Where Did the TWELVE APOSTLES Go?
When Paul preached the gospel at
by Herman L. Hoeh
May, 1964
WHY HAS the
truth about the journeys of the twelve apostles been kept from public knowledge?
You read plainly
of Paul’s travels through
Why?
Now It Can Be Told!
Did it ever seem
strange to you that most of the New Testament, following the book of Acts, was
written by Paul, and not by Peter?
Did you ever
wonder why, after Peter initiated the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles
at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10 and 11), he and others of the twelve
apostles suddenly vanish from view? And why only Peter and John reappear, for a
fleeting moment, in
You read, after Acts
15, only of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles.
Why? What
happened to the twelve apostles?
Let’s
understand!
There is a
reason why the journeys of the twelve apostles have been cloaked in mystery —
until now!
You probably
have been told that Jesus chose the twelve disciples, ordained them apostles,
sent them, first, to preach to the Jews. When the Jews, as a nation, rejected
that message, you probably have supposed that they turned to the Gentiles.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
It was the
apostle Paul, called years later as a special apostle, who was commissioned to
bear the gospel to the Gentiles.
To Ananias, who
was sent to baptize Paul, Christ gave this assurance:
“Go thy way: for he” — Saul, later
named Paul — “he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of
It was Paul, not
any of the twelve, who said: “From henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles” (Acts
18:6).
Jesus would not
have called Paul as a special apostle to carry the gospel to the Gentiles, if
the original twelve had been commissioned to preach to the Gentiles.
Then to whom —
and where — were the twelve apostles sent?
Jesus’ Commission Tells
Notice the
surprising answer — in Matthew 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
Read it, from
your Bible, with your own eyes: “Go NOT into the way of the Gentiles
. . . but go rather to the lost sheep of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL”!
Jesus meant what
He said! He “commanded them.” The twelve were forbidden to spread the
gospel among the Gentiles. It was Paul who was commissioned to that work. The
twelve were to go, instead, to the “lost sheep of the house of
Granted, Christ
did send Peter to the home of Cornelius (Acts 10 and 11) to open the
gospel to the Gentiles, but Peter’s life mission was to carry the gospel to
“the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” Peter merely opened the door, as the
chief apostle, for the Gentiles. It was Paul who went through the door and
brought the gospel to the nations.
Granted, Peter,
in his capacity of chief apostle, made one trip to the gentile Samaritans. But
that was not to bring the gospel to them. Philip had done that! Peter
and John merely prayed for the Samaritans that they would receive the Holy
Spirit. (See Acts 8, verses 5, and 14 through 17.)
Now we know to
whom the twelve apostles were sent. They were not sent to the Gentiles, but
to “the lost sheep of the House if
Now to discover where
Peter and others of the twelve went after they left
That has been
one of the best-kept secrets of history! If the world had known the lands to
which the twelve apostles journeyed, the House of Israel would never have been lost
from view! But God intended, for a special purpose, which few understand,
that the identity of the lost House of Israel should not be revealed until this
pulsating twentieth century!
“House of
From the sons of
Jacob — surnamed
The northern ten
tribes, who rejected Solomon’s son, became known as the “House of Israel.” Its
capital, later, was
The northern ten
tribes, the House of Israel, were overthrown in a three-year siege (721-718) by
the mighty Assyrian Empire. Its people were led into captivity beyond the
The House of
Israel never returned to
The House of
Judah — the Jews — remained in
Jesus “came unto
His own” — the House of Judah, the Jews — “and His own received him not” (John
1:11). Jesus was of the lineage of David, of the House of Judah. When His
own people — the Jews — rejected Him, He did not turn to the Gentiles. It was
Paul who did.
Instead, Jesus
said to the Gentile woman: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House
of Israel” (Mat. 15:24).
To fulfill,
later, that divine mission — for Jesus was soon slain on
They did go, but
history has lost sight of where they went! Their journeys have been shrouded in
mystery — until now!
