Everybody Wants to be an Israelite Quiz

Answer: No

The Gospel of Matthew states that Jesus was born the King of the Jews. However, while His original followers were Jews who believed that He was the Messiah, Israel as a nation rejected Him. Eventually Christianity became Gentile-dominant and the official religion of Rome.

According to replacement theology, the Christian church is the "new" or "spiritual" Israel and all promises that God made to Israel (regarding land, bringing back the exiles, etc.) have been transferred to the church to be fulfilled symbolically. It is not based upon a literal reading of the Bible, but a metaphorical reading. Almost any time the Bible uses the word "Israel" (an exception would be when Peter said that Israel crucified Jesus; see Acts 2:36), replacement theologians interpret it to mean "Christians". They believe that Jews are no longer the chosen people and that the land of Israel is irrelevant. Instead, Jews must simply join the church or be without hope. Most replacement theologians won't claim to be ethnic Israelites, but they often say that "anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, Jew or Gentile, are the true spiritual Jews of God". They tend to be amillennialists or postmillennialists.

Replacement theology became popular in the early church (as far back as even the second century) because of antisemitic attitudes of the early church fathers. They blamed Jews for killing Jesus (technically the Jews had a role in killing Jesus, but antisemitism is wrong for so many reasons; from the fact that Jesus laid His life down for humanity's sins, to the fact that Jesus taught love and forgiveness, even for enemies; to the fact that Jesus Himself said that He loved Jerusalem, etc.) and many Catholic church fathers wrote frankly horrible things about the Jewish people. I cannot and will not quote them, but feel free to look them up yourself. The Catholic Church also persecuted the Jewish people for centuries, with the crusades, the inquisition, etc.

Unfortunately, some Protestants held on to antisemitism. Even Martin Luther said that synagogues should be burned. John Calvin was also very antisemitic. Some people believe that the antisemitism of the church helped to allow the Holocaust to happen. After the Holocaust, however, the Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations apologized for their history of antisemitism.

With the rise of Christian Zionism in the 17th century and dispensationalism in the 19th century, many Christians began to see the need for interpreting the Bible more literally. Many Christians believe that Jesus and the Jewish Apostles, including Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, never meant to suggest that God replaced national Israel with the church, the body of Christ. For instance, when the apostles asked Jesus when He would restore Israel's kingdom, Jesus never denied that it would happen. He merely said that they didn't need to know the date (see Acts 1:6-7).

According to Christian Zionism, the Jews are God's people and Christians are added on. The Jews have a God-given right to the land of Israel and Jesus will establish His Messianic kingdom in Jerusalem at the second coming.

Answer: Jews are the house of Judah and Christians are the house of Israel

Messianic Jews are Jewish people who believe that Jesus is the Messiah, but continue Jewish practices, such as celebrating the high holy days and keeping kosher. They also attend Messianic synagogues. However, there are Gentiles who join Messianic congregations. In fact, many who join are Gentiles. This is because they love the music, love Israel, or any other reason.

Two-House theology claims that the Jewish people are only three tribes (Judah, Benjamin, and Levi), "the house of Judah", while Christians are "the lost tribes of Israel," "the house of Israel" or "Ephraim". They believe that all Christians are the biological descendants of Israelites.

Messianic prophecies do talk about the house of Israel and the house of Judah. One example is Isaiah 11: "And He will lift up a flag for the nations
And assemble the banished ones of Israel,
And will gather the dispersed of Judah
From the four corners of the earth.
Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart,
And those who harass Judah will be eliminated;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
And Judah will not harass Ephraim" (Isaiah 11: 12-13, NASB).

That quote is from the same chapter that talks about the wolf lying down with the lamb in the Messianic kingdom.

There are many other verses that make distinctions between the two houses of Israel. The controversy over Two-House theology isn't that they teach about the house of Judah and the house of Ephraim. Rather, it's about who they claim that Ephraim is. Some Messianic Jews don't agree with the idea that Gentile Christians could be Israelites and view it as a form of replacement theology, although proponents of Two-House reject this accusation. In some ways, Two-House theology is similar to other lost tribe claims, such as British Israelism and Mormon Israelite claims. A criticism of or counterargument against these theories is that they all seem to ignore that Judah had members of all twelve tribes living in it (see Ezra 6:17), and that the Apostle Paul said that Gentiles were grafted into God's new covenant with Israel unnaturally (see Romans chapters 9-11).

The Apostle James wrote to members of the twelve tribes scattered abroad whom attended Messianic synagogues.

Answer: True

Yes, Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the 144,000 Israelites are symbolic of people who enter Heaven. According to their theology, only 144,000 people go to Heaven, while other people live on the new earth or go to the lake of fire. According to Jehovah's Witnesses, the 144,000 aren't the only saved people, but a special group of faithful believers.

