CONTENTS

PREFACE

These are days of strife and trouble and fear in many parts of the world, and perhaps in a way there are many similarities between the present situation and what has existed for centuries. However, to most thinking people there is one considerable difference: it is becoming quite obvious that the present world order as we know it is coming to an end, and the question is being asked by young and old alike "Where do we turn for strength and guidance?"

Often people read a newspaper article or book, and on coming to a part which they know to be wrong or cannot understand they lose confidence in what they have been reading. They say to themselves, and to others, if that part is wrong, how do I know that the rest of what is written is not wrong also, untrustworthy and not to be believed? Perhaps a little extra explanation might have helped to bring what was written into focus. Perhaps they did not want to accept what was written anyway, and use the apparent inaccuracies as an excuse for not accepting the direction and guidance which was given.

The Bible is such a writing which is little understood and which many regard as inaccurate and difficult to follow because of false teaching. Paul said, "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth ... " (Romans 1:16.) Paul also warns "against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." (Romans 1:18.) In other words, to disbelieve the Bible is to hold the truth in unrighteousness, and Paul also warns that they (the disbelievers) "are without excuse" (verse 20).

I am aware that parts of the Bible might well seem to be ambiguous, contradictory, and hard to understand. Such was my thinking until someone took the trouble to explain to me how God had a plan for a nation, and had made promises concerning that nation and its people. Peter said, "For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost". (2Peter 1:21.) Therefore if God gave to men a prophecy concerning a nation, which He called ISRAEL (ruling with God), and we can see that these promises have been and are being literally fulfilled, not only do the Bible and the Old Testament in particular start to make sense, but we are encouraged to believe that the rest of the contents of the Bible are the inspired word of God.

We had an old saying in the army, "Ignorance is no excuse". God has the same idea, we are without excuse if we do not accept His directions concerning our attitude to Him. In this book I want to try to point out some of the prophecies concerning the nation of Israel, and to introduce sufficient historical and other data to demonstrate that what God promised would happen has happened. If someone is convinced enough to want to be born again by God's power so that he does not have to offer an excuse, then it will be worth while. If I do not try, then I am without excuse for not attempting the task. After all, someone else used prophecy to help me to receive God's Spirit with the signs following evidence of speaking in other tongues. In my early days in the army I spent a number of hours on the parade ground doing extra drills because I was "without excuse" when I should have known better, but I am certain that God is not going to let off those ignorant of His Word with a few extra drills!

The difficulty in starting a work such as this is to satisfy two types of readers. On the one hand there is a need to keep it fundamental enough to provide the proof that the casual reader requires, and this must be of major importance. Helping people to find the peace which the Lord offers in these troublesome times must be of prime importance. On the other hand there are a great many people seeking material for further study, and I hope to be able to help them also without boring those in the first category.

Finally, some readers will suggest that there are already enough books on this subject, and that we do not need another. While this is to some extent true, many of the books that we valued years ago are long since out of print, and nothing so clear and complete has come out in their place. Moreover, I have yet to see any which combine a satisfactory blend of prophecy with the Gospel as Jesus Christ gave it to us. It was only a few years after Jesus' death that Jude had to remind his readers to "earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints". If he had to deliver such a warning in such a short time after Jesus' death, it is no surprise that so many in high positions in religious circles have moved so far from what Jesus taught as to make the original unrecognisable. Let us get back to the original plan of God and see that the prophecies and the Gospel are not in conflict, but together can lead us to the Throne of Grace.

CHAPTER 1 - THE PROMISES TO ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB

IS THE BIBLE INSPIRED?

The Bible claims that it is the inspired word of God. 2Timothy 3:16-17 states, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Let us say at this early point that the skeptics in regard to God's word are entitled to their doubts, but equally the Bible is entitled to have the opportunity to speak for itself. If there is a message there concerning a particular group of people and we can show that the prophecies concerning these people have been and are being literally fulfilled, then it is reasonable to assume that God did have a hand in compiling the Bible. Then the skeptic is no longer entitled to his doubts.

Remember that the story we are going to examine began to be recorded about four thousand years ago, involved numerous writers of both Old and New Testament books, and covers such a long time span that no one human could possibly have conceived, recorded, and directed the execution of this plan. It must have been done by the hand of God. If you doubt now, see if you still doubt by the end of the book.

THE PROMISES TO ABRAHAM

God first made a national promise in Genesis 12:2, "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great..." This promise was made to Abram (exalted father) and is repeated in Genesis 18:18, where he "shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him". This promise is also repeated in Genesis 17:5-6, where God entered into a covenant with Abram and his wife, Sarai, that they would be the parents of a race who would become a multitude or company of nations. To reinforce this promise God changed their names to Abraham and Sarah. Abraham means "father of many nations". The promise reads, "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee".

MIRACLE REQUIRED

Remember that at this point Sarah was barren, and past child-bearing age. Abraham had one son, but he was born of Sarah's handmaiden Hagar, and his name was called Ishmael. (Genesis 16:15.) However, the promise had said that the parents of the nation were to be Abraham and Sarah, therefore God had to perform a miracle to fulfil the prophecy. Sarah had laughed at the idea, as the thinking of her natural mind assumed that to have a child at her age was impossible. God is not limited by natural thinking, and in due course Sarah conceived and their son, Isaac, was born. Abraham was then one hundred years old. (Genesis 21:2-6.) Already God was using His supernatural power to cause the plan to come to pass.

PROMISE TO ISAAC

The promises God had made to Abraham were repeated to Isaac. Genesis 22:17-18 records that the angel of the Lord gave the following promise to Abraham concerning his son, "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." The descendants of Isaac were to be a great multitude, a huge nation, and to cause a great blessing to come upon the earth. Those familiar with the story will recognise the reference to Abraham's obedience to God in offering his son as a sacrifice on the altar, and God's provision of a lamb as a sacrifice so that Isaac could be spared. There is also a similarity to the sacrifice of Christ in this. No offering man can make is able to cleanse from sin. Only the perfect Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, could achieve cleansing from sin. The promise said, "and in thy seed", Isaac's descendants. This message of the Gospel was to be taken out so that "all nations of the earth be blessed".

ESAU SELLS BIRTHRIGHT

Isaac married Rebekah (Genesis 25:20). She also was barren, but Isaac sought the Lord and she conceived and bore twins. The Lord said unto her (verse 23), "Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of peoples shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger" The firstborn came out red and was called Esau, and the second was called Jacob (verses 25-26). As young men Esau became a hunter, but Jacob dwelt in tents (verse 27). Because Esau was the elder he was entitled to the birthright promises given to his father Isaac, but he despised the promises and sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of pottage (Genesis 25:32-34).

PROMISES TO JACOB

God repeated the promises to Jacob, the third generation. At Bethel this next heir was told one further point: that in the process of forming the "multitude of nations" his descendants would spread over all the earth. "And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people". (Genesis 28:3.) Then later as he slept he beheld in a dream a ladder stretching to heaven with angels ascending and descending on it. The Lord stood above it and said (verse 14), "And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shall spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Note the order of these directions, it is important. The next morning Jacob arose early "and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it" (verse 18). Remember this stone, too, it also is important.

JACOB'S NAME CHANGED

In Genesis 35:10-11, the promises to Jacob are further expanded by indicating that from within Jacob's descendants a further independent nation would be formed.

God also changed his name: "Thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but ISRAEL shall be thy name... and God said unto him... a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee". We are now seeing a substantial list of literal promises which had to be fulfilled through the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob / Israel if God's word is to be believed.

TWELVE SONS BORN

In Genesis 35:22-26 we read that there were born twelve sons to Jacob, six to Leah, two of her handmaid Zilpah, two of Rachel, the wife of his love, and two of her handmaid Bilhah. The question must have arisen early which son or sons should inherit the divine birthright of their father Jacob? In the story of Jacob's family recorded in Genesis 37 to 49 it soon became apparent that the son Joseph, the first begotten of Rachel, was to be the next chosen ancestor of God's servant race. For example, Jacob made Joseph a coat of many colours, and we read that he loved Rachel's son more than any other of his children. Also Joseph's character was such that the Spirit of God rested upon him, giving him prophetic visions concerning the future. The elder brothers realised that all this signified Joseph's election, and in their jealousy they sold him as a slave into Egypt, where he eventually became Prime Minister under Pharaoh. At that time famine in all the land of Palestine compelled the inhabitants of the surrounding countries to journey to Egypt to buy corn from the granaries which Joseph had built. One day Joseph's brothers arrived in Egypt to buy corn. After revealing his identity Joseph sold them corn, but sent them back to bring their father and the rest of the family, and then settled them all on the best land in Egypt.

JACOB'S PROPHECY

On the eve of his death Jacob called the twelve sons to his bedside to prophesy concerning their descendants in the last days. Genesis 49:1, 'And Jacob called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days:' It had become plain to his brothers that Joseph was the one who was worthy of receiving the inheritance of being next in line of the privileged ancestry. Jacob left no doubt about this; with his hands on Joseph's head he prayed (in verses 22 to 26), "Joseph is a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches (or, as in the marginal notes, daughters') run over the wall. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren" (verse 26).

In the latter verse Jacob revealed that his prayer for Joseph had God's blessing and approval to such an extent that it overruled the promises to Abraham and Isaac in that the blessings were now exclusively on the head of Joseph. If Jacob's prayer had not prevailed with God, the unworthy Reuben, as the firstborn, might have inherited the birthright, or it might have been shared by the other brothers. It would seem that Jacob was inspired to give it to Joseph, who alone was worthy.

JEWS EXCLUDED

Just as the brothers had exiled Joseph in his youth because of his high moral character, now they in turn were shut out of the great national inheritance because of their lack of moral integrity. Most people regard the Jews as God's chosen race. But the tribe of Judah, from whom in the main the Jews are descended, never had any part in this inheritance of multiplicity and blessing, for right at the genesis of the Abrahamic peoples Judah himself witnessed Jacob's passing of the birthright on to the half-brother Joseph.

SPECIAL BLESSING FOR JUDAH

Referring back to one of the very early promises to Abraham, in Genesis 17:6, God said, " ... and kings shall come out of thee." There is no mention anywhere of this part of the promise being given to Joseph. On the other hand the promise was not passed on at that time to any of the other brothers either, but it was specifically given to King David, who was a descendant of Judah, over 600 hundred years later. In 2 Samuel 7:16 we read, "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: and thy throne shall be established for ever." This is further extended in Jeremiah 33:14-15, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgement and righteousness in the land." This is an obvious reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born from a descendant of King David, His mother Mary. Jeremiah goes on further in verse 17, "For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel," and in verses 25 and 26, "Thus saith the Lord; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob..." This part is also a literal promise: somewhere today there must be a descendant of King David ruling over the House of Israel on a literal throne, another pointer to the identity of Israel.

PROMISES TO JOSEPH'S SONS

In Genesis 48 we read that at the time of Jacob's sickness unto death Joseph and his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, who had been born to him in Egypt, came to Jacob's bedside. The old man began to recount how God had appeared to him at Luz and promised him that "a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee." This reveals to us what was in Jacob's mind and that he was being inspired to pass on his national birthright to Joseph's sons. Verse 5 then states that Jacob adopted his grandsons to be his own sons, as were Reuben and Simeon. Jacob then called for the two grandsons to be brought near to him, that he might bless them.

INHERITANCE TO EPHRAIM

Joseph moved his elder son, Manasseh, toward Jacob's right hand, expecting that the birthright blessing would be given to Manasseh under that hand, as was the custom. But Jacob crossed his hands and placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger son, and his left hand on the head of Manasseb, guiding his hands "wittingly", i.e., purposely. In this attitude Jacob prayed that his God-given name Israel might become their name, and that they would grow into the "multitude", as promised him and his fathers. At this point, Joseph, thinking his father's dimness of vision (verse 10) had made him err in placing his right hand on Ephraim's head, remonstrated with his father (verse 18). Jacob's reply revealed that he knew perfectly well what he was doing; in fact, Jacob was inspired by the Holy Spirit, for it was a divine act of determining the world's history in the latter days, and for the ages to come. Then Jacob revealed that, in giving the inheritance to Ephraim, God had not forgotten Manasseh, for he too would become a "great people", though Ephraim as the multitude of nations, would be greater than Manasseh. "I know, my son, I know: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations..." (verse 19). In 1Chronicles 5:1, compiled many years later, this decisive action of Jacob is particularly noted: "Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his fathers bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright".)

THE MARKS OF ISRAEL

All the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Ephraim, and Manasseh concerning national organisations were literal promises, to be fulfilled in the last days. Therefore, if the Bible is true, such a nation and company of nations must exist somewhere in the world today. They must be literal descendants of Abraham, they must have the name "Great", they must have been a blessing to other nations, they must have spread abroad to the west, north, east and south in that order and covered the whole earth, and possessed the gates of their enemies, and they must have a direct descendant of King David ruling over them. These are just a few of the marks of this multitudinous nation whom God calls Israel, and obviously they do not fit the nation man calls Israel - the nation which dwells in the land of Palestine today.

WHO FULFILS THE PROMISES

On the other hand, the only national organisations which comply with the requirements so far identified are Great Britain and the Commonwealth as the nation and company of nations, and the independent nation formed from it, the United States of America. No other nations were of such pure Israel stock when first formed, there have never been any other nations in the world called Great, no other nation has spread throughout the whole world in the sequence foretold, to the west to America, to the east to India, to the north to Canada, and to the south to Africa, Australia and New Zealand. No other nation has possessed the gates of their enemies in the same way that Great Britain controlled the English Channel, Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, Aden, the Cape of Good Hope, Colombo, Singapore and the Falklands, while the United States controlled Hawaii and the Panama Canal. No other nations than these two have done more to spread the Bible throughout the world by missionary work and organisations such as the British and Foreign Bible Society. While some other nations still have literal descendants of David ruling, or as pretenders to their thrones, none is stronger or more loved than our present monarch Queen Elizabeth II.

PROMISES FOR LAST DAYS

The odds against any other race of people evolving into two such component parts, one as a Commonwealth and the other as a great Republic, would be enormous, but just to emphasize the point God made it happen to a time scale. Remember too that Jacob called his sons together and told them what was to befall them in the last days. It was not until 1780 that the United States gained independence, and 1800 that Ireland joined England and Scotland to become the United Kingdom, with its emblem the Union Jack (Union of Jacob). These two dates were actually fixed by prophecy, so not only did God's prophecy happen, but it happened on time. We will go into a detailed explanation of that in a later chapter. Still more recently the old term British Empire was changed to British Commonwealth in 1948, and it is remarkable that the translators of the King James version of the Bible used the term "Commonwealth of Israel" over 350 years ago, in Ephesians 2:12, long before the term "British Commonwealth" was even considered.

THERE IS FURTHER PROOF

No doubt the skeptics will say that the evidence so far given is very sketchy, and if that were all that was available we would agree. But do not put the book down, so far we have traced only a skeleton, such as you see in Figure 1, an outline on which to build the rest of the evidence. We shall first see if there is any proof that the literal descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can be traced from Palestine into Britain, and whether we can confirm that they did this in accordance with a time pattern.

Figure 1

CHAPTER 2 - TWELVE TRIBES DIVIDED INTO HOUSES OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

In the first chapter we showed from the Bible that the Abrahamic Covenant of multiplicity of seed is a literal covenant, that it descended to Isaac and to Jacob, and that Jacob's lineal seed were to become a "nation and a company of nations".

THE EXODUS

After Jacob's death the twelve families of Israel multiplied from about seventy souls to two or three millions. About 1500 B.C. they were brought into slavery in Egypt by an hostile Pharaoh, and they cried out to God in their anguish. God raised up Moses, who confronted the Pharaoh, who was eventually persuaded by the many miracles which Moses performed through the power of God to let the people go. God assisted Moses to lead the people out of Egypt, circa 1500-1450 B.C., by which time they had dwelt there for four hundred years. He supernaturally parted the waters of the Red Sea to allow the people of Israel to pass through, and closed the waters behind them to destroy the pursuing Egyptians.

THE LAW GIVEN

The children of Israel came to Mount Sinai, and there God gave them the Ten Commandments and ordinances to govern the method of their worship and approach to Him and the rules necessary to govern their physical well-being. He also reminded them of the covenant of redemption through the shedding of blood which was introduced in Egypt, whereby all the firstborn of the Egyptians were slain, but those of Israel were spared because their fathers were obedient to the commands God gave concerning the blood on the doorposts. (Exodus 12:3-14.)

WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS

The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for about a year, during which time God fed them miraculously with manna and water (anyone who has been through that country will appreciate how precious food and water are) and defeated their enemies in battle.

At the end of the first year they came to Kadesh-Barnea, on the border of the promised land, and from here they sent twelve spies to report on the prospects for their entry, one spy from each of the twelve tribes. They brought back a very glowing report of a land which "floweth with milk and honey" (Numbers 13:27), but ten were fearful and gave an evil report: "Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: moreover we saw the children of Anak there" (verse 28).

The congregation of the people murmured against Moses and Aaron, stating that they would have preferred to die in Egypt or in the wilderness. God will not stand faint hearts and unbelief when it comes to taking hold of His promises; they must be taken by faith. In recognition of their lack of faith, God decreed their fate. In Numbers 14:27-30 we see what was to happen; "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation which murmur against me?.. as ye have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you: your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness;... from twenty years old and upward... ye shall not come into the land.... save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun'.' These were of course the two spies who had brought a good report, "Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it;' (Numbers 13:30). Caleb and Joshua were equally well aware of the problem and did not attempt to minimise it, but they knew that their God was greater than the problem. All the other able-bodied men perished while Israel wandered another thirty-nine years in the wilderness, and Joshua and Caleb alone of the generation which came out of Egypt were allowed to inherit the promised land. In this day and age we still need to demonstrate a similar faith, and get our approach to God right if we are to inherit eternal life. The stakes are much higher now!

ISRAEL ENTERS THE PROMISED LAND

God enabled them to cross the flooded Jordan River, "... the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above: and they shall stand upon an heap" (Joshua 3:13). God caused the walls of Jericho to fall, because the city was barring the way of the Israelites to re-enter the promised land. Many skeptics have looked for means to explain away these and other miracles which God performed. An earthquake caused the walls to fall, they say. So what? I am not concerned if God uses a natural phenomenon to achieve His ends. He admits that a natural force caused the Red Sea to part to allow the Israelites to pass: "...and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters divided:' is what we read in Exodus 14:21. How God did it is not important, what matters is when He did it; it had to be the right night. The next night would have been too late. In the same way, when the priests marched around the city of Jericho the seventh time, and blew their trumpets as the Lord had instructed (Joshua 6:1-5), something had to happen right then and there. God does not forget, nor say "Sorry I was not ready, try again tomorrow." Incidentally the skeptics have a harder task explaining how God made the waters stand upon an heap, particularly as that is the time of the year when the River Jordan is in flood.

AN EVERLASTING POSSESSION

The Israelites eventually overcame all their enemies, spread through the whole land of Canaan, and occupied their allotted areas. See Figure 2. At this point it is appropriate to remember that God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed for an "everlasting possession" (Genesis 17:8). The key word is "possession", not "occupation", and so after four hundred years in Egypt they were re-occupying what they had left to seek corn, though in much greater strength. These events had in no way nullified the plan of God, nor the promises He had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We shall also see that the nation of Israel was to be moved out of the land of Canaan, again because of their disobedience; but they still possessed the land, even though they did not occupy it. They still possess the land, even though a very small part of the original nation of Israel is occupying it; this was made an everlasting covenant by the Lord.

Figure 2

ABRAHAMIC COVENANT STILL VALID

Another point to remember is that when God gave the Law and Commandments to Israel at Mount Sinai these in no way over-ruled the Abrahamic Covenant, which contained national promises that Joseph's descendants would have the name of Israel, and "grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth". These promises were unconditional and did not depend on the obedience of the people for their fulfillment.

