The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel

Part 1

by Åsmund Kaspersen

Does God have a plan for the Israel of the Bible in the last days? The Christian world is currently very concerned with this question. The Jews are returning to their land, it is said, and they expect the Messiah's coming in the near future. The Ark of the Covenant is being searched for, and from some quarters it is reported that it has been found. The foundation stone is ready for the construction of the third temple, and a new era of glory for the Jews is imminent — it is said in the Christian world. Let us make an attempt to clear up some misunderstandings in connection with Israel and the Jews. What is a "Jew", and what does the Bible mean by "Israel", "the house of Jacob", "the house of Israel" and "the house of Judah"? There are obviously many misunderstandings going on here.

The Beginning

The term “Jew” is greatly misunderstood. Most people associate Jews with the state of Israel, that is, those who have emigrated there, mainly from the former Soviet Union, the United States and Europe, as well as the various Jewish communities around the world. However, only a minority (7 million) of the total number of Jews in the world (approximately 16 to 17 million) have emigrated to Israel to date, and many of these are children of the original emigrants.

The concept of Israel requires closer examination, and for the sake of context, a historical retrospective is necessary.

Both Jews and Arabs (the Islamic world) count Abraham as their fleshly ancestor. The Jews through Isaac, and the Arabs through Ishmael. Let it be said right away that neither Abraham, Isaac nor Ishmael were Jews, just as they were not Mohammedans. Nor were Isaac’s son Jacob and his twelve sons “Jews,” as many believe. We have heard expressions such as “the exodus of the Jews from Egypt”, “the Jew Moses”, “the Jew Abraham”, etc. This is by definition incorrect, and has a simple explanation.

In Genesis, chapter 10, we find this genealogy:

“Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.” (Gen 10:21-24). In other words, Eber was the grandson’s son of Shem, i.e. Shem was Eber’s great-great-grandfather. From Shem comes the expression “Semite”, and Eber is the origin of the word “Hebrew”.

We further read: “These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.” (Gen 11:10-27). “And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.” (Gen 21:3). “And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. ... And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.” (Gen 25:20-26).

Jacob was later given a new name:

“And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” (Gen 32:28).

In these verses we see that Abraham (Abram) had a direct line of descent from Eber back to Shem. Abraham was therefore of the seed of Shem. Because the word “Jew” is derived from Judah/Judea (Judah was one of Jacob’s twelve sons), it is wrong to use the term “Jews” for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “Jew” is an expression that first came into use after the Babylonian captivity, when a minority of the “house of Judah,” i.e. the descendants of Judah and Benjamin, as well as some Levites, returned to Jerusalem.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were Hebrews/Semites. The first time the name Israel is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 32:28, after Jacob had wrestled with God when Esau came to meet him with 400 men.

“And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” (Gen 32:28). After this event, Jacob and his family can rightly be called Israelites, or Israel - but not “Jews.” In the Bible, “the house of Jacob” refers to the twelve tribes, the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons. After Israel was divided in 947 BC, the ten tribes in the northern kingdom with Samaria as its capital were referred to as the “house of Israel,” while three tribes (Judah, Benjamin, and Levi) in the southern kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital were referred to as the “house of Judah.”

We know the story of Joseph in Egypt; of Jacob and his sons who, because of a famine in their own land, come there, as well as the story of Moses and the exodus from Egypt four hundred years later. After forty years of wandering in the desert, they finally enter the Promised Land, where the land is divided among the twelve tribes of Israel, the descendants of Jacob’s sons. Actually, there were 13 tribes, because the tribe of Joseph is often referred to as Ephraim and Manasseh, who were Joseph’s two sons. But because the tribe of Levi was not to be counted among those who were to have their inheritance in the land — they were set aside for priestly service and service in the temple — the Bible counts twelve tribes.

Kingdom of Israel

After Joshua’s death, Israel was ruled by judges. Samuel was Israel’s last judge. At that time, Israel wanted to be like the idolatrous nations: “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.” (1 Sam 8:19-20).

Around 1050 BC, Saul (of the tribe of Benjamin) was anointed as the first king of Israel. At that time, Israel was a united kingdom, divided into twelve districts, each of which was a division of the twelve tribes.

Because Saul later fell away from the Lord, a new king was chosen, this time from the tribe of Judah: David, son of Jesse. David had a son, Solomon, who took over the kingdom after his father’s death.

The Kingdom of Israel Divided

After Solomon died, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two: the Northern Kingdom (Israel, with ten of the twelve tribes of Israel) with Samaria as its capital, and the Southern Kingdom (the kingdom of Judah with Judah and Benjamin, and the Levites) with Jerusalem as its capital. Each of these two kingdoms elected its own king. From that time on, the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom are referred to in the Bible as “the house of Israel,” or simply Israel, while the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom are referred to as “the house of Judah,” or simply Judah.

