More Jews Return to their Ancestral Land of Israel

More Jews Return to their Ancestral Land of Israel

Very striking here is the time element! As we saw earlier, Israel had to wait 2,520 years from the time of her Assyrian oppression and captivity before receiving the actual fulfillment of the birthright promises. This coincides exactly with Britain's population explosion, which gave the British the impetus to spread abroad.

Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, in 1907, expressed the belief that God had put in the Englishmen a divine impulse to establish colonies around the globe: "I would describe the [British] Empire... as the result, not of an accident or a series of accidents, but of an instinct-that ineradicable and divinely implanted impulse, which has sent the Englishman forth into the uttermost parts of the earth, and made him there the parent of new societies and the architect of unpremeditated creations" (The British Empire, BBC TV and Time-Life Books, p. 2,466).

Palestine Given Back to the Jewish People Prophesied: Palestine was lost to Babylon because of the sins of Judah, Benjamin and Levi in 604 B.C. The king of Babylon ruled over it and Judah lost their birthright and were taken captive. After that, even though the Jews Returned, they never had control over the land. Every empire after Babylon controlled it. The land was NEVER UNDER JEWISH CONTROL.

Let's apply the same formula of "seven times" punishment, to the Jews losing their birthright. 2520 subtracted from 604 B.C. comes to 1916 A.D., now add one year because of the 1 B.C. 1 A.D. factor and you come up with 1917 A.D.

This happens to be the year when General Allenby of the British Forces, captured Gaza, Beersheba, and so on in Palestine, and on December 11th, he entered Jerusalem exactly "seven times," after the taking of Palestine from Babylon! The British came and liberated it from the Turks.

In Ezekiel 25:14 we read of the prophecy of this event: "And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom [Turkey] by the hand of my people Israel: [Britain] and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD."

Isaiah writes that Jerusalem would be saved in this way: "As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it."(Isa 31:5). Airplanes had a lot to do with the liberation of Jerusalem from the Turks! Isaiah saw something like "birds flying" trying to describe what he saw in his day! He saw Airplanes!

The News Papers at that time said: "The General commanding the Egyptian Expeditionary force reported that his planes were doing 'good work, 800 feet below sea level" (As Birds Flying Over Jerusalem, by Covenant Books). Jerusalem was not even touched by any bomb, nor was a shot fired, as God promised to deliver it, and protect it.

On 11 December, General Allenby, the leader of the delivering forces, WALKED into Jerusalem through the "Gate of the Friend" (Jaffa Gate), outside which military guards were drawn up, ready to join the procession into the city. The guard on the one side was formed by soldiers from Great Britain, and on the other side by Australian and New Zealand troops, for it must be remembered that this deliverance was carried out entirely by forces of the British "nation and company of nations" (Genesis 35:11). General Allenby officially accepted the surrender of the Holy City from the foot of David's Tower, and a comforting proclama­tion was read in seven languages, telling the people that they could go quietly and undisturbed about their ordinary business, and all their holy places would be respected. Jerusalem was no longer "trodden down of the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). The Turks, however, made up their minds to get Jerusalem back at any cost; they attacked the British line furiously. Massey tells us that on 27 December they made 13 determined attacks during the morning, but failed to pierce the defence. Prisoners taken revealed that they had been promised as an inducement that when they recaptured Jerusalem, they should have one day in the city to do just as they liked. Meanwhile, during this fighting, the inhabitants of the "delivered" city were on the roofs of their houses, praying that their British deliverers might have strength to withstand the attacks. We all know the result: the Turkish oppressor was driven off, and Jerusalem came under British protection Now what does this have to do with the Jews? Because of Allenby's victory it put Israel under Brit­ish mandate. This mandate, called the Balfour Declaration, called for a Jewish homeland and set the foundation for modern Israel.

 

Balfour Declaration 1917

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely,

Arthur James Balfour

This led the way for the first Jewish Immigrants to Palestine, and the House of Judah got their land back, exactly "SEVEN TIMES" after the House of Judah, were without their national inheritance, for 2520 years!

Why Israel Lost their Identity

The main vanguard of the Israelite - the northern kingdom - who bore the national name "Kingdom of ISRAEL" - became a nation lost in all history. So far as historic records are concerned, the earth might as well have opened her mouth and swallowed them. The Main reason why these people are not identified as Israel, is because Israel lost their identity! But How?

