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British-Israel, Fact or Fiction?
Is British-Israel a Cult?
Rev. Dunlop states in the course of his sermon on British-Israel, that:
"The British-Israel theory is a dead,
God-dishonouring, anti-Scriptural fraudulent and deceptive lie from
the pit of hell. It is every one of these things and more."
He makes mention of us in relation to Mormonism and Armstrongism,
and includes his message against us as part of a series on the cults.
He goes as far as to say:
"Of course Mormonism and
British-Israelism are blood brothers."
and at another point in his sermon he boldly declares regarding
Identity-believers that:
"when people use methods like this, they
must also deny the Holy Scriptures."
He couldn't make his viewpoint much clearer.
Let me say British-Israel is no cult. We have included within our
ranks such outstanding Evangelicals, and Gospel preachers, as the late
Rev. Robert Bradford M.P., Principal George Jeffreys, founder of the
Elim Church, and Dr. James Mountain the great Baptist Fundamentalist.
Let me put again on record for Rev. Dunlop and all others of similar
ilk from:
What A British-Israelite Really Believes
- That the Old and New Testament Scriptures in their original
languages are the inspired, infallible Word of God.
- In the Virgin Birth, Sinless Life, Absolute Deity Miraculous
Ministry, Blood Atonement, Bodily Resurrection, Ascension and
soon-coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Are these the words of heretics? Is this the doctrinal statement of a
cult? British-Israel Truth is the purest form of Fundamental Bible
Protestantism, and British-Israel believers will always be in the
front line of the battle to defend the honour of our precious Saviour
and His Holy Word. Even our opponents have had to admit as much.
A) Rev. J Stafford Wright MA, Principal of Tyndale Hall, Bristol:
"I myself could never group BI with
others, it would be fairer to recognise it as a particular
interpretation of prophecy within the Orthodox Church of
Christ."
B) Dr. Townley Lord, Editor of the Baptist Times:
"From what I know of them, they are
fervent and devoted to Evangelical Christianity."
To Rev. Dunlop and others who wittingly or unwittingly seek to
misrepresent us we would answer in the words of Paul the Apostle:
"But this I confess unto thee, that after
the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers,
believing all things which are written in the law and in the
prophets."
Acts 24:14
Do British Israelites Deny Personal
Salvation or Christ's Atoning Blood?
Rev. Dunlop in his sermon stated:
"You will not find in the
British-Israelite literature, the Deity of Christ lifted up, or the
precious blood spoken of. No you will not find that there."
"It is ancestry not atonement."
"So many people, who by it (British-Israel) have got their
mind and eyes of Christ, they have got their eyes of the Son of
Righteousness, the blessed Morning Star and have their eyes on the
Star of David."
Once again Rev. Dunlop is trading in fiction not fact. Quoting
from:
What A British Israelite Believes - Point 3
we read:
"That Salvation is available to the
individual by Grace through faith alone, and that except a man be
born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God."
The membership application forms of the three main recognized
identity movements in the British Isles, The British-Israel World
Federation, The Covenant People's Fellowship and the British Israel
Bible Truth Fellowship all make personal saving faith in Jesus Christ
a prerequisite for membership. Sure, you can believe British-Israel
Truth and not be saved, just as you can support the stand of the Free
Presbyterian Church and not be born again. However in neither case can
you be in membership. Let me bury this blatant lie, let me lay it to
rest once and for all; We do not believe that being born a flesh and
blood descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will save you. Jesus
rightly stated:
"And I say unto you, That many shall come
from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven but the children of the Kingdom
(flesh and blood Israelites but unrepentant) shall be cast out into
outer darkness."
Matthew 8:13
and it was through Dr. Paisley preaching on that very text that I
personally came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ on 19th
September 1965 in the old Ravenhill Free Presbyterian Church.
We make it crystal clear in our sermons and our publications that
there is only one way of entry into God's Kingdom, to repent and trust
in the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus, shed on Calvary. We believe
the New Birth is a necessity and with Peter we would proclaim to all
who hear this sermon or read this book, that you must:
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Acts 2:38
We could tell Rev. Dunlop of many who, coming to realise that they
were literal, flesh and blood Israel, also came to see the need to
make their calling and election sure by trusting in the finished work
of Christ alone for salvation.
Furthermore whilst I cannot be responsible for every
British-Israelite, let me make it clear that in the nine years that we
have been publishing booklets on the Kingdom Message, we have never
yet failed to exalt the Lord Jesus, emphasising His Deity, His Blood
Atonement and the necessity of personal salvation.
Was Israel Ever Lost?
This is a key issue and it is one according to Rev. Dunlop:
"Upon which this theory (British-Israel
Truth) must either stand or fall."
Amazingly his own answer to this question is a resounding NO, and
he actually states:
"There is no such thing as Ten Lost
Tribes. There cannot ever be Ten Lost Tribes."
Now let us compare the clear-cut words of the Holy Scripture with
those of this misguided clergyman:
- "The Lord was very angry with Israel
and removed them out of His sight; there was none left but the
Tribe of Judah only"
II Kings 17:18
Surely if they were removed out of God's sight, this was the
start of their punishment, whereby they became lost to the world
at large. Between 744 and 676 B.C. the Assyrians invaded and
progressively deported the vast bulk of Ten-Tribed Israel together
with the inhabitants of all the fenced cities of the Southern
Kingdom, who according to the Assyrian records numbered about
200,000 people. The Bible tells us that these captives were placed
in Halah and Habor by the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the
Medes (II Kings 18:11-13). They never returned to Palestine.
- "Thou shalt be called by a new name
which the mouth of the Lord shall call."
