The name of George R. Hawtin was once widely known throughout North
America’s mid twentieth century Pentecostal and Latter Rain movements.
He was a prominent leader in the 1948 Latter Rain outpouring which first
took place at Sharon Orphanage and Bible School in North Battleford,
Saskatchewan, Canada. He was previously a pastor in the Pentecostal
Assemblies of Canada, where he pioneered Bethel Bible Institute at Star
City in 1935. He resigned from that denomination in 1947 and joined
Herrick Holt of the North Battleford Church of the Foursquare Gospel in
an independent work that Holt had established. Hawtin became president
of Sharon’s Global Missions.
On February 12, 1948 spiritual revival broke out at the Bible School at Sharon, which put both George and his bother Ern into prominence during the resulting Latter Rain movement. This revival was characterized by many reports of divine healings and other miraculous events. Ern Hawtin reported that the Lord demonstrated his majestic power at the Sharon school in a “strange new manner. Some students were under the power of God on the floor, others were kneeling in adoration and worship before the Lord. The anointing deepened until the awe of God was upon everyone.” George Hawtin later reported, “That all heaven broke loose upon our souls and heaven above came down to greet us.” These types of spiritual phenomena would be experienced by thousands of people all across the United States and Canada. This spiritual outpouring would be a major factor which helped to precipitate the prominence of many evangelists in the divine healing movement. Due to this revival, the ministries of evangelists such as William Branham, Oral Roberts, Gordon Lindsay and many others were welcomed in that atmosphere of spiritual openness.
George Hawtin went on to write and publish a series of 32 books on various vital subjects dealing with deep Biblical truths. Many of these books first appeared as articles in his monthly publication called, “The Page.” One of the subjects which the Lord revealed to him was concerning the true identification of God’s people Israel, the family of Abraham. In his book “The Abrahamic Covenant”, he confessed that he once avoided the questions that challenged his traditional beliefs. Then by the profound truth of God’s Word he had to accept the plain truth concerning God’s true people Israel. He writes: “In God’s dear book many wonderful things have been written which are seldom taught or even mentioned among the Christian congregations of our day. Truths which are pointed, plain, and tremendously vital to spiritual understanding are passed by unnoticed and unmentioned as things irrelevant and inconsequential. Promises, prophecies, covenants and facts which are vital to the age in which we live fill the pages of Holy Writ, yet they go totally ignored by professing multitudes, counted as inapplicable old wives fables and rejected out of hand without a pretext of sincere investigation. It is with regret that I myself confess that in bygone days, while still in bondage to the sectarian systems, I rejected without thorough investigation truth which I now know to be pertinent to all spiritual growth and understanding. Like so many others, I was quick to respond with accredited answers to the questions raised, vainly imagining that such eternal verities could be disposed of by the threadbare answers of tradition.
“For many years I have felt that the day would come when it would be my God given task to unfold, at least in part, some of the hidden mysteries concerning God’s chosen people, who are the seed of Abraham. Not many people now reading this message are fully aware that the entire Old Testament from Genesis,... to Malachi,... together with much of the New Testament concerns itself with that chosen people – all twelve tribes of them, who are the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This fact in itself should be enough to demonstrate the vast importance connected with the subject. In God’s holy word this chosen race is described in such endearing terms as these:
My People Israel Ezekiel 39:7
Mine inheritance Isaiah 19:25
My heritage Joel 2:3
My glory Isaiah 46:13
My servant Isaiah 41:8
My witnesses Isaiah 43:10
My called Isaiah 48:12
My nation Isaiah 51:4
Mine elect Isaiah 45:4
My redeemed Isaiah 43:4
My firstborn Jeremiah 31:9
George Hawtin became a strong proponent of the teaching that identified the Anglo-Saxon and related people as the true literal descendants of Abraham.
by Charles A. Jennings
WHERE ARE THE COVENANT
MILLIONS OF ISRAEL TODAY?
What a blessed and thrilling revelation it has been to have the Spirit unfold the wonders of His aionian covenant with Abraham! Here we see the Lord with one man, and him as good as dead, give birth to a nation through whom He will bring forth the fulness of His Christ – first, Christ the Head, then Christ the Body and finally Christ the New Jerusalem Bride, upon whose lofty gates are emblazoned the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and upon whose foundations are inscribed the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. That city for which Abraham looked is a city formed of Christ people which has no need of the sun, nor the moon, nor the light of any candle, for the Lord God is the light thereof. Through those open gates no evil thing will ever enter. Within its precincts stands no temple made with hands, for the Lord God and the Lamb are the temple of it. Description is far beyond me! Its fame escapes me! Methinks we can but belittle its exalted glory by our frail attempt to describe it. It will abide forever and through those wide gates that never close the nations of them that are saved will pass until God has gathered together in one all things in heaven, in earth, and under the earth.
Now since it is through God’s covenant people, Israel, that Christ, the Saviour of the world, has come, and since it is principally from these people that the glorious ranks of the church are formed, and since all Gentile believers become the seed of Abraham through faith, and since the one hundred and forty-four thousand sons of God are sealed from the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and since those twelve tribes, all redeemed, restored, and saved, will form the bride of Christ, the Holy City, through which all other nations will partake of the water of life, then surely it should be to the interest and benefit of every reader to search out and discover as nearly as possible who these covenant people are with whom the Eternal made an everlasting covenant that cannot be revoked while sun and moon and stars still glide in their courses, and while earth abides and day and night, winter and summer, springtime and harvest do not fail. God hath not cast away His people, whom He foreknew. Rom. 11:2. “Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles: how much more their fulness?” Rom 11:11-12. “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” Rom 11:15. Christians should spend hours of meditation in the ninth, tenth and eleventh chapters of Romans. These are key chapters that unlock the door to the whole plan of God and the understanding of them is a refreshing revelation.
It is a great mistake to imagine that God has altered course in midstream, changed His intention, cast off His people, broken His covenant with Abraham, and substituted the church in place of Israel in the hope that it would accomplish what Israel failed to do. Until we can see that the whole program with all the people involved is part and parcel of one eternal purpose, we have missed even the rudiments of spiritual understanding. God has neither cast off His people nor changed His purpose in any degree. Who could trust Him if He were not immutable? The New Testament church with its very elect throng is but one integral part of that original covenant, “In thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” The restitution of all things is the final intention of God.
It is impossible to rightly grasp the fulness of this truth until we clearly observe the important distinction between the two houses of Israel – the house of Judah and the house of Israel. Until we grasp this fact, we will always remain in darkness, because the promises given to each house were different one from the other, and unless we distinguish between them, we will always grope in a deepening fog of confusion. Almost universally among church people we find the erroneous understanding which teaches that Israel is the Jew and only the Jew. This is a gross error which can only produce confusion and unbelief. It is true that many who call themselves Jews are Israelites, yet these Jews represent only a very small part of the house of Judah, and none of them – and I repeat, none of them – belong to the house of Israel. Until the searcher learns that the house of Judah and the house of Israel are two distinct and separate parts of one nation, each having different callings and different promises, he can never hope to understand their separate callings in the world today or embrace the verities of the covenant God made with them.
Until the end of the reign of King Solomon, the twelve tribes of the children of Israel composed one nation under God. Immediately following King Solomon’s death, because of his oppressive taxation, the ten tribes rebelled against the House of David, forming a completely separate nation, thenceforth known as the house of Israel.
