Where Are the Lost 10 Tribes of Israel Today?
There are many theories about where the lost 10 tribes of Israel went after they were taken away from their land by the Assyrians. For example, some believe that the Igbo tribe of Nigeria descend from the tribe of Dan. Some of the Mizo people of northern India also believe they are descendants of the ancient Israelites.
How can you know, for sure, where the modern descendants of the ancient Israelites are today?
Most theories rely on circumstantial evidence, such as similarities between curtain words and traditions. However, in The USA and the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel in Prophecy, I explain that a more reliable way of finding the Israelites is to use Bible prophecy.
In that lesson, I explain two key prophecies:
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God promised to bless the Israelites “high above all other nations” (Deuteronomy 26:19)
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The Israelites turned away from God, so the blessings were delayed until after 2520 years of punishment
If we know when the period of punishment began, we can calculate when the punishment ended, and see which nations began to rise “high above all other nations” at that time.
One period of punishment began in 936 BC, when Solomon and the Israelites turned away from God, and ended in 1585.
Another period of punishment began in 733 BC, when the Assyrians began to take the Israelites away from their land, and ended in 1788.
So to find the lost 10 tribes, we need to look at which ethnic groups began to rise to be high above all other nations beginning in 1585 and 1788.
In 1585 it was the Netherlands, France, and England that began to rise, and soon after that Denmark-Norway and Sweden. Switzerland gained its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1648 and rose to be a very important country, and is probably also among the Israelites. There are a few other nations that also might be among the Israelites, such as Belgium and Finland, but their history is not clear enough to me to say for sure.
Then in 1788, the English-speaking nations that came out from England (USA, England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) suddenly began to rise to lead the world. The British came to rule 25% of the world, including India and Burma, and controlled all of the oceans, fulfilling the promises to Ephraim. The USA became the most powerful nation in history, fulfilling the promises to Manasseh.
These are the only nations that fulfilled these prophecies.
Consider the rest of the world during this period of time.
Below is a chart showing the industrial output of countries in 1750 and 1953. This information is from an article by Paul Bairoch titled International Industrialization Levels from 1750 to 1980. What it shows is that in 1750 France was a wealthy and important country, but the other Israelite countries either did not exist yet as separate countries or had not become wealthy manufacturing countries yet.
But notice in 1953, the Israelite countries ran about 2/3rds of the world’s industry, even though the Israelites were less than 10% of the world’s population.
| Total Industrial Potential/Output | 1750 | 1953 |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 0.08% | 44.72% |
| United Kingdom | 1.89% | 8.40% |
| Canada | 0.00% | 2.15% |
| Australia | 0.00% | 1.01% |
| New Zealand | 0.00% | 0.20% |
| South Africa | 0.00% | 0.49% |
| France | 3.93% | 3.19% |
| Belgium | 0.31% | 0.81% |
| Switzerland | 0.16% | 0.65% |
| Sweden | 0.24% | 0.91% |
| Denmark | 0.00% | 0.52% |
| Netherlands | 0.00% | 0.78% |
| Norway | 0.00% | 0.36% |
| Israelite Total | 6.61% | 64.19% |
| India | 24.51% | 1.69% |
| China | 32.76% | 2.31% |
| Japan | 3.77% | 2.87% |
| Germany (West + East) | 2.91% | 7.30% |
| Russia | 5.03% | 10.68% |
| All other countries combined | 24.41% | 10.96% |
| Non-Israelite Total | 93.39% | 35.81% |
You can see from the chart that Germany and Russia also grew some from 1750-1953, but we know from other prophecies that they are not part of Israel.
So fulfilled prophecy is the best way to identify which peoples are part of the 10 Lost Tribes, because if they fulfilled the prophecies about the blessings, they will also be the same countries that will receive the curses for disobedience.
You can also look at history. The Israelites were called “Beit Gomri” (the “House of Omri”) by the Assyrians. At the same time the Assyrians took the Israelites away, the Assyrian records begin to mention the Kumri people (Cimmerians) in the same locations that the Assyrians put the Israelites. So some scholars recognize that at least some of the Cimmerians were Israelites. Some ancient historians say that the Cimbri people came from the Cimmerians. And we know that some of the Cimbri settled in Himmerland, which is part of Denmark. But it isn’t possible to use history to trace where all of the Israelites went, because there are very few written records about them.
Are there Israelites in other countries? Certainly.
Are all the people who live in the countries listed above Israel? Certainly not.
But if you want to understand how Bible prophecies about Israel will be fulfilled in the end times, these are the nations that you need to know about.