The USA and the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel in Prophecy

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Watch on YouTube: Israel’s 10 Lost Tribes REVEALED in Bible Prophecy

The Bible contains specific predictions about the future of many nations. However, most Bible prophecy—well over half—is about the nation and people of Israel.

In order to understand all of these prophecies about Israel, you must know who the people of Israel are today, and where they are located.

Most people don’t think much about this. After all, there is a small country in the Middle East called “Israel,” right?

Most people assume that all the prophecies about Israel are about the modern nation called Israel. But many of the prophecies about Israel just don’t match up with the history of the modern nation of Israel.

The truth is that the people who live in the modern nation of Israel are only part of Israel. Most Jews come from just three tribes of Israel—Judah, Benjamin, and Levi (1 Chronicles 11:12-14). In ancient times there were 12 tribes of Israel. For some historical reasons, one tribe (Joseph) is often counted as two tribes (Ephraim and Manasseh), making a total of 13 different tribes. But, with a few exceptions, the Jews are the descendants of only three of these tribes.

What happened to the other 10 tribes of Israel?

The Bible contains a detailed history of the ancient people of Israel. To find out where the other 10 tribes are today, we need to start with the facts recorded in the Bible.

In the book of Genesis, we find the story of Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons, who were called “the children of Israel,” because God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (Genesis 32:28). As these 12 sons had children, these family groups became the 12 Tribes of Israel.

In the early books of the Bible, the name Israel refers to all 12 tribes. However, after the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan, two groups began to emerge. The tribe of Judah settled in the southern region and started becoming somewhat separate from the other tribes in the north. Sometimes the tribe of Judah was considered part of Israel, and sometimes it was considered to be separate from Israel.

Notice that King David became king of Judah seven and a half years before he became the king over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:5). The Bible says David’s son Solomon was “ruler over Israel and Judah” (1 Kings 1:35). Notice that Judah was considered to be distinct from Israel. During the reigns of David and Solomon, Israel and Judah were distinct groups that were united together into one nation.

However, after Solomon’s death, the 10 tribes in the north appointed their own king and formed the kingdom of Israel. The tribe of Judah, along with the tribe of Benjamin and most of the Levites, formed the kingdom of Judah. You can read the whole story of how this happened in 1 Kings 11 and 12.

The important thing to understand is that Israel and Judah have been separate from each other ever since. These two kingdoms have never been reunited.

The Jews (many of whom live in the modern nation of Israel), are the descendants of the ancient kingdom of Judah. When you see prophecies about Judah in the Bible, these prophecies are about the Jews.

But most of the prophecies about Israel aren’t about the Jews, or the modern nation of Israel. Most of the prophecies about Israel are about the other 10 tribes of Israel, who have been separate from the Jews for almost 3000 years.

The 10 Lost Tribes

If Israel and Judah refer to two different groups of people, where is “Israel” today?

To answer this question, you need to look into the Bible.

After the kingdom of Israel separated from the Jews, the king of Israel feared that the 10 Tribes would reunite with the Jews if they went up to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual festivals that God had commanded them to keep. So this king created new places of worship, and different days of worship for the 10 Tribes, in order to disconnect Israel from the Jews (1 Kings 12:25-33).

God sent many prophets to Israel, telling them to turn back to God and keep the laws and days of worship He had given to them. But Israel never returned. They still used God’s name, but they practiced their own, man-made traditions and forms of worship. So God finally punished them with defeat and captivity.

In 733 BC, the Assyrians began to conquer the Israelites and relocate them to the northern and eastern edges of the Assyrian Empire. The Bible says, “In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Ma’akhah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he carried them captive to Assyria” (2 Kings 15:29).

Not long after, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, the capital of Israel, and deported the rest of the Israelites: “In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. … There was none left but the tribe of Judah only” (2 Kings 17:6, 18).

So Israel was taken away from their land, and only the Jews remained. After the 10 Tribes of Israel were taken away, they seem to have disappeared from history. Now they are known as “the 10 Lost Tribes.”

But Israel didn’t disappear from prophecy.

More than half of the prophecies in the Bible are about Israel, and most of these prophecies are about the “last days.”

Notice the prophecy in Ezekiel 37:15-28. This prophecy foretells that Israel and Judah will be reunited into one nation at the very end of this age, and King David will be resurrected to rule over them. Think about it. David hasn’t been resurrected yet. This prophecy has not been fulfilled yet. Israel is still separate from Judah. The 10 Tribes are still somewhere on this planet.