"And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:" (Revelation 7:4, NASB).

"Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads" (Revelation 14:1)

If interpreted literally, they refer to Israelites with the Messiah, and they aren't in Heaven, but on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. However, replacement theologians interpret these verses symbolically and apply them to Gentiles or to the church.

Jehovah's Witnesses fall outside of mainstream Christianity because they reject the Trinity. Charles Taze Russell founded the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1870.

Answer: Native Americans

Many Mormons are Zionists. According to Mormon beliefs, the "lost tribes of Israel" traveled to North America and became Native Americans as well as Mormons. As a result, Mormons believe that they are related to both Jews and Native Americans. Like Christian Zionists and certain others who believe in lost tribe theories (Two-House theology, some believers in British Israelism, etc.) Mormons tend to be strong supporters of the land of Israel because they view it important for the end times.

Most Jews and Native Americans don't believe that they are related to Mormons. Just like most Israelite theories, Mormon claims of Israelite origin are controversial.

Mormons fall outside of mainstream Christianity because they reject the Trinity. Joseph Smith founded Mormonism in 1830.

Answer: Ephraim and Manasseh

The twelve tribes of Israel are Reuben, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim and Manasseh. (Levi is not listed because the Levites didn't get a land portion and instead were priests. One could argue that Levi is the 13th tribe. Also Joseph originally was one tribe, but then his sons became separate tribes, so it seems that Manasseh and Ephraim replaced Joseph and Levi).

The ones that some people claim are lost are all except for Judah and Benjamin and Levi.

British Israelism is a controversial belief that goes back to about the 16th century. Some people in the Church of England held this position. It claims that people of European descent, especially Anglo-Saxon, are the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. They believe, for example, that Danish people are the tribe of Dan. Originally popular in Britain, it later spread to the United States. According to them, Ephraim represents British people and Manasseh represents the United States. British Israelism advocates take Genesis 48:19, in which Jacob told Ephraim that his descendants would be a multitude of nations, and argue that it must be talking about the nations in the British Commonwealth and not just the Jewish nation.

Believers in British Israelism aren't a monolith. Some are white supremacist and anti-Semitic. Some even go so far as to say that when Jesus said that He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 15:24), He actually didn't mean Jews at all ("cursed" Judah), but only the special and "lost" 10 tribes. Others genuinely care about the Jewish people and view them as long-lost brothers. Some believe that Jesus will reunite the Jews with the British Israelites at the second coming.

British Israelism goes against the traditional Christian belief that the Israelites were/are closely related to Arabs; tan or olive-skinned.

Manasseh and Ephraim were Joseph's sons that he had with his Egyptian wife, Asenath (Genesis 46:20).

Answer: Deuteronomy

The Black Hebrew Israelite religion was founded in the 19th century by Frank Cherry and William Saunders Crowdy.

The main claim of the Black Hebrew Israelites is that only the black race, particularly the African-Americans who were slaves and the descendants of slaves, have suffered the amount of oppression that Deuteronomy 28 implies based upon the curses that God gave the Israelites if they disobeyed Him. Their argument is that the Jewish people haven't suffered such great oppression and that they were never slaves like the African-Americans were. But some theologians believe that Deuteronomy 28 was fulfilled in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed.

Unlike British Israelites, Mormons, Messianic Jews who believe in Two-House theology, and most who claim Israelite ancestry, Black Hebrew Israelites don't believe that Jews are merely the kingdom of Judah and that they are the lost Israelites. Black Hebrew Israelites believe that Jewish people are imposters, and many (though not all) are anti-Semitic and prejudiced against white people. They view Jews as white and believe that Jews and white people are descendants of Esau; races that God hates. This is their interpretation of "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" (Romans 9:13). Some teach that Jesus only died for "Israelites" (black people), a belief that goes against traditional Christianity, which states that Jesus died for the world (John 3:16). Many are black supremacists. The Southern Poverty Law Center listed Black Hebrew Israelites, or at least an extremist branch, as a hate group.

Black Hebrew Israelite theology goes against the traditional Christian belief that Africans came from Ham, Europeans came from Japheth, and Israelites and Arabs came from Shem. Some Evangelical Christians actually believe that Palestinians are the descendants of Esau, and this explains the conflict in the Middle East.

Answer: Islam

Most Pashtuns are Muslims. Interestingly enough, Pashtuns make up the majority of the Taliban, a terrorist organization that hates Jews. However, not all Pashtuns are in the Taliban, and some Pashtuns claim to be descendants of Israelites. The Israelite Pashtun belief goes back to about 2,700 years.

