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The Lost
Tribes of Israel

Where Are
They?

Richard Reader Harris
1847-1909

Prominent English Barrister
Counselor to Queen
Victoria
Methodist Minister
Founder of the
Pentecostal
League of
Prayer

Richard Reader Harris

Richard Reader Harris, K.C.
(1847-1909) was an eminent British lawyer and a King’s Counselor.
Early in life he was an atheist but accepted Christ as Savior after
realizing the Bible was true as a result of the Anglo-Israel truth.
He gave up his lofty and respected secular career and became a
Methodist minister, highly respected Christian leader and author who
wrote over 34 books. He and his wife, Mary, founded the Pentecostal
League of Prayer in 1891 as "an interdenominational union of
Christian people who, conscious of their own need, would join in
prayer: 1) For the filling of the Holy Spirit for all believers; 2)
For revival in the Churches: 3) For the spread of Scriptural
holiness." They named their League publication, "Tongues of
Fire." He remained a firm believer in the Anglo-Israel message
and in 1908 he wrote a book on the topic, entitled, "The Lost
Tribes of Israel."

Reader Harris and Oswald Chambers were
close mutual friends and were held in very high esteem among their
Christian contemporaries. Oswald Chambers is revered as an
outstanding mainstream evangelist, missionary, Bible teacher and
author. The following is excerpted from the book, Oswald
Chambers: Abandoned to God: The Life Story of the Author of
My Utmost for His Highest.

"When Reader Harris, founder of the
League, first met Chambers, he took a special interest in the keen
young tutor from Dunoon. They talked about Oswald’s gift and
desires, and where God might be leading him. Harris helped raise
Chamber’s vison from Britain to the world. And the more Oswald
learned about this tall man of dignified grace and decisive action,
the more he liked him. Harris was a prominent London barrister and
also a King’s counsel, a lifetime appointment recognizing his skill
and success in the legal profession. His leadership in the League of
Prayer was voluntary and unpaid. From the circles of royalty to the
slums of London, Harris moved freely as a fearless but compassionate
representative of Christ.

"Richard Reader Harris was an unlikely
person to establish a religious organization devoted to scriptural
holiness and spiritual revival. As a teenager, Harris had sought
God, but his conversations with a liberal clergyman left him so
disillusioned that he later became a follower of Charles Bradlaugh,
the well known London atheist. Bradlaugh often lectured on Bible
texts, ridiculing Christians for their weak response to its
teachings while he called people to live moral lives and put into
practice the ideas in the Sermon on the Mount.

"Joining the Puritan Wing of
Bradlaugh’s Ethical Society, Harris pledged not to smoke or drink.
If a man lived more uprightly than most Christians, he thought, why
did he need their God? "For ten years," Harris later said, "I
remained an honest doubter because no one pointed me to Jesus Christ
as the One who saves ‘to the uttermost.’ I had wanted to know God,
but the professing Christians I knew failed to introduce me to Him,
because they did not know Him themselves."

"His conversion to Christ came through
Mary Griffin Bristow, a gifted and cultured young lady whom he
married in 1880. Reader and Mary Harris could easily have remained
well respected, comfortable members of the upper strata of London
society. But Reader could not forget the scathing accusations of
Charles Bradlaugh from years past: "If Jesus had been divine,"
Bradlaugh thundered, "his followers would long ago have claimed the
power He offered them, obeyed His command, and evangelized the
world."

"The Pentecostal League of Prayer
whose magazine was named "Tongues of Fire" was immediately
associated with the emerging "tongues movement." When Harris founded
the League in 1891, the terms pentecostal and tongues of
fire had no connotations beyond the familiar passage in the
second chapter of Acts. Within a few years, however, the growth of
Pentecostalism as a movement in Britain and the attendant emphasis
on speaking in tongues caused confusion about the League’s
orientation."

"Reader Harris distinguished between
the gift of speaking in an unlearned foreign language (Acts 2:6-12)
and the ecstatic utterance or glossolalia mentioned in the letters
of Paul. Harris had no quarrel with either ‘gift’ but strenuously
opposed those who made "tongues" the litmus test of being filled
with the Holy Spirit. In a November 1907 address he said: "There is
nothing wrong with speaking in tongues; it was the privilege of the
early Church, and it may be the privilege of any believer
today."

"Oswald knew Reader and Mary Harris as
few others did, and he considered them "the Lord’s choicest saints."
Some looked at Harris and saw only the prominent barrister. Others
focused solely on his leadership in the League of Prayer. Chambers
saw the man of God whose winsome, yet fearless testimony for Christ
extended from the circles of British aristocracy to the poor in the
slums of Battersea.

"On November 13, 1908, the day of his
engagement and imminent departure for Ireland, Chambers wrote: "What
I owe to the League of Prayer only our heavenly Father knows. How it
exalts me and humbles me when I remember so many hundreds are
praying for me all over the country."

