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British
Israelism
WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES "Think
not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our Father" (Matt.3.9).
By GEORGE GOODMAN Comment
by Steve Van Nattan, Blessed Quietness Journal: British
Israelism is the companion,
and frequently the foundation, to Reconstructionism
and the Replacement Theology of the Reformed Movement. While
many of the Reformed and Dominion heretics will deny this, the fact is, British
Isrealism satisfies the same lust in the heart of Anglo Saxons to supplant the
Jew from the Covenant Jehovah gave them in the Old Testament, and which Messiah,
Jesus Christ, will fulfill in a literal 1000 year Kingdom on this earth in the
near future. Learn
this lesson well, and it will help you sniff the evil in the years to come as
more and more innovations are built upon this heresy. This is NOT defunct simply
because Herbert W. Armstrong's heretic Worldwide Church of God has self-morphed
into a more orthodox denomination.
British Israelism was the theology undergirding Adolph Hitler's super race notions,
and the doctrine behind the gassing of the Jews. Kittel and other mongrel German
theologians taught the precise same things found today in Reconstructionism and
the teachings of Gary North and Rushdoony.
THE THEORY STATED It
is difficult to state this theory accurately, as there are many varieties of it,
but for my purpose I am giving it in the words of Dr. J. Mountain, who is the
ring-leader of the cult in Tunbridge Wells.
He puts it thus: "We Anglo-Saxons are the lineal descendants of the Ten Tribes,
we are the Natural Posterity of Israel, and we inherit the wonderful promises
made to them. These promises we possess nationally. But we can become individually
Israel's Spiritual Posterity only by being born again of the Holy Ghost." I
reply to this under three heads A.
It is contrary to Fact.
B. It is contrary to Scripture. C.
If true, it would involve a curse and not a blessing.
BRITISH ISRAELISM IS CONTRARY TO FACT
1. The Anglo-Saxons are an uncircumcised race. This, according to Genesis 17:14,
would absolutely debar them from any national blessing. For Spiritual Israel (Christians)
circumcision is nothing (Gal. 6:15).
2. The British are a mixed race. The Anglo-Saxons have not kept separate as the
Jews have, but have freely mingled with other peoples. It is well known that we
are not pure Anglo Saxon.
3. Israel has always written from right to left; Anglo Saxons always from left
to right. There is no record of Israel changing its method of writing in so radical
a manner.
4. The Angles and Saxons were both a large-boned and very fair-haired race, as
unlike the Semitic races as it is possible to conceive. The story of St. Augustine
and the captive "Angles" is well known and confirms this.
5. The Anglo-Saxon origin and history is well known through their remarkably well
preserved records, known as The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. For details see Encyclopedia
Britannica under that heading. It is not Semitic.
6. The laws of the Anglo-Saxons show no affinity to those of the Israelites. See
the article on the subject in the Encyclopedia Britannica, under the heading "Anglo-Saxon
Law." In order to confirm this, I have had a letter addressed on the subject to
Professor R.W. Chambers, M.A., D. Litt., who holds the chair of the English Language
Studies in University College, london. His reply is as follows:
"I do not believe that there
is any reason for regarding the West Germanic peoples as descendants of the Tribes
of Israel which were scattered from Palestine during the early captivities.
i. The racial characteristics are quite different. The present day Jew is typically
different from the Englishman, Dutchman, or German. If he resembles them it is
generally because he is not of pure Jewish descent.
ii. There is no trace of Judaism in Germanic folk lore.
iii. The Germanic languages are absolutely distinct from the Semitic.
iv. So are the old Germanic laws."
7. The "Chief" profit of Israel was that to them were committed the oracles of
God (Rom.3:1,2), that is, they preserved the Old Testament Scriptures. The Anglo-Saxons
never had this honour. They distribute many Bibles, but the Anglo-Saxons were
never custodians of the "Oracles."
8. If we are the Ten Tribes, our Kings are not those to whom the promises were
made.
The Royal tribe was Judah, which is not one of the Ten Tribes. British Israelites
have talked a great deal about the genealogy of our present Royal House. If our
kings are to fulfil the national promises, none of the ten tribes can produce
such a king. To see the Ten Tribes with a king from another tribe would be an
anomaly and untrue to history.
9. Dr Mountain argues that Israel is the "holy nation" referred to in 1 Pet. 2:9;
although he adds: "St. Peter was addressing not only a Christian community, but
also a Christian community of a high order."
I do not pretend to follow his logic, for Israel is certainly not a Christian
community of a high order, nor are the Anglo-Saxons or the British. Those whom
Peter addressed are described as being "born again" (1:23), "obedient children"
(1:14), "living stones" in a "spiritual house" (2:5), and "strangers and pilgrims"
(2:11). Is this the British nation?
