Doubting you may be a Hebrew?

 "A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature."—Sir Fred Hoyle

From:

“THE EDUCATION OF CHRISTIAN YOUTH—

WHERE AND HOW OBTAINED”

“A Bad Tree Cannot Give Good Fruit

   “Both parents and children should ever remember that God is counting on them, and that they themselves can either build or restrict their futures.  This we see most notably in the following:

   “Because the work of Jesus was of tremendous importance and of great consequence, God was exceedingly particular about the parentage of Jesus.  For this reason he chose the lineage of Abraham (a good tree), of Isaac, Jacob, Judas, Jesse, David, and down through the line of lineage to Joseph, who became the husband of Mary.  Even though Joseph was to be but a foster father to Jesus, God was particular in choosing him.

   “And as careful as God was about who the foster father of Jesus should be, He was even more particular in the selection of a mother for Jesus.  Thus God chose the Saviour's mother from the line of Joseph, the son of Jacob.

   “How do I know what was the parental lineage of Jesus?—Well, His foster father's lineage I know from the chronology which Saint Matthew gives.  And His mother's lineage I know from Moses' prophecy of which I shall now read: "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel)." Gen. 49:22-24.

   “Not only was Jesus’ parental lineage carefully selected, but so also has been selected the lineage of every one of God’s men who were entrusted with weighty responsibilities.  Why, I ask you, would such precautions be taken if the parents do not bear the most important part in the life of the children?

   “It must now be remembered, then, that though the child obtains his properly rounded education in three schools—the home, the church school, and the public school, his most important school is the home, for the child is largely what the home makes him.”—2TG 40:37.4-38

From:

“Who Is Israel By the Promise?”

   “In 1 Cor. 10:11, 12, speaking of the experience of the children of Israel, we read: "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.  Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."  If we are the people upon whom the end of the world is about to come, then their ensamples are written for our admonition.  This is the reason why God lead the children of Israel into Egypt and back again.  Think how great the price to work out the picture.  The lessons to be derived from these great examples are far greater than we have ever realized.  Many thousands lost their lives to produce the picture, with the intention that many more thousands would be saved than those who perished.  Let us therefore carefully study into the lessons that were intended for our learning and admonition.”—1SR:66.3

From:

“THE END OF YOUR 

LONG AND TRYING JOURNEY”

“Isa. 51:1, 2—‘Hearken to Me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.  Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.’

   “God advises His people of today to hearken unto Him.  They are those who are endeavoring to obtain righteousness, those who are seeking the Lord, and who are anxious to have a revival and reformation among them.  They are now urged to look to the rock whence they are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence they are digged.

   “We are not to conclude that the Jews are the only descendants of Abraham.  Those who are fortunate enough to have this revelation brought to them, are the people.  There is no other safe conclusion if God causes the prophecies to be written, sealed, and then unsealed at His will and at the time appointed.  The Jews, therefore, are not the only descendants of Abraham.  To find who these seekers of righteousness really are, there are several genealogical facts to consider: (1) Only the citizens of the kingdom of Judah (the two-tribe kingdom, Judah and Benjamin) received the title Jews.  (2) Those of the ten-tribe kingdom (the kingdom of Israel) were scattered among the nations, and there they completely lost their identity.  (3) The Christian church herself is an upshoot of the Jewish church and nation—the Apostles and her followers, up to about 35 A.D. were all Jews.  Then it was that again a multitude of Jews lost their identity by calling themselves ‘Christians.’  Comparatively speaking, only a few Jews, from the Kingdom of Judah, have preserved their national title, Jews.

   “The descendants of the early Christian Jews and the descendants of the ten tribes, down the stream of time must have increased to a great innumerable multitude, for Abraham's seed was to be as the sand of the sea for multitude.  It is, therefore, obvious that the few identified Jews of today are not the only descendants of Abraham’s, but that many of the Gentiles must be of Abraham.  Since this mixed up situation exists, hardly any one can really say for sure that he is not one of Abraham's children.  Perhaps many of the nations whom the world calls Gentiles are the children of Abraham.  We do not know for sure who is who.  God, however, has kept a perfect genealogical record, for He says: ‘I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know Me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.  And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the Highest Himself shall establish her.  The Lord shall count, when He writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.’ Psa. 87:4-6.”—1TG 37:10.4-11.3

From:

THE LAODICEANS PERISH WITHOUT THE 

"MESSAGE TO THE LAODICEANS"

   “When people are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked as are the Laodiceans, and do not know it, then the only title that can be given them is ‘Deceived,’ yet ironically the Laodiceans are the people most fearful of being deceived!”—2TG 20:18.3

From:

THE GIFT OF MIRACLES 

Especially Healing And Speaking In Tongues,—When, How, Who?

   “Who would dare question that in prophecy these are the people and this is the church that completes the work—the only people and the only church that will possess all the gifts of the spirit, from the gift of prophecy to the gift of government and gift of miracles; that these gifts are given them for the achieving of their crowning work of lightening the earth with glory (Rev. 18:1), of ‘preaching this gospel of the kingdom in all the world for a witness unto all nations,’ thereby gathering God's people, the second fruits, tare-free (‘My people’), out of Babylon (Rev. 18:4).  Out of every nation and kindred and tongue and people (whom Babylon rules), they bring "their brethren" into the church purified (Isa. 66:19, 20), the kingdom of God on earth in its infant restoration.”—2TG 46:32.1

From:

BELIEVE AND PROSPER

   “The thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel speaks of sheep and shepherds, and in verse thirty-one the Lord explains that the sheep there spoken of are symbolical of His people, saying: ‘And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.’

