He Hath Prospered Our Beginnings
by Conrad Gaard
Originally Interpreter Reprint Number One
The Destiny of America Foundation
"Ye are a chosen race, a royal priest�hood, an holy nation, a redeemed people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." ��I Peter 2:9.
"HE HATH PROSPERED OUR BEGINNI NGS"
Conrad Gaard
A DARK AND GLOOMY DAY
All the prophets agree that at "the time of the end" there will come on earth a "time of tribulation" more grievous than anything that man has even known but it is a tragic fact that the great majority of Bible students today are woefully ignorant of the basic details of the Story the Bible tells. Con�sequently, even though it is becoming very clear that we are now living in the last days there is much confusion and even violent disagreements between the various schools of prophetic interpre�tation.
Even among those who recognize that the Bible is Israel's book and who know that modern Israel is today represented by the "U. S. A." and the British Com�monwealth of Nations" there is much difference of opinion because many vitally important phases of Jehovah's Revelation are overlooked or ignored.
The only way to overcome such dif�ficulties is to "search the Scriptures," as Jesus admonished, in order to get a comprehensive understanding of the entire Bible Story, rather than merely trying to prove the truth or error of any particular theory or scheme of prophetic interpretation.
COMMON AND NATIONAL SALVATION
Jude in his Epistle, addressed to, "them that are sanctified by Jehovah the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called," writes; "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common (Gr. 'koinos' literally 'shared by all') salvation, it was need�ful for me to write unto you, and ex�hort that ye should earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints."
Jude here very definitely differentiates between the "salvation" which is "shared by all" and the "faith once delivered to the saints (called out ones)." When we
note that Jude addresses his Epistle to those that have been sanctified (called out) by the Father it becomes clear that he is referring to a special "faith" which had once been delivered to them as a "sanctified and called" people and which was not "shared by all' peoples.
Most modern day Christians, and es�pecially Preachers, theologians and Teachers, fail to make this distinction and this despite the fact that from be�ginning to end the Holy Scriptures are very clear in the matter.
Since it is impossible to understand and interpret prophetic revelation with�out taking into account the fact that the Jehovah has provided "personal salvation from sin and death unto everlasting life," which is "common" to, and "shared by all," the fallen children of Adam and that He also promised a "national and collective redemption" to a chosen and called out people, we shall briefly consider this matter first of all.
When Adam and his wife chose to "know good and evil" for themselves rather than obey the "Command of Jehovah" they came under the con�demnation of death and all of the chil�dren of Adam are still under that con�demnation for "in Adam all die," since "all have sinned and come short of the glory of Jehovah."
This condemnation is individual and personal and every Adamite is in�dividually born and is individually sub�ject to death hence salvation from this condemnation of death must also be personal and individual.
Now the death to which the Adamites became subject is an unnatural condition for them for Jehovah did not create Adam to die. Therefore in order to change this unnatural condition into which the Adamites had fallen, Jehovah provided a "free gift of a new life" to all the fallen children of Adam through a "New Birth in the Spirit."
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The epitome of this Covenant with Abraham is found in Gen. 13:17-19: "And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing; which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a .omit and mighty nation, and all the nations on the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will com�mand his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do justice and judgment; that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him."
This Covenant with Abraham and his seed is certainly not one which offers a special kind of personal salvation unto life for it is clearly a covenant made with a Race collectively to make of that race "many nations" and "A great and mighty nation," but it in no way alters or interferes with the "free gift of ever�lasting life' offered to all the children of Adam, neither does it in any way exempt the children of Abraham from the neces�sity of appropriating eternal life as a "free gift" by faith.
As dying children of Adam the chil�dren of Abraham are under the con�demnation of death individually as long as they are in Adam and hence they, like the rest of the descendants of Adam, must receive life as a free gift.
Therefore everlasting life through the New Birth in the Spirit and resurrection is absolutely necessary for every child of Abraham, but this does not alter the fact that the Race raised up of the "SEED" of Abraham, to which the promise was made, collectively inherits under the Holy Covenant made by Jehovah with the fathers of that Race, namely, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-Israel.
THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM
Now Abraham did not in his flesh and blood body live to see the fulfillment of the Covenant that Jehovah made with him and his seed, but he did believe that Jehovah could, and would, make good on all of the promises and covenants that He had made and we are told in the Scriptures that this "faith was accounted unto him for righteousness."
When we study the various promises and covenants of Jehovah made with Abraham and his seed we find that all of these promises are unconditional in that Jehovah says that, "I will multiply thy seed ... I will make of thee & great and mighty nation ... I will give to thee and thy seed the land of Canaan."
In short, the fulfillment of all of the promises and covenants is conditioned only upon Jehovah's power to do what He has declared that he will do. There�fore, Abraham and his children after him can only receive the promised bless�ings when they allow "Jehovah to do it for them" and acknowledge His power and authority.
Now Abraham believed Jehovah's promises and we are told that this faith was accounted to him for right�eousness which qualified him for citizen�ship in the Kingdom promised to him and his seed after him.
Paul in the 4th chapter of his Epistle to the Romans explains the "faith of Abraham" shows how important that faith still is to the children of promise. I shall quote only a few salient verses: "For what saith the Scriptures? Abra�ham believed Jehovah, and it was ac�counted unto him for righteousness . . . For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith . . . (Abra�ham) Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb."
We cannot spiritualize meaning of these verses so as to make the Christian�s faith in Jesus Christ for his own personal salvation the faith of Abra�ham here referred to, because "the promise was that he should be the heir of the world," and that Abraham should "become the father of many nations."
The next verse makes it clear these many nations were to be peopled by Abraham's literal children for we are told that Abraham believed that a son would be born to them even though both he and Sarah were beyond the normal age for childbearing.
And then Paul continues: "He stag�gered not at the promise of Jehovah through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to Jehovah; and being fully persuaded that, what He (Jehovah) had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.'"
Here then we see that the faith of Abraham was the faith to believe that Jehovah, according to His promise, would fulfill His covenant to multiply Abra�ham's seed in a race which would be�come "many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be."
This same promise was passed on to Isaac and to Jacob-Israel and they too had to accept this promise by faith. When we look up the meaning of the word saints we find that it means "the set apart ones." Therefore the "faith once delivered to the saints" can only refer to the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-Israel, who were the sancti�fied, or called out, ones.
THIS FAITH STILL IMPORTANT
That this "faith of Abraham" is im�portant to Abraham's children today is clearly explained by Paul, when in the next verses of this same chapter he writes: "Now it was not written for his (Abraham's) sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Master from the dead."
The real import of this statement is that the same faith which was imputed to Abraham for righteousness (not sal�vation) shall also be imputed to us, if me believe on Him who raised Jesus from the dead. In other words the heirs to this righteousness of faith must believe the promises of Jehovah, on whom Abraham believed, for Jesus Himself claimed Jehovah as His Father and it was the Father who raised Him from the dead.
Everlasting life, then, is promised for believing in Jesus as Savior, but it is the faith of Abraham, which "was once delivered to the saints," that "shall be imputed unto us" for the righteous�ness which qualifies us for the King�dom, while belief in Jesus assures us of "everlasting life."
THE SEED OF ABRAHAM IDENTIFIED
In his Epistle to the Galatians, verse 16, chapter 3, Paul writes: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not to seeds, as of many, but as of one, And to thy seed which is Christ.
Just think that over soberly for here we have a statement so profound that it challenges our whole concept of Chris�tian faith.
Paul says that Christ IS the seed of Abraham to which the promise was made, which must mean that Christ was in Abraham for He IS the seed of Abraham.
First what were the promises made to the seed of Abraham? As we have already found Jehovah promised to mul�tiply that seed in a Race or Family and to make that race or family many na�tions and "A great and mighty na�tion in which all the other nations of the earth shall be blessed" and also to give that multitudinous seed, the land of Canaan for an everlasting inheritance.