But if Israel is the "holy nation," then the British Nation cannot be identified
with it, for it is certainly not holy. Not a tenth of the nation ever acknowledges
God by entering a place of worship.
As to the British Empire, it is a conglomerate mass of heathen, Mohammedan, Atheistic,
and Roman Catholic peoples, as unholy as can well be conceived. If any can glory
in this mass of "flesh" he is strangely blinded.
10. The British have not come under the New Covenant. (See Dr. Mountain's contention
later). I set out the New Covenant in full: "This
is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts:
and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall
not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful
to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more" (Heb.8:10-12).
Would that this were true of our godless nation! But, in fact, it is not, as all
may observe.
BRITISH
ISRAELISM IS CONTRARY TO SCRIPTURE
We need to remember that Abraham had two seeds, a Natural and a Spiritual; the
latter being Christians. The "seed" is Christ (Gal.3:16), and all believers, whether
from Jew or Gentile, are Children of Abraham (Gal.3:26-29). In Christ the distinction
between Jew and Gentile is abolished (Gal.3:28 and Eph.2:14). So then, if the
British are Israel they must be so after the flesh. The nation is certainly not
Spiritual Israel. What then?
We Are Not the Nation of Israel
1. Because of Israel it is said: "Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall
not be reckoned among the nations" (Num.23:9). To say the British Nation or Empire
is not reckoned among the nations in view of its history and particularly the
League of Nations, is absurd.
2. Again it is written: "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without
a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and
without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel
return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the
Lord and His goodness in the latter days" (Hosea 3:4,5). This is obviously not
true of the Anglo-Saxons, whose line of kings is well known, but exactly suits
the history of those we indiscriminately call Jews (who include Israel), who remain
scattered, without a king, temple, sacrifice, or priesthood, as is well known.
3. Israel's
national blessing is all connected with Jerusalem and the Land. It is plainly
foretold that their national blessing will be:
(a) By union with Judah. "I will make them one nation in the land" (Ezek. 37:21,
et seq., Jer.3:18). Specially consider the figure of the two sticks becoming one
in the prophets hand.
(b) By dwelling in the land. "They shall dwell in the land that I have given unto
Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt" (Ezek.37:25).
(c) Their King is to reign on David's throne in Jerusalem (Isa. (:7; Jer. 3:17;
Ezek. 48:35).
(d) This will not take place until the fulness of the Gentiles shall be come in
(Rom.11:25 and Luke 21:24), and the Times of the Gentiles fulfilled. Our Lord's
words are: "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of
the Gentiles be fulfilled."
(e) They will remain a scattered people until then. This was to be their punishment
for their disobedience. "The Lord shall scatter you among the nations" (Deut.4:27;
28:64; 32:26; and many others).
(f) Their gathering will be accomplished only when Christ comes. His feet shall
stand on the Mount of Olives, and then they shall look on Him whom they pierced,
and a nation shall be born in a day (Zech. 12:9-14; 13:1,2; 14:4-9). Anything
less like the history and condition of the British Nation or Empire it is impossible
to conceive.
4. The Spiritual Seed will long before have been caught up to meet the Lord in
the air, as described in 1 Thess. 4:14-18. This will not include the Natural Seed,
for it is written: "Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham are they all
children ... They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children
of God" (Rom.9:7-8).
IF
THE BRITISH ARE ISRAEL,
IT INVOLVES US IN A CURSE AND NOT A NATIONAL BLESSING
Dr. Mountain suggests: "These promises we possess nationally." In reply we would
remind him, and point out to all, that:
1. The promises made to Israel included an awful Curse on disobedience.
The two chapters, Deut. 4 and 28, are among the most terrible in the Bible. In
such solemn words as these God speaks: "I call heaven and earth to witness against
you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land; ... and the
Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among
the heathen whither the Lord shall lead you."
This is followed by gracious promises, on repentance and turning to the Lord,
which nationally has never taken place again. In Deut.28:58 we read: "If thou
wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book,
that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; then the
Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great
plagues, and of long continuance ..." "And the Lord shall scatter thee among all
people, from one end of the earth unto the other."
2. This judicial punishment they are still under, as we read: "Blindness (hardening)
in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (Rom.
11:25).
And again: "Even unto this day when Moses is read the vail is upon their heart;
nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away" (2
Cor. 3:15-16). Israel has not yet turned to the Lord, and remains to the present
under the curse nationally - individuals being, however, saved from among them
by faith in Christ. How then can present national blessings be possessed under
the flagrant disobedience in our land?
3. That this wrath has come upon them we also learn from the Apostle Paul. He
says of them: "Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have
persecuted us ... to fill up their sins alway, for the wrath is come upon them
to the uttermost" (1 Thess. 2:15,16). Read also Matt. 23:36-39.
