Who Are The Hunters?

Why Doesn’t Your Pastor Ever Speak Of Them? 

[A notice to the reader: You will find this article posted on several websites crediting it Willie Martin as the author. That is not true, for I am the author. Willie used to be on my mailing list before he died and he could type about 107 words a minute, and when he received my mailing he would type out my brochures and parts of my Watchman Teaching Letters and attach them to E-mails. Willie Martin was a plagiarizer and passed on my and many other writer’s works as his own. I checked the date on my computer when I first formatted this document into brochure form, and it is registered as December 19, 2000. Since that time I have circulated hundreds, if not over a thousand, of these brochures to people on my mailing list. How then, can Willie Martin write any article under the same title that I gave to it? To do so is highly unethical! The childrenofyahweh website has been very honest with me by posting my material the way I wrote it. I have given permission for people to copy my material freely or order it from me at a cost lower than they could copy it themselves. There is one place that I draw the line though. I do not give permission to anyone to add to my articles nor to subtract from them, but to reproduce them word for word exactly as I wrote them. I insist that anyone who wants to post any of my articles on the Net, post them word for word as I have written them or not post them at all! Let’s now continue.]

Did you know while the Holy Bible speaks of “fishers” it also speaks of “hunters” in the very same verse? If you are unfamiliar with this pregnant fact, I will quote it from Jeremiah 16:16:

“Behold I will send for many fishers, saith Yahweh, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”

Have you ever wondered why your pastor emphasizes with very much intensity and vigor the subject of the “fishers”, and never so much as mentions the “hunters”? It’s as though the Bible had never mentioned the topics of the “fishers” and “hunters” in the same verse! Have you ever asked your pastor why he never mentions the “hunters” in all his lengthy and seemingly detailed sermons? After all, your pastor graduated from seminary and knows all of this, right? Of course, it is probably just a slight oversight on his part that he has never taken the time to explain this to you, right? Or, maybe, he has so many other more important things to dwell on, he simply does not have time for the insignificant “hunters.” Has your pastor ever used Jeremiah 16:16 for his text?

The pastors are seemingly very quick and prepared to expound that Christ (whose real Hebrew name was Yahshua), when He called his disciples, had stated to them, Matthew 4:19:

“And he said unto them, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Whenever your pastor has quoted this passage, has he ever made reference to Jeremiah 16:16 and expounded on the relationship of the two verses? If he hasn’t, it would seem quite strange, for The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, edited by Jerome H. Smith (a special book of cross-references) takes you to this verse. If then, the calling by Christ (Yahshua) of His disciples was the fulfillment of Jeremiah 16:16, just when is the fulfillment of the “hunters” supposed to take place? Has your pastor ever addressed the question of the “hunters”? If the calling of the “fishers” is all that important, it would seem the calling of the “hunters” would be equally significant. Maybe, if your pastor doesn’t want to explain to you who the “hunters” are supposed to be, with a little ingenuity on your own part, you can figure who these “hunters” might be, and just what they are to be hunting for. Remember that Jeremiah 16:16 said, “out of the holes of the rocks?” Who in the world would go “hunting” in “the holes of the rocks”? Do you suppose it is talking about archaeologists as being these “hunters”? If so, who would be the “them”, for whom these archaeologists would be looking? If your pastor wishes to remain mute on this topic, maybe I can help answer this question of who these “hunters” are. Do you suppose the “hunters” were to hunt for the same people the “fishers” were to fish for? Maybe, if one were to read the rest of Jeremiah chapter 16, one might find who these people are, to whom Yahweh through Jeremiah referred.

IF THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS ARE THE “HUNTERS”

IN QUESTION, THEY HAVE BEEN QUITE BUSY!

In 1717, the Society of Antiquaries was set up in London. It received a royal charter in 1751 and issued its first Archeologia in 1770. In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte occupied Egypt, which resulted partially in archaeological investigation. In 1799, the Rosetta Stone (a trilingual inscription) was found which provided the key to unlocking Egyptian hieroglyphics. In 1805, Ulrich Jasper Seetzen discovered Caesarea Philippi, Ammon and Gerasa. In 1811, C. S. Rich, the first British consul at Baghdad, excavated and partially mapped the ruins of Babylon.

