S. A SCRIPTURAL EXAMINATION OF ANGLO-ISRAELISM
A SCRIPTURAL EXAMINATION OF “ANGLO-ISRAELISM” By Pastor John C. O’Hair WHERE ARE THE TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL? Our Gospel is hid to them that are lost. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4. This includes all the unbelieving Gentiles and all the unbelieving Israelites, no matter to which of the twelve tribes they belong. Believing Gentiles and believing Israelites are one in Christ. Christ broke down the middle-wall of partition between them. Now these believers, in a joint-Body, constitute the One New Man of Ephesians 2:15, Ephesians 3:6. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision. Galatians 3:26-28. Identified with the risen Christ, who is now far above in the highest heavenlies, seated with Him and blessed in Him with all spiritual blessings, are saved Africans, Japanese, Chinese, Indians, Turks, Greeks, Italians, Germans, French, Spanish, Scandinavians, Britons, Russians, Americans, and hundreds of other nations and tribes. There are about sixteen hundred million people on this earth, according to the world census taken by the World Court. There are about sixteen million Jews; one out of one hundred, about one per cent. It has been stated that the percentage of saved Jews out of the sixteen million, is as high as the percentage of saved Gentiles out of the sixteen hundred million.
If there was any Scriptural authority for calling the saved Jews and Gentiles, united in Christ, “Spiritual Israel” before God pronounced His awful judgment upon the Nation Israel, in Acts 28:25 and Acts 28:28, which is still a debatable question, certainly any Divine authority for such an appellation for the Body of Christ since that time is not to be found. About 70 A.D. God visited Israel with that unmerciful judgment pronounced by Christ, in Luke 21:20-24 and Matthew 22:7. Since the days of that terrible judgment we have been living in “the times of the Gentiles”, spiritually or religiously. “the times of the Gentiles” politically or governmentally began about 600 B.C.. Israel, in accordance with Deuteronomy 28:44 has for centuries been the tail and not the head. When were Great Britain and the United States the tail? In the early Church after the death of Christ, before the Divine judgment of Acts 28:25-28, God’s order was “to the Jew first”. Acts 3:26, Acts 13:46, Romans 1:16. But all special privileges, of Israel over the other nations ceased with the declaration of the truth from Christ, concerning the “joint-Body”, made up of those, “who were afar off (Gentiles—aliens from the commonwealth of Israel) and those who were nigh (the commonwealth of Israel) Ephesians 2:11-17. Even before this full revelation of Divine truth, designated “the mystery”, God’s Word of instruction was, “give none offence neither to the Jew, nor the Gentile nor the Church of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:32. If there had been a fourth division at that time, “Israel”, different from the Jews, the Word should have been “neither to the Jews, the Israelites, the Gentiles, nor the Church of God.”
Yes, the Gospel of glory is hid from lost Israelites, but so far as God is concerned, there are no lost Ten Tribes of Israel. These words were spoken by Jesus, on earth: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 15:24. Therefore, if we speak Scripturally of lost Israel, we speak of the lost Twelve Tribes. What Jehovah said of Israel, in Hosea 5:3 is still true in 1936 A.D., “Israel is not hid from me.”
If Israel is hid from Christians, it is because they have read some human theories concerning the lost Ten Tribes instead of diligently searching the Word of God. Years ago in Mexico when I was examining the ruins of the Aztecs, near the two great pyramids, I was told that the Aztecs were the lost tribes of Israel. According to traditions, the following “peoples” have been called, the lost tribes of Israel”; the Afghans, the Japanese, the North American Indians, the Nestorians and the Irish, and many others.
Now, we want you to know from the Word of God just how and where you can definitely locate all twelve of the tribes of Israel today. Study carefully the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. In that chapter, which gives in detail God’s punishment of unfaithful and disobedient Israel, that message was for all the tribes. The whole house of Israel was addressed by Peter, on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:36. And by James, in his Epistle, “to the Twelve Tribes scattered abroad.” James 1:1. Jews from every nation under heaven were in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Compare Acts 2:5 with Acts 2:36.
Read Deuteronomy 28:28 : “thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore.” Deuteronomy 28:37 : “And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.” Deuteronomy 28:48 : “Therefore shalt thou serve thy enemies, which the Lord shall serve against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, in want of all things. And he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck.” Deuteronomy 28:62 : “And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude.” Deuteronomy 28:64-65; “And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from one end of the earth even unto the other - Among these nations shalt thou find no ease”. Deuteronomy 28:53 : “Thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and thy daughters: Thus scattered and punished Israel is to be the tail and not the head. Deuteronomy 28:44.
