The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, Part 1: Who Are They
By JK Sellers
April, 8, 2019
Abraham and His Covenant with God
Introduction:
The story of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel has captivated me since I was a young boy in Sunday school. I have always been fascinated by the Bible, history and a good mystery. The tale of the Lost Tribes entails all three.
Over the centuries many academics, scholars, historians and adventurers have sought after the elusive legends of the Lost Tribes and their whereabouts. Theories abound as to their location. Were they scattered among established groups of early Europe and Asia tribes and lost their identity as a people? Did the Ten Tribes migrate to places like England, Scandinavia, India, Japan, Africa, China, Kurdistan, the Caucasus, Yemen, Persia, Afghanistan, or even the Americas? Even more fantastic theories propose that the Ten Tribes traveled to the center of our theoretically hollow earth or that they have even left this planet altogether and live on another sphere nearby.
To tell the tale of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel we must start in the distant past. No, not as far back as Adam and Eve or even Noah. We must start with one of the most revered patriarchs of the Old Testament, Abraham, the "father of many nations".
Abraham and His Covenant with God
Abraham began life as Abram, a herdsman from the Bronze Age, Mesopotamian valley. He was born in the year 2,952 BC,1 living in close proximity to the early ancient civilizations of Egypt, Troy and Sumer. God saw the righteousness and potential of this great man and called him to be the progenitor of many nations and through whom the Savior of the world would be born, and by whom "shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 22:16-18)." God visited Abraham and made an “everlasting covenant” with him: that if Abraham lived “faithfully and… blameless”, God would bless him to be the “father of many nations”, that “kings will come from” him and that God would be the God of Abraham and his descendants. This covenant also included God giving the land of Canaan (Modern-day Israel, Jordan, and Syria) to Abraham “as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you”. Abraham and his posterity were commanded to keep this covenant for all generations to come. As a sign of this covenant, every male was to be circumcised at eight days old (Gen. 17:1-14; Gen. 22:16-18).
"Abraham on the Plains of Mamre" by Grant Romney Clawson.
God said to Abraham that if he “obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” that he would pass this covenant and inheritance to Isaac (Gen. 26:4-5; Gen. 17:19), the young son of Sarah’s and Abraham’s old age. Abraham did have another son, Ishmael, from Hagar the Egyptian handmaiden of Sarah. Even though Ishmael did not receive Abraham’s inheritance, he did father a great nation, the Ishmaelites, whose descendants are said to be the Arabs of today.
Isaac
Isaac Meeting Rebekah by Friedrich Bouterwek
Isaac was born in 1,952 BC1 when Abraham was 100 years old and was raised in the land of Canaan. God reaffirmed the Abrahamic Covenant with (Gen. 26:1-5, 24). Isaac, like his father Abraham before him, was righteous and kept that covenant faithfully. He and his wife, Rebekah, had twin son’s born to them, named Esau and Jacob. Esau grew to be a renowned hunter. His father Isaac favored him as he was his firstborn, while Rebekah loved Jacob. However, Esau did not live up to the covenants that his father and grandfather had made with God by marrying Hittite women which broke the covenant line (Gen. 26:34-35). He also was dismissive of Abraham’s inheritance as shown when he traded his birthright to his more faithful brother, Jacob, for a bowl of porridge. With this disdainful act, Esau showed how little he revered what he expected himself to inherit (Gen. 25:34; Heb. 12:16-17). Rebekah, as she carried the twins in her womb, was told by the Lord that the elder son would serve the younger (Gen. 25:23). Thus, she knew that the Lord intended the birthright to go to their youngest, Jacob. Unfortunately, Isaac was unwilling to acknowledge who was more worthy of the two and desired the birthright to go to Esau, the eldest and traditional recipient as well as his favorite. Rebekah, knowing what the Lord had told her and Isaac's disposition, disguised Jacob to appear as Esau when she presented him to the blind Isaac when the birthright was to be given. Being deceived, Isaac gave the birthright to Jacob rather than Esau.
