Life in the Millennium will be ideal for those of Israel. Individuals belonging to Israel will have specially assigned territories within the Middle East and around Jerusalem depending upon which tribe they belong, and the overall territory of Israel will be what God originally promised Abraham (Ek 47:13 – 48:35). This territory will be for Jews and Israelites but there will be Gentiles allowed to live there as well (Ek 47:22-23). Who are these Gentiles living within the assigned territory of Israel? Scripture does not say, but perhaps these are Jewish proselytes who have no “official” Jewish or Israeli DNA, but because they have lived as being Jewish their whole lives, they are allowed to continue to do so. Although not an “official” Jew, they will be treated as though they are Jewish (Ek 47:22). Therefore, it would seem there is no real downside to not being an ethnically pure Jew as long as they are followers of their Messiah, Jesus Christ. This shows that God is always just and He is always more concerned about individual obedience than national obedience, even though both are important. God always rewards individual obedience which has already been shown in many examples provided in past posts.

There is another possibility in identifying those Gentiles who would be living within the borders of this New Israel. While this is speculative, it is consistent with God’s character and what He has promised in scripture, even though scripture does not explicitly state these activities. God has made each man and woman unique (Ps 139:13-16) and He treasures this about His creation. One’s uniqueness, one’s identity, will not be lost as one moves into the Millennium and the Eternal State.  Since the Millennium will be a time of great joy, then human beings being able to achieve and excel in their God-given talents, creativity, and personalities will most likely be highly encouraged by God Himself. One will then use these talents as one seeks to praise Him and seek to know Him better, which will be an adventure for many lifetimes over (Jb 36:26). Science has always been about understanding the unknown and the natural processes which occur on a day-to-day basis. There is no reason to believe this will end once mankind dwells with Christ. Since He has made mankind to be very inquisitive, and many have pursued this in a professional manner and have specialized in specific scientific areas, it is likely God will allow such to continue. After all, it seems God wants mankind to search out and discover things about Him (Pr 25:2). While in this present society many try to ignore God in this process of discovery, at this future time in earth’s history, it will be evident to whom all the glory for discoveries made should go. Bringing these scientific discoveries before Him and presenting these findings to all of earth’s inhabitants will further give glory to Him and help those who have not yet received Him as their Savior to have an even better appreciation for Jesus Christ, their King, Lord, and potential Savior.

Since Jerusalem will be the center for all things of the world during the Millennium, the oversight and administration for all these activities will likely also be centered in Jerusalem. Just as the Jews and Israelites will be the leaders of the worship of God during this time, those from the Gentile nations will likely be leading the world in these other avenues of praise to God through science, art, and other forms of creative expression since the Gentile nations are the ones to bring glory into Jerusalem and present this before Jesus Christ (Ps 86:9; Rv 15:4). It would make sense to have those who oversee such activities to also be in or near Jerusalem during this time. These may also be part of Gentile inhabitants to whom Ezekiel alluded when God showed him a vision of this time of earth’s history.

One can never outthink God and everything He has promised will most certainly come true, even if one cannot fathom how. It is likely one will be very astounded at the actuality of this time in earth’s future and will wonder why they limited their own thinking to its possibilities.

This reminds me of what Paul stated in 1st Corinthians: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who live Him” (1Co 2:9).

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Why does the Tribulation Period cause a definition change for Gentiles? Let’s get an understanding of what happens.

Although there are many Gentiles who turn to Jesus Christ during the Tribulation, the Antichrist will hold his sway over the majority. The nations look to him as their savior from the chaos which erupts after the Rapture, and he seems to be just that for the first few years. As conditions on earth start to get worse and worse, the Antichrist, just like Nero during the Roman Empire, makes Jews and Christians the scapegoat and punishes them severely. Many will blindly believe what the Antichrist tells them and cling more tightly to him because they feel he is their only hope.

The Antichrist brings almost all the armies of the world to the Middle East and the battle of Armageddon is fought which was described in previous posts. This leads to their ultimate destruction when Christ returns, as none of them can stand up to him.

Of course, this does not mean everyone on earth is in the Middle East for this battle. The ordinary men and women of all the earth’s nations are still going about their normal daily routine. The Bible states that what occurs is a reversal of the events which occurred previously at the Rapture. Now, all of those who are not believers in Christ will be taken while those who are left on the earth will be Christians (Mt 24:40-41; Lk 17:34-35). The nations will then be judged for how they treated Christ’s followers (Mt 25:32-46).

