Down through the centuries, especially the last two centuries, men have arisen certain of fleshly Israel’s whereabouts. Many pamphlets and booklets have been written, some of them going so far as to precisely identify where each of the individual ten tribes were now located confidently declaring Ephraim is Great Britain, Manasseh is the United States, Reuben is France, Dan is Denmark, etc. Entirely new denominations of Christianity have been founded upon the speculations of various men insisting God had revealed to them the modern day location of the “lost” ten tribes!
For the moment, let’s set aside any comment about the southern kingdom of Judah and focus our attention solely on the northern kingdom of Israel (Asher, Dan, Ephraim, Gad, Issachar, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Reuben and Zebulun) for it was the northern kingdom of Israel God divorced. (See Jeremiah 3:8). And, though, God invited Israel to return to Him, saying, “Turn, O backsliding children, says the Lord, for I am married unto you, and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (See Jeremiah 3:14), still Israel never returned to God. Continue reading the remaining 49 chapters of Jeremiah’s prophecy. Israel never returns to God but rather goes deeper and deeper into willful sin, becoming further and further estranged from God thereby warranting cursing from God, not blessing! Jeremiah does speak of a yet FUTURE restoration of Israel, but such is indeed prophesied to occur in the future.
Due to Judah’s prolonged sin, God warns those of the southern kingdom, “I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren (the ten tribes of the northern kingdom), even the whole seed of Ephraim (the ruling house of that kingdom)” (See Jeremiah 7:15). But Judah was cast out for seventy years only! At the conclusion of the seventy years of captivity in Babylon God caused Judah to be released from their captivity and returned to their homeland. Not true with Israel. After being taken into captivity by Assyria, Israel – the ten tribed northern kingdom – never returned to their homeland. “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold I will feed them, even this people (yes, my beloved and chosen Israel), with wormwood, and give them gall to drink. I WILL SCATTER THEM ALSO AMONG THE HEATHEN (not keep them intact as a distinguishable people) whom neither they nor their fathers have known, AND I WILL SEND A SWORD AFTER THEM, TILL I HAVE CONSUMED THEM!” (See Jeremiah 9:15-16). And nowhere does it say, or even imply, that after seventy years, or any other limited period of time, would God visit them, forgive them and heap upon them blessing upon blessing.
In order to keep this posting from running into several lengthy pages, I will ask my reader to now read the entirety of the 11th chapter of Jeremiah. Note well the 10th verse: “They (the men of Judah) are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers.” “The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them. Judah shall be carried away captive all of it. It shall be wholly carried away captive” (Jeremiah 13:19). But, again, Judah’s captivity was to last only 70 years, “For thus says the Lord that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts I have toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you” (Jeremiah 29:10-12).
Speaking of the ruling tribe of the house of Israel, and by implication, the entire house of Israel, God said of them through the prophet Hosea, “They have deeply corrupted themselves….therefore he will remember their iniquity. He will visit their sins” (See Hosea 9:9). And, if one will only let the prophet Hosea speak, this inspired prophet tells us exactly what happened to the “lost” ten tribes of Israel and, friend, therein do we find that God meant exactly what He said as recorded in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy. You might want to read the entirety of that chapter before reading Part 2 of “O Israel, Where Art Thou?” And God help you to understand.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley