ten tribes” transferred to Babylon about BC720.

Puff Two: That they became known as the Scythians, of whom were the Saxons. (sic!)

Puff Three: they passed to Denmark (the mark of Dan!), thence to England.

Puff Four: Another branch of Dan, supposedly led by Jeremiah in sixth century BC, obligingly popped up in Ireland, under the title of Tuatha-da-Danan.

Puff Five: Then Tea Tephi, mythical daughter of Zedekiah, last king of Judah, arrived in Ireland about BC 580, and “Eochaid . . . Heremon of all Ireland . . . fell in love with the Royal Princess.” They were married.

Puff Six: From Tea Tephi descended Feargus More, King of Argyll, and ancestor of Queen Victoria.

Puff Seven: So here we are with Britain as Ten-Tribed Israel, and “the dynasty of King David established in Great Britain.” (Since the dynasty of David is the House of Judah, I 8

cannot forbear from remarking, even here, that a Jewish King over the “lost” ten tribes of Israel, reigning outside the land of Palestine, in spite of Genesis 49:10, is positively funny. I said there was much comedy, too!)

Puff Eight: Thus Britain is the COVENANT-MAN Nation., and the British people are God’s Kingdom on earth, “the Stone cut without hands. It is he final World Empire. It is the Theocratic State born, phoenix-like, from the British Commonwealth and U.S.A.” (“Message,” Page 32.)

Puff Nine: As America was a bit of a problem, the theorists agreed to share the spoil, so (unwisely, as will be seen hereafter!) they declared that Britain is Israel-Ephraim and America is Israel-Manasseh!

So, you see, Britain is Israel! Upon what authority? Let the British-Israel Lecturer, Mr. Thomas N. Foster answer the question: – “The only basis of British-Israel is the Bible, and its glorious message can be proved from that Book and that Book alone.” (“The truth, etc.” Page 1.) It is strikingly droll that the very words last quoted are culled from his chapter entitled “Has the Great Pyramid a Divine Message?” Mr. Foster’s statement is false in its entirety. But I do not need to contradict it. I step aside and let the BritishIsrael official magazine do the contradicting, for on Page 35, it confesses that for the whole Tea Tephi-Jeremiah-Eochaid puff, and all that it entails, “WE MUST RELY ON TRADITION” (“The National Message,” page 35).

British-Israelism cannot be proved from the Bible “alone.” It is based on traditions, legends, folk-lore and ballads, to which is added a dash of pyramidism.

A pretty bubble, surely? Why not let it float around in the eager imaginations of its votaries?

Because, though pretty, it is dangerous, as we have already in part shown, but will now more fully indicate.

(6) The Sacrilegious Schism.

What are the perils of this potent poison? What are Satan’s objectives in infusing this fantasy into the Christian Church?

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(a) BRITISH-ISRAELISM FOSTERS FOMENT; NOT FELICITY.

It DESTROYS the peace of Christian congregations. From much experience, Pastor C. E. Palmer, of London, says: “When the British-Israelism comes in at the door, peace and harmony, with their correlative expressions, concerted and consecrated fellowship and service, go out by the other.” (b) BRITISH-ISRAELISM FOSTERS FUED; NOT FUSION.

It DIVIDES the Christian communities. The reports of splitting of churches, both local and denominational, are multiplying. My own knowledge of this extends throughout Australia and New Zealand, and I have received also a recent report from South Africa to the same effect. Of this feature one friend writes: “It has caused our church a lot of sorrow throughout Australia. The whole thing is a trick of Satan, to keep people of God divided.” (c) BRITISH-ISRAELISM FOSTERS FUTILITY; NOT FRUIT.

It DISSIPATES the precious time of Christians by beguiling them into disputations pro and con the theory. The Christian is a steward of the time entrusted to him by God. I know of nothing more calculated to frustrate the Christian “redeeming the time” than this mirage. (d) BRITISH-ISRAELISM FOSTERS FABLE; NOT FACT.

It DIVERTS the thoughts and activities of Christians from meditation upon, and proclamation of, the glorious Gospel of Christ. It is true that some addicted to the delusion do preach the Gospel, but it is emphatically equally true that generally considerably more energy and zeal and money is devoted to the untruth that “Britain is Israel,” rather than to the truth that “Jesus is the Messiah.” (e) BRITISH-ISRAELISM FOSTERS FULMINATION; NOT FRIENDSHIP.

It DISSEMINATES anti-Semitism. The anti-Jewish attitude of this false teaching is notorious. Lamentably, it is more observed by the Jewish people, than by unsuspecting Christians. The anti-Semitism of British-Israelism is so pronounced, that it has gained a mention in the Jewish Encyclopedia: “The Anglo-Israelite theory has of recent years been connected with the persecution of the Jews . . . .”

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I possess a copy of the unsavoury, anti-Semitic forgery, entitled “The protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.” This vile fabrication, calculated to inflame the passions against the Jews, was purchased by me at a British-Israel book depot in Australia, and was allegedly published by the theorists in London.

