How long have we been aware of
our Israel Kingdom descent?
One reaction to the discovery that the British and Celto-Saxon peoples of
the world are the modern continuation of ancient Israel, God’s servant
nation, is curiosity. The question is often asked: ‘How long has the truth
been known?’
God has revealed through His prophets that Israel, as a nation, or people,
would be blind to their true identity until the latter days of the Christian
era (see Isaiah 42 and 43 and Ezekiel 39). There is some evidence as well
to suggest that God may have permitted this great truth to be revealed to
chosen individuals in each generation. The ancient Irish chronicles, for
example, bear testimony to the fact that many of the early nobility of that
country were aware of their Israelite identity. And this appears to have
been known and accepted by scholars throughout Europe up to at least the
17th century. In 1581 we find Vincenzio Galilei – father of the famous
astronomer – writing about the origin of the harp in Ireland and referring
to the Irish tradition that their kings were of the royal line of David.
The chieftains of many of the ancient Scottish clans – whose successors
were to append their signatures to the Scottish Declaration of
Independence of 1320 – were obviously aware of their Israelite origin.
Apart from this, the first unmistakable written evidence that the ancient
English were also aware of their origin is not found until Alfred the Great
in the 9th century. The 33rd Law enacted by that wise monarch laid it upon
his subjects: “Vex thou not comers from afar and strangers, ye were once
strangers in Egypt.”
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The Elizabethans were aware
It would seem that in England an awareness of Britain’s identification
with ancient Israel has come in phases or eras, the first of which reached
its peak during the Elizabethan period. The Queen herself became known
as “The Light of Israel.” There can be no doubt that by ‘Israel’ the land
of England was meant for we find that Sir Francis Drake, when asking
John Fox to pray for the country and its people, defined his prayer with
the words: “that we might have continued peace in Israel.”
The medals struck to commemorate the defeat of the Spanish Armada also
revealed that the people were aware of their Israelite identity. The legend
around one reads: “He blew and they were scattered” – a reference to the
gales of unprecedented violence which scattered and destroyed the
Spanish fleet. On the reverse of another Armada medal the name of God
appears, significantly, in Hebrew characters.
The most striking evidence that the Elizabethans were aware of their
identity is, however, The Book of Common Prayer, the work of
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer who was martyred in 1556. The order of
Matins and Evensong, and especially the versicles and responses, make it
clear that the Elizabethans were undoubtedly aware that they were God’s
chosen or servant people and under His protection. Attention is drawn
here to the Calendar of Lessons published in the 1662 edition of
Cranmer’s work that has applied to significant nation state events in
Britain in a remarkable way during the 20th century. These Lessons could
apply to no other people other than Israel.
This knowledge was apparently so widespread throughout Southern
England as to become known in some professional circles in France. The
Petite Parisien has revealed that in 1590 Lelayer, a French magistrate,
published a large volume entitled The Lost Ten Tribes Found in which he
proved that ‘lost’ Israel was to be found in the peoples of Britain.
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The Union of the Israel Kingdoms
In 1603 the childless Elizabeth I was succeeded by James VI of Scotland
who became James I of England. He was in no doubt as to the identity of
the peoples he had been called to rule. Indeed, he claimed that the Lord
had made him king over Israel, and upon the Jacobus, the gold coin of his
day, he had inscribed in Latin, the prophecy recorded in Ezekiel 37:22: “I
will make of thee one nation.” However James’ awareness of Britain’s
identity was to lead him into paths of contention. He misinterpreted God’s
blessing upon the royal house of David (II Samuel 7:16) as conferring a
divine right upon all kings, a philosophy which brought him into serious
conflict with Parliament and which sowed the seeds for the English Civil
War which was to divide the kingdom and lead to the execution in 1649 of
his son and successor, Charles I.
This misinterpretation of Scripture was also to have adverse influence upon
the thinking of the Puritans who, being fundamentalists, would – under
other circumstances – have been able to identify themselves with God’s
servant nation. However, the policy of a political movement known as The
Levellers – which came into existence at the time of Oliver Cromwell and
which sought to modify the Power of the Lord Protector – was believed to
have been influenced by the conviction of its leaders, Everard and
Winstanley, that the Celto-Saxon peoples were the continuation of ancient
Israel.
It should also be remembered that the Pilgrim Fathers, who sailed for the
New World in the Mayflower in 1620, were clearly people that we would
describe today as ‘Christian Israelites.’ In the log or the records they kept
they refer to themselves as ‘The seed of Abraham,’ ‘the children of
Jacob’ and as ‘His Chosen’ – clearly the language of people conscious of
who they were.