Now let us bear in mind that this was spoken to all Israel. All Israel is to be saved when their Deliverer comes, that is, representatives from all twelve tribes. Romans 11:26. That Deliverer spoke of His coming as the Son of man and Israel’s redemption, in Luke 21:27-32. In that same chapter He confirmed concerning scattered Israel and forsaken Jerusalem that which was spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy. Read Luke 21:20-24. Read carefully these verses and then read in history the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D., and you will read the fulfillment in part of Deuteronomy 28:1-68, as to eating the flesh of sons and daughters. If you have read; the history of Great Britain and the United States, do you know when either of these nations ever fulfill the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy? But more of this after we set forth some of the claims of the leaders in the Anglo-Israel Movement.
These statements are copied from literature sent out from the “Anglo-Saxon Federation of America”, Haverhill, Mass.
1. The Bible does not state or infer that the Jews are God’s chosen people. Judah and Israel are entirely distinct and separate entities. 2 Chronicles 11:1-23.
2. The Bible made these prophecies and recorded these facts concerning Israel and the Jews. Israel was to find an island home and be moved no more. The Jews were to be strangers in all lands. Israel was to constitute a kingdom but the Jews were never to be a nation, until reunited with Israel. Jews were to remain under the law and Old Covenant, whereas Israel was to be a Christian people.
3. “Israel had nothing to do with the crucifixion of our Lord, not being in the land, except Benjamin, who accepted Him.”
4. “Ephraim” is England and “Manassah” represents the United States. Manassah was the thirteenth tribe, and that accounts for the discovery of America on October 13, 1492; and the following “thirteens” in American history. Thirteen colonies; 13 bars and 13 stars (flag); 13 letters in “E Pluribus Unum” and 13 feathers, 13 olives, and 13 arrows on American coins. First American navy, 13 ships. Cornerstone of White House laid October 13, 1792. The 13th amendment abolished slavery. General Pershing born September 13, 1860 and arrived in France for participation in the World war June 13, 1917. The first letter in Manasseh is the 13th in both English and Hebrew languages. Herbert Hoover and Charles Curtis each had 13 letters in their names.
5. The Celtic-Anglo-Saxons are Israel, the chosen people of God. The British Isle inhabitants are descendants among others, from the tribes of Saxons (Isaac’s sons), the Danes of Dan, the Jutes of Judah, the Fresians, the Picts, and the Scots, and Normans of Benjamin.
6. “Brith” in Hebrew means “covenant”, therefore we have Britain, “covenant law”, British the “covenant man”, Britania “covenant ships”. “Britannia rules the waves”, controlling the English Channel, Gibralta, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, the Suez Canal, Malta, Aden, and other gates and stations. America controls practically all of the remaining gates. This, all in fulfillment of Genesis 22:17, “thy (Abraham’s) seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” (Read Isaiah 14:1-8). The Anglo-Saxons are “Christianized Israel” and are fulfilling Isaiah 49:7 : “I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” The Church is the priesthood of the nation. In 1776 A.D. the Lord divided Israel into two nations, so that God’s promises to both Ephraim and Manasseh might be realized.
7. When General Allenby, the British soldier, drove the Turks out of Palestine and took possession of that land, the British were the children of Israel from the north and all lands returning to the land given to their fathers by God, in fulfillment of Jeremiah 23:7-8.
During the centuries before this return of Israel (the Anglo-Saxons) to Palestine, God had fulfilled Ezekiel 20:33-35, bringing scattered Israel with a mighty hand out of countries into the wilderness (Great Britain), and the wilderness was to blossom like a rose, and be the place prepared of God where Israel should be nourished. And there Israel was to fulfill Deuteronomy 32:13, and be the lion lifting himself up with the strength of the unicorn-as a great Lion. Numbers 23:24, Numbers 24:9.
8. In this latter day the New Covenant is first for the Anglo-Saxon Israelites. As under the Old Covenant, strangers and sojourners can become Israelites, members of the kingdom nation (Britain) and partaker of its benefits. These partakers are grafted into the Israel stock for kingdom benefits. Every Anglo-Saxon who complies with the law is recovenanted to God. The law has not been set aside, only the form of circumcision. The punishment of those refusing to comply with this law shall be destruction. The present failure of Anglo-Saxons and Americans to recognize Great Britain as the kingdom of Israel is responsible for the present misery and suffering in the two lands. Israel’s time of punishment foretold in Daniel 4:23 and Daniel 4:32, “seven times” has expired. A time was a period of 360 years, or 2520 years. Adding 2520 years to the time of Judah’s captivity, about 600 B.C., we come to about 1920 A.D.. One of the chief speakers for the Anglo-Israelites declares the Lord will come for His Church September 16th, of the year (1936).