Long before, and after the deportation of Israel into Assyria, we have seen that Israel was called by many different names by others, and by themselves. The Jewish people on the other hand know their identity, they know they are Israel. There is one main reason why the House of Judah [the Jews] still know who they are, and the House of Israel [the Northern ten tribes] don't.

God had given them a very special everlasting COVENANT containing a SIGN of IDENTITY. It is not generally known or recognized that the Eternal made with His people, while still at Mt. Sinai, a separate, special, eternally binding COVENANT, providing a SIGN of IDENTITY.

The special Covenant is found in Exodus 31:12-17: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children if Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep. . ." (Ex. 31:12­13). Notice which day is "the Lord's day." The Eternal calls the Sabbaths "my sabbaths." The sabbaths are His - they did not belong to Israel - they are not our days, but the Lord's. They are not "the Jewish Sabbaths" or "the Gentile Sabbaths." The Sabbath is a space of time. That time, when­ever it arrives, is not ours, but God's.

Now study this special covenant a little further: ". . .for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you" (Ex. 31:13).

Notice! Here is the purpose of the Sabbath: ". . .for it is a SIGN. . . ." What is a sign?

A sign is a badge, symbol, or token of identity. You see the sign, "A.B. Brown, Furniture and Fur­nishings." The sign identifies the owner. It tells you what kind of business he owns. Webster's dic­tionary defines a sign thus: "A publicly displayed notice on a building, office, etc. to advertise the business there transacted, or the name of the person or firm conducting it. Something indicating the existence of a thing; a token."

The word which Moses wrote in the Hebrew language which is translated "sign" is ‘owth,’ and the Hebrew-English dictionary defines it as "signal, as a flag, beacon, monument, evidence, etc. - mark, miracle, sign, token." A flag identifies a nation. A beacon is a signal to announce the existence of something warned about. A token is a visible sign; something that serves as an identifying signal to make something known, as a white flag is a token of surrender.

God commanded His people to keep His Sabbath as a sign. It is a sign between God's people and God: ". . .a sign between me and you," the commandment says. It is a badge or token of IDENTITY. It advertises, or announces, or proclaims certain identifying knowledge. But WHAT KNOWL­EDGE? God answers: ". . .that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you."

Now the Sabbath was a covenant made SEPARATE from the Old Covenant. We find the Old Cov­enant then we see ANOTHER COVENANT  later, about the Sabbath. Remember, a Covenant is an agreement, not a Law. And since this covenant is separate from the Old Covenant, then its not part of the Old Covenant.

Notice Exodus 31:16: "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant."

"Perpetual" means continuous and unbroken. But was it to last FOREVER? Read the following verse: "It is a SIGN between me and the children of Israel for ever." The Sabbath Covenant was forever, so that when they keep the Sabbath, Israel will be identified as his people forever!

And not just Israel, but the GENTILES AS WELL! Since its binding on Israel forever, and the Jewish people converted to Christianity in the time of the Apostles, does that mean that the Jews kept it on Saturday and the Gentiles on Sunday? Are there two kinds of Christians? Read Galatians 3:28-29: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS. And if ye [Gentiles] be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

So, since the Sabbath is BINDING TODAY on the Jewish part of God's Church, and there is no difference - we are all ONE in Christ - it is also binding on Gentiles! This scripture in Galatians is NOTHING NEW! Actually, this is an OLD TESTAMENT LAW! Gentiles that convered to YAHWEH were considered ISRAELITES!

"But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Lev 19:34; 25:34). These people are gentile converts and became "Abraham's seed" and obeyed the same laws. The strangers, or Gentiles kept the Sabbath, see Exodus 20:10; 23:12; Deut 5:14. The Day of Atonement, Lev 16:29. The Passover, Ex 12:48-49; Number 9:14, and the Sacrificial laws, Num

15:14.