Public interest in this subject appeared to wane in Britain with the end of
the Commonwealth. We have to wait until the 18th century for the next
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phase of public interest; but there was a simmering of interest on the
Continent – and especially in the Low Countries – which first found
expression in 1671 with the appearance of an anonymous pamphlet in
Dutch which argued that the English-speaking people must be the
continuation of ten-tribed Israel. Then in 1723, in his Le Triomphe de la
Province et de la Religion, which was published in Amsterdam, Dr
Abbadie contended that the Northern European tribes from whom the
English people derive are the lost ten tribes of ancient Israel.
The ‘Elijah’ Message began the Age-end controversy
The 19th century was to see an era of identity awareness of such magnitude
as to provoke the satanic forces of evil into organizing a relentless
campaign of opposition in both Church and State, a movement so relentless
in fact that its malevolent influence was still being felt in the late 20th
century. By the middle to late 19th century, through the pioneering work of
John Wilson from 1840, followed by Edward Hine from the 1860s,
Britain’s true identity was known – or suspected – from Buckingham
Palace to the humblest cottage in the land, widespread interest being
stimulated by the amazing growth of the British Empire which was
bringing prosperity, peace and orderly humane government to nearly one
quarter of the world’s population. Supported by the United States Fleet in
the Western hemisphere, the Royal Navy preserved the freedom of the seas,
putting down piracy and the slave trade.
The extent to which the clergy became aware of Britain’s true identity may
be gauged from the comment made by Cardinal John Henry Newman
(1801-1890) when asked why in 1845 he had left the Church of England to
join the Roman Catholic Church. The one-time Vicar of St Mary’s, Oxford,
revealed that he had been disturbed by the extent to which the Identity
movement was growing. He believed that there was a very real danger that
the movement “would take over the Church of England.” Certainly, few
converts to Rome played a greater part in the restoration of Roman
Catholicism in England or in the acceptance of the false dogma of Rome by
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the Church of England. Indeed, it can, with hindsight, be said that the work
he did during the last twenty years of his life laid the foundations on which
the Church of England would ultimately erect the Alternative Services Book
and turn its attentions from the New Jerusalem to Apostate Rome.
The 19th century also saw an entirely new phenomenon: the formation of
local study, discussion and prayer groups by Christian believers in the
Israel Kingdom vision of all denominations. These groups varied widely in
their organization and in their corporate activities; but they had one
common interest – to proclaim the discovery that their country, with the
Dominions and the great United States, were the bulk of the modern
continuation of the ancient servant nation whom God had promised to
protect in order to enable them to live as a pattern people in waiting
obedience to His Law. These Israel Kingdom groups also varied widely in
their size and influence. Some, indeed, became so large and influential that
they were able to publish a magazine and organize public meetings.
The Witness went to the Covenant Nations
As their activities began to awaken public interest they became aware of
how their witness could be improved. The individual groups lacked
cohesion and an agreed credo based upon Scriptural research. They saw
that there would be undoubted advantages in joining together and in
pooling their intellectual, material and human resources.
On 3 July, 1919, the various local Israel Kingdom groups joined forces, or
federated, to form a national interdenominational movement. The
Federation attracted great spiritual leaders, eloquent speakers and erudite
scholars who gave of their best; it became a powerful force in the religious
life of the British nation. Branches which were formed in every population
centre of the United Kingdom were supported by thousands of dedicated
Christians from every denomination. HRH Princess Alice, Countess of
Athlone, became patron-in-chief and remained so for the following 60
years of her life. The ‘Elijah’ message had, to great effect, spoken to latter5
day Israel “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the L ORD”
(Malachi 4:5-6). Interestingly, on 3 July 1996, 77 years to the day from
the founding of the Federation, it was announced in the House of
Commons that ‘Jacob’s Pillow,’ the Stone of Destiny, was to be
returned to Scotland.
The National Message, the then official organ of the Federation, reached a
circulation of nearly 100,000. This was not only a true ecumenical
movement of immense size and influence; it was also an easy target for the
forces of evil in a seething ferment of discontent. In retrospect, it is not
difficult to appreciate why the movement should have become an easy
target for Satan and his minions. The fathers of the Federation were
Christians of great intellect and spiritual vision who failed to realize that
their movement would come under unscrupulous attack from the moment
of its inception and that every aspect of its organization should have been
considered from that angle.
Without a thought as to possible mis-use by opponents, the title of The
British-Israel-World Federation was adopted with enthusiasm and
individual members began describing themselves as British Israelites. It
was not at all difficult for Satan’s minions to smear the movement as a
collection of politico-religious cranks who were misinterpreting the Bible
to justify British jingo imperialism. Those ministers of religion who had
been influenced by the then growing Oxford Movement condemned
“British-Israelism” (as they called it) out of hand – as did most intellectuals
and the political left.