This pattern has been observed throughout history. God uses the animosity of nation against nation to achieve his desired plan. In this case, God uses the Antichrist and the earth’s nations to drive all the Jews and those of Israeli descent back to Israel forcibly so that He can in the end save them. Yet, these nations are then held accountable for their hateful actions.

Future Passovers from this time forward will not look back to the time God brought Israel out of Egypt but will look back to this Tribulation Period where God brought all of his chosen people back to their homeland (Jr 16:14-15). Both Israel and Judah will once again be reunited (Jr 30:3). Gentile nations will also partake in these Jewish feasts as well, but the Feast of Tabernacles will have a judicial ordinance attached to it to require attendance in Jerusalem (Zc 14:18).

This return of God’s chosen people to their homeland is comprised not only of Jews but also of Israelis. It was previously mentioned that those of Israeli descent were scattered throughout Europe and even to America. Over time, of course, no pure Israeli remained as they were integrated into the cultures of those nations. It has always been a mystery how those of Israeli descent will be driven back to Israel if they don’t even know they are of Israeli descent. This mystery may be solved. Today, one can more fully explore their ancestry by opting for a DNA test which will reveal their ethnic background and know from which countries and/or ethnicities their forefathers originated. It is possible that the Antichrist will utilize either this type of database or force everyone to take such a test. Then all those with Israeli or Jewish DNA will be persecuted and/or killed. That will force a mass exodus of these individuals to Israel for safety. It is likely many Gentiles will be surprised they are not truly Gentile after all. However, if they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, it will become a great blessing to them as they move into the Millennium as all the people of the earth will hold them in great esteem during that time.

The definition of Gentiles, therefore, changes back to the first century definition of Gentiles comprising anyone who is not an Israelite (non-Jewish and non-Israeli). This definition now continues into eternity.

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The Parthian Empire extended from India in the east to Turkey in the west, with its western border being the Euphrates River, and from the Persian Gulf in the south to the Caspian and Black Seas in the north. The following modern-day countries would have been encompassed within Parthia: all modern Iran, Iraq and Armenia, parts of Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. During the New Testament era it was well known that there were Jews who existed within Parthian territory, and it seems they were also aware of their fellow Israeli descendants who lived in Armenia.

Likely because of Christ’s earlier command to his disciples to go to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 10:5-6) and to “teach all nations” (Mt 28:19), many of them went to the Jews in Parthian territories to spread the gospel, just as Paul reached the Gentiles within the Roman sphere of influence (Ga 2:8). One such evidence of this is that Peter wrote his first epistle from Babylon (1Pt 5:13). Some claim that this is a code word used for Rome which was done similarly by the apostle John when he wrote the book of Revelation (Rv 17:5; 18:2). However, this type of analogical comparison was not prominent until many years later. In addition, Peter was writing to those in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (1Pt 1:1) – all places in the northern part of Asia Minor near the Black Sea whose territory today is in the country of Turkey. There was a large contingent of Jews in this Gentile territory. It also seems that Peter was stating that those from where he was writing from had similar connections to those to whom he was writing, i.e., “elected together with you” (1Pt 5:13). This could suggest that Peter was with other Jews or those of Israeli descent since he was in Parthian territory and therefore had a connection to those in Asia Minor who were of Jewish descent. There was a synagogue in Babylon all the way through the middle of the first century AD. Therefore, it is likely that Peter was indeed within Parthian territory when he wrote his epistle. Since Peter was a leader of the Jerusalem church and of the apostles, it would seem logical that the other apostles would follow his example. The apostles reached out to Jews in what today are the following countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Parts of Russia, Tajikistan, parts of Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Parts of Ukraine.

There were at least three main areas visited by these apostles most often: Babylon, Armenia/Scythia, and India. This would suggest there must have been a large group of Jews and/or Israelis who lived in these areas, although there were other areas visited. It has already been stated that many people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel migrated to the area in and surrounding Armenia. It is not surprising there would be a large contingent of Israeli descendants here as God had prophesied through Hosea they would increase to great numbers after they left their homeland (Ho 1:6-10). This also indicates that the Jews in Judaea knew they were Israeli descendants and never considered them “lost.”

