Prophecy and The Lost Ten Tribes: Part Four.

IDENTIFYING BLESSINGS OF ISRAEL (by Yair Davidi)

A GREAT AND MIGHTY NATION

Again in ch.18 God made himself known unto Abraham:

"Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." (Genesis 18:18-19 KJV unless noted)

"Justice And Judgement": Here, looking at this Blessing, the doing of Justice and Judgement are spoken of and they are emphasized. The Chosen People were destined to do "justice and judgement", that was to be part of their task in history: They were to do "justice and judgement", in order that all the nations of the earth be blessed in them.

The order of the blessing implies that in order to do "justice and judgement" the people who are blessed must first become "a great and mighty nation" since first "a great and mighty nation" is mentioned and then later the goal of doing "justice and judgement" follows after. Becoming a great and mighty nation may be seen as a tool, as a means, to do justice and judgment. As it says:

"Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him" i.e. first the descendants of Abraham were to become a great and mighty nation in order that all the nations of the earth be blessed in them. This was because, as God says:

"For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgement: i.e. they would do justice and judgment after becoming a great and mighty nation.

"that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him."

The Prophets also spoke of the Lost Ten Tribes becoming a great nation. For instance, the Prophet Micah says:

"And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off." (Micah 5:7-9)

The Lost Ten Tribes are described by the Prophet Micah as a warrior people who defeat their enemies. They are called "A YOUNG LION". The British symbol is a lion. A lion is the symbol of Britain. There is hardly a nation on earth today that the British lion has not defeated in warfare at some time or other. The USA is an extension of Britain in a sense. Britain and the USA are dominated by descendants from the Lost Ten Tribes especially from the Tribe of Joseph. Through Joseph the blessings were to be more pronounced and to reveal themselves in a much stronger form. We will discuss the Identity of Joseph at more length in another talk, later on. At all events Britain and the USA in many ways are the major Lost Ten Tribe countries in our day as far as Prophecy is concerned. The USA was founded by Britain and many of the early settlers of the USA came from Britain. The traditions and culture of the USA are more British than anything else. Britain and the USA together fought Two World Wars and won them. In the First World War they defeated Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Turkey. In the Second World War they defeated Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, and Japan. These nations were their enemies. They were the mightiest non-Israelite nations on earth at that time. Britain assisted the USA in the Korean War and in the Gulf War and in many military operations including the recent defensive attacks against the Taliban in Afghanistan. The USA is the mightiest nation on earth today and all nations of the earth fear the USA. Britain and the USA are the two major nations that do "justice and judgment" on a relative scale at the international level. They are almost the only nations that do have a conscience and they do to some extent attempt to enforce some degree of justice in the world. Sometimes they make mistakes. Sometimes they criticize the State of Israel when they should support her. There are also anti-Semites amongst them. You have to look at the good and the bad. On the whole, however the USA is the only major power that consistently supports the State of Israel against the rest of the world. The USA does have a CONSCIENCE. The people of the USA do believe in using the power and influence of their nation for the sake of justice and judgment. They fulfill the blessing given to Abraham: The blessing given to the descendants of Abraham was that they should: To become a very populous nation, to become a great and mighty nation, to do justice and judgment, to become a nation through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. There is not a single nation in the world today that has not been assisted by the USA. Not one. All nations of the earth have been blessed through the USA. The USA has fulfilled the blessing given to Abraham.

"Akeda" = "The Binding"

We said above that the blessing concerning inheriting and settling in the Land of Israel was conditional upon keeping the commandments whereas other aspects of the blessings were not conditional but had to be fulfilled at some time or other and they were fulfilled through the Lost Ten Tribes. An understanding of how part of the blessings became unconditional can be gained from the incident known in Hebrew as "The Akeda" = "The Binding". It is described in Genesis 22. There are aspects of this incident that are difficult for us to understand properly. Abraham was told to take his son, his "only son" (according to the words of the Bible), and go with him to the Mount of Moriah. He was told that when he reached the Mount of Moriah he was to offer Isaac up as a human-sacrifice. Abraham did as he was told and he went with Isaac to the place. He laid wood upon an altar. Then Abraham bound Isaac to the altar and he raised a sacrificial knife to kill Isaac. At the last minute an angel of God stopped Abraham. The angel told Abraham that the whole thing was only a test of faith to see if Abraham would obey the commandment of God in this matter or not, to see if he was prepared to go through with what God had told him. A ram was substituted for Isaac and the ram was sacrificed instead of Isaac.

