Customer Reviews

Redeemed Israel - Reunited and Restored

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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To keep things fair with an opposing view to the previous and lengthy review against this book:
1. Please, not another superficial comparison to British Israelism. Whether it resembles it or not, the objective reader will realize that the Kingdom of Israel was split and nowhere does Scripture show that all of the North Kingdom/all the tribes returned...though yes, there was intermixing, as evidenced by the Scriptures mentioned and as Batya has always pointed out. The issue is that not all returned.
2. Indeed, the term Jew was for Ju-dah-ites...especially as the Southern Kingdom of Judah/Y'hudah was so since after the division and captivity to Babylon. Their return was relatively "soon"...unlike the return from the Assyrian one. The abundance of Scriptures in Hosea, Amos, Isaiah and Jeremiah do speak of many aspects of their captivities and characteristics...which the reviewer does not put in the mix.
3. Two Houses dismissed as "parallelism"? Hosea Chapter one alome is clear that there were two distinct houses that G-d spoke to through that prophet alone: one that was being judged...and one that He would still have mercy towards...until she was said to also have gone astray and got her judgement too...albeit altogether different and later.
4. Does Hebrews 8:8 not connect with Jeremiah 31:31? And does 1 Peter 2:10, a Scripture that all christians would agree applies to them, not connect with Hosea Chapter 1? If so, then it is what it is...whether it resembles a misguided theory from the past called British Israelism or not. Forget the similarities...and judge this on its own merit and Scriptures.
5. If "all Israel" is back...where is the Father's promise of descendants as the stars of the heaven and the sands of the sea? Surely the approximately 5-6 M Jews in Israel and the approximately 13-15 M Jews worldwide does not that promise fulfill. Even comparing the descendants of the 12 sons of Jacob to the 12 prince/sons of Ishmael (~ 800 M Worldwide) shows there must be a "whole bunch" of Israelites somewhere, that do not yet realize they are Israel (even if you add in the many Jews tragically murdered through the ages of their persecutions)...
6. Indeed, one must be born again of the Spirit to see the Kingdom (John 3) and by faith is everyone on the olive tree, lest they be removed (Romans 11)...but realize: the spiritual children have to also have a body...or else we'd be just "ghosts" flying around like disembodied spirits. HaShem spoke to Abraham and spoke of humans...just like him, who also were to be spiritual beings. You have to have both.
7. Batya did not "want this to be so"...she just let the Lord show her and He backed it up with Scripture. :-)

Having said all that to respond to the charges, we can now just say: this book rests on Scripture that speaks for itself if we are unbiased and have no agenda either way except God's. The Scripture fits and solves all other "challenges". The unbiased that allow His Spirit to draw them and spiritually discern this topic will see as many, many others have. Those that see and discern and have had Him show them...are beyond being "convinced" against this anymore that they could be convinced that The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is not a real One.

To those seeking to understand what Israel is really all about, this book is sure to be an eye and spirit opener and a major, major blessing. :-)

Read it for yourself and decide.
Shalom.

Excellent book! It was very informative and really helped me "connect the dots." I found myself say "WOW", "whao" and "unbelievable" through-out the entire book. It's an easy read but it will change the way you think about Israel and how you fit into the fulfillment of end time prophecy. Prepared to be blown away!

Daniel was told: "'But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, [even] to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." (Daniel 12:4)

This book clearly reveals the promise given Daniel of increasing the knowledge of Scripture in the time of the end of the exile of God's people.

Be a part of the promise to Daniel and gain clarity and understanding of the integration of the words of the Creator's plan for mankind by reading this incredible book. If you have felt that something is missing, that there has to be more, the lights will go on when you read Redeemed Israel. The words God gave to Jeremiah chapter 27 will become crystal clear:

"Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them."

This is a great book the will open your eyes to truth that has been there all along yet not seen by most.

This is a well-written and engrossing book but unfortunately its house of doctrine is built on sand. Before proceeding to the argument from Scripture, I respectfully refer the reader to the results of the latest genetic studies on the Jewish people that are widely available. One excellent source where these are discussed is the book DNA and Tradition: The Genetic Link to the Ancient Hebrews by Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman.