It would also not be surprising to find pockets of Jews in Babylon and throughout the Parthian Empire as this was where Judah was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, and most Jews did not return to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel, Ezra, or Nehemiah. While the Jews in Judaea had a sense of nationality, they never lost connection with those who had not returned to their native homeland.

It would also seem that these peoples were not considered Gentile at this point in history. The disciples had to have started their missionary efforts outside Judea soon after Christ’s ascension since James was an early martyr and yet he was noted to have visited areas at the extremes of both the Parthian and Roman Empires before his untimely death. This would mean that these people were practicing Judaism since the debate over how Gentiles were becoming Christians did not occur until later after Paul started his ministry. However, going forward in history, it appears that these Israeli descendants blended into the nationalities into which they migrated when the Parthian Empire fell in the early third century AD. After that point, they became indistinguishable from the Gentile people into which they settled. From that point on they were considered Gentiles as there were no longer any distinguishing ethnic characteristics that could identify them as being of Israeli descent, even though it may be true. In contrast, it seems the Jews were able to keep their ethnic identity throughout the centuries by not blending into the societies into which they migrated.

Since God’s prophecies always come true, it will be quite miraculous how He will one day bring together both Jews and Israelis into one nation again and they will have a heart to serve the Lord (Ek 36:24-28). How this will come about is not yet known but is a topic of much debate. It will be so miraculous when Israel will no longer talk about how God brought them up out of Egypt but how God brought them together from all of the countries of the world where they had been scattered (Jr 16:14-15). It sounds like there will be many surprised Gentiles to know they are of Israeli descent and will not be considered Gentile going forward.

Aren’t you glad you serve a God that can do impossible?

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Before we can see how God has worked with and through Gentiles, we should cover how the definitions of Gentiles, Israelis, and Jews have led to some opposing world views. Many have tried to develop an overarching theme of how God is working or has worked throughout history. It’s interesting how viewing the same data can lead to different results.

There may be others, but the two main views have Israel as the key distinguisher. One group feels that Israel is an Old Testament symbol or allegory for the Church (or true believers) and thereby forms a continuous continuity throughout the Bible. Yet, this is dependent upon how one views how God is working. If one only looks at the salvation of mankind as the only Biblical theme, then it is easy to see how a theory of God implementing salvation would be the key. God being all knowing would know mankind would sin, so the Godhead decided even before creation how mankind would be saved. Because mankind would become disobedient, God would institute grace to mankind to save it. Yet is this the real theme, or the only theme? Is mankind the real focus of the Bible? And if there are other themes, how can they be incorporated into such a theme without creating other allegories?

Let’s look at another view. This view sees Israel as a nation whom God would use to reveal Himself to the world. As a nation, they failed in that respect. Yet, that did not thwart God’s plan. God still revealed Himself greater and made a way for the salvation of mankind. Although the two views sound similar, this one puts God as the main focus rather than mankind. It allows other Biblical themes to be incorporated because it is about revealing who God is. The salvation of mankind is only one of the ways God reveals aspects of Himself.

In our last post, we saw how many of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (the ten tribes) escaped Assyrian captivity by fleeing to the area between the Black and Caspian Seas, as well to other parts of the known world at that time. Many, but not all, of the Southern Kingdom of Judah (2 tribes) returned from Babylonian captivity to rebuild Jerusalem and surrounding areas. At the turn of the first century, there were pockets of Israelis and Jews throughout both the Roman and Parthian Empires. Once Parthia fell, many of the Israeli descendants who had been part of the Parthian Empire fled across the Caucasus Mountains into Europe, and some believe eventually into the United States. Those who remained in Armenian territory became known as Khazars. Over time, Edomites were pushed by the Nabateans into prior Israeli territory and became known as Idumea (the Greek name for Edom). These were assimilated into Jewish society by the Hasmonean Dynasty. Later, Rome further invaded and destroyed both Jerusalem and the temple spreading Jews further throughout the known world. Over time, the area was under rule by many different geographic kingdoms. Today, it is now a nation again – ever since 1948.

The first world view we mentioned sees this as inconsequential because God’s plan is not about Israel at all but true believers (mainly Jewish/Israeli in the Old Testament; mainly Gentile in the New Testament). Or some go further to say that Israel dispersed throughout the world is the true elect who have become the Church. Again, this leads to being somewhat exclusionary and doesn’t seem to leave room for other themes of Scripture.