The purpose of the test was to enable the international aspects of the Promises to be fulfilled UNCONDITIONALLY. After the "Akeda" (i.e. After the Binding of Isaac) i.e. after Abraham had passed the test, God Blessed Abraham, "And said, By myself have I sworn, says the LORD, for because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

"That in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

"And in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed; because you have obeyed my voice.

Note the expression in the first part of this blessing,

"By myself have I sworn, says the LORD because you have done this thing, and have not withheld Your son, your only son from me".

"By myself have I sworn, says the LORD" in other words unconditionally. God is making an unconditional promise. "By MYSELF" He swears, i.e. by HIMSELF", by the very essence of God Almighty Himself who cannot change and therefore the promise is NOT SUBJECT TO CHANGE!!!!

This is a new development: Some of the previous blessings are now repeated. The seed of Abraham is promised that it will be multiplied as the stars of the heavens and as the sands of the seashores; it is also promised that the seed of Abraham will inherit the gates of his enemies i.e. strategic points. The Promise is now unconditional: In this verse nothing is said about the LAND because inheriting the LAND of Israel is not unconditional but is however contingent upon keeping the commandments and upon Monotheistic belief.

Thousands of Millions = "Alfei Revavah" Eventually Abraham became old and thought he was going to die so he sent his servant Elazar to the House of his father in Padan Aram to bring back a wife for his son, Isaac. Elazar went and brought back Rivka (Rebecca) with him. Before Rebecca left her home, the family of Rebecca blessed her. They said unto her (Genesis 24;60), "You are our sister, be you the mother of thousands of millions and may your seed possess the gate of those that hate them". The translation from the Hebrew is not clear here BUT the verse is definitely saying that Rebecca should become the mother of a vast number of people, tens, hundreds of millions, of people.

Rebecca was also blessed, "-and may your seed possess the gate of those that hate them".

i.e. The seed of Rebecca and Isaac were promised to be extremely numerous and to possess the strategic passes (the gates of their enemies) promised in the Blessings.

Gate of your enemies: Isaac had been promised (through Abraham) that his seed would possess "the gate of his enemies" and Rebecca likewise was promised that her seed would "possess the gate of those that hate them". Isaac and Rebecca were the parents of Jacob, of Israel. The promise to possess the gate of your enemies refers to the possession of strategic points that allow access to or control over thoroughfares of supply or the interior of a country or something similar. This is how Rabbinical Commentators understood the expression. For instance it was said in the Midrash that the blessing (to possess the gate of your enemies) was partially fulfilled in the time of Solomon when Solomon built the city of Tadmor in the Syrian Desert. By possessing Tadmor Solomon was able to control the passage of caravans bearing merchandise that traveled along caravan-routes in the desert. In those days people did not have refrigeration. In many areas of the world at that time before the coming of winter surplus farm animals would be killed off. The meat of these animals would be preserved and flavored using different spices. Many spices came from India and the East. Other valuable goods also came from India and the East. The trade with India and the East was very important. Whoever controlled this trade had a strategic advantage in international affairs. When Solomon built Tadmor he was able to get control of this trade. Tadmor is an example of what the expression "gate of your enemies" means, in practical terms.

In the past Britain and the USA controlled every important international strait and thoroughfare: Examples are Hong Kong, Singapore, Gibraltar, The Falklands, Panama, The Philippines, The Suez Canal, Malta, Heligoland, -Everywhere where there was a strategic point of international importance it was usually (in nearly every case) under British or American control.