Clearly then the "children of Abra�ham" must be the Race or Family in which this seed, which is Christ, has been multiplied. Now some spiritualize the whole matter and say that all those who accept Christ are the children of Abraham but will this explanation stand up?
The promise made to the seed of Abraham was to a Race, collectively, which should become "many nations and ONE great and mighty nation.
Let's see what Paul says about this. In Romans 9:7 he writes: "Neither, be�cause they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called."
Here then we see that not all of the descendants of Abraham are heirs to the promise but that the promise is to the children of "one seed" and that seef is to be called in Isaac. This condition limits the inheritance in the promise to the descendants of Isaac. Hence neither Ishmael nor Abraham's sons by his wife Keturah can inherit under the covenant made with Abraham and his seed.
Paul in Romans 3:9 makes this pos�itively certain when hi says: "For this is the premise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son," and Paul is here merely quoting from Gen. 17:19-21 where Elohim said to Abraham, "Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting' covenant, and with his seed after him . . .My covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear thee at this set time in the next year."
So we see that the "seed of Abraham, which IS Christ, to which the promise was made," passed on to Isaac.
Now let's turn back to the 9th Chap�ter of Romans where Paul continues his explanation: "And not only this (that the seed is called in Isaac); but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil; that the purpose of Jehovah according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."
Here Paul is again merely referring to the fact so clearly told in the 25th and 27th chapters of Genesis that the "birth�right," in the promise to the seed of Abraham and the "blessing" went to Jacob rather than to Esau and that Esau and his descendants did not share in the promises made to the "one seed of Abraham and Isaac."
The sum of the whole matter is that we have now traced to Jacob the "ONE seed, which Paul said "IS CHRIST," and to which the promise was made.
Now all bible students know that Jacob's name was changed to Israel and that�� Jehovah�� continued�� His�� promises and covenants with him but the full significance of this fact has greatly been overlooked.
JACOB�� BECOMES�� ISRAEL
The "birthright." that Esau sold to Jacob for "bread and pottage of lentiles," as we have already noted, was the inheritance which was his by right of birth in the promises and covenants made by Jehovah to his fathers Abra�ham and Isaac. Patently this inheritance had nothing to do with "personal sal�vation unto everlasting life" for this is a "gift" which cannot be transferred from one individual to another, hence the birthright was the inheritance in the promises and covenants to make "many nations" and "One great and mighty nation" of the race in which the seed of Abraham was to be multi�plied.
The "blessing" of Isaac also went to Jacob and in blessing him Isaac said, "Therefore Elohim give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine; let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee; cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." (Gen. 27:28-29)
Because of the enmity of his brother Jacob was compelled to flee from his wrath but before he left his father Isaac "called and blessed" him, saying "El Shaddai bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; and give thee the blessing of Abraham, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which Elohim gave unto Abraham." (Gen. 28:3-4)
On the way to Padanaram, where Isaac had sent him, Jacob stopped for the night at Luz and there Jehovah ap�peared to him in a dream, as we read in Gen. 28:13-15: "And, behold, Jehovah stood above it (the ladder), and said, I am Jehovah Elohim of Abraham thy father, and the Elohim of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 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, behold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again to this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."
Jacob dwelt with his mother's brother Laban for 20 years and during this time 11 sons were born to him.
After leaving his uncles home with his entire household, Jacob returned to Luz. In Gen, 35:9-10" we are told: "And Elohim appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of "Padanaram, and blessed him. And Elohim 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."
Note that Jacob is told, "thy name shall not be called any more Jacob," and note also that Jacob's sons are not included in this change of name. These sons were" born Jacob and they con�tinued as "the house of Jacob."
In other words from this time on the prophecies and promises made to the house of Jacob apply to the 11 sons born as Jacob but the promises and prophecies made to "Israel" apply only to "Israel" (the renamed Jacob) and to those rightfully entitled to the name.
