Anglo-Israel Key Facts
Five Keys To Identify the Modern House of Israel
An Examination of the Argument Against the Anglo-Israel Belief
We often read articles concerning the Jewish people which proclaim that the Israeli state alone is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. Yet that covenant included many provisions of which all are important, and opponents of the Anglo-Israel or British-Israel belief have long ignored the "meat" of the Abrahamic Promises.
We read several of these provisions in Genesis 17:3-7, "And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."
It is easy to understand why such important provisions are usually all completely ignored by those who reject the Biblical-historical fact of the two houses of Israel, insisting that the Jewish people alone constitute all of Abraham's descendants. In just five verses we have been given five keys to the identification of Israel, not a single one of which is found in the Israeli state alone. Since the Abrahamic Covenant is unconditional, we should see all five of these identifications today in the people or nations as a whole who have together inherited the promises.
Many Nations
Our opponents really struggle to come up with an answer as to how the prophecy of "many nations" has been fulfilled entirely in only one nation, the Jewish state. Yet while rejecting the Anglo-Israel or Two Houses of Israel teaching, an official publication of the Messianic Judaism movement states that the Israeli state and the Christian Church together constitute the "nation and company of nations" that were to be given to Abraham. It states, "the 'commonwealth of Israel' (the Church) may be the unfolding of God's promise to Israel in Genesis 35:11, 'A nation and a company of nations shall come from you'." (Verge Bulletin, n.d., 2010) We thus have a picture of Jews and Gentiles inseparably bound as a Divine fulfillment. This is the foundation of the Two-House Anglo-Israel belief, and closely matches the teaching of John Wilson and other founders of the British-Israel movement. It is important to notice that this leading organ of Messianic Jewish scholarship cannot envision the Abrahamic Covenant being fulfilled only in the Jewish people. In finding Abraham's seed in two groups—Jews and non-Jews—they are in fact promoting a form of the Anglo-Israel "Two House" belief, even while claiming to reject it.
Another opponent is the well-known author of "cult" books, Dr. Walter L. Martin. He in turn flatly contradicted the teaching of the Messianic Jews, saying, "These 'nations' (goyim) in this prophecy about Ephraim, are Israelite 'nations', NOT Gentile nations." He stated that the Hebrew word, goyim, can be used of either Israelites or Gentiles, and insisted that these "goyim" were Israelites.
Notice how two leading critics of the Anglo-Israel / British-Israel belief flatly contradict each other, opposite poles apart, on how to interpret the "many nations" of Israel in prophecy. However, we must pose the question: could they both be in a sense correct? Could the Ten Tribe House of Israel have become lost and "gentilized" to become the many nations
of prophecy? Could the Israelite "company of nations" (Genesis 35:11) include Gentile Christian nations of Israelite descent? Interestingly, this understanding harmonizes all three viewpoints above, and makes the Anglo-Israel / British-Israel teaching into a reconciling bridge between two quite popular but contradictory opposing viewpoints.
However, having not proven his first thesis, Dr. Martin boldly went a step further: "So, when Jacob prophesied that Ephraim would become 'a multitude of nations' (Genesis 48:19), he meant Ephraim would become a leader of Israelite nations that would develop in Palestine and in Galilee. Indeed, this very prophecy was fulfilled in history." It may be news to you that supposedly a dozen Israelite nations all existed at one time crowded within the little land of Canaan—especially since neither the Bible nor history support any such idea!
Dr. Martin explains, "Before the people of Israel became one nation under King Saul (their first king), they are shown in the Scriptures to be disunited tribes that could be called small nations." His argument here is based upon the assumption that the early twelve tribes were really twelve nations, the judges were really twelve kings, and the Abrahamic Covenant therefore really only lasted until the end of the period of the Judges! Yet the prophecy in Genesis 49:1 said that the promises would be fulfilled in "the latter days," a period we call the Church Age, which Christian scholars point out extends from Christ's first coming until his second coming. The time of the Judges was NOT the "latter days" of prophecy.
Secondly, the tribes of Israel were not ruled by separate kings as the prophecy mandates, for the judges were not kings. In fact, the judges of ancient Israel did not even rule over an entire tribe, as verified by the Jewish Encyclopedia: "Indeed, most of the judges had only a local importance." (vii:381)
Thirdly, the twelve tribes did not each have a judge, nor were there twelve at a time consequtively throughout the period of the Judges.