What happened when Jacob found out about the ruse? He went ahead and blessed Jacob and left the inheritance to him (Gen. 28:1-5), instead of allowing Esau to receive the inheritance. I suspect Isaac, after some reflection, realized that his wife was correct, that the covenant and inheritance were better in Jacob's hands. Nonetheless, Esau was angered, and Jacob had to flee for his life and go into exile. After twenty years, Jacob returned a wealthy man and gave of his riches to Esau as a piece offering. Esau eventually forgave his brother and the two made peace.
Jacob/Israel, and His 12 Sons
Jacob Blessing His Sons (Jacob Blessing Joseph), by Harry Anderson
Jacob, as his father and grandfather before him, faithfully kept the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 28; 35:9–15; 48:3–4). God appeared to Jacob, blessed him for his righteousness and changed his name to Israel, meaning, He Will Be Prince With God or God's (Vicarious) Governor.2 Isaac in turn passed the covenant on to his twelve sons.
Jacob married two sisters (distant cousins of his), Leah and Rachel. He also took their handmaidens, Zilpah and Bilhah, as concubines. From these four women Israel (Jacob) bore twelve sons. From these twelve men came the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
Here are the twelve sons of Jacob in order of birth and their mother:
- Reuben son of Leah.
- Simeon son of Leah.
- Levi son of Leah.
- Judah son of Leah.
- Dan son of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaiden. (Note: Children born of a concubine is considered to be that of the wife whose handmaiden she belongs to)
- Naphtali son of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaiden.
- Gad son of Zilpah, Leah's handmaiden.
- Asher son of Zilpah, Leah's handmaiden.
- Issachar son of Leah.
- Zebulun son of Leah.
- Joseph son of Rachel.
- Benjamin son of Rachel.
If you remember the story of this family, Jacob (Israel) favored Rachel and her two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. After Reuben lost his firstborn birthright for sleeping with his father's concubine, Bilhah, a rivalry arose between the other first-born sons as to who would receive Jacob's birthright even though the inheritance would rightfully go to the second wife's firstborn, Joseph. What made the rivalry worse between the men was that Jacob favored Joseph (Gen. 37:3). Jealousy overcame the ten older brothers (Benjamin was still very young) and came to despise Joseph and plotted to kill him and blame his death on wild beasts. Rueben talked them out of the murder, convincing them instead to sell Joseph to slave traders.
Joseph ended up in Egypt at the right time and circumstances to save his family from a terrible famine that plagued the whole region decades later. Since God had given Joseph the gift to interpret dreams, Joseph was able to interpret Pharaoh's dream and as a result, was able to prepare the Egyptian people to endure and even prosper during the coming famine. Afterward, Pharaoh invited Joseph and his family to settle in the land of Goshen, a region in the Nile's rich delta. Over the years Israel grew in so great a number that a later Pharaoh came to power who hated and feared the Israelites and therefore enslaved them(Ex. 1:7-11).Moses Makes a Covenant with God
Moses and the Tablets, by Jerry Harston
After four hundred years of slavery in Egypt,3 God calls his great prophet, Moses, to free his covenant people from bondage. The Lord does so by sending plague after plague until the obstinate Pharaoh of Egypt finally relents and allows the Israelite nation to leave Egypt with its treasure. While in the desert, Moses stops the great multitude at Mount Sinai where he climbs up it's slopes to talk to the Lord. At the foot of Mount Sinai, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob make a covenant with God. The Lord told them that if they "obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession… you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex. 19:3-8). After all of the tribes of Israel makes the oath, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments and the laws we call the Law of Moses.
Despite witnessing God's miracles—the parting of the Red Sea, the defeat of their enemies, daily provision of manna, God's presence in fire and smoke on Mount Sinai, and seventy-four Israelite leaders beholding God (Ex. 24:9-11)—Israel quickly reverted to the idolatrous practices they learned in Egypt. They broke their newly formed covenant with God by rejecting Him and crafting a golden calf to worship. This faithless act occurred in less than forty days while Moses was on the mountain receiving the stone tablets from God.
Because of this and the endless faithlessness and murmuring of the older generation while fleeing Egypt, God did not let Israel enter their promised land immediately. Instead he had them wonder for forty years until the faithless generation had died off (Num. 14:26-39).
