“From the rising of the sun even to its setting, My Name will be great among the Gentiles,” says Yahweh Sabaoth.

(Malachi 1: 11)

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“Jews” and “The Children of Israel” are not the Same Thing

With Passover approaching, The History Channel is airing a miniseries about the life of Jesus.  It includes commentary by so-called “experts” who provide their interpretations of facts.

Most of the “experts” interviewed in the miniseries made a huge mistake, and they repeat it often.  They confuse Jews with the Children of Israel.  It’s as though they think Jews and the Children of Israel mean the same thing.

Jews are not the Children of Israel.  Jews are a subset of the Children of Israel.  That distinction is critically important.

Below are facts that believers must understand, especially now:

1. The Children of Israel went to Egypt with Jacob/Israel, their father.
2. Joseph, one of Jacob’s/Israel’s sons, went before them. He was not a Jew.
3. Jews are descendants of Judah.
4. Judah was 1 of Jacob’s/Israel’s 12 sons. He was not all 12 of them.
5. The Children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt, all 12 of them and not Judah alone.
6. Yahweh led the Children of Israel out of Egypt during the Exodus and gave them land that we call the Promised Land.
7. The Children of Israel settled the Promised Land.
8. Joseph got a double portion in the Promised Land: one for his son Manasseh and one for his son Ephraim.
9. Levi didn’t get a portion of land.  Yahweh is Levi’s portion.
10. Eventually, David became the united Israel’s first king. Solomon was king over a united Israel, too.
11. After Solomon’s death, Israel divided into 2 kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south.
12. When Solomon died, Benjamin was a very small tribe. It was absorbed into Judah.
13. The Northern Kingdom, Israel, consisted of 10 tribes.
14. The Southern Kingdom, Judah, consisted of 2 tribes.
15. Israel, the Northern Kingdom, rebelled against Yahweh, and He allowed the Assyrians to overthrow the Northern Kingdom and take the people away as captives. Most of them didn’t return. Some of their descendants are beginning to return now.
16. Judah, the Southern Kingdom, rebelled against Yahweh, too, and He allowed the Babylonians to overthrown them and take them captive. After 70 years of captivity, Yahweh inspired King Cyrus to allow the Jews to return to the Promised Land.
17. While they were in captivity in Babylon, Jewish religious leaders developed what we know today as Judaism. When they returned to the Promised Land, they imposed Judaism on the people.  That was in the 500s BC.
18. There is a huge difference between Judaism and faith in Yahweh.
19. Judaism is based on things that Jewish sages said about Yahweh’s word. The sages developed Halacha.  It’s called Jewish law.  Halacha is also called the Oral Law and the traditions of the Jews.  In Judaism, Halacha has precedence over Yahweh’s word.
20. Faith in Yahweh is based on Yahweh’s word. I call it the faith of Abraham.  Yahweh said that nothing has precedence over His word.  Abraham knew that.  See The Trilogy for details.

People who don’t understand the distinction between the Children of Israel and Jews have no hope of understanding Ezekiel 37 or any other promise that Yahweh made about reuniting His people.  They also have no hope of understanding Yahweh’s End of Days promises.

As John Adams famously said, “Facts are stubborn things.”

The picture below shows the Promised Land with the boundaries of the tribes of Israel.

Greater Israel

Below is a map of Greater Israel that Yahweh talked about in the Torah.  There may be hatred toward Israel today, but when Yahweh returns, His enemies will go nuts.

Confusion Abounds

In Israel right now, there is a heated debate about the so-called “Nation-State Law”.  In essence, it says that Israel is a Jewish state.  As you can see, the Israeli people confuse Israel and Judah, too.

I love the Israeli people and I love Israel, but they need to understand that Israel was promised to the Children of Israel, not to Judah alone.

More Confusion: Where was Yahweh’s Temple?

Today in Israel, there is lots of confusion about lots of things including the location of Yahweh’s Temple.

The picture below was taken in the Archaeological Park beside the Temple Mount south of the Kotel on the west side near the SW corner.

Those paving stones you see in the picture were street level in 70 AD when Yahweh’s Temple was destroyed by the Romans. Something very heavy was thrown off the top of the Temple Mount.

Proving that Yahweh’s Temple was not on the Temple Mount will require people who challenge that perspective to explain what caused those pavement stones to be crushed.

Investigating and finding facts about the Temple’s location is on my list of things to do. Until I know different, I will assume that the Temple was on the Temple Mount.  Mountains of evidence that I know about supports that perspective.  At this point, only conjecture supports other perspectives.

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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)

See “His Name is Yahweh”.