What New Testament Reveals
The history of the
early New Testament Church is preserved in the book of Acts. But have you ever
noticed that Acts ends in the middle of the story? Luke doesn’t even finish the
life of Paul after his two-years’ imprisonment ended!
Why?
You will find
the answer in Christ’s commission to Paul. Even before Paul was baptized,
Christ had planned the future work he was to accomplish. First, Paul was to
teach the Gentiles — which he did in
But Paul’s third
mission was not yet accomplished! Christ had chosen Paul for a threefold
purpose — “to bear [His] name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the
children of
Luke was not
permitted by Christ to include in Acts the final journeys of Paul’s life. It
would have revealed the whereabouts of the children of
It was not then
God’s time to make that known. But the moment has now come, in this climactic
“time of the end,” to pull back the shroud of history and reveal where the
twelve apostles went.
Three MISSING Words
Now turn to the
book of James. To whom is it addressed? Read it: “James, a servant of God and
of the Lord Jesus Christ, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES WHICH ARE SCATTERED ABROAD,
greeting” (first verse).
You probably
never noticed that before. This book is not addressed to the Gentiles. It is
not addressed exclusively to
Have you ever
noticed that the letter of James, like the book of Acts, ends abruptly, without
the normal salutations? Read it — James 5:20.
Compare it with
Paul’s epistles. In the original inspired Greek New Testament everyone of
Paul’s letters ends with an “Amen.” Everyone of the
four gospels ends with an “Amen.” The book of Revelation ends with an “Amen.”
This little word
“Amen,” of Hebrew derivation, signifies completion. In the Authorized Version
(most modern versions are incorrect, and in several instances carelessly
leave off the proper ending found in the Greek) every one of the New Testament
books ends with an “Amen” except three — Acts, James and III John. In these
three, and these three only, the word “Amen” is not in the inspired original
Greek. It is purposely missing. Why?
Each missing
“Amen” is a special sign. It indicates God wants us to understand that certain
knowledge was not to be made known to the world — until now, when the gospel is
being sent around the world as a final witness before the end of this age.
God purposely
excluded from the book of Acts the final chapters in the history of the early
true Church. If they had been included, the identity and whereabouts of
If the book of
James had ended with the ordinary salutation, the nations of
And why was the
short letter of III John missing an “Amen”? Let John himself tell us, “I had
many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee” (verse
13). John reveals, in the letter, a pagan conspiracy. It was a diabolical
attempt by Simon Magus and his false apostles to seize the name of Christ, gain
control of the true Church, and masquerade as “Christianity.” God did not
permit John to make known, in plain language, the names of the leaders of that
conspiracy, and the city of their operation. That is why John cut his letter
short. The missing “Amen” is to tell us to look elsewhere in the Bible for the
answer. It is described, if you have eyes to see, in Revelation 17, Acts 8,
and many other chapters of the Bible. The time to unmask that conspiracy is
now (II Thessalonians 2), just before the return of Christ.
But to return,
for a moment, to the letter of James.
Wars Reveal Where
From James
4:1 we learn that wars were being waged among the lost tribes of
What wars were
these? No wars existed among the Jews until the outbreak, several years later,
of the revolt against the Romans.
These wars
absolutely identify the lost House of Israel — the lands to which the twelve apostles
journeyed. James wrote his book about A.D. 60 (he was martyred about two years
later, according to Josephus). The world was temporarily at peace — cowed by
the fear of Roman military might. Just prior to A.D. 60 only two areas of
the world were torn by wars and civil fightings. When
you discover which areas these were, you will have located where the Lost Ten
Tribes, addressed by James, were then living! All one need do is search the
records of military history for the period immediately before and up to the
year A.D. 60! The results will shock you! Those two lands were the
But these were
not the only lands to which the exiled House of Israel journeyed. Turn, in
your Bible, to I Peter.
To Whom Did Peter Write?
To whom did
Peter address his letters?
Here it is.
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered
throughout
These were not
Gentiles. Peter was not the apostle to the Gentiles (Galatians 2:8).
Paul was. Peter was chief apostle to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.