Now to the application of scripture. Wootten believes that Jacob's promise to Ephraim (Genesis 48:19) involved a loss of identity of the people of the northern Kingdom of Israel so that they became gentiles. She claims that the ten tribes taken into exile by the Assyrians in 722 BC were never called Jews and that they are now scattered among the nations (she implies the West), awaiting the discovery of their true identity.

This belief is based upon the Prophet Jeremiah's use of the expression "The house of Israel and the house of Judah." But anyone who knows anything about Biblical Hebrew would be familiar with parallelism - a poetic way of referring to the same concept twice. Also contrary to this theory is the fact that in the Bible the word "goyim" (people) is often applied to the Jewish people too, not only to gentiles.

Scripture is clear that many of the northern Kingdom's people went over to the southern Kingdom of Judah, both before and after the Assyrian exile. See Jeremiah 30:10, 31:17-20, Ezra 2:70, Zechariah 8:13, 15 & 23. In the book of Esther for example, the word "Jew" includes members of tribes other than Judah (Esth 2:5).

In the New Testament, Luke 2:36 states that Anna belonged to the tribe of Asher whilst Paul (Rav Shaul) refers to himself as a Benjaminite in the books of Romans and Philippians. Peter refers to his Jewish listeners as "all the house of Israel" in the book of Acts (2:36 and many more), as does John (Acts 13:24), and in Acts 26:7 Paul uses the words "the hope of our 12 tribes."

Although the author is clearly philo-Semitic and pro-Israel, this "lost ten tribes" theology resembles the thoroughly refuted theory of British-Israelism that originated in the 1800s. In the 20th century it was used as a central tenet by a terribly harmful cult known as the Worldwide Church of God of Herbert W Armstrong. This race-based fallacy has been embraced by toxic Far Right Antisemitic cults who propagate the racial superiority of Caucasians, claiming that the 10 "lost" tribes have become European nations and certain states founded as British colonies.

Titled: Abraham's Chromosome?, chapter 9 of the aforementioned book by Kleiman discusses the remarkable findings of recent genetic research on Jewish and other peoples. What has been identified as the Abrahamic Genetic Signature which in technical terms is called the Cohen Modal Haplotype of the MED (J) haplogroup, is found in significant percentages among Middle Eastern and Southern Mediterranean populations.

This is to be expected if Abraham was the father of the Arab people through his son Ismail and if Isaac was the father of nations who intermingled with Ismail's descendants and who all speak Arabic today. The occurrence of the Abrahamic Genetic Signature as primary Y-marker amongst Lebanese, Syrians and Druze become obvious. Abraham had sons by a third wife Keturah; this may partly explain its incidence amongst Kurds, Southern and Central Italians, Armenians and Hungarians.

This unusual genetic signature is even found amongst the Lemba of Southern Africa, a tribe that has preserved some ancient Jewish customs and traditions - see the scholarly work The Lemba: A Lost Tribe of Israel in Southern Africa by M Le Roux. It does occur in the Bene Israel tribe of India, but not amongst the Beta Israel (Falashas) of Ethiopia.

The genetic evidence is thus very clear, showing that although the Ashkenazi (European) and the Mediterranean (Sephardim) Jewish communities separated about 1200 years ago, their similar gene pool closely resembles that of other Jewish and Semitic groups in the Middle East. There is no such resemblance with the Non-Jewish peoples of Europe and North America amidst whom they have lived for centuries.

But of even greater concern for true Christians is the implication that salvation occurs through genes. This is contrary to the message of the Gospel which clearly teaches that the Spirit works through the hearts and minds of individuals, and that in a future time people from all nations and languages will worship The Eternal. At this time, while it is dying in Europe, Christianity is flourishing in Africa and the Far East.

For those interested in the relationship between true Christians, the State of Israel and the Jewish people today, I highly recommend Your People Shall Be My People and God's Promise And the Future of Israel: Compelling Questions People Ask About Israel And the Middle East by Don Finto, as well as Why Care about Israel?: How the Jewish Nation Is Key to Unleashing Gods Blessings in the 21st Century by Sandra Teplinsky and Standing With Israel by David Brog, a book that chronicles the Israel-loving tendency in the church from 16th century England up to the present.