"One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you." (Ex 12:49, Num 9:14; 15:15-16, 29; Lev 24:16, 24).For people to say that the Sabbath was for Israel only is totally going against scripture. Why did Paul say: "There remaineth therefore a rest [Greek: "Sabbatisimos" lit. "A KEEPING OF THE SABBATH]to the people of God" (Heb 4:9). The Jewish New Testament says a "Shabbat [Hebrew for "Sabbath"] KEEPING for the people of God." Why did God say about Gentiles converting to Yahweh: "my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

" Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

" Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD...Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; " Even them will I bring to my holy mountain [the kingdom of God, see Isaiah 2:11, Daniel 2:35, 44 and Micah 4]...," (Isa 56:1-3, 6-7). A person who "joins" himself to God is a converted Christian, see 1 Corinthians 6:17. So when the Bible speaks of a stranger keeping the law, it means a converted gentile, that becomes "Abraham's seed." Gentiles Christians who are converted, keep the law of God, just like the Gentiles under the Old Testament. Nothing has changed. The apostle Paul did not make this up, he got it from the scriptures. That's why Galatians 6:16 calls the Church, the "Israel of God." Jew or gentile, converted to Christ, we are Abraham's seed, racially or Converted.

Now IF the Sabbath is God's SIGN to identify His people Israel, then why don't our nations keep it today?

The answer to that question is the answer to another: Why are the Ten Tribes of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL called "the LOST Ten Tribes"? And why do our nations think they are Gentiles? Why don't they KNOW their true identity? THEY LOST THEIR IDENTIFYING SIGN, THE SIGN OF THE SABBATH DUE TO JEROBOAM'S APOSTASY!

But JUDAH kept the Sabbath! They did not continue long to keep it holy, or to keep it God's way ­but they did recognize it, as they do today, as the day of rest they acknowledge and observe. Result? All the world looks on them as the chosen people of God! The world thinks they are ISRAEL - not merely Judah!

Even when they broke it, God sent them prophets to preserve the knowledge of the true God. Israel on the other hand, God divorced, and allowed them to worship what ever they wanted, see Jer 3:8. But not Judah, God wasn't finished with them yet, he had to bring the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to reconcile, Judah, Israel, and the gentiles to God

God warned Israel through Moses that if they would forsake his law that : "I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:" (Deut 32:26). This could not mean the Jews, because the remembrance of the Jews have not ceased. They still have their name and heritage as Judah-Israel. This prophecy applies to the lost ten tribes. They have been lost to history, but now God has revealed them in this end time!

Isaiah 8:17 shows that God "hid" his face from Jacob. They lost the knowledge of the true God. But God would win them back with Jesus Christ and the Messiah, as he said that he was sent to the house of Israel, Matthew 15:24. But with another language God would speak to his people, see Isaiah 28:11. English is how God is speaking to his people today through his Bible!

Israel in The New Testament

Jesus said to the Jews, "The stone [Jesus the Messiah] which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?...Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." (Matthew 21:42-43). It was time for the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to go to another nation since the Jewish people had rejected it . The Gospel went to the GENTILES! But who is that gentile Nation that was supposed to receive the Gospel and become Christian? This nation was the HOUSE OF ISRAEL!

Notice, the New Covenant is with the "house of Israel, AND with the house of Judah." It was to the "Jew FIRST, and also to the Greek." (Rom 1:16).

Jesus said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 15:24). And he commanded his New Testament Church, the original Apostles to, "Go NOT into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:... But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 10:5-6). He told them not to go to the gentiles but to the House of Israel.

Now aren't the gentiles and the house of Israel two separate entities in the New Testament? Let's examine who the gentiles are in the New Testament, and clear up the confusion.

The term "Gentile" in the New Testament has a variety of of meanings. It comes from the Greek word "ethnos." Now :

"Most of Christendom have incorrectly taken this word to mean exclusively non-Israelite peoples. Anton Darms made this same false assumption: “The term ‘Gentiles’ in the New Testament always refers to people and nations outside of and apart from all the twelve tribes of Israel.”

“It can be said positively that IN NO CASE IN THE BIBLE, either in the Old Testament or in the New, DOES THE WORD ‘GENTILE" REFER OR APPLY TO ANY PART OF ISRAEL.”’ (Mr. Darms’ p.72).

"These are bold assertions, but totally inaccurate. As we look into the Bible, we find a much broader use than the limited definition suggested by Mr. Darms and most of Christendom....(p.73)

"Many preachers use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and Vine's Expository Diction­ary of New Testament Words as study aids. It is interesting that with these excellent reference works at their disposal, preachers still espouse the mistaken conclusion that when the word ‘Gentile(s)’ is encountered in the New Testament, it always refers exclusively to non-Israelite peoples. Strong's and Vine's give the word ‘Gentile(s)’ or its Greek equivalent, a much broader interpretation than is used by most preachers and Christians. If we do not limit the word ‘ethnos’ to non-Israelites, we allow the Bible to say what each inspired writer intended.