"Perhaps Oswald might have looked
longer at the bearded face of the organization’s founder or gripped
his hand more tightly if he had known it would be the last time he
would see Reader Harris alive.

"Chambers was five days into his
mission at Lowestoft when the shocking news came on March 26 that
Reader Harris had suffered a stroke and lay in a coma at his London
home. Four days later, without regaining consciousness, Harris died
at the age of sixty one.

"On Tuesday afternoon, April 6, two
thousand people overflowed Speke Hall for the funeral. Hundreds of
others stood outside, lining the streets. Chambers gave a brief
tribute at the service. Then, along with hundreds of others, he
boarded a special train carrying the funeral party to Norwood and
interment in the cemetery there high on a hill.

"That evening in Queen’s Hall, Langham
Place, a memorial service paid further honor to Harris. Franklin
Chambers came from Perth to preside at the organ and Oswald joined a
large party on the platform. His remarks revealed not only his
personal relationship to Harris, but his awareness of people’s
questions regarding the future of the League: "He was a King’s
Counsellor to me in the very highest sense," Oswald said, "by one of
those strange turns of God’s providence, Mr. Reader Harris came
across me. How, I do not know; God knows, and he began to counsel
me, and from that moment the counsel and the prayers and the
guidance of Mr. Reader Harris have been to me as those of a
commander. "Others of you may have known of his winsomeness, of his
beauty and humor. I have known of these also, but to me he had a
clarion voice spiritually and he was indeed a man by whom God
witnessed to my own heart with these words the first day he shook
hands with me, "I have chosen him to be a witness, and a leader and
a commander," and God knows he has been that to
thousands.

"There is no second Reader Harris, and
never will be. There never was a second Moses. God does not repeat
His servants."

Compiled by Charles A. Jennings &
Robert A. Balaicius

THE LOST TRIBES OF
ISRAEL

(The following are excerpts from the
book written by Reader Harris)

"The subject of the lost tribes of
Israel is a study of great interest. Two perplexing questions meet
us on the threshold, vis., how is it that so little is known of the
ten tribes of Israel, and why has so little enquiry taken place
concerning them? This may well be because the devil has succeeded in
frustrating any serious research into the matter.

"It is remarkable that until the
middle of the nineteenth century there was little or no serious
enquiry in Protestant countries regarding the fate of the ten
tribes; and noteworthy, also, that from that period was awakened in
some of God’s people a spirit of enquiry as to the fate of the ten
tribes with regard to their destiny.

"The discovery and the acknowledgment
of the lost tribes would revolutionize the whole world, give an
impetus to Scriptural study, and encourage men in a wonderful degree
to believe the promises of God; while on the other hand, if any
nation or aggregate of nations could be proved undoubtedly to
represent in large measure the ten tribes of Israel, it would
inspire them and encourage them to possess their possessions as
nothing else could do.

"From the "holiness" standpoint and
from what I may call that of the "fifth Kingdom" (Daniel 2), the
subject of the history of the lost tribes assumes tremendous
importance, and must be of intense interest to every Bible student.
The faithfulness of God in regard to promise, covenant and prophecy
is herein involved. It is a well known fact that the historian Hume
justified his unbelief by what he declared to be the failure of the
Bible promises to Israel. I believe that if we study this subject
under the light of God’s Spirit, resting in the revelation of God’s
Word, God will give to us, and to others through us, a new interest
and confidence in the Bible, a further impetus to religious
experience and to prophetic study; and perhaps a clearer
apprehension of the political future of the world, and of the signs
which foretell the return of our Lord.

"First and foremost let us understand
that difference between the Jews and the lost tribes of Israel,
between the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. This
distinction between the two nations is never lost sight of in the
Bible, and until it is understood we cannot follow the Scriptural
truth on this subject. The majority of Christian people at the
present day have never seen this distinction. They confuse the Jews
with the Israelites in various ways. Some, in reading of Israel,
apply the passage to the Jews, while others think it refers to the
Church. Some people apply the curses of the Bible to the Jews, and
its promises to the Church. The Bible, however, is perfectly plain.
When it speaks of Israel, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the
ten tribes are meant. There are some few passages where the word
"Israel" undoubtedly refers, as it did originally, to the twelve
tribes of Israel; but generally speaking there is a marked and
definite distinction between Judah and Israel, and unless we realise
that distinction we cannot understand the prophecies concerning this
wonderful people.

"That the missing tribes exist no
serious person can doubt. If, under persecution such as the world
has never before seen, after massacre upon massacre, torture upon
torture, the remnant of part of the tribe of Judah, Levi and
Benjamin, can have multiplied until they reach something like twelve
millions of people, what must be the number of the ten tribes? Then
tribes equally virile; ten tribes of the same stock; ten tribes that
have lived their lives and spread their race without persecution,
massacre and torture! What a multitude must they now have become!
Where are they?