Isaiah 62:2
A new name, in exile hundreds of miles from home. Little wonder
these Israelites soon lost their identity.
- "It shall come to pass in that day,
that a great trumpet shall be blown; and they shall come which
were LOST in the land of Assyria."
Isaiah 27:13 (marginal rendering)
- "My people hath been LOST
sheep."
Jeremiah 50:6
- "I will seek that which was LOST and
bring again that which was driven away. "
Ezekiel 34:16
Could it be that the inspired prophets of God got it wrong and Rev.
Dunlop has got it right? We think not; let God be true and every man a
liar.
Continuing in his blindness, Rev. Dunlop actually says:
"There was no such thing to Christ as
Lost Tribes."
Now hear the words of Deity clothed in Humanity, hear the words of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for never man spake as He did:
- "I was not sent but unto the LOST
sheep of the House of Israel."
Matthew 15:24
- Sending forth the Disciples, He says:
"But go rather to the LOST sheep of
the House of Israel."
Matthew 10:6
Rev. Dunlop says they were never lost, that Christ knows nothing of
Lost Tribes. The very words of the Master confound his error. I'd
rather take the word of the Lord Jesus as that of any clergyman.
Furthermore the Greek word which the Lord Jesus used for
"lost" literally means to be "put away in
punishment." He was referring to the House of Israel who were
divorced and cast away because of their national sin. They had indeed
been put away in punishment, lost in Assyrian captivity. They had not
returned to Palestine, they had become Gentilised. Rev. Dunlop is
incorrect when he says:
"To the Lord Jesus Christ... the only
lost area was the lostness of their souls."
He was concerned for their national restoration, both spiritually
and physically. He came to institute by the blood a New Covenant
whereby they could be redeemed, and their putting away in punishment
brought to an end. He came to cancel their Bill of Divorce, by His
atoning death on Calvary. Wonderful Jesus, our Kinsman Redeemer!!
Blessed be His Holy Name forever.
Not only do we have the infallible testimony of Scripture that Israel
was lost, but also:
The Evidence Of Secular History
- Josephus the famous Jewish Historian wrote in his book
"Antiquities of the Jews":
"The entire body of the people of
Israel remained in that country; wherefore there are but TWO
TRIBES in Asia and Europe, subject to the Romans; while the TEN
TRIBES are beyond the Euphrates till now and are an immense
multitude not to be estimated by numbers."
So the fate of Israel was well known in the First Century A.D.,
and they were not back in Palestine.
- The ancient historian Kitto states:
"After the captivity we hear very
little of the territories of the Tribes for Ten of them NEVER
RETURNED."
- In the Second Book of Esdras in the Apocrypha we read:
"These are the Ten Tribes... carried
away prisoners out of their own land... whom Shalmaneser, King
of Assyria led away captive; and he carried them over the
waters... but they took counsel among themselves that they would
have the multitude of the heathen and go forth into a far
country where never mankind dwelt. They entered into the
Euphrates... for the Most High held still the flood till they
were passed over."
This journey took the Israelites through a narrow gap in the
Caucasus called the Dariel Pass or the Pass of Israel to the land
of Arsareth in the steppes of what is now Southern Russia. Their
gravestones are there to this day and we read, e.g.:
"I am Jehudi, the son of Moses, the
Son of Jehudi the Mighty, a man of the Tribe of Naphtali,
carried captive with other tribes of Israel by Prince
Shalmaneser... to Halah and Habor, to Gozan and to the
Chersonesus."
Another Crimean gravestone reads:
"Zadock the Levite died 785 years
after our exile."
Prof. Chirolson of Petrograd deciphered over 700 of these
epigraphs in the Crimea where Lost Israel passed through. Thence
they migrated across Europe into these islands.
- Henry's Commentary in its early editions written before there
was any organised British-Israel movement says:
"The greatest part of Ten of the
Twelve Tribes were LOST in captivity."
- Dr. Scofield and the seven co-editors of the Scofield Reference
Bible stated:
"From the Assyrian captivity the Ten
Tribes NEVER RETURNED."
Can all these authorities be wrong and Rev. Dunlop correct? Now to
the evidence of Scripture and History we will add the statements
of those so dear to the heart of Rev. Dunlop; the Jews. Surely
even he must admit that they should know where Israel is today.
The Jewish Evidence
- The famous Rabbi Kimchi who lived in the 13th century wrote
commenting on Hosea 1 v. 11:
"This will come to pass in the days
of the Messiah: for unto the Second Temple there only went up
Judah and Benjamin who were carried away captive to Babylon, and
the children of Israel were not gathered together at that
time."
- The Jewish Chronicle of May 22nd, 1879:
"While not a link is missing of the
historical chain so far as the romance of the House of Judah is
concerned, the Israelites who were subjected by the Assyrian
power disappear from the page of history as suddenly and
completely as though the land of their captivity had swallowed
them up... the Ten Tribes are certainly in existence, all that
has to be done is to discover which people represent them."
- The Jewish Quarterly Review of July 1903:
"The career of the Jews can be traced
without difficulty... until the present day. Of that of the
Israelites... nothing authoritative is known after their
departure from the fatherland, to Habor and Halath... they
seemed to have passed from human knowledge."
- The Jewish Religion by Isaac Leiser, Vol. 1, page 256:
"By the return of the captives from
Babylon, the Israelites were not restored, since the Ten
Tribes... were left in banishment and to this day the researches
of travellers and wise men have not been able to trace their
fate."
