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Here's a paradox, a paradox, a most ingenious paradox: an anthropological fact, many Christians may have much more Hebrew-Israelite blood in their veins than most of their Jewish neighbors. - Alfred M. Lilienthal1
If Lilienthal is correct, it means the majority of Christians2 have misidentified the most prominent people in the Bible. And if the biblical Israelites have been misidentified, then it is inevitable that significant errors in doctrinal interpretation and prophetic application have occurred as well.
Various stories exist regarding the Israelites and their contemporary identity. It is not the purpose of this treatise to add to those stories but to provide Scriptural evidence concerning Israel's identity, as verified by archaeology3 and history.
Spiritual Israel
It is commonly taught that Yahweh4 no longer has a plan for physical Israel under the New Covenant and that He is now working with only a "spiritual Israel," consisting of anyone from any race who has come to the saving faith of Yeshua5 the Christ. In his periodical The Last Trump, Dr. Ed Moore claimed:
...we can ... see that being the children of Abraham [under the New Covenant] has nothing to do with race.6
In Clouds over America, Leonard C. Lee concluded:
Since God rejected the Israelites as a nation, we can look for the fulfillment of His purposes only in [a] spiritual Israel.... The [physical] Israelites have now passed off the stage of action.7
Contrast these statements with what the inspired author of Hebrews wrote:
For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. (Hebrews 8:8) 8
Some people attempt to spiritualize the Israelites in this verse. However, the Israelites cannot be spiritualized for the following three reasons:
1. The context will not allow it. The very next verse reveals that the people in Verse 8 are physical Israelites:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the LORD. (Hebrews 8:9)
These people, with whom the New Covenant was and is being made, are the physical descendants of the physical people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Because Yahweh has established the New Covenant with physical Israelites, He obviously has a plan for those Israelites today.
2. Yahweh's relationship with physical Israel is everlasting. The Old Testament passage from which Hebrews 8:8-12 is quoted further illustrates why the Israelites cannot be spiritualized:
Thus saith YHWH,9 which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night.... If those ordinances depart from before me ... then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith YHWH; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel.... (Jeremiah 31:35-37)
Because the fixed order of the sun, moon, and stars has not ceased, and because the heavens have not been measured, nor the depths of the earth searched out below, Yahweh is still working with the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If not, He lied.
3. The Apostle Paul declared that the covenants pertain to his Israelite brethren. The Israelites in Hebrews 8:8 cannot be spiritualized because of the second witness found in Paul's epistle to the Romans:
For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants.... (Romans 9:3-4)
In addition to the previous three passages, which declare that Yahweh made His New Covenant with Israelites, many more New Testament passages reveal that He continues to work with the physical people of Israel to this day.10
Under the New Covenant, Yahweh unquestionably has a plan for the remnant of physical Israelites who have been redeemed by the blood-atoning sacrifice and resurrection of Yeshua the Christ. As a result, it is important that Christianity identifies the true descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Today's Jews
Most Christians are taught that today's Jews represent Israel. But how many are told that the Bible warns us - not once, but twice - of non-Israelite imposters who claim to be Israelites?
...I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews [i.e., Judahites, thus Israelites], and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:9)
...the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews [Judahites], and are not, but do lie.... (Revelation 3:9)
How many Christians have been informed that a people exists who admit to being these imposters? The 1980 Jewish Almanac's first chapter (entitled "Identity Crisis") begins with the following admission:
Strictly speaking, it is incorrect to call an ancient Israelite a ‘Jew' or to call a contemporary Jew an ‘Israelite' or a ‘Hebrew.'11
This genetic fact is confirmed by several other Jewish sources.12 Dr. Oscar Levy and Jack Bernstein, respectively, went so far as to declare:
And are not they [today's Jews] the inventors of the Chosen People myth?13
Leading the cry, "We are God's Chosen People" are the Zionist/Marxist (Ashkenazi) Jews ... who don't have a drop of biblical Jewish [Judahite] blood in them.... I'll toss in one last thought about the "God's Chosen people" myth: God said, "Beware of those who call themselves Jews and are not, for they lie." Could it be the Ashkenazi Jews [who make up 95-98% of today's Jews] are the people to whom God was referring?14
Why haven't Christians and the American public been informed that over 95% of the people known today as Jews are not descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? History reveals they are descendants of the Turkish and Mongolian Khazar tribes who roamed the steppes of southern Russia and who adopted the religion of Judaism between the 7th and 9th centuries A.D. In other words, the Khazars are now known as Jews, not because of race, but because of religion. Today's Jews are, therefore, not Israelites.15
True Israel
Yahweh provided scriptural clues for identifying Israel of old. Ancient Israel fulfilled and was identified by most of those marks. These very same clues help us identify Israel today. Listed below are five national and five spiritual aspects (out of hundreds of scriptural clues) that positively identify Israel. Ask yourself, which people do they identify today?
