Who Are the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel?

Matthew 10:6, Lost sheep of the house of Israel. The phrase the house of Israel has several different possible meanings depending on the context of the surrounding verses in which it is found. The phrase the house of Israel is used 146 times in the Scriptures. Prior to the division of the united kingdom after the death of Solomon, this phrase referred to all twelve tribes of Israel. Afterwards (during the time of the prophets), it was used in contradistinction to the phrase “house of Judah” in reference to the Northern Kingdom.

herd of white sheep

In the Testimony of Yeshua, Yeshua makes reference to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 10:6; 15:54). Elsewhere in the Testimony of Yeshua this term refers to all twelve tribes of Israel (Acts 2:36; 7:42; Heb 8:10), and in some references it refers to just the Northern Kingdom (Heb 8:8). The context of the passage of scripture surrounding this phrase determines its meaning.

Although this phrase can include all the tribes of Israel and not just the Jews who were largely from the tribe of Judah, in Matthew 10:6, Yeshua seems to equate the lost sheep of the house of Israel with the Jews who were living in the land of Israel in his day, and not to the rest of the Israelite tribes who were at that time scattered among the Gentile nations. It was Yeshua’s priority to take the gospel message first to the Jews in Jerusalem and Judea, and then to the rest of the world, and he expected his disciples to follow this same pattern (Acts 1:8).

In the larger sense, the Scriptures reveal that all of YHVH’s people have been like sheep that have gone astray spiritually, every man to his own way, because of sin (Isa 53:6). So in the broadest sense, this phrase refers to all the tribes of Israel including Gentiles with which they have mixed themselves through intermarriage.

Eventually, the gospel message is for everyone universally. Yeshua demonstrated this when, on several occasions, he ministered to non-Jewish Gentiles including preaching the gospel message to the Samaritan woman in John chapter four. 

 

4 thoughts on “Who Are the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel?

  1. Gen.48:17 Where Israel was blessing Joseph’s sons and he laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head. And then Jer.31:9 at the end of that verse “For I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.” Father had made provision for the Gentiles from the very beginning or is my eyes crossed.

  2. You are correct, this teaching above is coming from an ‘unlearned” or propaganda. Because if we continue to believe that Jews are not just Judah, then anyone can claim to be Jew and elevate themselves above the rest of the tribes but Elohim said the first shall be last and the last shall be first and just as the Assyrian’s filled Israel with pagans and then brought the priests to teach the babylonians and the assyrian’s how to worship Elohim, today that has happened also. The people who mainly control and worship in Israel today are not Jews but converts and they do not worship Elohim but brought their Talmudic traditions that have all but thrown out the Torah. The Gentiles were the lost tribes and a deep understanding of scripture is required to understand this, however, when Elohim awakens Ephraim, the lost tribes, they once again will bring a mixed multitude with them as the did coming out of Egypt and ALL were Israel. Today those who claim to be chosen are not but have stolen the identity of the true people of Elohim. Ephraim is waking up, I should know I am of them. He has “whistled” and we are coming home….

    • Normally I would not approve any comment where the author says the Jews in the land of Israel are not real Jews, since many who make such statements are promoting antisemitic racist ideas, and such is not tolerated on this blog. I don’t know if that’s your intent or not. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that it’s not; however, I’m greatly troubled when anyone makes such broad brush and categorical statements as you have about any race of people —— especially the Jewish people. All this is to say that I have approved your comment simply for a pretext to correct some common racist ideas that are out there in the Hebrew Roots Movement regarding the Jewish people.

      First off, no one can with any certainty state that those who claim to be Jewish aren’t Jews. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. No one knows for certain including them. The same could be said for just about any race of people. No one knows for certain who one’s ancestors are going back for 2000 years. So why go there?

      Second, just because many Jews follow traditions of men like the Talmud doesn’t make them non-Jewish. Frankly, what a person believes or practices in their life doesn’t change their genetic lineage. We all know examples of good people who come from bad families and vice versa. So why go there?

      Third, the Jewish people of today are comprised of both converts to Judaism and biological descendants of Judah. Once one is adopted into a family, the Bible now considers them part of that family. Period! This was the case with Caleb the Edomite, Rahab the Canaanite, Ruth the Moabite, the stranger who sojourned with Israel and became part of that nation, and Gentiles who are grafted into Israel under the New Covenant. If YHVH allows outsiders to come into Israel and be grafted in, who are we to question that? So why would anyone make the statement that the modern Jews are Jewish because they’re converts to Judaism? It certainly doesn’t pass muster biblically and often has a racist basis.

      Finally, to say that the modern Jews aren’t real Jews, but to assert that the Gentiles are the lost ten tribes and are true Israelites doesn’t fly logically. Not only is this the false doctrine of replacement theology, but how can we state with certainty that the Jews aren’t Jewish on the one and, yet the Gentiles are the lost sheep of the house of Israel on the other hand? You can’t. So why go there?

      To my dear readers, please be careful what you post on this blog. If it’s not factually correct, illogical or racist, be assured, I WILL CHALLENGE IT, assuming I even post the comment in the first place.

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