The Two Houses: Israel and Judah in Scripture

When I was growing up we typically went to church twice a week, but I never once heard that there were two houses of Israel in Scripture. I distinctly remember in my teens reading through the whole Bible and wondering why in Kings it kept going back and forth between mentioning Judah and mentioning Israel. Weren't these the same thing?

It has been said by Biblical scholars that if you don't realize that there are two houses of Israel then you're going to misunderstand seven-eighths of the Bible! I heard that quote before I knew about the two tribes and, in all honesty, I didn't believe it. Sure, I wasn't a Bible expert, but I grew up in church and was very familiar with Scripture. How could a topic that seems like it is barely brought up keep me from understanding properly almost 90% of the word?

Originally there was only one kingdom of Israel, which was made up of twelve tribes, named after the sons of Jacob/Israel. The tribes had their own territory, comparable to the states making up the USA. However, the kingdom split after King Solomon died. A great portion of Scripture relates to the two houses becoming unified again.

Where we see the two houses of Israel and Judah in Scripture:

1 Kings 11:31 - The prophet Ahijah tore his garment into twelve pieces, and told Jeroboam to take ten, because YHWH was tearing the reign from Solomon and giving it to Jeroboam. This was happening because Solomon had forsaken YHWH and worshipped Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Molech and did not follow Biblical law (verse 33). Since Jeroboam is not given all twelve tribes, this makes two separate kingdoms of YHWH's people.

1 Kings 12 - This is where the people rebelled against Solomon's son, King Rehoboam, on account of heavy labor and taxation. Verse 20, "It came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only." David's grandson, Rehoboam was now king of Judah (and also Levi, since the temple was in Jerusalem, where he reigned), while Jeroboam was now king of Israel. (Note that the birthright to the name of Israel was given by Israel/Jacob himself to his grandson Ephraim in Genesis 48. This is why the ten tribes were called Israel.)

Jeremiah 31:31 - "The days are coming," declares YHWH, "when I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah." There are many verses like this in the Bible, that we just won't be able to make sense of unless we acknowledge the split between Israel and Judah. It's significant that both houses are involved in the new covenant! The Gospel is not just for people of a certain bloodline or background, forgiveness and redemption is available to all. 

2 Kings 17:23 - "Israel was exiled from their land to Assyria, as it is to this day." This happened in roughly 740 BC, later we see the house of Judah taken into Babylonian captivity around 600 BC. We simply cannot reconcile the accounts of the Bible unless we look at Israel and Judah as separate entities at this point. It's also imperative to recognize that while the house of Judah returned from exile after 70 years and their culture was intact at the time of the Messiah, the house of Israel was scattered and 'lost,' which leads us to a major theme in Scripture of YHWH regathering and restoring his people.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 - Do you know the story of the dry bones? If not, please read it because it's amazing! But it's not just a euphemism for areas of our lives that feel hopeless. The Bible explains in verse 11, "These bones are the house of Israel." 

Ezekiel 37:15-28 - YHWH instructs Ezekiel to connect two sticks that he has written on. One says, "For Judah," and the other, "For Ephraim." This was a visual illustration of all twelve tribes being reunited, even though by this time the people of house of Israel had been scattered abroad.

The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) - While you are probably familiar with this story, it's interesting to see that the Messiah is acknowledging the separation of the tribes here. In his story, the first two people that pass the man who had been beaten, robbed, and left for dead were a priest and a Levite, so they would be from the house of Judah. Many people in Samaria at that time were from the house of Israel. The Messiah's point is not that one tribe is better than the others here. Since many of those in Judah looked down on those from the house of Israel, he used this story to say that he didn't look down on those from Israel or think they were all bad.

1 Kings 22:2 - "King Jehoshaphat of Judah went down to visit King Ahab of Israel." As the chapter goes on they speak to each other and talk about going to war together, showing the houses operate as separate entities from each other with their own armies, etc. Many people read through Kings and don't catch that Israel and Judah are two distinct kingdoms, but in this chapter it's easy to see.