National Marks
- Israel would become a great and mighty nation. (Genesis 12:1-3)
- Israel would become a vast multitude of people. (Genesis 22:17)
- Israel would eventually become a multitude of nations. (Genesis 17:4-6)
- Israel would rule over other nations. (Deuteronomy 15:6)
- Israel would be blessing to all nations. (Genesis 22:18)
Spiritual Marks
- Israel would be blind to her identity. (Isaiah 42:16-19)
- Israel would be called by a new name. (Isaiah 62:1-2)
- Israel would be given a new Covenant and be saved by Yahweh. (Jeremiah 31:7, 31-37)
- Israel would be the instrument through which the gospel would be taken to all the world. (Isaiah 49:3-6)
- Israel would be the only nation given Yahweh's Law. (Psalm 147:19-20)
Taken as a whole, these marks identify only one people - and it is certainly not today's Jews. These identifying marks describe the Celtic, Germanic, Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, and kindred peoples (hereafter Celto-Saxons): the multitude of people who became a multitude of nations, with a new covenant, and who have shared the blessing of the gospel (among other things) with the world.16
Jeremiah 31:31-33 alone proves that either the Celto-Saxons comprise Israel, or Yahweh has not been true to His Word. Because Yahweh is always true to His Word (Numbers 23:19), He has made the New Covenant with Israelites. On a map, draw circles around the land masses in which true Christianity has flourished for the past two millennia, and your circles will encompass those nations primarily composed of Celto-Saxons.
Conclusion
The Prophet Isaiah spoke of a future time when "the eyes of those who see will not be blinded, and the ears of those who hear will listen, and the mind of the hasty will discern truth" (Isaiah 32:3-4). It is the purpose of this treatise to assist in fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy in regard to the true identity of today's Israelites. We have demonstrated and provided evidence for the following three facts:
- God has a New Covenant plan for a remnant of physical Israel today.
- Today's Jews are not Israelites, but imposters.
- The Celto-Saxon peoples are Israelites, the true descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
You now have the biblical evidence regarding Israel's contemporary identity. May Isaiah's prophecy be fulfilled in you, and may you do your part in awakening other Israelites to their identity and their responsibility to Yahweh as His people.17
End Notes
1. Alfred M. Lilienthal, Jr., What Price Israel (Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1953) p. 223.
2. Not everyone claiming to be a Christian has been properly instructed in the biblical plan of salvation. Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:36-41, 22:1-16; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:11-13; and 1 Peter 3:21 should be studied to understand what is required to be covered by the blood of Yeshua (Jesus' given Hebrew name) and forgiven of your sins. For a more thorough explanation concerning baptism and its relationship to salvation, the book Baptism: All You Wanted to Know and More may be ordered from Mission to Israel Ministries, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for free.
3. Missing Links Discovered in Assyrian Tablets, by Archeologist Raymond Capt, may be ordered from Mission to Israel Ministries, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for a suggested $10 donation.
4. YHWH (most often pronounced Yahweh) is the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible. For a more thorough explanation concerning the sacred names of God (without resorting to unscriptural extremes), "The Third Commandment" may be read online, or the book Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy God in vain may be ordered from Mission to Israel Ministries, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for a suggested $4 donation.*
5. Yeshua is the English transliteration of our Savior's given Hebrew name. Jesus is the English transliteration of the Greek Iesous, which is the Greek transliteration of the Savior's Hebrew name Yeshua, with which He introduced Himself to Saul on the road to Damascus in Acts 26:14-15. For a more thorough explanation concerning the use of the sacred names of God (without resorting to unscriptural extremes), "The Third Commandment" may be read online, or the book Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy God in vain may be ordered from Mission to Israel Ministries, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for a suggested $4 donation.*
6. Ed Moore, The Last Trump (January/February, 1991) p. 7.
7. Leonard C. Lee, Clouds Over America (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1948) p. 71.
8. All Scripture is quoted from the King James Version. Portions of Scripture have been omitted for brevity. If you have any questions regarding a passage, please open your Bible and study the text to ensure it has been properly used.
9. Where the Tetragrammaton YHWH - the four Hebrew characters that represent the personal name of God - has been unlawfully rendered the LORD or GOD in English translations, I have taken the liberty of correcting this error by inserting YHWH where appropriate. For a more thorough explanation concerning the sacred names of God (without resorting to unscriptural extremes), "The Third Commandment" may be read online, or the book Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy God in vain may be ordered from Mission to Israel Ministries, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for a suggested $4 donation.*
10. Matthew 1:21, 2:6, 10:6, 15:24; Luke 1:16, 33, 54-55, 68, 72-73, 77, 19:9-10; Acts 1:6, 5:31, 13:23-24; Romans 4:1; 11:1-2; James 1:1; Revelations 7:3-8; etc.
11. The Jewish Almanac, Richard Siegel, Carl Rheins, ed., comp. (New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1980) p. 3.
12. The Jewish Encyclopedia (1905), The Standard Jewish Encyclopedia (1966); the Encyclopedia Judaica, Nathan M. Pollock, Professor of Medieval Jewish History of Tel Aviv; Bernard Lazare; Robert Quillan; Dr. Benjamin Freedman; Arthur Koestler; James Yaffe; Paul Meyer, etc.
13. Oscar Levy, preface, George Pitt Rivers, The World Significance of the Russian Revolution (Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1920) p. vi.
14. Jack Bernstein, as told by Len Martin, The Life of an American Jew in Racist Marxist Israel (Costa Mesa, CA: The Noontide Press, 1984) pp. 15-17.
15. Arthur Koestler, The Thirteenth Tribe (New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 1976).
16. God's Covenant People: Yesterday, Today and Forever, a documented dissertation contrasting today's Jews with the Celtic, Germanic, Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, and kindred peoples, provides many more identifying marks of Israel today. God's Covenant People may be read online, or it may be ordered from Mission to Israel Ministries, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for a suggested $14 donation.*
17. For more regarding this important subject, visit our online book and article page.
*We are admonished in Matthew 10:8 "freely ye have received, freely give." Although we have a suggested a price for our books, we do not sell them. In keeping with 2 Corinthians 9:7, this ministry is supported by freewill offerings. If you cannot afford the suggested price, inform us of your situation, and we will be pleased to provide you with whatever you need for whatever you can send.
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