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Fundamentals of Dispensational Truth.
(Second Series).
#8.
The nations of Israel never "lost".
Spiritual testimony to the fact that "the Jews" are a people
composed of the twelve tribes of Israel (Kings and Chronicles).
pp. 13 - 20
In the present series we have so far gone through the history of the Kingdom of Israel
in very broad outline, and have explained our reasons for adopting this method. Our next
subject must be a study of the Prophets, but before we turn to this great theme, we feel
that we should devote one more article to the record of the Kings, and consider briefly the
claims of those who believe that the ten tribes were "lost", and that they are now to be
"found" again under another name. We are not allowing ourselves to be drawn into a
controversy, and we do not intend filling our pages with criticism. It is a legitimate part
of our business, however, to search the Scriptures and to register our findings, and if
these findings contradict the theories held by others we have no option but to reject such
theories as unscriptural.
We preface our study by asking the question, Does Scripture say that the house of
Israel is "lost"? We can at once answer this question with a decided negative. The next
question to be asked is, Do the Scriptures tell us where the house of Israel is to be
found?--and to this the answer is that they do. In the following pages we give chapter
and verse for both these answers.
The division of the nation into "Israel" and "Judah" was consequent upon the
idolatrous affinities contracted by Solomon. After revealing the names, nationality and
number of his wives, and the fact that Solomon "went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the
Zidonians", the record continues:
"And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord
God of Israel . . . . . wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon . . . . . I will surely rend the
kingdom from thee and give it to thy servant . . . . . I will rend it out of the hand of thy
son . . . . . I will give one tribe to thy son for David My servant's sake, and for
Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen" (I Kings 11: 9-13).
The actual rending of the kingdom is related in I Kings 12: When Rehoboam,
Solomon's son, ascended the throne of all Israel, Jeroboam, who had fled to Egypt from
the presence of Solomon, returned and headed a gathering to protest against the heavy
yoke of taxation that had been imposed by Solomon. Instead of granting some measure
of relief, Rehoboam listened to the younger men and not only refused to grant relief but
threatened to intensify the burden.