Hosea - The story of Hosea being told to marry a harlot makes a lot more sense when we look at it through the lens of the house of Israel. Judah wasn't perfect either, but the house of Israel went significantly astray from YHWH. Jeroboam's sin of not adhering to Biblical law would later lead Israel into the grievance of worshiping demonic entities, thereby committing harlotry against YHWH. Hosea's action was a beautiful foreshadow of him lovingly coming after the unfaithful house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24 - "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Raise your hand if you've understood this verse to mean that the Messiah came only for Jews. Raise your other hand if you've believed that the Gospel was only made available to everyone because Jewish leaders rejected the Messiah. I have both arms up. I used to read this verse and feel slightly rejected because I am not from the tribe of Judah, but that's not what the Messiah is saying here. He said he came for the house of Israel, a people that had been in captivity and scattered in the nations for more than 750 years when he made this statement. Most of these people weren't serving YHWH, didn't know his instructions (let alone follow them), and wouldn't have known that their ancestors were part of Israel and the family of YHWH. That's significant because he's still after people like that.

Acts 13:46 - "It was necessary that the word of YHWH should be spoken to you first; but seeing as you push it away, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, we turn to the Gentiles." This happened shortly after Peter's vision about not believing that certain people were unclean or unfit for the Gospel. It was after that revelation that the Gospel was preached outside of the house of Judah. Up until then, New Testament leaders struggled with manmade teachings about those from Judah being superior to those from the house of Israel, or other nations.

Hebrews 8:8-9 - "I shall make with the house of Israel and house of Judah a new covenant, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers when I lead them out of Egypt." Another reiteration of YHWH bringing the houses back together and making covenant with the people of both houses.

These are a handful of examples, but once you recognize this distinction you will start to see it throughout the Bible. The prophets frequently specify which group they are talking to, and once you realize that, they don't sound wishy-washy, saying one thing and then another, because you realize different messages were for the different houses! Kings is another great example, the story of Elijah calling fire down from heaven happened in Israel; the evil Athaliah, who murdered all but one of her grandchildren, was Queen of Judah. These distinctions matter and will help you to better understand the word!

Related posts:
Understanding the Other 88% of the Bible

Commandments or Traditions: Understanding the New Testament
Comparing the Melchizedek and Levitical Priesthoods

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

Four Distinctions We Need To Make To Understand Scripture

"Study to show yourself approved before YHWH, a workman that needs to not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - 2 Timothy 2:15

Rightly divide the word of truth. This little verse has enormous ramifications. If you can rightly divide that means you can also wrongly divide. And since you have to study that means most of Scripture isn't readily understood in a cursory reading. And if you don't divide Scripture correctly you have good reason to be ashamed.

These distinctions I'm sharing with you today are just that: distinctions. They are different from the way most read Scripture. If we don't make these distinctions we will be left with huge passages of Scripture that are baffling and contradictory. But we know that YHWH's word is true and when we learn to divide correctly we find more of the treasures he has concealed for us in his word (Proverbs 25:2).

Israel vs. Judah

While the twelve tribes were united through King Solomon they split into two separate kingdoms under the reign of his son Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12. Ephraim was the strongest of the ten northern tribes and had been given the birthright to the name of Israel (see Genesis 48 when Jacob/Israel blesses Joseph's sons), so the Northern Kingdom was called Israel and the southern tribes banned together under their strongest tribe, Judah.

The Kingdom of Israel strayed from YHWH having only evil rulers that led the people into idolatry. The Kingdom of Judah did somewhat better at serving YHWH. Both Kingdoms eventually were exiled as punishment form YHWH; Judah was captive 70 years in Babylon before returning. The House of Israel has still not been regathered, its people scattered amongst every nation on earth (Micah 5:8).

Hebrews 8:8 - The day comes, says the Master YHWH, when I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah.

Restoring the two Houses of Israel and Judah back into one is a foundational theme of Scripture, and something all believers should long and pray for. But if we don't make the distinction of the split it is impossible to see.