The worst that could happen was that the claiming of the promises would be deferred. On the other hand the Mosaic Covenant gave them laws and commandments to govern their spiritual, social, economic and political ways, and these had to be obeyed. In other words Israel would have to be educated in the way God desired.

MOSAIC COVENANT

The conditions of the Mosaic Covenant are set out in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, 29 and 30. There is a clear contrast between what would happen for obedience or disobedience to the law. Leviticus 26:3 states "If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, to do them, then I will ... " and in verses 4 to 13 there follows a list of all the blessings that would result: rain in season, fruitful harvests, military victories over enemies, peace, multiplication to a nation of great numbers, the presence of God in the midst, and so on. God showed His people the means by which they could rise to a standard of righteousness by which they could lead others into the same blessings. In this regard a pattern was set which would follow when the Lord Jesus Christ preached the New Covenant: Those who were to go out and preach the Gospel blessings would have first to receive the power of God to be His ambassadors.

CURSES FOR DISOBEDIENCE

The next few verses of Leviticus 26 describe the curses which would come upon Israel for disobedience to the Law. The outstanding curse is that they would be scattered outside Canaan for "Seven Times".

18. I will punish you seven times more for your sins.

19. And I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heaven as iron and your earth as brass.

24. I will walk contrary unto you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.

28. I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

33. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.

ISRAEL ACCEPTED THE LAW

It is interesting to note that the law was not given until God had "proposed" to Israel that He give them a covenant (Exodus 19:3-6), and then when they agreed, they had to accept it (verses 7-8). Thus of their own choosing they accepted the bondage of the law, no doubt considering it a lesser evil than the bondage of the Egyptians from which they had been delivered. Nevertheless it was part of the Lord's plan for us that the children of Israel had to be given the law, to demonstrate to them, and us, that man is not capable of attaining righteousness in his own strength, no matter how good the guidelines are. Thus the way was made open for God to send His own Son, to be the perfect sacrifice for us, and to introduce the New Covenant, which relied not on man's works but on God-given faith, where we "walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit". Romans 8:1-4 explains this quite clearly.

CHANCE TO BE GOD'S PEOPLE

God had now given Israel an opportunity to become the great people that He had promised their fathers. At the same time He was warning them that for disobedience they would be driven out of Canaan. However, the captivity would not last for ever, because God had sworn by an oath that Israel would become a great nation and His instrument of blessing to all other nations. In view of these unconditional promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, the days of Israel's blessings could only be postponed, as it were, for Seven Times. We will come to an explanation of "times" in Bible prophecy later. The penalty of such a dispersion of the nation of Israel was part of God's plan, and not a complete abandonment of the nation. This is clearly shown in such scriptures as Leviticus 26:44: "For all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, to destroy them utterly, and break my covenant with them. But I will remember the covenant of their ancestors."

PALESTINE AND CANAAN

At this point we should pause to examine the two terms Palestine and Canaan. So far we have used the two names rather loosely, as though they were interchangeable, but in fact there is a considerable difference. In modern times map-makers have had considerable difficulty keeping up with all the changes to the borders of what we now call Palestine. The borders were set after World War II by the United Nations, but they have since changed many times. At this time (1986) Israel occupies part of the south of Lebanon, and continues to settle on further parts of the west bank of the River Jordan: but have recently retreated from positions in the south which were taken from Egypt in the Six Day War of 1967. On the other hand, the land which God gave to Abraham is described in Genesis 15:18-21, "...from the River of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates". This area was considerably larger than that which the United Nations gave Israel, also much larger than what they now occupy. Also when the Lord instructed Joshua how he was to divide up the land between the twelve tribes (Joshua Chapters 13 to 19) the area was much bigger than the present land of Israel, and is similar to that outlined in Figure 2.

IDOLATRY THEIR DOWNFALL

The story of the breakdown of the twelve-tribed nation is familiar. For a time they worshipped the Lord according to the pattern, but as soon as the idols of their neighbours were introduced they became careless about the Lord's commands, and problems arose. The northern ten tribes, known jointly as the House of Israel, were the first to fall into error. They separated themselves from the southern House of Judah, which consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and part of the tribe of Levi.

DAVID RESTORES UNITY

The two Houses were re-united for a time under King David, who was originally made king over the House of Judah only, while Saul's son Ishbosheth was king over the House of Israel. In 1048 B.C. the two Houses were united under King David, as we read in 2 Samuel 5:5, "In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah".

DIVISION INTO TWO HOUSES

The story of the final division of Israel and Judah in 975 B.C. is related in 1 Kings 12:1-14 and, although on the surface it appears to have been caused by differences between rebellious people, we are told in verse 15, "It was a thing brought about by the Lord, that He might establish His word". In other words God planned this division so that the promises of national greatness could be brought into being, but they could not happen in the land of Canaan.

In 741 B.C. a portion of the northern House of Israel was taken captive by the Assyrians and the larger remaining portion of Israel went into captivity to the same enemy in 721 B.C. (See Figure 3.) A further small portion was removed in 676 B.C., so the whole of the House of Israel then dwelt in the land of Assyria and the vacant areas of Canaan were occupied by the Samaritans, who were transferred there by the Assyrians. The House of Israel never returned from Assyria, but were dispersed amongst the Gentiles as the "lost" sheep of the House of Israel. That is, they were lost to those who do not or will not look for them.

Over a century later, in 604 B.C., Jerusalem was captured and the southern House of Judah taken away captive into Babylon. After 70 years a representative remnant of the House of Judah was permitted to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple. It was part of God's plan that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, was to be of the House of Judah (Isaiah 11:1). Those of the House of Judah who were dwelling in Jerusalem at the time Jesus was preaching rejected Him, with the result that they were again dispersed, this time by the Romans in A.D. 70. However, although those of the House of Judah who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity had introduced man-made ideas into the operation of the Mosaic Law (and felt the wrath of Jesus Christ for doing so), they have never forsaken it, thus retaining their identity. This is in contrast with the lost and gentilised House of Israel, who abandoned the Law.

Figure 3

WHO ARE THE JEWS?

It is now necessary to clear up one important point, the use of the term "Jew". It is an abbreviation of the word "Judahite", and signifies a descendant of the House of Judah. In some instances it might embrace those of other nationalities who were residing in Judah and who were active followers of the Jewish religion, but these are the limits of its use in the Bible. The first reference we find to the use of the word Jew is in 2 Kings 16:6, "At that time Rezin ... drove the Jews from Elath", and although some of the earlier chapters of this book were written to Israel this chapter refers to the reign of Ahaz over Judah before the captivity; in no way does the term embrace the ten-tribed House of Israel.

Although the Jews were at times called Israel in our Lord's day, this does not alter the fact that the ten tribes were spoken of by the prophets as Israel, and the Jews as Judah. In the same way we can refer to people who come from the State of Victoria as Victorians or we can equally correctly call them Australians, but people who come from other States cannot be called Victorians, but they are Australians. Also the House of Israel and the House of Judah were two distinct peoples after the division of the kingdom. The term Israel more strictly belongs to the House of Israel than to the Jews, who unjustly claimed this title to themselves after the captivity and dispersion of the ten tribes. The Bible states "Let my name (Israel) be named on them (Ephraim and Manasseh) and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth" (Genesis 48:16). The Jews never have been nor will become a multitude in the sense that Israelis because, as we saw in Chapter 1, the national blessings are for Joseph and his descendants.

CHAPTER 3 - THE DISPERSION AND GATHERING OF ISRAEL

THREE DISPERSIONS

We will now trace what happened to the ten-tribed House of Israel from the time of their captivity. As already mentioned a small portion of Israel was removed from their land in 741 B.C. This assault was made by Shalmaneser, from Assyria, and he took away on that occasion the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. A look at Figure 2 will show that Manasseh dwelt in two separate areas. The north-eastern area went into captivity at that time. In 721 B.C. the Assyrians took captive the greater part of the remainder of Israel, and the final transportation was made in 676 B.C. by Esar-Haddon, son of Shalmaneser. He also replaced these people with fresh parties of Assyrian colonists, (from whom the Samaritans sprang, with whom the "the Jews have no dealings"), thus completing the removal of the House of Israel at that time.

BIBLE NARRATIVE ENDS

We cannot expect much information from the Bible about what happened to Israel after their captivity, as they were taken away to Assyria, a country far from Palestine, but we are interested in what happened to them after the last book of the Bible was written in about A.D.: 96. However, the Bible does give us a number of prophecies concerning them, so we can compare those with what historical data is available.

BIBLE PREDICTIONS

Firstly Ephraim was to be cut off from being a people, and would not be "established", in other words they would lose their national identity and become "lost" (Isaiah 7:8-9). They were to cease to be known as the House of Israel, or Ephraim and Manasseh, or of Joseph, the names that God had given them and which God had used when He promised to bless them.

Next we note what Ezekiel said (Chapter 37, verse 21): "I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen (the Assyrians), and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land". We now find reference to a new land, not Palestine, which they still possessed but did not occupy because of their disobedience.

In Isaiah 41:1 we find, "Keep silence before me, 0 islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near..." In verse 2, "Who raised up the righteous man from the east...", these men had to come from the east to the islands. In verse 3, "He pursued them and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet". These people were not moving of their own accord, but God was pushing them to fulfil His plan. We also note that it is usually not possible to approach an island by foot, certainly not across something like the English Channel. There had to be another way. We want to be certain that we know whom God is talking about, and verse 8 tells us, "But thou Israel art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend".

DISPERSED AND GATHERED

In Jeremiah 31:10 we are told that Israel was to be scattered and later gathered in the isles afar off. In 2 Samuel 7:10, "Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more, neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as beforetime".

In Amos 9:9 we read, "For lo, I will command, and I will sift the House of Israel, among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth".

THE WOMAN ISRAEL

The last important Bible indication we shall look at (there are many others, these are just some examples) is in Revelation 12:1, "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars..." The Book of Revelation is written in signs and symbols, and it is not difficult to identify this woman as the nation of Israel. In verse 6, "...and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days:' and in verse 14, "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent".

