The Faithful Witnesses

Throughout the history of the Houses of Israel and Judah there were faithful witnesses to God’s promises. In the House of Israel there were prophets such as Elijah and Elisha, and in the House of Judah, prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. The prophet Elijah despaired that he was the only faithful witness left, but God told him there were 7000 people who had not bowed the knee to Baal. I believe there were faithful witnesses in every generation of Israelites down to the present time.

The faithful witnesses began when the nation of Israel was in its birth in the wilderness. God had promised the Israelites the land of Canaan. “Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.” Numbers 13:2. When the twelve men went to search out the land, only two men were faithful witnesses to God’s promises. Joshua, of the tribe of Ephraim, was symbolic of the faithful witnesses in the House of Israel, and Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, was symbolic of the faithful witnesses in the House of Judah. It was the faithful witnesses that led the people into the Promised Land.

The law says, “ One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.” Deuteronomy 19:15. God had to separate the House of Israel from the House of Judah so that He would have two sets of witnesses to his promises. There were faithful witnesses in each house, and each set preached the same message of repentance, thus establishing the law. God always speaks twice.

[inset side=”left” title=””]If you are an Israelite, and have God’s Spirit in you, then you are one of the faithful witnesses, and like Joshua and Caleb, will lead your people into the Kingdom Age at the return of Jesus Christ.[/inset]Most of the House of Judah was absorbed into the House of Israel when the Assyrians took away all of the House of Israel and most of the House of Judah. “And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.” II Kings 18:11. Eight years later another invasion occurred. “Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.” II Kings 18:13. All that was left of the House of Judah was a tiny nation which came to be known as the Jews. The rest of the Israelites became lost to the world, but God still had his hand upon them. They eventually migrated out of the Middle East, finding their way to Western Europe and Britain, and beyond to the wilderness areas of the world, mostly North America.

The faithful witnesses continue to this day. Descendants of both houses are in the Anglo-Saxon and kindred people. These witnesses are the people who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, and live in the midst of a sinful people. Like Joshua and Caleb, they will lead their people one day into a new inheritance. These people are the called out ones, being born of God’s Spirit, and represented in the book of Zechariah as the seven candles. “And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof.” Zechariah 4:1,2. Over eight hundred years later, the Lord, speaking to the apostle John, said, “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20.

Throughout the history of Israel, there have been the faithful witnesses who believed God’s promises. If you are an Israelite, and have God’s Spirit in you, then you are one of the faithful witnesses, and like Joshua and Caleb, will lead your people into the Kingdom Age at the return of Jesus Christ.