   “Therefore, the sheep referred to in this scripture are the people of God, and the pasture is His word upon which they feed.”—5SC 1-5:2.1, 2

Gen 12:3—And I will bless them that bless thee [[ Abram ]], and curse him that curseth thee: and in THEE shall all families of the earth be blessed. 

From:

     Its now being clear as to when the 144,000 emerge, increased interest follows as to who they are. Seeing that they are followers of the Lamb (Christians), also "sons of Jacob," they are therefore 

Israelites Indeed—Not Gentiles. {8Tr:7.3} 

     Whosoever has been converted to Christianity, accepting Christ as his personal Saviour, has had an experience which has completely overthrown and revolutionized his former plans and hopes, his entire way of life.  He has renounced the world and all its "pleasures of sin for a season" (Heb. 11:25), 

8 Tract 7

and has become a new creature in Christ, born again, heir of the kingdom according to the promise!  This is what Jesus meant when He declared to Nicodemus: "Ye must be born again." And Paul, having this experience in mind, says: "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3:29. {8Tr:7.4} 

     Regardless, therefore, whether one be Jew or Gentile, he can have no part in the kingdom of Christ, save through the second birth, by which he becomes one of the seed of Abraham.  This SPIRITUAL [[ not DNA ]] transformation, nevertheless, does not fix anyone's racial identity and tribal lineage.  It can not, in other words, make one Judaite if he is not descended of Judah, or make him Ephraimite, if he is not descended of Ephraim.  Consequently, the 144,000, being of the sons of Jacob, cannot be of the Gentile nations.  They therefore, first of all, are lineal descendants of Jacob, though 

Not Necessarily of the Present Identifiable Jewish Stock {8Tr:8.1} 

     The ten tribes (the kingdom of Israel) were carried away, scattered throughout the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17:6), and so completely submerged in the sea of life of the surrounding nations, and assimilated, that they were utterly lost sight of, racially, to human reckoning. {8Tr:8.2} 

     Similarly, as the two tribes (the kingdom of Judah) were carried away into Babylon, 

8 Tract 8

with only a few returning to Jerusalem after the seventy years of their captivity was accomplished, a multitude also of them lost their identity. {8Tr:8.3} 

     Then, too, the early Christian church was made up of Jews only: the apostles, the 120 in the upper room (Acts 1:15), and the 3,000 who were converted on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41) were all Jews, as were, indeed, virtually all those who "were added daily" for the first three and a half years after the crucifixion (Dan. 9:26, 27; Acts 2:47).  And even after this period was over, and the apostles were commissioned to take the gospel  to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46), many more Jews became Christians, and subsequently, as Christians rather than as Jews, were scattered among the nations. {8Tr:9.1} 

     Clearly, therefore, in each instance most of the sons of Jacob lost their racial distinctiveness.  As the Lord, however, has ever kept the genealogies of all nations, especially of the sons of Jacob, He will, as He has promised, "make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.  And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.  The Lord shall count, when He writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah." Ps. 87:4-6. {8Tr:9.2} 

     Thus just as obvious as strange is the fact that no one today but the recognized Jew 

8 Tract 9

can vouch for his ancestry, with the result that the 144,000 can be gathered from almost every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, and yet be of the sons of Jacob! {8Tr:9.3} 

     "And it shall come to pass in that day," says the Word of prophecy in this connection, "that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.  And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel." Isa. 11:11, 12; 27:12. {8Tr:10.1} 

     Since, therefore, history, logic, and scripture combine their evidences to prove unconditionally that God has preserved the genealogy of the chosen branch of the human race forward from Adam to Noah (Matt. 1:1-17), and backward from Jesus to Adam (Luke 3:23-38), He must, then, for a consistent reason, also have preserved  the identity of the elect today.  And this we see, is precisely what He has done in His designating the lineage of the 144,000, as "of all the tribes of the children of 

8 Tract 10

Israel." Rev. 7:4.  And though we know not what we are, and cannot ever of ourselves tell, the One Who knows all about us, even to the last hair of each head, knows our precise ancestry, although those of us who are to be gathered from the seed of Jacob are, says the prophet, as the sand of the sea," whereas, comparatively speaking, the identifiable Jewish race of today, is but a handful to the nations, and therefore cannot today be the ones to whom apply 

The Terms Israel, Ephraim, Joseph.—8Tr:7.3-10.2

Strive to Be Among the 144,000.—[Revelation 7:9-17 quoted.] Those whom the Lamb shall lead by the fountains of living waters, and from whose eyes He shall wipe away all tears, will be those now receiving the knowledge and understanding revealed in the Bible, the Word of God.…

     We are to copy no human being. There is no human being wise enough to be our criterion. We are to look to the man Christ Jesus, who is complete in the perfection of righteousness and holiness. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the pattern man. His experience is the measure of the experience that we are to gain. His character is our model. Let us, then, take our minds off the perplexities and the difficulties of this life, and fix them on Him, that by beholding we may be changed into His likeness. We may behold Christ to good purpose. We may safely look to Him; for He is all-wise. As we look to Him and think of Him, He will be formed within, the hope of glory.

     Let us strive with all the power that God has given us to be among the hundred and forty-four thousand (RH March 9, 1905).”—7BC:970.8-10

     “The third angel’s message is to lighten the earth with its glory; but only those who have withstood temptation in the strength of the Mighty One will be permitted to act a part in proclaiming it when it shall have swelled into the loud cry.”—Review & Herald, November 19, 1908 par. 9

Creation by design, Redemption by the Creator.

 1 Pet. 2:9—“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”