9. Only Spirit-filled Christians will be saved from the great time of trouble. The rest of the Church and all Israel (Britons) will survive until Jesus’ feet stand on the mount of Olives to save His people from destruction, in fulfillment of Zechariah 14:1-3. (Howard B. Rand). The wise virgins of Matthew 25:1-46 : are the Spirit-filled Church members who will be raptured. These will know in advance the arrival of the day of their removal. This will include only a few.
10. (Rev. Wm. P. Goard) The throne of David has come down to Great Britain through a clear line of descent and, therefore, the fulfillment of God’s promise that David’s throne would endure forever. Great Britain and America, Ephraim and Manasseh (who are to render willing obedience) are preparing the way for the coming of the King. The house of David, removed from Jerusalem in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, was brought to Ireland by Jeremiah the prophet in the person of Tamar Tephi, thus establishing the present line of descent. The Ten Tribes came from Assyria to Europe, thence to the British Isles to be joined to the house of David. God’s Jehovah throne was established in the midst of His kingdom, Modern Israel, or Britain. An ancient King of Ireland was married to a Jewish Princess from the East and their coronation was on Jacob’s stone, and the royal house of Britain has descended from that union. The present King of England, Edward, Albert, Christian, George, Andrew, Patrick David is the prince descended from King David, the one hundredth generation from King David, born 1076 B.C. His name was at the suggestion of the Marchioness of Waterford, for said she, “I believe that he will be “David your prince” foretold by the prophet, under whom we shall repossess the holy land. The royal mother replied, “Baby is called David”. The present King David is on the throne and Ezekiel 37:22-24.
11. According to Daniel 2:44-45, a Stone is to come from heaven, smite all other kingdoms, become a mountain and fill the whole earth. This Stone kingdom is to stand forever. Israel is to stand forever. Jeremiah 31:35-36. Therefore, Great Britain is the Stone Kingdom, the forever Israel. To prove this, there are two emblematic stones, the little stone in Britain’s possession and the big stone the pyramid in Egypt. This Stone in Egypt is the altar of Isaiah 19:19-20, God’s witness. The little stone now occupies the chief seat in the kingdom, the coronation chair at Westminster Abbey. The Kings of the House of David have been crowned upon this stone. During the past 130 years the Kingdom of Great Britain has expanded into the mountain and the emblematic big stone, the pyramid,, is God’s witness to Great Britain’s claim. The Anglo Israelites decide much by the structure and measurements of the pyramid. They say “When the time arrived for the kingdom to grow into a mountain, God revealed a mountain of Stone as a witness to the kingdom people.” “Cutting the pyramid open from north to south, the diagram of the passages gives a chronological history of Israel and Judah.” There is recorded, that the transfer of the kingdom activities was from Judah to Israel, because the Jews, and not Israel, rejected and crucified Christ. Even the very time of Britain’s ultimatum to Germany and the Anglo-Saxons’ entrance into the World War, in 1914, is told by the pyramid measurements, midnight, August 4th. That was the beginning of Jacob’s trouble in fulfillment according to Jeremiah 30:7.
(End of statements.) By this teaching the tribulation is still on, if it has not passed. But think most of us are not conscious if the millennium is here, or if we are in the midst of the great tribulation described in the Revelation.
How strange that our Apostle Paul had nothing to say about this pyramid. If this program is in any way a sign to members of the Body of Christ surely we would find it mentioned in “Body” truth, in the writings of Paul. May we remind our readers that the Lord’s Church during this dispensation is designated “the Church which is His Body”. Ephesians 1:21-22, Colossians 1:24-28. In Ephesians 3:6 that Church is called the “Sussomos”, literally “Joint-Body”. Let us carefully study the context, with special emphasis on Ephesians 3:1-3 and Ephesians 3:9 : Paul the prisoner of Jesus Christ for Gentiles—given the dispensation of the grace of God for Gentiles—the mystery of the Joint-Body revealed to him. Paul was to make known the fellowship (dispensation) of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world was hid in God. “The mystery”, mentioned twelve times in Paul’s last epistles, is always mentioned in connection with the high and holy calling, heavenly spiritual blessings of the Gentiles, as members of that Israel’s were; both silent and uninformed. Time and again the Scriptures remind us that Paul was Christ’s chosen minister to the Gentiles, though he himself was an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin, Romans 11:13 and Romans 11:1. To be ignorant of Paul’s messages concerning the Body of Christ is to be ignorant concerning the Body of Christ. In his message, leading up to the statement concerning the “Joint-Body”, Paul referred to the two “peoples” who were to make the “One New Man”, “the circumcision” and “the uncircumcision”, “the commonwealth of Israel and the aliens”, “those who were afar off and those who were nigh”. Ephesians 2:11-12, Ephesians 2:17. In referring to the new man, in Colossians 3:11, written at the same time, he refers to the “two peoples” as Gentile and Jew. Thus we see that the “Commonwealth of Israel” and the “Jew” are used synonymously and interchangeably as they are all through Paul’s oral and written ministry.