Notice the word
“strangers.” It does not mean Gentiles. The original Greek is parepidemos. It means “a resident foreigner,”
literally, “an alien alongside.” It refers not to Gentiles, but to non-Gentiles
who dwelt among Gentiles, as foreigners and aliens. Abraham, for example, was
a stranger, an alien, when he lived among the Canaanite Gentiles in
Peter was
addressing part of the lost ten tribes who dwelt among the Gentiles as aliens
or strangers. He was not writing primarily to Jews. He would not have addressed
them as “strangers,” for he was himself a Jew.
Now notice the
regions to which Peter addressed his letter. You may have to look at a Bible
map to locate them. They are all located in the northern half of Asia
Minor, modern
Paul did not
preach in these districts. Paul spent his years in
Nowhere in your
New Testament can you find Paul preaching in
Cappadocia, or
Bithynia. These regions were under the jurisdiction of Peter and certain of
the twelve.
Paul did spread
the gospel in the province of Asia — but only in the southern half, in the
districts around
Paul did preach,
on his first journey, in southern
Remnant of Ten Tribes on Shores of
Notice the
historic proof — confirming Peter’s letters — that a remnant of the House of
Israel was settled on the shores of the Black Sea in northern
Greek writers,
in the time of Christ, recognized that the regions of northern
Notice the areas
from which these colonies came —
The House of
Israel dwelt in captivity as aliens or strangers among the Assyrians. When the
Assyrians were later removed from their homeland to northern
Here’s the proof
from Strabo, the geographer. Strabo named the colonists in northern
“
When the
Assyrians were compelled to migrate to
We shall see
later when and where these “lost sheep migrated from Asia Minor
to
Now to draw back
the curtain of history. See where each of the twelve apostles preached. You’ll
be amazed at the revelation.
What Greek Historians Report
Why is it that almost
no one has thought of it before? If multitudes of Greeks in Southern Asia Minor
were being converted to Christ by the ministry of Paul, and at the same time
multitudes among the lost ten tribes of the House of Israel were being converted
in northern
Consider this
also. The Greeks have not lost the Greek New Testament. They have handed it
down from generation to generation. Is it not just as likely that Greek
scholars should have preserved the true account of the ministry of the twelve
apostles?
They have done
just that!
Yet almost no
one has believed them!
What the Greeks
report is not what most people expect to find! Some, who do not understand the
difference between the House of Israel and the Jews, imagine the apostles went
exclusively to Jews. Even some of those who know where the House of Israel is
today, often cannot believe that several of the tribes of
Scholars have
long puzzled over the remarkable information which the Greeks have handed down.
These historical reports of the apostles are altogether different from the
spurious apocryphal literature of the early Roman Catholic Church. Greek
historians, in the early Middle Ages, have left us information from original
documents that apparently are no longer extant. They had firsthand sources of
information not now available, to the scholarly world. What do those Greek historians
report?
One valuable
source of information is the Greek and Latin Ecclesiasticae
Historiae of Nicephorus Callistus. Another, in
English, is Antiquitates Apostolicae by William Cave.
Universal Greek
tradition declares that the apostles did not leave the SyroPalestinian
region until the end of twelve years’ ministry. The number 12 symbolizes a new
organized beginning. Before those twelve years were up, one of the apostles was
already dead — James, the brother of John. He had been beheaded by Herod (Acts
12). But where did the remaining apostles go?
Simon Peter in Britain!
Begin with Simon
Peter. Peter was made by Christ the chief among the twelve apostles to
coordinate their work. Of necessity Peter would be found traveling to many more
regions than he would personally be ministering to. The question is where did
he spend most of his time?
We know Peter
was for a limited time at Babylon in Mesopotamia, from which he wrote the
letters to the churches in Asia Minor (I Peter 5:13).
Babylon was the
major city from which the apostles in the east worked. Similarly Paul and the
evangelists under him used Antioch in Syria as their chief city (Acts 14:26).