King Solomon had imposed heavy taxes on the people, and after his death the people wanted his son, the successor to the throne, Rehoboam, to lighten the taxes, which he did not want to do.

“So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. But as for the children of Israel which dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.” (1 Kings 12:16-19; 2 Chronicles 10:16-19). The division of Israel occurred around 931 BC. At that time, Israel had been a united kingdom for 119 years. After the division, Nebat’s son Jeroboam (of the tribe of Ephraim) became king over Israel (“the house of Israel”, the Northern Kingdom/ten tribes), while Solomon’s son Rehoboam (the tribe of Judah) became king over the Southern Kingdom (“the house of Judah”, Judah/Benjamin/Leviticus). 1 Kings 12:13 and 20; 16:29; Second Chronicles 11, 12 to 14. Israel was now divided into "the house of Israel" in the north and "the house of Judah" in the south.

The House of Israel is Taken into Exile

Around 732 BC, several tribes in the Northern Kingdom were taken into exile to Assyria by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III. This time, Gad, Reuben, half of Manasseh, and probably Naphtali and Zebulun were taken into exile.

“In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria.” (2 Kings 15:29).

“And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.” (1 Chron 5:26)

In the years 732 to 721 BC, the remnant of the ten tribes of the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) were carried away captive to Assyria by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser V (Sargon II).

“Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.” (2 Kings 17:5-6; 18:10-11) “Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.” (2 Kings 17:18). A few inhabitants of Israel nevertheless escaped the Assyrian kings and remained in Israel as remnants of these tribes, for we read in 2nd Chronicles chapter 30 that about five years later (726) King Hezekiah of Judah summoned the entire nation, both those remaining in Israel and Judah, to the Passover. Here, remnants are mentioned from Ephraim, Manasseh, Zebulun, Issachar and Asher (2nd Chronicles 30:1-26)

The Samaritans

After Israel, or the Northern Kingdom, was conquered by Assyria and the bulk of the ten tribes were taken into captivity, both Samaria and Israel became an Assyrian province. The Assyrian king allowed people from Syria, Babylonia and northern Mesopotamia to settle in Samaria and Israel. These pagans brought their own religion with them, and as a result of intermarriage with the remnant of the people of Israel, these foreign religions were mixed with the religion of Israel.

“And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them. Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land. Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima, And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel;” (2 Kings 17:24-34)

Later, under the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, new groups of foreigners were settled in Samaria and Israel, with further intermarriage and dilution. Thus the Samaritans became a separate group, a pagan/Jewish mixture, who were considered unclean by the Jews of Jesus' time (see e.g. John 1:1-11)

“At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord had said. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths a thousand, all that were strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.” (2 Kings 24:10-16)

The Jews

The first time we encounter the term “Jew” in the [Norwegian] Bible is in Ezra 4:12: “Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.” This was after the Babylonian captivity. (The term “Jew” also occurs in 2 Kings 25:25, in connection with Judah being taken away to Babylon. In this case, the original text actually says “men of Judah.”)

The term “Jew” is derived from Judah, who was one of Jacob’s twelve sons. Therefore, it is not correct to use the term to refer to all of Israel, including all twelve tribes. "Jew" is used for the descendants of the Judah/Benjamin/Levi tribe — those who returned to Judea and Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, and only a fraction returned.

Consequently, as mentioned, neither Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, nor his twelve sons were Jews in the truest sense of the word. The ten tribes that were taken to Assyria were not Jews, they were Hebrews/Israelites. The tribe of Judah, from which the term Jew is derived, was not among them. (Jewish scriptures, however, claim that a small portion of both Judah, Benjamin, and Levi were among those taken to Assyria. This is probably correct.)

While the Israelites were in Egypt, a number of them, including descendants of Judah, emigrated and founded colonies, including on the European Mediterranean coast. This will be the subject of another article.

Today's Israel

When Christendom today speaks widely about the Jews returning to their land and Israel being “gathered,” this is therefore not true. There is evidence that the bulk of today’s Jews worldwide, including those who emigrated to Israel, are apparently of non-Semitic origin, and therefore do not qualify for the term “Jew” at all. The rest of the Jews, a minority, are descendants of the “Jews” of the Bible, that is, of the minority of the Judah/Benjamin/Levi tribe who in the fourth century B.C. returned to Judea after the Babylonian captivity. Many of these were also diluted by intermarriage with foreigners, as we can see from Ezra chapter 10. However, some pure-blooded Judaeans had remained in Israel. They constituted the poorer part of the population that King Nebuchadnezzar left alone. They were later called Galileans, from whom both Jesus and eleven of the apostles descended.