These ten tribes crowned as their king the wicked, idolatrous Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin. The tribe of Judah, along with the tribe of Benjamin and much of the priestly tribe of Levi, remained faithful to the house of David (that is, the Davidic line of kings) and from that day until now they have been known as the house of Judah. This important distinction is recognized everywhere throughout scripture, and our failure to understand it will confuse us greatly as to the calling of each nation. Tom Paine became an atheist and lost his soul because it was very evident to him that the Jew did not and never could possess the promises given to Israel. Like thousands of others, he failed to see this simple, but important distinction between the two houses of Israel. This above all else was the cause of his unbelief. Henceforth throughout scripture where mention is made of the house of Judah, the reference is to Judah and Benjamin, the two tribes of the southern confederacy; but where mention is made of the house of Israel, the reference is to the ten tribes of the northern confederacy. This distinction never varies throughout the entire Bible. It should be easy, therefore, to understand that the future of these two Israelitish nations could be as diverse as that of China and Spain.
Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph, was given the birthright and
placed by God as the first born. Jer.31:9. Because of this the ten tribes of the house of Israel are sometimes referred to as Ephraim, Ezek. 37:16, and occasionally as Joseph. Ezek.37:19. But neither of these terms ever applies to the house of Judah. This thought is borne out frequently in the book of Hosea. The house of Judah is mentioned thirty-seven times in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament. The house of Israel is mentioned approximately ninety-four times in the Old Testament and four times in the New. The fact that the house of Judah and the house of Israel were actually mentioned separately several times before the death of Solomon should add weight to the thought that the Lord had ordained their separation. See 2 Sam. 21:8.
It is interesting and important to note that, after the house of Israel rebelled against the house of David and became a separate nation, king Rehoboam of the house of David raised an army, intending to force the rebellious house of Israel back into subjection to himself. After the battle preparations were made, however, Shemaiah, the prophet, forbad him to fight with them. In I Kings 12:19-24 the details of that rebellion and the reason for it are given in the following words: “So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only (and Benjamin, verse 21). And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and the remnant of the people, saying, “Thus saith the Lord. Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from Me.” In other words, the seemingly tragic division between the house of Israel and the house of Judah was after all ordained of God, because in His eternal purposes these two brother nations were to inherit entirely different and distinct callings in their mission of blessing to all the nations and families of the earth. The division of the twelve tribes of Israel into two kingdoms – the house of Judah and the house of Israel – was not the work of the devil, as the ignorant would suspect his seeming calamity was just one more of God’s mysterious ways by which His wonders are performed, but everything remains within the framework of the Abrahamic Covenant.
In the forty-eighth and forty-ninth chapters of Genesis, Jacob by prophecy outlined the future of all his twelve sons, emphasizing especially their place of greatness in the last days, that is, in our days. The possession of a birthright, in scripture is a very important thing, because through the birthright comes the principal blessing of the entire family. In Gen. 48:13-22 we read the account of Jacob’s blessing the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. In the prophetic blessing Ephraim, the younger, was set before Manasseh, the elder. Ephraim was to become a company (or commonwealth) of nations and Manasseh was to become a great nation. Verse 19. “And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.” That is to say, Jacob made Ephraim the firstborn and heir of the blessings of the firstborn son. This is God’s doing and not man’s. The prophet Jeremiah definitely states that Ephraim is the firstborn. Jer. 31:19. Ephraim and Manasseh are the two branches of Joseph, which are said to “run over the wall.” Gen. 49:22. Upon their heads fell all the wonderful blessings of their father Joseph, given in such detail in Gen. 49:22-26. These blessings were to prevail to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills. Verse 26. Ephraim became the head and often the name of the ten tribes of the house of Israel; therefore, his blessings fall upon the whole house of Israel.
We are blind readers indeed if we have not already noticed that none of the blessings of greatness and nationhood, given to the sons of Joseph, fit the Jews in any sense of the word. The royal sceptre was given to Judah, as it is written. “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come;” (Gen. 49:10) but the birthright, with all the world-wide blessing it entailed, was given to the sons of Joseph. Regarding Judah’s sceptre, it is of great interest to note that every nation in Europe that has a lion on its coat of arms can trace its royalty to Judah.
I am aware, as the reader must be, that the fullness of these promises have been realized only in part. Of the house of Judah Christ came as the suffering rejected Messiah, but He will come again as King of kings and Lord of lords to take the throne of David, which will be waiting for Him, “for unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.” Gen. 49:10. Though the nations of the house of Israel are at present the leading nations of the world, only an elect company is being chosen from among them to form the Christ body of son, but the day will come when all Israel shall be saved (Rom. 11:26), and shall be all righteous. Then the stick of Judah and the stick of Israel will become one in the hand of God, (Ezek. 37:16-19), and they, again united will become the New Jerusalem Bride of Christ.
Israel has always been “stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears” (Acts 7:51) and ever stubborn and rebellious, but God has never broken His covenant with them nor forgotten His agreement with Abraham. It was through the stubbornness and rebellion of the house of Israel that the nation was overrun and carried away captive to the land of Assyria in the year 721 B.C. The story is told in detail in 2 Kings, chapter 17. Though it is not generally realized, it is true that at this time a large part of the house of Judah was also carried away captive to Assyria with the house of Israel. Other portions of Judah, principally Jerusalem, remained in Palestine for another one hundred thirty-four years, then, through their evil, they were carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in the years 588 and 587 B.C. There they remained for seventy years, after which forty thousand of them returned to Palestine and rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. It is from this remnant of forty thousand that the present day Jews are descended. The word Jew is an abbreviation for Judah, as Joe is an abbreviation for Joseph.
From the time of the captivity of the house of Israel in 721 B.C. unto this day, the ten tribes, to whom God made such wonderful promises, have been known as the lost tribes of the house of Israel. Jesus referred to them as the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But they are not lost! God would not be God if they were not at this moment fulfilling every detail of His covenant with them even though they be blind in part to their own identity. How pitifully strange it is that, when someone imagines he has discovered Israel in some primitive nation such as the North American Indians or perhaps a half-savage tribe in Africa or central Asia, all the Christians hail this as some remarkable discovery, but let it be asserted that Israel is found, not among primitive tribes, but among the leading nations of the earth as God said they would be, then at once indignation and anger are aroused and friends become enemies. Yet did not God say that Israel should be the head and not the tail? Deut. 28:13. Did God not say that Abraham’s seed would be great and their name great? Why then should we not look for them at the “head” and not at the “tail?” Why should we not find them among the “great” and not among the small and insignificant?
The following story may be fictitious, but the truth it exemplifies is irrefutable, demonstrating as it does the great importance of identification marks. (Though the finger prints of every person on earth differ from all others, in British law six identical marks are sufficient to identify a criminal as separate from all others on earth).
A family in England suffered the great misfortune of losing a baby boy by kidnapping. The police were immediately put on the track of the child, but in spite of the most intensive search no trace of the missing boy was found. Weeks increased into months and months grew into many years. Finally all hope of finding the child was abandoned and except for the heartbreaking memories the parents endured, the tragedy was forgotten. Twenty years had passed when one day a ray of hope dawned that set the hearts of the parents bounding with expectation. A letter had arrived from a lawyer in Spain telling of an old gypsy woman who had just passed away. To ease her troubled conscience as she lay dying, she had confessed that the young man who had passed for many years as her son was not her son at all, but was a boy she had stolen as a baby from England many years before and from the very county in which the bereaved family lived. Did the lady think, questioned the lawyer, that this young man could be her son? If so, could she give any marks of identification by which he could be positively identified? Almost beside herself with
anticipation, the mother wired back the following marks of identification:
1) A birthmark the size of a cherry on the back of the neck.
2) A double birthmark one inch long on the middle of the back.
3) A scar on the outside of the left leg, half an inch in length.
4) A scar over the right ear, half an inch in length.