Strong's Greek Dictionary of the N.T. it defines "ethnos" as follows, on p.25:

“eth'nos ... a race (as of the same habit), i.e. a tribe; spec. a foreign (non-Jewish) [non-Israelite] one (usually by impl. pagan): Gentile, heathen, nation, people.

Vine's definition of "ethnos" is more exhaustive, p.484:

“ETHNOS ... ‘heathen, 'denotes, firstly, a multitude or company; then, a multitude of people of the same nature or genus, a nation, people; it is used in the singular, of the Jews [Judahites] ... in the plural of nations ... other than Israel ... occasionally it is used of Gentile converts in distinction from Jews [Judahites] ....”

As can be seen, there is more than one application for "ethnos." In light of these definitions, let us take a look at four different Biblical applications of the Greek word "ethnos" found in the New Testament. When used in a New Testament passage, the following interpretations of "ethnos" must be considered along with the commonly held interpretation of "non-Israelite."

1. "Pagans" - in reference to heathens, specifically all nations, races or people not serving YHWH as God: ‘You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the dumb idols, however you were led.’ (1 Corinthians 12:2)

2. "Nation(s)" - in reference to a multitude of people, specifically all mankind: ‘... He [YHWH] made from one every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitations’ (Acts 17:26)

一.   "Nation" - in reference to the Judahites [Jews], specifically the descendants of the house of Judah, the two southern tribes of Israel: “... when he [the centurion] heard about Yhshua, he sent some Jewish [Judahite] elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. And when they [the Judahite elders] had come to Yhshua they earnestly entreated Him, saying, "He [the centurion] is worthy for You to grant this to him; for he loves our [Judahite] nation [ethnos], and it was he who built us our synagogue.” (Luke 7:3-5). This one passage alone repudiates the theory that the word "Gentile" (ethnos) always refers to non-Israelite peoples.

一.   "Gentiles" - in reference to the Israelites, specifically the descendants of the house of Israel, the ten northern tribes of Israel: “... even us, whom He [YHWH] also called, not from among Jews [Judahites] only, but also from among Gentiles [House of Israel eplained below]. (Romans 9:24)” (Ted Weiland God's Covenant People, pp.24-25).

So we see that the word "Gentile" has a much broader use that just a "non-Israelite person." In proper context it can be used to mean Israelite as well. In the case of Matthew 10:-5-6, "gentiles" here means "pagan" non-Israelites since the 'House of Israel is mentioned. But there are other scrip­tures that show in their proper context that that the "gentiles" are the HOUSE OF ISRAEL!

The word "Greeks" is "often used interchangeably with the word ‘Gentile(s),” is also used in the New Testament with reference to dispersed Israelites. One such instance is found in the Gospel of John:

“The Jews [Judahites] therefore said to one another, "Where does this man [Jesus] intend to go that we shall not find Him? He is not intending to go to the [Israelite] Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the [Israelite] Greeks is He?" (John 7:35)

The word "dispersion" ("dispersed" - KJV) is defined in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible as: "Isr. [Israelite] resident[s] in Gentile countries. "(ibid, p.23) The Apostle John acknowl­edged that dispersed Israelites were “living among the Greeks, and he recognized them as being Greeks” (ibid, p.31).

Now why were the Israelites called "Gentiles" or "Greeks" in the New Testament? Because God would divorce Israel for all her whoredoms and took up a new Husband, the Pagan religions of the world. "Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts;" (Hosea 2:1). She took up another husband as Israel says in verse 7, "I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now." God divorced Israel and put her away, "And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

" And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and commit­ted adultery with stones and with stocks [reason Idolatry]

" And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD" (Jeremiah 3;8-10).

The Law of Divorce

According to the law of Divorce in the Bible, when a woman is divorced and marries another man, she cannot return to her first husband again, "They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly pol­luted?" (Jer 3:1; Deut 24:4). Then God pleads with Judah, "but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD" (v.8b). At this time as we have seen Israel ceased to be his people, and became Gentiles. But how could God have Israel return to him after giving them a bill of divorcement when under the law she was forever barred from being his people again?

