Although perhaps most professing Christians are aware that the people of Israel are featured in the “Old Testament” of the Bible, many are not familiar enough with the Scriptures to understand that the terms “Israel” or “Israelite” are not necessarily synonymous with the “Jews.” The patriarch Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel (Genesis 32:28), had twelve sons. The progeny of each of his twelve sons eventually became one of the twelve tribes of Israel (Genesis 49:28; Exodus 24:4).

After several centuries of dwelling in the land of Canaan and then Egypt, a portion of that time as slaves, the Israelite tribes had developed into a distinct people, a nation that God had chosen from the descendants of Abraham, who was the grandfather of Jacob, or Israel. God in due time intervened to free the people of Israel from their enslaved condition in Egypt, in accordance with promises he had made to his faithful servant Abraham, and later to Abraham’s son, Isaac, and to Isaac’s son Israel.

The people of Israel, having been liberated by God, entered into a covenant with him, and were led into the land God had promised to their forebears to give to them in due time, the land of Canaan, which became the land of Israel. But the Israelite tribes were often unfaithful to the covenant obligations they had agreed to, which included obedience to God’s laws. They had been promised blessings for obedience, but were warned that continued disobedience to God’s commandments would, if not repented of, lead to being cast out of their inheritance (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28).

Because of unfaithfulness among the Israelites, including their king, Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two distinct national entities. The ten northern tribes separated from the southern tribe of Judah, and continued under separate kings as “Israel.” Judah, along with the tribe of Benjamin and most of the Levites, under kings descended from David, became known as the nation of Judah, from whence comes the term “Jew.” While all ethnic Jews are Israelites, not all Israelites are Jews.

Because of continued unfaithfulness, the inhabitants of the northern nation of “Israel” were, through a series of invasions over a period of years, in the eighth century B.C., driven out of their land, killed, or taken into captivity by the Assyrians and removed, to be replaced by foreign peoples. Over time, most of the descendants of these tribes lost sight of their identity, as they wandered into distant lands, and became the so-called “lost” tribes of Israel.

Somewhat more than a century later, Judah, likewise, was invaded and defeated by enemies and most of the people taken into captivity in a foreign land. Eventually, as had been prophesied (II Chronicles 36:20-23; Jeremiah 29:10; Daniel 9:2), a sizable number of the Jewish people returned to their former land, and the independent nation of Judah was restored, although often dominated by more powerful empires. Many Jews, however, remained in foreign lands, and eventually Jewish colonies were established in many localities in Asia, Europe and Africa, and finally in other continents. In 70 A.D. the Romans had invaded Judah, killed many of the inhabitants, and taken others into slavery. Since that time, until the recent establishment of the modern Jewish state of “Israel” in 1948, the Jewish people have remained scattered and often persecuted without a homeland of their own, yet retaining their identity.

Nevertheless, God’s promises to Abraham concerning his descendants, the peoples of Israel, and prophecies of what would become of them in the “last days” of the age in which we are living would not fail.

Herbert W. Armstrong after having been converted and baptized became a minister associated with a Church of God fellowship in 1931. He wrote articles and edited publications as part of his ministry and eventually established what became known as the Worldwide Church of God. He also established Ambassador College, which for several decades helped to train leaders for the Church. Though he made mistakes, he did a very credible job of proclaiming the gospel through publications, radio and television on a worldwide scale until his death in 1986.

Though he did not claim to be a “prophet,” in the sense of receiving direct revelations from God typical of prophets such as Moses, Elijah, etc., he excelled in coming to understand many of the prophecies of the Bible that had lain mostly hidden to understanding for perhaps hundreds of years, if not longer. He came to believe that the identity of Israel was a major key to understanding prophecies for modern times leading up to the end of this age. He had learned of the identity of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic peoples of Britain and the United States as among the present day descendants of Israel from others, who had studied this matter and had come to the conclusion that Britain had been settled by some of the Israelite tribes, especially Ephraim, and, to a lesser extent, Manasseh. They understood also that Ireland was settled by the Danites. [Note: Some other sources on the subject of the identity of modern day Israelites include, among others, the following: The ‘Lost’ Ten Tribes of Israel…Found!, Steven M. Collins; The Story of Celto-Saxon Israel, W. H. Bennett; Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets, E. Raymond Capt; hebrewnations.com; ephraimswatchman.org; britam.org; Judah’s Sceptre and Joseph’s Birthright, J. H. Allen. I don’t necessarily agree with all the claims and conclusions in these resources, but there is much to learn from them, and the reader can examine the evidence and draw his own conclusions].

Mr. Armstrong came to believe that many of the people from Britain and other European countries who began settling in what became the United States in the 1600s A.D. were to a large extent Manassites, and that key prophecies relating to the sons of Joseph would be fulfilled in the destiny of Great Britain and the United States during the modern era. His study of the Scriptures in concert with current events led him to believe that ancient Biblical prophecies relating especially to Israel were being fulfilled in modern times and would continue to be fulfilled to the end of this age and beyond. A major mistake was that he firmly believed the end of the age and Christ’s second coming would occur in the lifetimes of his generation, which has not happened.

Mr. Armstrong’s book, The United States and Britain in Prophecy, is a valuable resource for educational purposes related to the subject of the identity of modern Israel and how it relates to Bible prophecy. It was made available by the Worldwide Church of God during Mr. Armstrong’s lifetime free of charge to those who are interested in better understanding events in our age from a Biblical perspective. Also published for potential exposure to a wider audience was an edition to be sold in bookstores. It may be downloaded in pdf format free of charge from herbertwarmstrong.org through the link above. (Click on title to download).

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