Why All Jews Are Israelites, But Not All Israelites Are Jews

Have you ever heard someone talk about Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt? Or heard someone otherwise talk about the ancient Israelites as if all of them were Jews? These people speak in error, for most Israelites were not Jews! Here’s why.

You may remember that after King Solomon died, Israel ruptured into two houses or kingdoms: ten tribes formed the Northern Kingdom of Israel, while the tribes of Judah and Benjamin formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 12). The Bible describes only one of these kingdoms as “Jewish,” and that is Judah.

In the last of many wars between Israel and Judah, Israel allied herself with Syria and invaded Judah (2 Kings 15:37, 16:5; Isa. 7:4). Using the KJV, we find in 2 Kings 16:6, “At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews [the people of Judah] from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath and dwelt there unto this day.”  This is the first time God’s Word uses the name “Jews.”  Notice the Jews are the people of Judah, who were waging war with Israel!

Were the Jews’ enemies, the northern Israelites, also Jews? The Bible’s original languages expose the answer. In Hebrew, “Jews” is yehudim (Strong’s #3064), which literally means “Judahites” or “descendants of Judah.”  In the Old Testament, this is the only Hebrew word translated “Jews.”  In the New Testament, the Greek word Ioudaios (Strong’s #2453) is the only word translated “Jews,” and it, too, literally means “Judahites.” Since the Jews were the Judahites (people of Judah), the northern Israelites were not Jews!

Both the northern Israelites and the Jews were Israelites (descendants of Jacob/Israel), just as both Texans and New Yorkers are Americans. However, it would be just as silly to call the northern Israelites “Jews” as it would be to call New Yorkers “Texans.”

Still, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shared the same ancestor (Jacob) and the same history until their division. Some people imagine that the name “Jews” could apply to the people of Israel on account of their close kinship. How close were the two houses of Israel really?

Well, firstly, the northern Israelites and the Jews often battled as archrivals and archenemies. King Jeroboam of Israel warred with two kings of Judah, Rehoboam and Rehoboam’s son Abijah. 1 Kings 14:30 tells us, “And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.”  Later, during the reign of Abijah, Jeroboam invaded Judah, where he suffered a catastrophic defeat and lost 500,000 soldiers (2 Chron. 13:2-19)!

Some decades later, Israel’s King Baasha fought with Asa king of Judah. 1 Kings 15:16 tells us, “And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.”  One of those wars prompted an extraordinary response from King Asa: not only did he beg for help from the Syrians, but he even stole from God’s temple to pay them (1 Kings 15:17-21)!

Several years later, Judah’s King Amaziah attacked Israel (2 Kings 14:8-11; 2 Chron. 25:17-21). Israel’s King Joash routed the Jewish army and captured Amaziah, then marched to Jerusalem (2 Kings 14:12-13; 2 Chron. 25:22-23). The Israelites battered down six hundred feet of Jerusalem’s walls, pillaged the city and the temple, took hostages, released Amaziah, and returned home (2 Kings 14:13-14; 2 Chron. 25:23-24).

The last war between Israel and Judah illustrates how wide the rupture between them had grown. Finding more common ground with Gentiles than with Judah, Pekah king of Israel allied with Rezin king of Syria and invaded Judah (2 Kings 15:37, 16:5; Isa. 7:4). The Syrians defeated the Jews “and carried away a great multitude of them as captives” (2 Chron. 28:5). For their part, the Israelites slaughtered 120,000 Jewish soldiers in one day and attempted to enslave 200,000 Jewish civilians (2 Chron. 28:6-15)! The Jews retaliated by begging Assyria for help (2 Kings 16:7-8; 2 Chron. 28:16). The Assyrians crushed Syria (2 Kings 16:9) and reduced Israel to vassalage (2 Kings 15:29), ending the war.

Notice that both Israel and Judah had sought the aid of Gentile nations in their struggle. If Israel and Judah were really indistinguishable, then why did Israel attempt to enslave the Jews, and why did both nations align with Gentiles against each other?

Thus, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were distinct and separate nations, but what about the people themselves? Some have pointed out that during the reigns of Rehoboam and Jehoshaphat of Judah, multitudes of Israelites migrated to Judah. Nevertheless, God’s Word shows us that a chasm existed between the two peoples.

God divorced Israel because of her idolatry, as we find in Jer. 3:8. He also told Hosea, “Bring charges against your mother [Israel], bring charges; for she is not My wife, nor am I her Husband!” (Hos. 2:2). In Hos. 1:6, God even said, “I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away [from their own land].” Finally, God plainly told Israel, “You are not my people, and I will not be your God” (Hos. 1:8-9). So God withdrew from the northern ten tribes of Israel and they were no longer His people, at least not in the sense of bearing His name or being held up as a light to the rest of the world.