It must be remembered that the terms "the house, or, the children, of Israel" naturally includes all the de�scendants of Jacob-Israel. An illustra�tion may help to clarify this matter. Suppose a man named Mr. Smith had 11 sons and then Mr. Smith changed his name to Mr. Brown without including his 11 sons in the change. The names of these 11 sons would still be Smith but any children born after Smith's name was changed to Brown would of course be named Brown.
As a result Mr. Brown would have children named both Smith and Brown but when referring to his whole house or family they would al] be included in the term "the children of Mr. Brown."
It is clear that Jacob, whose name had been changed to Israel, is to carry out a divinely appointed destiny as "Israel," for in verses 11-12 of the 35th chapter of Genesis we read: "And Elohim said unto him, (Israel), I am El Shaddai; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee (Israel) I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land."
Now the Bible tells us that Benjamin was born after Jacob's name was changed to Israel and hence Benjamin was born an Israelite.
This fact has such vital significance that we shall take the time to follow it through to its logical conclusions.
In Phil. 3:5 Paul declared that he was "of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews," and again in Romans 11:1 he wrote: "I say then, hath Jehovah cast away His people? Jehovah forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin."
Keeping these clear statements of fact in mind, let's now turn to Romans 9:3 where Paul said: "I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." When Paul speaks of his "kinsmen ac�cording to the flesh" he must be re�ferring to the fact that he was a "Benjamite."
Then in the next verse Paul con�tinued by saying that his kinsmen ac�cording to the flesh "are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service, and the promises."
In other words Paul emphasizes the fact that his kinsmen (the Benjamites) according to the flesh are Israelites and that to them pertains the adoption and the covenants and the promises.
In verse 6 Paul added: "Not as though the word of Jehovah hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel." In Paul said that the Word of Jehovah is sure and depend�able and that the promises and covenants were all confirmed to Israel and must be fulfilled in Israel, but he also added that not all of the children of Jacob-Israel (the man Israel) are Israelites by birth for his first eleven sons are Jacob and, as we shall see, can become "Israelites" only by "adoption."
However, Paul did say that his kinsmen according to the flesh (the Benjamites) are Israelites and this becomes understandable when we remember that Benjamin was born an "Israelite."
Furthermore Paul's statement that the "adoption" pertains to Israel can only mean that the "children of Jacob" must be adopted into Israel.
Now let's go back to the story of Jacob to get our bearings in the matter. We found that the inheritance in the promises and covenants with Abraham. and Isaac was given to Jacob while he was still Jacob and this inheritance still remained with him after his name was changed to Israel but El Shaddai made a special covenant with him as Israel which had not been made with either Abraham or Isaac under which as Israel he should "be fruitful and mul�tiply" and become "A Nation and a Company of Nations" and inherit the land promised to Abraham and Isaac and their seed. This makes it clear that the "seed" to which the promise was made was to come down through Israel and all those outside of Israel must become ''heirs through adoption'." In short then the "seed" came down through Benjamin, to whom pertaineth the adop�tion and all the children of Jacob must be adopted into Israel.
THE ADOPTION BEGUN
Keeping the covenant with Israel in mind and especially that Israel should become "a Nation and a Company of Na�tions," let's turn to the 48th chapter of Genesis.
In verse 2 we read, And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee; and Israel strength�ened himself, and sat upon the bed." Note that both the term "Jacob" and "Israel" are used in this passage which brings up a point which should be clarified.
After Jacob's name had been changed he is sometimes called Jacob and some�times Israel but if we examine these passages carefully we find that the name Jacob is used in connection with the identity and the destiny of that por�tion of his family named Jacob and Israel is used in relation to the covenants and promises to which as Israel he and his "seed" were the heirs.
Now Joseph was born Jacob and hence we read, "and one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh," but, as we shall soon see, it was in respect to his destiny as Israel that he dealt with the two sons of Joseph, therefore we are told that "Israel strengthened him�self."