The order in which Peter, in verse one of his first epistle, named the
provinces of Asia Minor — from east to west and back — clearly proves that the
letter was sent from Babylon in the east, not Rome in the west. Rome did not
become designated as “Modern Babylon” until Christ revealed it, much
later, after Peter’s death, in the book of Revelation, chapter 17.
Where did Peter
spend most of his time after those first twelve years in Palestine?
Metaphrastes, the
Greek historian, reports “that Peter was not only in these Western parts” — the
Western Mediterranean — “but particularly that he was a long time” — here we
have Peter’s main life work to the Lost Ten Tribes — a long time in Britain,
where he converted many nations to the faith.” (See marginal note, p. 45, in
Cave’s Antiquitates Apostolicae.)
Peter preached
the gospel in Great Britain, not in Rome, the capital of the Gentile world.
Paul, not Peter, preached in Rome. The true gospel had not been publicly preached
in Rome before Paul arrived in A.D. 59. Paul never once mentions Peter in
his epistle to the brethren in Rome, most of whom had been converted on
Pentecost in 31 A.D.
Not even the
Jews at Rome had heard the gospel preached before Paul arrived!
Here is Luke’s
inspired account of Paul’s arrival in Rome: “And it came to pass, that after
three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together.” Continuing, Acts
28:21, “And they” — the Jews at Rome — “said unto him, We neither received
letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came
shewed or spake any harm of thee. But we
desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as
concerning this sect, we know that every where it
is spoken against. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to
him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God,
persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the
prophets, from morning till evening” (verses 21-23).
Here is absolute
proof the Jews at Rome had never heard the apostle Peter preach.
Oh yes, there
had been a “Peter” in Rome — ever since the days of Claudius Caesar. That Peter
was in a high office. He was chief of the Babylonian Mysteries. His office was
that of a “Peter” — meaning an Interpreter or Opener of Secrets. The word
peter, in Babylonian and Hebrew, means “opener” — hence it is used in the
original Hebrew of the Old Testament for “firstling” — one that first opens
the womb.
That Peter
of Rome was named Simon, too. Simon Magus (Acts 8). He was the leading
conspirator in the plot hatched by the priests of the pagan
Babylonian-Samaritan Mysteries.
These plotters
sought to seize upon the name of Christ as a cloak for their diabolical
religion. These conspirators became the founders of what today masquerades in
the world as the “Christian Religion.” (See III John.)
But Simon Peter,
Christ’s apostle, was in Britain, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God.
The very fact that Peter preached in Britain is proof in itself that part of the
Lost House of Israel was already there! Peter was commissioned to go to the
lost tribes.
And
significantly, about A.D. 60, great wars overtook Britain — just as James
warned (in the fourth chapter, verse 1) the twelve tribes of
Israel! Could history be any clearer? For the full proof of the identity of
Great Britain as chief tribe in Israel, write for the booklet United States and
British Commonwealth in Prophecy. It makes history and the Bible plain.
Where Are Peter and Paul Buried?
For centuries
the Christian world has taken for granted that Peter and Paul are buried in
Rome. No one, it seems, has thought to question the tradition.
Granted, Paul
was brought to Rome about A.D. 67. He was beheaded, then buried on the Ostian Way. But are his remains still there?
Granted, too,
that universal tradition declared the apostle Peter was also brought to Rome in
Nero’s reign and martyred about the same time.
Many pieces of
ancient literature — some spurious, some factual — confirm that both Simon
Magus, the false apostle, who masqueraded as Peter, and Simon Peter himself
died at Rome. The question is — which Simon is buried today under the Vatican?
Is there proof that the bones of the apostles Peter and Paul were moved from
Rome, and are not there now?
YES!