We can only say that of all those who are returning to Israel today, only a small fraction are descendants of those who once constituted one or two tribes of the nation of Israel, i.e. before the division of the kingdom in 931 BC. It is not Israel that is "gathered" today, it is "Jews" of non-Semitic origin, as well as a small number of descendants of the Judah/Benjamin/Levi tribe. Most Jews in Israel today cannot therefore count Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as their ancestors. Some believe that as much as 95% of today's Jews are of non-Semitic origin. These are Jews of European origin, i.e. Khazars. This is documented by, among others, Arthur Koestler in his book The Thirteenth Tribe and a number of other works, including Benjamin Freedman in the book Facts are Facts and Jack Bernstein in The Life of an American Jew. All of the people mentioned were Jews themselves.

In the Middle Ages, the Khazar Empire was a large, flourishing nation north of the Black Sea, including what is now Ukraine.

In the 7th century AD, the Khazar king, Bulan, decided that his people should adopt the Jewish religion. In a letter written by the Khazar king Yosef to Rabbi Hasdai in response to an inquiry from the latter (circa 960 AD), Yosef mentions that the Khazars descended from Noah's son Japheth through Togarmah. This is documented in the book The Jew in the Medieval World by Jacob R. Marcus (pages 227-232).

When the Khazar Empire was conquered by the Russians in the 11th century AD, large numbers of Khazar Jews emigrated westward to what is now Eastern Europe. This explains quite simply why there is such a large concentration of Jews precisely in these areas.

The Ten Lost Tribes

What happened to the ten tribes that were taken captive to Assyria in the years 732 to 721 BC? One theory is that they were assimilated through marriage into the Assyrian Empire and disappeared in that way. Another theory is that the ten tribes migrated northwest, and that the Christian Western world is the descendants of these ten tribes.

It is unlikely that God would allow the descendants of these ten tribes, the seed of Abraham, to disappear from history without a trace. We must not forget that God made an eternal, unconditional covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God will keep this covenant—literally. The prophets of the Bible, from Isaiah to Malachi, indicate in a number of places that God will fulfill this covenant with the “house of Israel” in the last days. It is all too easy to simply transfer this to “spiritual Israel,” as some do. This is where most Christians head into a dead end, because they do not understand what the Bible means by “Israel” and “Jews.” “The house of Israel” did not refer to the Jews, but to the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom who were taken captive to Assyria. The promises to Israel therefore do not apply only to the Jews (by blood), but to a united Israel, the house of Israel + the house of Judah. But where is the house of Israel?

There is much evidence that the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel, the “house of Israel,” may be the Christian, Western nations. They have been “hidden” for 2,700 years, but will reappear in the end times in connection with the 144,000 in Revelation 7! It is explicitly stated that these 144,000 are twelve thousand sealed from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, mentioned by name. Are they referring to the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel, reunited with the descendants of the house of Judah? Or is it spiritual Israel, with the characteristics of the twelve tribes of Israel? This latter is the common interpretation adopted by many. But is it biblically sound?

Here are some of the references to the “house of Israel” in the last days:

“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:9-12).

“And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.” (Jer 29:14).

“And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:” (Ezekiel 37:21).

“I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.” (Micah 2:12)

“For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. ... And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:24 and 28).

This is just a small selection. Note the words in Ezekiel 37: “Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone.” Ezekiel wrote these words about two hundred years after the house of Israel was taken captive to Assyria, and should probably be pure words for the money. It also says that Israel will be gathered from “the peoples” and that they will return to “their own land,” the land that God gave to “their fathers” — who were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel. It is difficult to transfer this to some “spiritual Israel.”

Why did Ezekiel write these words, two hundred years after the house of Israel was taken away? Why bother with them anymore, they were “rejected?”

We must also not forget that the “house of Israel,” i.e. ten of the twelve tribes, did not reject Jesus. They were not even there when Jesus was crucified! They had been taken captive seven hundred years earlier. The seventy weeks that were allotted to “your people,” i.e. Daniel’s people (Daniel was of the tribe of Judah, Daniel 1:6) did not apply to the house of Israel, but to the remnant of Judah/Benjamin. These were “Jews” by definition, and it was they who pressured the Roman authorities to crucify Jesus. This is a point that many overlook due to confusion of terms. “The house of Israel” neither rejected Jesus nor hung him on a cross. On the other hand, the apostles went to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 10:6), the descendants of the ten tribes, who still (at least some of them) lived in Asia Minor. The Galatians were one of them. Many of these accepted Jesus and became Christians! Note the prayer of the prophet Daniel: “O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.” (Daniel 9:7).

