Matthew 15:24-28

* "But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
* Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
* But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
* And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
* Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

Was Jesus Looking all over the world for a lost race? Was He saying He came but for the house of Britan, or but for the house of japan, or but for the house of Ethiopia? No, it is quite obvious that the lost of Israel are not another particular race, they were right there in that nation. Others were considered dogs and swine! Yes, they eat of the crumbs off the masters table, but Israel was of the Jews. To the Jew first, and then to the Gentiles.

Matthew 10:5-7

* "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
* But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
* And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand."

So then, how are the tribes of Israel lost, when God identifies the lost as in that nation? They were lost in that they were separated from God, 'not' that they were a people who were not yet accounted for. He has come to restore the Kingdom to the lost sheep of Israel, not gentiles, not the dispersed in Samaria, but it's plain Jesus is addressing the Jews as Israel, his lost people. Jew and was Israel synonymous.

Why is something so clear, so difficult for the indoctrinated to receive? The New Covenant was promised to Israel and Judah [6], and when Christ established the New Covenant Church, He brought that promise to it's fulfillment. Jesus Christ came into the world to redeem Israel and bring the restoration of the Kingdom, and that is precisely what He did.

Luke 1:68-69

* "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
* And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people. There is no distinction anymore. When the remnant from those 10 tribes returned with the remnant of Judah with Ezra they continued as the nation, and we see that there is not again that distinction. Judea and Jews have become totally synonymous with Israel. This could not be true if God wanted Israel different from Jews. The terms are used interchangeably, as Jesus plainly illustrates all through His ministry.

The only real question about their fate is the one which man invents to satisfy his appetite for mystery, fables, legend and tradition. Any conquered land has it's inhabitants subjugated, killed, deported or they are absorbed into the populace. There is absolutely no reason to suspect that it was any different in this case. The 10 tribes were likewise dispersed after their captivity, and the remnant of them returned and were again made one nation under God.

Moreover, isn't it literally ridiculous to claim that the 10 tribes are still lost when the Bible itself unambiguously demonstrates the absurdity of this, by naming people who are from these tribes?

Luke 2:36

* "And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;"

Here we have God himself speaking of a tribe in Israel which man in his 'arrogance' denies was in Israel and declares lost, yet to return. Asher was one of the 10 tribes of Israel. How then is the tribe lost? Obviously not in God's eyes, but in man's fables. Does this man Phanuel of the tribe of Aser not exist? Does his daughter Ana come from a tribe in a hole in the ground? No, quite obviously by the Word of God the tribes were still in Israel. Else the passage is nonsensical, and we cannot believe anything.

Even the Apostle Paul spoke of a united 12 tribes in the present, when he spoke of the promise of Christ.

Acts 26:6-7

* "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:
* Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews."

Paul is speaking of Israel, and there is not the slightest hint of a lost portion, or tribe. Only in the minds of men were these tribes mysteriously lost. ..and that for their own purposes.

Acts 4:36

* "And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,

Here again we have a man Joses who is of the tribe of Levi, while man claims this tribe is still lost! Paul himself is of the tribe Benjamin, so how many tribes are there? God numbers the tribe of Levi (revelation 17) as one of the 12 tribes sealed of God. Obviously not lost according to the 'authority' of God's Word, and one of the 12. Likewise Aser, clearly one of the 12 as demonstrated in Revelation chapter 7. That is to say, if we receive the Word of God as authority over myths and legends.

The indoctrinated retort, 'that's all is well and good, but what about the distinction between the Jews and Israel?' ..the moral of the story being, some things people want lost, even when they cannot be lost. As God (not I) clearly shows, after the restoration of the dispersed from captivity we find the terms 'Jews and Israel,' are synonymous. They are used to identify the exact same people, and this would be biblical confusion if we are to believe these theories. The New Testament writings call the same people Jews and Israel. A distinction is ludicrous. In Ezra after the restoration, the exact same people are called of God "Jews" and "Israel," and the exact same thing in Nehemiah [7]. And so, truly, where is the mystery? These Theologians are missing the point. Judea is a figure of Christ, without which none of them are Jews in God's defining of the term. And Christ being the Lion of the tribe of Judah, is what restores the kingdom and makes men Jews. It's not in their blood line, but in His.

Romans 2:28-29

* "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
* But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."

The fact of the matter is, the New Testament gives no hint of alleged lost tribes of Israel. And the terms "Hebrew," "Jew," and "Israelite" were and are used synonymously for the same people, as Paul himself so clearly demonstrated in his ministry [8]. We can only say, What distinction? Shall man put asunder what God has joined? Therefore we must conclude that by the preponderance of biblical evidence, there is no continuing distinction made today between Jews and Israel, and that the tribes of Israel were present in Israel when Jesus came to her.

The end of it all? God's Israelites are by Grace, not Race! The unconditional promises made to Israel have been fulfilled in Abraham's Seed! Not seeds as of many, but Seed as one one, Christ (galatians 3:16). Those who are in Christ are the blood-bought Israel of God, and these are those who constitute God's Elect, or Chosen people. Lost, but now found. Bound, but now free. Brought out of captivity in the Son Israel, called out of Egypt. This Son is not a geographical area nor a race, but Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 4:8

* "Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."

The Gift which is Salvation, freedom from bondage to Satan, freedom from serving sin, restoration of the Kingdom to Israel by the making of Christ to ascend on High, a King, reconciling the lost sheep of the house of Israel to God. The fulfillment of the prophesy of the eternal restored Kingdom, which has no end.

Copyright 2000 Tony Warren
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