COMPENDIUM OF WORLD HISTORY
VOLUME 2
A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Ambassador College Graduate
School of Education In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
by Herman L. Hoeh
1963 1966, 1969 Edition
CHAPTER XVII
WHERE DID THE TWELVE APOSTLES GO?
Why has the truth about the journeys of the twelve apostles been kept from public
knowledge?
We read plainly of Paul's travels through Cyprus, Asia Minor, Greece, Italy.
But the movements of the original twelve apostles are cloaked in mystery.
Why?
NOW IT CAN BE TOLD!
Did it ever seem strange that most of the New Testament, following the book of
Acts, was written by Paul, and not by Peter?
Why, after Peter initiated the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles at the
house of Cornelius (Acts 10 and 11), did he and others of the twelve apostles suddenly
vanish from view? And why only Peter and John reappear, for a fleeting moment, in
Jerusalem at the inspired conference recorded in Acts 15?
We 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 Israel' (Acts 9:15).
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
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 Israel' -- the Lost
Ten Tribes!
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 of Israel.'
It was Paul who went to the Gentiles.
Now to discover where Peter and others of the twelve went after they left Palestine.
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 House of Israel should not be revealed until this pulsating
twentieth century!
'HOUSE OF ISRAEL' IDENTIFIED
From the sons of Jacob -- surnamed Israel -- sprang twelve tribes.
Under David they were united as one nation -- Israel. After the death of Solomon,
David's son, the twelve tribes were divided into two nations. The tribe of Judah
split off from the nation Israel in order to retain the king, whom Israel had rejected.
Benjamin went with Judah.
The new nation thus formed, with its capital at Jerusalem, was known as the 'House
of Judah.' Its people were called Jews.
The northern ten tribes, who rejected Solomon's son, became known as the 'House
of Israel.' Its capital, later, was Samaria. Whole books of the Old Testament are
devoted to the power struggles between the 'House of Israel' and Judah. The first
time the word 'Jews' appears in the Bible you will discover the king of Israel,
allied with Syria, driving the Jews from the Red Sea port of Elath (II Kings 16:6-7).
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 Tigris River and planted in Assyria and the cities of the Medes around
lake Urmia, southwest of the Caspian Sea. In the now-desolate cities of the land
of Samaria the Assyrians brought in Gentiles from Babylonia. These Gentiles (II
Kings 17) had become known as Samaritans by the time of Christ.
The House of Israel never returned to Palestine. The nation became known in history
as the 'Lost Ten Tribes.' To them Jesus sent the twelve apostles!
The House of Judah -- the Jews -- remained in Palestine until the Babylonian
invasion, which commenced in 604 B.C. Judah was deported to Mesopotamia. Seventy
years later they returned to Palestine. In history they now become commonly known
as 'Israel' because they were the only descendants of Jacob -- or Israel -- now
living in Palestine. The ten tribes -- the House of Israel -- became lost in the
land of their exile.
Jesus 'came to 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 Golgotha
to pay for the sins of the world -- He commissioned His twelve disciples. They were
commanded: 'Go to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.'
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 Cyprus, Asia Minor and Greece. Second,
he was to appear before kings -- an event brought about by a two-year imprisonment
at Rome. At the end of that two-year period, during which no accusers had appeared,
Paul would automatically have been released according to Roman law. It is at this
point that Luke strangely breaks off the story of Paul's life. See Acts 28:31.
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 Israel' (Acts 9:15). There is the answer. He, too, was to end his work
among the Lost Ten Tribes!
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 Israel!
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 Judah -- the Jews.
It is addressed to all twelve tribes. To the House of Judah and to the House
of Israel -- the Lost Ten Tribes.
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 II 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 missing 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 Israel and the true Church would have been revealed! It is part of God's plan
that the House of Israel should lose its identity and think itself Gentile.
If the book of James had ended with the ordinary salutation, the nations of Israel
would have been disclosed. Paul often ends his letters with names of places and
people. See the last verses of Romans, Colossians, Hebrews, for example. This is
the very part missing, purposely, from James!
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 Israel.
'From whence come wars and fightings among you?' asks James.
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 British Isles and the Parthian Empire! (See the accompanying
map for the location of Parthia.)
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
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia' (I Peter 1:1).
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 Palestine.
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 himself was 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 Turkey. These lands lay immediately west of the Parthian Empire!
