My husband and I were driving home from up north yesterday and I commented to him that I feel sorry for people who don’t dig in and study the Bible because they miss out on a lot of amazing nuggets. To me it is the most fascinating book ever written and so many times when I pick it up to study I stumble across something new that puts the pieces of history together even better.
That happened this weekend. I came across three things that caused me to do a happy dance and smile every time I thought about them. Yahweh is so incredibly amazing and I love that He gave us His Word to love, enjoy, and learn from. I’m only going to talk about two of the three things in this post and will save the third for another day as it will take more space to reveal.
A brief history lesson.
Before 750 B.C. there were two divisions of Israel. The ten northern tribes called Israel or Ephraim and the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the land of Judah or Judea. They had been split since the death of Solomon when his son Rehoboam made some very bad decision between 926 and 922 B.C.
From the time Israel went into the promised land they had been on a seesaw of good and evil. When they failed at ridding the land of the Canaanites and other evil people as Yahweh had told them to do, they fell into idol worship just as Moses had predicted. (Deuteronomy 4:25-27) Time and time again Yahweh sent His prophets to warn the people to return to the worship of Him only and to rid of the land of false gods and evil people but they refused, clinging to their traditions. Finally Yahweh had enough and over the course of four campaigns, Assyria removed the northern ten tribes – Israel/Ephraim – and about two-thirds of Judah/Benjamin from their land. All twelve tribes had a presence in this deportation to Assyria. All that were left in the small southern kingdom of Judea was a remnant of Judahites and Benjamites.
In those times when one country would take over another country they would remove all of the people in the land to another place then bring another group of people into the land that was just vacated. It kept the people off guard and in unfamiliar territory so they were more easily controlled. Between 740 and 722 B.C. various rulers of Assyria made raids into Israel and removed people each time, finishing in 722 B.C. Many of the people they brought into the Israel land were the Edomites, otherwise known as Idumeans. These were descendants of Esau, son of Isaac, who had married two wives; one an Ishmaelite and the other a Canaanite, against the wishes of his father and of Yahweh. This was the reason he lost his birthright and blessing as first born. It went to Jacob instead, the father of the twelve Israelite tribes. (Read my post Esau vs. Jacob for more details about these two brothers.)
The Migration
This is where it got very interesting to me this weekend. I knew that after a time the twelve tribes migrated north out of Assyria and through the Caucuses mountain range but didn’t know any details on how that actually came about.
I’m going to quote from II Esdras 13:39-45 here: 39 And whereas you saw that he gathered another peaceable multitude to him; 40 those are the ten tribes which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea the King, whom Salmanazar the King of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters and so they came into another land. 41 But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt. 42 Where they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. 43 And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river. 44 For the Most High God then showed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over. 45 For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half; and the same region is called Arsareth.
Now here is a passage from Hosea 12:9 But I am Yahweh your God since the land of Egypt, again I shall make you dwell in tents as in the days of the appointed time.
Two notes here: First a reminder that all twelve tribes are represented by this deportation from the land of Israel and Judea to Assyria. Second in the passage above from Hosea they are told that once again, just like when they were in the desert after leaving Egypt, they would live in tents.
When arriving in Assyria the Assyrians refused to allow them to build homes or cities for fear they would fortify themselves, become stronger, and rebel. Instead, they forced them to live in small hovels or tents. However, that gave them both incentive and the ability to move easily and the twelve tribes migrated north out of Assyria and through the Caucuses mountain region. As a side note, many would put their tents on wagons creating a covered wagon. Sound familiar? It’s funny how history repeats itself.
For those of you who have always wondered what happened to those so-called “lost” tribes they never truly were lost. It seems at the same exact time in history that we lose track of the people called Israelites, a people called the Saxon’s appear as does the name Caucasian. (Caucuses Mountains)
The Three River Crossings
Lastly, I want to address the three rivers where Yahweh miraculously held back the waters so the Israelite’s could cross safely. The first was, of course, a story we all know well, the Red Sea. This is when the Israelite’s fled Egypt with the Egyptian army hot on their heels. The Egyptian’s had the Israelite’s backed up against the water and they were sure to be annihilated when Yahweh opened a dry path right through the sea allowing the Israelite’s to cross safely before letting the waters go to annihilate the Egyptian army which had followed them through the path.
The second crossing was at the Jordon river once they had finished their 40 years in the desert and were ready to go into the Promised Land of Canaan. Yahweh once again opened up a dry path through the river to allow all of the Israelite’s to pass easily. Just imagine what that was like. As they walked across the dry river bed they must have commented to each other in amazement at how dry the path was. I can imagine them praising and worshipping Yahweh the whole way across.
The third crossing is one we don’t hear much about but one we read about above in II Esdras 13. Verse 43, And they entered into the Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river. 44. For the Most High God then showed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over. 45. For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half; and the same region is called Arsareth.
As the twelve tribes left Assyria they had to cross the great river Euphrates to go north. Yahweh held back that great river so they could, once again, cross without harm. We serve a great and mighty God, Yahweh, who has always looked out for His people. Even in those times when those people were walking out their punishment He was still looking out for them and keeping them from harm. He knows the end from the beginning and He has always had a plan for their redemption. In a future post I will detail more about the 2520 years of punishment for each of the twelve tribes and where that puts them all today. As the Bible tells us, even in the book of Revelation, those twelve tribes are ready to walk off the pages of scripture into real life. They are far from lost. They have just had their eyes blinded to who they truly are. (Isaiah 6:10)
Long before this last river crossing Yahweh’s prophet spoke to King David in II Samuel 7:10: Moreover, I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them anymore, as beforetime.
We will delve more into that very important scripture and find out where that place might be and where the twelve tribes are next time. It’s a great story.
This is Simply My Opinion,
Kathe
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