The First Open Church, Followers of "The Way", Part 5

We were last discussing the many different tribes of people who, over the centuries, migrated to the British Isles. But why to these Isles in particular? There must be a purpose for everything – a reason for things to happen the way they do throughout history – or there would be no purpose for the prophets of the scriptures in the first place. Ours would simply be a void ‘religion’ without direction, much like those permeating other societies worldwide. When the glaciers receded from the isles after the last ice age, who established its first societies? Who were these people of whom all the prophets spoke? We must glance back into the history before Christ.

Prior to 2000 B.C., the British Isles were virtually uninhabited, or a virgin land almost devoid of humans. Around 1800 B.C., Hu Gadarn nationalized Druidism there (contemporary with Jacob/Israel), the time attributed to the erection of Stonehenge. Hu Gadarn was the chief patriarch to the peoples of the Isles, known as Hu the Mighty. These people were commanded to commit nothing religious to writing, and they were not permitted to build altars with the use of metal or nails. None of the hundreds of stone megaliths found throughout the British Isles, nor the many found across Europe in their migrations, were built with cut stones, as commanded by Yahweh to His chosen Israel when they would build any altar or temple to His worship (Ex. 20:25). This was a predestined land set aside for His separate people Israel, where He would “watch over them, to build, and plant, saith the Almighty Yahweh” (Jer. 31:28). The Teutonic Israelite tribes (some of whom had migrated to Britain) were those of the Biblical ‘Stone Kingdom’, shown to the prophet Daniel, that would bring down forever the terrible image which represented Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, which he “sawest till that stone* was cut out without hands, which smote the image of the beast upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces” (Dan. 2:34). [*stone = kingdom, not Christ]

As with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in all their travels, it was a national custom for the scattered tribes of the migrating Israelites to erect uncut stone altars in their trek to the isles. Even today, the Scots and Canadians (Nova Scotia, or ‘New Scotland’) still pile stones of ‘cairns’ at important historical events, which is Cymric for ‘heaps’, or ‘stones of witness’. These heaps commemorate the first altar, being ‘Jacob’s pillow’, or ‘Jacob’s ladder’ (also called Jacob’s pillar). Jacob, who is Israel, first stopped at Bethel for the night and “took of the stones of that place, ... for his pillow”, and saw a ladder in his dream, with the angels of Yahweh ascending and descending on it: “And, behold, the Almighty Elohim stood above it, and said, I am the Almighty Elohim of Abraham thy father, and the Elohim of Isaac ... and in thee and in all thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest” (Gen.28:10-15). This rock Jacob/Israel would turn on end in that place and anoint it with oil, a significance of sacred consecration to this everlasting covenant that Yahweh made with Israel only, and which rock, signifying the ‘Stone kingdom’ of Yahshua the Messiah, Christendom to come, which would destroy the Beast of Daniel chapter 2 and Revelation chapter 13. This rock Jacob would anoint as ‘Beth El’, or (in Hebrew) the ‘House of El’ (a combination of Strong’s #’s 1004 plus 410). So the act of erecting such altars, or cairns, became a religious custom of the wandering Israelites and later Keltoi as they passed through strange lands in their journey westward; a declaration and witness to their faith in Yahweh. The story of this stone Bethel, the Lia Fail, which would eventually come to Ireland, then Scotland, then to England, and upon which all the kings and queens of the holy seed of the House of King David have been coronated since a millennium before Christ Yahshua, is another story in itself. It is a witness stone amongst His people today, and has been now for 3000 years.

As mentioned, the name ‘Kimri’ originally came from the name of King Omri, the king of the ten northern tribes of the House of Israel after they separated from their southern tribal kindred after King Solomon’s reign. King Omri founded the city of Samaria, the capital of Israel. In the discovered writings of the Assyrians, they called their Israelite captives from the northern kingdom ‘Beth Omri’ (House of Omri), ‘Beth Kimri’ (People of the Ghomri [King Omri]). The Greeks called them ‘Kimmeroi’. The Welsh today are called the ‘People of Cymri’.

