God's Endtime People & Lost Sheep
In Isaiah’s Endtime prophecy of America, Isaiah at the end of the prophecy speaks of three distinct groups that pass into the Millennium as God’s people. Isaiah puts it this way,
"In that day Israel shall be the third party to Egypt and to Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. Jehovah of Hosts will bless them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance." Isaiah 19:24, 25
"In that day Israel shall be the third party to Egypt and to Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. Jehovah of Hosts will bless them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance." Isaiah 19:24, 25
Dr. Gileadi's Commentary
"At all times, those whom Jehovah “blesses” are his covenant people who keep the terms of his covenant. In the time of trouble leading up to millennial age of peace, three groups qualify for that privilege: (1) Jehovah’s covenanters who dwell in Egypt, whom he acknowledges by the covenant formula “my people”; (2) descendants of the Ten Tribes who went captive into Assyria, whom he names “the work of my hands”; and (3) the Jews, who were known as Judah from the time Jehovah’s people divided into two nations, but whom Jehovah recognizes as “Israel my inheritance” when his people reunite."
"At all times, those whom Jehovah “blesses” are his covenant people who keep the terms of his covenant. In the time of trouble leading up to millennial age of peace, three groups qualify for that privilege: (1) Jehovah’s covenanters who dwell in Egypt, whom he acknowledges by the covenant formula “my people”; (2) descendants of the Ten Tribes who went captive into Assyria, whom he names “the work of my hands”; and (3) the Jews, who were known as Judah from the time Jehovah’s people divided into two nations, but whom Jehovah recognizes as “Israel my inheritance” when his people reunite."
God's Endtime Covenant People
Egypt (America) |
Assyria |
Israel |
Joseph |
Ten Tribes |
Judah |
Lost Sheep
From my understanding, the Jewish position on being Israel has been restricted to Jews who have been raised Jewish and/or have known Jewish ancestry. Some have been resistant to acknowledge that any other group have any ethnic connection with Jacob. But Genetic Science is changing the face of what or rather who is Israel. Though everything there is to know about Israelite DNA has not been completely revealed – the time will come when God will uncover the DNA record of Jacob’s descendants, when man is ready, so that God can fulfill His promises with all of Abraham descendants.
God’s promises with Abraham today does not only extend to the Jewish people, but also to all Israel who have lost their identity, whom God will uncover and reclaim. As an example of how this might manifest itself, I offer my own experience:
Uncovered
There has always been kind of a family mystery with why my father’s mother was tight lipped about her ancestry. We merely set it aside and moved to something else. My grandmother with her siblings and parents immigrated from Poland in 1914 to Western Canada. That’s about all we really knew until just recently when my brother started researching my grandmother’s genealogy. The story that has unfolded is the account of how a family’s journey to North America was effort to find peace away from not only the onslaught of WWI but also the ethnic discrimination of Jews in Poland.
My great grandfather was gainfully employed in Poland as a “JAG” officer in the naval forces so financially they had no need to relocate for economic reasons. Family stories that did slip through included mysterious deaths and murders of my grandmothers relatives, which we now believe were associated with them being Jewish. So the war was not the primary motivation for my great grandfather to move his family to a place of safety. But the real truth that my brother had uncovered about my grandmother’s genealogy is that her parents had lied about their ancestry to conceal their Jewish lineages. Ancestral surnames were not discussed, surname spellings were changed, and even were replaced by different names – all in an effort to hold secret the origin of their identity. Like many Jews, my great grandparents left behind their ethnic identity to find peace and safety – they became lost sheep.
But this story does not completely tell what God has in store for Him to honor His promises to Abraham – finding the lost sheep of Israel. Paper genealogy can generally uncover a person’s ancestral record back for a few hundred years, but DNA is a genealogical record that can go back thousands of years. Both Ydna – the direct paternal line - and Mtdna – the direct maternal line - change little over time. These direct parental lines reveal who our original ancestral parents were. So it is conceivable that Abraham’s descendants can be identify through DNA – a biological record of who are our ancestral parents.
From my understanding, the Jewish position on being Israel has been restricted to Jews who have been raised Jewish and/or have known Jewish ancestry. Some have been resistant to acknowledge that any other group have any ethnic connection with Jacob. But Genetic Science is changing the face of what or rather who is Israel. Though everything there is to know about Israelite DNA has not been completely revealed – the time will come when God will uncover the DNA record of Jacob’s descendants, when man is ready, so that God can fulfill His promises with all of Abraham descendants.