Book of the Covenant vs. Book of the Law
The Book of the Covenant contains the instructions on feast days, the Sabbath, clean eating, and other instructions on how to live, while the Book of the Law is mostly instructions for the sacrificial system under the Levitical priesthood. Most translations of the Bible lump these together under the word "law" creating much confusion.

Galatians 2:16 - We are declared righteous by faith in Messiah and not by works of the law.

This verse is stating that the Levitical sacrificial system is inferior to the Messiah's sacrifice and cannot make people righteous. It is not saying that we are not to honor YHWH's instructions in the Book of the Covenant for how we live. If we don't treat these books as different, we get Covenant and priesthood very mixed up with terrible consequences of sin against YHWH.

Melchizedek Priesthood vs. Levitical Priesthood
Under the Levitical system only Aaron's descendants were allowed to serve as priests. No special exception was made for our high priest Yahusha. Psalm 110 says that his priesthood is of the Melchizedek order. This is not a carbon copy of the Levitical system with a new high priest. While the Levites needed the blood of bulls and goats, the Melchizedek priesthood's sacrifice is the Messiah.

1 Peter 2:9 - You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a set apart nation.

Melchizedek means 'King of Righteousness' so when Peter penned, "a royal priesthood," he wrote "a Melchi priesthood." He was talking about the Melchizedek priesthood, which is not limited to the tribe of Levi. YHWH calls all believers to participate in the priesthood under Yahusha.

Unclean vs. In Sin
A major theme of the book of Leviticus is clean and unclean. These are the world's oldest instructions on hygiene. A house could become unclean if there was a certain type of mold in it. A woman on her period was considered unclean. Cooking pots were unclean if a forbidden animal fell in. Touch a dead body made a person unclean. But please note, it was not a sin to be in an unclean state!

Matthew 8:3 - Yahusha touched him and said, "I am willing; be clean." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

The Messiah became unclean to heal this man with leprosy, but that was not sin. Yahusha did not sin or bend the rules of the Torah to heal this man. While you certainly can choose to sin in an unclean state, being unclean doesn't make you to sin. YHWH was not creating worthless hoops to jump through, but giving instructions on healthy living for his people. The Messiah upheld Biblical law regarding cleanness (see Luke 17, when he sent the ten former lepers to be pronounced clean by the priest, as Scripture instructs), just as he upheld the rest of the Bible.

Learning the differences in these concepts will give you a much better understanding of Scripture. It really amazes me how much more sense the Bible makes as I learn more of these truths.

Related posts:

Commandments or Traditions - Understanding the New Testament
The Three Types of Law in Scripture
Comparing the Melchizedek and Levitical Priesthoods

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

Understanding the Other 88% of The Bible

In The first time I read the entire Bible I had a lot of questions.

So many. Things like, "When will I get to the part where it says to ask Jesus into my heart?" and, "Where are Christmas and Easter?" or "When does God say to forget all the instructions he gave?"

I enjoyed the beautiful and poetic writings of the prophets and enjoyed the adventures of the rulers in Kings and Chronicles, but one thing didn't make sense. Why does it keep switching from Israel to Judah?

At the time I assumed they were both names for the same thing. Still this caused me great confusion because often the statements about or directed towards Israel were very different than the words about Judah. Several years ago, I stumbled across this quote:

"Not to understand the distinction of Israel from Judah is to positively misunderstand seven-eighths of the Bible." -Edward Hine.

In No wonder the confusion! A huge amount of Scripture - roughtly 88% by Hine's view - distinguishes between Israel and Judah. If I don't grasp this then I miss a huge amount of YHWH's truth.

So what's the difference?

The first time the word Israel appears is in Genesis 32:28 when Jacob is renamed Israel. His name is used to describe his descendants. His twelves sons and their families are known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

One of those tribes is known as Judah, after Jacob's fourth son. His descendants would later be known as Judahites, and later after that a certain sect of them would be known as Jews, known for practicing Judaism.

For centuries the tribes peaceably lived united under the name of Israel. Around 930 B.C. the nation of Israel was divided when King Rehoboam, son of Solomon, raised taxes and caused the tribes that were in the northern part of the country to rebel. They seceded from the King who was from the tribe of Judah and were ruled by Jeroboam of the tribe of Ephraim. You can read about this in 1 Kings 12. We know from 2 Chronicles 11:1 that in addition to the tribe of Judah, King Rehoboam also continued to rule over the tribe of Benjamin.