In Melbourne, a respected and dear friend of mine, a Rabbi, had heard reports of antiSemitic utterances emanating from a certain British-Israel meeting which disguises its true character by the assumption of a misleading title. He attended one Sunday afternoon, and left the meeting in distress to communicate with me to ask if nothing could be done to curb the anti-Semitic sentiments expressed at that meeting.

Here is another example from my own files: “Jews ostracised till the Fullness of the British Commonwealth established.”

Here are a few extracts from “National Opinion,” London, May and June 1922: “The Jew, then, in Britain, is branded by Christ a thief and a robber.” Upon what does this British-Israel writer base his denunciation, you will ask. Listen to this: “What is the sheepfold? (John 10:1). The Commonwealth of Israel (the Celto-Saxon national life). What is the door? Christ Jesus. Who, to-day, has entered into the sheepfold (our national life) more than all other aliens? The Jew . . . Has the Jew entered into our national life by the door – Christ Jesus? He has not.” Hence, in the eyes of this anti-Semitic British-Israelite and his henchmen, the Jew “ is branded by Christ a thief and a robber!” here’s another: “The Jews, then, are not the house of Judah. They are indeed only a remnant of Peres-Judah, discarded by God as official Judah, and as Christ declared, under the direct guidance of Satan.”

What sheer nonsense is this! But how it fans race-pride and Jew-hate. Satan hates the earthly Israel, the Jews. (f) BRITISH-ISRAELISM FOSTRERS FAILURE; NOT FEALTY.

It DISCOURAGES Christian devotion to God’s Divine priority in Gospel proclamation – “to the JEW FIRST” (Romans 1:16). In these last days, when Israel, the Jews, are 11

turning increasingly to the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, British-Israelism is Satan’s answer to frustrate the Gospel seed-sowing among them.

The above are some of Satan’s “devices.” Let us now note some of the perils of this potent poison:(a) PERILS RELATIVE TO THE LIVING WORD, THE CHRIST.

The Lord Jesus said that He was sent to the “lost sheep of the house of ISRAEL,” yet His whole earthly life was spent among none but Jews! If the British-Israel theory is right, was the Lord Jesus Christ ignorant? Didn’t He know the terms were “not interchangeable?” Didn’t He know it was futile to look for “lost Israel” amongst the Jews in Palestine? If the unreal distinction of this theory be pressed, then Christ was not sent to the Jews at all, and thus wasted many precious years among them in Palestine! Moreover, the Jews, to whom He wasn’t sent, received Him and became the first members of the newly formed Christian Church at Pentecost! How fantastic! But even graver issues intrude. Christians are familiar with Acts 1: 6,7: “When they therefore were come together, they asked Him saying, WILL THOU AT THIS TIME RESTORE AGAIN THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL? And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power.”

How ignorant were His disciples not to know that, according to British-Israelism, the kingdom of “Israel” had already been restored 600 years earlier in the days of Jeremiah through Tea Tephi, and was even then becoming well developed! Dare we charge the Lord Jesus with similar “ignorance” in this matter also?

If the theorists are right, then He Who was born “King of the Jews” was only King of two tribes; the ROYAL SEED OF THE TEN TRIBES WAS EVEN THEN OVER IN THE BRITISH ISLES! THE LORD JESUS WAS ONLY CO-REX! CO-REX WITH AN UNREDEEMED SINNER! To what perils can this folly lead! (b) PERILS RELATIVE TO THE WRITTEN WORD, THE BIBLE.

“The people obsessed with the British-Israel teaching have become guilty of the worst type of apostasy, for they now place the pyramids on the same level as the ‘Word of God which liveth and abideth for ever’.” (Kagan.) And the fact that their pyramid predictions

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have proved puerile does not deter them! In any case, there is no unanimity amongst pyramidists.

Our Lord said, “Search the Scriptures,” not “search the Pyramids!” British-Israelites are not the only ones who have twisted Isaiah 19: 19 out of its context to suit their own ends.

Ptolemy, Philometer and Onias did the same thing, but referred the Scripture to a ruined temple in Leontopopis. (c) PERILS RELATIVE TO THE GENTILE NATION OF BRITAIN.

“The teacher of this theory make claims for the British Nation which are nothing less than blasphemous.” (Mark Kagan.)

This is no exaggeration. I have in my own personal files, the following printed statement of one British-Israel teacher: “Jesus Christ shall take the British Throne, and literally reign from there upon it!”

Again from my files, I quote from a British-Israel teacher: “Israel (he means, of course Britain) must in these days be manifest as a Christian Nation, and the Church of God.” Thus, salvation is by British birth; not a spiritual birth.

Britain is a “Christian Nation” (would God she were!), and to be born British is, ipso facto, to be born into the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

One unfortunate uncircumcised British Gentile, an ardent protagonist of BritishIsraelism, wrote me the usual long letter in which he expressed the sentiment which I produce in his own words: “Gentiles! I object to be called one.” One cannot help comparing his words with those recorded in Luke 18:11: “God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men. . . .”

One British-Israel lady wrote me rebukingly: “You should be telling the British people that they will continue to suffer until they acknowledge their identity, and return to the Laws of Jehovah, as instituted at Sinai.”

