Is America A Lost Tribe?

It is tempting to continue talking about the situation in Syria, but let's give it some time.  Perhaps the plan put forth by the Russians to avert another international war will work.  We should know the answer to that question within the next few weeks, if not sooner.

I read an article that was posted on the WND website on August 30, titled, "Glenn Beck: U.S. Identified in the Bible."  You can find it at www.wnd.com/2013/08/glenn-beck-u-s-is-lost-tribe-of-Israel.  As reported by Joe Kovacs, a reporter for the World News Daily network, Glenn Beck has come to believe that Great Britain and the United States are the lost tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.  This teaching is known as "British-Israelism" or "Anglo-Israelism."  The basic premise is based upon the historical and biblical fact that, following the death of King Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into two separate nations.  The Northern Kingdom, known in the Bible as both Israel and Samaria (so named after its capitol city), and the Southern Kingdom, known in the Bible as both Judah and Jerusalem (again named after its capitol city), were created because of the sins of Solomon.  The books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles detail the stories of these two kingdoms.  The Northern Kingdom has 19 different kings throughout its 209 year history (931-722 BC) and the Bible indicates that each of those kings followed in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, the Northern Kingdom's first king.  Those sins included the worship of two golden calves - one set up in the northern part of the Kingdom at Dan, the second set up in the southern part of the Kingdom at Bethel.  Although warned by many prophets, including Elijah and Elisha, the nation continued on its bent in sinning.  Finally, in the year 722 BC, God allowed the Assyrians to capture Samaria and the people of the Northern Kingdom were taken into captivity into Assyria.

Meanwhile, the Southern Kingdom continued its existence until 586 BC when, because of its continual bent in sinning, God allowed it to be taken captive into Babylon.  The focus of the remaining historical books in the Old Testament - Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther - focus upon that Judean remnant and their eventual return from Babylon. 

Of course many will exclaim, "But what happened to those from the ten northern tribes who were in captivity in Assyria?  Did they ever return to the Promised Land?"  Beck and others say, "No, they did not.  They fled from Assyria and crossed the Caucuses Mountains into Europe, thus deriving the name Caucasian." 

Friends, this idea that the British and the United States are the lost tribes of Israel is not a new one.  It formed the backbone of the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong and his Worldwide Church of God.  I want to share a rather lengthy quote from his book titled, "The United States and British Commonwealth in Prophecy." 
      "The House of Israel is the covenant people.  The Hebrew word for covenant is 'beriyth' or 'berith.'   The Hebrew word for man is 'iysh' or 'ish.'  In the original Hebrew language, vowels were never given in the spellings, so omitting the vowel 'e' from 'berith,' but retaining the 'i' in its Anglicized form to preserve the 'y' sound, and you have the Anglicized Hebrew word for covenant, 'brith.'  The Hebrews, however, never pronounced their h's.  The Jews, even today, in pronouncing the name Shem will call it Sem.  Incidentally, this ancient Hebrew trait is also a modern British trait, so the Hebrew word for covenant would be pronounced, in its Anglicized form as Brit.  And the word for covenant man or covenant people would therefore be Brit-ish.  So the true covenant people today are called the British.  And they reside in the British Isles."

Friends, this is very bad biblical interpretation.  You cannot play with words to proof a point.  You cannot make Hebrew into English.  Hebrew is Hebrew.  Furthermore, the Hebrew word for covenant is 'berith' and it is pronounced that way.  So, the case for British-Israelism falls on linguistic evidence. 

But it also falls on biblical evidence which is more important.  The prophets are emphatic that both the Northern Kingdom as well as the Southern Kingdom would return from the Babylonian Captivity.  We read these words in Jeremiah 50:4 and 5 - "in those days, at that time," declares the LORD, "the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the LORD their God.  They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it.  They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten."  This passage speaks of the captivity in Babylon and the desire on the part of the people to return to Zion or Jerusalem.  And notice Jeremiah includes the people of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and the people of Judah (the Southern Kingdom).  Then there is the passage from Ezekiel 37:18-28 wherein the prophet is told to take two sticks, labeling one of them the stick of Joseph and the other the stick of Judah, and bind them together as one.  The prophet then is instructed to relate, "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone.  I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.  I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.  There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms." 

I have respected Glenn Beck in the past for his stand on some of the great moral issues of our day.  But his belief that America is part of the family of Israel and will inherit the blessings of God because of that fact, is blatantly unscriptural. 

If you are interested in learning more about British-Israelism, I would encourage you to read that section of Walter R. Martin's book "The Kingdom of the Cults" that focuses upon that teaching. 

Meanwhile, stay in the Word of God during these tumultuous days.  Don't be swayed by popular teachings, but incline your heart solely to the Word and be in tune with the Holy Spirit.  Let's sit at the feet of Jesus, not Glenn Beck.