The second world view sees all of this in line with God’s plan of not only salvation for the entire world, but the salvation of Israel as a nation as well. It seems to blend well with such scripture where Paul states God will deal with Israel as a nation again and Israel will be saved (Ro 11:1-36). This view blends well with scripture which states our current salvation is but a deposit, or a guarantee, to the fuller inheritance that will occur when Christ returns to set up his earthly kingdom (Ep 1:13-14). And this view seems to fit nicely with the defined covenants in the Bible (Abrahamic Covenant, Gn 15:7-21; Deuteronomic Covenant, Dt 29:10-13; Davidic Covenant, 2Sa 7:8-16; and the New Covenant, Jr 31:31; 32:39-40; Ek 36:26) which are about promises concerning both land and monarchy. This view doesn’t need to allegorize to make this view fit into a theory of salvation for mankind, as this view is all part of God revealing His entire plan for mankind, for Israel, and for the world. We find Him to be very inclusive.

Now that we see He has a plan for everyone, let’s now begin to see how he has worked with Gentiles.

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In the previous post, we talked about the definitions of Israeli, Jew, and Gentile. Once both the nations of Israel and Judah were taken captive, the definitions start to get more complicated. The nation of Israel was taken captive first by Assyria (2Ki 17:1-23) in 722 BC and then Judah by the Babylonians some 136 years later (2Ch 36:15-21) in 586 BC. In both cases, not all people from either nation were taken captive, but a certain number of nationals were left in the land (2Ki 17:24-41; Jr 40:6). Even before Judah was taken captive, it seems that there were still some faithful Israelites who remained and worshipped God. One example of this occurred during the time of King Josiah when Passover was celebrated during the eighteenth year of his reign: it was for all Israel (2Ch 35:3) and Israelites were present (2Ch 35:17). Also, even after Judah was taken into captivity, Jeremiah records that eighty Israelites came to Jerusalem during the time of Gedaliah, the appointed governor of the area, to offer sacrifice (Jr 41:4-5). Since this was during the autumn feasts, it would have been in the seventh month indicating likely the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast was one of the ordained Jewish pilgrim festivals (Ex 23:14-16, 34:23; Dt 16:13-17) and therefore was not a one-time event but a yearly occurrence for these individuals. Even though they still shared a commonality in their worship of God, they still kept their national identification as Israelite and Jew.

It is unclear what happened to these faithful Jews and Israelites. It is known that those who returned from Babylonian captivity with Zerubbabel to rebuild Jerusalem were from Judah, Benjamin and Levi (Er 1:5). Later it is recorded that more Levites came with Ezra (Er 7:7). Perhaps some of these faithful Jews and Israelites were still present at this time as those coming with Zerubbabel received no opposition when they first arrived in Jerusalem (Er 2:68). These faithful Israelites and Jews left in the land likely became incorporated into those classified as Jews from that time forth.

There were some nationals who had been left in the land of Israel and Judah who, over time, intermarried with those brought in from other areas or who lived in the area. These were excluded from helping with the reconstruction and from their temple worship (Er 4:2-3). The main reason was their alliances had led them away from the worship of God. Although they had a form of worship (Er 4:2), God was not the only god they worshipped (2Ki 17:32-34) and, by God’s standards, were not truly worshippers of God Himself (2Ki 17:35-41). These were therefore considered Gentiles even though they had Israeli or Jewish roots.

There were other pockets of Jews or Israelites who also have to be considered: those of the kingdom of Judah who remained in Babylonian territories rather than returning to Jerusalem, those of the kingdom of Israel who were spread to many areas just before and during their Assyrian captivity, those Judeans who settled in Egypt after the assassination of Gedaliah (Jr 43:4-7), and an Israelite community in the land of Ammon during the time of the Restoration. It seems when Tobiah was thrown out of the temple in Jerusalem by Nehemiah (Ne 13:4-9), he went back to Ammon and built a similar temple.

Prior to the Northern Kingdom of Israel being taken into captivity, the threat of captivity by Tiglath-pileser of Assyria and the drought that had occurred earlier during the time of Elijah caused a mass exodus of Israelis to other areas prior to the nation’s final captivity. Many fled to Kirjath-Hadeschath, which later became known as Carthage (in present-day Tunis in North Africa), and others fled over land to Armenia and the land north of the Black Sea. This created several pockets of Israelis throughout the known world. Those who migrated into the areas around Armenia later became the leaders of the kingdom of Parthia which became a nation as powerful as, and a rival of, Rome. The national Jews in the first century knew of these Jews and Israelis who were not part of national Judea, as noted by the Jewish historian, Josephus.