Even now many of these places are still controlled by the USA or Britain. The USA has bases all over the world. The USA does not always publicize the existence of these bases but they are known about. They do exist. The host countries to which these bases technically belong have only limited control over them. They cannot just tell the USA to leave. In some cases the host countries are open enemies of the USA and in other cases they are potential enemies. Even so, the countries in which the bases exist have no real say on a day-to-day basis concerning what the USA does or does not do with these bases, and on them. These bases are "gates". They are the gates of our enemies. The USA has bases in islands off Japan, in the Pacific Ocean, in the Indian Ocean, in every Ocean, in Greenland, in Saudia Arabia, in the Persian Gulf, in northern Iraq (i.e. Kurdistan); The USA now has just acquired bases in Central Asia that give it access to Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, and China. The USA has all kinds of facilities of strategic importance all over the world, not all of which are often publicized.

The host nations (as we said) in which these bases are located are often America's enemies but they still can do little concerning what America does. They cannot get America out of these bases though these bases potentially allow America access to their vital points. In other words the bases allow America access. They allow America, if necessary, to come in. They are "gates". They are "the gate of your enemies." The Chosen People of Israel were promised that they would possess the gate of their enemies. These promises have been fulfilled through Britain and America. America and Britain are the only countries that have rights of this type on such an international scale. They are the only nations where these arrangements have always been a natural integrated part of their foreign and military policy. In the past other Empires existed. There were the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, the Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the German Empire, the Turkish Empire, the Russian Empire, the Chinese Empire, the Spanish and Portuguese Empires and there were other Empires. Only Britain and America made the possession of gates an important part of their strategy. Other Empires used other methods and placed their emphasis on other means of control and influence. Only Britain and America emphasized the possession of gates because this was part of the Blessing to the Children of Israel and descendants of the Children of Israel constituted an important element in their populations. Britain and America as representatives of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel were the ones to whom it was promised that they would possess the gates of their enemies, and in them was this blessing fulfilled.

In the past Britain "ruled the waves" and all the major Sea-lanes and Sea passes were under the control of Britain. Nowadays sea-movement is less important than it used to be. Nevertheless, Space is important. The USA has control of Space. The USA has Satellites and Missiles and a Space-orientated -infrastructure that allows it access by satellite to most parts of the world -for the purposes of attack or at least of surveillance. Through its satellites the USA (if it so wishes) can take very-close-up photographs of a lot of areas. In some cases, not only can USA satellites reveal soldiers marching below on the ground but they can even discern what signs-of-rank the soldiers bear on their shoulders.

In other words the USA has "gates" meaning avenues of entry, it has means of access to all of its actual and potential enemies. The possession of these gates (of this option of entry into these areas) does not guarantee victory in War but it is a definite advantage. Other countries have got space-programs of their own but they cannot really do much unless the USA allows them to. None of the other nations have achieved anything like the USA. in this field. It is not that they are less gifted. It just was not there. They lacked the resources and inclination at the right time. They were not there at the strategic moment. They did not make the right decisions at the right time. The Blessing to "possess the gates of your enemies" was not pertinent to other nations. It was pertinent to the USA.

Jacob and Esau: Isaac married Rebecca. Rebecca gave birth to two twin brothers. When the brothers were still in the womb it was said unto Rebecca, "And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger." (Genesis 25:23)

So we find that two twin-brothers (Jacob and Esau) were born to Isaac. Esau (Genesis 25:25) was the firstborn but Esau later sold his firstborn birthright to Jacob.

After the birth of the twins Isaac was once again blessed (Genesis 26:3-5): Isaac was blessed with the future possession of all the lands round about, a Multitude of descendants, and all the nations of the earth being blessed in him because of the pledge to Abraham and due to the virtue of Abraham having kept the commandments.

Later when Isaac was old he became blind and wanted to bless his son Esau before he died.

Why Esau and not Jacob? Why? They were both his sons.