- C. and A. D. Rothschild in History and Literature of the
Israelites, Vol. 1, page 489:
"The Ten Tribes of Israel were not
even permitted like the sister kingdom of Judah, to bequeath to
later ages... the memory of rich and varied destinies. They were
irretrievably LOST."
- Rabbi Gershom:
"We are longing to find our LOST
brethren who for two thousand years have baffled all our efforts
to discover their whereabouts, and are at this time a riddle to
the greatest of our illustrious Rabbis."
- Former Chief Rabbi - Dr. H. Adler:
"You are quite right to assume that
the Ten Tribes did not return to the Holy Land."
- Dr. Hertz - Chief Rabbi in 1918:
"The people known as Jews are the
descendants of the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with a certain
number of the Tribe of Levi. So far as is known, there is not
any further admixture of other tribes. The Ten Tribes have been
absorbed among the nations of the world. The Jews look forward
to the gathering of all the tribes at some future date."
- Rabbi Aaron Werner of Spokane, U.S.A., when asked by the late
Dr. Schiffner - "Do the Jews represent all Twelve
Tribes?" replied:
"No, the Ten Tribes of Israel were
carried away by Sennacherib King of Assyria and have become
LOST. The Jews of today are but a remnant made up of the Tribes
of Judah, Benjamin and Levi."
- Rabbi A. H. Fink of Temple Immanuel - Spokane, U.S.A., in reply
to the same question stated:
"The Jews do not claim to represent
the Twelve Tribes for the Ten Tribes never returned from
captivity and are LOST to history"
- The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew
Congregations of the British Empire contains this prayer:
"As for our brethren, the whole House
of Israel, such of them as are given over to trouble or
captivity... have mercy on them and bring them from trouble to
enlargement, from darkness to light, from subjection to
redemption, now, speedily and at a near time."
- Rev. Elieser Bassin - born of wealthy and pious Jewish parents
in Russia, in his book "British and Jewish Fraternity"
says:
"The Hebrew Scriptures point to the
British Isles as the home of God's first-born."
"It is my conviction that Britain is
the nation with whom God has from first to last identified
Himself. I an Israelite of the House of Judah, claim you
(British) as Israelites of the House of Ephraim. As believers in
the faithfulness of our Covenant keeping God I call you to awake
from your sleep."
So Rev. Dunlop is proved wrong on the very battlefield of his
own choice. The unanimous verdict of Scripture, History and the
Jews, combines to substantiate the British-Israel Truth that the
Tribes were lost. The Jewish evidence furthermore proves that they
were not merely spiritually lost, but physically as regards their
identity. The Jewish sources confirm the clear-cut distinction
between Israel and Judah, which is denied by Rev. Dunlop and they
state categorically that Lost Israel never returned to Palestine,
from Assyrian captivity, thereby refuting Rev. Dunlop's
Amalgamation Theory, which we will consider next. Israel clearly
having been lost, we have to proclaim that they are found again in
these last days, in Celto-Anglo-Saxondom, the great Christian
Nation and Commonwealth of Nations, Great Britain, U.S.A., Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa together with a large
proportion of the Dutch and Scandinavian peoples; the very nations
which embraced the Protestant Reformation and took the Bible and
the Gospel of Christ to the ends of the earth as prophecy declared
the Seed of Abraham would do.
Are Jews And Israelites Synonymous
Terms?
Despite the proven fact that some 120 years had intervened between
the captivities of Israel and Judah, not to mention a distance of
at least 500 miles between the destinations of the two groups of
captives, who besides everything else were restricted as to where
they could travel, our opponents continue to assert that the
people of the two Israelite Kingdoms amalgamated in captivity.
With this as their false foundation they go on to assert that
Israelite and Jew mean the same thing and that the terms are
interchangeable. Rev. Dunlop goes down this path and he insists:
"The Scriptures are plain that Israel
and Judah are terms for one people... the term Israel and Judah
and Israel and the Jew are synonymous that they speak of one
nation before God."
Yet just a little earlier in his sermon, Rev. Dunlop read
extensively from the Book of Jeremiah in the 31st chapter and he
actually quoted these words:
"Behold the day will come saith the
Lord that I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel
AND with the House of Judah."
Jeremiah 31:31
This promise is repeated again in the New Testament in Hebrews
8:8, and again the clear-cut distinction between the House of
Israel and the House of Judah is stressed.
Again we read in the Book of Jeremiah:
"Considerest thou not what this
people have spoken, saying the Two families which the Lord hath
chosen, he hath even cast them off."
Jeremiah 33:24
Even the Psalmist distinguishes between the two Israelite
nations, stating:
"Judah was his sanctuary and Israel
his dominion."
Psalm 114:2
Throughout the prophetic Scriptures they are called Two
Nations, Two Families, Two Houses, Two Peoples, Two Sons, Two
Sisters and Two Sticks. Whilst it is correct to say that all the
people of Judah were Israelites, not all Israelites were of the
Tribe of Judah. To put it in simple modern terms, the peoples of
England, Scotland, Wales and Ulster are all British, but not all
British people are Welsh; how many Ulster folk want to be thought
of, or called, English? Similarly whilst all Texans are Americans,
not all Americans are Texans, and not many Texans would want to be
called Californians or vice versa.
Was Paul A Jew?
To substantiate the claim that the terms Israelite and Jew are
interchangeable, Rev. Dunlop quotes three statements by the
Apostle Paul. Let me give them to you and explain what is meant by
them.
- "I am a man which am a Jew"
Acts 21:39
This was either a statement of RELIGION or PROVINCIAL
RESIDENCE. Paul was merely stating that he followed the
religion known as Judaism and/or that he was resident in the
Roman province of Judea.