There is a black obelisk in the British Museum, from the Assyrian King Shalmaneser II, which lists ‘Jehu, son of [King] Omri’ paying tribute to the Assyrian ruler. There it is pronounced K‘Omri, becoming Kymri, Kimmerii, Keltoi, Keltic, where Cymri evolved from. “Crimea” is a corruption of Cimmeri. Monuments in Crimean cemeteries identify these people by this name. The Welsh still retain the original name Kymri (spelled Cymri), and their language is Cymric, the Welsh perpetuating their ancient racial characteristics more than any of the Celtic-Saxon-Scandinavian race. It was the later Engles, Frisians, Jutes and Saxons, all of the same stock and more numerous, who would influence the native disposition of the Isles. Yet they all originated from the northern kingdom of Samaria, except the Saxons, being German, who would be of Judah, which was the first stage of the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ephraim becoming a ‘multitude of nations’ (Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and so many colonies), as preordained by the Almighty Yahweh in Genesis chapter 48.

All of this is quite important when we consider that the first above ground church was in Britain. In order for anyone to understand how, why and where the first disciples, after the Passion of Christ, would travel to and bring this good news of the visitation and resurrection of the prophesied Messiah of Israel, it is imperative also to understand those to whom the message is intended, and the relevance of those individuals in the establishment of the early church. The courier of this good news, which is the gospel itself, was Joseph of Aramathea with a band of devout travelers with him from the holy land. Those to whom the message is being brought are the people in the British Isles, and in Gaul. As to the ‘why’, well, because it was predestined by Yahweh in His promises with His chosen people Israel, who had long since been scattered westward across Europe.

It is often found that migrating people are easily traced through their languages, more so than by their customs or cultures, because they have a tendency to adopt pagan or native ways in their travels. And on all the earth throughout history, it was the Aryan, or White Adamic race (and in particular the Israelites) who were scattered around the world more than any others, to the north, south, east and west, as prophesied.

We have been doing a critical review of the book The Drama of the Lost Disciples (TDLD). Jowett makes the typical British Israel claim: that it was basically the northern kingdom who were the legal inheritors of the title of ‘Covenant People’, or ‘B’ritish’, by sacred writ and prophecy, and by no means Judah or Jews. And as usual in British-Israel, they are unable to distinguish the difference between a “Jew” and a Judahite of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 2:9 & 3:9)!

Rather, it must be clearly understood, when the tribes of the northern kingdom went into dispersion between 741-676 B.C., by the invasion of four Assyrian kings during that period, the majority of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the Levites with them who were outside of Jerusalem, were also taken captive with the northern kingdom. They also went into dispersion across Europe. None of these were the “Jews” of Rev. 2:9 & 3:9, but rather Israelites and Judahites of the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah, The word “Jew” is a slang term for an alien people living in Judaea who were proselytized into a corrupted form of Hebrewism, later to be called Judaism. The religion of Judaism wasn’t fully established until later when these proselytes migrated to Babylon after Rome destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. As for true Judah, Yahweh stated in Scripture, “Judah was His sanctuary and Israel His dominion” (Ps. 114:2).

Among the Kelts were the descendants of the priestly group that served Ephraim (the ten northern tribes of Israel) as well as Judah. They still governed under the patriarchal laws. The priests were not allowed to bear arms in warfare; neither were the Druids. The Ephraimites/Keltoi were famed for their warriors, known as defenders of their faith. But Judah had even greater fighters than those of Ephraim! This also fulfills the prophecy that all the twelve tribes of Israel would be His nations of kings and priests, and His ‘battle-axes and weapons of war’ for His sake.

Yahweh told Abraham, speaking of His covenant promise for the seed of His holy race: “... for in Isaac shall thy seed be called ...” (Gen. 21:12). Yet nowhere in the biblical records are Yahweh’s people known by that name Isaac, other than those known in secular history called ‘I’saac-sons’ or the ‘Saxons’. Messiah Himself, in His own living Word, said that He came “... only for the lost sheep of the House of Israel ...” [all 12 tribes] (Matt. 10:6; 15:24). Yahshua told the nearly mongrelized remnant nation of Judea that their inheritance would be taken from them and given to another, a nation [of Israel] who was worthy and bear the fruits thereof. He commissioned Paul to go to the ‘nations’ (Gr. #1484, “ethnos” in Strong’s, poorly translated as ‘Gentiles’ in the Bible), which is where our story of the first churches proceeds. The British Druids were among the first of the Israel “ethnos” who were prepared to accept the Word of Christ, true Christianity. It was the Christian elect who are known as the Anglo-Saxons today – the sons of Isaac. Even the proselytized Edomites in Jerusalem, who would crucify our Messiah Yahshua, knew of the scattered flock of Israel when they questioned “... whither will He go, that we shall not find Him? will He go unto the dispersed among the nations*, and teach the nations*?” (John 7:35). Of course He would, and His anointed flock in the “Isles” would play an important role in doing so! (*The word “nations” here is Strong’s #1672, “Hellen” (i.e., Grecian) – interchangeable with the more common Greek “ethnos” or the Latin “Gentile”).

