BRITISH – ISRAEL: FACT OR FICTION?
 (A message preached by Mr.Campbell on 14th December 1988 at Open Bible Fellowship, Cregagh, Belfast.)
Introduction
Recently there came into my possession a cassette recording of a sermon preached in June 1988 at the Grace Free Presbyterian Church, Newtownards by Rev. T.A Dunlop entitled “British-Israelism, Revelation or Infatuation.” I understand it to have been one of a series preached against the cults. I took the trouble to have it transcribed word for word, to refute it from Scripture and History. Of all the books I have read, and all the sermons I have heard preached against the British-Israel Truth, and there have been many, this is certainly the least scholarly and the most abusive. In fact the suggestions and innuendoes contained in it as to what we do or do not believe were so serious, and so misleading that we felt compelled to place an advert in the local newspaper to set the record straight.
I am saddened, that at a time when God’s precious word the Bible, our Protestant Heritage, and the Body of Christ, the Church are under the hell-inspired attacks of Modernism, Ecumenism, Romanism, and the Charismatic Counterfeit, that Rev. Dunlop should waste his time and efforts to attack and misrepresent anothergroup of Bible-believing Protestants, whilst our common enemies go marching on. I feel he has got his priorities badly wrong. Now let us go into detail.
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-Israelis 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:
1 That the Old and New Testament Scriptures in their original languages are the inspired, infallible Word of God.
2 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 off Christ, they have got their eyes off 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
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 everyone 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:
1) “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.
2) “Thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall call.” Isaiah 62:2A new name, in exile hundreds of miles from home. Little wonder these Israelites soon lost their identity.
3) “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)
4) “My people hath been LOST sheep.” Jeremiah 50:6
5) “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:
1) “I was not sent but unto the LOST sheep of the House of Israel.” Matthew 15:24
2) 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
1) 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.
2) The ancient historian Kitto states: “After the captivity we hear very little of the territories of the Tribes for Ten of them never returned.”
3) 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.
4) 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.”
5) 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
1) The famous Rabbi Kimchi who lived in the 13th century wrote commenting on Hosea II: “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.”
2) 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.”
3) 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.”
4) 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.”
5) 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.”
6) 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.”
7) Former Chief Rabbi – Dr.H.Adler: “You are quite right to assume that the Ten Tribes did not return to the Holy Land.”
8) 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.”
9) 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.”
10) 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.”
11) 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.”
12) 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 CeIto-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.
1) “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.2) “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.3) “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 modem 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 which was 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.
A) 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!!
B) Rev. Dunlop claims that our Queen knows nothing about the British-Israel Message; and yet for a lifetime 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.
C) 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.
D) Rev. Dunlop claims that the Stone of Scone which rested 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.
E) 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?
(1) “I will establish the Throne of his Kingdom FOREVER… Thy Throne shall be established FOREVER.” II Samuel 7: 13 & 16
(2) “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
(3) “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 lie 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:
(4) “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 sevenfold witness to the enduring character of the Royal Davidic line, Heaven and Earth, Day and Night, Sun, Moon and Stars.
(5) “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, Benedict, 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 wilI 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 seafaring 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), DanSobairse (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 Tricolour? 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, (now moved to a new address), 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 Evangelical 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 Biblical Prophesy 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, pinpoint 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, hereupon 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 invincibility indestructibility, and ultimate deliverance from all of our enemies, from the hands of these that hate us. Knowing the Israel/Identity 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 heart-filled 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’sbehalf. 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 He 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 notashamed 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.
*A past minister of Orange Street Congregational Church, London.