In Bible prophecy a "day" usually refers to a literal year, and in this instance we see Israel being "sifted" through the nations for 1,260 years. We are able to identify this period: the greater part of the House of Israel went into captivity in 721 B.C. and counting forward 1,260 from then we come to A.D. 539 when most of them began to cross from Europe into England. We learnt of them at school as the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Picts, Scots, Danes and Normans. There was a reference earlier to "times" in Bible prophecy, and that will be examined in much more detail in Chapter 6.

HISTORICAL EVIDENCE

Now let us examine history to see what actually happened to the House of Israel. It is important to realise that we are not going to talk about legends, but facts that have been put on record in various ways down through the ages. It is therefore necessary to quote references at length, so that the reader can be sure that what is written here is fact.

When the House of Israel was taken into captivity by the Kings of Assyria, the people were deported to two different places. In 2 Kings 17:6 we see that one group went to the area of Gozan, Halah, Hara and the River of Habor in northern Assyria near the upper Euphrates, and the other among the Medes in what is now northern Iran. From the Apocrypha (2 Esdras 13:40-45) we learn that some of the ten tribes escaped through the gorge of the Euphrates River, which would bring them into Asia Minor, and hence further away from Palestine. The important point is that the northern House of Israel never returned to Palestine. The map at Figure 4 shows their movements in some detail. Josephus, the Jewish historian records of the ten tribes, "Wherefore, there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now (A.D. 70 or thereabouts) and are an immense multitude and not to be estimated by numbers." ("Josephus"; Book XI, Chapter 5, para 2.)

Bit-Khumri, or Beth-Omri - House of Omri, was the Assyrian name for ten-tribed Israel, used also by Sargon and by Shalmaneser III. ("Sayce, Assyria", 1926 edition.) Soon Khumri became Gamir after the captivity, and later Gimiri, the equivalent of the Greek Kimmerioi, or the English Cimmerian. ("The lost Tribes in Assyrian Archives", by W.E. Filmer.) The English word means "people of darkness", and in a sense they were just that, cut off from the light of the power of God while they were being sifted through the nations. The Persians called the Israelites Sakea (Sacae or Sac-cassis - sons of Isaac) and this gradually became Saxon (I-saac-son). In the Hebrew "i" is rarely sounded, and so the stress is laid on the syllable "saak". ("Lifting up an Ensign to the Nations", Ida M. Ferguson.)

Figure 4

THE BEHISTUN ROCK

One important link which has survived the ravages of time is the Behistun Rock, near the village of that name in what is now Iran. The rock is located on the ancient road which links Media and Babylon, and Darius the Great caused it to be inscribed in three languages in about 516 B.C. These inscriptions list the names of the twenty three provinces over which he ruled. One of the provinces is called Scythia in the Persian and Susian lists, the root of this being "sak", from which we get Sacae or Saxon. In the Babylonian text the same province is called "matu Gimiri", translated "land of the Cimmerians". Thus a positive link is established between the Sacae and the tribes originally known as the House of Israel, who ~200 years after their captivity are recorded by Darius as living in the land of the Cimmerians, which is now north-west Iran. ("The Sculptures and Inscriptions of Darius the Great on the Rock of Behistun in Persia" by LW. King and R.C. Thompson; printed by order of the Trustees, British Museum, 1907.)

THE ORIGIN OF THE SCYTHIANS

The name Scythian literally means "wanderer", and there is no doubt from ancient writings and other sources such as archaeology that those who dwelt in this area at the time immediately following the captivity of Israel were nomadic by nature. It is also clear that this area contained a mixture of people, of whom the House of Israel were the most numerous.

ARSARETH

There is a reference in the Apochrypha to a place called Arsareth. It is in 2 Esdras 13:40-45, where we are told that the Israelites left Assyria and went on a journey of a year and a half, "that they might keep their statutes, which they had never kept in their own land". There is a tributary of the Danube in Rumania called the Sareth, and as "ar" in Chaldean means a river, it is probable that the area described in Esdras is the valley of the River Sareth. It is shown in Figure 5.

*** [figure 5]

TOMBSTONES

Interesting tombstones bearing Hebrew inscriptions have been discovered by archaeologists in the Crimea area. The translation of these tombstones reveals that these were the graves of members of the ten tribes of Israel. The Crimea is on the route that the Israelites would almost certainly have taken in their migration from Assyria to Arsareth. Along this route is a mountainous defile through which they would have crossed the Caucasus Mountains, and it is known to this day as the Pass of Israel.

ETHNOLOGY

This subject deals with the study of racial origins. The Celtic- Anglo-Saxon peoples are all of the one racial stock. Sir Arthur Keith, ER.S., M.D., F.R.C.S., LL.D., D.Sc., a leading authority on the study of races, has said, "We are the descendants of Celts, Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Danes, Flemings, Normans and Huguenots. Although it is true today, just as in the days of Tacitus, that dark-haired people of Mediterranean origin lived in South Ireland, notwithstanding these exceptions we may rightly look upon the British people as the least mongrel [not used as a pejorative term], the most uniform to be found in any country in Europe". The same writer stated in an article in the "Daily Mail" (England), in February 1931, "In facial feature and cranial (skull) shape all these invaders of England were of the same general conformation. Celt, Saxon, Dane and Norman, although they came at different times, bringing with them peculiarities in speech, manners, and customs, were not in a physical sense different peoples; one and all they were offshoots of the same great parent stock of north- western Europe. They were cousin peoples

TRIBES MOVE SEPARATELY

Up to this point we have traced the ten tribes of Israel as far as Arsareth. It would appear that so far they have moved by the same route and more or less together, but from here on they seem to have gone by various routes to their ultimate destination. The Danes are of particular interest because of the ease with which they can be identified. One of the tribes was that of Dan. In the Old Testament this tribe was noted for naming the places that they inhabited after their father, Dan. The tribe of Dan has never lost this trait. We find that they have left their marks right across the face of Europe as they progressively migrated towards the north and west. Thus we have the River Danube, the Dneiper and Dneister, the city of Danzig, and Denmark, or as spelt by the Danes, Danmark. As we know from history, many of the Danes, or the men of Dan, moved into the British Isles.

The early settlers of Ireland also bore names of Israel-Hebrew origin. Irish history goes back to about 1,000 B.C. In those early days before the captivity quite a lucrative trade was conducted between Ireland and the land of Israel in the ships of Dan, who were a seafaring tribe, and many were recorded as settling there. These people were called Tuatha de Danaan, or the Tribe of Dan.

In Ptolemy's ancient map of Ireland we find in the north-east corner of Ireland two places called Dan Sowar (Dan's Resting Place) and Dan Sobairse (Dan's Habitation). This is of course characteristic of Dan, as already mentioned. Some of these early settlers were also called Iberians, which is derived from Heber, the father of the Hebrews. Even today we still have the name Hibernian associated with Ireland. Furthermore these people came to Ireland through the Mediterranean Sea, via what we know as Spain, which is located on the Iberian Peninsula. The original Iberia is located south of the Caucasus, the area through which Israel is known to have migrated. Thus we have another example of names tracing the movements of these people.

STONE MONUMENTS

Not all the tribes left such clear evidence of their passing as did the Tribe of Dan. However, there is ample evidence left in stone by people of Hebrew origin. The following is quoted from a paper entitled, "Ethnology: Migrations (Palestine and Britain)", compiled by a number of eminent writers on the subject: "That such a people did push westwards is amply demonstrated in the record of imperishable stone. From Palestine, Syria, Trans-Jordan, and Sinai there stretches a trail of ancient stone monuments (the first of which appear to have been built not later than the early part of the second millenium B.C.) via the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts to the British Isles and beyond. It is clear that stone monuments of various types were erected by the Hebrews themselves, and that at a later period the sacred functions of such structures, whether as pillars of witness or altars, etc., was perverted by their being adopted in the idolatrous religions of Canaan, so strongly condemned by the prophets ... not only does the trail exist, but the dolmens, menhirs, and stone circles at either end of the trail are substantially similar".

SAXONS

The earliest writings to mention the Saxons coming into Europe from the east state that by the year A.D. 141 they had settled in the area of the Elbe River, in north-west Germany as we know it today. They were closely associated with the Angles and the Jutes. According to tradition the Angles were descendants of the Aeglea (Ephraim) and Angae (Manasseh), whose names were eventually blended into the joint name of Englae or Anglae. The Jutes, who have links with portions of the tribe of Judah, are still identified today with the area known as Jutland. The languages of these people merged into what became Anglo-Saxon, and later Old English. There is a part of Germany still known as Saxony today, though it is no longer inhabited by people of Saxon origin.

EARLY ENGLISH HISTORY

The map at Figure 6 shows some of the dates when the main migrations from Europe across into Britain occurred, and some of us may recall these events from our school days, without realising that what we were learning about was predicted in the Bible hundreds of years before the events took place. God promised to sift Israel through the nations, to bring her to a new home in the isles, and to do this according to a time frame already determined over 2,500 years before. This is exactly what happened, and we shall examine the prophecies concerning the time frame in much more detail in Chapter 6.

One would hope to find ample confirmation from early English history that the people who first came to England as Celts, Anglo- Saxons, Normans, etc., did in fact migrate across Asia and Europe from the area to which the tribes of Israel had been deported by the Assyrians in 741-721 B.C. Unfortunately the reverse is the case, so much so that some writers have gone as far as to say that before the Reformation some early English history was deliberately destroyed in order to conceal the truth of our origins. However, enough has survived to confirm that the early invaders from across the channel were of Israelitish origin. Here are a few examples.

***[Figure 6]

THE CELTS

The following is from page 17 of "The Symbols of Sovereignty", by Brian Baker, one of Her Majesty's Heralds of Arms, and published in 1979. "About 500 B.C. a new people with new weapons began to arrive in Britain. They were a tall, fair-haired race with blue eyes; they were excitable, warlike and imaginative; their new weapons were the sword and the war chariot. They began to raid the south and east coasts of Britain at the end of a long migration. The Greeks, who knew them as mercenaries and traders, called them Keltoi -Celts... They occupied the south of England and merged with the local people to found an aristocracy which was to last through the Roman period until the Saxons arrived a thousand years later."