Because (as it tells us in Genesis 25:27-28) Esau was a hunter, he was a man of the field, and his father loved him. Esau was apparently a masculine enterprising type such as every father (in some way) likes to see in his male children. This is part of being a man. Jacob, on the other hand, was a dweller of tents. He was a favorite of his mother. Later in his life we find that Jacob also possessed enormous physical strength. Jacob also showed himself to be quite a hero. He became a leader of men in his own right. Perhaps the heroic qualities of Jacob did not at that time show themselves while he was still in the house of his father.

Isaac called Esau unto him and asked him to go and hunt venison (deer) and bring him food so that with a full heart he might bless him before he died.

Rebecca the mother of Esau and Jacob overhead Isaac speak unto Esau. She called Jacob and told him to go take kid goats. The goats were to be slaughtered. Their meat would be prepared to resemble deer meat. Rebecca also told Jacob to place goatskins on his arms (so that they would feel hairy) and to dress himself in the clothes of Esau and to go into his father and to pretend he was Esau in order to receive the Blessing. Jacob did what his mother told him.

When Jacob came into Isaac, Isaac said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands of Esau". Isaac apparently thought that Jacob was Esau. This is not so far-fetched as we might think. Isaac did think that the voice was the voice of Esau but he was not sure. It will be remembered that Isaac was blind and that Jacob and Esau were twin brothers. Brothers from the same family often have voices that sound similar. I know from my own experience. I have sons of my own. Sometimes when my sons would ring me on the Phone I would not immediately discern which one of my sons was talking to me even though I would know that it was one of them.

Isaac gave the blessing to Jacob "Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." (Genesis 27:28-29)

Jacob received promises of plenty and all the blessings of the Patriarchs. Everything that had been promised to the forefathers was to come to Jacob. Jacob was to receive everything. After receiving the blessings, Jacob went out. Esau returned from the field and came in just after Jacob had left. Esau heard that Jacob had come "with subtlety (craft) and had received the blessing" (Genesis 27;35) Isaac said that even though Jacob had received the blessing through subterfuge, through trickery, yet he was the one whom Isaac now realized "shall be blessed" (Genesis 27;33): In other words the Blessings had a spiritual significance. When Isaac gave the Blessing he must have realized that he was only an agent of the Almighty, of God. He was an agent of God. He was serving as a channel for the Blessing to come from above. The person being blessed was being blessed by God -through him. The Blessings were the Will of God.

Isaac told Esau , "Behold I have made him (i.e. Jacob) your lord", ( Jacob was made the "lord" of Esau) "and all his brethren have I given to him as servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him..." (Genesis 27:37 empasis added).

Esau planned to kill Jacob and take revenge but Rebecca the mother of Esau and Jacob heard about it. She persuaded Isaac to send Jacob away, to Padan Aram, to the house of her father, to take a wife from the house of her family.

Before he went, Isaac once again blessed Jacob and said,

"And God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a multitude of people;

The expression "a multitude of people" (Kahal-Amim) actually this means "a multitude of peoples" i.e. several peoples, in the plural, at one and the same time.

"And give you (i.e. may God give you) the blessing of Abraham, to you, and to your seed with you; that you may inherit the land wherein you are a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham" (Genesis 28:3-4).

Isaac was now, at this moment, consciously giving and re-affirming the Blessing to Jacob. He realized that however Jacob had received the Blessing at first, it was the will of God that Jacob receive it. It does not matter, that he tricked him, that he deceived him, that he disguised himself and said he was somebody else. He received the Blessing and it was the Will of God that he receive the Blessing. The Blessing was to be his according to the will of God. Jacob was promised that he would receive "the blessing of Abraham, to you". Jacob was the inheritor of the Promises and from Jacob would emerge the Chosen People.

Jacob set out to go to Padan Aram. On the way he came to Beth-el, took a stone for a pillow and slept there.