- "I also am an Israelite."
Romans 11:1
This is a statement of RACE/NATIONALITY, Paul is stating
that he is of that race which sprang from the loins of the
Patriarch Jacob/Israel.
- "Circumcised the eighth day, of
the stock of Israel, of the Tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of
the Hebrews."
Philippians 3:5
Here Paul is making a statement of TRIBAL DESIGNATION.
To sum it up then:
- Paul was by RACE - A HEBREW.
- Paul was by NATIONALITY - AN ISRAELITE.
- Paul was by TRIBE - A BENJAMINITE.
- Paul was by RELIGION - A JEW.
- Paul was by SECT - A PHARISEE.
- Paul was by CITIZENSHIP - A ROMAN.
- Paul was by CONVERSION - A CHRISTIAN.
- Paul was by CALLING - AN APOSTLE.
These statements do not and never will make Jew and Israelite
interchangeable terms. If I stated that I was a Protestant from
Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, it would not mean that
every UK citizen was a Belfast Protestant.
Was Anna A Jewess?
In the midst of his sermon Rev. Dunlop makes the bold assertion
that the prophetess Anna was a Jewess; He actually says:
"Anna, that old mother in Israel, not
in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense, who dwelt in
the Temple, she was of the Tribe of Asher, she was one of the
Ten, she was called a Jewess... because the two are one in God's
eyes."
We would like to ask Rev. Dunlop, where in the Authorised King
James Version of the Bible, Anna is ever called a Jewess? She is
only mentioned once and that is in Luke's Gospel where we read
this description of her:
"And there was one Anna a prophetess
the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser: she was a great
age, and had lived with her husband seven years from her
virginity, and she was a widow of about fourscore and four
years, which departed not from the Temple, but served God with
fastings and prayers, night and day"
Luke 2:36-37
One would be tempted to offer Rev. Dunlop a reward if he can
show us the word Jewess in these verses.
As to the presence in Jerusalem at this time of a member of one
of the Ten Tribes, some might think this refutes the Anglo-Israel
message. Far from it, for Anna is that exception which proves the
rule. It was necessary in the plan of Almighty God for
representatives of both sections of His people to be in the Temple
to welcome the baby Jesus. As Simeon was representative of the
Judah section, Anna represented the Israel section. We have
already pointed out that during times of religious revival in the
Southern Kingdom, some Northerners went south, a few may even have
stayed. Furthermore when the vast bulk of Ten Tribed Israel were
carried into Assyrian captivity, a few stragglers may have fled
south escaping the mopping up operations which lasted until 676
B.C. Did not the prophet declare:
"Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in
it as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the
top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful
branches thereof saith the Lord God of Israel."
Isaiah 17:6
By this we understand that a tiny remnant, a mere handful of
Israelites, referred to as the gleaning grapes and the berries in
the furthermost extremities of the tree, would escape the overall
mass deportations into Assyrian captivity. This accounts for the
presence of Anna a member of the Northern Tribe of Asher being in
Jerusalem after Christ's birth. There with Simeon she awaited her
Messiah, so that the little Lord Jesus might be received, praised,
worshipped and adored by the representatives of the Two Houses of
Israel, between which Bible Prophecy makes such a clear
distinction.
A Jewish Testimony to the Saving Power
of British-Israel Truth
Rev. Dunlop in company with many other Evangelicals and
Fundamentalists has an obsession with the Jews, and viewing them
through rose coloured glasses, he sees them as God's ancient,
chosen people. Now the bulk of the modern Jews are neither true
Israel or true Judah, they are a mixture of Idumean/Edomites, who
accepted the Jewish religion in the days of the Maccabees, those
out of all races who converted to Judaism in the days of Esther,
out of fear not faith, and the descendants of the Turko-Mongoloid
Khazars who embraced Talmudic Judaism in the Eighth and Ninth
Centuries A.D. Amongst this mixture there is a small remnant of
true Israelites of Judah, Benjamin and Levi. Here is the testimony
of one such true Jew out of Judah, and how he found Christ through
the British-Israel Truth:
"I, Cyril Leach, a Jew of pure
extraction, write testifying to the great light given me by
British-Israel Truth, and how through this wonderful key to the
Bible, I came to the belief that Jesus Christ is of a truth the
Son of God and the Redeemer of Israel... I come from a line of
Rabbis on both my father's and my mother's side known far and
wide in Palestine for their piety, charity and wide learning.
Indeed to this day one of my great grandfathers has a synagogue
dedicated to his name in the Holy City... it was not until I
reached the age of sixteen that I began to reflect at all
seriously or deeply about religion. One of the first things that
sorely perplexed me was the position of my own people in the
world... I began to wonder if the words 'God's chosen people'
were not more platitudes... why had our people no King when God
had sworn to David "Thy throne shall be established for
ever"? God said to Abraham "Behold my Covenant is with
thee and thou shall be the father of many nations." These
and other points let me to doubt whether the Bible was after all
God's Word... I was assured that the Saxon people were a Gentile
people, inferior as regards race to the Jews, and I remember
asking my father "If the Jews are God's chosen people, why
is such a wonderful Empire (Britain)... doing the very work the
Jews should be doing"... One day a book was lent me,
setting out what appeared to me at the time a preposterous idea,
that the Saxon race is the continuation of the Northern Kingdom
of Israel carried into captivity in 721 B.C. a long time before
the Southern Kingdom of Judea was shattered by Babylon. I
laughed at the notion that an uncircumcised people who believed
in an imposter called Christ who set Himself up as the Son of
God, could be the Seed of Abraham. For the first time in my life
I began a most careful search of the Word of God - the acid test
of all religious movements to see if there was any truth in this
astounding assertion. To my intense surprise I found that
prophecy after prophecy had materialized and was in the process
of materializing in the Saxon people. I now saw quite clearly
that it is discrediting God's Holy Name, and His reputation as a
God who fulfils His promises, to assert that the Jews form the
whole Seed of Israel."