Only once more is the name Jacob used in this entire chapter, when in verse 3 we read: "And Jacob said to Joseph, El Shaddai appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful and multiply thee, and' I will make thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession." (Cf. Gen. 35:10-12)
Jacob continued to tell Joseph that he wanted to adopt Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and give to them the "birthright" which by right of birth should have gone to Reuben and Simeon. (See I Chron. 5:1-2)
From this point on it is Israel who speaks and acts in the story related in this 48th chapter and we are told that Joseph agreed to his father's re�quest (verse 9) and we read beginning with verse 13: "And Joseph took them, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephriam's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, crossing his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn. Arid he blessed Joseph, and said, Elohim, before whom my fathers Abra�ham and Isaac did walk, Elohim which fed me all my life long unto this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name, of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
In this solemn "act of adoption" Israel makes his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, his heirs to the "birth�right promises" in Abraham and Isaac and he also confers his name "Israel" upon them thus making them Israelites by adoption and he asks that they may fulfill the destiny of Israel by becoming "a multitude of people in the midst of the earth."
Thus we have three tribes named "Israel," namely Benjamin born Israel and Ephraim and Manasseh who became Israelites by adoption. In this connection it is interesting to read Psalm 80, where the Psalmist prays, "Give ear, O Shep�herd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Be�fore Ephraim and Benjamin and Manas�seh stir up Thy strength, and come and save us. Etc."
NATIONAL CONSEQUENCES
We have already noted that the covenants and promises made with the "seed of Abraham and Isaac" were col�lective in character and national in scope and the same thing is true of the covenant that El Shaddai made with Israel at Luz.
Now the culmination of the Holy Covenant made with Abraham and his seed was that the "children of Abra�ham," raised up from this "seed," should become "a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in it," and since Israel was an heir to this covenant it is inconceivable that the special covenant made with him as- Israel at Luz can be in conflict with it.
First we should note that the Holy Covenant made with Abraham and his seed is an everlasting covenant but we are not told that the special covenant under which the multitude of Israel should become "a nation and a company of nations" is such an everlasting covenant.
However, since Israel inherits under the Everlasting Holy Covenant made with the seed of Abraham, Israel must and will become ONE Great Nation through which all the other nations of the earth shall be blessed. Therefore the special covenant that Israel should be "a nation and a company of nations" must be an interim Covenant and it must fit into the revealed program of Jehovah without contradiction of, or change in, Jehovah's Avowed Plan.
We shall consider that matter later but first let's return to the story of Israel's adoption of his grandsons into Israel. After conferring his name on the boys and praying that they may "grow into the multitude of Israel," Israel prophesied, in verse 19: "He (Manasseh) also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother (Ephraim) shall be greater than he, and his seed shall be�come a multitude, (or, company,) of nations."
This clearly indicates that Manasseh and Ephraim, as Israel, are to fulfill the destiny assigned to Israel by El Shaddai at Luz, when Jacob's name was changed to Israel.
ISRAEL'S FIRST TEST
After the children of Israel had been brought out of Egyptian bondage, while they were camped before Mount Sinai, Jehovah called to Moses out of the mountain, saying, "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the chil�dren of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how "I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, IF ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people; for all the earth is mine; and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation." (Ex. 19:3-5)
Note that Jehovah did not make an unconditional covenant with the children of Israel at Sinai for He made the promise conditional upon obedience to His voice. Furthermore it should be noted that this offer was made to the whole family of Israel. Hence it was not a personal matter but a collective, na�tional proposition. Jehovah did not make His covenant with merely that portion of the children which might "obey His voice," but with all the "house of Jacob" and all "the children of Israel," agreeing to make the whole family "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" if the whole family obeyed His voice.
Jehovah instructed Moses to lay this offer before "the children of Israel" and in verse 7 we are told that "Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all these words which Jehovah commanded him."
The next verse continues: "And all the people answered together and said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do." In short, in a solemn popular ref�erendum the people accepted Jehovah's offer and the next sentence adds: "And Moses returned the words (or, 'Vote') of the people to Jehovah," thus ratify�ing the contract.
