Lost sheep of Israel part III

YHWH’s people from the Northern kingdom of Israel continued to break the covenant that had been given to Adam, Noah, Abraham, and finally written down by Moses. Because of this, they would be taken away into bondage by the king of Assyria in 722 BC. The house of Israel assimilated into the nations. They became part of their culture, so much so, that they even worshipped the other gods that those nations worshipped.

Later, in 586 BC, the Southern Kingdom of Judah was taken into captivity into Babylon for same reason as the Northern kingdom, it lasted 70 years. The story of Nehemiah is about the southern house coming back. Think of it this way, had the house of Judah never returned, there would be no Jesus, because there would have been now Jews.

Deuteronomy 30:1-6

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

Scattered Sheep

Jeremiah 50: 17

“Israel is like scattered sheep;

The lions have driven him away.

First the king of Assyria devoured him;

Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”

Micah 2: 12

“I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob,

I will surely gather the remnant of Israel;

I will put them together like sheep of the fold,

Like a flock in the midst of their pasture;

They shall make a loud noise because of so many people.

Ezekiel 34: 12-13

As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country

Israel is the only people in the bible that are referred to as sheep. The Old Testament was written before the new as we all know, and the new was pulled from the old. Every time the New Testament mentions the scriptures they are referring to the Old Testament. The writers of the new would not have changed the meaning or people group referred to as sheep.

Now that we know who the sheep are, where are the Scattered Sheep?

Ezekiel 11: 16

Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”’

Psalms 106: 47

Save us, O Lord our God,

And gather us from among the Gentiles,

To give thanks to Your holy name,

To triumph in Your praise.

The same word used here for Gentiles is used also as nations and heathens. Meaning that it is interchangeable. So when we read, “sift the house of Israel among all nations”, it can just as easily be written as “sift the house of Israel among all gentiles.”

The word is Strong's H1471 – gowy

nation, people

nation, people

usually of non-Hebrew people

Amos 9:9

“For surely I will command,

And will sift the house of Israel among all nations,

“Sift the house of Israel” is specific in that the Northern house of Israel was prophesied to be scattered among the four corners of the earth, whereas the southern house of Judah was not. Because of this, the house of Judah was able to return after 70 years.

Hosea 7:8

“Ephraim has mixed himself among the peoples;

Ephraim is a cake unturned.

9 Aliens have devoured his strength,

But he does not know it;

Remember that Ephriam is another term for the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

Hosea 8:8

Israel is swallowed up;

Now they are among the Gentiles

Like a vessel in which is no pleasure.

Remember Ephraim was another name for the Norther House of Israel. Israel was taken into captivity, and dispersed all over the other nations. Over time they became assimilated into these cultures and became just like the gentiles. To take it a step further, they could not even tell themselves apart from the gentiles as we see in Hosea 7. They may have knew which tribes they came from, however, they acted as if they were part of the outside nations.

                Since the destruction of the temple, the ten tribes have completely lost their identity. This fulfils the prophecy of Israel being scattered among the nations and worshiping their gods. During the first century, historian Flavious Josephus writes in his book, “Antiquities of the Jews”.

Antiquities of the Jews. 11.5

“Wherefore there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers.

                Flavious Josephus is telling us that Israel of the first century was made up of Judah and Benjamin, no one else was allowed to be a part of Israel unless they were converts. That is why he says that ten tribes were beyond the Euphrates. There were too many Israelites to count, and they were part of the gentiles.

Gentiles hated Jews

Have you ever wondered why pagan gentiles, those that hated the Jews, so readily accepted a Jewish Messiah? The city of Ephesus alone had 100,000 converts. Why would this be? The only real answer is because many of those gentiles had background knowledge of the Torah. They had this knowledge because they were in fact, the scattered sheep of Israel. They knew the prophecies.

1 Peter 1:1-2

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

                Who is the book of Galatians really written to? Considering this book mentions specifically the strangers scattered throughout Galatia. Isnt it more than just possible that the book of Galatians was written to these lost sheep of Israel?

James 1:1

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

The book of James is written to the 12 tribes, NOT gentiles. He tells us this in the very first sentence. Why is it that we always seem to gloss right over verses that do not fit our beliefs? Maybe this is why so many Christians only use Paul for their arguments.

John 7: 33-35

Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come. Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?

                There was a Jewish law that forbid Jews to interact with gentiles. This is why Peter was given the vision about the unclean animals.

Acts 10:10-13, 15

He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

                People often use this verse in trying to argue that the Old Testament food law is no longer in place, however, we can see later in the chapter that these unclean animals only represent gentiles and have absolutely nothing to do with the dietary laws and rules.

Acts 10: 28

He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.

John 10: 3-4,7

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

I reiterate the only definition of sheep, as a people group, is that they are the tribe of Israel. When Jesus is talking about the sheep, who is He talking about/to?

My people, not my people

                There is a common misconception about who is being discussed in 1 Peter. Many will have you believe that the verse below is referring to only gentiles that have never been associated with YHWH. I must disagree. Here is the verse, with the Old Testament verse it is being quoted from, along with a few other verses to clear up this misconception.

1 Peter 2: 9-10

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Exodus 19: 6

you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

                We can see from Exodus that the kingdom of priests and holy nation is referring to Israel.

Romans 9: 24-26

even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;

    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,

    ‘You are not my people,’

    there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

                Now pulling directly from Hosea itself…

Hosea 1: 10-11

“Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

Acts 22: 3

I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

In the Talmud, Gamaliel is described as bearing the titles Nasi and Rabban (our master), as the president of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. Gamaliel holds a reputation in the Mishnah for being one of the greatest teachers in all the annals of Judaism. Paul was his top student and had memorized the entire Torah. That being said, why would YHWH need someone with such a scholarly background to be His number one teacher? YHWH chose him because he was needed to not only teach the Jews, but also the Israelite gentiles, both of which knew all the background and that they (the Israelite gentiles) could not return to Israel. This was the Good News. Through Christ they could return.

Now that we know that the sheep are the lost tribes of Israel, it brings a much deeper meaning to the verse the book of Matthew.

Matthew 15:24

He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

To be continued….