I trust that Rev. Dunlop will now take his own advice, given in
the course of his sermon, when he said:
"If you ever hear of a Hebrew (Jew)
who has become a Christian, you go and hear him, and you sit and
listen as he expounds the Scriptures as only a Hebrew can."
Well here is the Testimony of a Jew brought to Jesus Christ and
faith in God's Word by British-Israel Truth. We pray sincerely
that Rev. Dunlop will read and inwardly digest it.
The Throne Of David
Concerning our belief that our present Queen and Royal Family are
the direct blood descendants of David King of Israel, and that the
stone encased within the Coronation Chair of Britain, is the very
Bethel Stone on which our father Jacob rested his head when he
dreamt of angels ascending and descending a ladder from heaven;
Rev. Dunlop has this to say:
"The interesting thing is that the
Queen of England knows nothing about it. Would not you think
that the one who is actually sitting on the Throne would know
where she came from? She knows nothing about it. There is a
letter in existence from the Lord Chamberlain which denies the
British Israel belief entirely, and there are no such records of
any ancestral hocus-pocus concerning the Queen. She knows
nothing about it."
This is quite a sweeping statement and it requires to be
answered in several parts.
- The Royal Family are most careful to guard their honour and
reputation, not to allow themselves to be exploited in any
way. The recent legal action taken by the Palace authorities,
over the publication of just one unauthorised photograph in a
leading daily newspaper proves this point. Yet in spite of
this Rev. Dunlop would try to make us, believe that for at
least a century, the Royal Family have declined to take any
action whatsoever against the numerous Anglo-Israel groups,
not only in the United Kingdom, but all over the
English-speaking world, who have been distributing literally
hundreds of thousands of charts and books, many bearing the
Royal Coat of Arms and demonstrating that our Royal Family are
the direct blood descendants of King David, and of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. Many of these books attribute Anglo-Israel
beliefs to the late Queen Victoria and yet Rev. Dunlop expects
us to believe that the Royal Family either ignore or are
unaware of all of this!!
- Rev. Dunlop claims that our Queen knows nothing about the
British-Israel Message; and yet for a life-time her close
relative, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, grand-daughter
of Queen Victoria and cousin of King George V was patroness of
the British-Israel World Federation. His claims become even
more ridiculous when we know that the present Queen has been
receiving and responding to the telegrams of loyal greetings
sent to her each year from the various British-Israel
Conventions, not to mention the many petitions and appeals to
her by these same bodies requesting her to call a National Day
of Prayer.
- As for the supposed letter from the Lord Chamberlain, we
understand that the first mention of this document is by a
certain missionary to the Jews, Henry Hedyt. It is surprising
that if indeed it does exist, that it has not been distributed
widely by the opponents of the British Israel Message. Even if
such a letter did exist we are only too well aware that our
Monarch is not always free to express her own viewpoint, and
that to prevent a constitutional crisis she has had to give
her assent to much which would be personally repugnant to her.
- Rev. Dunlop claims that the Stone of Scone which rests in
the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey was removed in 1955,
subjected to scientific research and proved to be of Scottish
not Palestinian origin. In the interests of accuracy we should
state that the Stone was actually stolen by Scottish
Nationalists in 1950, and that when it was being repaired
before being replaced in the Abbey, chippings were obtained by
the late Rev. George Thompson. When scientifically analysed
together with chippings from the Bethel area of Palestine they
were found to be very similar. Furthermore even our most
ardent critics admit in the light of historical evidence that
the Stone was brought from Ireland to Scotland by King Fergus
and hence could not be of Scottish origin. More honest and
detailed research would prevent such biased misrepresentation
of our case being made.
- By far the most serious implication of all of this is not
whether or not the present Queen accepts or rejects
British-Israel Truth, but more important, whether or not
Almighty God has kept His word, His Covenant Promise to David.
What saith the Scriptures?
- "I will establish the Throne
of his Kingdom FOREVER... Thy Throne shall be established
FOREVER."
II Samuel 7:13&16
- "I have made a Covenant with
my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant thy seed
will I establish forever, and build up thy Throne to all
generations. Selah.''
Psalm 89:3&4
- "My Covenant will I not
break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not be unto
David. His seed shall endure FOREVER, and his Throne as
the Sun before me. It shall be established forever as the
moon and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.''
Psalm 89:34-37
If Rev. Dunlop is correct and the Davidic dynasty and
succession did not endure, then Jeremiah the Prophet must
have been mistaken when he declared:
- "For thus saith the Lord;
David shall never want a man to sit upon the Throne of the
House of Israel... Thus saith the Lord. If ye can break my
Covenant of the Day and my Covenant of the Night that
there should not be day or night in their season, then may
also my Covenant be broken with David my servant that he
should not have a son to reign upon his Throne... Thus
saith the Lord; If my Covenant be not with day and night
and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and
earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob and David
my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be
rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
Jeremiah 33:17-26
Almighty God has given a seven-fold witness to the
enduring character of the Royal Davidic line, Heaven and
Earth, Day and Night, Sun, Moon and Stars.
- "The Lord God shall give unto
Him (Jesus) the Throne of His father David and He shall
reign over the House of Israel forever."