How to find the 10 Tribes

How can you know where the 10 Tribes are today? If the 10 Tribes are lost, how can you find them?

You could try to figure out where they went after the Assyrians took them away from the land of Israel. There are a few traces of them down through history, but the historical records are very sparse, and you might follow a trail of assumptions that lead you to a wrong conclusion.

Or, you could let God show you where Israel is today. All you need to do is find out which nations or ethnic groups have fulfilled, and continue to fulfill, the end-time prophecies about Israel.

A key prophecy about Israel and Judah

In Leviticus 26 we find a key prophecy that revealed the future of all 12 tribes of Israel. In this chapter, God outlines the blessings that would come if the 12 Tribes obeyed God, and a sequence of curses that would come if they did not obey God.

Many of the blessings foretold in Leviticus 26 did come to Israel during the reigns of King David and King Solomon. At that time, the empires of Assyria and Egypt were going through a period of weakness, and for a few decades, Israel was the wealthiest and most influential nation in the world.

But then, toward the end of Solomon’s reign, he turned away from God and built shrines for other gods (1 Kings 11:4-10). The people followed his example and also began to turn away from God.

Just as God promised in Leviticus 26, God punished the 12 Tribes by taking away their national blessings. During the last years of Solomon’s reign, enemies began to rise up around them (1 Kings 11:14-25).

Solomon died in 931 BC. A short time later, Israel and Judah split into two separate, weak nations (1 Kings 12). Within a few years, the Egyptians invaded Judah and took away much of their wealth (1 Kings 14:25-26).

As we already saw, the Assyrians began conquering and deporting the Israelites about 200 years later, in 733 BC. The 10 Tribes never returned to their land. Only the Jews remained.

Then, in 605 BC, the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, and began deporting the Jews to Babylon. Some of the Jews returned to their land 70 years later, but most never returned. Most of the Jews eventually migrated north into Europe, where they remained until the 20th century.

In 1916, the situation for the Jews suddenly began to change. While the world was in the middle of World War I, the United Kingdom and France made a secret treaty called the Sykes-Picot Agreement. This treaty described how they would divide the Middle East if they defeated the Ottoman Empire. In this agreement, they marked out the area of Palestine as a special international region. Then, in June of 1916, the British helped the Arabs revolt against their Ottoman rulers.

In November 1917, the British published the Balfour Declaration, announcing their support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. After that, the British immediately invaded Palestine and captured Jerusalem. These events ultimately led to the establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948. Since that time, millions of Jews have returned to the land Israel.

Has Israel returned?

Most people who study Bible prophecy believe that the establishment of the nation of Israel and the return of the Jews to their ancient homeland fulfilled the ancient prophecies about the gathering of Israel in the last days. But those prophecies are about both Israel and Judah. Those prophecies have not been fulfilled yet! The 10 Tribes and the Jews will be gathered together at the end of the age and united into one nation, ruled by King David.

However, the return of many Jews to Palestine, and the establishment of the modern nation of Israel, did fulfill a prophecy in Leviticus 26.

In Leviticus 26, God said that if the 12 Tribes turned away from Him, first they would experience terror, disease, and defeat in war (Leviticus 26:16-17). Later, more punishments would come, eventually resulting in the tribes being taken away from their land (Leviticus 26:32-39).

God foretold, in a cryptic way, how long this punishment would last: “If you in spite of this won’t listen to Me, but walk contrary to Me… I will also chastise you seven times for your sins” (Leviticus 26:27-28).

God said he would punish the 12 Tribes for “seven times.” In lesson 1 you learned that “seven times” means a period of 2520 days, or 2520 years. If that isn’t clear to you, carefully compare Revelation 11:2-3 (42 months and 1260 days) with Revelation 12:14 (3 ½ times) and Revelation 13:5 (42 months). Then read Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6, which both show that a day in prophecy often represents one year.

Leviticus 26 foretells that God would punish the Jews and the other 10 Tribes for “seven times” for their sins. That means the punishment would last 2520 years.

Notice that the Jews began to be taken away from their land in 605 BC. If you add 2520 years to 605 BC, you come to 1916 AD—the exact time when the way for the Jews to return to their own land began to open again!

The prophecy of seven times was fulfilled right on schedule. This is one of many proofs that Bible prophecy is accurate.

Where are the 10 Tribes today?

Now you have the keys you need to find the modern-day people of Israel: Just calculate when the seven times of punishment ended for Israel, and look at history to find out which nations began to rise at that time.