Before entering Canaan, the land God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all their descendants, Moses gathered all of the Israelites before him and asked them to renew their covenant with God (Deut. 29 and 30). With that covenant, God promised blessings for those who kept this covenant and coursings if Israel strayed. He told the people to "walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them. I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" (Deut. 30:16-20).
Moses must have seen Israel's future because the Biblical record is replete with the ups and downs of the descendants of Jacob as they struggled to keep the commandments and covenants, they made with God. Every time they strayed from the covenant and ignored the warnings of their prophets, Israel suffered.
Tribal Divisions of Canaan
It was the prophet Joshua, Moses' successor, who eventually led Israel into the promised land. The following map shows how the land was divided among the tribes after their arrival as recorded in the Book of Joshua:
12 Tribes of Israel Map from Wikimedia Commons
If you notice, you will not find the tribe of Levi located on the map nor the tribe of Joseph. The Levites, the priests of Israel, were not given large tracks of land to settle like the other eleven tribes. Instead the Levites were given cities scattered throughout all the region so that they could serve the nation through the Priesthood of Aaron which they held (Num. 18:23–24; Num. 35:6–8; Josh. 13:33; Josh. 14:4). Since Joseph received two portions (Gen. 48:22), and the fact that Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, his grandsons. Both men received a land of inheritance and became equal to the other eleven tribes (Gen. 48:5).
You will also note on the map that the tribe of Manasseh is divided into two "half tribes" separated by the river Jordan. The Old Testament writers often referred to the tribes on the East side of the Jordan as "two and a half-tribes"––Reuben, Gad and ½ Manasseh, and those on the west as the "nine tribes and the half tribe", namely, Simeon, Judah, Benjamin, Dan, Ephraim, ½ Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali, Asher (Josh. 13:7; Num. 34:15). One half of Manasseh settled on the trans-Jordan side (east), called the land of Gilead and became known as Machir, after the son of Manasseh who was given this land by Moses (Num. 32:39-40; Josh. 17:1). The other half remained in Canaan and retained its name of Manasseh.
During the reign of the Judges (11th and 10th centuries BC), the Israelites found themselves in a continuous war with the Philistines on the coast. At one point the strife became so unbearable that the tribe of Dan relocated to the Hulah valley, north of the Naphtali tribe to escape the continuous raids of their enemy (Jdg. 18).
The Reign of Kings
King David playing the Harp by Gerrit van Honthorst
It was not until the reign of Kings did Israel finally defeat its neighbors and unify the tribes under first Saul, then King David (ruled approximately from 1010 to 970 BC), followed by his son King Solomon (ruled approximately from 970 to 931 BC). Under Solomon, Israel became a great and prosperous empire spreading to its furthest extent in its history by forming alliances and conquering its quarreling neighbors.
Kingdomn of Israel from Wikimedia Commons
The Empire of King Solomon
The Empire of King Solomon
"The Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon" by Edward Poynter
Solomon was a great and wise administrator. "At the beginning of his reign, Solomon loved the God of Israel and covenanted with God that he would walk in obedience throughout his administration as king of Israel. Solomon was promised wisdom, riches, honor, and long life if he would continue in righteousness before the Lord (1 Kings 3:5-15). The promise was fulfilled. During his life, Solomon became famous for his wisdom. Great men and women from many nations came to hear him and test his understanding and knowledge (1 Kings 4:29–31). Solomon also acquired great wealth, and there were said to be no kings in all the earth who could compare to him (1 Kings 4:21; 2 Chron. 9:26). Under Solomon's reign Israel reached her greatest point as a nation—honor, wealth, power, and respect were hers because of the administration of her greatest king."4
Early in his reign, Solomon began an ambitious building program that became the envy of the world. The Lord's Temple was the centerpiece. These massive building programs required a great deal of tax revenue and labor which came from conscripted labor forces. These were drawn involuntarily from among the Twelve Tribes of Israel. These conscripts were required to serve one out of every three months. He also used slaves from conquered peoples (2 Chron. 8:7-9) for his many construction projects. Besides the Temple, Solomon had a magnificent Palace built, many fortified cities and ports, "chariot cities and cavalry cities" and strengthened the walls around Jerusalem from invaders.