"Let us begin with their earliest
history. God chose Abraham, and made an unconditional covenant with
his lineal seed (Genesis 22:15-18). That covenant was repeated by
God to Jacob when He called him Israel, as you will see in Genesis
35:11:

"GOD SAID UNTO HIM, I AM
GOD ALMIGHTY. BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY. A NATION AND A COMPANY OF
NATIONS SHALL BE OF THEE, AND KINGS SHALL COME OUT OF THY
LOINS."

"Jacob before his death blessed the
sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, giving the birthright to
Ephraim, although Ephraim was not the elder of the two. If you will
look at Genesis 48, you will see that the blessing which ought to
have been Reuben’s was taken from him because of his sin and given
to Ephraim. Judah received the emblem of the Lion, and obtained the
promises of kingship, and that from him should spring the Messiah.
Moses before his death blessed the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and
Manasseh and gave to them the emblem of the Unicorn (Deut. 33:17).
It is remarkable that so far back as the days of Moses the emblems
of the Unicorn pertained to Judah and Ephraim.

"The distinction between the two
nations of Judah and Israel began before their final separation
under Jeroboam, and Rehoboam. You will find in 2 Samuel 2, that
David was anointed king over Judah only, while Ishbosheth, Saul’s
son, was made king over all Israel, this severance continuing for 7
½ years. Israel was then annexed to Judah under King David (2 Samuel
5: 1), but the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel were finally
separated immediately after the death of Solomon, and from that time
to the present Judah and Israel have remained absolutely distinct.
They were carried into captivity separately, at different times and
by different nations, for Israel was taken in captivity by the
Assyrians B.C. 721 (2 Kings 17:6), while Judah was carried into
captivity by the Babylonians B.C. 588 (2 Kings 25:21). A portion of
Judah was permitted to return after seventy years, as had been
predicted (Ezra 2:1), but Israel never returned nor was there any
prediction that they should return til the final glorious
restoration.

"In B.C. 721 the ten tribes of Israel
drop out of sacred history, and there is no further reference made
to them in the historical part of the Bible, but the prophetical
portion supplies the sequel, for in these Scriptural prophecies the
whole future of the people of Israel is chronicled. Apart from the
sacred books we find the last historical record of the ten tribes is
given by the great Jewish historian Josephus, writing form Rome, in
A.D. 70:

"The entire body of
the ten tribes are still beyond the River Euphrates, an immense
multitude not to be estimated by
numbers."

"We see, therefore, that the
kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel, ever since the day of
Solomon, have been absolutely distinct.

"I begin this study of the history of
the so-called lost tribes of Israel with this declaration: –The lost
tribes, the descendants of the kingdom of Israel, are certainly in
existence today. But where? That is the question, and what a
wonderful question it is! The discovery of a continent is a great
discovery, and Columbus will be celebrated throughout all time as
the discoverer of a continent. The discovery of a new star, a new
world, is a great discovery. But I venture to think that the
discovery of the kingdom of Israel, of the descendants of those ten
tribes, would have a greater effect upon the kingdom of God and the
hearts and lives of men than even the discovery of a new continent
or a new world.

"The descendants of the tribes of
Israel certainly exist, the question is, Where? The Jews we know,
but where is Israel? Some people assert that God has cut Israel out
of His divine programme, and in consequence Israel has become
extinct as a nation. In refutation of such a statement let us turn
to Jeremiah 31:35-36:

"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 (which
stilleth) the sea when the waves thereof roar: The Lord of Hosts
is His name: If those ordinances (that is the sun and moon and
stars) depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of
Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for
ever."

"This passage distinctly declares that
while sun and moon and stars exist the nation of Israel will remain
before God.

"Where are the ten
tribes? Where is the nation of Israel? Which nation on earth
today represents them? How can this be discovered? I have learned
that if we really want to know about God’s people, the Bible is the
book in which to look; let us, therefore, go to the Bible for the
history of God’s chosen people Israel. Unless God’s promises have
failed, Israel must be in existence today.

"We shall find that the Bible declares
that Israel exists as a multitudinous nation, bearing certain marks,
inheriting certain blessings, doing certain things for which it was
created, and which it was and is its special mission and destiny to
perform. The ten tribes are in existence somewhere, and the quest is
not so difficult as it at first appears, for although secular
history is apparently dumb concerning these tribes– a remarkable
fact in itself– Bible prophecy is abundant in descriptive allusions
to Israel; and we shall find from the study of Biblical prophecy
where the kingdom of Israel is today.

"It is perfectly clear that Israel,
who had been dispersed for more than 700 years, was much in our
Lord’s mind during His three years’ ministry upon earth, for many
were the references to Israel made by Him. As an example, let us
turn to the commission He gave to the twelve apostles in Matt.
10:5-6:

"These twelve Jesus
sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the
Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go
rather to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel."