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Thus I am urged to preach that the British “identity” is “Israel,” and I am to cease preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and instead put the yoke of the Sinaitic Law upon my congregants. I haven’t taken the advice.

I have advanced sufficient material to reveal the menace of this delusion and, be it noted, I have deliberately confined my quotations or references to the generality of the expression of the fantasy of this false teaching. As will be gathered from my last quotation, it possesses uglier features in the most extreme factions.

I have on my files, printed and written documents from extreme British-Israel exponents who have jettisoned Christianity altogether. Listen to this: “I, on the other hand, was brought up a Christian (I am not a Jewess), but realising that I am an Israelite, I threw off the claims of Christianity, and owe obedience to the one and only Jehovah, who does not need an intermediary of any sort to perform His Will.”

Just another quotation from a circular: “The Christian religion is an idolatrous form of worship . . . . Will our nation have to be nearly crushed to pulp before the people get on their knees . . . and return to the pure Israelitish worship acknowledging that they are Israel.”

I confess, again, that these sentiments emerge from an extreme section, but it is a section nevertheless, with its own magazine, copy of which I possess, and with its own followers in Australia. These have imitated the unscriptural Unitarianism of modern, non-Mosaic Judaism.

Yes! You see! The bubble is really BALEFUL! Let us prick it!

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AD@!1><$!F=DD$ THE BURSTING OF THE BUBBLE (7) The Sword of the Spirit.

Let us turn to “the Book that ends the strife, and bids all discord cease.”

Any one of these pricks with the Sword of the Spirit will burst the bubble!

PRICK ONE. – THE TRIBAL-BLOC THEORY IS FALSE! The books of Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and others abound in evidence of the falsity of the tribal-bloc theory. If we search the Scriptures we discover: (a) The Northern WATER-TIGHT COMPARTMENT LEAKED! but worse, (b) The Southern WATER-TIGHT COMPARTMENT ADMITTED the LEAK! There was a sort of LEAK-LET AGREEMENT! We have space to note only a few of these leaks: LEAK ONE.

B.C. 975. We have already noted the striking reference to “the remnant of

the people” remaining with the “house of Judah and Benjamin” (1 Kings 12:23) right at the dawn of the revolt. But now we note that also, right at the very beginning, A WHOLE TRIBE LEAKED! “For the LEVITES left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the Lord” (II Chronicles 11:14).

LEAK TWO.

B.C. 975. THEN SOME OF ALL THE OTHER TRIBES LEAKED.

“And after them OUT OF ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel, came to Jerusalem, 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” (II Chronicles 11:16). Here was a steady leak over the whole first three years of Rehoboam’s reign!

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LEAK THREE. B.C. 958. WHOLE CITIES LEAKED! “And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and TOOK CITIES from him, Beth-el with the towns thereof, and Jeshanah with the towns thereof, and Ephrain with the towns thereof” (II Chronicles 13:19).

LEAK FOUR.

B.C. 941. THEN AN ABUNDANCE LEAKED!

“And he 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” (II Chronicles 15:9).

LEAK FIVE.

B.C. 726. MUTUAL REJOICING OVER THE LEAKS!

“And all the congregation of Judah, with the priests and Levites, and all the CONGREGATION THAT CAME OUT OF ISRAEL, and the strangers that CAME OUT OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced” (II Chronicles 30:25).

LEAK SIX.

B.C. 726. LEAK UNTO PERMANENT RESIDENCE!

“And concerning the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL and Judah, THAT DWELT IN THE CITIES OF JUDAH, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep . . . .” (II Chronicles 31:6).

The leaks I have cited extend from the revolt in B.C. 975 right down to a few years before the fall of Samaria, and they are more than sufficient to prove from Scripture that the two kingdoms were NOT like water tight compartments; such insular separation is only a figment of the imagination and doctrine of British-Israelism. Their devotees imagine that the two kingdoms and their peoples were as separated as the north and south poles are separated. But since the capitals were only 35 miles apart it was inevitable that there should be consistent intercourse and interchange and, doubtless, intermarriage, between the twelve tribes during the whole period of the divided kingdom.

This one pricked with the Sword of the Spirit is sufficient to explode the bubble by proving that THE TRIBAL-BLOC THEORY IS FALSE! PRICK TWO – THE FIXED LABEL THEORY IS FALSE! 16

Compare the following false statement from an official British-Israel magazine with the facts of Scripture: “The differentiation between ‘Israel’ and ‘Judah’ is clearly marked throughout the Scriptures. They are not interchangeable terms.” (B/I “The National Message” supp. To Sept., 1937, p.3).

What are the facts? THE SCRIPTURES OF BOTH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS DO INTERCHANGE THE TERMS! Jews are called Israel; and Israel are called Jews.

