Let’s read that interesting verse: “In those days the HOUSE OF JUDAH shall walk with the HOUSE OF ISRAEL, and they shall come together out of the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers” (KJV). This verse looks on to the “Kingdom Age” when the Lord Jesus Christ will rule as “King of kings, and Lord of lords” for 1,000 years (Revelation 19:16 & 20:1-6). At the very beginning of His kingdom, He will REUNITE the 12 Tribes of Israel which have been divided for many centuries. As we shall see, 10 tribes broke off from the 12 and formed a “northern kingdom” known as the HOUSE OF ISRAEL. This left 2 tribes (the tribes of Judah and Benjamin) in the “southern kingdom” and they were called the HOUSE OF JUDAH. Let’s take a look at them separately and then we’ll consider the GRAND REUNION that will take place in a future day.

The HOUSE OF ISRAEL. We read about their beginning in 1st Kings 12:16 which says, “So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not until them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; to your tents, O Israel: NOW SEE TO THINE OWN HOUSE, DAVID. So, Israel departed unto their tents.” Verse 20 goes on to tell us that Israel then made a man named Jeroboam their king, “And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and MADE HIM KING OVER ALL ISRAEL: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.” Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, was the king over the house of David and we read in verse 21 that when he “was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the HOUSE OF JUDAH, WITH THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN….to fight against the HOUSE OF ISRAEL.” How sad! This favored nation that God had taken up in grace, so they could be a light to the heathen nations all around them, was now divided and at war with one another! They remained at war until the “northern kingdom” was invaded and defeated by Assyria and those who survived were taken captive and dispersed throughout the world. They are often referred to as “The Ten Lost Tribes,” yet God has His eye upon them, and the day is coming when He will bring them back to the Land of Israel to be reunited with the House of Judah.

The HOUSE OF JUDAH. We saw that the “southern kingdom” was made up of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. They were often referred to as “Jews” from that day forward because of their connection to the tribe of “Judah.” We read of the “Jew” or “Jews” throughout the Old Testament (in 2nd Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Jeremiah, Daniel and Zechariah). Later, the word Jews came to be identified with the whole nation of Israel. In time their kings became so corrupt that God allowed the Babylonians to invade them and take them captive to Babylon for 70 years and then they returned to the land in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. They remained there until the Messiah was born from the tribe of Judah and in 70 A.D. they were invaded by Romans armies and they too were dispersed throughout the nations.

The GRAND REUNION. We already saw (in our verse for today) that the HOUSE OF JUDAH and the HOUSE OF ISRAEL “shall come together.” Now let’s look at one more great passage that teaches us this wonderful truth. In Ezekiel 37: 15-22 we read, “Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘As for you, son of man, take a STICK for yourself and write on it: For JUDAH and for the children of Israel, his companions. Then take another stick and write on it, for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the HOUSE OF ISRAEL, his companions. Then JOIN THEM ONE TO ANOTHER for yourself INTO ONE STICK, and they will become one in your hand.’ And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these?’ Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the TRIBES OF ISRAEL, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the STICK OF JUDAH, and MAKE THEM ONE STICK, and THEY WILL BE ONE in My hand.’ And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 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’” (NKJV). These words are crystal-clear, are they not? We see in this prophecy of the TWO STICKS BEING JOINED TOGETHER the gathering of the 12 tribes and the REUNION of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL and the HOUSE OF JUDAH. The two will become ONE NATION again and there shall be ONE KING (the Lord Jesus Christ) over them. What a blessed and glorious day that will be!

Before I close, I want to mention that there are many who teach that when the Jews rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah and had Pontius Pilate crucify Him, God cast them away forever. The scriptures we have seen refute that false teaching. God will indeed fulfill all the promises He has given to the nation of Israel. He will bring them back to the land, forgive their sins, and exalt them as the head of the nations. All this will be based on the New Covenant of Grace which He “will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (see Jeremiah 31:31-37 along with Romans 11:25-27 and Ezekiel 36:22-30).  (DO)  (508.5)