Immediately a wire was returned from Spain, saying that all the marks had been found, and the woman with her husband left at once to see for themselves, but, upon arriving in Spain and seeing the young man, their hearts sank in despair. The young man was not at all what they expected to see. He was tall of stature, speaking fluently in a foreign language. He was a gypsy. He had gypsy manners, gypsy language, and wore gypsy clothes. Concealing her disappointment, the mother asked to see the scar over the right ear, and seeing it, hope again sprang up in her heart. She turned down his sock and looked for the scar on his left leg and found it exactly where she knew it to be. With feverish excitement she looked at the back of his neck and there to the amazement and joy was the birthmark the size of a cherry. Scarcely able to contain herself, she made the big fellow strip off his shirt, and there, plainly visible, was the double birthmark on his back. Upon seeing it, all doubt vanished from her mind. This tall, sun-tanned young man with gypsy bearings could be none other than her long lost boy. Flinging her arms about him in utter joy, she kissed him repeatedly and claimed him as her long lost son. Do you not think you would have done the same thing? Is there a possibility in all the world that this boy was not her lost son? I do not think there is. Yet I am certain that had three of those marks been present and only one missing, then, indeed, he would not have been her son.
Now here is a lost son. He does not know who he is. He does not know from what country he came, nor exactly how he came to be where he is. He does not remember his parents. His language and customs are completely foreign, and yet his identification marks prove beyond any possibility or doubt that he is indeed the long lost son, who was carried away by a gypsy as Israel was carried away by the Assyrian. If such certainty of identification can be made through four definite marks of identification, then I invite the reader to follow me
through thirteen marks of identification, and let us see if we can discover this lost house of Israel, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.
Throughout the pages of holy scripture, by prophecy and type, our Lord Jesus Christ has been given some one hundred seventy-five marks of identification. If indeed He is the Christ, then all marks of identification must be fulfilled in Him that all pretenders to His office may be ashamed. It is impossible within our limited scope to examine more than one small segment of truth in our search for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Books without number have been written on the subject, each one adding point to point, fact to fact, history to history, prophecy to prophesy, and tradition to tradition, each in some way helping to identify the people who are the ten lost tribes of the house of Israel, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. Because of the vastness of the material available, it is impossible for me in so small a space to give more than the tiniest smattering of truth. We will therefore leave history to the historians while we search briefly for these people through their marks of identification as laid down for our instruction in the infallible word of truth. Personally, I cannot imagine how such an honest search could be considered a waste of time, for surely it must be of great importance that we should identify this house of Israel, to whom pertaineth the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the service of God, and the promises; through whom Christ came, through whom the sons of God come, through whom the bride of Christ comes, and through whom when all are blood-washed and redeemed, the final restitution of all things will come. By far the greatest promises lie out before us.
Lest I should leave the reader in doubt, I will state first my personal belief in this matter; then through only one line of reasoning (Israel’s identification marks) I will tell you why I believe it. These reasons are being stated because the subject is a Bible truth and is, therefore, of great importance. I have no quarrel with any man who does not see as I do and trust that those who do not see as I do will refrain from quarreling with me. A sincere study of the scripture reveals at least seventy marks of identification which place the identity of the house
of Israel beyond doubt. Other nations may have one or two of these marks, but only the house of Israel will have them all. Because of this fact and many other investigations, I have come to firmly believe that the Anglo-Saxon peoples of the world represent the greater part of the house of Israel, together with a portion of the house of Judah. These include the Anglo-Saxon people of the British Isles and the far flung British, commonwealth nations. They include the “great nation”, the United States of America, as well as Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, part of Belgium, and many of the Germanic people, together with the Israelitish remnants scattered throughout European countries. Let us remember always, as we progress, never to confuse the house of Judah with the house of Israel or to make the mistake of thinking that the modern Jews is Israel. The modern Jew is only a very small segment of the house of Judah. They are Israelites, but are not of the house of Israel.
Before proceeding with the identification marks of the house of Israel, the following observation should be in order. Speaking of Israel, the apostle Paul made this very revealing remark:”In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” See Rom. 9:7. Heb. 11:18, and Gen. 21:12. As there are no vowels in Hebrew, the proper name Isaac is pronounced SAK or Saac. Thus Isaac’s sons would be called Saksons or Saxons. The custom of creating surnames by adding the word son to a given name is commonly practiced to this day in the Scandinavian countries. By way of example we might cite such names as Jacobson, Abrahamson, Israelson, Johnson, Isaacson, from which last comes the name Saxon, or Isaac’s sons. One sage has widely remarked that a reference to a Scandinavian telephone directory is enough to assure one that they are Israelites. Of the seventy marks of identification we have a space to deal with only thirteen in this writing.
Number 1. Israel was to be a great nation. “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee. . .” Gen. 12:2. “Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation. . .” Gen. 18:18. There are only perhaps a score of nations in all the world that could be called great, chief among whom would be the United States, Great Britain and her world-wide commonwealth, France, Germany, Russia, China, Italy, Spain and a few others. We will mention this point later, but the reader will have observed how this one identifying mark – a great nation – has already eliminated all of the nations of the world except a mere handful, and most certainly it has eliminated the Jew, for never at any time in history has the Jew been a great nation, surely no one would be hardy enough to contend that the present Jewish state of Palestine is a great nation.
Number 2. “I will make thy name great.” Gen. 12:2. It is not generally known that the Lord had said that Israel was to be called by a new name. This is definitely stated by the prophet Isaiah in these words: “And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.” Isa. 62:2. While we do not wish to be unnecessarily dogmatic about this point, because it is God’s word and therefore not to be contradicted, it is worthy of our consideration that (1) Isaiah had said. “Thou shalt be called by a new name,” and (2) that the Lord had told Abraham, “I will make thy name great.” At any rate, we are faced with the indisputable truth that in all the world today there is but one nation that is called great and that one nation is Great Britain. Furthermore, it is certain that among the great nations of the earth Great Britain is the only one which has the word great included in its name. We do not read of Great Russia, Great China, Great France, or any other.
This name, Great Britain, becomes even more significant when we learn that the Hebrew word bereth or bryth means covenant and the word ish means man. Thus the compound word Brit-ish must mean covenant man and the word Britain means covenant land. The only people in the world with whom God made a covenant was Israel. In the name, Great Britain, we have the fulfillment of Gen. 12:1 – “I will make thy name great,” – and in the name British we are assured that these are the covenant people, dwelling in a new and covenant land, Britain, which we will consider under the next proposition.
Number 3. Israel was to have a new homeland. After Israel was firmly established in the land of Canaan and the great king David had subdued her enemies round about, David purposed to build a magnificent temple of worship for the Lord. God was not displeased
with this plan, but He sent Nathan the prophet to David with this strange but enlightening message: “ I will appoint a place for My people, Israel, and I will plant them, that they may dwell in place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as beforetime.” 2 Samuel 7:10. This planting in a place from which they would not move any more could not possibly have referred to Palestine for the simple reason that all the twelve tribes of Israel did move from thence when they were carried captive into Assyria and Babylon. See also 1 Chron. 17:9. Though the Lord allowed Solomon to build the temple and the nation of Israel to rise to tremendous heights of blessing and achievement under his reign, the scripture is very clear that immediately following Solomon’s death the nation was divided in two (1 Kings 12) and later, because of abounding iniquity, was carried away captive, the house of Israel and part of Judah to Assyria (2 Kings 17 and 2 Kings 18:13), then later the remainder of the house of Judah to captivity in Babylon. (2 Kings 25). Of these latter only forty-two thousand, three hundred sixty ever returned to Palestine.