Over a wide arc of both Testaments, let me give a few specimens of this free interchange of TERMS. (a) We begin with MONARCHS! “Now Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David . . . . all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat KING OF ISRAEL” (II Chronicles 21:1-4, cf., II Chronicles 17:1,2), KING JEHOSHAPHAT, KING OF JUDAH, called KING OF ISRAEL. (b) King Ahaz, King of Judah, is also called KING OF ISRAEL! “For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz, KING OF ISRAEL; for he (Ahaz) made Judah naked and transgressed sore against the Lord” (II Chronicles 28:19).

May I point out here that since kings represented the kingdom, it proves that God only recognized the Southern Israel Kingdom (Judah) as the true Israel Kingdom. This must be so, because Southern Israel was the Davidic Messianic line. (c) Nicodemus, whom the Scriptures describe in John chapter 3 as “a ruler of the Jews,” is called by our Lord Jesus, in the very same chapter, a “master in Israel!”

I cannot forbear from remarking, with the greatest reverence, that the Lord Jesus wasn’t a “British-Israelite,” for He certainly did not confirm the statement of “The National Messenger!” (d) Paul, a Benjamite, calls himself an “Israelite,” and a “Hebrew” (II Corinthians 11:22).

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(e) Peter calls “Jews out of every nation under heaven,” “Ye men of Israel” (Acts 2:5, 10, 22). (f) The whole book of Esther, referring to a period about B.C. 519, reveals Ahasuerus dealing with “JEWS” both from Assyria and from Babylon.

One could compile quite a formidable compendium of Scripture passages where the terms “Israel” and “Jews” are freely and unreservedly interchanged, but the above suffice to show that THE FIXED-LABEL THEORY IS FALSE! PRICK THREE – THE “LOST” “TREN TRIBES” THEORY IS FALSE. (a) NOT “Ten Tribes” en bloc.

Says the British-Israel misleader in the booklet “The Truth about Britain, etc.,” from which I have already quoted: “In 721 B.C. the ten northern tribes were carried away captive by Shalmaneser to Assyria . . . If we allow the conservative estimate of four to a family, we find that approximately 3,000,000 of the Northern Kingdom went into captivity” (page 9).

As I write I have before me the reproduction of the bas-relief of the Siege of Samaria, the original of which was unearthed from the Assyrian King’s palace at Khorsabad. We also have the invader’s own account of the siege and fall of Samaria. Shalmaneser died B.C. 722 (Smith, p.91), and his successor Sargon, gives his own account of the fall of the Northern Kingdom: “I besieged the City of Samaria,” says he. “and took it. I carried off 27,280 of the citizens; I chose 50 chariots for myself from the whole number taken; all the other property of the town I left for my servants to take. I appointed resident officers over them, and imposed on them the same tribute as had been formerly been paid. In the place of those taken into captivity I sent thither inhabitants of lands conquered by me, and imposed the tribute on them which I required from Assyrians.”

The intelligent reader will choose between the mythical 3,000,000 of the British-Israelites and the conqueror’s own account of the number, viz. 27,280. Actually, the number of Northern Israel carried off into captivity was SMALL, and would appear to suggest that only those actively opposed to Sargon were deported.

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Cunningham Geikie, D.D., LL.D., writes regarding the fall of Samaria as follows: “There is not, indeed, any ground for thinking that the country was stripped of its Jewish inhabitants and left desolate. The great bulk of the common people were allowed to remain where they were . . . To speak of the Ten Tribes, as a whole, being carried off, is therefore an error; only a small portion were exiled.”

On no less authority than the Assyrian records themselves, Samaria continued to be a thorn in the flesh right down to the year B.C. 673. THUS TEN TRIBES WERE NOT CARRIED AWAY EN BLOC INTO ASSYRIA, AS BRITISH-ISRAELITES TEACH! (b) “Ten Tribes” NOT “Lost” as such.

The British-Israel writer who declares that the only basis of his teaching is the Bible, quotes the Apocryphal Book of Esdras to urge his claim that ten tribes were “lost.” Of this very book of Esdras, and of the very passage therein quoted by the British-Israelite, no less an authority than the famous historian Dr. Henry Hart Milman has this to say: “Not only indeed is this book of 4th Esdras the least entitled to historical authority (the passage is a vision) of all the Apocryphal books, but there is ample evidence in the later prophets that they considered the restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land as common to both races, Israel (Ephraim) and Judah” (page 300, Vol. 1).

Let us now flash back the spotlight upon these so-called “lost” tribes of “Israel,” covering the period from the Fall of Samaria in B.C. 722 right through to the days of the Lord Messiah Jesus. Just a few flashes will suffice to explode the British-Israel chimera.

Before these all-revealing beams of Scripture spotlight fall upon the ancient scenes, allow me to call attention to a most important historic development, viz., that after the fall of Samaria, the two empires of Assyria and Babylon were virtually one kingdom!

Esarhaddon reigned over both about B.C. 677 (see II Kings 17:24; II Chronicles 33:11).

There was no “iron curtain” between Assyria and Babylon. Now for the Scripture spotlight:

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FLASH I. AFTER THE FALL OF SAMARIA. B.C. 625, during the reign of Josiah, about 100 years after the “ten tribes” are supposed to be “lost.” Follow the beam of the Scripture spotlight: “And when they came to Hilkiah the high Priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the door had gathered at the hand of MANASSEH AND EPHRAIM, and of all the REMNANT OF ISRAEL; and of all Judah and Benjamin, and they returned to Jerusalem” (II Chronicles 34:9).

