Judah, Israel and the Church

One of the major hidden concepts in the Bible is about the two houses of Jacob, called Judah and Israel. To make things clear we should focus on the reign of king Rehoboam, the son of king Salomo who had been king over all the people of of Jacob, which 13 tribes. After 3 years under Rehoboam, in 3021 AH, the country gets divided into 2 parts, Judah in the south and Israel in the North. Now this is confusing for most people as we tend to think these are the same groups of people, however these groups have never been re-united up to the current day.

Generally speaking, both groups went their separate ways: of the people living Jerusalem (in Judah) we know that these have been deported to Babylon in the year 3430 AH, the period in which Daniel lived and served four world dominating kings: Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar (both successive Babylonian kings), Darius, and Cyrus. After 70 years they (partly) return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the city. The decree to rebuild the city and temple had been given by king Cyrus in the year 3500. Only Judah, Benjamin and a part of Manasseh were part of this group, although over time some from all Israeli tribes fled to Judah in the south because of the spiritual climate in the north.

Of the people in Judah living outside of Jerusalem, these were deported together with the northern part, called Israel, by king Shalmaneser of Assyria in the year 3294 AH. This was 136 prior to the deportation of the Judeans in Jerusalem. All 13 tribes were present in this group, because, as we mentioned earlier, also the rural parts of Judah were deported.

We now come to the following houses consisting of the following tribes:

House of Judah:

• Judah
• Benjamin
• Half tribe Manasseh
• Minorities from all other tribes

House of Israel:

• Other half tribe of Manasseh
• Efraim
• Reuben
• Simeon
• Levi
• Dan
• Naphtali
• Gad
• Asher
• Issachar
• Zebulun
• Minorities from Judah, Benjamin and the other half tribe of Manasseh

Key verses: Zephaniah 2:4-7;

It is our deep understanding that the majority of both Judah and Israel are living in the West, that is in the country of Israel, Europe and North America. Also the Bible states that in the end times, a remnant of Judah will live at the border of the sea in the Holy Land:

For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coasts, the nation of the Cherethites! O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy you, that there shall be no inhabitant. _And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for the flocks. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah._ (Zephaniah 2:4-7)

Modern day Country names of the Lost Tribes of Israel:

• Asher: Republic of South Africa
• Benjamin: Norway
• Dan: Ireland
• Gad: Germany
• Issachar: Finland
• Ephraim: United Kingdom
• Manasseh: The United States
• Judah: nation of Israel but also divided among other descendants of Israel
• Levi: divided among other descendants of Israel
• Naphtali: Sweden
• Reuben: France
• Simeon: divided among descendants of Israel
• Zebulon: the Netherlands

For further studies on the other tribes, we refer to the site of Steven M. Collins, who has written many books and a good website on this subject matter.

Key verses: Ruth, chapters 1-4; Revelations 19:9

To really understand the relationship between the church, Judah and Israel we have to understand the prophetic application between these groups in the Old Testament and combine this with what is written in the bible about the church in the New Testament. Many people don’t recognize anything about the church as body of Christ in the Old Testament, so to shed some light on this truth we best focus on the Prophetic Revelation to the book of Ruth.

Here we see a family from Ephraim, leaving Bethlehem (meaning House of Bread) in Judah and going to Moab, which finds its prophetic application in the deportation to Assyria in the year 3294 AH. This family stays in Moab for 10 years, which stands for the exile to gentile nations. While in exile all men from the family, Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion die. This stands for the strength of Israel falling away. Naomi stays behind as an old widow (a remnant), together with the wives of the 2 men, Ruth and Orpha.

When Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem she attempts to bring both Ruth and Orpha, which stand for the Church, with her, however Orpha decides to stay behind. Ruth being of the gentiles and who is a type of the true church of Christ, find a refuge with Boaz, a Judean land owner, and a type of Jesus. According customs, Boaz redeems her and so gives here rights in the country and eventually marries her. Now this marriage is a type of the Marriage of the Lamb of which is spoken in Revelations 19:9: "And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.". As a side note: it is interesting to know that both Boaz and Ruth become the great grandparents of Jesus (Ruth 4:21,22: "And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David."), and so this short story certainly has a Primary Interpretation as well.

Now we can see that Israel guides the Church back to the promised land where the Church will marry Jesus.

Key verses:

The essence of 'The Message of Pentecost' emphasizes the distinction between the Church of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom, asserting that they are not the same. The initial message preached by John the Baptist, the disciples, and even Jesus to Israel was about the coming Kingdom of Heaven. However, Israel's rejection of this message led to the revelation of a new concept: the Church. This Church, a mystery previously hidden, emerged as a separate entity within the Kingdom.

The Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, and the early apostles were focused on the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel. After Israel (temporary) rejected Jesus, Jesus introduced the idea of the gentile Church, which was not foreseen by most people. This Church represents a new age of grace, separate from the Kingdom's physical reign on Earth.

Peter's sermons and Stephen's martyrdom were key in moving the focus from Israel to a broader audience. Initially, the Gospel was preached exclusively to Jews. With the last sermon of Stephen, was the turning point. This occurred in the year 4000 AH and marked the end of the 70 Years of Daniel. After his death, the Gospel began to spread beyond Jewish communities, first to Samaria, then to the Gentiles.

Saul's (Paul's) conversion marked a significant shift. He became the primary gospel messenger of the Church's teachings, focusing on the grace of Jesus Christ rather than the imminent establishment of a physical Kingdom. This new message emphasized belief in Jesus for salvation, distinguishing it from the previous message of repentance for the coming Kingdom.

The Church was established by people from Judah and Israel and gradually became more Gentile in character, shifting away from the message of the Kingdom. This didn't mean that the establishment of the Kingdom was abandoned, but rather that it was delayed until the Church is taken from this physical earth in the rapture. Additionally, as noted above, the Book of Ruth demonstrates that the Gentiles were reached through Israel, thus Paul went where most of the Israelite tribes were.

This transition from the Kingdom message to the Church message highlights the importance of Rightly Dividing God's Word, understanding the different roles and messages of the Kingdom and the Church throughout Biblical history.