The ten tribes of the house of Israel grew mightily in numbers during their captivity in Assyria. Please read the significant passage Hosea 1:10. The renowned Jewish historian Josephus, writing in A.D. 70, gave us this historic record. “The ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates until now and are an immense multitude, not to be estimated by numbers. “ To this statement of Josephus the prophecy of Zechariah is in total agreement: “They of Ephraim shall be as a mighty man . . . and they shall increase as they have increased.” Zech. 10:7.8. Israel has always been noted for a rapid increase. When we realize that the seventy souls who went down to Egypt with Jacob emerged after two hundred and fifteen years of the rigors of slavery as a nation two and one half million strong, it is not hard to believe that this same people during the four hundred and ninety years of prosperity in Palestine had multiplied many times. The renowned evangelist, F. F. Bosworth, states that they had probably increased to forty or fifty million by the time of the captivity. It is no wonder that Josephus, writing almost seven hundred years later, described the ten tribes as an immense multitude not to be numbered. This testimony of Josephus is also in exact accord with the promise given by the Lord to Abraham – that his seed would be as the sand of the sea and the stars of heaven for multitude.
Zechariah, writing two hundred years after the captivity of the house of Israel, makes this subtle prediction of their emergence from captivity as they made their way from Asia Minor toward their appointed place in the west: “ I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember Me in far countries; and they shall live with their children and turn again. I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. And he shall pass through the sea (possibly the Mediterraneanor Black Sea) with affliction, and shall smite the waves of the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. And I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk up and down in His name, saith the Lord.” Zech. 10:9-12. This scripture definitely shows that , when Israel left her Assyrian captivity, she journeyed west, for all these places are west of Assyria. This is also in exact accord with the statement in Hosea 12:1. “Ephraim (which is another name for the house of Israel) followeth after the east wind. It goes without saying that an east wind blows toward the west and anyone following the east wind is certainly journeying toward the west. Thus did Ephraim, when he left Assyria, follow the east wind on his journey across Europe toward the British Isles.
Furthermore this is in total agreement with the prophecy given to the apocryphal book of Second Esdras. The Esdras of the Apocrypha is the same man as the Ezra of the Bible. In second Esdras we read this very definite statement concerning the way by which the ten tribes left the land of Assyria: “And whereas thou sawest that he gathered a peaceable multitude unto him; those are the ten tribes, which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar the king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so they came into another land. But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. And they entered the Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river (going west). For the most High then showed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over. For through that country (Europe) there was a great way to go namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is called Arsareth. Then dwelt they there until the latter time. . .”2 Esdras13:30, 46. Arsareth is the territory to the west of the Black sea. Surely, if we can believe Josephus, we should be able to believe this prophecy of the godly Esdras!
The latter time, referred to here by Esdras, must mean the end of the dispensation of law rather than the end of the present dispensation. The first epistle of Peter, written about A.D. 60, was addressed to the strangers who were at that time scattered through Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. A glance at a Bible atlas will show that these countries are all in southern Europe and the region of the Black Sea. The epistle of James was addressed to the twelve tribes scattered abroad and undoubtedly took in a much greater territory than that named by Peter. Likewise our Lord Jesus, after He had called His twelve apostles and given them power, sent them forth and commanded them to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Matt. 10:6. Jeremiah 50:4-6 says that both the house of Israel and the house of Judah are lost sheep. It is evident that our Lord sent the twelve apostles on a very long journey and that He did not go with them. We may be sure that after His resurrection the twelve apostles continued in this command, because Jesus had said, “Ye shall not have gone over all the cities of Israel until the Son of man be come.” Matt. 10:23. Well did Jesus know that even then Israel was as numberless as the sand of the sea and her cities were scattered far and wide beyond Palestine.
I shall not hide the fact from those who seek for light and understanding that the smug, cosy, cut and dried teachings of the church system have blinded our eyes to ninety percent of the glorious revelation of truth awaiting those who search it out. The absurd notion that the handful of subjugated Jews who dwelt in Palestine in Jesus’ day embraced the numberless millions of both the house of Judah and the house of Israel is, as ridiculous as to imagine that all Americans live in New Mexico.
Though we dare not investigate the thought now, there is abundant evidence to show that even in Solomon’s day the vast increase of Israel’s population, finding Palestine far too small, was expanding out and colonizing all along the shores of the Mediterranean and into Iberia, which is modern Spain, crossing the Dardanelles into Europe where they are referred to by Roman writers as Cimmerians, Gauls, and Senones. Senones were men of the tribe of Simeon. The possession of the tribes of Simeon and Dan was cut off from the other eight tribes of the house of Israel when the nation was divided, and there is good reason to believe that thousands of these men had left Palestine long before the Assyrian captivity and had made their way both by land and by sea to the coasts and isles of the west. Roman writers speak of Cimmerians, who coming from the Black or Cimmerian Sea, roamed over Europe for centuries. The Cimmerians were Israelites. It is a Latin name derived from the Hebrew Chemarim. The name of the Crimea is derived from this source.
Every person who has read the Bible has certainly read this passage concerning the sea-faring activities of Solomon’s day: “All king Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. . .for the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.” 1 Kings 10:21-23. All the earth sought Solomon. They brought every man his present. This one passage shows clearly that Solomon’s navy sailed the seas and made regular trips to Tharshish (Britain) one thousand years before Christ. Israelitish people have always been seafaring people and tremendous colonizers, as God said they would be, extending to the north and south and east and west, inhabiting the desolate places of the earth and making them blossom as a rose. Does anyone imagine that Solomon, who exceeded all men both before and after him in wisdom, was so dull witted that he could not build a navy to exploit the riches of England and Ireland and begin the colonization of those islands? He most certainly did. But I will go one step further and say that , almost one hundred years before the reign of Solomon began, Israelitish people had already begun to colonize the British Isles. The old British Chronicles gives the name of one, Brutus, as the first king of England, beginning his reign in 1103 B.C. He was therefore a contemporary of King Saul of Israel. David and Solomon, kings of Israel, were descended directly from Judah’s son Pharez and Brutus of England was directly descended from Judah’s son Zarah, the twin brother of Pharez. Seventy-three kings are listed in the old British Chronicles, covering the period from 1103 B.C. to 35 A.D.
It is not true that, when Caesar came to England, he found painted savages inhabiting the island. That is just wishful thinking, for never in history has a tribe of white savages been discovered. The kind of people who could build Stonehenge and the Avebury Circle must have been possessed of the wisdom of Solomon. It would be extremely difficult for modern engineers to duplicate such a remarkable feat. Strabo, the Greek geographer, writing in 29 B.C., describes the Briton of his time in these words: “He came, not clad in skins like Scythian, but with a bow in his hand, a quiver hanging from his shoulder, a plaid wrapped around his body, a gilded belt encircling his loins, and trousers reaching from the waist down to the soles of his feet. He was easy in address, agreeable in conversation, quick in dispatch, and secret in management of great affairs; quick in judging of present accuracies, and ready to take his part in sudden emergency: provident withal in guarding against futurity; diligent in the quest of wisdom; fond of friendships, trusting very little to fortune, yet having the entire confidence of others, and trusted with everything for his prudence. He spoke Greek with fluency and you would have thought he had been bred up in Lyceum and conversant all his life with the Academy at Athens.” If this is the testimony of a Greek, speaking in 29 B.C., then anyone who can imagine such a man as a painted savage has a vivid imagination, indeed.
