Protestantism: The Lost Ten Tribes?
Many people have heard of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, but few people know much about them.
Scripture tells us that Israel had twelve sons, each of whom would later head one of the tribes. Ten of these tribes were exiled from the Land of Israel some 2700 years ago, for their disobedience to the Torah.
After the Ten Tribes were taken captive by the Assyrians, they were deposited in the lands that make up modern-day Syria and Iraq. However, after some years had passed, these Ten Tribes then migrated away from these Assyrian lands, and subsequently became lost to popular history.
But if the ten tribes became lost, then where are they now? Logically, they have to be somewhere. Therefore, if Prophecy tells us that they will some day return, then from where will they return?
There is a theory called the Two-House Theory that explains where the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel are right now. As a radical oversimplification, the Two-House Theory tells us that the Protestant Christian peoples (and especially the American Protestant Christians) are the prophetic (if not also the literal) descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel.
It should be stressed that this theory in no way excludes anyone based upon race, ethnic heritage, or present nationality. This theory only explains the mechanics of how the prophecies were historically carried out. However, if we accept the tenets of this theory, then we can understand some other unique phenomena that have no other Scriptural explanation.
This study will not reiterate the extensive historical and archaeological research that has already been done on the migrations of the tribes. Those wishing to learn more about the archaeological findings can refer to the work of Capt, Collins, Davidy or White. Our purpose here is simply to build upon the results of these studies, and to put them into a larger overall framework. This framework will demonstrate that one of the primary reasons Yeshua first came was to begin a centuries-long process of regathering the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel (otherwise known as the House of Ephraim, or the House of Israel). When one knows to look for it, the signs are all over the Word:
24 But He answered and said, "I was not sent (at this time) except to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” [Mattithyahu (Matthew) 15:24]
As we will explain in the chapters that follow, this Regathering process was to take place in sequential phases (or steps).
The first step was to establish the original faith of the apostles, as well as its Christian variation. This was accomplished in Yeshua’s time.
The next step was to allow the Roman Empire to co-opt this Christian permutation and merge it with sun worship, forming the Catholic (or ‘Universal’) variation of the Christian faith.
We have already shown that by making a variation of the faith that would glorify and exalt the Roman Emperor as a demigod (i.e., the Pope), the Roman Emperor would then have a personal incentive to spread the Good News throughout his Empire much faster than the Nazarenes would have been able to spread it in the same amount of time.
The third step in the regathering of the House of Ephraim (the Lost Ten Tribes) was the Protestant Reformation, which would begin a generations-long return process back to the Covenant, and the original faith. Although the Protestants may not always have understood that they were in fact attempting to return to the original faith does not alter the fact that this is where the Protestant Reformation has ultimately been taking them.
Finally, the fourth phase calls for a separation between the remnant that desires to come all the way back to the Marital Covenant and the Land of Israel and the masses of Christendom, who do not. And, as will be explained in the chapters that follow, a number of prophecies specify that this final phase of the Regathering process began in-or-about 1996 CE.
Since prophecy tells us that this final phase has already started, we should be able to look at the world and find a group of believers in the Messiah (both Protestant and otherwise) who are attempting to re-establish their identity as the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. There are in fact several such groups, and their numbers are rapidly growing.
Since the promises of the Two House Theory are being borne out right before our eyes, it is clearly a true theory; and therefore we should endeavor to understand it as completely as possible. However, in order to do that, we must first understand the origins of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
To re-cap the story, Abraham begat Isaac, and then Isaac begat Jacob, who was later re-named Israel.
Israel had twelve sons. Each of these sons then fathered one of the twelve tribes of Israel, as they are called. The names of these tribes (in order of birth) are Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, and Benjamin.
The eleventh child, Joseph, had two sons. The names of these sons were Manasseh and Ephraim. Joseph’s father Israel then commanded that both Manasseh and Ephraim should be thought of as separate tribes, indicating that Joseph was to have a double-sized inheritance. Thus, from the twelve tribes, one tribe (Joseph) was taken away, and two tribes were added in its place (Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim). This meant that instead of only twelve tribes in Israel, now there were thirteen.
However, the tribe of Levi was later broken up and scattered among the rest of the tribes, in order to minister to them. For this reason, Levi was not numbered among the tribes; so now the number of tribes returned to twelve.
Because of all the number juggling involved in counting Israel’s tribes, it is not incorrect to say that there are thirteen tribes. However, the convention is just to call them the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
Moreover, as we will see two chapters from now, a division came about between the northern ten tribes (called the House of Israel, the House of Ephraim, and/or the House of Joseph) and the southern two tribes, who are called the House of Judah (or ‘Jacob’) in prophecy. The ten were separated from the two, and are only just now beginning to come back together. This is what the Two House Theory explains.
The Book of Genesis is said to be prophetic, in that the patterns established in Genesis tend to repeat themselves later on. This is also why it is said that the end is known from the beginning.
In the Book of Beginnings, then, Judah sells Joseph into slavery, and Joseph is then thrown into prison for a crime he never committed. This, then, is a prophetic shadow of events that will later befall the House of Joseph (or Israel, or Ephraim).
After spending several years in prison, Joseph is called before Pharaoh for his Elohim-given ability to interpret dreams. Because he interprets Pharaoh’s dreams correctly and gives wise advice, Joseph is seen as a sage; and for this reason, he is made second-in-command of all Egypt. Joseph then uses his power and position to help Pharaoh consolidate his hold on Egypt. Again, all this is prophetic of future events regarding the Lost Ten Tribes.
