Question: In A Cup of Trembling you mention “Jew” as if Jews were “all of Israel.” But the ...

Question: In A Cup of Trembling you mention “Jew” as if Jews were “all of Israel.” But the word “Jew” only describes Judeans. When the Bible means all 12 tribes it calls them “Israel.” You also stated that Jesus was a Jew;...but the Bible doesn’t specifically say he was. You assert that the biblical land of Palestine was promised to the “Jewish people.” You are mistaken, it was promised to all 12 tribes. The Jews of Jesus’ day were not all Israelites, but Edomites, Hittites, Hivites, Canaanites, etc. None of the 10 tribes returned from the Assyrian captivity. You will have to show yourself a Berean. Enclosed is a concise list [of reference books] to get you started.

Response: Thank you for your letter. It is not necessary to consult the many sources you listed. The Bible is sufficient. If those recognized as Jews around the world do not represent the 12 tribes of Israel, then God is a liar. He promised that Israel would “not cease from being a nation for ever” (Jer:31:35-36 [35] Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: [36] If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
See All...); that He would “bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel (Ez 39:25); and that one day the Messiah would reign over the “house of Jacob [Israel]” (Isa:2:1The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
See All...- 5; Lk 1:33, etc.). Christ himself promised that His disciples would reign “on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Mt 19:28; Lk 22:30, etc.). If those called Jews do not include all 12 tribes today, then these promises cannot be fulfilled, for there is no other people who have been preserved as a single ethnic group who could possibly be the “real Jews” or even the 10 allegedly lost tribes.

In 1 Chronicles 34 and 35 we have the revival under Josiah 100 years after the 10 tribes were carried into Assyria; and we find these same 10 tribes of Israel dwelling in their cities and worshiping the Lord. Jeremiah:2:4Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
See All..., Micah:3:1And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
See All..., etc. give the word of the Lord to the “house of Israel.” Indeed, James writes his epistle “to the twelve tribes scattered abroad” (1:1); and Paul declares that in his day “our twelve tribes [were] serving God” (Acts:26:7Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
See All...). I’ll accept what the Bible says above the historians, liberal or otherwise.

The usage of the word “Jew” in the Bible proves that after the return from Babylon all Israelites were called Jews. Over and over we have the statement that all men are either Jews or Gentiles (Rom:2:9Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
See All...; 1 Cor:10:32Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
See All...; Gal:3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
See All...; Eph:2:11-18 [11] Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; [12] That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: [13] But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. [14] For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; [15] Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; [16] And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: [17] And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. [18] For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
See All..., etc.). There is no third category for the 10 “lost tribes” or for any other descendants of Israel. The Jews must be it! Jesus was called “king of the Jews” and didn’t deny it. And He was of the tribe of Judah, so of course, as the Messiah, He was a Jew even in the narrowest sense, and had to be.