Luke 1:32-33
If Rev. Dunlop is right and the Throne had ceased to exist,
then the Angel should not have made such an announcement to the
Virgin Mary.
We say let God be true and every man a liar, for if one of
these promises can be broken, if God can change His mind, then we
have no guarantee of our eternal salvation, for the God who
promised us Everlasting Life, promised David an Everlasting
Throne.
Who is Anti-Christ? or is Rev. Dunlop a
Historist or a Futurist?
The Free Presbyterian Church and its ministers subscribe to the
Westminster Confession of Faith which rightly identifies the whole
dynasty of Popes including the present one John Paul II as
Anti-Christ. Their Moderator Dr. Paisley has recently published an
excellent book on this subject, a book which he has dedicated to
the ministers of his Church, and in fact made an outstanding
protest at the European Parliament, branding the Pope as the Man
of Sin, to his face; it was a protest that we and all true
Protestants commend. This school of prophetic interpretation is
known as the Historist. In opposition to it is the Futurist theory
invented by such Jesuit priests of Rome as Ribera and Lacunza, who
look for a future Anti-Christ, who will be a politico-military
dictator, one man at the end of time. This delusion diverts
Protestants from seeing the true identity of the Papacy.
Now in the course of his sermon Rev. Dunlop states:
"There is going to be no restoration
of the Jew... until Anti-Christ and his hordes encompass the
Holy City"
"He will destroy the Anti-Christ with
the brightness of His coming, and where will Anti-Christ be? He
will be at the very gates of Jerusalem, that's where he will be.
His armies will be gathered there and the great city will be
surrounded."
"One day the armies of the world
headed up by the man of sin, the Anti-Christ - will surround her
(Jerusalem)."
We would like to ask Rev. Dunlop, which Anti-Christ is this?
the Pope of Rome, or a Coming World Dictator? The Scriptures teach
that it is the hosts of Gog/Magog, atheistic Russian Communism,
which will come to do battle at Jerusalem (Ezekiel 38), not the
Pope of Rome. There is the smell of Futurism about these
statements, how many Anti-Christs does Rev. Dunlop believe in? Is
he a Historist or a Futurist? Perhaps, with his Bible in one hand
and his Moderator's excellent book in the other, he should take
his own advice when he said in his sermon:
"Be a Bible student."
Dan, Britain, The Evidence of Place
Names
The validity of the British-Israel Message rests on Scripture not
place names. Even if there were no such evidence our case still
stands solid. However Rev. Dunlop seeks to make this issue
important and he says in his sermon:
"In their migration they say across
Europe, the Ten Tribes left landmarks and names behind them
which prove that they were there. For instance the Danube is
supposed to be named after Dan."
The Bible tells us that the Danites had a custom of renaming
occupied territory in honour of their progenitor:
"The children of Dan went up to fight
against Leshem and took it... and possessed it and called
Leshem, Dan after the name of Dan their father."
Joshua 19:47
Again we are told that Dan was to be a "serpent by the
way" in Genesis 49:17, meaning a trail blazer who would leave
clear marks in the territories he pioneered. Furthermore in the
days of Deborah in the Book of Judges, the Danites were already a
sea-faring migrating people, who were rebuked for not being
available in the day of battle because they were in their ships.
No less a person than the British Prime Minister, W. E. Gladstone
in his book "Juventus Mundi" tells us that the name
Danai is used 147 times in the Iliad, and he links these Danai of
Greece with the Tuatha de Danaan of Ulster, a fact confirmed by
ancient Irish history. The manuscript known as the "Psalter
of Cashel" says:
"The Tuatha de Danaans ruled in
Ireland for about two centuries, and were highly skilled in
architecture and other arts from their long residence in Greece
and intercourse with the Phoenicians."
In Ptolemy's ancient map of Ireland we find marked such places
as Dan's Lough, Dan Sowar (Dan's Resting Place), Dan Sobairse
(Dan's Habitation). Would it really endanger Rev. Dunlop's eternal
salvation to accept these historical facts? Would believing in the
Danite origin of our Irish place names detract from our Christian
faith?
Rev. Dunlop also takes exception to the claim that the word
British comes from two Hebrew words Berith and Ish meaning
Covenant Man. He says:
"They can only ever mean Covenant and
Man; they could never mean Man of the Covenant."
Why should he find this so hard to believe when the Jews for
whom he has such a high regard have a fraternal society known as
B'nai-Brith or Sons of the Covenant. Once again we are getting the
double standard; Jewish evidence is useful to appeal to unless it
happens to substantiate the British Israel Truth which it
frequently does.
Despising Patriotism and Patriotic
Symbols
Rev. Dunlop has some strange statements to make with regard to
Patriotism and love of our country and its national symbols. He
quotes the words of the Apostle Paul:
"But what things were gain to me,
those I counted loss for Christ, yea and do count all things but
dung that I may win Christ and be found of Him."
Philippians 3:7-8
Rev. Dunlop continues:
"He was glad he was saved, he wasn't
glad he had the Star of David round his neck, he wasn't glad he
had the Stone of Scone to gaze at, he wasn't glad that the
Throne of Israel that David sat on would be preserved in
England, he wasn't glad he had an Ulster flag stuck in his hip
pocket as proof of his descendancy ... he counted it all but
dung."
Does Rev. Dunlop really believe that our National identity, our
flag, our throne are "dung"? We are proud to be British,
proud to be loyal subjects of Queen Elizabeth II, proud of our
Ulster ancestry, proud of our British Heritage, proud of our
Ulster flag, our Red Hand and Crown, our Union Jack, the old red,
white and blue - long may it continue to fly over an Ulster that
is Protestant, British and free.