You already saw that Israel’s punishment began when God took away Israel’s national blessings “when Solomon was old” (1 Kings 11:4). Solomon died in 931 BC, at the age of 70. It appears that at the end of Solomon’s life, he repented and wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. So a reasonable guess would be that this period of punishment began about five years before Solomon died—somewhere around 936 BC. (There is a prophecy in the book of Revelation that also supports this date.)

If you add 2520 years to 936 BC, you arrive at 1585 AD.

Did anything significant happen in 1585? Yes.

In 1580, King Phillip II of Spain had united the Spanish and Portuguese empires under his rule. This combined empire stretched around the world. Phillip also belonged to the powerful Hapsburg family, which ruled many nations throughout Europe. It appeared that soon the Hapsburgs might control all of Europe.

In 1585, King Phillip II began campaigns to regain full control of the Netherlands and extend his control over France and England. But Phillip’s plans backfired, and 1585 was the beginning of the end for Hapsburg dominance of Europe and the world.

On the last day of 1584, Phillip entered into a secret treaty with the Catholic League in France. This treaty specified that Catholicism would be the only religion allowed in France. In part, it was an attempt to prevent the Protestant Henry Navarre from becoming king. When the English learned of the treaty, they feared that it was part of an attempt to overthrow Protestantism throughout Europe.

Then, in August 1585, Phillip was able to take Antwerp from the Protestant rebels in the Netherlands. But his victory ultimately led to Spain’s decline. A few days after the Spanish took Antwerp, Protestant England signed a treaty to support the Dutch rebels. This began a war between England and Spain.

After the fall of Antwerp, the Dutch regrouped and quickly rose to become the leading financial power in the world.

Phillip’s attempt to interfere in France’s politics also failed. Henry Narvarre became the king of France, gave recognition and religious tolerance to the Protestants in France, and aligned with England and the Dutch against Spain. This was the beginning of France’s rise to replace Spain as the leading power in the world.

Spain’s war with England also failed. In 1588 the English repelled a Spanish attempt to conquer England and bring it back under Catholic control. From 1585 onward, England began to grow into a great naval and colonizing power. Eventually, the British Commonwealth would replace France as the leading power in the world. Later the United States, which grow out of England’s American colonies, would become the leading power in the world.

Notice that 1585 marked the beginning of a dramatic shift in global power. The nations of Northwestern Europe suddenly seemed to have all of the luck. During this time period, the Kingdom of Denmark and Norway (including Iceland) became a notable power. The Swedish Empire also became one of the great powers of Europe. For the next 400 years, the nations of Northwestern Europe and their colonies would become the wealthiest nations of the world, often controlling more than half of the wealth in the whole world.

The events in 1585 and onward brought an end to the first phase of the seven times of punishment for Israel.

Amazing? It should not be.

God told Abraham: “you will be the father of many nations…I will make nations of you and kings will come from you” (Genesis 17:4, 6). God also said He would put the 12 Tribes “high above all nations of the earth” (Deuteronomy 28:1). These promises have been fulfilled.

Think. Has any other group of nations in history experienced the abundant wealth that has come to the nations of Northwestern Europe and the colonies they established in America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa?

Did any other group of nations rise to power at the exact time that God foretold in the Bible?

The rapid rise of Northwestern Europe, and the power, wealth, and influence they have had for 400 years, are undeniable facts of history.

Where are the 10 Lost Tribes today? Which nations will fulfill the Bible’s end-time prophecies about Israel? Examine the facts and decide for yourself.

Even more proof

Remember that a second phase of punishment for the 10 Tribes began when the Assyrians started deporting Israel from their land in 733 BC. This phase of punishment also ended exactly 2520 years later, in 1788.

And what happened in 1788? The year 1788 marked the sudden rise of the English-speaking nations.

Consider these facts:

• When was Australia founded? On January 26, 1788.
• When was Canada established? 1791, three years after the first English administrative districts were established in Quebec in 1788.
• When did England become the leading power in the world? In 1788, when France began to slide into the French Revolution.
• When was the United States born? When the U.S. Constitution was ratified on June 21, 1788.

This is another amazing prophecy, fulfilled right on schedule.

In the next lesson, you will learn more prophecies about the destiny of the modern people of Israel.

Watch related video on YouTube: Israel’s 10 Lost Tribes REVEALED in Bible Prophecy

Next Lesson: The Future of America and the West

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