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O YEHOVAH, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day to
the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and ALL ISRAEL, THOSE NEAR
AND THOSE FAR OFF IN ALL THE COUNTRIES TO WHICH YOU HAVE
DRIVEN THEM, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.

In this verse Daniel was praying for his people Israel, and he knew and understood why
YEHOVAH had driven the northern ten tribes to the "far off" countries. The "near" were the
Israelites at Jerusalem and Judea. The "far off" were the northern ten tribes scattered through all
the countries of the then known world. Notice that Daniel mentioned ALL Israel! The "near" and
the "far off" make up both houses of Israel. Paul quoted these verses in Ephesians right out of the
book of Daniel! Go back to Ephesians 2 and take note of the word "both" in verses 4, 16 and 18. It
means BOTH the houses of Israel!

The enmity mentioned in verse 15 was the hostility that the "near" had toward the "afar
off," because they had the law of ordinances that Yeshua abolished in his flesh at his death. The
"near" did not want to part with these ordinances that Yeshua abolished which separated the two
houses. This is important! The Israelites at Jerusalem (the near) knew full well that YEHOVAH
had divorced and cut off the ten northern tribes (the afar off) from sharing in the promises that were
given through their father Abraham. As a result, they looked upon these rejected "afar off" Israel-
ites as "unclean" -- hence the enmity and hostility.

Other Verses

In Acts 28:20, Paul makes this statement: "For the hope of Israel I'm bound with this chain"
-- what did he mean by this?

Acts 28:20: "For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see [you], and to speak
with [you]: because that FOR THE HOPE OF ISRAEL I AM BOUND WITH THIS
CHAIN" (KJV).

Since Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles WHY didn't he say "for the hope of the GEN-
TILES I am bound with this chain"? Why did Paul, as this verse says, go through all this suffering
and imprisonment for the hope of ISRAEL? Why? BECAUSE PAUL WAS AN APOSTLE TO
THE "DISPERSED" ISRAELITES WHICH WERE CALLED "GENTILES"! He proclaimed and
preached to them that they now also shared in the covenants and the promises of YEHOVAH --
which was the "hope of Israel"!

Going now to the apostle James, we find that he addressed a letter to the twelve tribes
scattered or "dispersed" abroad (James 1:1). James wrote to the twelve tribes of Israel! These
were the Israelites in "dispersion" or scattered abroad throughout the nations: "James a servant of
God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the TWELVE TRIBES which are scattered abroad, greeting"
(KJV).

John 7:35 is an interesting verse -- even though it is not a good translation: "Then said the
Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dis-
persed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?" (KJV). The word "Gentiles" in this verse is

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