The Two Houses Together in the Re-Conquest,
by John Hulley (Richards).
Some Relevant Preliminary Verse:
In those days the House of
Judah shall join the House of Israel.
And together they shall come from the land of the north,
To the land I gave your fathers for a heritage (Jeremiah 3:18)
He will . . . assemble the outcasts of
Israel (House of Ephraim),
And gather the dispersed of (the House of) Judah
From the four corners of the earth . . .
The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart,
And those who harass Judah shall be cut off . . .
They shall swoop down upon the shoulder of the Philistines (inhabitants of
Palestine) in the west;
And together they shall plunder the people of the east (Isaiah 11:12,14).
For the Lord of hosts has visited his
flock, the House of Judah,
And will make them like his majestic horse in battle . . .
And they will be as mighty men,
Treading down the enemy in the mire of the streets in battle . . . And (the
House of) Ephraim will be like a mighty man . . .
I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon (northeast and north of
Israel today).
(Zechariah 10:3,5,7,10)
Then the House of Jacob (Judah) will be
a fire
And the House of Joseph (Ephraim) a flame;
But the House of Esau (Edom) will be as stubble.
And they will set them on fire and consume them,
So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau.
For the Lord has spoken. (Obadiah 18)
These Biblical prophecies make clear that the Houses of Ephraim and
Judah -- the lost tribes and the Jews -- collaborate in the reconquest of the
land of Israel. So which are the nations involved in that military action?
Most of the force was British, but several other nations also took
part indirectly. The reconquest was part of World War I (1914-18), as the
Turkish Empire (including Palestine) was allied to Germany and Austria.
Because the heaviest fighting in that war was taking place in Europe, a
large-scale diversion of British troops to the Near East required consent of the
Allies. For the Allied forces would have to take the place of the British
forces which were diverted from Europe.
So British Prime Minister David Lloyd George sought and obtained the
consent of France, Italy and the U.S. To symbolize their involvement, France
and Italy (but not the U.S.) sent small detachments to join the British in
Palestine. The backing of these Allies was high-lighted in British General
Allenby's description of his formal entry into Jerusalem after its conquest late
in 1917:
I entered the city officially at noon, December 11th, with a few of my
staff, the commanders of the French and Italian detach-ments, the heads of the
political missions, and the Military Attaches of France, Italy, and America . .
. The procession was all afoot, and at Jaffa gate I was received by the
guards representing England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Australia, New Zealand,
India, France, and Italy.[1]
But what about the Jews? Why were they not mentioned in Allenby's
statement? The reason was that all the forces in action from the start in
Egypt up through Jerusalem were non-Jewish (although of course some individuals
within the Allied forces would have been Jewish). The Jews only succeeded in
organizing small units to play a role in 1918 north of Jerusalem. In the latter
part of the campaign Jews from the U.K., U.S. and Palestine made up the 38th,
39th, 40th and 42nd battalions of the Royal Fusiliers, which helped drive the
Turks back toward the Turkish border. Later on, during the British Mandate
(1923-1948) the local Jews formed a force, eventually known as the Haganah, the
purposes of which included cooperation with British forces in combating the Arab
Revolt (1936-39). They thus helped fulfill the prophecy about both Houses
taking part in the reconquest of the land.
The peoples mentioned in Allenby's statement took part, directly or
indirectly, in the reconquest. To what extent the participation of all of them
was voluntary however is open to question. Later on, in World War II (1939-45)
when the Irish had won their political independence, they chose to remain
neutral. India is another case; one of their first actions after gaining their
own independence was to vote in the U.N. in 1947 against Israeli independence
from the Arabs in Palestine. The prophecies may therefore refer only to some
of the nations listed.
Another question is whether they refer to all the citizens of these
nations, or just to some of them. Do they refer only to ethnic members of the
majority peoples of these countries or to the minorities as well? Other
questions include: whether every member of an ethnic group qualifies, or only
some of them; whether the nations listed above include all the lost tribes
(implying that some nations include several tribes), or whether other nations
are lost tribes (and, if so, which ones).
All of these and other questions are probably best left for later
consideration. ... It is further prophesied that correction of errors in the
religious beliefs of Christians and Jews in the land will permit their
unification; and that they will then be able to accept a common messianic
leader. These steps forward should make it possible to answer the more detailed
questions about the identification of peoples and individuals who are members of
the tribes of Israel.
In the meantime we can fulfill prophecy by proceeding simply with the
assembly in Israel of members of the nations which participated of their own
free will in the reconquest of the land, Australia, France, Italy, New
Zealand, U.K. and U.S. This might perhaps best be done by establishing in
Israel a large and growing settlement, including a military base, with its own
separate boundaries to be maintained until spiritual purification makes
religious unification possible.
[1] Source Records of the Great War, Vol. V, ed. Charles F. Horne, National
Alumni 1923
For More on this Subject and a discussion of this article, see:
The Striped-Tie Triad.
Brit-Am Ephraimite Mini-Summit in Jerusalem.
Subject of Discussion: Proposed Establishment of Ten Tribes Colonies in Israel and the Middle East.
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