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!
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