How Christianity became “The Northern Tribes of Israel” aka “The Lost Sheep Of Israel” aka “The Lost Ten Tribes”
Constantine wasn’t the first one to take YHWHs people captive. When Solomon sinned against YHWH by worshiping other gods, YHWH took ten of the twelve tribes of Israel (later to be taken into captivity by Rome) and dispersed them among the nations to become the “lost ten tribes”.
29 Now it happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahiyah the Shilonite met him on the way; and he had clothed himself with a new garment; and the two were alone in the field. 30 Then Ahiyah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces (one piece for each of the ten tribes), for thus says YHWH the Elohim of Israel: '
Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you; 32 but (his son) shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and (one more) for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, 33 because they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth (Easter) the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the elohim (god) of the Moabites, and Milcom the elohim (god) of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways, to do what is right in My eyes, and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David. 34 However, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, because I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David, whom I chose because he kept My commandments and My statutes. 35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and give it to you — ten tribes. [1st Kings 11:29-35]
Then, in First Kings Chapter Twelve, the House of Israel rebelled out from under Solomon’s son (Rehoboam). After they did this, they established Jeroboam as their new king. Jeroboam knew that he had to lead the people to keep the Torah, but he had a problem in that the Torah calls for the people to go up to Jerusalem three times a year [to keep three of YHWH's feasts that required all men to attend] to Jerusalem, however, was back in King Rehoboam’s country (in the Southern Kingdom):
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom may return to the House of David (Judah), 27 (For) if these people go up to offer sacrifices in the House of YHWH at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah; and (then) they will kill me, and (then) go back to Rehoboam, (the) King of Judah.” Jeroboam knows he must teach his people to go up to Jerusalem, if Israel is to remain the new lead house. However, if his people go up to Jerusalem, his people will ultimately kill him.
Jeroboam, then, comes up with a plan:
28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem (for the festivals). Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" 29 And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31 He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
32 Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense. [1st Kings 12:25-33]
We will see a number of parallels here between the Northern Kingdom, and the Christian Church. Notice what happened: Jeroboam pushed the fall festivals backwards (from the seventh month, to the eighth). He set up false houses of worship, and then set up visible objects (idols) for the people to worship. He made priests of just anyone (rather than the sons of Levi [the tribe of Levi (was designated by YHWH as the only ones to be priests]. He told the people that his new religious system was legitimate, even though it departed from the Torah.
Point for point, this is the exact same pattern that the [Catholic/] Christian Church would later follow. The Church pushed the fall festivals backwards from the fall, into the winter. They moved the center of worship from Jerusalem to Rome, set up a false Temple [Vatican/Churches], and established idols (in the form of statuettes and graven images) within it. Next, they made priests [/pastors] out of just anyone.
The pattern established in the Garden of Eden is this: When we obey YHWH’s Laws, we get to live in His special Land, and He Himself takes care of us. However, when we disobey His Laws, He kicks us out of His Land and then draws out the sword after us, until we repent.
For Israel, this is what would soon happen. Much like the Torah-less Christians (who would later claim to be the ‘New’ Israel), Jeroboam’s Ephraim [Northern Ten Tribes] had become the new lead House; but only for a time. Since they no longer obeyed the Eternal Covenant, they would no longer be allowed to dwell in the Covenant Land (because they were defiling it). Just as the Christians would later be scattered to the four corners of the Earth, Jeroboam’s Northern Kingdom of Israel went before them. They would be scattered from the Land of Israel for their failure to obey YHWH’s Torah.
In the early 700’s BCE, YHWH had the Kings of Assyria make several incursions into the Land of Israel. Around 722 BCE, the Ephraimite capital city of Samaria fell, and the Assyrians then carried the Ephraimites out of the Land, and deposited them in the lands that now make up modern-day Syria and Iraq:
Verse 14 tells us that because the Ephraimites did not keep YHWH’s Commandments, they were like unto their fathers, who did not believe in YHWH either. While their fathers may have ‘believed’ in the Greco- Roman intellectual sense, since they did not obey YHWH’s Commandments, YHWH tells us that they did not (truly) believe.
The Assyrian policy was to assimilate newly conquered peoples by re-settling them in other lands, and bringing in others, to replace them. Therefore, when the Ephraimites were taken out of their Land (Samaria), other peoples took their place. The Assyrians took away all but a few of the poorest Ephraimites, and then brought in other peoples to inter-marry with them. The result was a new halfbreed race called the ‘Samaritans.’
Since these departures from the Torah basically amount to apostasy, the Jews generally avoided the Samaritans. This is why the woman at the well was so astonished that Yahshua would even speak to her: 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. [Yochanan (John) 4:9]
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