The name Semite (Semitic or Shemite) is derived from Noah’s son Shem. “Blessed be the Almighty One [God] of Shem” (Gen. 9:26). From Shem came the elect seed of the chosen race, referred to throughout scripture as His ‘holy seed’. Under Abraham, they became known as Hebrews (from their language they spoke), named after Shem’s grandson Eber. The name Shem means ‘colonist’ or ‘colonizer’ (such as America, Canada, Australia), Israel’s nationalized name, the ‘Covenant People’, consisting of all twelve tribes (and the Levites with them), means ‘Ruling with Elohim’ (Ish-ra-el).

We could go on forever with the similarities between the ancient Israelites and those in the “Isles to the west”. In fact, Clifton Emahiser has presented a series of teaching letters on British-Israel which goes into that people’s history. Also, his series on ‘Following the Scarlet Thread’, and William Finck’s teaching series on ‘Classical Records and German Origins’ are a must for understanding the travels of Israel after their Assyrian captivity and dispersion north through the Caucasus pass, and then westward to the Isles, and now encircling the globe in its dominion. In these teachings you will find that the ethnological travels reveal that these kindred people, known as the Sons of Isaac, while they represented four different waves of Assyrian captivities, broke up into several sub-clans in their migrations, taking several different routes with many ultimately reaching the Isles of the West, which in time served as a jumping off point for further colonization in such places as America, Canada etc.

The origins of the Kymri have been explained already, but it was the warrior Ephraimites who became markedly referred to as Ephraim (or the name of the ten-tribed northern kingdom). Ancient documents refer to them as: I-Saccasuns, I-Sak-suna, Sakasuna (and other variations), and finally Saxons. Because they lived in the area known as Scythia (called Dacia by the Romans, today’s Romania) and Thrace, they were collectively called Scythians.

Of all the kindred tribes, the Anglo-Saxons were the most powerful, and accepted as leaders. They entered Britain by invitation of the British chieftain Vortigern. They then began to intermarry with the British Kelts. Throughout their previous migratory travels, the blue eyed Saxons and the Kelts refused to intermix or marry into other races, adhering to their patriarchal laws of preserving the holy seed of Israel. Juxtapose this with some of their former brethren of the southern kingdom of Judah who took cursed Canaanite wives during Jeremiah’s & Ezra’s time (Ezra 9:7), destroying the holy seed henceforth, only to end up with “confusion of face”, the ones branded in scripture by “the shew of their countenance”.

In their travels west the Saxons (Judahites) and Kymri (Ephraimites) never left anybody behind, whether young, old or infirm. They would not slay them, like heathen races often did. All the branches that flowed into Britain were branches of the selfsame stock. Finck and others show that these Germanic peoples were formally known as the ‘Massagetae’, or ‘original Saxons’. Thus, it is the Briton-Kelts, Gaels, Anglo-Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, Danes and Normans, all kindred stock, who make up the British.

During the Roman occupation of Britain, the Romans and Kelts led separate lives from each other. When the Romans finally withdrew permanently from Britain in A.D. 410,“the population was as substantially Celtic as they had found it”, says Jowett.

These dispersed Isaac’s Sons were punished for their worship of Baal, and scattered throughout the nations across Asia and Europe, yet ‘like corn winnowed in a sieve’ would, in the end, be gathered together into the place appointed by Yahweh their Elohim to ‘plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness (the Edomite-Canaanite Jew) afflict them any more, as beforetime’ (2 Sam. 7:10), ‘and where no weapon that is formed against the[m] shall prosper ...’ (Isa. 54:17). This has to be America rather than Britain, as it has to be a place from whence they will “move no more”. They moved from Britain to America, which must be future tense, as the children of wickedness are still with us.

