There have been several “dispersions (scatterings) of the Jews” recorded in history. The “10 tribes” that made up the Northern Kingdom of Israel were invaded by the Assyrians around 721 B.C. and then dispersed throughout the known world. They are often referred to as “The Ten Lost Tribes.”  In 587 B.C. The “2 Tribes (Judah and Benjamin)” that made up the Southern Kingdom were invaded by the Babylonians and taken captive to Babylon. 70 years later they were allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple (Ezra 1:1-4) and later others returned to rebuild the city in Nehemiah’s day (Nehemiah 1:1-2:18). These two tribes were living in Israel when Christ was born but after the nation rejected Christ and had Him crucified, those who believed in Christ were eventually dispersed (Acts 8:1-4; 11:19) and in 70 A.D. the nation was invaded by the Romans and then dispersed throughout the world. Some believe that the “Ten Lost Tribes” are lost forever yet in James 1:1 we read, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to ‘the TWELVE TRIBES which are scattered abroad” (James 1:1…KJV). God alone knows exactly where all the Jews are who make up the Twelve Tribes, but they were still in existence when James wrote his epistle in the First Century.

Other scriptures prove, beyond a doubt, that these 12 tribes are still in existence today, for we will see that God will one day “bring these 12 tribes back to the land of Israel” where they will enter the Millennium Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Before we look at scriptures to confirm this, let’s read Revelation 7:2-4, “Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.’ And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of ALL THE TRIBES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WERE SEALED.” In verses 5-8 we see that 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes will be sealed. The time here is the Tribulation Period, the last 7 years of Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks (Daniel 9:24-27). All the judgments of Revelation chapters 6-18 take place during this “time of tribulation” (see Daniel 12:1 with Matthew 24:21). But God will “seal 144,000 Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel” and they will be preserved to the end of the Tribulation Period (see Revelation 14:1-5). At this point, Christ will return to the earth as the King of kings, and Lord of lords to save the godly remnant of Jews from their enemies and to establish His 1,000-year kingdom (Revelation 19:11-20:6).

Now let’s read a very clear passage which teaches us that the 12 tribes will be united by Christ before the kingdom begins. “Behold, the days are  coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel (the Ten Tribes) and with the house of Judah (Judah and Benjamin)—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34). You can read more about this uniting of the 12 tribes in Ezekiel 36:24-32; 37:15-23. They will finally see that Christ died on the cross for THEIR SINS! They will then be able to say, “Surely He has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, He was bruised for OUR INIQUITIES; the chastisement of OUR PEACE was upon Him, and by His stripes WE ARE HEALED” (Isaiah 53:4-5). They will, by faith, rejoice in the New Covenant of GRACE (Hebrews 8:8; 10:12-17) and enter the kingdom forgiven and born of God.  (DO)  (681.1)