Through Moses Jehovah then codified His laws in terms of social relationships, economic practices and governmental ad�ministration and He gave these "Com�mandments, Statutes and Judgements" to the Nation for a National Constitu�tion and Body of Law under which judgment and justice should be executed equally to all the citizens of the nation. After giving this national Law to the people Moses told the children of Israel, "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; a blessing, if ye obey the Commandments of Jehovah your Elohim, which I command you this day; and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of Jehovah your Elohim, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day."
All Bible students know that the chil�dren failed to "obey the voice of Jehovah" and that the Nation substi�tuted "the Statutes of Omri," i. e. "manmade laws, for the Commandments, Statutes and Judgments of Jehovah. Therefore they broke the compact that they had made with Jehovah at Sinai and came under the "curse of the law." It was to "redeem them from the curse of the law" that Christ (the Messiah) came as their Redeemer out He did not come to destroy that Law.
Jehovah also sentenced the "children of Israel" to wander as exiles among the nations of this World order for seven times, or 2520 years. This judgment fell upon the children of Israel exactly as promised and so completely was it car�ried out that the whole family of Jacob-Israel became lost to the sight of men and even, lost consciousness of their own identity, with the exception of a small remnant of Judah today mixed with a much larger number of so-called non-Israelite Jews.
Patently the children of Israel did not fulfill their destiny under the Abrahamic covenant when they were in Palestine as a nation, nor have they fulfilled it to this day. However, their failure to keep their vows and thus fulfill the "law covenant" made at Sinai, did not change nor alter the unconditional promises and covenants that Jehovah made with Abra�ham, Isaac and Jacob, which were passed on to Israel for an "everlasting cove�nant." (Psalm 105:5-11)
Therefore Jehovah is still bound by His own oath to yet fulfill that Holy Covenant in and with Israel.
Neither did they fulfill the Israel covenant to become "a nation and a company of nations" while they were in Palestine, hence that covenant could only be fulfilled after the expiration of the Seven Times exile.
It is also a fact that the Seven Times punishment pronounced against the children has now expired and unless some covenant applies to the present time the children of Israel are not in covenant relationship with Jehovah. However, this is inconceivable for Jehovah declared that He would never forget nor forsake His people Israel completely and also He has said through His prophet Amos: "Surely Jehovah Elohim will do nothing, but He revealeth his secret unto His servants the prophets."
MODERN� ISRAEL
The fulfillment of the Holy Covenant to make of Israel ONE great nation through which all the other nations of the earth shall be blessed will ultimately be fulfilled under the New Covenant that Jehovah promised to make with the house of Israel (J'er. 31:31-33) by "putting- His Law in their inward parts and writing it in their hearts."
Furthermore through His prophet Ezekiel Jehovah revealed that the res�toration of Israel as "One Nation" is to be brought about when Jehovah takes "the stick (or, standard) of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellow, and puts them with him, even with the stick (or, standard) of Judah, and makes them one stick, and they shall be out- in His hand." In Ezek. 37:22, Jehovah declared, "And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all."
Now the whole text and context where these restoration prophecies occur in�dicate that all of these prophecies are still future and that this "Union" has not yet occurred.
It is also self-evident that the cove�nant that Israel should become "a na�tion and a company of nations" was not fulfilled by the children of Israel in Palestine, as we have already pointed out. It is also quite certain that Israel could not, and did not, fulfill this cove�nant while they were in exile for then they were to be under the dominion of the Babylonian nations. Furthermore it is impossible for the Holy Covenant that Israel should be "ONE great nation," and the covenant that they should be "a nation and a company of nations" to be fulfilled simultaneously.
Therefore the only time El Shaddai's Covenant with Israel could possibly be fulfilled would be during the interim between the expiration of the Seven Times of exile and the restoration of the whole house of Israel as the '"ONE great nation" promised to Abraham,
Now let's see if this fits. Remember that Israel had prophesied that Manasseh should become the "Great People or Nation," and that Ephriam should be�come "a multitude, or Company of Na�tions."
