5. To Gather the 10 Tribes
11. "To prepare for the hour of the gathering of the Ten Tribes of Israel in the North Countries and in other lands, by establishing 12 Firstborn Colonies throughout the world, and to lead them unto the New Jerusalem by the power of My outstretched arm at the end of the Tribulation, that they may receive their inheritance in Zion {the land of Israel}" (NC&C 263:11).
One of the great mysteries anciently - and today - was the fate of the ten northern tribes of Israel after their defeat and deportation by the Assyrians. To all intents and purposes, they just "disappeared". There have been many theories over the ages, from the bizzare (the Mormon belief that they were under the North Pole) to the nationalistic (the British Israel belief that Great Britain and the white Commonwealth are "Israel").
Discounting the ridiculous Mormon claim (the Mormons have several theories), we are left with only two: (1) The "British Israel" theory (supported by Herbert W. Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God though now repudiated, we believe, by his successor) - which denies any inheritance rights of the Jews, being a racist variety of the "Replacement Theory"; and (2) the more generally accepted one that the tribes simply intermingled with other non-Israelite tribes and now no longer have a separate identity.
The truth, we believe, lies somewhere between the two theories above. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the BULK of Israel (at least the Joseph clan and some others like Dan) actually settled in Northern Europe in what we call the "Germanic nations" (Britain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland, etc.) and thence to their later colonies (USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand) but that the diaspora was so widespread that virtually EVERY NATION AND RACE has within its genes the blood of Israel, including many of the Asian and African tribes.
It is not possible to go into the ins and outs of this compelling subject here save to make this statement: New Covenant Christians believe that all those who truly accept Yahshua haMashiach (Jesus Christ) - black, white, brown, or yellow - are evidencing some sort of descent from one of Tribes of Israel, even if it is only a tiny percentage of the blood of Abraham.
In other words, those who accept Christ ARE Israelites - not just by "adoption" (as one theory goes) but BY ACTUAL DESCENT. This knowledge of the Messiah is "in the blood". And the purpose of the diaspora of the Ten Tribes - disasterous though it seemed at the time - was to providentially ensure that God's Chosen People would mingle with ALL the tribes of the earth according to the promises made to Abraham.
Recent genetic studies have revealed that a black tribe in Africa possesses the haploid gene unique to the priestly tribe of LEVI, demonstrating that not only the Ten Tribes, but also the southern tribe of Judah, has been dispersed amongst the tribes of the earth too (though Judah has been more successful in maintaining a separate idenity).
It is, of course, impossible to say how "much" Israelite blood any true believer has, and in any case such knowledge would not only be irrelevant but spiritually harmful, leading to racial arrogance and a fleshy view of the Gospel. It is, however, possible to distinguish BETWEEN the 12 tribes by virtue of their CHARACTER, TEMPREMENT and DEVOTION to Yahweh and His Law. (Note: Not all Israelites are believers and many make the choice not only to reject the Messiah Yahshua (Jesus) but also Yahweh-God Himself).
In these last days Yahweh has called the New Covenant Church of God to gather a PORTION of these 12 tribes (but mostly the 10 northern tribes) into 12 self-sustaining firstborn colonies (one for each tribe) in preparation for the Millennial Government when Christ returns.
Though this may, at first sight, seem a rather odd calling to some, it is of immense spiritual significance. Though we do not have any figures, we believe that in total we are talking about a gathering 24,000 to 36,000 souls in all (possibly considerably less). Of these, many will be a small remnant of the 144,000 firstborn saints - the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Millennial Zionic Government - not yet born to the earth before this work began.
Great preparation has always gone into any work of Yahweh even though its beginning has often seemed chaotic - the raising up of the patriarchs, of the nation of Israel, and the long and arduous preparation of the Christian Church through dark ages and light for the consummation of the age. When the Lord established the nation of Israel there was a 40 year preparation period in the wilderness of Sinai - of the two or so million original immigrants from Egypt only TWO made it; when the Lord purged the earth in the days of the flood, only EIGHT souls were spared. And the Lord Yahshua (Jesus) declared that when He returned the second time there would be so little faith, and the Church would be such a tiny remnant, that it would not be unlike the days of Noah all over again (Matt.24:37; Lk.17:26).
This remnant is preparing for that day - it is starting to build an ark - 12 international colonies with the millennial patriarchal system of government - that will pass through the deluge of fire that will bring this world system to an end. We don't have much time - very little time, in fact, no more than two generations, and there is a lot of work to do.
You may be a descendant of Abraham through one of the 12 Tribes of Israel, and you may well be called to this work. If you are - or just think you are, we would love to hear from you.
This is the Fifth and Last Commission of the New Covenant Church of God.
Further Recommended Reading
- "Who is Israel? And Why We Need to Know" by Batya Wooten (1998, Key of David Publishing, P.O.Box 700217, Saint Cloud, FL 34770-0217, USA).
Though not all the views in this book are necessarily those of NCCG, we agree with the broad sweep of the arguments presented.