According to B/I theory, Manasseh and Ephraim should have been in the process of being metamorphosed into U.S.A. and Britain, but here they are STILL IN PALESTINE! But more. The same spotlight reveals that at about the same time, these “lost” ones were not only in Palestine, but joined with their Southern brethren in Josiah’s great passover: “And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah AND ISRAEL that WERE PRESENT” (see II Chronicles 35:17,18).

Of this very time and event Dr. Milman writes: “. . . . the ten tribes were not so entirely exterminated but that their descendants, at least of the lower orders, WERE STILL THE PREDOMINANT POPULATION OF THE COUNTRY” (p. 310, vol. 1).

The spotlight reveals them, not only in Palestine, BUT DOWN IN JERUSALEM! FLASH II. IN BABYLON WITH JUDAH. The power of Assyria began to decline in B.C. 633, and by B.C. 612 the seat of authority had moved to Babylon, and by B.C. 605 Nebuchadnezzar had total sway over all Assyria and Palestine. In B.C. 587 Nebuchadnezzar encompassed the fall of Jerusalem. Of this event Finegan writes, “The ravages of the conquest of Palestine by Nebuchadnezzar were very terrible. The land was devastated and laid waste, and the best of the population was carried off into captivity” (“Light from the Ancient Past,” p.163).

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What saith the Scripture? “So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies, and behold they were written in the book of the Kings of Israel and Judah, WHO WERE CARRIED AWAY TO BABYLON FOR THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS” (I Chronicles 9:1). Note that the subject of the text quoted is the people of “ALL ISRAEL,” not the “book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.” Obviously, therefore, numerous representatives of all the twelve tribes went into captivity into Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, and all such, whether of the House of Israel or of the House Judah, were henceforth known as JEWS. FLASH III. OUT OF BABYLON AND BACK TO JERUSALEM. B.C. 536. The contemporary scene revealed by our spotlight reveals the important fact that now Assyria, and Babylon, and PERSIA have become one! Of himself, the Persian monarch writes: “I am Cyrus, king of the world, the great king, the mighty king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world . . .” (“Archaeology and the Bible,” Barton). On 13th October, 539 B.C., Cyrus conquered Babylon. This Cyrus shortly after made a proclamation “throughout all his kingdom” (II Chronicles 36:22,23) acknowledging all his authority from “the Lord God of Heaven,” and inviting the Lord’s people, Israel, to return to Jerusalem. Cyrus cries: “Who is there among you of all His people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.” The Cyrus cylinder bears full witness to the liberal spirit in which Cyrus invited all captives to return: “From . . . . to Ashur and Susa, Agade, Ashnunnak, Zamban, Meturnu, Deri, with the territory of the land of Gutium, the cities on the other side of the Tigrus, whose cities were of ancient foundation, the gods, who dwell in them, I brought back to their places, and caused them to dwell in a habitation for all time. All their inhabitants I collected and restored them to their dwelling places . . . . I permitted all to dwell in peace.”

What a scene that restoration must have been! And how the British-Israel misleader distorts the picture when he writes on page 10 of his effort: “Thus of the 5,000,000 odd who went out of Palestine, less than 50,000 returned” (“The truth about Britain,” etc.). It is true that the entire number of captives THEN restored amounted to 49,942, but as Dr. Milman well says: “On their arrival in their native land, they were probably joined by 21

GREAT NUMBERS of the common people. This class seems recognized in Ezra 6:21 – “And the children of Israel, which had come out of captivity, AND ALL SUCH AS HAD SEPARATED THEMSELVES UNTO THEM from the filthiness of the heathen of the land” (p. 331, vol. 1), and Nehemiah 10:28 points in the same direction.

Read the whole books of Ezra and Nehemiah for the thrilling account of Israel’s return, working with weapons and instruments, in much the same fashion as currently obtains at the setting up of the new State of ISRAEL in 1948!

Coming down to 521 B.C., the whole book of Esther reveals to us that, fifteen years after the restoration, many of the children of the twelve tribes of Israel chose voluntarily to remain behind out of Palestine, and the same book reveals that all Israelites were then, as now, commonly known as JEWS. FLASH IV IN JERUSALEM, AFTER BABYLON, TO MEET MESSIAH. “Jerusalem, henceforth, became the centre of the true religion; on its fidelity the future history of the Church depended” (Geike).

And right here the Scripture spotlight is remorseless in its exposure of the British-Israel sophistry: “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 its 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 TRIBES OF ISRAEL” (Ezra 6:16,17).

Who offered sacrifices for the WHOLE TWELVE TRIBES IN THE LAND OF PALESTINE IN JERUSALEM? Let Ezra reply: “. . . . the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WHICH WERE COME OUT OF CAPTIVITY” (Ezra 6:21).