We know from historic records that the Half tribe of Manasseh went into captivity in 745-39 B. C. Therefore the seven times of punishment would end for them in 1775-81 A. D. and if our conclusions are correct then at that time, namely 1775-81 A. D. a "Great People, or Nation," would be born.
Now it is a fact that during these very years the founding fathers built the foundations for our own nation, the U. S. A. and it is also a fact that in our Constitution and national documents we call our nation, "We, The People," thus using the very words prophesied for Manasseh in Gen. 48:19 and we have certainly become "Great."
Again we know that Ephraim was taken into Assyrian captivity in about 721 B. C., hence the Seven Times would end for Ephraim in 1800 A. D. and then Ephraim should become "a company of nations."
Here again history tells the story of fulfillment of prophecy for on Jan. 1st, 1800, the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" was estab�lished. This "United Kingdom" was lit�erally a "Company of Nations," and it has grown into the present "Common�wealth of British Nations."
JEWS NOT ISRAEL
It is not the intention of the writer in this article to consider the question of the relationship of the Jews to the house of Jacob or the children of Israel. In later studies we shall take up this matter from time to time but for the present we shall confine our studies to the identity and destiny of Israel and contrary to wide-spread present day misconceptions the Jews are not Israel.
We have seen that only Benjamin was born an Israelite and that all the
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Jews," tells us that the "children of Israel," (not the Jews) moved from Media, where the Assyrians had placed them, into the territory between and around the Black and the Caspian Seas.
Historians also tell us that in Scythia and Crimea, where Esdras and Josephus leave the Israelites, there lived peoples variously known as the Gimiri, the Cimiri, the Sakai, the Saccae, the Scythians, the Getae, the Massagatae, etc., and these historians trace these people from the "Saks" and the "Khumri" of Media.
Herodotus says that the Khumbri, in the Crimea, and the Scuths, located at Arsareth, came from Media. Pliny writes that the Cimmerians, later known as the Cymri came from Asia Minor, and this same writer also says, "The Sakai were among- the most distinguished peo�ple of Scythia . . . and were called the Saccae-Sani."
Sir Henry Rawlinson, who deciphered the Behistun Rock, says, "The ethnic name Gimri occurs in the cuniform writ�ing of the time of Darius. It is the equivalent of the Greek Cimmeri and of the Danish Cumbri, and of the Welsh Khumri." He also expressed the opinion that "we have reasonable grounds for regarding the Gimri, or Cimmerians, who first appeared in the confines of Assyria and Media in the seventh cen�tury B. C., and the Sacae of the Behistun Rock nearly two centuries later, as identical with Israel."
The reasonableness of this conclusion becomes apparent when we remember that all of these peoples, whose names clearly were derived from the "Khumri" and the "Saks," came from the very territory where the Assyrians had placed the captive Israelites.
Historians trace the later Saxons from these same peoples. Ptolemy finds that the Saxons were a race of Scythians, called the Sakai, who came originally from Media. Albinus writes, "The Saxons were a Scythian nation, and were called Saca, Sachi, Sacki, Sachsen, etc."
In the same way we can trace the "Thiuda Guta" of the Persians down to the "Getae," from which came the more recent "Goths," and the trek of the Saxons, Angles and Goths into Northwestern Europe and the British Isles is a matter of undisputed historic record.
M. Paul de Chaillu, the French his�torian, after extensive investigations of old records of northern European coun�ties, declares, in his great work, "The Viking Age," that the modern Celto-Anglo-Saxon and kindred peoples are descended from the more ancient Sacae, Scythians, Sakai, Cimmerians, Getae, etc.
Now we know that it was these Celto-Anglo-Saxon and kindred peoples who established and founded the U. S. A. and the British Commonwealth of Na�tions and, as we have seen, we can trace these peoples back through Scythia and Media to Palestine. In short they must be modern Israel.