There is a
reason the Vatican has been hesitant to claim the apostle Peter’s tomb has been
found! They know that it is Simon Magus, the false Peter, who is buried there,
not Simon Peter the apostle. Here is what happened. In the year 656 Pope
Vitalian decided the Catholic Church was not
interested in the remains of the apostles Peter and Paul. The Pope therefore
ordered them sent to Oswy, King of Britain! Here
is part of his letter to the British king:
“HOWEVER, WE
HAVE ORDERED THE BLESSED GIFTS OF THE HOLY MARTYRS, THAT IS, THE RELICS OF THE
BLESSED APOSTLES, PETER AND PAUL, AND OF THE HOLY MARTYRS LAURENTIUS, JOHN, AND
PAUL, AND GREGORY, AND PANCRATIUS, TO BE DELIVERED TO THE BEARERS OF THESE OUR
LETTERS, TO BE BY THEM DELIVERED TO YOU” (Bede’s Ecclesiastical History,
bk. III, ch. 29).
Could anything
be more astounding? The bones of Peter and Paul (termed “relics” in the Pope’s
letter) sent by the Pope from Rome to Britain — to the land of Israel!
About a century
and a half earlier Constantius of Lyons took the
relics of all the apostles and martyrs from Gaul and buried them in a special
tomb at St. Albans in Britain. (Life of St. Germanus.)
Is it significant that the work of God and God’s College in Britain are in St.
Albans? Think that over!
And Andrew His Brother?
Britain, after
A.D. 449, was settled by hundreds of thousands of new people not there
in Peter’s day. History knows them as Angles and Saxons. They came originally
from the shores of the Black Sea — where the House of Israel dwelt! In A.D. 256
they began to migrate from northern Asia Minor along the shores of the Black
Sea to the Cymbric Peninsula (Denmark) opposite
Britain. These were the people to whose ancestors Peter wrote his epistles.
Which one of the
twelve apostles preached to their ancestors — the so-called “White Syrians” –
while they abode by the Bosporus and on the Black Sea? Listen to the answer
from Greek historians:
“In this
division Andrew had Scythia, and the neighboring countries primarily
allotted him for his province. First then he traveled through Cappadocia,
(Upper) Galatia and Bithynia, and instructed them in the faith of Christ,
passing all along the Euxine Sea” — the old name for the Black Sea! — “.
. . and so into the solitude of Scythia.”
One early Greek
author gives these journeys in special detail, just as if Luke had written an
account of the other apostles as he did of Paul. Andrew “went next to Trapezus, a maritime city on the Euxine Sea, whence after
many other places he came to Nice, where he stayed two years, preaching and
working miracles with great success: thence to Nicomedia, and so to Chalcedon;
whence sailing through the Propontis he came by the
Euxine Sea to Heraclea, and from thence to Amastris .
. . . He next came to Sinope, a city situated upon the same sea . . . here he
met with his brother Peter, with whom he stayed a considerable time . . . .
Departing hence, he went again to Amynsus and then.
. . he supposed to return to Jerusalem” — the headquarters Church. “Whence
after some time he betook himself . . . to the country of Abasgi
[a land in the Caucasus]. . . Hence he removed into . . . Asiatic Scythia or
Sarmatia, but finding the inhabitants very barbarous and intractable, he stayed
not long among them, only at Cherson, or Chersonesus, a great and populous city within the Bosporus
[this Bosporus is the modern Crimea], he continued for some time, instructing
them and confirming them in the faith. Hence taking ship, he sailed across the
sea to Sinope, situated in Paphlagonia . . .” (pp. 137-138 of Cave’s Antiquitates Apostolicae).
Here we find
Andrew preaching to the very area in Asia Minor, which Paul bypassed. From this
region, and from Scythia north of the Black Sea, migrated the ancestors of the
Scots and Anglo-Saxons, as we have already seen. They are of the House of
Israel — or else Andrew disobeyed his commission!
And what of the
modern Scottish tradition that Andrew preached to their ancestors? Significant?
Indeed!
And the Other Apostles?
And where did
Simon the Zealot carry the gospel? Here, from the Greek records, is the route
of his journey:
Simon “directed
his journey toward Egypt, then to Cyrene, and Africa . . . and throughout
Mauritania and all Libya, preaching the gospel. . . . Nor could the coldness of
the climate benumb his zeal, or hinder him from whipping himself and the
Christian doctrine over to the Western Islands, yea, even to Britain
itself. Here he preached and wrought many miracles . . . .” Nicephorus
and Dorotheus both wrote “that he went at last into
Britain, and . . . was crucified . . . and buried there” (p. 203 of Cave’s Antiq.