In Solomon's old age he began to deviate from the covenant he made with God in addition to the covenant he made with his people to be a righteous king. He married many foreign wives and concubines who did not worship the God of Israel. He built shrines and temples for their false gods and even began to worship them himself (1 Kings 11:5).
Beside forgetting his God, Solomon forgot his people. He placed heavy taxation on the Twelve Tribes and forced the people to work on construction projects or conscripted them into the military. Solomon granted special privileges to the tribe of Judah which naturally alienated the Northern Ten Tribes.
King Solomon's Fall
As a consequence for breaking his covenant with God and disobeying the commandments, Solomon was told "I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant"(1 Kings 11:11). This servant was Jeroboam, "a mighty man of valor" who Solomon had made the ruler over Ephraim and Manasseh (1 Kings 11:28), two of the most important and largest tribes of the Kingdom. God, through the prophet Ahijah, told Jeroboam that he would rule ten of the tribes of Israel (1 Kings 11:31). Why only ten? God remembered the promise he made with Judah that his descendants (David and Solomon among them) would rule until the promised messiah returned (Gen. 49:10). God told Solomon: "Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen"(1 Kings 11:12-13).
Solomon must have been heartbroken to find out that after his death, the kingdom of Israel would be divided—that one of his servants would take the Ten Northern Tribes from his son, Rehoboam, who would only have one tribe, Judah.
You're wondering how ten plus one equals twelve? Before I go on, let me explain. If you look at the map of the division of the tribes, above you will see that the tribe of Simeon is in a unique position of being the only tribe surrounded by another, Judah. From the time of Joshua to the time of Solomon (about 500 years), the tribe of Simeon was absorbed by the tribe of Judah through intermarriage. This was done intentionally. Jacob had prophesied that both Simeon and Levi would be scattered among the other tribes for their treacherous and barbaric attack on the Shechemites: "Simeon and Levi are brothers— their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel"(Gen. 49:5–7). In addition, you will remember that the tribe of Levi, being the priests of Israel, were given cities throughout all of Israel rather than large tracts of land, thus fulfilling this prophecy.The Divided Kingdom
The division of the kingdom under Rehoboam by William Brassey Hole
Solomon, discovering that Jeroboam would compete with his son for the throne, sought after the life of his "mighty man of valor" in a vain attempt to stop the prophesy. It didn't work. Jeroboam got word and escaped to Egypt, Israel's rival in the region (1 Kings 11:40), and remained there until Solomon's death.
Hearing of the death of his enemy, Jeroboam returned to his home in Zereda, a city on the north of Mount Ephraim. He joined with the tribal heads and leaders from every tribe of Israel as they gathered at Shechem5 to meet with Rehoboam, Solomon's heir. It was Jeroboam who led the northern delegation to petition the new king to relieve Israel from the high taxation and burdensome conscription of men into the military and to leave their flocks, farms and orchards to work on the many building projects of his father(1 Kings 12:1-4).
What was Rehoboam's reaction when he saw Jeroboam in the north's delegation? I have no doubt that his father, Solomon had told him of the prophecy that Jeroboam would attempt to take ten of the tribes away from him. I also have no doubt that Jeroboam told the leaders of the Northern Ten Tribes that a prophet had promised him that he would unite them and create a separate kingdom from Judah. I can imagine the friction that would have existed when the two men met in Shechem, a city of refuge where no one, including the king, could have touched him. Alas, the Bible gives no details and only makes a brief mention of their encounter.
After hearing the delegation, Rehoboam consulted with his father's advisors and asked if he should grant the northern ten tribes' petition. They told him to listen to the leaders of the tribes. That if he would "be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants"(1 Kings 12:7). A very wise council and sensible peace offering to the people for a new king to give. However, Rehoboam rejected this wisdom and went to his younger advisers whom he had around him to ask them how they would answer the petitioners. These younger men advised him that "These people have said to you, "Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter. Now tell them…My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions"(1 Kings 12:10-11). Rehoboam took the younger men's advice and threw the petition back into the faces of Jeroboam and the ten tribes.
As you would expect, this didn't go too well with the more burdened Northern Ten Tribes. They left the meeting and returned to their home rejecting outright Rehoboam as their king. They met and made Jeroboam their king and created the Kingdom of Israel thus fulfilling the prophecy of Ahijah. What was left of Rehoboam's Kingdom was called the Kingdom of Judah.