"And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

"And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." (Genesis 28:12-15)

There is a principle in Rabbinical Thought that The Deeds of the Fathers Are Indications For the sons, they symbolize what the descendants would do, of what would happen to them. i.e. what happened to Jacob was symbolic of the destiny of his children, of those who would come after him. Jacob was told by God that, "I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken to you of", -What does it mean "until"? What does it mean, "I will not leave you, UNTIL I have done that which I have spoken to you of"?? Does it mean that after he has done it, that then He will leave him?? No! Definitely not! The Bible says He will not. Rather it may be understood to say that since Jacob was leaving the Land of Israel and going away, in order to take a wife and was eventually to return, so, the leaving of Jacob symbolizes the exile of his children for the purposes of Divine Providence. Jacob was being promised that even in his state of exile God would look after him, i.e. he would look after his children and would fulfill in him (i.e. in those descended from him) all that which had been promised to them. The Promises have been fulfilled in the Lost Ten Tribes to a degree, as Promised even though we believe that in the Messianic Era, even greater Blessings, much greater Blessings, will come upon the Children of Israel and upon all of humanity.

Regarding the Peoples of Britain and America and to a degree also those people of Israelite descent in other parts of Western Europe such as a significant proportion, a significant element among the populations of France, Holland, and Scandinavia, within the limitations of circumstance and nature, the promises to the Children of Israel have been fulfilled to a degree among them. Amongst these peoples are to be found most of the descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. These peoples relatively speaking have been the most blessed of all the peoples of the world: In terms of their average length of life (longevity), their relative freedom from disease, their ability to heal themselves once they are injured or sick, in terms of their standard of living and the quality of their life, their freedom from oppression, their self-respect in terms of local government and so on, their access to knowledge, to education, from an all-round point-of-view they have been the most blessed of all the peoples of the world. That does not mean that everybody is happy in these areas or that the Blessing is felt by everybody in them. Nowadays, through immorality and bad living people are now acting self-destructively and harming each other. Despite all this the blessings were fulfilled in these peoples to some degree and a large proportion of their populations did get close to seeing, somewhere on the horizon, that life in this world can be good in a physical, emotional, and national sense, as well as in a spiritual one. Just being able to beat their enemies against all odds, to help the oppressed, to help refugees, as America did, so did Britain in her own way: - just this, - was a Blessing. It gave them a feeling of being "BIG", of enlargement, - it was a blessing in its own right. In Europe they used to say that in every war the British lose all the battles except one -but that one battle that they do win is always the last battle of the War. In other words, even though they may have been brave and powerful in their own right there was always a feeling that some how God was on their side, that they had somehow been chosen, that the Almighty would intervene on their behalf. This feeling was instinctive and it came from the bottom, from the common people. The existence of this feeling was a Blessing. It helped them overcome all the odds against them and the feeling itself may be considered a gift from heaven. This feeling did exist and it still does in some respects.

The Jews of Judah: If the peoples we have spoken about are the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel and if in them have been fulfilled the Blessings given to Israel, who then are the Jews?? The Jews are Israelites. The Jews are mainly from the Tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, and Levi. The Jews also include some representatives of all of the other Tribes who somehow or other over the course of time joined themselves to the Jews. Judah is the dominant Tribe amongst the Jews just as Joseph or Ephraim (the son of Joseph) was the dominant tribe amongst the Lost Ten Tribes. In Scripture the Jews are represented by the terms Jerusalem, Zion, or Judah. These names represent the Jewish people in Scripture.

JUDAH and JOSEPH

Jacob was re-named Israel. Israel had 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. The physical first-born of Israel was Reuben but since Reuben acted improperly with the concubine of his father the rights of the firstborn were taken away from him and given to Joseph. On the other hand David and the house of David from the tribe of Judah are the true-rightful rulers of all Israel. The Messiah is destined to come from Judah and the Messiah is destined to rule over all Israel. David belongs to the Tribe of Judah. Judah was destined to keep the Law whereas the other Tribes were not so destined. We see from this that Reuben, and the Tribes of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh), and Judah all in their own way could claim a certain degree of pre-eminence: They all had some claim to the rights of leadership.

"Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)" (1 Chronicles 5:1-2)

We see from this that the chief ruler was to come from Judah whereas the birthright was given to Joseph.

End Part Four.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Yair Davidi’s web site can be found at:
http://www.britam.org/
http://www.geocities.com/hiberi

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