God’s promises with Abraham today does not only extend to the Jewish people, but also to all Israel who have lost their identity, whom God will uncover and reclaim. As an example of how this might manifest itself, I offer my own experience:
Uncovered
There has always been kind of a family mystery with why my father’s mother was tight lipped about her ancestry. We merely set it aside and moved to something else. My grandmother with her siblings and parents immigrated from Poland in 1914 to Western Canada. That’s about all we really knew until just recently when my brother started researching my grandmother’s genealogy. The story that has unfolded is the account of how a family’s journey to North America was effort to find peace away from not only the onslaught of WWI but also the ethnic discrimination of Jews in Poland.
My great grandfather was gainfully employed in Poland as a “JAG” officer in the naval forces so financially they had no need to relocate for economic reasons. Family stories that did slip through included mysterious deaths and murders of my grandmothers relatives, which we now believe were associated with them being Jewish. So the war was not the primary motivation for my great grandfather to move his family to a place of safety. But the real truth that my brother had uncovered about my grandmother’s genealogy is that her parents had lied about their ancestry to conceal their Jewish lineages. Ancestral surnames were not discussed, surname spellings were changed, and even were replaced by different names – all in an effort to hold secret the origin of their identity. Like many Jews, my great grandparents left behind their ethnic identity to find peace and safety – they became lost sheep.
But this story does not completely tell what God has in store for Him to honor His promises to Abraham – finding the lost sheep of Israel. Paper genealogy can generally uncover a person’s ancestral record back for a few hundred years, but DNA is a genealogical record that can go back thousands of years. Both Ydna – the direct paternal line - and Mtdna – the direct maternal line - change little over time. These direct parental lines reveal who our original ancestral parents were. So it is conceivable that Abraham’s descendants can be identify through DNA – a biological record of who are our ancestral parents.
Even though I have always thought that I was a “Gentile” and indeed I probably do have Gentiles in my genealogy, paper and especially genetic genealogy is forcing me to accept a different paradigm. Its forcing me to accept the facts of who my original ancestral parents were. The table below is the exact matches of my Ydna. It reveals anciently my ancestral origin. DNA pierces through the many generations of ancestors and can identify who a persons original ancestral parents were.
So if you were to trace the ancient immigration of my ancestors on a map, it would look like this.
What this DNA trail uncovers is that my ancient ancestors immigrated from the Middle-East through Italy, then Spain and into the Ireland and England – a typical path of Israelites fleeing into the Diaspora. Moreover, my story is not unlike many Americas whos ancestors immigrated from Western Europe.
“People will need to be open to the idea that many “Gentiles” are really Israelites who have lost their identity, whom God will uncover and reclaim”
Yeshua taught on the idea of many late-coming Israelites returning to their ancestral origins through the story of the prodigal son - Luke 15, and the parable of the wage earners - Matt 20. These teachings speak to those who were lost and whom would be gathered again.
Reclaimed
Being reclaimed is the process of coming to know your ancestral origins and embracing your ancestral heritage. For those who come to know their Jewish origins through DNA, many are returning to Israel and reclaiming their Jewish heritage accepting the ways and practices of the Jewish people. Indeed, this is the path that I have found myself following, maybe not as a Jew but as a descendant of Abraham – perhaps as Dr. Gileadi has suggested through Joseph in Egypt-America. Embracing the law of my ancient people - Torah and the Hebrew tongue.
Born of God
Even though DNA can help people come to know their ancestral origins and embrace their ancestral heritage, in the end, it won’t bring them to Messiah. Even the most well connected person to Israel through DNA won’t pass into the Millennial reign of the Messiah unless they accept Yeshua as Messiah, establish a covenant relationship with Him, and are Born of God through the Spirit.
Reclaimed
Being reclaimed is the process of coming to know your ancestral origins and embracing your ancestral heritage. For those who come to know their Jewish origins through DNA, many are returning to Israel and reclaiming their Jewish heritage accepting the ways and practices of the Jewish people. Indeed, this is the path that I have found myself following, maybe not as a Jew but as a descendant of Abraham – perhaps as Dr. Gileadi has suggested through Joseph in Egypt-America. Embracing the law of my ancient people - Torah and the Hebrew tongue.
Born of God
Even though DNA can help people come to know their ancestral origins and embrace their ancestral heritage, in the end, it won’t bring them to Messiah. Even the most well connected person to Israel through DNA won’t pass into the Millennial reign of the Messiah unless they accept Yeshua as Messiah, establish a covenant relationship with Him, and are Born of God through the Spirit.
"Ultimately, it is what we do, the agreements we enter into with God, that establishes a relationship with Him and not DNA. So anyone can become God’s Covenant People."
Yeshua/Jesus affirmed this concept when He taught His Jewish brethren:
“If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.”
John 8:39
"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Matthew 15:20
“If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.”
John 8:39
"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Matthew 15:20