Paul did not preach in these districts. Paul spent his years in Asia Minor in
the southern, or Greek half. 'Yea, so have I strived,' said Paul, 'to preach the
gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation'
(Romans 15:20). Paul did not preach in the areas where Peter and others of the twelve
apostles had carried the gospel.
Nowhere in your New Testament can you find Paul preaching in Pontus, or 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 Ephesus. Paul was expressly forbidden to preach in
Mysia, the northern district of the Roman province of Asia. 'After they' -- Paul
and his companions -- 'were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but
the Spirit suffered (permitted) them not. And they passing by Mysia came down to
Troas'
(Acts 16:7, 8). Those were the regions in which the lost sheep of the House of
Israel dwelt as strangers among the Gentiles!
Paul did preach, on his first journey, in southern Galatia, in the cities of
Iconium, Lystra, Derbe (Acts 14). But nowhere in the New Testament do you find Paul
journeying into northern Galatia -- the area to which Peter addresses his letter
to the tribes of Israel!
REMNANT OF TEN TRIBES ON SHORES OF BLACK SEA
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 Asia
Minor in early New Testament times.
Greek writers, in the time of Christ, recognized that the regions of northern
Asia Minor were non-Greek (except for a few Greek trading colonies in the port cities).
New peoples, the Greeks tell us, were living in northern Asia Minor in New Testament
times. Here is the surprising account of Diodorus of Sicily: '... many conquered
peoples were removed to other homes, and two of these became very great colonies:
the one was composed of Assyrians and was removed to the land between Paphlagonia
and Pontus, and the other was drawn from Media and planted along the Tanais (the
River Don in ancient Scythia -- the modern Ukraine, north of the Black Sea, in southern
Russia ).' See book II, s.43.
Notice the areas from which these colonies came -- Assyria and Media. The very
areas to which the House of Israel was taken captive!
'So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day' (II
Kings 17:23). 'The king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria
and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the River of Gozan, and in the cities of
the Medes' (verse 6).
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 Asia Minor,
part of the House of Israel migrated with them!
Here's the proof from Strabo, the geographer. Strabo named the colonists in northern
Asia Minor 'White Syrians' (12, 3, 9), instead of Assyrians. There were therefore,
two peoples -- Assyrians and White Syrians. Who were these so-called 'White Syrians'?
None other than the House of Israel which had been carried into Assyrian captivity.
'Syria' was the Greek name for the whole eastern Mediterranean coastal strip
north of Judea. Because the House of Israel lived in Palestine -- southern Syria
in Greek terminology -- the Greeks called them 'White Syrians.' By contrast, the
dark-complexioned Arameans remained in Syria and dwell there to this day.
When the Assyrians were compelled to migrate to Northern Asia Minor, their former
slaves -- the 'White Syrians' or ten-tribed House of Israel -- migrated with them!
We find them still there in New Testament times. To these people -- the lost sheep
of the House of Israel -- the strangers among the Assyrians (I Peter 1:1) -- the
apostle Peter addresses his first letter! Could anything be plainer?
The chief apostle to the House of Israel writing to a part of the ten lost tribes
dwelling among the Assyrians who originally carried them captive!
We shall see later when and where these 'lost sheep' migrated from Asia Minor
to Northwest Europe.
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 Asia Minor, should not those Greeks have left the record
of which of the twelve apostles carried the gospel there?
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 Israel were not, in the apostles' day, where they are today.
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 Syro-Palestinian
region until the end of twelve years' ministry.
The number 12 symbolizes an 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 proofs 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 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 everywhere 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, falsely, as the 'Christian Religion.' (See III John.)
Simon Peter, Christ's apostle, was in Britain, not Rome, preaching the gospel
of the Kingdom of God. The very fact that Peter preached in the British Isles is
proof in itself that part of the Lost Ten-Tribed House of Israel was already there.
Simon Peter was commissioned to go to the lost ten tribes.
And significantly, about A D 60 great wars overtook Britain. That is just what
James warned of in his epistle (the fourth chapter, verse 1) to the twelve tribes
of Israel! Could history be any clearer?
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
Simon Magus, the false apostle, who masqueraded as Peter, also 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 alloted him for his province. First then he travelled
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 proposed 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 areas 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 shipping 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 Gormund, 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, 19).
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 proofd by Dorotheus, Theodoretus and Sophronius.' ('Remains of Britain,'
page 5)
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.' (Rawlinson'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 included
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 House 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 Naphtali? 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 (Parthia).
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, Metaphrastes tells us, 'went first into Parthia, and having successfully
planted Christianity in those parts, thence travelled 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 sparcely 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.