In the tenth chapter, Ezra actually names JUDAH, BENJAMIN and ISRAEL; and here is an announcement which seems to cast a silence of expectation, as if waiting Messiah: “So the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singers, and of the people.

And the Nethanim, AND ALL ISRAEL, DWELT in their cities, and when the seventh

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month came, THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WERE IN THEIR CITIES” (Nehemiah 7:73).

According to British-Israelites they were “Jews” not “Israelites,” because these “are not interchangeable terms!”

According to Nehemiah, who at least had a claim to local knowledge, they were ISRAELITES representative of all TWELVE TRIBES. According to British-Israelism, the “Children of Israel” were not in Palestine, they were “lost.”

According to Ezra and Nehemiah, the “Children of Israel” were in their cities in Palestine.

The reader will doubtless have little difficulty in making a choice between Scripture and sciolism.

FLASH V. FACE TO FACE WITH MESSIAH IN JERUSALEM. And then, in the fulness of time, the Lord Jesus was born, and amongst the first loving faces into which His Divine eyes looked were those of SIMEON, and Anna, of the tribe of ASHER! (Luke 2:25,36).

Of John the Baptist the Angel said: “And many of the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL shall turn to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:16).

According to British-Israelism, they were not there to turn! Yet the Lord Jesus Himself said: “I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL” (Matthew 15:24).

You will enquire, “How is this difficulty faced by the theorists?”

It is not faced – it is avoided.

Listen to the British-Israel quibble: “This covered the whole twelve tribes, the two tribes in Palestine lost spiritually and the ten tribes outside of Palestine lost, to them, geographically” (“The Truth about Britain,” etc., p.12).

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One feels this contemptible shuffle is beyond comment. Does the reader frankly think that this grotesque distortion was in the mind of the Lord Jesus when He uttered those words recorded in Matthew 15:24?

To what desperate, but pitiable transparent extremes men are put to prop up “BritishIsrael TRUTH.” The Lord Jesus knew where to look for the lost sheep of the House of Israel. HE FOUND THEM IN PALESTINE AND IN JERUSALEM! FLASH VI. AT CALVARY. And thus the British-Israel slander that the two-tribed Jews, not the ten-tribed people, crucified the Messiah, is proved to be FALSE. Hear Peter at Pentecost: “Therefore let ALL the HOUSE OF ISRAEL know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, WHOM YE HAVE CRUCIFIED, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).

And it is “Jews” out of “every nation under heaven” whom Peter designates “ye men of Israel,” and against whom the charge is leveled.

Nor can the twelve tribes of Israel be pin0pointed with the indictment, for the Gentiles are EQUALLY GUILTY. “For of a truth in this city against Thy HolyServant Jesus, Whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, WITH THE GENTILES and the PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, were gathered together, to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy council foreordained to come to pass” (Acts 4:27f).

(8) The Sauce of the Satire.

Since the Sword of the Spirit has burst the baleful Bubble of British-Israelism and demonstrated that it is unworthy of any respect, we are justified in indulging, for a moment, in a little relaxation. Let us buffet the burlesque with a little satire: BUFFET I. TOUGH ON TEA TEPHI. This mythical maiden has not the distinction of being mentioned in Scripture. Of her the British-Israel “National Message,” Supp. Dec. 1937, p. 45, says: “. . . . the Eastern 24

Princess with the Hebrew name – Tea Tephi, that is, in Hebrew, the Beautiful or Beloved Wanderer – was wedded to the Hereman or Arch-King Eochaid.” This mythical maid is mythically made the daughter of Zedekiah, the last King of Judah. Jeremiah is mythically made to bring the mythical maid to Ireland, where her mythical marriage to Hereman gave us the present Royal House in England, the ex-Prince of Wales being the 100th generation from King David. But the BI’s seem to myth the point that Mattaniah, alias Zedekiah, was not legitimately enthroned, he was a “puppet” king, and even if he ever did have a daughter, no female ever conveyed the throne right! And even if she did, being of Judah, she must have made the British Jews, not Israel. Perhaps she did. Since the letters “I” and “J” are interchangeable, could it be that the initial letters of the United Kingdom give a real trustworthy clue? Jireland, England, Wales and Scotland spells out “JEWS!” a pretty thought, surely. I will not press it too far, however, for the whole figment of Tea Tephi is based solely on Irish bardic sources. Authentic Irish history does not commence until five centuries after Christ. But even the Irish tradition makes it tough on “Tea Tephi” because the original ballad discloses that Tephi was allegedly a British Queen; but Tea, the Irish Queen of the ballad, was a totally different person! Why worry?

A sort of female merger is managed! As to “Tea” “Tephi” being Hebrew for “Beautiful Wanderer,” any Hebrew scholar who knows the words “To’ar” and “Ta’ah” will enjoy the joke. On this basis, turn me loose for a while on the famous Hebrew lyric, ‘Eenie, meenie, meinie mo,’ and I shall produce wonderful things!