It is likely that none of these groups, except those who may have gone with Tobiah, would have been considered “Gentile” by these Jews who returned to Jerusalem. Even during the time of Christ, these other Jewish settlements were well known to the national Jews. Actually, at that time, Jews resided all over the known world. However, those in the Roman Empire were mainly Jewish while those in the Parthian Empire were both of Jewish and Israeli descent. Even at that time, these would likely not be considered Gentile. It would not be until the defeat of the Parthian Empire and the exodus of these Israeli descendants into Europe that the term Gentile would be applied to anyone outside those of national Judea who did not maintain their national heritage. Those who blended in with these other nations into which they lived seem to slowly lose their identity with those of national Judea and, over time, had no real connection with their original national heritage. It seems the classification for being Jewish decreased over time as the classification for being Gentile increased over time.

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I thought it would be good to start a new series about how the Bible addresses Gentiles. However, before we do, I think we should look at a few definitions.

A simple definition would be, a Gentile is one who is not a Jew. After all, the apostle Paul used this definition when he explained that the gospel is for the whole world: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Ro 1:16). He was making a generalized comment as there were pockets of not only Jews, but Israelis throughout both the Roman and Parthian Empires of his day, of which Paul was aware. Yet, to understand all Scripture, I think we need to dig a little deeper.

We probably can’t really make any distinction between Jew, Israeli, or Gentile before the Exodus. Although God did work through specific individuals from the time of Adam to the time of Moses (i.e., the patriarchs), a specific ethnic group was not necessarily singled out before that time. One could say that he did starting with Abraham, but not necessarily exclusively. Remember Job? It is believed he was a contemporary of Abraham. He believed in God, made burnt offerings, and God blessed him. So, it wasn’t really until God called the Children of Israel out of Egypt and made a covenant with them at Mt. Sinai that Israel became a nation before God and were instructed to be a kingdom of priests to the world (Ex 19:5-6). What does that mean? Israel was to be the standard – a holy nation – which served God and pointed other nations to God. Israel would receive God’s blessings (Dt 28) and other nations would see that blessing and be drawn to Him. How? Well, there were at least three trade routes which went through the land of Canaan which became Israel: Way of the Sea (Is 9:1); King’s Highway (Nu 20:17), and the Ridge Route which went through the Galilee region. Israel would have plenty of opportunity to have that influence. We see that both Solomon (2Ch 32-33) and Isaiah (Is 55:6-7) understood this and asked for special provision for the Gentile (the non-Israelite) to worship God.

This really had nothing to do with ethnic purity, but obedience to God. Remember, even some of the sons of Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel by God [Gn 32:28]) were through his two wives’ servants (Bilhah and Zilpah). Servants were usually not of the family, but foreigners. In addition, Judah married Tamar, possibly a Canaanite (Gn 38:1-30), and Joseph married Asenath, an Egyptian (Gn 41:45; 50:22). In addition, Rahab was a Canaanite from Jericho who was spared even though the whole city was designated for destruction because of her belief in Jehovah (Js 6:22-23). She became part of the lineage of Christ (Mt 1:5) and the great-great grandmother of King David. Her son was Boaz. Ruth was a Moabitess. Moab was a country that had not let Israel pass through their land on their way to the Promised Land (Jd 11:17) and had hired Baalam to curse Israel (Nu 22:4-5). Ruth believed in Jehovah, and she became part of the lineage of Christ (Mt 1:5). She married Boaz and became the grandmother of King David (Ru 4:13-17). Both women were integrated into the nation of Israel and their children were deemed Israelites. There were also times in Israel’s history where Gentile women were incorporated into Israel. These were many times as wives (Dt 21:10-14), but not always (Nu 31:18). These captives were expected to be taught to serve Jehovah. So, it seems God was more interested in a devoted people rather than an ethnically pure one.

The term ‘Israelite’ could not occur before the birth of Jacob. Yet, it was not really used until Israel itself was divided and the term Israel was the name for the Northern Kingdom of Israel (composed of ten tribes). In the same way, the term ‘Jew’ could not occur before the birth of Judah. Yet, again, this was not really used until Judah became a nation, the Southern Kingdom of Judah (composed of Judah and Benjamin). The term ‘Jew’ is not used in the Bible until the exiles returned from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild it (Er 4:12). Therefore, technically, Jew and Israelite cannot be interchanged.