The great truth missed by almost all is that a large portion of the house of Israel had already moved into the British Isles centuries before the Assyrian captivity began, and that captivity affected only that part of the ten tribes who still remained in Palestine. After their captivity of several hundred years was ended, they also began moving toward their brethren who already were in the British Isles and the coasts of Europe, Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The sudden appearance of the fair-skinned, highly cultured Etruscans in northern Italy about the year 700 B.C. would certainly indicate that these were Israelites who had left Palestine en masse rather than be captured by the Assyrians. A very interesting account of these people is contained in the National Geographic Magazine publication, Greece and Rome, beginning on page 250.
Though the Bible does not speak in detail of the vast efforts of colonization carried on by Israel, it does speak definitely of their moving north and south and east and west, inhabiting the isles and desolate places of the earth. In the excellent work, Tracing Our Ancestors, by Frederick Haberman, he makes this remarkable statement: “At the very time the Lord made promise to David, about 1040 B.C., ‘I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own,’ (2 Sam. 7:10), that promise was being executed. In fact, sixty years before the promise was made, Brutus ( a descendant of the royal line of Judah through his son, Zarah) had arrived in the isles of the west in 1100 B.C. and had named them BRITH AIN, the covenant land. Until this day the only name in the Hebrew for Britain is Ai-Ha-im, the isles of the west, Ai or Hy being the origin of isle. In earlier days the Isle of Iona was called Hy of Iona.”
We pointed out before that Israel, during the five hundred years of their sojourn in Palestine, increased by many millions, and during those five hundred prosperous years they left Palestine to settle in distant lands. They left, family after family, boat load after boat load, for their far off western colonies just as others left Europe to find new homes in America, and with no better ships than they had in Solomon’s day. After five centuries of such emigration there were still over five million in Palestine at the time of the captivity. Many times this number, however, had already left the country and were therefore, not affected by the captivity at all. It is evident that a constant traffic between Israel and her colonies in the west had been in progress for centuries, and Solomon’s navies roamed all over the known world. A.D. Eldud, a Jewish historian of the ninth century B.C., wrote: “In Jeroboam’s time (970-900 B.C.) the tribe of Dan, being unwilling to shed their brethren’s blood, took a resolve to leave the country.” Moses prophesied of Dan in these words: “Dan is a lion’s whelp; he shall leap from Bashan.” Deut. 33:22. What did Moses mean? Well, Dan did leap from Bashan and leave the country, and the tribe of Dan appears in the Irish Chronicles, Tuatha de Danaan, which means The Tribe of Dan. The Irish Chronicles tell us that the landing of the tribe of Dan in Ireland was opposed by the inhabitants, but in the ensuing battle the Danaan (Danites) were victorious. But, finding that the inhabitants spoke a language similar to their own, peace was made by which it was agreed that the Danaan would occupy the northern part of Ireland, called Eldh – now Ulster. A.B. Grimaldi, quoting an early Jewish rabbi, states that the early Irish were men of the tribe of Ephraim who left Egypt before the exodus. To this the Book of Jasher (chapter 75) agrees, though it appears that most of those who left were slain in battle with the Philistines.
At Loughguir, near Limerick, and elsewhere in Ireland, there are today ancient stone circles, consisting of twelve stones, one large stone in the center and eleven smaller ones standing in a bowing attitude around it. Irish antiquaries tell us that those circles perpetuate the dream of Joseph as recorded in Genesis, Chapter 37, in which Joseph dreamed that the eleven sheaves of his brethren did obeisance to his sheaf.
There is voluminous literature in existence which indicates that up to the end of the eighteenth century the scholars of Britain knew that their people descended from the sea-going Hebrew-Phoenicians and from the Anglo-Saxons, who came from the shores of Summerland on the Black Sea. But since the nineteenth century the trend of thought has been to follow the scepticism of Voltaire, Thomas Paine and the German school of higher critics.
The Scottish Declaration of Independence of the year 1320 A.D., a much prized national archive attested to by Robert the Bruce’s barons in parliament, asserts that the more ancient portion of the Scottish nation came first from Scythia by way of Spain. Scythia lies to the north of the Black Sea and is, of course, in the vicinity of Israel’s Assyrian captivity and was without doubt the route they traveled in their journey to the western isles. The wonderful romance of the arrival of the Israelitish tribes in the British Isles at different times and from different directions, some by land and some by sea, is beautifully portrayed by the Bard of Erin, Sir Thomas More.
Surely in all these things we can hear the ringing voice of Isaiah, the prophet, as he speaks to the covenant people in the isles afar off! “Listen, O isles, unto me, and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath He made mention of my name. And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword: in the shadow of His hand hath He hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in His quiver hath He hid me; and said unto me, Thou art My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” Isa. 49:1-3. Please notice that in verse three the people of the isles are called Israel.
Notice again that in Isa. 51:4,5 Isaiah speaks to God’s people Israel in the isles. “Hearken unto Me, My people; and give ear unto Me, O my nation: For a law shall proceed from Me, and I will make My judgment to rest for a light of the people. My righteousness is near; My salvation is gone forth, and Mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust.”
Number 4. Israel was to be exceedingly fruitful and very populous. See Gen. 28:14; 49:22-26; Isa. 27:6; Num. 23:10; Hosea 1:10. The increase of the Saxon race is nothing short of phenomenal. National statistics show that Russia doubles her population every one hundred and forty years. Spain doubles in one hundred and forty-two years. France in one hundred and fifty years, and Turkey in five hundred and fifty-five years, but England doubles her population every forty-five years, and the United States doubles her population every twenty-five years. Is it any wonder the prophet said, “Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, Thou has increased the nation. . .Thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.” Isa. 26:15. Nothing could be more true than this, since the sun never sets on the British commonwealth or the Anglo-Saxon peoples of the earth. Of Joseph Moses spoke, saying, “His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim (Great Britain), and they are the thousands of Manasseh.(Undoubtedly the United States).” Deut. 33:17. To see a true picture of the future blessings and fruitfulness of the tribes of Israel, please read for yourself the wonderful account given in Deuteronomy, chapter 33.
Number 5. Israel was to be the first among the nations and to spread abroad to the north and south and east and west. Gen 28:14 and Isa. 43:5-6. Abraham and his seed were to be the heirs of the whole earth. It can be shown beyond any reasonable doubt that the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, have become the two great brother nations of the earth. The United States of America, the great nation, and Great Britain, the company of nations, strictly in accord with the prophecy of Jacob (Gen. 48:16-19) and Joseph’s blessings (Gen. 49:22-26), fall to his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. When the patriarch Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph as recorded in Genesis, chapters 48 and 49, he said that Ephraim would become a multitude (that is, a commonwealth) of nations and that Manasseh would become a great nation. See also Gen. 35:11. In Eph. 2:12 Paul speaks of Israel as a commonwealth of nations. In all the world today there is only one commonwealth of nations, and that is the British Commonwealth of nations, which is a worldwide community of English speaking nations. Not only is Britain the only commonwealth of nations, but it is a fact that no other commonwealth of nations has ever existed in history. No previous empire has a commonwealth of free nations. Furthermore, this commonwealth of nations is very distinguished in that we have a brother nation who is a great nation, and that big, brother nation is the United States of America. It is significant that on the beautiful Peace Arch standing on the Canadian-United States border at Blaine, Washington, the following inscriptions are found: On the Canadian side are the significant words; BRETHREN DWELLING TOGETHER IN UNITY, and on the United States side the equally significant inscription, CHILDREN OF A COMMON MOTHER. Nothing could be more correct than this, for Ephraim and Manasseh were indeed the children of a common mother, and that mother was Joseph’s wife (Gen. 46:20) the daughter of the prince of On. (The Hebrew word kohen may be rendered either priest or prince – see Young’s Concordance. I do not believe that Joseph’s wife was an Egyptian, as some suppose, but a daughter of the prince of On. Egypt in Joseph’s day was ruled by Hyksos Dynasty, which was Syrian and therefore Semitic, not Egyptian.)