Perhaps the most inexcusable of all blunders in Bible study, is to confuse the promises which God made by the mouth and pen of His prophets to Israel, with His eternal purpose and grace given to members of the Body of Christ before Israel was ever brought into existence, even before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 3:11, 2 Timothy 1:9, Ephesians 1:3-4. To teach that “Anglo-Israel” or any other “Israel”, whose history is recorded in Old Testament prophecy, is, the Body of Christ, is worse than a travesty on sound exegesis: it is profound ignorance of the Word of God. If British Israel is the same Israel that Left Egypt, and later left Palestine as prisoners of the Assyrians, and are now preserved to be revealed as the Body of Christ, God’s chosen priesthood, seated with Christ the Head in the heavenlies, blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, according to Ephesians 2:6, Ephesians 1:3-4, then all of Paul’s claim concerning “the mystery”, the unsearchable riches of Christ among the Gentiles, and His revelation concerning the “Joint-Body”, was but an empty dream. But Paul’s words were Christ’s words and Anglo-Israelism is the empty dream.
How could any servant of the Lord make known “the dispensation of the mystery” and make known Anglo-Israelism. Ephesians 3:9. Ignorance of the truth of Ephesians is responsible for every “ism” with which God’s true Church is troubled; that is, the one true antidote for all of the fallacies operating in the name of Christ’s Church is the “mystery” truth of Ephesians and Colossians.
If we should accept the foolish teaching of Anglo-Israelism that the English races are not Gentiles, then we would have to acknowledge our great blunder is having appropriated for ourselves and applied to ourselves, or rather misappropriated and misapplied all of the messages of Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, directed to Gentiles. We would have to teach that those glorious truths contained in the Epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians, and II Timothy, concerning the mystery among the Gentiles, and the unsearchable riches among the Gentiles, and the eternal purpose of God in Christ Jesus, was intended for the Greeks, Italians, Turks and African Negroes, but not for us. I hope you will see the utter nonsense of their unscriptural teaching. To Paul was committed the gospel of the uncircumcision; to Peter, James and others, the gospel of the circumcision and Paul referred to them as the “Twelve Tribes”. Acts 26:7. Paul did not testify unto Two Tribes of Jews; but unto Twelve Tribes of Israel. In testifying to the Twelve Tribes of Israel, he told Israel’s rulers that John the Baptist had testified to “all the people of Israel”. Acts 13:24. Both Peter and Paul declared that it was Israel’s rulers who condemned Christ and put Him to death. Acts 13:17 and Acts 13:26-27. Acts 4:10. “All the people of Israel”, Acts 4:27.
Peter addressed his epistle to the “dispersion”, “the Twelve Tribes”. 1 Peter 1:1. James addressed his epistle “to the Twelve Tribes”. James 1:1. Both Peter and James were ministers of the circumcision. Galatians 2:9. This had nothing whatever to do with the spiritual circumcision to which Paul referred in Php 3:3. The Twelve Tribes and “the circumcision” were synonymous. The Twelve Tribes still practice religious circumcision. God’s division is still the Jew, the Gentile and the Church of God. Israel and the Jew are one and the same in this dispensation. Read carefully Romans 9:27 and Romans 9:29 what Isaiah cried and concerning whom he cried. Read also Romans 9:31 and all of Romans 10:1-21, and say whether or not Paul was referring to one or two tribes. Then turn to Isaiah, the prophet to the Jews, who used the word “Israel” 92 times, and never used “Jew” except to describe the language of his people.
Christ was the King of Israel, sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He was the glory of His people Israel. John 1:49, Matthew 15:24, Matthew 10:6, Luke 2:32. Nicodemus was a master of Israel. John 3:10. Christ entered Jerusalem as the King of Israel. John 12:13. Read Luke 1:68.
Why did Christ choose twelve apostles? If they were preaching to only two tribes of Israel would the Lord have been so particular about selecting a successor to take the place of Judas, that there might be twelve apostles on the day of Pentecost? Peter with one would have been sufficient, if numbers in the Bible are symbolic. But the record is Peter with the Eleven, speaking to all the house of Israel. Acts 2:36 and Acts 2:14 and Acts 2:22. And who were they? Devout Jews from every nation under heaven. Jews from every nation under heaven and all the house of Israel are synonymous. To say that Israel did not crucify the Prince of life, after reading Acts 2:22-23; Acts 2:36, Acts 4:26-27 and Acts 5:30-32, and Stephen’s message in Acts 7:1-60, is to be either grossly ignorant or to handle the Word of God deceitfully. He was the Stone of stumbling for both houses of Israel. Isaiah 8:14. (To be Continued)