Many Nations and Peoples

In Genesis 28 we find some interesting verses. Isaac blesses his son Jacob and makes this prophecy:

“And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people;” (verse 3).

In verse 14 God confirms this blessing:

“And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” And here we are talking about the descendants of Shem, the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel), not descendants of Japheth and Ham.

“Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.” (Gen 17:5-6)

“And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;” (Gen 35:10-11)

This is plain language. Also note that these were unconditional promises. There were no conditions attached to the promise that Jacob’s twelve sons would become a multitude of nations throughout world history!

There never were “the Jews,” so we must look for Jacob’s lineage — at least the nations that are descendants of the ten tribes of Israel — elsewhere. God made these promises unconditionally to Abraham and Jacob, and God keeps His promises! It is important to note that the descendants of Abraham and Jacob, to whom these promises applied, descend from the lineage of Shem. After the flood, the earth’s population descended from Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, but the “multitude of nations” to which the promise applied concerned Shem’s descendants through Jacob’s twelve sons. Ishmael and Esau were also Semites who were promised to become a great nation, but the blessing applied to the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons. They were to be a blessing to all the families of the earth, God said. This is a prophecy for the last days! Who, by the way, has brought the gospel of Jesus’ salvation to all nations and peoples on earth? The Jews or the Europeans? Who has fulfilled the characteristics? This is not an attack on Jews; it is an impartial, factual, and objective attempt to solve one of the great mysteries of history.

Ethnic Regrouping

A complete account of the migrations of Israel (the ten tribes, possibly with elements of Judah, Benjamin and Levi) after the Assyrian captivity is a vast subject of which this article can only give an outline. The bulk of the house of Israel, i.e. the ten tribes of Israel who lived in the Northern Kingdom, as well as (probably, according to some authorities) a smaller number of Judah and Benjamin, were taken captive in the years 732 to 721 BC and resettled “in Halah and by Habor, a river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes” (2 Kings 17:5-6; 18:10-11). This is what we must call an ethnic regrouping which forms the geographical starting point for further migrations westward, i.e. towards the European continent. Large parts of Europe were unpopulated wilderness at that time. The cold and inhospitable climate may have been one of the reasons why this part of the world was not very attractive to emigrants from the east. Only a little over a thousand years had passed since the flood, and the “ice age” was still noticeable. The Greek historian Herodotus (484 to about 425 BC) says, for example, that the areas north of Scythia, that is, western Siberia, were uninhabitable due to extreme cold. The Romans counted the year 753 BC as the starting point for their calendar. This was the year when, according to tradition, Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus. Before this time, there was probably little or no population in northern Europe because of glaciers and a cold, inhospitable climate. However, in the 8th century BC, a climate change occurred on Earth that caused Europe to become warmer. The glaciers, which had branches all the way down to the continent, gradually disappeared, and the foundation was laid for a population of the continent. At the same time, the Middle East (“The Fertile Crescent”) became drier, hotter, and less productive.

Hezekiah

In 2 Kings chapter 20 we find this strange and significant account, which few people have thought about more closely. King Hezekiah of Judah had become terminally ill. He prayed to the Lord, who heard his prayer and added fifteen years to his life. Hezekiah asked for a sign, and God gave him the sign he wanted: “And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day? And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the Lord: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.” (2 Kings 20:8-11) This happened about 732 BC. Astronomically, this event cannot be explained in any other way than by the Earth’s axis changing—the angle of inclination relative to the plane of its orbit changed.

Of course, God can do things that seem to contradict the laws of nature, but I don't think God operates that way. God could of course leave the earth's axis unchanged, let the sun stay in the same place in the sky (relatively naturally, since it is the rotation of the earth that creates the illusion that the sun is moving across the sky from east to west) and instead move the shadow, which would be contrary to all the laws of physics and nature. In that case, it would just be an illusion that was outside the realm of reality. I don't think God chose to do anything like that. Instead, he chose a solution that was a sign to King Hezekiah, while being permanent and serving multiple purposes. God's hand was behind all of this. He wanted to lay the foundation for the fulfillment of his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He wanted to populate a previously uninhabited part of the world with the descendants of the house of Jacob. They would become a multitude of kingdoms, and from them all the peoples of the earth would be blessed. A change in the Earth's axis would create a climate change on Earth and pave the way for the migrations of peoples westward.