The book of Hosea is devoted to the demonstration of God being Israel's husband once again. God told Hosea to name his two sons, one was called "Jezreel" and the other "Lo-Ammi." Lo-Ammi means "not my people." God told Hosea when this child was born, "for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God' (Hosea 1 v.9). Yet after this prophecy from God, another prophecy was soon given about the restoration of Israel as his people, "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." (v.10). This is a remarkable prophecy of Israel becoming the sons of the living God hence a Christian people.

God gives hope to Israel in their condition of Divorce, with their hardships. He promises them that he will scatter them all over the world and cause them to grow as the sand of the sea as he promised Abraham he would, "And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God" (Hosea 2:23).

But how was Israel to be God's people again. What would be the process into which Israel was to have that certificate of the divorce annulled?

The answer is given in the book of Isaiah, "Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Be­hold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

“... Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver?..." (Isaiah 50:1­2). God says to Israel that they have "sold yourselves" to the point of Divorce, God did not want it, God was faithful and hates divorce, Israel was the one who wanted the divorce going after other god's, so Yahweh being the husband of Israel wrote the bill of Divorcement that Israel wanted. Yet God tells them, "Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money" (Isa 52:3). Here again God speaking of redemption of Israel. God was to redeem them through his Son Jesus Christ (the Yahweh of the Old Testament) who divorced Israel. "To redeem means to regain possession of that which was once owned and lost" (Jeremiah, Howard B. Rand, p.30). Israel by the death of Jesus was to be freed from that law of divorce by the death of her first husband, " So then if, while her husband liveth, [while divorced see Mark 10:11-12] she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man" (Rom 7:3). While Yahweh still lived in heaven and then on earth as a man, Jesus, She was an adulterous whoring after pagan god's. But Jesus died and the law of divorce was annulled and she was free, now she is able to come back to God once again and enter into the covenant, the New Covenant that involved the House of Israel. That could only take effect at the death of Jesus, " For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

"For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth" (Heb 9:16-17). Now Israel was free from the law of Divorce and to be redeemed, brought back, to God through the death of Jesus Christ!

Book of Romans Chapter 11 Gentiles Identified with Israel

Now that we know that Israel was called Gentiles because of the divorce with God, is there evidence first with the bible to show God is going to redeem them again, and they were to become the "sons of the living God?"

The book of Romans is a great testament to this fact. As we have shown in Hosea, God had every intension of bringing Israel back to him. Hosea writes: ""Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God." (Hos 1 v.10). This quote the Apostle Paul uses in the book of Romans and calls them gentiles!

Weiland writes: "It was previously demonstrated that the Jews in this verse were members of the house of Judah only, from either the tribe of Judah or the tribe of Benjamin. Recognizing that there is more than one application of the word ‘ethnos’ (translated "Gentiles" in this passage), let us re­examine Romans 9:23-26 and see which of the five interpretations (the four listed above or the one which is usually provided) is the correct choice according to the context. It is important for us to do so since some of you will question the interpretation and application of #4 above. It would be fool­ish, if not dishonest, to randomly pick whichever application suits the reader's personal doctrinal position - the interpretation must fit the context...

“... even us, whom He [YHWH] also called, not from among Jews [the house of Judah] only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea, "I will call those who were not My people, 'My people,' and her who was not beloved, 'Beloved.' And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' there they shall be called sons of the living God.” (Romans 9:23-26)

"If our reading is limited to just this passage, it is easy to see why most people would presume that the ‘Jews’ represent all Israel, and the ‘Gentiles’ represent all non-Israelites. When reading the Apostle Paul's quotation from Hosea, the average Christian naturally thinks that the Gentiles have to be non-Israelite people since they were never God's people and never considered His beloved. How­ever, as is the habit of a good teacher Paul gives his reference, the book of Hosea. The student who is a good disciple will study Hosea 1 and 2, and as a result will then understand whom Paul had in mind when referring to the Gentiles. I challenge any reader to find anything in Hosea 1 and 2 that pertains to non-Israelite people... Especially note that the last phrase of Hosea 1: 10, ‘You are the sons of the living God,’ is part of the quotation used by Paul in Romans 9” (pp.25-27).

Then Hosea says, "Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel"(v.11). Hosea continues to say that Judah (the Jews) and Israel will be reunited and Jesus will be their ruler.

Now, "At first glance it may seem confusing to identify the Gentiles in Romans 9:24 as "the house of Israel" because of the contrast made between "Gentiles" and "Israel" in verses 30 and 31 later in the same chapter:

“What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law” (Romans 9:30-31)