A portion of Benjamin stayed with Rehoboam and did not fully join in the rebellion (1 Kings 12:21). During the constant fighting between the two kingdoms over hundreds of years, the remaining territory of Benjamin was ceded to Judah and thereafter remained together as one Kingdom with Judah. The numerous mentions of the two tribes together confirm that the tribe of Benjamin had joined with the Kingdom of Judah and not the Ten Tribes or Kingdom of Israel (2 Chron. 15:2, 8–9; 2 Chron. 25:5; 2 Chron. 31:1; 2 Chron. 34:9, 32).
As a result of the division, the Northern Ten Tribes, or the Kingdom of Israel, had ten of the “landed” tribes of Israel: Reuben, Asher, Ephraim, Dan, Issachar, Manasseh, Naphtali, Zebulun, Gad and Machir (Half-tribe of Manasseh). The Kingdom of Judah retained only two of the tribes: Benjamin and Judah (with Simeon dispersed among Judah and the other tribes). The tribe of Levi was present in both kingdoms, however most of the priests had gone over to Judah since that was were the temple was located.
Conclusion
God's people are a covenant making people. Because of Abraham's righteousness and faith, God made an everlasting covenanted with him and his posterity in perpetuity. If they worshiped God and kept his commandments, he would bless them with peace and prosperity. God confirmed this covenant and blessing with Abraham's son, Isaac (Gen. 26:1-5), and with his grandson, Jacob (Gen. 28). Through this covenant, Jehovah became the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all their descendants. Nevertheless, there was a downside that came with this covenant. If they worshiped other gods and did not keep the statutes and commandments they had received from God, they would suffer the consequences of their rejection: the loss of His protection and blessings and experience war, desolation and enslavement as a result. God always kept His promises (Jdg. 2:1). However, God's people did not, many times in fact at their peril and suffering. Each time they went through these many afflictions, they eventually repented and came back to the Lord and were thus blessed again.
The same can be said for each of us individually. When we make a covenant with God, as many Christians do at baptism. We too are blessed when we follow God's council and follow the example of the Savior. When we fail to keep our end of the covenant, God withdraws His blessings, and we end up suffering the consequences of disobedience.
In the Part II we will see what happened to the Kingdom of Israel and their estranged brothers of Judah.
Notes:
1. John P. Pratt, a Doctor of Astronomy and an expert on calendars, has found important dates in the Bible in his article, Twelve Steps from Christ to Adam. He determined that Jacob was born in the year 1892 BC. This would mean that his father, Isaac, who was 60 (Gen. 25:26) when he bore Jacob, would have been born in 1,952 BC, and Abraham, who was 100 (Gen. 21:5) when he had Isaac, would have been born in 2,952 BC. Abraham lived to be a 175 years old (Gen. 25:7) and died in 2,777 BC. Jacob, lived approximately from 1,892 BC to 1,745 BC.
2. The name Israel in the Bible, Abarim Publications
3. The number of years that Israel spent in Egypt is debated.
4. Old Testament Student Manual 1 Kings–Malachi,Third edition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pg1
5. Shechem has great significance to the tribes of Israel. It is the first place Father Abraham pitched his tent upon entering the Promised Land and built the first altar there. (Gen. 12:6-7) It is here where Jacob/Israel, the great patriarch, first settled his family and dug the well that still bears his name to this day, 'Jacob's Well'. Shechem is where Joshua, upon entering Canaan, had gathered all of Israel to renew their covenant with God: that they would be His people, serve Him and keep His commandments. (Josh. 24:14-25) This is also where the bones of Joseph were laid to rest in a tomb. (Josh. 24:32) Shechem was also chosen as one of the six cities of refuge, a place where a fugitive may go who accidentally committed murder and seek asylum from revenge. (Num. 35:6-34)
See Also:
- The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, Part 2: How Were They Lost?
- Trace the Lost Ten Tribes’ 722 BC fall to Assyria, driven by Northern Kingdom’s rebellion. See how deportations vanished Israel’s identity. Unravel the mystery!