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The House of Israel

How Long Have We Been Aware of the country and its people, defined his prayer with the
Our Identity? words: "that we might have continual peace in Israel."

The medals struck to commemorate the defeat of the
One reaction to the discovery that the Celto-Saxon Spanish Armada also revealed that the people were
peoples of the world are the modern continuation of aware of their Israelitish identity. The legend around
ancient Israel, YEHOVAH's servant nation, is curios- one reads: "He blew and they were scattered" -- a ref-
ity. The question is often asked: How long has the truth erence to the gales of unprecedented violence which
been known? scattered and destroyed the Spanish fleet. On the re-
verse of another Armada medal the name God appears
YEHOVAH has revealed through His prophets that Is- in Hebrew characters.
rael, as a nation, or people, would be blind to their
true identity until the final conflict in the latter days of The most striking evidence that the Elizabethans were
the Christian Dispensation (see Isaiah 42 and 43 and aware of their identity is, however, The Book of Com-
Ezekiel 39). But there is some evidence to suggest that mon Prayer, the work of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer
YEHOVAH may have permitted this great truth to be who was martyred in 1556. The order of Matins and
revealed to chosen individuals in each generation. The Evensong, and especially the versicles and responses,
ancient Irish chronicles, for example, bear testimony make it clear that the Elizabethans were undoubtedly
to the fact that many of the early nobility of that coun- aware that they were YEHOVAH's chosen or servant
try were aware of their Israelitish origin. And this ap- people and under His protection.
pears 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 This knowledge was apparently so widespread through-
astronomer -- writing about the origin of the harp in out Southern England as to become known in some
Ireland and referring to the Irish tradition that their professional circles in France. The Petite Parisien has
kings had come into contact with the royal house of revealed that in 1590 Lelayer, a French magistrate,
David. published a large volume entitled The Lost Ten Tribes
Found in which he proved that "lost" Israel was to be

The chieftains of many of the ancient Scottish clans -- found in the peoples of Britain.
whose successors were to append their signatures to
the Scottish Declaration of Independence of 1320 --
were obviously aware of their Israelitish origin. But In 1603 the childless Elizabeth was succeeded by
the first unmistakable written evidence that the ancient James VI of Scotland who became James I of England.
English were also aware of their origin is not found He was in no doubt as to the identity of the peoples he
until the reign of Alfred the Great in the ninth century. had been called to rule. Indeed, he claimed that the
The 33rd Law enacted by that wise monarch laid it Lord had made him king over Israel, and upon the Ja-
upon his subjects: "Vex thou not comers from afar and cobus, the gold coin of his day, he had inscribed in
strangers, for remember, ye were once strangers in Latin, the prophecy recorded in Ezekiel 37:22: "I will
Egypt." make of thee one nation." However, James's awareness
of Britain's identity was to lead him into paths of con-
It would seem that in England an awareness of Britain's tention. He misinterpreted YEHOVAH's blessing upon
identification with ancient Israel has come in phases or the royal house of David (2 Samuel 7:16) as confer-
eras, the first of which reached its peak during the ring a divine right upon all kings, a philosophy which
Elizabethan period. The Queen herself became known brought him into serious conflict with Parliament and
as "The Light of Israel." There can be no doubt that by which sowed the seeds for the English Civil War which
"Israel" the land of England was meant for we find that was to divide the kingdom and lead to the execution in
Sir Francis Drake, when asking John Fox to pray for 1649 of his son and successor, Charles I.

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