If we are convinced that Ephraim became a company of nations, or a commonwealth, then certainly we must be correct in saying that Manasseh has become a great nation. The United States is without doubt the greatest individual nation ever to exist on the earth. Her greatness is not in numbers or in military power alone, but in every form of useful industry, production and ingenuity, she is definitely a leader. Her wealth is beyond belief. Her resourcefulness knows no bounds. Her helpfulness and beneficence is of worldwide renown. Any nation in distress can depend upon her aid. Her missionaries are known all over the earth. Her Bible Societies have translated and given the Word of God to millions. The American-Canadian border, almost four thousand miles long is unfortified. Why would brethren, dwelling together in unity, need to fortify their borders? In two world wars the Anglo-Saxon nations have delivered Europe from tyrants and the countries thus delivered were immediately returned to their rightful owners while our enemies were given billions of dollars in aid to help them recover from their losses. Russia or China may be great nations in power and population, but what light has China given to the world or where are the Russian missionaries or Bible Societies, or wherein do they minister to the poor and needy of the earth? We hear of no philanthropic acts or oppressed nations being set free by them. Thus while Ephraim England has become a worldwide commonwealth, Manasseh, his brother, has become the greatest nation on earth.
I am sure that every sincere student of Scripture and prophecy must realize that that greatness prophesied to the brothers of Ephraim and Manasseh is fulfilled to the letter in the two great brother nations, the United States of America and the Anglo-Saxon people of the British Commonwealth. Indeed, all the fabulous promises of blessing so freely given to Joseph (Deut. 33:13-17) were to find their fulfillment in his two sons, the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh. “Joseph is a fruitful bough . . .whose branches run over the wall. . .His bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob: (from thence (Jacob) is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bounds 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.” Gen. 49:22-26. Any thinking person must surely know that the Saxon nations have been and still are the recipients of all these blessings of heaven and earth and the wealth that lies under the earth. Why then should students of scripture waste their valuable time searching for Israel among the primitive and poverty-stricken tribes and nations when God’s word declares that His covenant people are to be the leading nations of the world and this especially so in the last days? Gen 49:1.
The great American industrialist, Henry Ford, Sr., wrote the following remarkable words, which seems to be fitting here that I must quote them. “The fathers of our nation were men of the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic race. The men who came from Europe with civilisation in their blood and in their destiny, the men who crossed the Atlantic and set up civilization on a bleak and rock-bound coast; the men who drove north to Alaska and West to California; the men who opened the tropics and subdued the arctics; the men who mastered the African veldt; the men who peopled Australia and seized the gates of the world at Suez, Gibraltar, and Panama; men who have given government and livelihood to every people and an ideal to every century. They got neither their God nor their religion from Judah, nor the ruling speech nor their creative genius. They are the ruling people, chosen through the centuries to master the world by building it better and better and not by breaking it down.”
Number 6. Israel’s throne and nation was to continue forever, and not disappear with the captivity of the house of Judah. 2 Sam. 7:16, 24,29; I Chron. 17:21-24; Jer. 31:35-40. The method by which the royal seed was transferred to the isles of the west is one of the marvels of the ages.
Number 7. Israel’s home was to be north and west of Palestine. Isa. 49:12 and Jer. 3:18. These passages speak of Israel returning to Palestine from the north and the west at the end of this age. The British Isles lie in a straight line north-west of Palestine. Though the oft-mentioned isles were to be the home of Israel until they had renewed their strength, (Isa. 41:1), we must not forget that Abraham and his seed were the heirs of the whole world. “When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.” Deut 32:8. All history has proved that, when Israel needed more territory, the aboriginal people had their borders adjusted to accommodate the need. See also Exodus 34:23-24.
Number 8. Israel was to have many colonies. Gen. 17:4,6,16; 35:11; 48:19.
Number 9. Israel, after expanding from her new home, was to lose a colony of her children, then expand again into new realms. Isa. 49:20. This is obviously a prophecy of the American War of Independence, at which time the thirteen New England states were separated from the main body of Israel that Manasseh might become a great nation separate from Ephraim. But after this separation the expansion continued until the commonwealth embraced the vast regions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and islands and territories too numerous to mention.
Number 10. Israel shall reign over many nations, but none shall rule over her, and shall lend to many, but not borrow. Deut. 15:6.
Number 11. Israel was to possess the gates of her enemies. Gen. 22:17. There are certain strategic places in the world that can correctly be termed gates. These gates through which the commerce of the world passes are Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Aden, Suez, the Panama Canal, Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. All these strategic gates have for many years been controlled by the British Commonwealth or the United States of America, and only Suez since 1967 has been controlled by the State of Israel now in Palestine.
Number 12. Israel was to have a new covenant. Jer. 31:31-34. This new covenant found the beginning of its fulfillment in the born again believers of the Christian Church, when God began to write His
law on the fleshly tables of their hearts. Gentile nations were not excluded from the blessedness, but the new covenant was made with Israel.
Number 13. Israel was to be a people glorying in Christ. This thirteenth mark is one of very great importance. Though the Jew has always been an enemy of Christ and as a people has maintained her anti-Christ attitude for two thousand years, the exact opposite is true of the house of Israel, for Jesus Christ was to be “the glory of Thy people Israel.” This fact was stated in the most unmistakable terms by the anointed Simeon, when he prophesied that Jesus would be a “light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel.” Luke 2:29-32. It is clearly evident there that Israel does not refer to the anti-Christian Jew, but to the house of Israel, for the Jew has never honored Christ. Though the mass of Anglo-Saxon nations are only nominally Christian, throughout all their nations Jesus Christ is honored as the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. Church denominations, worldly as they may be, preach that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Congregations fulfill Simeon’s prophecy in such beautiful songs as:
“In the cross of Christ I glory
Towering o’er the wrecks of time.
All the light of sacred story
Gathers ‘round the head sublime.”
And unknowingly they confess their Israelitish identity as they fervently sing,
“Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,
Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace
And crown Him Lord of all.”
With many other such magnificent hymns do these people testify that Christ is the glory of His people Israel. Every man on our streets knows who Jesus is and every lawyer, be he Jew or Mohammedan, must date his documents by the year of our Lord.
Though we have written at some length concerning Britain and the United States, and their relationship to Ephraim and Manasseh, the story of the house of Israel has scarcely begun. It is a tremendous revelation to follow the exploits of other Israelitish nations such as the
Danes – or more correctly, the Dans - the Dutch, the Norwegians, and the Swedes. The Norwegian Vikings are known to have roamed far and wide over the oceans of the earth, reaching America some six hundred years before the arrival of Columbus. According to Landnamobok, eighty-four per cent of the Icelandic colonizers came from Norway, three per cent from Sweden, and twelve per cent from the British Isles. The Viking flew the wolf banner on all their ships. The wolf was the banner of Benjamin and it is reasonable to believe that the tribe of Benjamin is strongly represented in Norway. “Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at evening he shall divide the spoil.” Gen. 49:27. How accurate this prophecy has been! Sweden (South Dan) and Denmark (Dansmark) are evidently of the tribe of Dan. Dan has the custom of naming his conquests after himself, and by this method it is easy to see his serpent’s trail all across Europe and into the British Isles. There are no vowels in the Hebrew language; therefore Dan is Spelled Dn. Consequently Dan may be spelled Dan, or Don, or Den or Din or Dun, and when a place name includes this syllable, it is reasonable to believe that Dan or Dn, was there. Bible examples of this custom are found in Joshua 19:47, where Dan captured Leshem and changed the name to Dan, and again in Judges 18:11-12, where the Danites changed Mahaneh to Mahanehdan. Again, when they captured Laish, they changed the name of the city to Dan. The path Dan took across Europe is traceable in the following place names – Jordan, Dardanelles, Macedonia, the Danube, the Dneiper, the Dneister and the Don. Professor Totten says: “There is no grander theme upon the scrolls of history than the story of the struggle of the Anglo-Saxons westward. The very streams of Europe mark their resting places and the root of nearly all the ancient names (Dan and Don) recall the sacred stream, the Jordan, from whose banks so far away the exiles set out.” The naming of these places serves to trace these wanderers like a trail. The Danube, the Dneiper, the Dneister, the Danau, the Daninn, the Danast, the Dandari, the Danez, the Udon, the Eridon, and many others right down to the Dans and Denmark, the very word Scandinavia encompasses the name of Dan.