"These apostles were not to go to the
Gentiles, nor to the Samaritans– who were the descendants of
usurpers of Israel–"But to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,"
and they obeyed this command as far as was then possible. The only
tribe that they could reach which had any connection with Israel was
Benjamin, and Benjamin as a tribe was won to allegiance to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Benjamin had gone into captivity with Judah, and had
come back with Judah, but in the prophecies of God Benjamin had
always associated with the ten tribes of Israel. It is a remarkable
fact that the majority of our Lord’s disciples at the time of His
earthly ministry were connected with the tribe of Benjamin. It is
also of interest that when Jerusalem was afterwards besieged by the
Romans under Titus, the members of what had become the Christian
tribe of Benjamin escaped.

"Christ Himself declared in Matthew
15:24, this was His own mission..

"He answered and said,
I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel."

"Again our Lord says in Matthew 21:43:

"Therefore say I unto
you (He was speaking to the Jews), the kingdom of God shall be
taken from you and given to a nation (the Jews had long since
ceased to be a nation) bringing forth the fruits
thereof."

"The Jews themselves evidently so understood His
statements, for in John 7:35 we read:

"Then said the Jews
among themselves, Whither will He go, that we shall not find Him?
Will He go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the
Gentiles?

"So the Jews quite understood our Lord
to refer to Israel. Israel was evidently in the minds of the
apostles themselves. On the day of the ascension they asked
Him:

"Lord, wilt thou at
this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?" Acts
1:6

"We may find that the purpose of God
has been fulfilled, and the mantle of Israel has fallen upon the
British or Anglo-Saxon race.

"There are many other remarkable
prophecies about Israel which are fulfilled by the British race, but
there is yet one more remarkable than any I have given you, and
which is also of a specially sacred character.

"The observance of a Sabbath has been
given by God as a sign which shall mark Israel forever.

"The children of
Israel shall keep the Sabbath, and observe the Sabbath, throughout
their generations for a perpetual covenant: It is a sign between
me and the children of Israel for ever." Ex.
31:16-17

"Such then are the
Scriptures that appear to me to furnish strong evidence in favor of
the contention of those who believe that in the Anglo-Saxon race God
possesses today the descendants of the house of Israel. If this be
true, it adds tremendously to our responsibilities, and opens before
us in a way that no human tongue can describe, spiritual
possibilities, temporal possibilities, national possibilities, and
universal possibilities.

"Let none of us,
however, be so taken up with the literal fulfillment of prophecy
that we forget the spiritual interpretation of it. For this reason
it is extremely important that those who study this subject should
be filled with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and should themselves be in the
full experience of spiritual blessing.

"Let us, therefore,
claim God’s Spirit, and as we learn day by day to see more evidences
of the fulfillment of these prophecies, may God possess in us
individually, and in the Pentecostal League collectively, and in the
thousands of others who are in sympathy with us, body of men and
women yielded to Him in heart, and in life, learning His will,
proclaiming His truth, and glorifying His name."

October
2003
Tract #56

[ Statement of Faith and Purpose ]
[ 70 Weeks of Daniel ] [ A Listing of The Names and Titles of THE ALMIGHTY in the Holy Scriptures ]
[ A Lost People and a Vanished Sceptre - by George Owen Barnes ]
[ America's Godly Heritage - Ancient Landmarks ]
[ Controversy in Zion For the Sake of our Pentecostal Brethren ]
[ George R. Hawtin - Pentecostal Pioneer for the Kingdom Message ]
[ In the Cool of the Day and From Israelite to Saxon ]
[ Jewish Hatred Against Jesus Christ ]
[ Joseph Is Yet Alive - Charles O. Benham ]
[ Life & Ministry of John Alexander Dowie ]
[ Lost Israel Found - In Their Own Words ]
[ More Evidence of True Israel - Lost Israel Found by Elieser Bassin ]
[ No King But King Jesus ]
[ Queen Victoria Heir to King David's Royal Throne ]
[ Rev. William H. Poole ] [ Spiritual Revival is a Promised Blessing ]
[ Sure Mercies of David ] [ The Bible Distinction Between "The House of Israel and the House of Judah" ]
[ The Blasphemy Against The Holy Ghost ]
[ The Coming Biblical Reformation in Fulfillment of All Prophetic Expectations ]
[ The Conflict of the Christ ]
[ The Lost Tribes of Israel ]
[ The Need of the Anglo Israel Truth ]
[ Treasures of Joseph ] [ There Was Joy in the Camp ]
[ Three Schools of Thought on the Israel Question ]
[ Tracing the Steps of the Apostle Paul ]
[ Who God's Ancient People Israel Are ]

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