Rev. Dunlop goes on to state, based on a defective view of
Galatians 3:28, that:
"There is no nationalism in the
Gospel."
"You want a new nationality tonight
come to Christ. One in Him a new nation."
Let me say that the Lord Jesus Christ gives men and women a NEW
NATURE not a NEW NATIONALITY. It was my guilty, scarlet sins that
were washed away in Calvary's atoning blood, not my Ulster
Loyalism or my British Patriotism.
I knelt down a sinful, White-Anglo-Saxon Protestant and got up
off my knees a saved one.
Paul actually wrote to the Galatian Church:
"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."
Galatians 3:21
Surely Rev. Dunlop would not be so enthusiastic as to remove
the distinction between the sexes as he is that between the races.
Salvation never made a male - female, a white - black, a brown -
yellow, an employer - an employee; it is a purely spiritual
experience.
The serious implication however is that if we abandon our
British nationalism when we accept Christ as Saviour, then what
does it matter to what nation we give our citizenship and
allegiance? What difference does it make if Ulster is under a
Union Jack or Tri-colour? What has the struggle of the last twenty
years been for? Yes and the struggles of the centuries before.
Have not the very cream of loyal Ulstermen given their very lives
to keep this province British and under the Union Jack and Crown.
Rev. Dunlop's remarks are all the more peculiar coming as they
do from a minister of a denomination whose fellow clergymen have
been elected to serve in District Councils, Stormont Assemblies,
Westminster Parliaments and even the European Parliament from
platforms festooned with Union Jacks and Ulster flags, on the
pledge of using all lawful and legitimate means to keep Ulster as
an integral part of this United Kingdom.
Scurrilous and Emotive Language
When reasoned argument is absent, the opponents of truth sadly
find it necessary to resort to scurrilous abuse and emotive
language, which paints their opponents in an unfavourable light.
Thus instead of saying that British-Israel believers are and have
been for generations members of our three Loyal Orders, the
Orange, Black and Apprentice Boys, he says:
"British Israelism has INFILTRATED
the Orange and Black Institutions and the Apprentice Boys of
Derry"
The idea conveyed is of a furtive, dishonest group of people
who are engaged in a carefully thought out conspiracy to take over
certain otherwise worthy organisations. As loyal British citizens,
as Christian patriots, and as faithful Protestants, British Israel
believers have every right to join these bodies or any political
party of their choice provided they meet the qualifications and
abide by the rules. One of the finest life long British Israel
believers in Ulster was the late Mr. John Bryans, loved and
admired by all, he served with distinction as Grand Master of the
Orange Institution in Ireland. We challenge Rev. Dunlop to state
whether he regards him as an infiltrator. When not searching for
British-Israel moles or "British-Israelites under the
bed," he comes up with such gems of Christian phraseology as:
"There is not another 'ism' that is
so bankrupt as the British-Israel theory"
and
"The British Israelite theory is a
dead God-dishonouring, anti-Scriptural fraudulent, and deceptive
lie from the pit of hell. It is every one of these things and
more."
Such descriptions of another group of Bible-believing
Protestants speak for themselves, and reflect on the one using
them rather than on the objects of his abuse. We take his slurs
and insults and wear them proudly as a badge of honour not of
shame, for did not our blessed Lord Jesus warn us:
"The disciple is not above his master
nor the servant above his Lord... if they have called the master
of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of
His household."
Matthew 10:24-25
Let Rev. Dunlop abuse us if he will, let him try and treat us
like religious lepers, we will gladly take this reproach for the
truth of Christ and His Kingdom. To Rev. Dunlop we would like to
quote a very accurate and much used statement of his own
Moderator:
"You can tramp truth down, but you
will never tramp it out."
Guilt by Association
By the crafty technique of seeking to equate British-Israel
believers with Armstrongism, because that movement also believes
in Anglo-Saxon identity, and by calling us the
"blood-brothers" of Mormonism, because they too teach
that not all Israelites remained in Palestine, Rev. Dunlop is
using the old smear method of "guilt by association."
The fact that Rev. Dunlop believes in the Virgin Birth and the
Trinity, surely does not make him a Romanist, for they also hold
these beliefs.
The fact that Dr. Paisley's excellent books against the new
versions of the Bible have been sold and distributed by Covenant
Books of 6 Buckingham Gate, London, the major British-Israel
publishing group in the United Kingdom, does not make him a
British-Israelite.
These sort of misleading statements are a double edged sword,
and one that Rev. Dunlop would be as well not using.
What Good Is The Knowledge Of Our
Israel-Identity?
When all else fails the opponents of the British-Israel message
fall back on the defensive line of argument that even if it were
true, of what benefit would it be. Rev. Dunlop actually says:
"There is no benefit being an
Israelite."
Let me therefore point out some five benefits of this much
maligned British-Israel Truth.
1) IT BUILDS
FAITH IN GOD AND IN THE BIBLE
When Bible denying Modernism raised its head in the last
century and eventually took control of the major Theological
Colleges, under the disguise of Scholarship and Higher Criticism,
the faith of multitudes was undermined and destroyed. The leading
Atheists and Agnostics, i.e., Bradlaugh, Paine and Ingersol,
pointed to the Covenants that God had made with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob/Israel and pointing to their non-fulfilment either in Jewry
or the Christian Church, thereby they branded God a failure and
His precious word untrue. Yet at that very era Almighty God
revealed the knowledge of our Israel/Identity. Prophecy fulfilled
in the Celto-Anglo-Saxon peoples was the very weapon that would
have slain doubt and disbelief, but stubborn and misguided
Evangelicals counted the revelation of British-Israel Truth as a
heresy. They belittled and opposed the very message which is the
antidote to Modernism and today we have a nation where only 10% of
the population attend a Christian Church of any type.