Fourthly, the Abrahamic Covenant was unconditional and eternal, not limited to only a few years of Israel's earliest history. Did the Abrahamic Covenant come to an end before the time of Saul, David, and Solomon? If not, why is there no Jewish "company of nations" today? Such a doctrine is thoughtless and unScriptural!
If this argument was correct, think of the irony and insult to the Patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, who believed God's promise several times (Gen. 15:8; 17:6; 35:11) that their descendants would be a company of great and powerful nations—but instead (supposedly) the fulfillment was only limited to a group of early Old Testament kingless tribes harrassed by all of their neighbors! Even worse, Dr. Martin and his dispensationalist friends must believe that God lied when he promised Abraham, "kings shall come out of thee." (Gen. 17:6) This popular modern theologian, in his zeal to explain away the promises, in our estimation stands guilty of accusing God of lying about the eternal and unconditional nature of the covenant. This teaching effectively tells us that the Abrahamic covenant was very brief and came to an early end with the tribes uniting under King Saul.
We therefore see that only the Anglo-Israel teaching upholds the validity of God's Word and the unconditional fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant.
Abraham's New Name
God blessed Abram—whose name meant "father of a multitude"—with a new significant name: Abraham, meaning "father of many nations." Bible commentaries tell us that a bestowal of blessings was marked by a change of name. A good example of this was Jacob, whose name was changed to "Israel" (Gen. 35:10). We see this also in Sarai, whose name was changed to Sarah, meaning "princess" (Gen. 17:15). This was a title of royalty, and indicates that she would be the mother of nations. (Gen. 17:16) Note again that Abraham and Sarah would be ancestors of many nations, not just one. Again this fits the Anglo-Israel / British-Israel teaching.
If the Abrahamic Covenant was a temporary, short-term arrangement, as some seem to believe, then perhaps they think Abraham's name should be changed back to Abram, denoting the loss of nations that our opponents teaching proclaims?
Exceeding Fruitful
Not only were Abraham's descendants promised great and wonderful material blessings, but Spiritual blessings are also indicated in this covenant promise. The Abrahamic birthright blessing went to Joseph, and continued with his sons Ephraim and Manasseh and their descendants. The Hebrew name, Ephraim, means "fruitful" or "doubly fruitful." What nations and peoples in our world today have been blessed with great material blessings of fruitful lands and crops, as well as Spiritual blessings of faith in the Messiah of Israel, Jesus Christ? The Anglo-Israel belief finds this fulfilled in large part in the nations of Christendom.
Kings Shall Govern Them
"Kings shall come out of thee." (Gen. 17:6) For many centuries until 1948, the Jewish people did not have any nation at all, and still have no king. In years of reading religious journals, we have not seen a single article address this key provision of the Abrahamic Covenant. It cannot be millennial, for that will only consist of one covenant kingdom nation, not many. This too is a major key to the identification of the modern House of Israel.
It is an important Scriptural identification that for many centuries the European nations were ruled by kings. At the outbreak of World War I all but one of the nations of Europe were ruled by kings who were related to one another, including Russia. Does the Anglo-Israel teaching again make sense here?
A God Unto Thee and Thy Seed
The unconditional covenant given to Abraham specified that a believing arrangement would exist between Israel and their God. Yet many Christians today imagine that Israel, the covenant servant nation, was supposed to reject their Messiah in the Divine plan and purpose. Such is not the case. We read of the return of Israel to Zion in Jeremiah 3:14-15, "I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." See also Isaiah 42:6; 60:1-4; 61:6-7. The Anglo-Israel teaching points out that the Jewish people are not the segment of Israel who fulfilled this promise of a believing return to Zion.
God's Keys To Understanding
The greatest weapon in our opponent's arsenal is the general ignorance of the Scriptures today—a symptom of the lack of time spent in Bible reading and study. For many years, articles and books critical of the "Anglo-Israel" and "British-Israel" belief have shown time and again the utter baselessness, and sometimes even absurdity, of their arguments. In this article we have examined the teaching of the critics. Feel free to share this information with anyone you know who has been misled by the "anti-British-Israel" crowd.