Apost.).
Think
of it. Another of the twelve apostles is found preaching to the Lost Tribes of
Israel in Britain and the West. But what is Simon the Zealot doing in North
Africa? Were remnants of the House of Israel there, too? Had some fled westward
in 721 B.C., at the time of the Assyrian conquest of Palestine?
Here is Geoffrey
of Monmouth’s answer: “The Saxons . . . went unto Gotmund,
King of the Africans, in Ireland, wherein, adventuring thither with a
vast fleet, he had conquered the folk of the country. Thereupon, by the
treachery of the Saxons, he sailed across with a hundred and sixty thousand
Africans into Britain . . . (and) laid waste, as hath been said, well-nigh
the whole island with his countless thousands of Africans” (bk. xi, sect. 8,
10).
These countless
thousands were not Negroes, or Arabs. They were whites —Nordics — who came
from North Africa and Mauritania, where Simon preached. These Nordics, declares
the Universal History (1748-Vol xviii, p.194), “gave out, that their
ancestors were driven out of Asia by a powerful enemy, and pursued into
Greece; from whence they made their escape” to North Africa. “But this . . .
was to be understood only of the white nations inhabiting some parts of
western Barbary and Numidia.”
What white
nation was driven from the western shores of western Asia? The House of Israel!
Their powerful enemy? The Assyrians!
For almost three
centuries after the time of Simon Zelotes they
remained in Mauritania. But they are not in North Africa today. They arrived in
Britain shortly after A.D. 449, at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasion.
In A.D. 598,
when the bishop of Rome sent Augustine to bring Catholicism to England, he found
the inhabitants were already professing Christians! Their ancestors had
already heard the message from one of the twelve apostles!
And Ireland Too!
Another of the
apostles sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel was James, the son of
Alphaeus. Some early writers were confused by the fact that two of the twelve
apostles were named James. James, son of Alphaeus, was the one who left
Palestine after the first twelve years. The deeds of this apostle are sometimes
mistakenly assigned to James, John’s brother. But that James was already
martyred by Herod (Acts 12:2).
Where did James,
son of Alphaeus, preach?
“The Spanish
writers generally contend, after the death of Stephen, he came to these Western
parts, and particularly into Spain (some add Britain and Ireland)
where he planted Christianity” (p. 148 of Cave’s work).
Note it. Yet
another apostle sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel ends in the
British Isles — in Ireland as well as in Britain!
Eusebius, in his
third book of Evangelical Demonstrations, chapter 7, admitted that the
apostles “passed over to those which are called the British Isles.” Again he
wrote: “Some of the Apostles preached the Gospel in the British Isles.” Could
anything be plainer?
Even in Spain
James spent some time. Why Spain? From ancient times Spain was the high road of
migration from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the British Isles. The ancient
royal House of Ireland for a time dwelt in Spain. The prophet Jeremiah passed
through Spain into Ireland with Zedekiah’s daughters (Jeremiah 41:10; 43:6).
Even today a vital part of the Iberian Peninsula — Gibraltar — belongs to the
birthright tribe of Ephraim — the British!
Paul in Britain, Too?
Turn, now, to
added proof of the apostles’ mission to the lost sheep of the House of Israel
in the British Isles. From an old volume, published in 1674, by William Camden,
we read: “The true Christian Religion was planted here most anciently by Joseph
of Arimathea, Simon Zelotes, Aristobulus,
by St. Peter, and St. Paul, as may be proved by Dorotheus,
Theodoretus and Sophronius.
(Remains of Britain, page 5).
Did you catch
that?
Paul is now included!
Had Paul planned to go from Italy into Spain and then Britain? Here is his
answer:
“I will come by
you into Spain” (Rom. 15:28). Clement of Rome, in his letter to the
Corinthians, confirms Paul’s journey to the West. But did that include
Britain?