THE ANGLO-SAXONS

The following reference is of particular personal interest to me because it is from a book used by my late father, Major-General J. M. A. Durrant, C.M.G., D.S.O., when as a sergeant in 1906 he was studying for a promotion examination for the rank of lieutenant. The book is 'A Short History of England", by Cyril Ransome, M.A., published by Longman, Green and Co. in 1897. On page 4 we find, "The mixed English race today is also descended from the primitive inhabitants of these islands, from the Celts or ancient Britons, from the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, from the Northmen or Danes, from the Normans and from the French and Flemish settlers, who have at one time or another settled in these islands. Except the primitive inhabitants, all these races are members of one family, the Aryan, which is thought by some to have dwelt originally in Central Asia, by others along the shores of the Baltic Sea.". These are the areas to which the Israelites were deported and through which they traveled.

THE ARBROATH DECLARATION

This document, also known as the Scottish Declaration of Independence, was prepared by a number of Scottish Barons and addressed to Pope John XXII in April, 1320. In part it reads, "We know, most Holy Father and Lord, and from the chronicles and books of the ancients gather, that amongst other illustrious nations, ours, to wit the nation of the S cots, has been distinguished by many honours; which passing from the great Scythia through the Mediterranean Sea and Pillars of Hercules, and sojourning in Spain ... and coming thence one thousand two hundred years after the outgoing of the people of Israel, they, by many victories and infinite toil, acquired for themselves the possessions in the west which they now hold after expelling the Britons and completely destroying the Picts, and, although very often assailed by the Norwegians, the Danes and the English, always kept themselves from all servitude, as the histories of the ancients testify..." Here we have another link in the chain Sacae-Scythia-Scot, part of the peoples of the ten-tribed house of Israel.

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPAEDIA

"The fate of the lost ten tribes is a mystery which has a peculiar fascination for some minds. While not a link is missing of the historical chain so far as the remnant of the House of Judah is concerned, the Israelites who were subjugated by the Assyrian power disappear from the page of history as suddenly and completely as though the land of captivity had swallowed them up ... The. Scriptures speak of the future restoration of Israel, which is clearly to include both Judah and Ephraim (i.e. the ten tribes). The problem then is reduced to its simplest form. The ten tribes are certainly in existence. All that has to be done is to discover which people represent them." ("Jewish Encyclopaedia", volume XII, page 249.)

Obviously the writer of that entry did not complete his homework. He should have known that in the Hebrew tongue "covenant man" is "Brith-ish" and "covenant land" is "Brith-ain". Surely these facts alone should want to make one investigate the subject further.

CONCLUSION

Some may feel that we have laboured this chapter a little, but if we are to make an honest approach to showing that the promises of God are real then some of the mass of available evidence has to be produced. However, I feel that we have now seen sufficient positive evidence to show that the House of Israel did migrate across Asia and Europe after the captivity, that they were "sifted through the nations", and are the peoples we now know as a nation and company of nations (Great Britain and the Commonwealth) and a great people (the United States of America).

CHAPTER 4 - THE CAPTIVITY OF JUDAH

ISRAEL TAKEN FIRST

We have already seen that the House of Israel was the first to go into idolatry, and for their sins were taken captive by the Assyrians between the years 741 and 676 B.C. It is definitely recorded that some portions of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin became involved in this captivity, but generally speaking the two tribes continued to walk in the ways of the Lord and thus escaped retribution for a time. The Bible records that during this period the House of Judah was ruled by kings who were in the main referred to as "good".

JUDAH DEPARTS ALSO

God had promised the whole nation of Israel when they entered the promised land that blessings would follow their obedience and cursings follow their disobedience. The House of Judah had already seen the results of the disobedience of the northern House of Israel, and surely this should have been a warning, but they also fell into idolatry. Judah had plenty of further warnings from the prophets, an example being Jeremiah 25:1-10, where God promised to bring Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon against the land to "utterly destroy them". Further, in verse 11-12, He foretold captivity in Babylon for 70 years.

The bulk of Judah, together with the Tribe of Benjamin and some of Levi (the priestly tribe) was carried away captive to Babylon (2 Kings 24:1-27) between the years 604-597 B.C. The city of Jerusalem was completely destroyed and the temple also, and the people were taken into a captivity from which most of them did not return. Only 49,697 came back to rebuild the temple and the city in 538-529 B.C. (Ezra 2:64-65). This was only a fraction of those who had been deported.

DANIEL’S SEVENTY WEEKS

Daniel was one of the prophets who was taken into captivity, and he was given a revelation which concerned not only the return of the House of Judah to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple, but it went much further. The account is given in Daniel chapter 9. In verses 1-19 Daniel acknowledges the sins of the people and the prophecy concerning the 70 years' captivity (verse 2), and he also seeks the forgiveness of God and a release from their burdens. While he is praying the angel Gabriel came to give him a vision and skill and understanding (verses 20-23). The vision is set out in detail in verses 24-27.

To apply 70 literal weeks to this prophecy in no way fits into any time frame of the events portrayed, but we must apply the prophetic "day for a year" system of reckoning, so that the total prophecy covers a time span of 70 x 7, or 490 years. Moreover the Hebrew word for week is simply "seven", so Daniel was in fact told of the events to occur in "seventy sevens". This prophecy was given to Daniel in Babylon in the year 538 B.C., just 68 years after the first part of Judah was taken into captivity, so it was not surprising that Daniel should realise that the 70 years' prophecy given to Jeremiah (not to be confused with Daniel's seventy sevens) was nearly over. This prophecy was to commence "from the going forth of the commandment to restore Jerusalem

THREE DECREES

Three important decrees were given for the restoration of Jerusalem, so it is necessary to determine which one was meant to be the starting point for the 490 years. The first decree was given by Cyrus in 536 B.C., just 70 years after the captivity of the first part of Judah, but this does not qualify as the decree related only to the restoration of the temple. Likewise the second decree by Darius in 518 B.C. although 70 years after the last captivity of Judah, related only to the temple. Therefore the starting point must be the first decree of Artaxerxes, made in 457 B.C. and recorded in Ezra 7:11-26. This passage allows those "which are minded of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem" to complete the restoration of the temple and to re-establish the full temple worship with all the treasure which the king was to provide. Ezra 9:9 records, "For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem."

This edict qualifies as the starting point for the prophecy, as it provides for the completion of the temple, the rebuilding of the city and the walls, and a reviving of the worship of the Lord.

RIGHT ON TIME

The fulfillment of the prophecy goes as follows: The Seven Weeks: The first seven weeks, or seven "sevens" of years, commenced from 457 B.C. and terminated in 408 B.C. According to the Jewish historian Josephus this is the year in which Nehemiah completed the rebuilding of the city and the walls, and the restoration of the temple worship, right on time. The Sixty Two Weeks: The sixty-two weeks, or 434 years commenced in 408 B.C. and terminated in A.D. 27, the year our Lord commenced His ministry, or unto "the Messiah the Prince" as recorded in Daniel 9:25. Jesus had to be born at a precise date fixed by the prophecy of the "seventy weeks" in order to commence His ministry at the right time. The link is also indicated by the fact that the angel Gabriel, who was the messenger to Daniel, was the same angel who announced to Mary her destiny as mother of the Messiah. The Last Week: The prophecy commenced this week with the Messiah (Jesus) being revealed. He was to "confirm the covenant with many" (Daniel 9:27) in Judah for seven years, and this He commenced to do as He proclaimed the Gospel to the Jews. The same verse related that "in the midst" of the seven years "He shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease". Right on time, after three and a half years of His ministry, He offered Himself as the one perfect sacrifice, and thus fulfilled the Law forever. Now we see the significance of the remark He made in John 7:8 early in His ministry, that there was a specific time set for His death. "My time is not yet full come."

Shortly after His death, the power of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples and others, enabling them to continue to "confirm the covenant" as the power of the Spirit worked through them, "confirming the word with signs following" (Mark 16:20). This they continued to do for a further three and a half years, until the stoning of Stephen in A.D. 34, 490 years after the prophecy commenced. This incident marked the end of the confirming of the covenant, and it was significant that Saul was present and witnessed the event. The Lord ceased to strive with the Christ-rejecting Jews and raised up Saul as Paul, the great apostle who with Peter and others took the Gospel to the Gentiles, "the lost sheep of the House of Israel", as our Lord had called them.

The remaining part of the prophecy relates to the punishment to come upon the Jews. Our Lord prophesied before His crucifixion that destruction would come upon Jerusalem, and in A.D. 70 the Roman army led by Titus surrounded the city. For a short time the siege was lifted, allowing the Christians to escape. Then the Romans attacked again, their soldiers covering the land "with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined" (Daniel 9:26). During the conflict the city and the sanctuary were destroyed and 1,100,000 Jews died. Seldom has a nation fared worse at the hands of an enemy. Dare we trifle with God and the inspired word, which promises retribution at His second coming for those who reject His gospel as the Jews did!

WHAT OF THE REST OF JUDAH

We have already seen that only a small portion of the House of Judah which was taken into captivity into Babylon returned to Jerusalem. What happened to the rest of them? Firstly we should be clear on the fact that, although we talk loosely of Judah being taken captive by the Babylonians, not all went into the hands of the Babylonians. A sizeable portion was taken to Assyria by Sennacherib, possibly as many as 200,000. There is a reference to this in 2 Kings 18:13, also the historian Josephus refers to it ('Antiquities Book X", chapter 1, section 1), "It was now the fourteenth year of the government of Hezekiah, king of the two tribes, when the king of Assyria, whose name was Sennacherib, made an expedition against him with a great army, and took all of the cities of Judah and Benjamin by force ..." The estimate of 200,000 is based on the reference to "all the cities", though this obviously did not include Jerusalem, as there is a reference to the Assyrian general Rabshakeh bargaining with that city later (2 Kings 18:31-32).

Referring to those who remained in Babylon, the record in the book of Esther discloses that there was a subsequent dispersion of the Babylonian captives throughout the whole of the Medo-Persian empire. By 520 B.C. those who had not returned to rebuild Jerusalem had become scattered over the vast territory stretching from the Mediterranean to India (Esther 8:9). It is clear that these were Judahites and not of the ten-tribes of Israel, for they were definitely named as Jews: moreover the perfidious Haman complained to his king that they still kept their own laws. The ten tribes had long since abandoned the law.