4. On what ground then is this national blessing supposed to have come upon us?
On the ground of merit? Surely our national sins and the godlessness of the immense
majority of the people forbid such a thought. Moreover, the thought is contrary
to Scripture. "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse"
(Gal.3:10).
Hear Dr. Mountain's answer. Pressed into a corner by a Mr. Panton's able exposure
of his false teaching, he says: "It is the Anglo-Saxon race, or the descendants
of the Ten Tribes, who have come under the New Covenant by the acceptance of the
Christian Faith."
What a daring and atrocious denial of the facts. Has the Anglo-Saxon race "accepted
the Christian Faith" and "come under the New Covenant?" Dear reader, do you believe
it? If
the Anglo-Israelite doctrine depends on our receiving this as a fact, well and
good, we know that it is false.
Even if it were true it will not do. For if Anglo-Saxons have "accepted the Christian
Faith," then they are Christians and are found "in Christ," where there is neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision, Jew or Gentile. A Heavenly, and not an earthly,
people. In other words, they have become the "Spiritual Seed" by the faith of
Christ.
But the whole argument of the British Israelite is that we are the Natural Seed,
and are enjoying blessing as such. If we are the Spiritual Seed, of course the
fullness and blessing of the New Creation and the Covenant of Grace are ours,
but this is not the question. How do we come into this National Blessing. That
is the point.
By "acceptance of the Christian Faith," says Dr. Mountain. By becoming Christians?
Or do "acceptance of the Christian Faith" and "coming under the New Covenant"
mean something else?
Then as to the British Empire, that mass of heathen, Mohammedan, and Romist peoples:
we are told they, too, are enjoying blessing as part of the "multitude of nations."
Again
pressed by Mr. Panton, Dr. Mountain says: "The fact is that they (peoples of the
Empire) cannot become part of the Comity of Israel, except by surrendering individually
to the governance of Christ."
In other words, by becoming individually Christians. Then the peoples of the British
Empire are not in their present state enjoying any national blessing now!
The whole British Israel theory, if Dr. Mountain is its true exponent, hangs upon
this, that the British people have accepted the Christian Faith, and come under
the New Covenant, which would mean that they are born again. Alas! It is impossible
to think it.
Why go about advocating that which can only encourage men to hope in the flesh?
Let us rather warn of the wrath due to sin, and point to Christ the Lamb of God
and call to faith in Him.
CONCLUSION
British Israelism is a false and dangerous theory, that can only lead men to hope
in the flesh, to expect "national" blessing, while they continue in personal rejection
of Christ and disobedience to God.
THE
TEN TRIBES
There is no evidence that the Ten Tribes were lost. They returned with Ezra and
Nehemiah and shared with the whole 12 Tribes the final dispersion that took place
in A.D. 70. The following Scriptures show this.
1. The Decree of Artaxerxes included all the tribes. "Artaxerxes, king of kings,
... I make a decree that ALL THEY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, and of his priests
and Levites in my realm, which are minded of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem,
go with thee" (Ezra 7:13).
2. Israel as well as Judah is expressly named as coming up. "Now these are the
chief of the province that dwelt in Jerusalem: but in the cities of Judah dwelt
every one in his possession in their cities, to wit, Israel, the priests, and
the Levites, and the Nethinims, and the children of Solomon's servants. And at
Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin"
(Neh. 11:3,4).
3. All Israel are represented in the Sacrifices offered on the occasion. "The
children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children
of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, And offered
... for a sin offering FOR ALL ISRAEL, TWELVE HE GOATS, according to the number
of the tribes of Israel" (Ezra 6:16,17). "The
children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity,
offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, TWELVE BULLOCKS FOR ALL ISRAEL"
4. That
Israel cast in its lot with Judah in large measure even earlier is stated in 2
Chron. 15:9: "And he (Asa) gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers
with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh ... for they fell to him out of Israel in
abundance, when they saw that the Lord his God was with him." See also 2 Chron.
11:16 and 35:18.
5. Frequent references to the Twelve Tribes appear later in Scriptures, e.g.,
At Pentecost
- "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly ..." (Acts 2:36, see also vs. 9-11).
By Paul
before Agrippa - "Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God
day and night, hope to come" (Acts 26:7).
James addressed his epistle to those dispersed of the Twelve Tribes.
The final vision of the New Jerusalem showed it to have twelve gates, on which
are the names of the Twelve Tribes of the Children of Israel.
There is no distinct national blessing for only ten of the tribes.
6. Our Lord said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel"
(Matt. 15:24); and "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of
the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel"
(Matt.10:5,6). If Israel had not returned to the land could this be true?
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