British Israel Truth builds and restores faith and confidence
in an all powerful God and an infallible Bible.
2) IT STIMULATES
EVANGELISTIC ZEAL
Paul the Apostle wrote these words:
"Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved."
Romans 10:1
The true British-Israelite will make this their very own
personal prayer. When we discover the wonderful truth of our
national identity as the literal seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
then we will dedicate ourselves to greater prayer and evangelistic
zeal to tell our fellow Israelites of the wonderful, free
salvation obtained for them at Calvary by Jesus Christ their
Kinsman-Redeemer, and of their need to repent and obey the Gospel.
3) IT STIMULATES
INTEREST IN BIBLE PROPHECY AND IN THE SECOND ADVENT MESSAGE
Once we know that we are Israel, we will want to dig into the
Scriptures and search out every passage, every chapter, every
verse which gives us enlightenment on Israel's ultimate destiny
and our part in God's great plan. With the knowledge of
British-Israel Truth we will be able to rightly identify the
nations of the world, pin point events as they were fulfilled in
history, and look forward to those final end-time events which
will herald the return of our dear Redeemer King to take the
Throne of His father David and begin His reign of peace and
righteousness, here upon the Earth.
4) IT ASSURES US THAT
BRITAIN IS NOT FINISHED AND THAT ULSTER WILL NOT BE LOST
When we realise who we really are, then we know that we are the
inheritors of the Covenant oaths and promises made by Almighty God
to the Patriarchs. We have the guarantees of inviobility,
indestructibility, and ultimate deliverance from all of our
enemies, from the hands of these that hate us. Knowing the
Israel/ldentity Truth removes all fear for the future, we don't
need to emigrate, evacuate or prepare for a Secret Rapture; Ulster
is in for Revival not Revolution and we can boldly declare with
Joel the prophet:
"Fear not O land be glad and rejoice
for the Lord will do great things:
5) IT PROVIDES US
WITH A CHRISTIAN AND BIBLICAL BASIS FOR OUR PATRIOTISM
For far too long Christians have been so heavenly minded as to
be no earthly use. For far too long we have fixed our eyes on
heaven, and abandoned our dominion mandate on earth. For far too
long we have been made to feel ashamed of our Patriotism and
Loyalism, and told we should abandon it all when we are born
again. The British Israel Truth refutes this serious error.
Britain is part of God's vineyard, Ulster is our own Promised
Land, peopled by the very seed of Israel planted here as a light
in darkest Ireland, and we must occupy until Jesus comes.
Conclusion
It has been no pleasure to have to preach this sermon and compile
this booklet. I am deeply saddened that any minister who professes
to love the Lord Jesus could be so blinded by prejudice as to make
such baseless charges against British-Israel believers.
Nevertheless it was necessary for the Apostle Jude tells us to:
"Contend earnestly for the
faith."
Whilst Peter exhorts us to:
"Be ready always to give an answer to
every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you
with meekness and fear. Having a good conscience; that whereas
they speak evil of you, as of evil doers, they may be ashamed
that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ."
I Peter 3:15-16
Let us pray that Rev. Dunlop and all the other opponents of our
message may have their eyes opened to the British-Israel Truth.
Pray that they will come back to the Bible and reassess their
position with an open mind. Pray for our nation and province that
God will send a mighty Holy Ghost Revival. Pray that men and women
may discover in British-Israel Truth, that God keeps His Word and
that the Bible is true, and that from that discovery they may come
to repentance and saving faith in the Lord Jesus without which we
cannot enter His soon coming Kingdom.
Watch the Signs of the Times, uphold these truths most surely
believed among you, and occupy until Jesus comes.
APPENDIX
Queen Victoria's Testimony
Queen Victoria once attended a service in St. Paul's Cathedral and
listened to a sermon that interested her greatly. Afterwards she
asked her chaplain, "Can one be absolutely sure in this life
of eternal safety?" His answer was that he knew no way that
one could be absolutely sure.
This incident was published in the Court News and came to the
notice of a humble minister of the Gospel, John Townsend. After
reading of Queen Victoria's question and the answer she received,
he prayed much about the matter and then sent the following note
to the Queen.
"To her gracious Majesty our beloved
Queen Victoria from one of her most humble subjects: "With
trembling hands, but heartfilled love, and because I know that
we can be absolutely sure now for our eternal life in the Home
that Jesus went to prepare, may I ask your Most Gracious Majesty
to read the following passages of Scripture: John 3:16; Romans
10:9,10.
"I sign myself, your servant for Jesus' sake,"
John Townsend
John Townsend was not alone in praying about his letter to the
Queen. He took others into his confidence and much prayer was
offered up to God in Her Majesty's behalf. About two weeks later
he received a modest-looking envelope in which was enclosed the
following letter.
"To John Townsend:
"Your letter of recent date received and in reply, would
state that I have carefully and prayerfully read the portions of
Scripture referred to. I believe in the finished work of Christ
for me, and trust by God's grace to meet you in that Home of
which lie said, `I go to prepare a place for you'."
(Signed) Victoria Guelph.
Yes, Queen Victoria knew that she occupied the Throne of David,
and she ascribed Britain's greatness to the Word of God. Yet so
exalted a person was not ashamed to make this humble confession of
her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. She knew Him to be the great
Saviour and Healer of men, the Redeemer of Israel, and the
Architect of this nation's history, but she confessed Him also as
her own personal Saviour.
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