Introduction: Solving the Mystery of the Ten Lost Tribes
The ultimate promise that God made to Abraham and his descendants was that they would inherit the world and eternal life. This promise was accepted by Abraham in an attitude of complete and total trust that our cynical age finds extremely hard to even begin to understanding, much less emulate it.
Read the introduction: YRYD — Introduction Solving the Mystery of the Lost Ten Tribes
Chapter 1: Beginnings
The story of Israel is the story of a single family that was chosen for divine service by the One who asserts that He created all humanity from one blood (cf. Acts 17:26). The Israelites were a people born by a series of divine miracles, as well as, circumstances common to the human condition. They were a “chosen” people, but in no way could they ever have been considered a “pet” people either in antiquity or now. After all, God is not a respecter of persons.
Read Chapter 1: YRYD Chapter 1 — Beginnings
Chapter 2: No Racism with God
People caught up in racism, miss the main point of God’s covenant. They don’t perceive why the Holy One chose Israel to be His servant and witness. For God’s ultimate purpose was to bring all the families of humanity together into one divine covenantal community.
Read Chapter 2: YRYD Chapter 2 No Racism with God
Chapter 3: A Golden Age Arises & Disintegrates
The story of Israel’s rise to a Golden Age during the United Monarchy and then its disintegration into two hostile, rival kingdoms is one of human weakness, prophesied consequences, and divine intervention. From the Almighty’s perspective, He owns all the earth and he determines, who shall live where, according to His criteria. God had previously explained to Abraham that He was timing the eviction of the Canaanites from the Promised Land according to the level of that society’s degeneracy. It bears repeating that God is not a respecter of persons. He would eventually judge all the tribes of Jacob according to the same high standards and punish them with eviction as well!
Read Chapter 3:YRYD Chapter 3 A Golden Age Arises & Disintegrates
Chapter Four: Pride and Political Intrigue
What a story! Political intrigue, bloody assassinations, sex, social injustice, and mercenary preachers —blockbuster themes found in the latest steamy Hollywood movie? Or maybe a best-selling raunchy paperback by some famous Washington journalists about America’s politicians and social elite? Surprise! These are themes sounded by the biblical prophets who wrote about the northern kingdom of the Ten Tribes of Israel.
Read Chapter 4: YRYD Chapter 4 Pride and Political Intrigue
Chapter 5: Collapse of the Northern Kingdom
Shalmaneser didn’t live to see the capture of Samaria. It was his successor, Sargon II who claimed the victory. At Sargon’s palace, the king boasted of capturing Israel’s capital city, “I besieged and conquered Samaria, led away as booty 27,290 inhabitants of it.”
Is this the end of the story of Israel? Did the Ten Tribes of the northern kingdom become lost, disappearing forever from history? Orthodox history thinks so. But was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob finished with Israel? Is that what his prophets said?
Read Chapter 5: YRYD – YRYD – Chapter 5 Collapse of Northern Kingdom
Chapter 6: Arzareth — A New Identity
Detailed archaeological excavations, preserved literary sources, and chance finds yield important material clues as to the mystery of national origins.
They help to solve the mystery of who, what, when, where and why. Are there enough pieces of the puzzle available to help solve the mystery of what became of the exiled Ten Tribes of Israel? Consider the following clues.
Read Chapter 6:YRYD Chapter 6 Arzareth or Bust – A New Identity
Chapter 7: Scythian Culture:
Scythians were indeed renowned throughout the ancient world for being expert horsemen. But what is surprising was the fact that they “played as active a part in commerce as in war and constituted so important an element in the life of their age that Herodotus …devoted to them an entire book of his great history.” Were the lost ten tribes really lost?
Read Chapter 7: YRYD Chapter 7 Scythian Culture: Agriculture Architecture Armaments & Religion
Chapter 8: The Southern Invasion
About this same time, Herodotus records the beginning of a massive Scythian invasion that would shake the Near East: “A numerous horde of Scyths, under their king Madyes, son of Protothyes, burst into Asia in pursuit of the Cimmerians who they had driven out of Europe, and entered the Median territory… The Scythians, having thus invaded Media, were opposed by the Medes, who gave them battle, but, being defeated, lost their empire. The Scythians became masters of Asia.”
Read Chapter 8: Your Roots Your Destiny 8: The Great Southern Invasion
Chapter 9: Great Migrations — Go West Young Man!
It is hard to imagine the course of history without European migrations to the New World and beyond! Who were those people with the restless feet? Where did the migratory founders of European civilization come from in the first place? And do they have a connection to the lost ten tribes.
YRYD Chapter 9 Go West Young Man
Chapter 10: Ancient Artifacts Common Heritage
It is widely appreciated now that at different stages of their development the same Celtic-Scythic tribes had settlements or homelands in widely separated geographical locations. In their heyday the Scythians had related tribes ranging all over the Eurasian steppes and adjacent areas. What were the connections between them and the lost ten tribes.
Read Chapter 10: YRYD Chapter 10 Ancient Artifacts Common Heritage
Chapter 11: Family Ties Across Time and Space
How amazing that the descendants of eastern Tarim Basin Scythian nomads ended up at the farthest western shores of the Eurasian continent as a governing elite. As history makes plain, many of the Scythians moved west blending with the related culturally akin Celtic tribes.
Read Chapter 11: YRYD Chapter 11 Family Ties Across Time and Space
Chapter 12: Scythian, Parthian, and Gothic Tribes
Parthia, that great empire in the east, was the bane of Rome for centuries. But who were the Parthians and their ruling Arsacid dynasty? And what happened to them after they were banished by the Persians and moved west? The mystery can be solved when you consider all the evidence.
Read the chapter:Your Roots Your Destiny Chapter 12 Scythian Parthian and Gothic Tribes
Chapter 13: Angles Saxons and Goths in the North
Who were these confederations of Anglo-Saxons, Goths, Parthians, Celts, and Scythians? They were people who looked similar, and spoke closely related languages. Often they were nomads — people who kept having to move on to new territory. They were called a hidden people, exiles, and wanders.
Read the Chapter: YRYD Chapter 13 Angles Saxons and Goths in the North
Chapter 14: Blessings and Responsibilities
Is God faithful? Does he keep his promises? The evidence of history viewed from a perspective of faith in the Scriptures shouts a resounding, “Yes!” The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who chose Israel to be his servant has overseen their development from their humble beginnings as the 12 sons of one man to their status today among the chief of the nations.
Read the chapter: YRYD Chapter 14 Firstborn’s blessings and responsibilities
Chapter 15: A Call to Repentance and Renewal
Does God keep His promises to a chosen nation, as well as, to chosen individuals who have been called out to meet Him in the wilderness of this present age? Our destiny depends on the answer to this question!
It is important for every believer to know their spiritual roots in God’s covenant people. For your spiritual roots will determine your destiny, now and for eternity.
Read the chapter: YRYD Chapter 15 A Call to Renewal.