Re: Revelation 11:15-12. Under the subheading “Where are the Twelve Tribes?”, I was looking forward to hearing about the dispersement of the 12 tribes of Israel, not the location of the temple. Unless I misread the article, you speak of the Jews only. The Jews only made/make up 2 1/2 of the twelve tribes of Israel (Judah, Benjamin, and some of the Levites). The other ten tribes went north during the time of Jeroboam (read Kings) and were eventually conquered and dispersed by the Assyrians. The southern tribes stayed in Jerusalem until they were conquered by the Babylonians and went into captivity for 70 years. After that period, they went back to Jerusalem and built the second temple. What has happened to the other ten tribes? Many think they make up much of Europe and the U.S. — I really don’t know but it is interesting to speculate.
I guess what I am saying is that you should not refer to the 12 tribes of Israel as the “Jews”. Besides Judah and Benjamin (the Jews), there are Reuben, Gad, Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, Joseph, Simeon, Naphtali, Dan, and the other half of the descendants of Levi. While all Jews are Israelis, not all Israelis are Jews.
In the context of the study, giving the location of the 12 tribes in Israel during the Millennium was done to pin point the location of the Coming Temple, not to speculate on where they might be today.
The theory of the Lost 10 Tribes is not Biblical but was popularized in part by the Royal Family of England to justify their claim to divine right of Rule. It was part of a self-contradicting view that came to be known as “British Israelism” and asserted that they were the true descendants of King David, that the rightful heir to the Throne of David was brought to England as a boy by Jeremiah at the time of the Babylonian Captivity, founding the royal family of England in continuation of the Davidic line. King David, of course was not from the 10 Northern tribes, but from Judah in the South, hence the contradiction.
Among those who disagreed (with Divine Right of Rule) were Karl Marx, the father of communism and Charles Darwin, father of evolution. In fact Marx is the original proponent of the theory of evolution. He proposed it as a rebuttal to Divine Right. If he could prove that there is no God, then he could finally deny the Royal family of their right to rule and advance the notion of communism as the proper form of government. His friend Darwin took up the challenge, developing the Theory of Evolution.
And so two of humanity’s most devastating philosophies may have come about as a result of the failure to read and understand the Bible. 2 Chronicles 11:16 teaches us that the faithful of all 12 tribes migrated south to Jerusalem at the time of the civil war after Solomon’s death. Josephus confirmed this in his History of the Jews. Descendants of these Jews were among those sent captive to Babylon with the rest of the nation in 586 BC. There have never been 10 lost tribes because God promised to always preserve a faithful remnant of Israel. That means representatives of all 12 tribes. In fact early in Daniel’s 70th week, God will commission 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes as Messianic evangelists.
I agree that while all Jews are Israelis, not all Israelis are Jews. A rapidly growing minority is Arabic and within a generation could constitute a political majority, enough to vote the Nation of Israel out of existence. It’s another sign that the End of the Age is upon us because the disappearance of Israel would break God’s promise to them.