Most Messianics know that if they are a believer, they are part of Israel.
What it seems though is that people don't seem to realize is that by nature of being a believer, you cease being a "Gentile"- and I'll elaborate what that means as the term "Gentile" can mean several things.
Paul writes about being a "Jew" using the utilitarian term and not referring to everyone as being part of Judah when He says in Romans 2:28-29
For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from people, but from God.How do we know that Paul is using the term "Jew" as a common term and not as meaning of the Tribe of Judah? Phil 3: 5
circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;
Though Paul uses the term Jew, he makes the distinction that he's from the tribe of Benjamin, Not Judah. Paul writes in Romans 10
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”There is no distinction between "Jew" or "Greek" but all are one. Do we see this concept elsewhere in Scripture? Yes.
Ephesians 2
for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household
So, Non Jewish "Gentile" believers, once believing, are no longer strangers and foreigners (even though they might be called that) because they'll be taken and thrown in the mix
Look at Caleb, though he was a Kenizzite- A gentile, He's numbered among Judah
Numbers 32 ‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun; for they have followed the Lord fully.’
Numbers 13:6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh
Isaiah 56
Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, The Lord will certainly separate me from His people.” Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” 4 For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold firmly to My covenant,5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be eliminated.
6 “Also the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, To attend to His service and to love the name of the Lord, To be His servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath so as not to profane it, And holds firmly to My covenant;7 Even those I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.” 8 The Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel, declares, “I will yet gather others to them, to those already gathered.”
Isaiah makes it clear that those in the diaspora, foreigners, will be gathered to the commonwealth of Israel Just like the Exodus and the greater exodus. It states that they shouldn't say "God will separate from the people" because they are part of the people. Remember that the greater exodus also consisted of a mixed multitude and that the "Gentiles" were mixed into the tribes. Lets look over Ezekiel 37 and the dry bones
Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘The Lord God says this: “Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, so that they come to life.”’” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.The bloodlines of the house of Israel are broken and cut off.
Isaiah 7:8
For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces, so that it is no longer a people)This has happened in Ezekiel 37, but it continues
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the entire house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 And I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’” The word of the Lord came again to me, saying, 16 “Now you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then put them together for yourself one to another into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand. 18 And when the sons of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’ 20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 And say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their offenses; but I will rescue them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.
This passage is important because we see Tribal identities of Joseph, Judah, and Ephraim. This is a Messianic passage about God gathering His people- who are identified- and bringing them together in his hand and returning them to the land for an inheritance, where Messiah Ben David will rule forever.
“And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes and follow them. 25 And they will live on the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and My servant David will be their leader forever. 26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place also will be among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’”
This passage is about the greater exodus. Lets skip over to Ezekiel 47 where it talks about that division of land just as it was given to Jacob
Ezekiel 47:21-23
“So you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 You shall divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and among the strangers who stay in your midst, who bring forth sons in your midst. And they shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. 23 And in the tribe with which the stranger resides, there you shall give him his inheritance,” declares the Lord God.
The stranger/ foreigner becomes the tribe that he resides. This is the same command that was stated in
Leviticus 19:34
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.Everyone would agree that the book of James is written to all believers. It would be foolishness to think that it isn't for us. What does the book of James say? It underscores this point:
James 1:1
James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
At the time that the "New Testament" was being written most of the tribes were already lost in the Diaspora, However this is written in Revelation 7 referring to a time in the future
5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, and from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
The Tribes were lost, the Tribes were cut off, the Tribes will be brought back again. Notice that in Revelation 21 there isn't a "Gentile gate" that is gone through, so we'll enter through one of the gates of the 12.
Revelation 21
It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb
Isaiah 66 talks about the end times, lets look deeper at it
“For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all the nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory. 19 And I will put a sign among them and send survivors from them to the nations: Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal, and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard of My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations. 20 Then they shall bring all your countrymen from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 I will also take some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord.
The times coming when the gathering of all nations and tongues, to the distant coastlands, shall be brought and the Lord will take some as LEVITES and priests. Why would that distinction be important? Who does sacrifices, the Levites.
Zechariah 14:16-21
16 Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of armies, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of armies, there will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.20 On that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of armies; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of armies on that day.
Think about who has been brought back to the land. It's not both Judah and Israel, its just been Judah- the Southern kingdom.
Jer 30
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. 3 For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall take possession of it.’”
Hosea 3:4
For the sons of Israel will live for many days without a king or leader, without sacrifice or memorial stone, and without ephod or household idols. 5 Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the Lord and to His goodness in the last days.Zeph 3
I will gather those who are worried about the appointed feasts—They came from you, Zion; The disgrace of exile is a burden on them. 19 Behold, I am going to deal at that time With all your oppressors; I will save those who limp And gather the scattered, And I will turn their shame into praise and fame In all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will make you famous and praiseworthy Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” Says the Lord.Zech 8:Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; and I will bring them back and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.’
When discussing the Greater/ Second Exodus its worth looking at how the first one went. Did everyone leave as one giant group, or was there an order to the camp and group departures? We know that they camped according to tribe, are we to think that we will not camp if we have everyone walking back to the land the way they did in the Exodus? This is spelled out in Numbers 10, but Someone else paraphrased it into a succinct paragraph so I just quoted them
"At the head of the march were the three tribes that camped on the east side of the Tabernacle: Judah in the lead, followed by Issachar and Zebulun. Behind them came the tribes that camped on the south side: Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. Following them were the tribes that camped on the west side: Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. In the rear came those who camped on the north side: Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. Each of these groups had a leading tribe: Judah in the first, Reuben in the second, Ephraim in the third, and Dan in the fourth. Each tribe had a leader who was "over the host" of the tribe. The three tribes led by Dan were the rear-guard of the camp. It was their responsibility to ensure that no stragglers were left behind in the wilderness, as it would also fall to them to ensure that no enemy succeeded in attacking them from the rear."- Source
To put a point on all this, if you are a believer:
You're not a gentile, you will get an inheritance as part of one of the Tribes, You'll camp in the Tribes, You'll be gathered as part of the Tribes, There is only a covenant with the House of Judah and the House of Israel and then they both become the House of Israel - There is no House of Gentiles. We'll go into one of the Tribal gates- there is no Gentile gate.
Matthew 15:24
But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