As Yahweh commanded His Israel in the wilderness at Exodus 31:16: ‘Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever’. This is a prophecy less than 1% fulfilled! And although pagan practice, under Roman Catholicism, has moved the sacred seventh day Sabbath to Sunday, Dr. Ryle Bishop of Liverpool affirms: ‘I assert without hesitation that the only countries on the face of the globe in which you will find true observance of the Sabbath are Great Britain, the Commonwealth nations and America’. It appears that less than 1% who keep the Sabbath have to make up for those who don’t! (Isa. 58:13,14).

In spite of this, these peoples are the fulfillment of Jacob/Israel’s blessings given to Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim (a company of nations, the British Commonwealth) and Manasseh (a great nation, America) in chapter 48 of Genesis. This was the fulfillment of Yahweh’s will as related through Joseph’s dreams in chapter 37 of Genesis, that these nations ‘shall reign’ and ‘have dominion’ over the other nations. Is this not what has occurred to bring us to this day? Is it not the British Commonwealth of nations and America which affect the direction of all nations on earth, good or bad, unlike any other nations throughout history? Yet we are losing our national blessings every minute today for not observing our faith and promises to Him.

The Angles, or Engles (where “English” is derived from) means ‘God-Men’ because they worshipped their God Yahweh rather than wood or stone idols, as did others. TDLD tells a story, on page 56, where Pope Gregory encountered a group of Roman soldiers with captive British children. He saw their fair countenance, blond hair and blue eyes, and on being told they were ‘Engles’ from England, he replied ‘They are well named. They look like angels’.

‘Regardless of how the Keltic-Saxon people may have deviated from full adherence to the Law in their wanderings, the Covenants were the core of their spiritual life, directing their material policies’. The Druids and followers of ‘The Way’ on the Isles were naturally bonded through Yahshua the Messiah’s Passion on that cross, the Saviour of their very kindred people Israel.

It is thanks to discoveries in archaeology, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 (thought by some authorities on the subject to have been written by the Essenes at various periods prior to Christ’s advent) and through advances in linguistics and ethnology, that the prophecies of the Bible are confirmed in our history. Only the Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, Germanic and related families scattered throughout the world, of which the British are a part, fulfill prophecy as the ‘chosen ones’, or the ‘Covenant People’.

Long before the arrival of Joseph of Arimathea and the Bethany group of castaways at Marseilles, the south of France was known as the Provence Viennoise, populated by Gauls, Phoenicians and Greeks, ‘with the Gauls most populous everywhere’. Marseilles was the oldest major seaport in the south of Gaul, established by the Phoenicians before the Grecian seafaring ascendancy. This was one of the main ports for the transportation of tin and lead from Britain, being the connecting link between Gaul and the Isles. Marseilles is the oldest city in France, and it was the later Greeks who brought it to its highest prominence and gave it the name Marseilles. Its first biblical association was with the ships of Tarshish, captained by the Danites. They were the first great sea power recorded in history, the Phoenicians and Greeks being largely of the tribe of Dan.

The Gallic people of Marseilles knew Joseph of Arimathea and his shipping trade well. He was considered a mining magnate in his time, and he was well accepted in Marseilles. These people also had a great receptivity for the persecuted followers of ‘The Way’. The Gauls being Druidic, their faith had great influence over the land of Gaul. The land was a safehaven for those escaping the oppression back in Judea.

Again, it is pointed out in TDLD that the false claims about the Druidic religion and priesthood concerning human sacrifices are attributed to the Roman Triumvirate only: ‘[t]heir bestial hatred for everything that was British and Christian deliberately promoted the insidious propaganda to defame the people they could neither coerce nor subdue’ (pg. 59). The eminent archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie, debunking prior notions of human sacrifice, found only the fossilized bones of sheep and goats below the altar at Stonehenge, consistent with the patriarchal faith of the East and the biblical record. ‘No religion has ever swayed the minds of men like the Druidic’, said the British historian Hume.