Israel’s Ten Lost Tribes Will Return and Inherit Promised Lands

Since the day Israel’s ten northern tribes were taken captive into Assyria in 722 B.C., virtually nothing has been heard of them. They have therefore become known as the “ten lost tribes.” An exception is from Ezra the scribe, who traces their travels into eastern and western Europe:

2 Kings 17:5–6
The king of Assyria came up throughout all the land,
and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years.
And in the ninth year of [King] Hoshea,
the king of Assyria took Samaria
and carried Israel away into Assyria.

4 Ezra 13:41–46
They formed this plan for themselves
that they would leave the multitude of the nations,
and go to a more distant region,
where mankind had never lived.
That there at least they might keep their statutes,
which they had not kept in their own land.
And they went in by the narrow passages of the Euphrates river.
And at that time the Most High performed signs for them,
and stopped the channels of the river until they had passed over.
Through that region there was a long way to go,
a journey of a year and a half.
And that country is called Arzareth,
And they dwelt there until the end times.

Like the prophet Isaiah, Ezra predicts the ten tribes’ return from the north countries when God orchestrates their miraculous journey home. God showed Isaiah that they would exit endtime Assyria in a new exodus resembling Israel’s ancient exodus out of Egypt under Moses:

4 Ezra 13:46–50
And now, when they are about to come again,
the Most High [God] will stop the channels of the river again,
so that they may be able to pass over.
Therefore you saw the multitude gathered together in peace.
But those who are left of your people,
who are found within my holy borders, shall be saved.
Therefore when he destroys the multitude of the nations
that are gathered together,
he will defend the people who remain.
And then he will show them very many wonders.

Isaiah 27:13
In that day a loud trumpet shall sound,
and they who were lost in the land of Assyria
and they who were outcasts in the land of Egypt
shall come and bow down to Jehovah
in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.

Isaiah 11:15–16
He will extend his hand over the River
   and smite it into seven streams
   to provide a way on foot.
And there shall be a pathway out of Assyria
   for the remnant of his people who shall be left,
as there was for Israel
when it came up from the land of Egypt.

The one who initiates Israel’s endtime restoration, including the return of Israel’s ten tribes, is God’s servant. Like Moses at Israel’s exodus out of Egypt, he meets resistance from endtime Assyria and its tyrant ruler from the North when God commands him to release Israel’s captives:

Isaiah 43:5–6
Do not fear, for I am with you.
   I will bring your offspring from the east
   and gather you from the west;
I will say to the north, Give up!
   to the south, Withhold not!
Bring my sons from afar
   and my daughters from the end of the earth—

Isaiah 49:24–25
Can the warrior’s spoil be taken from him,
   or the tyrant’s captives escape free?
Yet thus says Jehovah: The warrior’s spoil
   shall indeed be taken from him,
and the tyrant’s captives escape free:
I myself will contend with your contenders,
   and I will deliver your children.

For Israel’s ten tribes, the journey home from exile and dispersion turns into a glorious event. Led by spiritual kings and queens of the Gentiles, they arrive in Zion and inherit new promised lands. God calls them “the work of my hands” and they assume the identity of a new Assyria:

Isaiah 60:3–4, 14
Nations will come to your light,
   their kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Lift up your eyes and look about you!
   They have all assembled to come to you:
your sons shall arrive from afar;
   your daughters shall return to your side.
   They will call you the City of Jehovah,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 60:21–22
Your entire people shall be righteous;
   they shall inherit the earth forever—
they are the branch I have planted,
   the work of my hands, in which I am glorified.
The least of them shall become a clan,
   the youngest a mighty nation.

Isaiah 19:24–25
In that day Israel shall be the third party to Egypt and to Assyria,
a blessing in the midst of the earth.
Jehovah of Hosts will bless them, saying,
Blessed be Egypt my people,
Assyria the work of my hands,
and Israel my inheritance.

Analytical Commentary of Isaiah

Recommended Reading and Listening:

Avraham Gileadi, Apocalyptic Commentary of the Book of Isaiah. A verse-by-verse analysis of Isaiah’s endtime prophecy for Judeo-Christian readers that opens up Isaiah’s message written for our day. Hebraeus Press, 2013: 432 pages. Softcover $29.95; E-Book $9.95.

Isaiah Decoded

Recommended Reading and Listening:

Avraham Gileadi, Isaiah Decoded: Ascending the Ladder to Heaven. The best all-time layman’s comprehensive overview of Isaiah’s prophetic message for Judeo-Christian readers based on the analysis of Hebrew literary patterns. Hebraeus Press, 2013: 357 pages. Softcover $27.95; E-Book $9.95; MP3 download $15.95.

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