Joseph is then given to wife Asenath, daughter of Poti-pherah, the Egyptian high priest. Asenath then bore two sons unto Joseph. The older son’s name was Manasseh, and the younger son’s name was Ephraim.
We should note here that Genesis 1 informs us that living beings reproduce after their own kinds. For example:
11 Then Elohim said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.
[Breisheet (Genesis) 1:11]
Since human beings also contain their seed within themselves (and therefore reproduce after their own kinds) we might expect Joseph’s two children to grow up to be partly good Hebrews (because of Joseph), and partly very-spiritual pagans (because of Asenath’s father, Poti-pherah, the Egyptian high priest). This is exactly what we do see.
While Manasseh and Ephraim were undoubtedly real people, they also serve as prophetic shadow pictures of what later became the Christians of the greater British Empire (including America). As we have seen, Christians in general are partly good Hebrews and partly very-spiritual-pagans, given to altering the true worship to include numerous pagan rites, rituals, and sun-worship festival days.
It should further be noted that the names of the children were both prophetic. The older son’s name, Manasseh, roughly translates to “He will forget his toil, and his Father’s House.” This is a prophetic picture of England, where the Industrial Revolution began.
The Industrial Revolution helped the British people (and their descendants) to forget their labors, and their toil. Sadly, however, they also forgot their Father’s house (i.e. the Temple). Some might suggest that this is the reason for all of the anti-Semitic bias found on British radio and television stations (such as the BBC, and others).
After Joseph called his father Israel (and the rest of the family) down into Egypt, Joseph’s father Israel prophesied that both of Joseph’s sons would eventually become great. However, Israel prophesied that Joseph’s younger son (Ephraim) would ultimately become the greater of the two:
12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth.
13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him.
14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said:
"Elohim, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the Elohim who has fed me all my life long to this day, 16 the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the youths! Let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
[Breisheet (Genesis) 48:12-16]
Hebrew is a very special language. In the Hebrew, then, this phrase ‘grow into a multitude’ also has a hidden meaning. That hidden meaning is ‘like a multitude of fishes.’ This is a hint that Ephraim and Manasseh would become like a multitude of fish.
What people have grown into a multitude in the midst of the earth, and have adopted the fish as their symbol? Only the Christians have done this; and in particular, the British and American Christians.
17 Now when Joseph saw that his father (Israel) laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his father (Israel) refused and said, "I know, my son (Joseph), I know. He (Manasseh) also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother (Ephraim) shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations (or, ‘the completeness of the nations’).”
[Breisheet (Genesis) 48:17-19]
Scholars take many different meanings from the phrase, ‘the completeness of the nations.’ However, this passage seems to indicate that Ephraim would ultimately become:
1. A multitude of (Israelite) nations; and
2. ‘Greater’ than his older brother (i.e., more numerous, and/or more prosperous).
Originally conceived as a Protestant Christian nation, America is richer, more populous than England, and has become a multitude of nations (in that it is comprised of fifty originally-sovereign states). Further, in that America is comprised of people from virtually every tribe and nation and tongue, America also serves as the ‘completeness of the nations.’
Beyond this, it is important to remember that names in Scripture are always prophetic. The name Ephraim means both ‘doubly fruitful’ and ‘prodigious.’ When we look for a Protestant Christian nation that is greater than its older brother, is a multitude of nations, is doubly fruitful and prodigiously blessed, the only real logical candidate is Protestant Christian America.
Again, this information is not intended to exclude anyone from the Covenant, or to make more of America than it is. YHWH loves all of His children, and He has extended His Salvation to all of the nations of the world. All this explanation does is to explain the mechanics of how the Prophecies were historically carried out.
There are other historically non-British nations (such as South Africa) that have strong Hebrew-Roots movements within them. For this reason, it would be wrong to suggest that the heirs to the Kingdom will come only from England and/or America. Yeshua Himself even says that many will come from the east:
11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven.
[Mattithyahu (Matthew) 8:11]
Racism has no part to play in extending Yeshua’s Salvation to all of the children of fallen Adam. The commandment in Matthew 28 was to go unto all nations, and make disciples. This cannot properly be construed as meaning only Britain, or America.
However, to recognize that America does indeed play a special prophetic role is only logical. While anti-Semitism has abounded in Christian America (as else-where), there has been something of a reversal of this trend since the Second World War, as if prophecy were entering a new phase.
Further, while anti-Semitism does exist in America, it has usually been somewhat milder than in Europe. America has stood by Israel since its inception in 1948; and it is sometimes said that America is the only earthly friend that Israel has.
If America stands by Israel, it is only because the American Protestant Christians desire to see Israel protected, for a variety of theological and humanitarian reasons. That Israel does not presently understand the Protestant Christian basis of America’s support does not alter the fact that it is basically America’s Protestantism that makes her a friend to Israel.
But what is it that has caused America to be a relatively pro-Israel Protestant nation? It has been the fact that America is the modern-day prophetic representative of the Tribe of Ephraim.
The special relationship that exists between America and England is the brotherhood between the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Likewise, the special relationship between America and Israel is the relationship between the House of Joseph (Ephraim) and the House of Judah.
There was almost always fighting and rivalry between the Two Houses; but more often than not, when times got tough, the Two Houses clung together, and so it will be in the future.
However, so that we can understand some of the secrets of the New Covenant better, let us learn a little bit more about the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and their later division into Two Houses.