I have shown that the current Republic of Israel is not biblical Israel on many grounds - the Jews aren't descendants of Judah but Japheth (at least 92% of them, and the rest are of mixed Judahite-Gentile blood) and the true Judahites are, in any case, only one twelfth of Israel. But where did this mentality that the Jews are somehow exlusively "Israel" come from? And the answer is from long, long ago.

When the Northern Israelite (Ephraimite) and Southern Judahite Kingdoms separated after the death and latter misrule of Solomon, the northern neighbour slipped into apostacy rapidly and, as adjudged against the spirituality of the south, to all intents and purposes abandoned the faith (we shall ignore for now the fact that Judah spent more time in apostacy than in following Yahweh and His Torah, and were subsequently overwhelmed for the same reasons as the Ephraimites in the north were, save to point out that on ballance Judah was more righteous than Israel). When Ephraim was taken into captivity by the Assyrians, the Judahites to the south rightly interpreted this as Yahweh's punishment for disobedience but wrongly assumed that they were no longer Israelites. The survivors to the south - Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, and some smatterings of the other tribes like Levi - thereafter regarded themselves as "true Israel" in spite of the fact that their kingdom continued to be known as "Judah".

That the Talmudic Jews in 1947 declared their newly won state would go by the name of "Israel" is therefore consistent with the earlier Judahite mindframe that they were the one and only true survivors of the former 12-tribed Israelite confederacy, and therefore worthy of the title "Israel" (ignoring for the moment that only a tiny minority had any legitimate claim to be descendands of Israel or Judah). Talmudic Jews, along with many Messianic Jews, are of the belief that the northern Ten Tribes are permanently lost and that the Jews therefore have the legitimate right to be seen as a kind of remnant "Israel". There would, to be sure, some basis to that claim were they, in fact, true Judahites, for every tribe - Judah, Zebulun, Dan or whoever - may rightly claim to be "Israel". However, it should be noted that the modern state of Israel encompasses the tribal lands "from Dan to Beersheba" which, according to the prophecies of Ezekiel, will at some time in the future be inhabited by ALL the tribes, which are named, and their parcels of lands designated. So unless they reject the prophecy of Ezekiel, they are forced to admit that at some time Judah will only occupy one twelfth of the land again, and actually a much smaller portion that she politically came to inherit at the time of the Conquest by Joshua (see Ezekiel 48).

The modern Republic of Israel has Talmudic Jews living across the length and breath of the Promised Land, from Dan to Beersheba, which they share with Palestinian Arabs, a few Druze and even fewer Samaritans. The political division of the country is similar to that which obtained in Roman times, consisting of Galilee in the north (prepondently Talmudic Jewish), Samaria in the centre (a mixture, but predominantly Arab), and Judea in the south (a mixture again). It should be obvious, just by comparing this with Ezekiel 48, that even if the Talmudists were true Judahites, a great deal of reorganisation has yet to be done.

The same rationalisation used by the Talmudic Jews in claiming they are exclusively "Israel" is used by Messianic Jews who believe the same. This is not, however, the witness of either the Old or New Testaments, both of which proclaim the regathering of ALL twelve tribes. The seventh chapter of the Book of Revelation (vv.1-8) alone clearly proclaims that there will be twelve distinct tribal entities in the end times, of which Judah is but one, not to mention those scriptures in both Old and New Testaments which speak of the literal reunion of Judah and Israel (Ephraim), the two scattered kingdoms. These are not merely symbolic concepts, moreover. And it is not enough, as some Messanics of the "Two Houses" movement are saying, that "Judah" is the Messianic Jews and "Israel/Ephraim" are Christians who become Torah-observant - for this doctrine is nothing more or less proclaiming the spiritual hegemony of Judaism which it is nowhere given. The twelve Houses of Israel are all equal, and whilst Judah's call was to bring forth the Messiah, it is Joseph's to rule. The claims of Messianic Judaism fail these scriptural tests.

Neither Talmudic Jews nor Messianic Jews are "Israel", though Messianic Jews may rightly claim to be a part of Israel, not by racial descent but, in view of the fact that they too are likely of Khazar-Japhethite descent, by adoption like the rest of the Goyim. The fact that their Talmudic forefathers were Torah-observant does not give them any inherant rights of hegemony, and even if they were literal descendants of Judah (as probably about 8% are), they are still not called to rule - that is the right of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh).

The return to Torah observance is right and good ... up to a point ... so long as it doesn't go beyond the boundaries of New Covenant requirements and into the legalism, occultism, and unscriptural traditions of Talmudism. The end-time restoration of true Messianism is not just a variation of Talmudism, nor a full scale abandonment of the truths of Protestantism, nor an annexation of Protestantism by Messianic Judaism, but a restoration of the purity and simplicity of the New Testament faith - a faith which is by faith from first to last, and whose fruits are obedience to the commandments of New Covenant Torah. This is true Israel, the continuation of the first Christian Churches/Messianic Assemblies of the New Testament era - an apostolic era maturing into the Millennial Theocracy to come.