The Children did not Continue in the Faith
There had been a considerable stirring of interest during the Second World
War when public meetings became crowded and the Kingdom message was
well received in the highest political circles. Yet with the end of the war,
public interest in the movement declined dramatically to fulfil the prophecy
of the great falling away that would take place despite the ‘Elijah’ message
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turning the hearts of the children to the fathers. Too many of the local
meetings were attended only by the ‘faithful converts’ as the children and
grandchildren of those who had worked tirelessly for the witness neglected
to take-up the baton, or continue in the Faith.
As the great European Project rolled over the nation and immersed it in a
process of increasing betrayal a remnant from the former years continued to
maintain the teaching and keep the embers of the movement alive. In 2012,
the decline has not merely been halted; there is now a steady expansion of
interest. A crisis of the eurozone single currency is happening as this article
is being written and the break-up of the European Union itself is now much
in prospect.
A Desperate People will search for Answers
Under the powerful influence of events a group of Israel Kingdom
believers, Christian people, is projecting the alternative to the false and
failing European dream of a federal United States of Europe. Satan’s
supporters are being vigorously challenged and the message of Scripture is
being interpreted in terms of the great world events in the Age-end period
of history.
As people seek desperately for answers in the coming days, many of them
will be Christians feeling let down by false prophetic interpretations. A
desperate search will take place among these people for the oil of
understanding and knowledge for their empty lamps. There will come an
ever-growing public interest and support, which will widen until, at the
Return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, He will find throughout the
Israel of God ‘a people prepared.’
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Acknowledgements to Wake-Up! magazine July/August 1989, Heritage by Reginald
H W Cox.
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A Synopsis of B.I.W.F. History and Aims
In 1914, the thirty-fourth year of its publication, The Anglo-Israel
Almanac listed details of a large number of Kingdom Identity Groups
operating independently throughout the Britannic Isles and in the
Overseas Dominions of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada
and in the United States of America.
Out of these The British-Israel-World Federation, founded in 1919, some
80 Associations were affiliated and hundreds of individual members were
enrolled. Supported by many prominent people over the past nine decades
this movement has been giving sound instruction on prophecy and related
matters to the promotion of Christian-Israel teaching among the Covenant
People in their great “company of nations” (Genesis 35:11). The objective
has been, and remains, to protect them from individuals and subversive
organizations trying to put an end to our Christian Constitution and Divine
destiny, that of leading the nations in peace.
Although the knowledge of our Kingdom identity as Israel in the
appointed British Isles (II Samuel 7:10) can be traced from earliest times,
such as in the Declaration of Arbroath (1320), through the Reformation
era and after, it was during the Victorian period from 1840 that the
teaching began to take hold among the People of the Book, when people
like John Wilson and Edward Hine became instrumental in bringing
forth the ‘Elijah,’ or Kingdom message, that was to turn the hearts of the
children to the fathers, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord
(Malachi 4:5-6), which Europe and the whole world was to witness from
1914 until the present time.
The Banner of Israel, first published in 1877 by Robert Banks of Fleet
Street, London, continued until its incorporation in The National Message
in 1926, which was first published in 1922 and continued until 1981.
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These publications were made available to members of the public with a
circulation in the tens of thousands. The Federation now produces The
Covenant Nations magazine, which is sent out on a free-will gift basis
across the British-Israel-World, as well as other literature published by its
Covenant Publishing Company now celebrating its 90th year.
The Federation has had many ups and downs during its existence,
particularly as the faith of many in the nation waned from the 1960s, but
most important, it has survived and is now expanding again as the
European Project has exerted increasing pressure to the detriment of
Britain’s unique Christian Constitution. The integrity of the Covenant
Nations has been undermined with the advent of globalization and multiculturalism over the past half century. This is leading to a materialistic and
pagan world disorder which in Luke 21:25 is defined as causing the
“distress of nations with perplexity” (Gk. aporia = “without a passage
out”).
During World Wars I and II the Federation had a large membership, with
many distinguished patrons and supporters. Chief among the patrons, until
her death in 1981, was HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. She
was at the first Congress of The British-Israel-World Federation on 5 July,
1920 and we were honoured that her daughter, Lady May Abel Smith,
continued the family link as a patron of the Federation until her own
death. A Federation Rally on 1 March, 1927, a Tuesday, filled the
Royal Albert Hall with people from many parts of Europe.
Among other notable patrons of that period were The Duke of Buccleuch
Kt, The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Dysart, and The Rt. Hon. The CountessDowager of Radnor, The Rt. Hon. Lord Gisborough and The Rt. Hon. W
F Massey, Prime Minister of New Zealand.
