The Church of God made a split with Armstrong because of his beliefs about the Trinity, but because a person gets some things wrong does not mean everything they observe is wrong. If so, we could not comment on many things in scripture because there are always false doctrines that twist the main truths. "Tomorrow's World" magazine is no longer with Armstrong's Philidelphia Church of God
What is very interesting is that God told Abraham that his seed would be in number like the "stars in the sky" and "sands of the sea". Well, they sure do not exist on another planet, but are right here on earth, and they display the very atriibutes God said they would have.
The label "British Israelism" gives a bad name to what would be a very good study - to know exactly who is Israel, being able to differentiate between the house of Israel and the house of Judah, to whom the New covenant is given to. (Hebrews 8:8) Jesus even said that He came not but for the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" in Mat. 15:24, and if one goes back and looks closely in the Old and New Testaments, they will see a connection between Ephraim, Joseph's son from Egypt, and the "firstborn" Church of God that we are today (Heb. 12:23) - as Hosea put it being quoted by Paul: a people that were "Loammi" yet coming back as "sons of the living God".
Many if not all of us do not know if we may or may not be related by blood to God's chosen people, the natural branches, by whom the whole world is to be blessed. God said that great numbers of Gentile people would be "chosen" through blood relation to the house of Israel. The prophets spoke of those tribes of lost sheep as going into exile and being sifted by God into the Gentile nations and becoming a mighty nation that would come to the rescue of their brother in the house of Judah, and it has happened in history we see today. As nation of people have possessed the gates of their enemies for years, but Micah speaks of them coming to that great power only to see their tall images knocked down and their cities destroyed for their unfaithfulness to God - calling themselves after His name at the begining, but then denying the very name they once put upon their highest walls and courts. (Micah 5: 7-12).
So, check out other ideas that agree with scripture, but avoid the things that do not line up....
I liked Batya Wooten's book, "Who is Israel, and Why You Need To KNow". She is a Messianic believer, and her and her husbands book opened my eyes to alot of truth in the Old Testament. Now that I know who Israel is, that it is not just a spiritual thing, but also physical, many of the scriptures I did not fully understand before have been clarified completely.
The big thing to look out for is those who make salvation exclusive to any one group of people or who prohibit others from joining that would submit themselves to God's propitiation for sin. I think that some British Israelite groups try to do this. I know that Tomorrow's World's booklet about it is fairly good, IMO, but many disagree with it mainly because it does not hold to the pre- tribulation rapture of the Church. It holds that one house does not abandon the other, but that they reunite under one king along with all their companions or grafted in one. This is spelled out by Paul for us in Romans 8 through 11, concluding that ALL Israel will be saved in 11:25,26 after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. This also in Ezekiel 37:16-23, where the house of Israel is shown by Joseph and Ephraim with their companions and the house of Judah with all their companions grafted in. Revived to the land between the Nile and Euphrates river - the promised but never completely taken land (Ge 15:18).
Amos 9:9 "For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground.
Matthew 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel
Romans 9:25 ¶ As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved." 26 "And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ There they shall be called sons of the living God."
Hosea 1:9 Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.
10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.
11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
1 ¶ Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
This prophecy given Hosea is mainly to the house of Israel that became "loammi" by forgetting even their heritage as God's chosen when sifted into the world and not returning to their land like the exiles of the house of Judah did; yet they are promised by God to come back as "Sons of the Living God" at some time and reunite with Judah under the one King we all know to be Jesus (see verse 11 of Hosea 1).....
Ephraim, the head of the house of Israel and one to receive the covenant of Abraham as "firstborn" (Jer.31:9), receiving the double portion, has a name that means to flourish in captivity. We will return to the land someday, for the last day which is 1000 years of peace under the physical kingdom of God. Yes, the spiritual kingdom already exists unseen, as we are hid inside Jesus at the right hand of the Father until His return (Col.3:3,4), but the physical and spiritual kingdoms have a fulfillment - coming together in the land. (Ezekiel 37:12-14)
(NLT) 9 And the LORD said, "Name him Lo-ammiâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬ËœNot my people’â€â€for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.
10 Yet the time will come when Israel will prosper and become a great nation. In that day its people will be like the sands of the seashoreâ€â€too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’
11 Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite under one leader, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will beâ€â€the day of Jezreelâ€â€when God will again plant his people in his land.
1 ¶ In that day you will call your brothers Ammiâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬ËœMy people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamahâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬ËœThe ones I love.’
Eze 37:12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
I thought this verse described very well what happened 9/11 to our country that is now turning its back on God and seeing things fall apart. I take no joy in seeing destruction of our country but we are told to rejoice, knowing that His return may be soon.
Micah 5:7 ¶ And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.
9 Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots:
11 And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strong holds:
12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers:
13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands.
