The Northern and Southern Kingdoms in the Bible (and why they matter)

Seeing the distinction between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel in the Bible is essential to understand many of the events in the Old Testament and many things that happen in the New Testament, including statements made by the Messiah! If we don't have correct understanding of these separate entities, much of Scripture isn't going to make sense, and we will misunderstand our own identity.

Let's start off by looking at the Biblical term for YHWH's people: Israel. This term that means "overcoming with YHWH" or "YHWH overcomes" is first given to Jacob in Genesis 32:28. The term is then passed on to his family, including anyone not biologically related who chooses to serve YHWH and to overcome with him. The twelve tribes of Israel come from Jacob's sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naftali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph (which is subsequently given to his own sons - Ephraim and Manasseh), and Benjamin. While in Egypt their families grew into a great nation. The people of Israel were united through the Exodus, the years in the wilderness, the time of Joshua and Judges, and through the reigns of Kings Saul, David, and Solomon.

Shortly after the death of King Solomon, there was a dispute between the people their new king, Rehoboam. The people wanted him to lift the heavy burden of forced labor and taxation from the rule of Solomon but he he refused and the majority of Israel's tribes decided to stop honoring Rehoboam as their leader. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and at least part of Levi stuck with Rehoboam in the Southern Kingdom, while the majority of the tribes united as the Northern Kingdom. As the name of Israel was legally passed to Ephraim in Genesis 48:12-20, Ephraim and the other tribes in the North were collectively still known as Israel. Meanwhile the Southern Kingdom was known as Judah.

Why does this distinction matter? 

-The restoration of Israel is one of the main themes of Scripture. Scholars say that you're going to misunderstand 7/8 of the Bible if you don't make this distinction. If you don't differentiate the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, good luck trying to understand Kings as anything beyond legendary stories. You'll miss much of the Messiah's work, and many prophecies won't make sense at all. The terms are different because they mean different things. Lumping Israel and Judah together after 1 Kings 12 is going to cause confusion.

-Many have erroneously taught that only Jewish people (those descending from the tribe of Judah) are the chosen people of YHWH. Scripture does not teach this. What Scripture does teach is that Yahusha came for the lost tribes of Israel (Matthew 15:24). The Messiah came for all the tribes. Whether the tribe of Judah or Issachar or Ephraim or Gad, all are important to YHWH. When we realize that his people include all the tribes, we see the family growing by millions and millions. Most people with ancestry in ancient Israel are not Jews and do not come from Jews. Of course Scripture teaches that anyone covered by the blood of the Messiah is part of the people of Israel, regardless of if they have any blood connection to any of the twelve tribes.

-Believe that you are a gentile, and you will likely end up living like a gentile. There are many who sincerely desire to be part of YHWH's people, but live in ways that are totally against what he instructs...largely because they don't realize they are part of Israel! Again, this has nothing to do with your bloodline. It is your choice to join YHWH's people or not. Understanding that you are part of this is a wake up call that YHWH wants you to live differently than the rest of the world.

Have you ever considered that your ancestors could have seen the Dead Sea parted or lived in the Promised Land? That is such an amazing thought! It's very possible that your family could come from the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Lots of books and research suggest the migration of the Northern Kingdom tribes all over the world, so no matter what your nationality or ethnicity is, you could physically be from the house of Israel. While knowing for sure you are from a tribe of Israel may be lost to us, it is certainly not lost from YHWH. If we don't make the distinction between the North and South Kingdoms it's easy to miss Scripture's promise that YHWH will restore the lost tribes.

Related posts:
The Two Houses: Israel and Judah in Scripture
Understanding the Other 88% of the Bible
Not All Bible Characters were Jewish

Keeping the Torah Printable

Who has heard this verse before, "It makes no difference if a man is circumcised or not"? Usually the speaker goes on to explain that it doesn't matter at all if we follow YHWH's instructions. We are 'free' to do whatever we want, without any consequence is the line. But the very next sentence of the same verse says, "Keeping the Torah of YHWH is everything."

Sure, granted that translation is from the Restoration Scriptures and not something more mainstream. But even the NLT reads, "The important thing is to keep God's commandments." Keeping his instructions is important.

To understand the seeming contradiction in this text (circumcision is something YHWH commanded) we can read the verse this way, "It doesn't matter if you're circumcised or not - you still need to be obedient to YHWH." Many of us have treated our heritage as an exemption from keeping YHWH's commandments, thinking the instructions of Scripture are only for a different people group. And there was contention over this in ancient Israel as well. The use of the words 'circumcised' and 'uncircumcised' alludes to the two houses of Israel - Judah being the circumcised and Ephraim being uncircumcised. There was much confusion over how these distinct groups should behave and Paul is clarifying that here.

He is saying:
Even if you're circumcised and following the Torah, you need the Messiah.

Even if you have the Messiah, you need to follow the Torah.

The message here is that it's not enough to be circumcised out of family tradition or to celebrate Passover and then not wholeheartedly follow YHWH. We should honor the commandments because we love YHWH and want to serve Yahusha. We aren't to treat Torah observance like a free pass to get to Heaven. The point is love the Messiah and live in the way he instructed.

