Q&A: Have the Ten Tribes of Israel that were Dispersed Throughout Assyria Been Lost?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="129a11c3.png"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to the Heart4God Website!"><U><B><IMG SRC="4b55a500.png" border=0 width="90" height="80" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Writings of Joseph Herrin"><U><B>Writings by Date</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id212.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Writings of Joseph Herrin Organized "><U><B>Writings by Topic</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm"><U><B>Audio Files</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id690.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Videos"><U><B>Videos</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id323.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Writings of Others"><U><B>Other Authors</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id324.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id339.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Questions and Answers"><U><B>Q&A</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id328.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Heart4God Email List"><U><B>Heart4God E-mail List</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com"><U><B>Parables Blog</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id306.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="File Downloads"><U><B><IMG SRC="2b264140.png" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <B>Q&A: Have the Ten Tribes of Israel that were Dispersed Throughout Assyria Been Lost?</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="c2827160.png" border=0 width="807" height="22" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> There are many who are teaching that all of the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were completely dispersed during the deportation to Assyria and that their bloodlines have been hopelessly and completely lost. It is the contention of many that those who are citizens of Israel today can only legitimately prove their heritage if they are from the Southern Kingdom of Judah which included the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, since these retained their identity in Babylon and returned to the land. I have had a number of inquiries about this matter, and I will share what I have observed from Scripture.</div> <bR> <div> One question I would consider is whether the following Scripture is to be taken literally, or whether it is merely symbolic. </div> <bR> <div> Apocalypse 7:4-8<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div> 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: </div> <div> 5 From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, </div> <div> 6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, </div> <div> 7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, </div> <div> 8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> If this is to be taken literally then it would answer this question for us. Yet there are more Scriptures that speak of Israel being regathered to the land, indicating that they will exist in the last days. </div> <bR> <div> Ezekiel 28:25<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div> "Thus says Yahweh GOD, "When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and will manifest My holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their land which I gave to My servant Jacob."</div> <bR> <div> Also, Ezekiel is given instructions by God to take two rods and join them together, symbolizing the restoration of Judah and Israel into one kingdom again. </div> <bR> <div> Ezekiel 37:16-22<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div> 16 "And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, "For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick and write on it, "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.' </div> <div> 17 "Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. </div> <div> 18 "When the sons of your people speak to you saying, "Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?' 19 say to them, "Thus says Yahweh GOD, "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."' </div> <div> 20 "The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. </div> <div> 21 "Say to them, "Thus says Yahweh GOD, "<I><B>Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. </B></I></div> <bR> <div> I think that there can be little doubt from this Scripture that the ten tribes did not cease to exist when sent into the nations by Assyria. They still exist and will be gathered again, if this gathering has not already begun in the current nation of Israel. </div> <div> On another note, I believe I have written to you before about many of the tribes of Israel fleeing the north and becoming part of the kingdom of Judah. Whether they were assimilated, or retained their tribal identity, they would still survive to this day, for they escaped the deportation by Assyria. The following Scriptures speak of this mixing of the northern tribes into Judah. The first passage speaks of Hezekiah inviting those who escaped from the Assyrians to come and join those from Judah in worship of Yahweh. This indicates that not everyone perished when Assyria invaded. </div> <bR> <div> II Chronicles 30:1-18<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div> 1 Now Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to Yahweh God of Israel...</div> <div> 5 So they established a decree to circulate a proclamation throughout all Israel from Beersheba even to Dan, that they should come to celebrate the Passover to Yahweh God of Israel at Jerusalem. For they had not celebrated it in great numbers as it was prescribed. </div> <div> 6 The couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes, even according to the command of the king, saying, "O sons of Israel, return to Yahweh God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that He may return to those of you who escaped and are left from the hand of the kings of Assyria. </div> <div> 7 "Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were unfaithful to Yahweh God of their fathers, so that He made them a horror, as you see. </div> <div> 8 "Now do not stiffen your neck like your fathers, but yield to Yahweh and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God, that His burning anger may turn away from you. </div> <div> 9 "For if you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land. For Yahweh your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him." </div> <div> 10 So the couriers passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. </div> <div> 11 Nevertheless some men of Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem...<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div> 18 For a multitude of the people, even many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than prescribed. For Hezekiah prayed for them...</div> <bR> <div> Here is another passage speaking of those from the North defecting to Judah. </div> <bR> <div> II Chronicles 15:9 </div> <div> He [King Asa] gathered all Judah and Benjamin and those from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who resided with them, for many defected to him from Israel when they saw that Yahweh his God was with him. </div> <bR> <div> What I am trying to point out is that not all the people from the northern tribes perished under the deportation. Some remained, and a number joined themselves to the southern kingdom. If Judah and Benjamin survive to this day, then certainly a number of those who dwelt among them also survive. Let me give a couple more Scriptures that support the thought that these ten tribes still exist. Those who say they perished when Assyria invaded the Northern Kingdom under Sargon II would have to conclude that these tribes were long gone by the time of Christ. Yet in the gospels we read of Jews still being identified as members of the Northern Tribes. </div> <bR> <div> Luke 2:36<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <div> And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Georgia" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> If the ten tribes had vanished out of existence at this time, then how is Anna identified as being from Asher? Yet there is an even more pointed Scripture that is difficult to get around. If we believe what James (Jacob) wrote, we must believe that all 12 tribes were still existent at the time of the early church. </div> <bR> <div> James 1:1</div> <div> James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, <I><B>To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad</B></I>: Greetings. </div> <bR> <div> The name of this Jewish believer who wrote this book is actually Jacob, and I find this fact interesting since it was Jacob whose name was changed to Israel and he was the father of the 12 tribes. Here in the New Testament we find another bearing this name writing to the 12 tribes. Did this letter actually go to remnants of the 12 tribes? If it did not then it was very odd that Jacob addressed his letter to them. Was he merely pulling our leg by addressing his letter to people who didn't exist and whom he didn't know how to actually contact? </div> <bR> <div> Considering all of these things together, I would have to conclude that all of the tribes did survive the Assyrian deportation and that their tribal identities were preserved as recently as the time of Christ and of the early church. I suspect very strongly that they still exist to this day for I believe that we will see a fulfillment of the aforementioned Scriptures that speak of God calling them back from the nations. These Scriptures do not speak of God restoring Judah and Benjamin from the nations. They specifically refer to the tribes of Israel.</div> <bR> <div> At this time Yemenite Jews, the Beni Israel of Afghanistan, and the Ethiopian Jews all claim to be descended from one or another of the lost tribes of the ancient Israelites. Whether this is true I cannot say, but according to the Scriptures above I would say that it is certainly a possibility, and I suspect that all of the tribes are yet existent. </div> <bR> <div> May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days, </div> <bR> <div> Joseph</div> <bR> <div> E-mail: </div> <div> website: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Georgia" ><A HREF="http://heart4god.ws" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://heart4god.ws"><U><U>http://heart4god.ws</U></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>