DID JUDAH JOIN ISRAEL?

How many of those of the Judah captivity who remained in Babylon at 520 B.C. subsequently migrated westward to the British Isles is uncertain, though no doubt they had the chance to do so at various times, and would have been subject to the same pressure from the east as the Israelites were. It is almost certain that those members of the House of Judah who went into the Assyrian captivity with part of the House of Israel did subsequently migrate westward to the British Isles with the rest of Israel. Three reasons support this. First, the considerable use of the lion of the tribe of Judah in British heraldry suggests a substantial representation of Judah in Britain. Secondly, as mentioned in the previous chapter, the Jutes, who came to Britain from Jutland as part of the great migration of European peoples, were members of the House of Judah. Thirdly, to fulfil the prophecy in Ezekiel 37:15-28 it was necessary for the two houses of Israel and Judah to reunite in Britain (verses 17 and 21).

A KING OVER THEM

Ezekiel 37:24 also mentions that a descendant of King David shall be king over them. This is a repetition of the promise made in 2 Samuel 7:10-13 that Israel would dwell in "a place of their own", and to David, "I will set up thy seed after thee...and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever". This is a tremendous subject which requires a separate book on its own. Suffice it to say at this stage that when Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians in 579 B.C. a small party, which included two of the king's daughters, escaped to Egypt and moved to Ireland shortly afterwards. This royal family was of the House of Judah. There are genealogical charts in the British Museum, Windsor Castle and elsewhere which trace an unbroken lineage from one of these daughters through our many royal houses to our present Queen Elizabeth II. Not only does this wonderfully fulfil the prophecy but also provides further proof who and where the people of the Commonwealth of Israel are today.

GOD'S SANCTUARY WITH ISRAEL

Before leaving the Ezekiel 37 prophecy there is one further aspect which should be noted, as it is another pointer to the identity of Israel. In verses 26~28 God promises to make a covenant of peace with them, and "my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever more". We know that when God made a New Covenant through the sacrifice of His Son He did away with the old tabernacle, and the sign of this was the splitting of the veil of the temple. The new tabernacle was introduced on the day of the Pentecost, when God poured out His Spirit and came to dwell within believers. In Hebrews 9:11 this is described as a greater and more perfect tabernacle "not made with hands". Now where has God poured out His Spirit? It happened on the day of Pentecost, as already mentioned, but the "last days" outpouring has predominantly occurred among the Anglo-Saxon peoples of Britain and America, and it is they who are taking this message out to the ends of the earth. This is not being fulfilled by the whole nation, but the Spirit is being poured out on those "in the midst" of Israel who meet the requirements of verse 23, "Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions;' but I will save them out of all of their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God."

To sum up, then, we have Judah represented today in two broad categories of peoples. Firstly we have those who walked to the house of Israel, are indistinguishable in features having fair hair and blue eyes, and dwell amongst Anglo-Saxon peoples. Within this category are some who are born again by the Spirit of God, and no longer defile themselves with idols (remember that an idol is anything that keeps us from following the Lord). The second category of Judah are those who returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple in about 520 B.C. who intermarried with other races contrary to God's word, and whose countenances witness against them. They are called Jews; they suffered dreadfully at the hands of the Romans in A.D. 70 and Hitler in 1939-45; they flocked back to Palestine from 1924 onwards; and they now call themselves Israel. They rejected Christ at his first coming, and will be rejected by God at Christ's second coming unless they see the errors of their ways and are born again by the Spirit of God.

CHAPTER 5 - THE PROPHECY OF DANIEL’S IMAGE

There are many Old Testament prophecies which identify the nation of Israel right up to the present day. One of the most remarkable is the prophecy of Daniel's image. It concerns an incident which occurred in Babylon during the 70 years' captivity of the House of Judah and the way in which Daniel, one of the captives, was used to bring forth the will of God concerning a number of readily identifiable nations, including Israel. The prophecy is not only accurate as far as the identification of those nations is concerned, but also the sequence of their rise to power, their relative skills in technical development, and their relative geographical locations, as well as having strong spiritual application.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S DREAM

In Daniel 2:1-30 we read that Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, but unfortunately for him he was unable to recall the content of the dream, and of course he did not know its meaning. He sought advice from his astrologers, but they were unable to help, and in his rage the king ordered the execution of all the wise men, including Daniel and his fellow prophets, who at this stage had not had an opportunity to speak on the matter. Daniel sought God for guidance, and the content of the dream and its interpretation were revealed to him. He was able to satisfy the king's desire, as we are told in Daniel 2:31-45, and once again God was able to protect those who had remained faithful to Him.

FOUR GREAT EMPIRES

Daniel informed Nebuchadnezzar that God had revealed to him that four great gentile empires would successively rise and dominate the nations during Israel's dispersion. These would be followed by a fifth kingdom, a "stone" kingdom, which would destroy the fourth kingdom, and would stand forever. Daniel recalled that in the dream the king had seen the image of a man composed of four metals, each of which represented an empire. The first kingdom was Babylon, which was linked to the head of gold. In Daniel 5:28 we are told that the second empire was to be Medo-Persia, and in Daniel 8:21 we see that the third empire was to be Greece. In the Book of Revelation there are many references to the fourth empire, which was Rome, the nation which ruled in the day John was writing. Each of these nations is further identified by the fact that their rule was noted for their skill in the use of the metals of which the relative parts of the image were made. On the other hand, the fifth kingdom is represented by stone, a completely different substance from metal, an indication that these people are of a completely different racial origin from the peoples of Europe. In Chapter 3 we have already discussed the different origin of the people of the Israel nation from those of Europe.

FEET OF IRON AND CLAY

God revealed to Daniel that the feet of iron and clay referred to a second phase of the fourth empire, which was to suffer a period of division and weakness prior to its destruction. History shows that the domination of Rome ended in A.D. 476, and since then the nations of Europe have not re-united. It was not God's will for them to unite, and for this reason Napoleon, the Kaiser, and Hitler have failed, and for the same reason the European Economic Community will fail just as surely as there is no strength in a mixture of iron and clay.

THE STONE KINGDOM

The dream also indicated a fifth "stone" kingdom outside the image. The dream is described in Daniel 2:34-35, and the interpretation in Daniel 2:44-45. There are many points which indicate that Great Britain is that stone kingdom, and here are a few:

(a) The only kingdom historically following Rome which has been as great as Rome and its predecessors is Britain.

(b) The stone was "cut out without hands". Only an island can fulfil this description.

(c) The stone "smote the image upon his feet". Only Britain has been successful in defeating ALL the nations in Europe which represent the disunited feet of iron and clay.

(d) The stone "became a great mountain and filled the whole earth". In a previous chapter we have discussed the movements of the Israel peoples to the west, east, north and south, in that order. No other nation has ever enjoyed such complete world domination.

(e) The stone kingdom would "not be left to other people", and "it shall stand forever". There will never be a sixth kingdom. The kingdom of Israel in Britain commenced to be formed in the sixth century A.D. and has continued to expand and grow right up to the end of World War II.

Since the fall of Imperial Rome, the nations represented by the iron and clay feet of the image, such as Spain, Holland, France, and Germany, have all endeavoured to build what would have been a fifth gentile empire, but all have failed. No people, past or present, can claim to be this fifth or "stone" kingdom except Great Britain. Now let us examine some further qualifications of time, place, and size.

TIME

As regards time, Daniel saw the "stone" kingdom growing in size during the period represented by the feet of the image, or the nations of divided Continental Europe. When Imperial Rome failed, the armies of Rome departed from England, leaving it open for the Angles, Saxons, Danes, Jutes, and finally the Normans to enter, from which time of consolidation the growth of the nation went on with increasing momentum.

PLACE

The four kingdoms represented by the image covered the whole of Europe and beyond, which kingdoms rose and fell in their prophesied sequence. The fifth or "stone" kingdom, seen by Daniel as "outside" the image, is that of Great Britain, which also rose as predicted. The British Isles were geographically "cut out" of the mainland of Europe "without hands". God's own natural agencies formed the English Channel.

The Anglo-Saxon peoples have defeated on sea and on the land the nations of Spain, Holland, France and Germany, and in the latter case in the air and under the sea as well. The war between Tudor England and the Spanish Armada gave Britain dominion of the sea, a pre-requisite for imperial expansion. The Dutch challenged this supremacy, but their efforts were foiled by the victories of the British navy under Blake. The wars with France, terminating in the defeat of Napoleon, saw the birth of the British Empire and the rapid expansion of Anglo-Saxon rule over the earth.

In the Great War of 1914-18 between Britain and Germany, the last kingdom of the feet of the image, the whole territory of the image came tumbling down in ruins following the attacks by Britain and the colonies in France, Italy, Greece, Palestine and Mesopotamia, all areas which are covered by the image.

SIZE

As to size, the "stone kingdom became a great mountain" and finally "filled the whole earth" At its peak the British Empire became seven times the area of the Roman Empire, the last of the four great gentile empires, covering one-quarter of the land surface of the earth, and linked together under one throne one-quarter of the earth's inhabitants. By comparison the four gentile empires could have comfortably fitted inside Australia or Canada. Then if we add the territory and population of the United States of America we find that the Anglo-Saxon race linked together one third of the area and population of the earth. The "stone" kingdom had figuratively become a great mountain, and no other nations have come anywhere near this degree of expansion.

DIVINE INTERVENTION FOR ISRAEL

As a conclusion to this chapter, it is appropriate for us to examine some of the many instances in which God intervened supernaturally to enable the Anglo-Saxon people to defeat their enemies in critical battles, just as He had done on occasions such as the crossing of the Red Sea under the leadership of Moses.

One of the best known is the defeat of the Spanish Armada. After three battles in the English Channel, the Armada was finally defeated off Gravelines, near the narrowest part of the channel, on 8 August, 1588, but because of contrary winds the remainder of the Armada had to make its way up the east coast of England, around the north of Scotland, and back down the west coast of Ireland. During this long journey, many of the remaining ships were wrecked by fierce gales on the west coast of Ireland, and off the coast of Spain.