I made this printable because I want to be reminded of how important my obedience is to YHWH. While he knows my heart, he doesn't just ask of me that I love him or mean well. He wants each of us to truly follow him and walk in his ways. I hope this will remind you of that truth as well.

Click here to download. This printable is free for your personal use.

Was Everyone in the Bible Jewish?

Did you know that most of the people in the Bible weren't Jewish? A lot of people don't realize this fact, and discussing any sort of Biblical commandment beyond, 'Thou shall not kill,' I hear this phrase a lot: Biblical law was only for the Jews.

I've started asking a simple question - who are the Jews? - in response to this statement. The responses mention rabbis, those living in the modern country of Israel, people with Jewish ancestry, and, you know, all the people who are in the Bible!

Somehow most of us have been lead to believe that unless you've had a bar mitzvah and find yourself as a member of the modern Jewish religion, then God doesn't really expect you to actually do what he says.

I could not disagree more with this idea because of one simple detail. Most of the people in Scripture were not Jewish.

That's an unusual thought for most of us, but that doesn't mean it's not true. I mean no disrespect to the Jewish people. Indeed there are many people in the Bible, including the Messiah, who were from the tribe of Judah. I'm not arguing that. But we should be aware that Biblical law was given to many more people besides just one tribe of Israel.

In fact, did you know the word 'Jewish' isn't in Scripture all that much? If you do a word search, jewel or jewelry will come up far more often than the word 'Jew.' The words Jew, Jewish, or Judaism actually don't appear even once in the first five books of the Bible (the Torah), and only pop up a few times in the entire Old Testament, mostly in the book of Esther. Jeremiah uses Jew once, as does Zechariah, and it appears twice in Daniel. That's it. (Depending on the translation you're using.)

But, you may be saying, the people of Judah became the Jews. But please note, that does not mean everyone in Scripture.

We've talked briefly before about the fact that Abraham wasn't a Jew. Jacob's son Judah could arguably be referred to as the first Jew, though that's a stretch. I don't call my sister a Jordanite, just Jordan. Anyway, let's take a look at some other famous non-Jews in the Bible.

In addition to Abraham and Sarah, everyone before Judah was not Jewish. Including Adam and Eve, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob, Leah, and Rachel, as well as Noah and his family. And realistically the people of Judah weren't referred to as Jews for centuries after Judah, the son of Jacob, lived.

Who else in the Bible wasn't Jewish.

-Moses. Yes, the very giver of the law supposedly only for Jews wasn't one himself. Moses, his brother Aaron, and their sister Miriam were from the tribe of Levi. (Exodus 2:1)

-Joshua. The man who lead Israel into the promised land was from the tribe of Ephraim. (Numbers 13:8)

-Caleb. He and Joshua were the spies that came back with the good report and were the only people from the generation that left Egypt to see the promised land. Caleb wasn't a natural born Israelite at all, but a Kenezite who chose to follow YHWH. (Joshua 14:14)

-Rahab. She assisted the Israelite spies in Jericho, but was not an Israelite herself. She is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus. (Joshua 2:1, Matthew 1:5)

-Gideon. He was the judge who fought in battle to liberate Israel from the Midianites, from the tribe of Manasseh. (Judges 6:15)

-Samson. Israel's most famous judge was from the tribe of Dan. (Judges 13:2)

-Samuel. Israel's last judge and a prophet came from the territory of Ephraim and was raised in the Tabernacle by a Levite. (1 Samuel 1:1)

-Saul. The first king of Israel came from the tribe of Benjamin. (1 Samuel 9:1)

-Ruth. King David's great-grandmother was from Moab. (Ruth 1:4)

-Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Both prophets were from families of Levitical priests. Jeremiah's family resided in the land of Benjamin, and Ezekiel lived in Babylonian exile. (Jeremiah 1:1, Ezekiel 1:3)

-Obadiah. In addition to writing the book of his name, Obadiah hid a hundred prophets from Jezebel and Ahab. Scripture doesn't say for sure but since he worked in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, we have no reason to believe he was from Judah. (1 Kings 18)

-Micah. Being from Moresheth he was not a biological part of Israel, but he was still counted a member of the people of YHWH. God spoke through him to the people as well. (Micah 1:1)

-Elijah. Described as Tishbite from Gilead, Elijah was from one of the ten northern tribes, and not Judah. (1 Kings 17:1)

-Elisha. He was from a city called Abel-meholah in the Northern Kingdom of Israel and was from one of the northern tribes. (1 Kings 19:16)

This list is by no means exhausting. The tribal ancestry of most of the characters in the Bible is not listed. This is also not to say that those grated in or from a different tribe are better or worse than those from Judah. There are exploits of faith and sins attributed to those from Judah and Ephraim. There is no racial superiority in the Kingdom of Heaven, and God does not give different commandments depending on your family tree.

As one of from the tribe of Benjamin wrote in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile...for you all are one in the Messiah Yahusha." In other words, it is irrelevant if you were born Jewish or from another tribe or if you're a foreigner altogether. The Messiah makes his people one. Regardless of your genealogy, all believers are grafted in YHWH's people Israel.

Related posts:
Why Biblical Law is for All Believers
The Two Houses: Israel and Judah in Scripture
Why Paul Withstood Peter in Galatians 2