BUFFET II. TOUGH ON EPHRAIM AND DAN. Affirming that Britain is Ephraim, the B/I teacher says: “We believe that U.S.A. are Manesseh.” The British Pilgrim Fathers leave Britain Ephraimites and land in U.S.A. Manassehites. Such is the potency of the sea air! However, when distributing largesse in tribal prestige to America, it is a pity that U.S.A. was handed Manasseh whilst Britain retained Ephraim. The sea air could have been just as potent the other way. It is equally regrettable that it should have been “Dan” that “popped up” in Ireland. Why do I say this? Because neither Ephraim nor Dan have the privilege of being sealed as God’s servants in Revelation chapter 7.

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Had I been the proud blower of the bubble I should have made the sea air less favourable to America, and I should have been careful to see that the right one “popped up” in Jreland.

BUFFET III. TOUGH ON “TEN-TRIBED BRITAIN-ISRAEL.” The Scriptures emphatically declare that a separate kingdom of “Israel,” as distinct from the Southern Kingdom, shall never be repeated in history!

BUFFET IV. TOUGH ON BRITISHERS. I had an interview with a prominent “British-Israel” leader and teacher; he was also an uncircumcised citizen of the “COVENANT-MAN” nation of Britain. Quite a good citizen, too. I asked him to read Genesis 17:10-14, and pressed him urgently to emulate some of Samson’s activities.

BUFFET V. TOUGH ON TARSHISH. Not only do British-Israelites affirm that Britain is “Israel,” but also that Britain is the “Tarshish” of Ezekiel 38. If they are correct in the Tarshish interpretation, then they are correct to their own undoing, for Genesis 10 proves the Tarshish people to be Japhethic, and hence Gentile. On the contrary, the same chapter proves the twelve tribes of Israel to be Shemitic, and hence non-Gentile. The theorists cannot have both ends of the stick!

BUFFET VI. TOUGH ON THE SCRIBE. The direction of writing for the twelve tribes of Israel was from right to left. It still is today. When I write on an Hebrew typewriter the carriage moves in exactly the opposite direction to that manifested by an English machine. Yet we are asked to believe that at some time or another, some 3,000,000 people, somehow began to write in the opposite direction! This is highly remarkable! But what is even more remarkable is that no one can tell when it happened. Perhaps nobody noticed it!

BUFFET VII. TOUGH ON BRITAIN. The Scriptures emphatically affirm that Covenant blessings for Israel can only be secured IN THE LAND OF PALESTINE. Curses follow Israel out of the Land; moreover, only twelve tribes AS A UNITY can occupy the land in covenant blessing. This ultimate 26

united covenant national blessing will not be a blessed reality until a return of Messiah Jesus. Thus, if Britain is Israel, she is out of the land and under the curse!

BUFFET VIII. MORE TOUGH ON BRITAIN. “Thank God we hold the agency as British or men of the Covenant” writes one deluded exponent of B/I (“The Message of the British Commonwealth,” July, 1947, p. 474). Why does he write thus? Because many marvelous things are done with sounds!” We are informed that “Brit” is Hebrew for “covenant,” and “Ish” is Hebrew for “man,” hence “British” not only proves that Britain is Israel, but that Britain is the “COVENANTMAN” nation! But hold! There is a fly in the ointment! Since the word “covenant” possesses no adjectival force in Hebrew, the two nouns are in what is known as the construct state. So placed, the meaning would be “a man of a covenant,” but even for this concept it should rather be “Ish HaBrith.” Thus, to get even remotely near this philological monstrosity we would require to reverse the order of the words.

The B/I balderdash based on “Brit-ish,” if it proves anything, proves too much. For what of the word “BRITAIN?” Permitting me a similar use of assonance, may I remark that “Ain” in Hebrew is a particle of negation, meaning “NOT” or “WITHOUT.” It is so translated in Hosea 3:4, “AIN MELECK,” “without a king,” etc. Thus, if “BRIT-ISH” is “COVENANT-MAN,” then “BRIT-AIN” is “WITHOUT A COVENANT!” Professor U.H. Parker, professor of Hebrew at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont, has already pointed out the unscholarly gasconade of British-Israel in this direction. Of the words “British” and “Britain” he says: “these words are not Hebrew, nor has any Hebrew scholar ever supposed them to be such. ‘Britain’ is an ancient Celtic or WestGermanic term. It appears, in its cognate form, in the classics, and was handed down to modern England via both Old English and Latin. Incidentally, it is really the plural of ‘Briton.’ ‘British’ is simply the old Celtic ‘Bret’ (a Briton) plus the familiar suffix ‘ish,’ which is used to form adjectives of common Teutonic origin. This suffix cognate with the German ‘isc,’ the Dutch ‘isch’ and the Greek ‘iskos.’ To persist, as some do, in seeking to identify it with the Hebrew word ‘eesh’ (man) might well be described as mulish, childish, and foolish.”