Listen to the
words of the Greek church historian Theodoret. He
reports: “That St. Paul brought salvation to the isles that lie in the ocean”
(book i, on Psalm cxvi. p. 870). The British Isles!
But was that
merely to preach to the Gentiles? Not at all. Remember that the third
and last part of Paul’s commission, after he revealed Christ to the kings and
rulers at Rome, was to bear the name of Jesus to the “children of Israel” (Acts
9:15) — the Lost Ten Tribes. This is not a prophecy concerning Jews, whom
Paul had previously reached in the Greek world of the eastern Mediterranean.
This is a prophecy of Paul’s mission to the British Isles! Could anything be
more astounding?
On the Shores of the Caspian Sea
James referred
to Israel as scattered abroad. We have found them in Northwest
Europe. And in North Africa, from whence they migrated into Britain in
the fifth century. And in northern Asia Minor, associated with the Assyrians.
In 256 they began to migrate from the regions of the Black Sea to Denmark,
thence into the British Isles in 449.
But remnants of
the Ten Lost Tribes were yet in another vast region beyond the confines of the
Roman Empire. That region was known as the Kingdom of Parthia.
Who the
Parthians were has long remained a mystery. They suddenly appear near the
Caspian Sea around 700 B.C. as slaves of the Assyrians. “According to Diodorus, who probably followed Ctesias,
they passed from the dominion of the Assyrians to that of the Medes, and from
dependence upon the Medes to a similar position under the Persians.” (RawIinson’s Monarchies, Vol. IV, p. 26, quoted from Diod. Sic., ii 2, §3; 34, §1 and §6.)
The Parthians
rose to power around 250 B.C., in the lands along the southern shores of the
Caspian Sea. That was the very land into which Israel was exiled! What
puzzles historians is that the Parthians were neither Persians, nor Medes, nor
Assyrians or any other known people. Even their name breathes mystery — until
you understand the Bible.
The word Parthian
means EXILE! (See Rawlinson’s The Sixth Monarchy, page 19.)
The only exiles in this land were the ten tribes of Israel! The Parthians were
none other than the exiled Lost Ten Tribes who remained in the land of their
captivity until A.D. 226. That’s when the Persians drove them into
Europe.
Now consider
this. James addressed his letter to the twelve tribes of Israel scattered
abroad. He warns the Israelites against the wars being waged among themselves.
When James wrote his letter about A.D. 60, the world was at peace
except for two regions — Britain and Parthia! There is no mistaking this.
Parthia and Britain were Israelite.
Which of the
twelve apostles carried the gospel to the Parthian Israelites?
The Greek
historians reveal that Thomas brought the gospel to “Parthia, after which Sophornius and others inform us, that he preached the
gospel to the Medes, Persians, Carmans, Hyrcani, Bactrians, and the neighbor nations” (Cave’s Antiq.
Apost., p.189).
These
strange-sounding names are the lands we know today as Iran (or Persia) and
Afghanistan. In apostolic days the whole region was subject to the Parthians.
Though many
Israelites had left the region already, multitudes remained behind, spread
over adjoining territory. They lost their identity and became identified with
the names of the districts in which they lived.
Josephus, the
Jewish historian, was familiar with Parthia as a major dwelling place of the
Ten Tribes. He declares: “But then the entire body of the people of Israel [the
Ten Tribes] REMAINED IN THAT COUNTRY [they did not return to Palestine];
wherefore there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans,
while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense
multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers” (Antiq. of the Jews, bk.
xi, ch. V, §2).
There it is! The
very area to which Thomas sojourned was, reports Josephus, filled with
uncounted multitudes of the Ten Tribes! Josephus was, apparently, unaware of
those who had already migrated westward. But he does make it plain that only
the those of Judah ever returned to Palestine. The House of Israel was
“beyond Euphrates till now”!
Parthia was
defeated by Persia in 226 A.D. Expelled from Parthia, the Ten
Tribes and the Medes moved north of the Black Sea, into Scythia. (See R. G.