In World War I one of the crucial early battles was that at Mons. The tiny British Expeditionary Force was severely threatened by the might of the Kaiser's army, and defeat in that battle would have caused the British to be pushed back into the sea. At the critical moment the "Angels of Mons" appeared in the clouds over the British and the Germans fled in terror.

In World War II when the British Expeditionary Force was again threatened with annihilation in June 1940, the fog closed over the English Channel, enabling an armada of British small boats to ferry the beleaguered army to safety, while blanketed from what would have been overwhelming attacks by the German Air Force.

When Britain and America recrossed the channel to open the second front in Europe on 6 June, 1944, the weather for the crossing was so unfavourable that the Germans thought it was impossible for an assault to be made that morning, but the weather eased at the last moment, enabling the Allies to achieve surprise and to make a safe landing with many fewer casualties than might otherwise have been the case.

In Matthew 21:43, Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God being taken from you (the Jews to whom He was speaking) and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (the nation of Israel). In verse 44 we find, "And whosoever shall fall on this stone (the nation) shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder". Also back in Isaiah 54:17, where the prophet is speaking to the nation Israel, we find, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper". God is in the business of protecting His people, and while Hitler was trusting in the might of his tanks, buzz-bombs, U2 rockets, etc., the Lord ensured that these weapons did not prosper. Britain might have lost some battles due to being unprepared, but she has never lost a war, a further proof of who Israel is today.

CHAPTER 6 - THE SEVEN TIMES PUNISHMENT

In earlier chapters it was promised that we would give an explanation of the "seven times" punishment referred to in Leviticus 26, where there are several references to a seven times curse upon the people of Israel if they were disobedient to the laws and commandments of God. We have already seen that these punishments took the form that was prophesied, namely that the people would be scattered outside Palestine, and Figure 3 illustrated when the dispersions took place. Now let us see how this "seven times" can be identified in history.

CLUE TO SEVEN TIMES

God had promised to Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation in the latter days, therefore it is not surprising to find that the clue to the seven times punishment is in the Book of Revelation. Here John mentions that the woman (Israel) is to enter the second stage of her movement from the captivity of the Assyrians to her emerging as a' nation in the British Isles, here described as a wilderness. The relevant verses of Revelation 12 are:

1. And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.

6. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three score days.

14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and time's, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

The reference to the sun, moon, and stars identifies the woman as the nation of Israel, and we see from verse 6 that she is to dwell in the wilderness for 1,260 days, while verse 14 calls this period "a time, and times, and half a time". Apart from the references in Leviticus 26 to "seven times", this is the only occasion that we find a reference to prophetic "times" in the Bible, particularly as the Book of Revelation is written in signs and symbols. Thus there must be a link to the "seven times", as well as to how many days there are in a "time".

WHAT IS A TIME?

A time can be described' as a duration, cycle, or period. Our European calendar uses the duration of one circuit of the sun by the earth, or 365 1/4 days, as a time or year, while the Eastern nations adopted the period of twelve revolutions of the moon around the earth, or 354 1/3 days, as the lunar year. The average of the two is 360 days. This figure is also used for navigation purposes, the circumference of earth being divided into 360 degrees of longitude. This 360 degrees is also used for telling the local time in different parts of the earth, each 15 degrees difference of longitude representing one hour difference in time. See Figure 8.

BIBLE TIMES

In the Bible time is counted in terms of solar and lunar years, the relative motions or cycles of the sun, moon, and earth determining their length. Therefore it is reasonable to expect that a prophetic time should contain 360 parts, the average of the two. If we divide the 1,260 already mentioned in Revelation 12:6 by 360, the answer is exactly three and a half, thus confirming that a time is 360 days , and that "a time, and times, and half a time" is three and a half times. From this it follows that "seven times" is 360 by 7, or 2,520 days.

In discussing Daniel's Seventy Weeks prophecy in Chapter 4 it was mentioned that a "day" in this prophecy referred to a literal year. The same applies in this case as 2,520 literal days is slightly less than seven years, and it is obvious from what we have seen already that the captivity of Israel and Judah lasted much longer than this.

In Ezekiel 4:4-6, the prophet lay on his side for forty days, signifying the period of forty years of iniquity of the tribe of Judah, but the Lord told Ezekiel in verse 6, "I have appointed thee each day for a year". If we use this as a precedent and refer to Luke 21:24, where Jesus said, "Jerusalem shall be trodden down on the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled", we find another wonderful example of the accuracy of the prophecies of the Bible. The city of Jerusalem was taken captive by the Babylonians in 604 B.C. and was under gentile domination for 2,520 years until the Turks were driven out by the army composed entirely of British Empire personnel under General Allenby in 1917.

This date is also confirmed in the lunar calendar used by eastern nations. The Book of Daniel was written in Babylon and much of it was addressed to the Babylonian people, whose descendants include those Arabs who use the Moslem lunar calendar. In Daniel 12:12 we find, "Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." Egyptian coins minted in 1917 have the two dates shown, 1917 in English characters, and the same year, 1335, in Arabic characters.

OTHER APPLICATIONS OF SEVEN TIMES

This chastisement of "seven times" or 2,520 years can be applied to other events in the Old Testament besides the capture of Jerusalem with some rather amazing results. The first example we can look at is the fact that the northern ten-tribed House of Israel rebelled against God and went into idolatry, separating themselves from the two-tribed House of Judah, in 975 B.C. If we come forward 2,520 years we come to A.D. 1546, the time of the Reformation, when Israel reversed the process and cut herself off from the idolatry of the church of Rome. The Roman Catholic Church is still continuing to follow the same practices which caused the English to "protest", but unfortunately many "Protestant" churches are no longer protesting, but are being wooed back by the moves of ecumenical councils.

MANASSEH

The half-tribe of Manasseh, that is half of the tribe of Joseph (See pages 6-7) was taken into captivity in 744 B.C., and if we come forward 2,520 years from there we arrive at 1776. The Bible tells us that the descendants of Manasseh were to become a "great people" and to have separate national identity from the "nation and company of nations". Therefore right on time we find that in 1776 the original thirteen colonies were in the midst of the process of making their Declaration of Independence, and the United States of America was being born, exactly 2,520 years after the commencement of their "seven times" punishment. (See Figure 9.)

EPHRAIM

The captivity of Ephraim, the birthright tribe, is recorded in 2Kings 17:6-21. We are told that the Lord was angry with Israel and "removed them out of His sight". This occurred in the ninth year of the reign of King Hoshea, which was the year 721 B.C., and 2,520 years later we find the descendants of Ephraim emerging as Great Britain. It was in the year 1800 that Ireland merged with England and Scotland, and the Union Jack (Union of Jacob) came into being, thus paving the way for the development of the British Empire to the peak of its power.

CAPTIVITIES OF JUDAH

We have already examined the capture of Jerusalem in 604 B.C. and its release 2,520 years later in 1917. This year, 604 B.C., also marked the first of four deportations of Judah to Babylon, there being three others in 596, 585 and 581 B.C. Coming forward 2,520 years from these three dates we have 1925, 1936 and 1940, and these three years were marked by substantial migrations of Jews back to Palestine, following the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which the British Government declared Palestine to be a national home for the Jews.

These are some examples of the application of the Seven Times Punishment as foretold in Leviticus 26. Not only do the dates accurately depict the start and finish of the tribulation of each group of the twelve tribes of Israel, for which we can give God the glory, but we see that Britain and America figure so prominently in the end dates. Once again we are left in no doubt as to whom God was speaking when He made the original promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

CHAPTER 7 - THE BRITISH ROYAL COAT OF ARMS

Many nations place great emphasis on the significance of heraldry in the symbols of their nation, and in this regard the British Royal Coat of Arms is no exception. It contains items which are important in the identification of Great Britain's people as being descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and it also has an item which links it with the latter-day promises concerning the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

ORIGIN WITH JAMES I

The coat of arms has existed in its present form with minor variations since the reign of James I, who was on the British throne from 1603 to 1625. In 1801 King George III omitted the three French lilies from the coat of arms and ceased to use the title "King of France", and in 1837 Queen Victoria dropped the Hanoverian Arms. Thus British heraldry lost its last links with Continental Europe. What remained is virtually the same as what we see in the Houses of Parliament in Westminster and in Canberra and on most of our Commonwealth buildings in Australia today. Now we shall examine the individual elements of the coat of arms and their significance.

THE LION

The lion is considered to be the king of all the beasts, and therefore it is not surprising to find it supporting the left side of the shield, its presence signifying that Israel was to be chief among the nations. See Figure 10. The Bible also links the lion with the Israel people. Speaking of this in Numbers 23:24, Balaam said, "Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift himself up as a young lion". The prophet Micah also linked Israel with the lion in Micah 5:8, "And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the gentiles in the midst of many people, as a lion amongst the beasts of the forest, as a young lion amongst the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver".

You will recall back in Chapter l it was mentioned that Israel was to become a "nation and company of nations", so it is quite appropriate to find that the Bible speaks of Britain's dominions being "the young lions thereof" (Ezekiel 38:13).

***[Figure 10]

THE UNICORN

This unusual animal is on the right of the coat of arms, and like the lion it signifies strength. Moses and Balaam both likened Israel to a unicorn. In Numbers 24:8, "He hath as it were the strength of a unicorn". It is also mentioned in Deuteronomy 33:17. It was originally included in the Royal Arms of Scotland, and was added to the lion of England after the union of 1603. The unicorn was also in Ephraim's standard when the children of Israel were wandering through the wilderness, another link which indicates that the British people are descendants of the half-tribe of Ephraim.

THE SHIELD

All the emblems of the shield are of ancient origin. The lions of England are in the first and fourth quarters and the rampant lion of Scotland in the second quarter, this being in fact the lion of Judah, which was the Royal Standard of the Scottish Stewarts, and like the unicorn was brought to English heraldry on the union of England and Scotland in 1603. The remaining third quarter includes the harp, which represents northern Ireland. This is in fact the Harp of David. The emblems are thus all of Judah origin and are identical to those on the British Royal Standard. This confirms that God knew what He was promising in 2 Samuel 7:12-13, 'And when thy days (David's) be fulfilled... I will set up thy seed after thee... He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever". This has been fulfilled literally, as Queen Elizabeth II can trace her ancestors right back to King David. Copies of this family tree exist in such places as the British Museum and Windsor Castle.