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BUFFET IX. TOUGH ON PHILOLOGY GENERALLY. British-Israelites do considerable violence to philology generally. They weave a fanciful tale that “Isaac’s sons” is really the basis of the word “SAXONS.” The full humour of this can only be appreciated by a Hebrew scholar! If it is really legitimate to thus ride from one nationality to another by saddling an assonance, could we not equally prove that the inhabitants of Hamburg were mountaineers of negro origin violating the Jewish dietary laws? Again warning against the vagaries of B/I, Professor Parker declares: “As a matter of fact there are more than two dozen words, exclusive of Bible names, in the English vocabulary which can be traced to Hebrew roots . . . . Nearly every one of the ‘Hebrew’ words we do have come to us via the Greeks, and might more reasonably be credited to Phoenician than to Hebrew.”

FOOTNOTE TO IX ABOVE. If the “identity” of Britain with Israel can be established on such philological hay-wires as their devotees employ, then an entirely new field of speculation is open to us.

For instance, note how Daniel and Jeremiah interchange the letters “n” and “r” when alluding to the Babylonian monarch, Nebuchadn(r)ezzar. Surely this would form the basis of a splendid piece of “evidence” for British-Israelites! As one has elsewhere observed, on this basis, the Wars of the Roses could be proved in English history to have been Wars of the Noses. Clear evidence of rivalry in Semitic precedences. The famous British (?) (Israelitish?) ballard, “My love is like a red, red rose” presents wonderful possibilities, does it not?

(9) The Supremacy of the Sacrifice.

We turn with relief from the fatuous nonsense of “British-Israelism” to a final meditation upon the Supremacy of the Sacrifice in relation to the spiritual meaning and content of the name “Israel.”

ISRAEL, THE PERSON. The name throws us back to B.C. 1739, and we trace the history of Yaaqov (Jacob, as the name is sounded in English). Before Jacob could enter the promised land, he had to face 28

God, have his own strength put out of joint, and receive a new name, Yisroyal (Israel in English), (Genesis 32:28). So it is with every sinner, British, Israelitish, red, yellow, black or white. God has to be faced; our own self-efforts at justification abandoned; and he must receive a new name from God. In Hebrew “name” implies “character.” In short, as the Lord said to Nicodemus, “Ye must be born-again.” Spiritual birth, not physical birth, is the qualification requisite to enter the spiritual “promised land.” Man must cast aside his rags of nationality. Pride of race, pride of face, and even pride of grace, must be relinquished. “Nothing in my hands I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling.” The precious Blood of Christ, consciously and personally appropriated by faith, is the only ground of acceptance before God. ISRAEL, THE PEOPLE. These are the JEWS, the descendants of Jacob, the whole twelve tribes, and the Scriptures are clear in their teaching of a future national repentance, national restoration to God and to land, and national blessing. It is amazing that so few have seen that for Israel there are to be two “circumcisions”; one in the flesh made with hands, the other the “circumcision of the heart,” made by the Holy Spirit.

The first Christians, themselves all Israelites in whom, like Nathaniel, there was no guile, received this second circumcision at Pentecost, when they were all FILLED with the Holy Spirit. This is the promise for the nation of Israel in the grand days yet to come.

ISRAEL, THE PURCHASED. In the meantime, there is also another Israel, a spiritual Israel. These are repentant sinners, either of Jew or Gentile, who have been purchase with the precious Blood of Christ, and constitute the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST, wherein is neither Jew or Gentile, nor Scythian (Corinthians 3:11), but wherein all are ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. There is a spiritual Israel today, just as surely as there is an earthly Israel. To deny the one and acknowledge the other is only paralleled in folly, by denying the other to acknowledge the one. This spiritual Israel, the born-again, the Church, is also THE NATION to which Lord Messiah Jesus referred when, temporarily excommunicating the earthly Israel, He said, “The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matthew 21:43). The British-Israel writer in 29

the “Message” blasphemously asserts that the nation is Britain! But the Holy Spirit inspires Peter to disclose the identity of that nation to us where, obviously speaking of the born-again Church, in I Peter 2:9 he calls them “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, AN HOLY NATION.” ISRAEL, THE PRINCE. In conclusion, it needs to be recognised that the glorious name “Israel” is primarily the name of the Messiah. I commend to the reader the comfort and inspiration of a perusal of Isaiah 49 in this connection. The name “Israel” belongs, then, to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah of earthly Israel; the Saviour of all who believe; and the only hope of Britain, America, or any other Gentile nation.

The Scriptures clearly divide the human race today into three divisions:“Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God” (I Corinthians 10:32). The word “none,” permitting no residue, clearly indicates that the word “Jew” is synonymous in full with the word “Israel.” Israel means Jew, and Jew means Israel.

British-Israelites do violence to the truth and to the Scriptures, when they presume to make an unwarranted four-fold division of “Jew,” “Israel,” “Gentile” and “Church.”

It has not been my intention to offend any British-Israelites as individuals but, if offence is taken, I will continue to plead the above text as Scriptural justification, so long as it be denied that the term “Jew” and “Israel” are absolutely synonymous in ethnology and prophecy.

May God preserve the Church of Christ from the Baleful Bubble of British-Israelism, and may the glad day soon dawn when He shall not only “raise up the tribes of Jacob” and be a “light to the Gentiles,” but also “the GLORY OF HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL,” the Jews.

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