The Forces of the Crown were well represented in the membership of the
United Services Organization of the B.I.W.F., formed in 1931. Included in
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this distinguished group were Major-General C.A. Hadfield, Col. J.
Garnier RE, Col. C.E.R. Mackesy CMG, CBE, DSO, Major J.Knowles OBE,
Admiral G Cuthbert Cayley C.B. and Admiral Sir Richard H Peirse KCB,
KBE, MVO.
Among Church representatives in the Federation were well-known clerics
such as The Rt. Rev. Bishop Vaughan DD, The Rev. Dr. Wm. Pascoe
Goard LLD, FRGS, FRES, The Rev. A.B. Grimaldi MA, The Rev. Arthur
Pritchard MA, The Rev. E J Wemyss Whittaker MA and The Rev.
Dinsdale T. Young DD.
The Federation trained many of its lecturers in British-Israel teaching at its
National Bible College in Harrow Weald. Founded eighty years ago in
1932, it provided accommodation for residential students and faculty. The
College lecturers included The Rev. Dr. Wm. Pascoe Goard, Dr. Courtney
James, Dr. Norman James, Clifford F Parker, Rupert Thomas and the Rev.
Alban Heath. The National Bible College today is based at its
Headquarters near Bishop Auckland from where it is being re-activated in
modern form.
The British-Israel-World Federation is not and never has been a cult.
It is not an authoritarian organization, but is constituted to adduce
the teaching that upholds the covenant promises of Almighty God to
our forefathers. It rejects what is known as Replacement Theology, a
dogma which states that God replaced His Covenant People of ancient
Israel with the Church, regardless of the fact that Israel itself was the
“church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38), the called out and separated
servant nation in continuity which has formed the foundation of Western
Civilization – the new “Jerusalem” the name which means “foundation of
peace” or “civilization of peace.”
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What Modern Science is Discovering
The scientific discovery of DNA in recent years has brought British-Israel
teaching into front line relevance. Two secular publications have been of
much interest in this respect. The first being In the Blood – God, Genes
and Destiny by Steve Jones based on the major BBC television series
(ISBN 0-00-255511-5, Harper Collins 1996). The second is The Origins of the
British – A Genetic Detective Story by Stephen Oppenheimer (ISBN-13:
978-1-84529-158-7 and ISBN-10: 1-84529-158-1, Constable 2006).
From the jacket cover of In the Blood:
Genetics is at the heart of modern science – and, some say, of history,
philosophy and law. Genes link the past with the present and contain
within themselves the fate of many of those who carry them. Blood has
always tied families and nations together. The idea that human destiny is
inborn and descends from ancestors who died generations ago long
predates the rise of science. The Old Testament was the first genetic
textbook of all: and the idea of inheritance is so powerful that its study
was banned in the Soviet Union for thirty years. Today, genetics has a
unique fascination but mystifies many – In the Blood makes things clear.
From the jacket cover of The Origins of the British:
History relates that the Romans found a uniformly Celtic population
throughout the British Isles but that the indigenous folk of the English
heartland fell victim to genocide and replacement by the ‘Anglo-Saxon
hordes’ during the fifth and sixth centuries.
But Oppenheimer’s groundbreaking research reveals that these late
invasions contributed a tiny fraction (5%) to the English gene pool. Two
thirds of the English people show an unbroken line of genetic descent
from south-western Europeans arriving long before the introduction of
farming.
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Synthesizing the genetic evidence with linguistics, archaeology and
historical record, Oppenheimer shows how long-term trade and
immigration from north-west Europe including Scandinavia, between
7,000 and 3,000 years ago contributed most of the remaining third. The
earliest forms of English language may have arrived on the tail of these
large pre-Roman migrations.
And what of the people we know as Celts – the Irish, Scots and Welsh?
Scholars traditionally place their origins in Iron Age Central Europe, but
the data clearly show that they arrived via the Atlantic coastal route many
thousands of years ago, from Ice Age refuges in the Basque country and
Spain. The modern languages we call Celtic came later.
(The map on the front inside cover shows the sea and land migrations
routes from the Black Sea region)
Titles of booklets available in this series
1. Western Civilization is destroyed by Pietism and Lawless Dogma
2. God's Great Dominion - The Divine Purpose throughout History
3. Quotations showing that The British Church has Primacy
4. The Divine Economic System for Lasting Prosperity and Peace
5. Britain's God-given Scientific Heritage Destroyed by Metrication Madness
6. God's National Flock on Earth - Church and State working together
7. How long have we been aware of our Israel Kingdom descent?
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This series of booklets has been produced for free issue and they are not for re-sale. Further
copies are available on request. Contributions towards postage and multiple copies are gratefully
received for the campaign of National Faith Conservation.
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