So when the stories in Kings switch back and forth from the King of Israel to the King of Judah, this is why! This seems obvious now that I know it but I missed this for years. I had read Kings, Chronicles, and the prophets many times without catching this! Learning this made understanding Scripture much easier for me and I hope it will for you as well.

Related posts:
The Two Houses: Israel and Judah in Scripture
Four Distinctions We Need to Make to Understand Scripture
Comparing the Melchizedek and Levitical Priesthoods

The Ten Lost Tribes: A World History - What I'm Reading

Browsing the shelves in a library, I happened to come across this book. What are the odds of that?

Until the last few years I had never heard of the Lost Tribes of Israel.

As author Zvi Ben-Dor Benite presents, until the last few centuries the Lost Tribes were an incredibly popular subject; mentioned by the likes of John Calvin, Thomas Jefferson, the Israeli Parliament, Herman Melville, a 19th century theatrical parody, John Milton's Paradise Regained, and Theodore Roosevelt, among others.

A little background information:

The sons of Israel (better known as Jacob) comprise the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Through the reign of King Solomon the tribes were united as one nation known as Israel. When Solomon's son Rehoboam became king he became so harsh that the ten northern tribes revolted and the House of Israel was split in two. See 1 Kings 12:16.

The northern tribes--Ephraim, Manasseh, Reuben, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, Issachar, Asher, Simeon, and Zebulon--were known as Israel, and the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin became known as Judah. (Levi doesn't have a land inheritance but they mostly stayed with Judah.)

This is why when you read in Kings and Chronicles it will say, "During the reign of ______ King of Israel," or "King _____ of Judah." I'd always thought Israel could be used interchangeably with Judah—like America or United States—but they are separate kingdoms!

So why are the tribes lost?

Around 740 BC Israel (the northern ten tribes) were taken captive by the Assyrians. This is seen in 2 Kings chapters 17 and 18, and 1 Chronicles 5.

Around 605 BC, Judah was also taken captive, but this time it was by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Judah was captive for 70 years and then returned to their land. The books of Nehemiah and Ezra discuss the return of the exiles to the land.

The Ten Lost Tribes: A World History is filled with fascinating stories of adventurers who searched the earth for the Lost Tribes. They believed they would find them in a specific, hard-to-reach place (the Island of Atlantis, perhaps?), and that they would be obviously Israelite.

Unlike the southern tribes the House of Israel never came back from the exile. They assimilated into the nations and forgot their Israelite identity. Certainly, there are hundreds of millions of people today who have descended from the Lost Tribes, but have no idea. YHWH promised Abraham that his descendants would fill the earth, and there must descendants from the Lost Tribes in every nation.

There are shreds of Hebrew evidence around the globe. The Ten Lost tribes recounts the story of a Marrano Jew named Antonio Montezinos travellin in South America in the 1600s. A local man named Francisco learned of Montezinos' background and offered to take him on a journey to "see your brothers." For one week, they crossed rivers and swamps in what is now Colombia. After resting on the Sabbath they reached a river on a Tuesday morning. Three men and a woman appeared by canoe, excited to meet Montezinos, and began reciting the Shema.

What an amazing story! The Ten Lost Tribes contains many such fascinating fragments. Many considered Native Americans to be the Lost Tribes. Yemeni Jews often said the tribes could be found, "beyond China." A man called Ben-Israel wrote in the 1600s that "a great number of Jews" in China could be descendants of the Lost Tribes. Expeditions were sent to India and others theorized the tribes had gone to the North Pole before venturing elsewhere. Mexico was a popular location, and some believe the tribes had crossed the Atlantic Ocean by way of the legendary Island of Atlantis.

This book was a fascinating read, and much praise goes to Zvi Ben-Dor Benite for what surely must have been a mountain of research. This book is rich in insight for anyone learning of Israel's Lost Tribes.