PROPHECIES CONCERNING RESTORATION OF THE TEN
TRIBES
The prophecies concerning the restoration of the ten lost tribes are numerous, but perhaps none express it more clearly than does the prophet Jeremiah.
I am quoting quite a few scriptures below, but don’t omit any of them in
your reading. They show both God’s commitment and his love for his people:
“For, behold, days are coming,” declares the
LORD, “when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah...I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their
forefathers, and they shall possess it” (Jeremiah 30:3 NAS).
“The land,” to
which Jeremiah was referring, is the land of Canaan (Palestine) and he is speaking of the
fulfillment of a promise that God first had made to their ancestor Abraham when
Abraham journeyed out of the region of Haran (Genesis 12:1-3).
Through the generations, God had reaffirmed
this promise concerning the return of the ten tribes, and this place of return
even became known as the “Promised Land.”
It has been the traditional homeland of the Jews. The entire Jewish
Kingdom, as it was under the reign of David, included both the Northern and
Southern Tribes.
In a beautiful and
poetic discourse, Jeremiah continues with his prophecy, portions of which read
as follows:
“Fear not, O Jacob
My servant,” declares the LORD,
“And do not be
dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from afar,
And your offspring
from the land of their captivity.
And Jacob shall
return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and no one shall make him afraid...”
Thus says the
LORD, “Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob
And have
compassion on his dwelling places;
And the city shall
be rebuilt on its ruin,
And the palace
shall stand on its rightful place...”
“And you shall be
My people, and I will be your God.”
“At that time,”
declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
"And they shall be
My people...
I have loved you
with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have
drawn you with lovingkindness."
"Again I will build
you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel!
Again you shall
take up your tambourines, and go forth to the dances of the merrymakers.
Again you shall
plant vineyards On the hills of Samaria;
The planters shall
plant and shall enjoy them.
“For there shall
be a day when watchmen on the hills of Ephraim shall call out,
‘Arise, and let us
go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.’
For thus says the
LORD, “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
And shout among
the chiefs of the nations;
Proclaim, give
praise, and say, ‘O LORD, save Thy people, the remnant of Israel.’
And I will gather
them from the remote parts of the earth,
Among them the
blind and the lame,
The woman with
child and she who is in labor with child,
Together; a great
company, they shall return here. (Jeremiah
30:10,18,22; 31:1,3-8 NAS).
This is a promise
of a restoration of Israel and Judah in which God says that He will accomplish
His intention of gathering of His people back to the land of promise. Of Israel (the Ten Tribes) God specifically
says, “Behold, I am bringing them from the north country.”
There are many
other references in the Bible of this same promise, another of which is the
prophet Ezekiel.
And I will bring them out from the peoples
and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will
feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited
places of the land (Ezekiel 34:13 NAS).
However, as important as
this matter may seem to be, in the end of the matter, just how God will finally accomplish this
restoration is not really our main concern. If we hold the Bible to be true, we have
faith that God will restore His people in His manner and in His time.
Nevertheless, that
does not prevent our inquiring minds to wonder how this obstacle of restoring some tribes that have been lost for millennia will be
overcome, for the difficulties in doing so are great.
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(In the next post we will look at some of these difficulties, and also some conjectures of what is involved with these prophecies concerning the ten tribes)
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