The Pashtuns have many customs that are the same as Jews, such as circumcision on the 8th day, separating meat from dairy, and lighting candles on Friday night, among others. Old writings by certain Jews, Christians, and Muslims suggest that Pashtuns have Israelite ancestry.

However, DNA studies don't show a strong connection of Pashtuns to Jews. Some people are convinced that Pashtuns are lost Israelites; others are not convinced.

Answer: They don't trace it through mothers.

The Lemba are a group of Africans (they live primarily in Zimbabwe) who claim to be descended from 7 Jewish men who left the land of Israel 2,500 years ago and married African women. DNA studies have confirmed that the Lemba people are related to Jewish people.

In fact, more than half of Lemba Y chromosomes are Semitic in origin and suggest descent from the tribe of Levi. The Lemba also have many customs similar to Judaism, such as circumcision, abstaining from eating pork, and wearing yamulka-like caps.

However, Orthodox Judaism considers one a Jew through his or her mother, while the Lemba don't practice this. Reform Judaism considers anyone born of either Jewish parent to be Jewish.

Answer: Israel

"These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
- Matthew 10:5-6, NASB

Samaritans still live in Israel and Palestine (the West Bank). They are a very small group; roughly only 900 of them remain.

The history of the Samaritans goes back to about 3,000 years. When the northern Kingdom of Israel fell into Assyrian captivity, some Israelites were taken away. However, some remained in Samaria and mixed with the Assyrians. There were also northern tribes living in Judea (the southern kingdom of Israel or Judah) even before the Assyrian captivity. The ones in Judea saw the Samaritans as not legitimate Israelites. For one thing, Jews worshipped in Jerusalem, while Samaritans worshipped at Gerizim. They still do today. Samaritans view themselves as legitimate Israelites and believe that their religion is the purest form of the Hebrew religion, because they believe that Judaism became corrupted after Babylon. But Samaritans understand Jews to be their family, and these days, some Jews accept Samaritans as their family too.

Samaritans don't just claim Israelite ancestry--they actually have Israelite ancestry. However, because of the Gentile ancestry and the differences in religion, they were and are distinct from other Israelites.

Jesus originally didn't want His disciples to preach to Samaritans, but then He reached out to a Samaritan woman and told her that He was the Messiah. In modern Christian vocabulary, a "Samaritan" is someone who does good deeds, while a "Pharisee" is a self-righteous person.

Answer: Jews

Of course the answer is Jews. According to the Bible, God promised Abraham that he would have a son with his wife Sarah. Sarah bore him Isaac. Isaac married Rebekah and had two sons, Jacob and Esau. God gave Jacob a special name, "Israel". Jacob had twelve sons. These sons became the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel (note that Joseph's descendants didn't actually become head of a tribe; instead his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, did).

God promised the Israelites the land of Canaan, which later became the land of Israel. Eventually, Israel broke into two houses or kingdoms, Judah and Israel/Ephraim (or Judea and Samaria). The kingdom of Israel went into Assyrian captivity. Some of the Israelites were taken to Assyria and became "lost", but God promised that He would restore them and that Israel would no longer be two nations but one again, and the Messiah would rule over them forever. In the meantime, the Israelites who remained in the north mixed with Gentiles. Thus came the Samaritans. Some of the northern tribes moved to Judah. Judah then went into Babylon captivity. Israelites became known as Jews. When the Jews returned from Babylon, they began to use rabbis and synagogues.

Because the Jews didn't always follow God's laws, they were scattered all over the world. This is called the diaspora. In 70 AD, the second temple was destroyed. In 150 AD, the Romans renamed Judea, "Palestine". Jews suffered great persecution, especially because they were accused of deicide, or killing God. Ironically, Jewish persecution was nothing new. Passover, Purim, and Hanukkah were all based upon people oppressing and trying to kill the Jews.

There are three main Jewish groups, Ashkenazi (European), Sephardic (Spanish), and Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) Jews. DNA studies show that all of these share a common Middle Eastern ancestry. We often find people arguing online about what color the original Israelites were. Some people say that they were black; others say they were white. But the traditional opinion is that they were neither black nor white, but tan, like Arabs. Many would argue that Mizrahi Jews might be the closest to the original Jews and that Jews and Arabs are both descendants of Shem, while Europeans came from Japeth and Africans from Ham. Shem, Ham, and Japeth were Noah's sons according to Scripture. Judaism is both a religion and a culture or ethnic group/nation. The Bible includes Gentiles like Ruth who converted to Judaism. Jews have literally been scattered all over the world: Germany, Japan, Ethiopia, and the list could go on.

Jews aren't always happy with different groups' claims of Israelite ancestry, especially if they bully Jews because of their beliefs. However, the Israeli government has accepted certain groups, such as the Bnei Manashe ("sons of Manasseh") of India, as legitimate lost tribes.