THE HELMET AND THE SHIELD

The apostle Paul referred to these symbols in Ephesians 6:11-18, a very basic spiritual passage, where they were instructed to "put on the whole armour of God... the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness... praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit..'.' These people were Spirit filled and could pray in the Spirit. This was a reminder to them to continue to use the spiritual gift of praying in other tongues in their private prayer at every opportunity. We should also be aware that this letter is addressed not only to the people who are referred to here as Ephesians. Paul also refers to them as having been "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel" (Ephesians 2:12). Surely that was an unusual term for Paul to use, "commonwealth of Israel", as no such commonwealth existed in his day, but it does today. We will have more to say about that later.

We also saw in the prophecies of the Old Testament that Israel was to be a special blessing to other nations in these last days, and the British and American peoples have been the most prominent in embracing this spiritual outpouring in what the Bible calls the "last days", so that it is appropriate for the British coat of arms to bear this mantle in view of its spiritual significance.

DIEU ET MON DROIT

This motto, in French, appears on the scroll below the coat of arms; it means "God and my Right". Many people erroneously interpret this to be a reference to God and my strong right hand or arm, and in view of the promises God made to Israel concerning national protection one could argue that this is a reasonable assumption. However, investigation of heraldry shows the word "right" refers to a birthright, not to a right arm. When we consider all the birthright promises God made to Abraham, and repeated with additions to Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, we realise that these have been fulfilled literally in the Anglo-Saxon people of today, and it is correct and proper that a reference to God and the birthright should appear on the British coat of arms.

We note there is another motto on the scroll surrounding the shield, and it reads "honi soit qui mal y pense" , or literally "evil to him who thinks evil of it." Evil of what? We are not told, but it could only be either the coat of arms as a whole, some part of it, or of the birthright. Considering what effort God made to spell out the promises initially, then to cause them to come to pass, and cause an emblem to be constructed to record what He had done, it is surely His will that we should be aware of what the coat of arms stands for, and not to think evil of it and its symbolism. There are many in Australia today who are working towards severing our connections with Great Britain, and this would mean that the coat of arms would disappear from prominent places in our land. God says that He thinks evil of such people.

THE CROWNED LION

Finally we have the crowned lion to consider. It is standing across the top of the crown which is over the helmet. In Luke 1:32-33 we find "... and the Lord God shall give unto him (Jesus) the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever..." Thus we see the Lord Jesus Christ represented here by the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5) in a position to symbolise His right to assume the Throne of David at His Second Coming, and then to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the whole house of Jacob. We do well to look forward to that day and have great expectations for what it holds for those who are ready for Christ's return. It holds no fear for those who are born again and looking forward to the Second Coming, "... but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he (Jesus Christ) is pure". (I John 3:2-3.)

CHAPTER 8 - THE IDENTIFICATION OF MANASSEH

ISRAEL’S BLESSING

You will recall that the national promises were given originally to Abraham and were repeated to his descendants Isaac and Jacob/Israel. Of Israel's twelve sons Joseph was the one who was to inherit the national promises, and these were passed on to his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. On his deathbed Israel called for his two grandsons to bless them. Normally the older of the two would be expected to receive the greater blessing, and Joseph remonstrated with Israel for crossing his arms and laying his right hand on Ephraim's head. In Genesis 48:19 we find, "And his father refused and said, I know it, my son, I know it; he (Manasseh) also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother (Ephraim) shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations".

We have seen in the previous chapter how the British coat of arms bears marks which identify it with the promises to Ephraim, so now we can have a more detailed look at the identification of Manasseh.

THE THIRTEENTH TRIBE

By his blessing to the two sons of Joseph, Israel had raised these two to full tribe status, and so there now became thirteen tribes and because Israel had said that Ephraim was to be the greater, Manasseh is generally considered to be the thirteenth. This is illustrated by the chart at Figure 11.

We also discussed earlier how the tribe of Manasseh was taken captive in 744 B.C. If we apply the seven times punishment of 2,520 years to Manasseh we come forward to A.D. 1776 and in this year the United States were in the process of obtaining their independence from Great Britain. The year before, in 1775, thirteen states had agreed to sign a Declaration of Independence, and in 1783 this was agreed to by Britain. So already we have two identifications of Manasseh:; the time frame and the thirteen states.

***[Figure 11]

THE UNITED STATES SEAL

The Seal is already familiar to many, as its obverse or face appears outside American consular buildings throughout the world. It was designed in 1782 and adopted in 1789. On the face is an eagle, which was included to represent that in Revelation 12:14, when Israel fled into the wilderness to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, Manasseh and Ephraim still being together at that stage. See Figure 12. We then have a series of thirteens: the thirteen stars above the eagle, the Latin words "E Pluribus Unum" having thirteen letters and meaning "one out of many", the olive branch of thirteen leaves and thirteen berries in the left talon, the thirteen arrows in the right talon, and the thirteen stripes on the shield.

These items also have significance. The stars were mentioned by Joseph in his dream in Genesis 37:9-10, "Behold, the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars made obeisance to me". In that case each star represented what was subsequently a tribe. On the seal each star represents a state of the original union.

The olive tree is another symbol used to describe the nation of Israel in the Bible, for example in Hosea 14:5-6. Also in Romans 11:24-29 Paul is discussing the need for Israel to be aware of her identity, and compares those who are Israelites by adoption to the wild olive branches grafted into the tree of pure stock. Undoubtedly the founding fathers of the United States were unaware at that time of the extent to which people of non-Anglo-Saxon stock would be grafted into their country from European nations.

Bows and arrows are also specifically mentioned in Genesis 49:23-24, where Jacob predicts that the nation Israel would become strong and be able to resist her enemies; hence the thirteen arrows in the right talon have significance to this promise to the Israel nations. However, the designers of the seal could have had no idea of the extent to which the United States of America rely for their defence on modern technology. Their guided missile weaponry bears a marked similarity to the reference in 2 Esdras 16:13, "For strong is his right hand that bendeth the bow, his arrows that he shooteth are sharp, and shall not miss, when they begin to be shot into the ends of the world".

The stripes on the shield are taken from the original flag of the United States, which was known as "Old Glory", and it consisted of thirteen stars and thirteen stripes. Today the American flag still has the original thirteen stripes, but fifty stars to match the current number of states.

***[Figure 12]

THE REVERSE SIDE

We are aware from the Bible that Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, were born in Egypt close to the Great Pyramid, and we find that the reverse side has an image of the pyramid. It has thirteen layers of stone, one for each tribe. The founding fathers of the United States would not be aware that the internal passage system of the Great Pyramid has prophetic symbolism to Israel when measured with the British inch. The internal dimensions accurately pin-point many events in the history of Israel. Some examples are the Exodus from Egypt in 1486 B.C.(circa), the Crucifixion in A.D. 30, and the start of World War I on 4 August, 1914, and its end on 11 November, 1918. However, the Americans were God-fearing men, and were well aware of the scriptural references to our Lord being the "chief corner Stone".

The words 'Annuit Coeptis", again having thirteen letters, are also spiritually significant. They mean, "He prospers our undertakings", or more significantly in this case, "He prospers our independence". These people relied on the help of the Lord. They had none of the political guidance and financial help from Britain that other territories such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand had on gaining independence. They had to go it alone.

The other Latin phrase "Novus Ordo Seclorum" means "A New Order of Peoples". The words are believed to have been inspired by the desire of the U.S.A. to become a model democracy, and in that sense it has largely been achieved. However, it is significant in another sense that while numerous Anglo-Saxon traditions have been retained, the nation has received many migrants from European countries who have blended into the original stock to form a new order of people. We have since followed a somewhat similar course in Australia since 1945.

THE PRESIDENTIAL FLAG

This flag is the equivalent of the Royal Standard of Britain, and is used by the President in a way similar to that of our British Royalty. The flag is similar to the face of the United States Seal (see Figure 13) and, as we have already seen, both have Israelitish heraldry in their origins.

A GREAT PEOPLE

Finally let us return to the quotation from Genesis 48:19 given at the start of this chapter. The Lord said, through Israel, that the descendants of Manasseh would become a great people, but not as great as those of his brother, Ephraim, whose seed would "become a multitude of nations". Both Britain and America have many Israelitish identifications and can trace their lineage back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but only Britain became a multitude of nations, and only America bears the marks of 13, a Great People. These facts, together with the termination dates of the seven times tribulations, determine that Ephraim's descendants are Great Britain, while Manasseh is revealed today as the United States of America.

CHAPTER 9 - THE IMPORTANCE OF IDENTIFYING THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL WITH THE GOSPEL

We have so far presented a very small portion of the evidence which is available today to show to whom the national promises were made, approximately 4,000 years ago, and to endeavour to see if God has kept His word. In the first chapter we said, "The Bible is entitled to have the opportunity to speak for itself',' and I feel sure that readers who have approached this book with an open mind will agree that what God said would happen has come to pass. The national promises God made have been kept, and the literal descendants of the nation Israel are identified today in the peoples of Great Britain and her commonwealth of nations and the United States of America.

WHAT DOES IT MATTER?

To some Bible students and skeptics alike the questions now start to come. So what? If Britain and America are Israel, what does it matter? Do I have to believe this to attain my salvation? Is not Israel equally identified as the Church today? Is not this something entirely separate from preaching the gospel? Does it go any further than just being something extra which is of interest but otherwise unimportant?

Let us dispense with one vital point first: Is Israel the Church? Many claim that it is and try to spiritualise the promises to Israel. This is not true. Israel is not the Church; it never was and never will be. The English word "church" is used just over 100 times in the New Testament, and each time it is translated from the Greek word "ekklesia", from "ek" - out of, and "klesis" - a calling. Thus the Church is the called-out ones, those who in this dispensation have been born again by the Spirit and power of God. The Church is a group of obedient people, not a nation. In the Old Testament, in