Ancient Israel and Judah: What's the Difference?

Often time when we hear of the chosen people of the Bible, Israel, we reference them all as Jews. The Hebrew word for Jew is yehudiy and the strong’s definition for Jew is a descendant of Jehudah (that is,Judah). I have often heard ministers teaching and I wondered why all Israel were referred to as Jews. In order to properly understand prophecy we must know the difference between Israel and Judah. Well the fact is that all Jews are Israelites but not all Israelites are Jews. Shocked? I hope so. This is an honest mistake and all we have to do to correct this mistake is 2 Timothy 2:15. That’s right STUDY! This article will chronicle the beginning and timeline of the Hebrew or Israelite people in the bible.

We have to start from the beginning when the world was in total chaos. There was all kind of perversion going on from astrology, witchcraft, sexual sin, murder, and idol worship. As a result God chose Abram (Genesis 12) who eventually became Abraham to establish a people to be an example to the rest of the nations. The first place we see Abram’s race is in Genesis 14:13 it calls Abram a Hebrew not a Jew! The term Jew is not mentioned in the bible until after the split of the kingdom In 2 Kings 16:6; which we will detail later in this article.

God established a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15). God promised Abraham he would make him a father of many nations. Abraham thought how could this happen if he didn’t have an heir in his house other than his servant Eleazar. God promised him a seed, which came to pass in the form of Isaac (Genesis 21).

Isaac went on to have a son Jacob and from this son sprang the nation of Israel. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel (Genesis 32:28). Jacob had twelve sons through four women Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, and Bilhah. The names of his sons were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun,Issachar,Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali,Joseph , and Benjamin (Genesis 49). Each of these sons was a representative of each tribe of Israel. It should also be noted that Ephraim and Manasseh had a double portion in there father’s Joseph’s stead given to them by their grandfather Jacob (Israel).

Back when God first made a covenant with Abraham He told Abraham his descendants would be in a land that is not their own (Genesis 15:13-14). So this leads us to Joseph being sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. Long story short because of famine in the land Joseph’s family came to Egypt. They were doing so well that the Egyptians feared them and put them into slavery.

The Children of Israel were enslaved as God had said and God rose up a deliverer Moses to bring them out of Egypt. Moses was successful in delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt.

So the newly delivered people were given the commandments in Exodus Chapter 20. We know them as the Ten Commandments. As time went on the people served God and observed His Law. Not with perfection the children of Israel rebelled and doubted God many times, so much so that they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Their deliverer Moses did not get to the Promised Land. Instead his replacement was Joshua. Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land.

Joshua led the people until he died. After Joshua judges led the people. There were 15 judges that lead the children of Israel. Some of the more notable judges were Gideon, Samson, and the prophet Samuel.

This brings us to the Children of Israel wanting a King. Almighty God told the prophet and final judge, Samuel to tell the people that HE was their King. Nevertheless God gave them what they wanted King Saul (Genesis Chapters 8 & 9). King Saul reigned over Israel between 40 and 42 years.

Saul did evil in the sight of the LORD and offered sacrifices himself instead of waiting on the LORD’s prophet. Saul also didn’t destroy all of the Amalekites and their possessions, namely the king Agag and some of their livestock. For this disobedience God Anointed David king (1 Samuel Chapters 13-16).

Eventually King Saul was wounded in battle and he asked his armor bearer to kill him but he refused and Saul killed himself by falling on his own sword (2 Samuel 31)

This brings us to David as the King. This is the first time we see a split in the Kingdom of Israel. After the death of Saul one of Saul’s son, Ishbosheth is king over Israel and only the house of Judah followed David (2 Samuel Chapter 2).  After war between Israel and Judah eventually led to all of Israel following David (2 Samuel Chapter 5). All twelve tribes followed David for 40 years. 33 years over Israel and 7 years and some change over Judah. When David died his son Solomon reigned over Israel for 40 years.

King Solomon was a wise, rich, and great king but Solomon as great a king as he was allowed foreign women to turn his heart from God. It was prophesied that the kingdom would be torn from him and given to his servant. The servant the kingdom would be given to Jeroboam. The prophet Ahijah met with Jeroboam tore a garment into twelve pieces and told Jeroboam to keep two pieces (1 Kings Chapter 11).

This tearing of the garment was symbolic of the Nation of Israel. It would be torn      into a Northern and Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was comprised of 10 tribes, which are Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, and Manasseh (Joseph).  The Southern Kingdom was comprised of Judah, Benjamin. Noticeably absent is Levi. The Levites were divided amongst the twelve tribes but when the split occurred since the temple was in Jerusalem most of the Levites were in the south. This was the second time we see a split in the Kingdom.  To prove there was a split Israel and Judah fought wars against each other see: 1 Kings chapter 15, 2 Kings chapter 14, 2 Chronicles chapters 13,16,25,and 28.

With that established lets see the events of the split. When Solomon died his son Rehoboam became King. He was a hard king and taxed the children of Israel heavily. As a result the ten northern tribes revolted against Rehoboam and made Jeroboam their king.

Once Jeroboam reigned as king he led Israel into Idol Worship. He fashioned their feasts to resemble the feasts of the house of Judah except he caused the people to serve golden calf idols rather than Almighty God. Jeroboam did this because he wanted to remain king rather than the Northern kingdom returning to the house of David and worship Almighty God, as they should have been doing (1 Kings 12:25-33). Jeroboam reigned for 22 years over Israel. After Jeroboam’s reign eighteen kings reigned after him. The house of Israel entered into Assyrian Captivity in 722 BC (2 Kings 17:6).  In fact 2 Kings 17:18 says that God was angry at Israel and He removed them and only Judah was left. So we see two distinct nations.

Israel was gone into captivity and Judah remained. They weren’t off the hook so to speak they also did not keep God’s commandments. Later they too would go into Babylonian Captivity in 587 BC. The prophet Jeremiah details this in Jeremiah 29:10.  The House of Judah was in Babylonian captivity for 70 years.

In the the book of Ezra Chapter 2 it tell of the Captives that returned to Jerusalem after the 70 year captivity. They were from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, which was the Southern House of Judah or The JEWS.

All of the major and minor prophets understood that both the Houses of Israel and Judah were two separate nations. They foretold of the captivities and future restorations. The House of Israel never came out of Assyrian captivity. The House of Judah came out in 538-539 BC. The prophet Nehemiah tells the rest of the House of Judah’s history before the birth of Christ.

Not only did the Prophets understand the two house were separate but so did the apostles. Acts 1:6 says : When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Jesus answered and said: It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. ⁸But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Notice two of the places are the capital cities of Israel and Judah. They are Jerusalem and Samaria. The Prophet Ezekiel tells of two harlot sisters Aholah and Aholibah. That is Samaria and Jerusalem. The Jews in Christ days lived in Judea. The Israelites were gone with only a remnant living in Samaria having intermarried with Assyrians while in captivity. Even then the Jews hated the half Hebrew half Assyrian people. The Messiah didn’t share the jews view of the Samaritans. See the story of the Good Samaritan and read of the woman at the well. My next post will chronicle who the Samaritans were as a people.

In conclusion, all Jews are Israelites but not all Israelites are Jews!!! Only the people of the house of Judah are jews. Everyone else were Israelites.