Should some think this to be unsound reasoning, would they not concede that the numerous cities and places in New England bearing English names would certainly indicate that early settlers of New England came from England? Those states abound with such names as Norfolk, Portsmouth, Wilmington, Hampton, Gloucester, Dover, Aberdeen, York, Lancaster, Reading and many others. Is there not plenty of evidence that Pennsylvania was settled by the Dutch and Louisiana and Quebec were settled by the French? This is sound reasoning and a fact of history. This being so, would we not agree that Iceland, England, and Scotland must have had a strong representation of Danites, since the country abounds with such names as Danslough, Dan Sower, Dan Monism, Dundalke, Dundrum, Donegal, Dunglow, Londonderry; Dungarven and Dunsmore (means more Dans). Dan shall judge his people. Gen. 48:16. In Irish dunn means judge. In Scotland and England there is also an abundance of Dans, Dons, and Dins, such as Dundee, Dunkirk, Dunbar, Dunraven. And the name Dan lies hidden in both the capital cities, London and Edinborough.
There is far too much evidence to sort through here, but surely the thirteen identification marks we have given should serve to identify these Israel nations and separate them from all others even as the scars and birthmarks identified the gypsy boy at the beginning of our story. Furthermore, we will all agree that the marks of identification I have given from the Bible do not apply in any degree to the other great nations of the earth, such as China, Russia, or Japan, but they apply only to the Anglo-Saxon people and in particular to Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph – Ephraim the commonwealth and Manasseh the great nation. The enormous wealth, power, world-wide influence and blessing of these two great brother nations bring vividly to our minds the words spoken by Jacob as he blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, “ In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.” Gen. 48:20. Joseph because he was separate (or separated) from his brethren (Gen. 49:26), was given a double portion in Israel. Henceforth the tribe of Joseph was to become two branches, Ephraim the first born and therefore head of the tribes, and Manasseh the thirteenth, but both enjoying the blessing of Joseph to the fullest possible extent. Thus the tribes were Ephraim, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Benjamin and Manasseh.
The heraldry of any nation is an extremely important thing, for in heraldric symbols the history and principles which surround the origins and destiny of the nation are emblazoned for all to read. Heraldry is a parabolic language. Jesus, the greatest of all teachers, taught the people in parables. Those among His listeners who understood the symbols also understood the parable. When Joseph told Jacob that in his dream the sun and the moon and the eleven starts bowed down to him, Jacob was quick to grasp the symbols and understood exactly what they meant.
The Great Seal of the United States, seen on every dollar bill, is replete with significant heraldry. I trust I will not be misunderstood when I say that in my opinion practically every symbol in this undoubtedly inspired work of art depicts as nothing else can the origin of the United States of America. It will probably be noticed at once how prominent is the number thirteen. Manasseh was the thirteenth tribe. There are thirteen stars, thirteen stripes, thirteen arrows in the eagle’s left claw, thirteen olive leaves and thirteen olive berries in its right claw. Written on the scroll fluttering from the eagle’s beak is the inscription with thirteen letters, “E PLURIBUS UNUM,: meaning, ONE OUT OF MANY. This nation is not only the thirteenth tribe, but it is as well the great gathering place of all thirteen tribes. Thus the significance of E Pluribus Unum.
It will be noticed that the thirteen stars are set in a glory cloud above the eagle’s head, that the eagle’s wings are spread, and that it is facing toward the west, which is the continual direction of all Israelitish migrations. For the sake of brevity we shall state that the thirteen stars represent the thirteen tribes of Israel, of which tribes Manasseh himself is the thirteenth. The glory cloud in which the stars are set represents the glory cloud that led Israel all through the wilderness journey, covering and protecting them from all enemies, guiding them through the trackless future, (Psa. 105:39; Num. 10:34; Exod. 14:19,20), sheltering them from the heat by day and the frost by night, standing between them and their enemies, and directing them in all their wanderings.
The eagle itself is always associated with the heraldry of Israel. Ezek. 17:3-5. It is one of the loftiest of scriptural emblems. Her courage and farsightedness is stated in Job 39:28-30. Her swiftness is alluded to in Deut. 28:49. The remarkable phenomenon of the renewal of its youth is mentioned by David. Psa. 103:5. The likeness of one of the beasts about the throne was the likeness of an eagle. Rev. 4:7. The eagle was the standard of the camp of Dan, which included Asher, Dan and Naphtali. “He bore them on eagles’ wings” (Exod. 19:4) is the symbolism used to represent the escape of Israel from bondage to freedom. The eagle is not a bird of carrion and is not a menace to smaller birds. This, I think, is not only an excellent symbol of Israel, but that part of Israel which is the United States of America. No small nation need fear her and she is the defense of all her community. As Shakespeare said most impressively, “The eagle suffers little birds to sing.”
The olive branch, upon which cluster thirteen berries and thirteen leaves, is also a symbol of Israel, who is referred to in scripture as an olive tree. Jeremiah 11:16 says, “The Lord called thy name, a green olive tree,” and Paul in his warning to the Gentiles speaks of Israel as an olive tree. Rom. 11:17-24. It is most significant that the dexter talon holds the olive branch with its thirteen olive berries and its thirteen leaves, the symbol of peace, but the sinister talon holds the thirteen arrows of war. Israel, when she went against a city in battle, was commanded to follow these instructions. “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it . . .and if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shall besiege it.” Deut. 20:10-12. First the enemy is offered the olive branch of peace and, if this is refused, then comes the arrows of war. The arrow had a special place in the heraldry of Manasseh, since he is Joseph’s son, for unto Joseph the Lord had said, “His bow abode in strength and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.” Gen. 49:24. Well might we ask what all these thirteens represent if they do not represent the thirteen tribes of Israel, of which Manasseh was the thirteenth tribe. When Israel camped in the wilderness, they camped beneath four standards. On the north side was the camp of Dan, consisting of Asher,
Dan and Naphtali. Their standard was the eagle. To the east was the camp of Judah, consisting of Issachar, Judah and Zebulun. Their standard was the lion. To the south was the camp of Reuben, consisting of Gad, Reuben and Simeon. Their standard was a man. To the west was the camp of Ephraim, consisting of Manasseh, Ephraim and Benjamin. Their stand was the ox or unicorn. See Numbers chapter 2. The prophet Ezekiel received a great vision of God which he describes in these words: “As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.” Ezek. 1:10. Now, reading this remarkable passage, could anyone possibly doubt that the man, the lion, the ox, and the eagle seen by Ezekiel were in some vital way connected with the twelve tribes of Israel, whose camp emblems were the man, the lion, the ox and the eagle? No reasonable, thinking person could possibly conceive that these emblems of heraldry apply to any other than the nation Israel!