Latham’s The Native Races of the Russian Empire, page 216.) From
there, around A.D. 256, the Ten Tribes migrated with their brethren from
Asia Minor into Northwest Europe. This migration was occasioned by a concerted
Roman attack in the east. It backfired on the Romans, for hordes of Israelites
and Assyrians suddenly broke through the Roman defenses in the West that same
year!
Thomas also
journeyed into Northwest India, east of Persia, where the “White Indians”
dwelt. These “White Indians” — that is, whites living in India — were also
known as Nephthalite Huns, in later
Greek records. Any connection with the tribe of Naphthali
[or Naphtali, Genesis 35:25]? They were overthrown in the sixth century
and migrated into Scandinavia. The archaeology of Scandinavia confirms this
event.
Bartholomew
shared, with Thomas, the same vast plains, according to Nicephorus.
Bartholomew also spent part of his time in neighboring Armenia and a portion of
Upper Phrygia in Asia Minor. Nicephorus termed the area, in his history, the
“Western and Northern parts of Asia,” by which he meant Upper Asia Minor,
modern Turkey today. This was the same district to which Andrew carried the
gospel, and to which Peter sent two of his letters.
Jude,
also named Libbaeus Thaddaeus, had part in the
ministry in Assyria and Mesopotamia. That is part of Parthia which Josephus
designated as still inhabited by the Ten Tribes. The Parthian kingdom, which
was composed of the Ten Tribes ruling over Gentiles, possessed Assyria and
Mesopotamia during most of the New Testament period. From the famous city
Babylon, in Mesopotamia, Peter directed the work of all the apostles in the
East.
Scythia and
Upper Asia (meaning Asia Minor) were the regions assigned to Philip. (See
Cave’s Antiq. Apost., p. 168.) Scythia was the
name of the vast plain north of the Black and the Caspian Seas. To this region
a great colony of Israelites migrated after the fall of the Persian Empire in
331. From Scythia migrated the Scots. The word Scot is derived from the
word Scyth. It means an inhabitant of Scythia. The Scots
are part of the House of Israel.
Interestingly,
the word Scythia, in Celtic, has the same meaning that Hebrew does in the
Semitic language — a migrant or wanderer!
Where Did
Matthew Go?
Matthew [Levi], Metaphrastes tells us, “went first into Parthia, and having
successfully planted Christianity in those parts, thence traveled to Aethiopia, that is, the Asiatic Aethiopia,
lying near India.”
For some
centuries this region of the Hindu Kush, bordering on Scythia and Parthia, was
known as “White India.”
It lies slightly
east of the area where the Assyrians settled the Israelite captives. A natural
process of growth led the House of Israel to these sparsely populated regions.
From there they migrated to Northwest Europe in the sixth century, long after
the Apostles’ time. Dorotheus declares Matthew was
buried at Hierapolis in Parthia.
The Parthian
kingdom was, in fact, a loose union of those lost tribes of Israel who dwelt in
Central Asia during this period. The Persians finally drove them all out.
Whenever Parthia prospered, other nations prospered. Whenever the Parthians
suffered reverses, other nations suffered. Remember the Scripture: “And I will
bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth
thee” (Genesis 12:3).
Ethiopic and
Greek sources designate Dacia (modern Romania) and Macedonia, north of Greece,
as part of the ministry of Matthias. Dacia was the extreme western part of
Scythia. From Dacia came the Normans who ultimately settled in France and
Britain.
The French
tradition that Mary, the mother of Jesus, journeyed into Gaul (modern France)
lends heavy weight to John’s having been in Gaul in his earlier years. It was
to John that Jesus committed Mary’s care. She would be where he was working.
Paul knew Gaul to be an area settled by the House of Israel. He bypassed Gaul
on his way from Italy to Spain (Romans 15:24, 28). Gaul must have been
reached by one of the twelve.
How plain! How
can any misunderstand! Here is historic proof to confirm, absolutely, the
identity and location of “the House of Israel.” The identity of Israel, from
secular sources, is itself also independent and absolute proof of where the
twelve apostles carried out God’s work.
How marvelous
are the mysteries of God when we understand them!