External catastrophic influence

There are many historical accounts that tell of an unusual celestial phenomenon in the 8th century BC. The Babylonians, who were excellent astronomers, sent messengers to King Hezekiah to ask about the strange sign that had occurred: “Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.” (2 Chron 32:31)

The Chinese “Bamboo Books” tell, for example, that “the stars fell like rain, and the earth shook.” The Hindus, the Mayans, the Egyptians and several others also noticed an unusual celestial phenomenon in the 8th century BC. Ancient writings can tell this. It is most unfair to dismiss all these ancient accounts as mere superstition and legend. It is quite obvious that some unusual celestial phenomenon occurred at that time, and this was recorded by the sages of the time. There is also a story of a powerful earthquake in Assyria around 750 BC.

In his remarkable book Worlds in Collision from 1950, Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky points out that the orbits of some of the planets of the solar system, e.g. Venus and Mars, have changed several times during the history of the earth, the last time in the 8th century BC. Dr. Velikovsky believes that the earth's axis, due to a catastrophic external influence, perhaps a close passage of Mars or Venus, changed abruptly at this time. The earth's axis moved away from Europe/North America, with the result that the Arctic Circle moved into more temperate zones.

Climate change

The change in the Earth’s axis caused areas that had previously been in cold regions to experience a warmer climate. This applies to large parts of northern Europe and North America. The “Ice Age” was brought to an end, and the ice sheet over northern Europe/North America began to melt, a process that took place over several centuries.

Science also agrees that a climate change on Earth brought the “Ice Age” to an end, although based on its evolutionary worldview it operates with quite different time periods — tens of thousands of years — than the Bible’s chronology allows for.

Before climate change began in the 8th century BC, the Middle East was very fertile. It was known as “the fertile crescent,” with a land that “flowed with milk and honey.” There were large cedar forests and fertile soil. Cool winds from the European continent in the north brought moist air and rain to these areas. North Africa and the Sahara, which today lie as parched areas and desert, also had fertile vegetation and large lakes once in the past. "Cave paintings" on rock walls in the middle of the Sahara show images of hippos, wading birds, people, horses and cattle, i.e. life forms that require plenty of water.

In his book When the Sahara Was Green, researcher Henri Lhote claims that the desiccation of the Sahara began around 750 BC. The lakes and rivers began to dry up, with the result that vegetation and water-intensive life forms disappeared. When the vegetation disappears, the desertification process can begin. We see striking examples of this today, e.g. large lakes drying up. The Aral Sea in Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan is an example. This once-large lake simply disappears, and is replaced by desert.

In 1981, the space shuttle Columbia photographed part of the Sahara area with ground-penetrating radar. A 50 km wide belt was scanned, and the images were then analyzed in special American laboratories. The images showed clear evidence that under the sands of the Sahara there had once been large lakes and rivers that had flowed through the area. This remarkable discovery was reported in Science Magazine, November 1982, and Time Magazine, December 6, 1982.

However, after climate change, the once fertile areas of the Middle East began to decline. The drying up continued, and Nebuchadnezzar’s fertile Babylon today lies under desert sands — as prophesied. The once powerful world empires in the Middle East dried up, and because the European continent now had a milder climate, the foundation was laid for the Western nations — the future world power, from which a large part of the population of the United States also originates. A migration to these areas could not have occurred without a climate change that made these areas habitable and more attractive. This was God’s plan. He wanted to keep his covenant with Abraham and Jacob. Their descendants were to become many nations and kingdoms of Semitic/Hebrew origin, and from them all the peoples of the earth were to be blessed. Hasn't the Western world brought the gospel of Jesus to all nations, to the "Gentiles"? It is not the "Gentiles" who have brought the gospel to the West.

There is strong evidence that the descendants of Jacob's twelve sons, i.e. mainly the descendants of the ten tribes who were taken to Assyria in the 7th century before Christ, migrated further west and gave rise to white, Christian Europe. The white, European race must have come from somewhere! There is also much to suggest that many Hebrews may have been both blond and blue-eyed, in sharp contrast to conventional beliefs. There are many accounts and historical documents that suggest this. Some must be the ancestors of the white race. This has nothing to do with "racism", as some would believe, but rather the establishment of a historical/ethnological/ethnographic fact that is not well presented in the usual works on these subjects. As the light shines, we are forced by the weight of the evidence to reconsider not so few of the moss-grown, accustomed ideas about many things. It is important to be open to new thoughts, new angles and new light, even if some of it is contrary to what we have always believed.

Translated from Norwegian by Mikkel S. Kragh. This article originally appeared in the Norwegian magazine innsyn (‘insight’), No. 4, 2001.