With this thought in mind we notice that nothing in the heraldry of the British Coat of Arms is English, but everything is Israelitish. On the dexter side of the Coat of Arms is the rampant lion with a crown upon his head, representing England. Is it not a fact that the lion is Israelitish rather than English? This king of beast is the emblem of Judah (Gen. 49:9) and wears the crown because God said, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come.” On the sinister side stands the unicorn, representing Scotland. Is it not also a fact that the unicorn is the personal emblem of the tribe of Ephraim? Deut. 33:17. Its prominence bears witness that England is the new home of Ephraim, to whom the promise was given that he would become a company, or commonwealth, of nations, pushing the people together to the ends of the earth. Most certainly Ephraim England has been and still is the mother country to the entire commonwealth, or company of nations.
In the lower dexter corner may be seen the harp of David, representing Ireland. But what connection has Ireland with a harp? For two thousand years Ireland had no other emblem than the harp. Irish tradition still insists that Tamar Tephi, daughter of Zedekiah of the seed of David, arrived in Ireland with the prophet Jeremiah about the time of the Babylonian captivity and was married to Eochaidh, who was of the seed of Zarah, the son of Judah, thus uniting the seed of Zarah-Judah with the seed of Pharez-Judah. From the union of Tamar Tephi of the Judah-Pharez line with Eochaidh, the prince of the scarlet thread of Judah-Zarah line (See Gen. chapter 48) sprang the long list of Irish overlords who for one thousand years were crowned upon the Stone of Scone (now in the British Coronation chair) and wielded the sceptre of Judah over the whole of Ireland. It has been stated that every nation in Europe which has a lion in its coat of arms can trace its royalty back to Zarah, son of Judah. In the midst of the Great Shield may be found the figures of seven lions. I cannot tell what such heraldry can possibly represent unless it represents the young lions of the British Commonwealth.
In the beautiful crown may be seen a diadem of twelve precious stones. It is more than coincidence that these twelve stones in the British crown are the same twelve stones that are found in the breastplate of the Israelitish high priest, namely, a sardius, a topaz, a carbuncle, an emerald, a sapphire, a diamond, a ligure, an agate, an amethyst, a beryl, an onyx and a jasper. See Exod. 28:17-20. These are the same as the foundations of the Holy City, (Rev. 21:19-21), though five of the stones have a different name here. Above the crown, barely seen in the picture, is the orb, representing the entire earth, and upon the orb is a cross, indicating the day when Christ of the cross will take the throne of David and reign over the world. Above the crown may be seen another lion, not the rampant lion of Judah, but a standing lion with a crown on his head, presenting the house of David, to whom the Lord swore, saying, “Thus saith the Lord: David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.” Jer. 33:17. Please note that the reference here is to the house of Israel rather than the house of Judah. Beautifully engraved below the shield are the words DIEU MON DROIT, meaning GOD AND MY RIGHT, and on the device surrounding the shield are the very significant words, HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE, meaning literally SHAME ON HIM WHO THINKS EVIL OF IT.
Dieu et mom droit (or God and my right)! To what right do these words refer? It was Ephraim, the “firstborn”( Jer. 31:9), who received the birthright and all the blessing of heaven and earth and seas. How much more significant then are the words HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE, which literally mean SHAME ON HIM WHO THINKS EVIL OF IT. What other meaning can we find than this : God has given the birthright to Ephraim, and shame on him who thinks otherwise. “Dieu et mon droit” and Honi soit qui mal y pense.”
I have touched all too briefly on the magnificent heraldry in the British Coat of Arms, every item of which is deep rooted in the heraldry of Israel, bearing little or no significance to England apart from her connections with the seed of Abraham. Space will not permit me to speak of the significance of the Stone of Scone, which rests in the coronation chair and whose history dates back to the captivity of Judah, nor the orb and the sceptre, nor the fact that the British monarchs are anointed with oil at their coronation, compounded from the same properties that used to anoint the kings of Israel. Nor can I tell of the magnificent west window of Westminster Abbey, bearing the figures of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs and Moses, under which every British monarch passes on his way to coronation.
We must now close this all too brief message on the Abrahamic covenant. It is my earnest prayer that those who have read this humble effort will realize that for many years our eyes have gazed upon truth that shouts aloud of our Israelitish heritage, though our eyes have been closed and our ears stopped because blindness in part has happened to us. These great nations, so richly blessed with blessings temporal and blessings spiritual, are the descendants of that great man to whom God swore, saying “In thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” These are the people who have become as numberless as the stars, through whom Christ came, through whom the body of Christ has come, and who, when their repentance and cleansing is complete, will be the New Jerusalem bride of Christ, and through her twelve gates will enter the countless billions of human kind, billions who hitherto never knew that God had a Son, or a body of sons or a bride. The endless billions of earth will enter through those holy gates into the city of God that they might be partakers of the Tree of Life.
At the beginning of his journey Abraham looked for a city that had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Heb. 11:10. He shall see that city in all her magnificent glory with her twelve glittering foundations and her twelve pearly gates opened wide, never to close. Then shall her charming voice, joined in sweet harmony with the Spirit, speak to every creature in the universe , saying, Come! Come, take of the water of life freely, without money and without price. “Let him that heareth say, Come: and let him that is athirst come; and whosoever will let him come and take of the water of life freely.” “I Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things, I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star.” “Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Amen!”
In a writing of this nature there is such a vast wealth of material from which truth should be gathered that the effort at best is very limited in scope. Many subjects upon which I have touched should have been more fully developed, but for want of space in so small a booklet it was necessary to strictly limit each one. Much more history should have been explored to show how the royal lines of Pharez and Zarah, the two sons of Judah, were united about the time of the captivity of the house of Judah, from which union the British royal family is descended. Queen Victoria of England paid three hundred thousand pounds to have her genealogy traced. This genealogy, tracing her ancestry back to King David of Israel, now hangs worked in tapestry in the great hall of Windsor Castle and may be seen by any visitor when the Queen is not in residence.
The existing church has for centuries vainly endeavored to make the world wide promises of God for the house of Israel fit the Jewish people and, finding this impossible, many have turned skeptics and unbelievers. The Jew cannot possibly fulfil the world wide promises given to the house of Israel. The Jew himself would be the first to admit that from the manger of Bethlehem until now his whole attitude has been anti-Christ. How then could the promise made of Jesus, “He shall be the glory of Thy people Israel,” be made applicable to them?
Among the many promises concerning the whole house of Israel and all their worldwide power there is one special prophecy that has to do with the moment in which we live. It is this: “ . . and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” Dan. 12:7. The present crumbling of the British Commonwealth and Empire, together with the dreadful weakening of the power of the United States of America, is definitely foretold in scripture and is one of the principal signs that we are at the end of the age when all things shall be finished.
I have dealt with the great covenant God made with Abraham because the Bible deals solely with the seed of Abraham from Genesis, chapter twelve, to the last chapters of Revelation. Therefore we should readily receive that no man can properly understand the plans and purposes of God nor the great prophetic utterances of the Old and New Testaments until he can see that Israel is God’s elect, through whom all nations are to be blessed. God has not cast away His people which He foreknew, but the sun, the moon, the stars, the heaven, the earth, the seasons, and day and night still testify that God remembers His ancient covenant, “In thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Slowly but surely from the covenant seed comes Christ the Head, Christ the Body and Christ the Bride, the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, through whose lofty gates all nations will pass to partake of the tree of life in the midst of the city.
Editor’s note: The Stone of Scone has been moved to Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. The genealogy chart of Queen Victoria is no longer on display in Windsor Castle.
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