In contrast, God did not divorce Judah. In Hos. 2:1 we read, “Say to your brethren [the Jews], ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’” This verse shows God’s favor toward Judah, in contrast to His disfavor toward Israel. Indeed, the Bible nowhere says God divorced Judah. Since that never happened, they continued to receive His mercy and be His people. So, Israel was divorced, but Judah was not. If Israel and Judah were indistinguishable, then how could God divorce the one and not the other?

In fact, the northern Israelites and the Jews ceased to be considered brethren. In Zech. 11:14 we find, “Then I [Zechariah] cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.”  Thus the northern Israelites and the Jews, all of whom were descendants of Jacob (Israel) and therefore Israelites, ceased to be one people, just as the Americans and British, though originally one people, have ceased to be one people since the American Revolution.

Thus, not only were the kingdoms of Israel and Judah separate, but so were the people. As we can see, the northern Israelites were not Jews because the Jews were Judahites, and the northern Israelites were distinct and separate from the Judahites!

Some still contend that the northern ten tribes returned to the Promised Land with the Jews to rebuild the Temple, and therefore reunited with the house of Judah. As evidence, they cite Ezra 2:70, Neh. 7:73, and Neh. 12:47. In Ezra 2:70, we find, “So the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the Nethinim, and all Israel dwelt in their cities.”  The same passage appears in Neh. 7:73. Neh. 12:47 records, “In the days of Zerubbabel, and in the days of Nehemiah all Israel gave the portion for the singers and the gatekeepers, a portion for each day.”

Does this really mean that all Israel returned to the Promised Land? In Ezra 8:17-20, we learn of an event that happened after “all Israel dwelt in their cities”: Ezra sent messengers to a place called Casiphia asking that Levites be sent to serve in the temple. How can this be? Ezra had to send to another land for Levites after “all Israel dwelt in their cities”!

Ezra 8:25 clarifies this apparent contradiction when it tells us of “the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes and all Israel who were present had offered.”  The statement “all Israel” simply means “all the Israelites who were present”! This fits perfectly with the historical fact that even many Jews remained at Babylon when their brethren returned home to rebuild the Temple. There is no evidence that the northern Israelites returned to the Promised Land with their brethren the Jews, or that God rejoined the two houses at that time.

God’s Word teaches that Israel and Judah will reconcile, but when will this happen? According to God’s prophets, Israel and Judah will remain separated until after Jesus Christ returns. Several Scriptures prove this. Although I’ll quote a few verses here, please look them up in your own Bible and read them in their full context (sometimes one or more chapters).

The book of Isaiah teaches that Israel and Judah will rejoin after Christ’s return. Isa. 11:9-13 says,

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious. It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea. He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

Notice that everything in this passage is interconnected: the earth will be at peace and “full of the knowledge of the LORD”; “in that day” the peoples will seek Christ; “in that day” God will regather “the outcasts of Israel” and the “dispersed of Judah”; and “the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off.”  The earth will not be full of peace or righteousness until Christ’s return, as anyone can plainly see by looking at the world around us! By reading this passage in context and putting everything together, we see that none of these events, including the rejoining of Israel and Judah, will happen until after Jesus Christ returns. Israel and Judah are still separate!

Ezek. 37 describes the rejoining of Israel and Judah. In vv. 1-14 is the famous “Dry Bones” passage which describes the resurrection of both houses of Israel. God’s Word shows that there will be no resurrection until Christ’s return (John 11:25, Rom. 6:5, 2 Tim. 2:18, and Rev. 20:5-6), so this resurrection is obviously after His return.

After this, Ezekiel foretold the reunification of Israel and Judah. In vv. 21-24 we read:

Then say to them, “Thus says the LORD God: ‘Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. They shall not defile themselves with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes and do them.’”

How could there be any doubt that Israel and Judah will remain separate until the resurrection? Not only is their resurrection described before their rejoining, but David will be their king, which means he will have to be resurrected before then as well! Because there will be no resurrection before Christ’s Return, Israel and Judah will not reconcile before His return. Obviously, He has not yet returned, so Israel and Judah are still separate!

God’s Word is plain: the house of Israel and the Jews (the house of Judah) were separate, are separate, and will be separate until after Christ’s Second Coming. The word “Jews” applies only to people descended from the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Therefore, all Jews are Israelites (descendants of Jacob/Israel), but not all Israelites are Jews!

As for the northern ten tribes, they have become known as the “lost ten tribes of Israel” to this day, for conventional history lost track of them after the Assyrians took them away captive. The Jews, on the other hand, are not lost.

To be continued...