As we said earlier, the concept of ‘Gentile’ did not strongly come into play until God made his covenant with the children of Israel at Sinai and they became an ordained nation before God.

Next time, we’ll look to see what happened post-exile and how these definitions became a little more complicated.

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Some may see these differences like the comparison: all robins are birds but not all birds are robins. Therefore, Jews are Israelites who are Hebrews. However, it is a little more complicated.

Hebrews. First of all, who are the Hebrews? They are descendants of Eber (Gn 10:21-25). Eber was a descendent of Shem (Shem → Arphaxad → Shelah → Eber). Remember, Shem was one of three sons of Noah (the other two being Japheth and Ham) who survived the flood. Eber had two sons: Peleg and Joktan. We later learn that Abraham was a descendent of Peleg and was known as a Hebrew (Gn 14:13). It is likely that Job was one of these descendants (Jobab, Gn 10:29). All the sons of Eber were Hebrews. So, what about Joktan’s descendants?

It seems that ever since Noah and his sons exited the ark on Mt. Ararat (today in modern Turkey), they began to migrate and settle eastward as their population began to grow. We know that the descendants of Peleg settled in the area today known as Iran since this is the area from which Abraham came (i.e., city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia; Gn 11:27-30). However, it seems that those of Joktan continued to move eastward (Gn 10:30). Therefore, some have proposed that the Joktan Hebrews are the ancient descendants of the Orient. We know that after God caused the people to possess different languages due to the sin of Nimrod building the tower of Babel in the plain of Shinar (later known as Babylon), these other descendants of Noah then began to scatter to other parts of the world. The descendants of Ham went west, and also south into Africa; the descendants of Japheth went toward the north and west into Europe; and the descendants of Shem remained in the general geographic region. This could be why most of the world has a common language ancestry and not tied to the oriental languages since the descendants of Joktan would likely not have been affected as they were not disobedient to God’s message to spread throughout the world (Gn 9:1). This would then imply that most of those in the Middle East and Orient are common in that they are all of Hebrew descent. That would also explain why Abraham was noted as a Hebrew after he entered the land of Canaan. Most of the indigenous people of that geography were descendants of Ham and not of Shem (Eber was the largest group of descendants of Shem).

Israelites. The Israelites then are a small subgroup of Hebrews. They are descendants of Abraham (Abraham → Isaac →Jacob [name later changed to Israel]). Israel had twelve sons, and these became known as the 12 tribes of Israel and were whom God chose to work through as a nation to reveal Himself to the world (Ex 19:6). However, we also need to remember that Israel as a nation became split when Rehoboam became king (1Ki 12:16-17). The Southern Kingdom, composed of Judah and Benjamin, became known as Judah with Jerusalem remaining as its capital. The Northern Kingdom, composed of the other 10 tribes, became known as Israel with Samaria as its capital. None of the kings of Israel were considered good or righteous. Because of their sin, they were eventually, as prophesied by many of God’s prophets, taken into captivity by Assyria. However, it has been shown that prior to that time many of the Israelites left to other areas, with a large number migrating to what later became known as Armenia. We only have to look at the old city of Jerusalem today to see the connection. The old city portion of Jerusalem today is divided into four quadrants: Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Armenian. Therefore, there is still an Israelite connection to Jerusalem today.

Jews. The term Jew is an abbreviated form of Judah, one of the tribes of Israel and the name of the Southern Kingdom as mentioned above. There were some of its kings who were considered righteous, but others were considered wicked and their wickedness was the main reason for Judah also being taken into captivity; this time by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. However, when Babylon was captured by the Medes and Persians, King Cyrus allowed the Jews to return and rebuild Jerusalem (Er 1:1-2). From that time to 70 AD, Jerusalem, its temple and the land was re-established. After the Romans destroyed its temple in 70 AD, the nation went through many conquests and the people displaced. Even today there are more Jews outside Israel than in Israel. It was not until 1948 that the nation was re-established and recognized. Therefore, most of Israel today is composed of Jews but those with an Armenian connection are likely of Israelite descent. Although many today may not be able to trace their ancestry to a specific tribe, it may be that all are represented in some form.

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