ISRAEL

This name, given by God to Abraham's grandson Jacob, signified that he and his descendants, known as the "Children of Israel" or "Israel" would "rule with God".

Following his son Joseph's slavery and subsequent elevation as Pharaoh's deputy, Jacob and his family migrated to Egypt because of the famine. Before his death Jacob blessed Joseph's sons Manasseh and Ephraim and made them equal to his own, thereby establishing Israel as a thirteen-tribed nation. Interestingly the Bible only ever lists twelve tribes at any time. One or another is always omitted.

Eventually Moses led Israel, at that time about 3,000,000 strong, out of Egypt into the Sinai desert and Joshua brought them into Canaan, "the promised land". Some time later David, of the tribe of Judah, became king of all Israel, but following Solomon's rebellion against God's law the nation split into two kingdoms known as THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL and THE HOUSE OF JUDAH.

Because of continuing rebellion, God allowed all of the first and most of the second kingdom to be deported to northern Assyria and there they apparently disappeared. However, God had promised to install Israel in a secure new home, and that David's throne would be established and occupied by one of his descendants forever. History, Bible prophecy and heraldry identify the "lost" descendants of Jacob to be the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic peoples, mainly found today in the British Isles, the U.S.A., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Some of the residue of the House of Judah, after deportation to Babylon, returned to Palestine and rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple. It was there that the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, rose from the dead and poured out the Holy Spirit so that individuals could be reconciled to God and become agents in His plan to restore Israel to His favour.

This age will end when Jesus Christ returns, and at that time the resurrection of overcomers born of water and the Holy Spirit will occur. The Lord Jesus Christ will rule upon the throne of David over the surviving descendants of Jacob at the appointed time, and all nations will be given the opportunity to learn God's ways (Luke 1:32-33).

Where is Israel today?

Of many unconditional promises made by God to Jacob's descendants, the following should be noted:

• The descendants of Israel (Jacob) would be a nation before God for ever (Jeremiah 31:35-37).
Therefore that nation must exist in the world today.

• God would "plant" Israel in a place of her own (i.e. a new home, not Canaan), where she would never be afflicted (overrun) by her enemies (2 Samuel 7:10).

• God guaranteed that the Davidic throne and dynasty would be established for ever (Psalm 89:3-4).

• The angel told Mary that God would give to her Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the throne of His ancestor, King David, and that He would reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) for ever (Luke 1:30-33).
So the preservation of Israel was central to God's plan for humanity.

Because of her rebellion against God's laws, Israel was scattered among the nations and her identity was completely lost (Deuteronomy 32:26). Any attempt to locate these people by name will achieve nothing; rather they must be identified by the fulfilment of God's promises in their midst. Two of these unconditional guarantees are as follows: God's Israel was never to be overcome by alien armies; and would always be a monarchy ruled by a descendant of David, king of ancient Israel.

It should be observed that, in spite of its assumed name, these two criteria eliminate the modern state of "Israel" as God's covenant people.

The Bible does give another clue: the heraldic emblems of Israel were to be the lion and unicorn (Numbers 24:7-9).

Let us now consider the fulfilment of these promises. Which great nation has not been defeated by alien armies? Russia, China, Japan, India, Germany, France, Italy, and Greece, to name but a few, have all suffered this fate. There is one notable exception - Great Britain. Also note that the monarch of this kingdom is a direct descendant of King David. Finally the heraldry of this people, and this people alone, includes the lion and unicorn. There are many other identifications of God's Israel in the Bible, but the above are sufficient to identify the whereabouts of these people today.

During Israel's wanderings in the Sinai desert, tribal emblems were utilised for orderly camp management, for we read: "Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, with the ensign of their father's house." (Numbers 2:2). With two exceptions these tribal symbols were derived from comments made by Jacob to his twelve sons just before he died (Genesis 49:1-28).

The first exception was the tribe of Levi. Its emblem, the high priest's breastplate, is known only from ancient history. The second relates to the tribe of Dan. While in the wilderness Israel camped around the tabernacle as four brigades each of three tribes. Unlike the standards of the other three brigade leaders, Dan's standard, an eagle, differed from its own tribal emblems, which were a serpent and a white horse. Although not described in Moses' writings, these brigade standards are detailed in the prophetic visions of both Ezekiel and John (Ezekiel 1:10; Revelation 4:6-7).

History demonstrates that in general heraldry is very stable. Accordingly, if coats of arms of nations, states, counties, cities, or aristocratic families of the Christian era include one or two of the emblems of ancient Israel, it might be presumed that they are, in part at least, descendants of that nation.

However, when almost all of these signs feature in a people's heraldry, as is the case of Great Britain and certain Western European nations, their Israelitish origin is established beyond doubt.

The tribal symbols of the twelve-tribed House of Israel are listed here:

For those seeking more detail, the links near the top of the page give more detail on each of the tribes.