In 1812, Johan Ludwig Burckhardt discovered Petra. In 1815, Lady Hester Stanhope made an attempt to unearth statuary at Ashkelon. In 1817, Giovanni Battista Belzoni began the search of tombs and temples of the pharaohs. In 1821-2, Jean Francois Champollion finally broke the code of the Rosetta Stone. In 1833, Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson went to Persia as a young officer to organize the Shah’s army; became interested in cuneiform; deciphered and later published the trilingual inscriptions of Darius I on the Behistun.

In 1838, Edward Robinson and Eli Smith traveled throughout Palestine identifying and describing Biblical cites. In 1842, Paul Emile Botta began investigation of the mound of Kuyunjik, discovered Khorsabad and the palace of Sargon II, which opened the way to Assyriology. In 1845, Sir Austen Henry Layard began excavations at Nimrud, discovering the palaces of Ashurnasirpal, Shalmaneser II, finding the famous Black Obelisk and later making other important discoveries.

In 1848, F. de Saulcy cleared a site at Jerusalem. In 1849, Karl Richard Lepsius published the results of Prussian expeditions to Egypt. In 1850 Auguste Ferdinand Francois Mariette began investigating Egypt. In 30 years he excavated and found 15,000 monuments from Memphis to Karnak in 37 sites. In 1850, W. K. Loftus succeeded Rassam at Nineveh, visited Erech and other sites in the Euphrates. In 1859 Konstantin von Tischendorf discovered the Codex Sinaiticus.

In 1863, J. T. Wood explored Ephesus for the British Museum and came upon the temple Artemis. In 1864, Giovanni Battista De Rosse began study of the Roman catacombs. In 1865 the foundation of the Palestine Exploration Fund promoted archeological research in, and later publication of, Jerusalem and western Palestine. In 1867, Charles Warren, a British artillery officer, was financed by the fund to investigate Jerusalem. In 1870, Charles Clermont-Ganneau came to the French consular service in Palestine, later sent the Mesha Stele to the Louvre; discovered the famous notice prohibiting aliens from intrusion into the Temple Court and identified the site of Gezer.

This same year, the American Palestine Exploration Society was founded. Also, Heinrich Schliemann discovered Troy, and, with his successor Dörpfeld, first understood the importance of a tell. In 1872, the Palestine Exploration Fund sent a party to Palestine to make an inch-to-mile survey of Western Palestine, headed by Claude Regnier Conder and Horatio Herbert Kitchener. This survey was indispensable, basic work for later archeologists and geographers.

In 1873, The Daily Telegraph financed an expedition and George Smith began work at Nimrud; later to Kuyunjik. In 1877, Ernest de Sarzec worked Lagash, finding statues of early governors and the Victory Stele of Eannatum, awakening the world to Sumerian archaeology. In 1878, Rassam resumed work for the British Museum at Nineveh finding a haul of tablets, a clay prism and accounts of the campaigns of Sennacherib.

In 1879, Hormuzd Rassam investigated the ruins of Babylon. In 1881, Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero discovered many royal sarcophagi at Deir-el-Bahri and continued clearing work on the temple of Karnak, later publishing his findings. In 1882, Elouard Naville investigated Egypt. This year also saw W. Dörpfeld join Schliemann at Troy. In 1884, M. Dieulafoy continued excavations of the royal buildings of Susa.

In 1887, a peasant woman, grubbing for compost in the ruins of Akhenaton’s town at Tell el-Amarna unearthed the priceless Tell el-Amarna Letters. In 1888, John P. Peters, directing an American dig along with Haynes and Hilprecht, discovered 20,000 tablets at Nippur. In 1890, Flinders Petrie spent six weeks on the mound of Tell-el-Hesi, in southwest Palestine. He succeeded in setting a standard in the principles of stratigraphy and the utilization of pottery to establish dating.

In 1894, Sir Arthur Evans began work in Crete probing the Minoan civilization. In 1895, Bernard Pyne Grenfell, with colleague A. S. Hunt, began searching for Greek papyri, developing the science of papyrology. In 1895, Sir William Mitchell Ramsey, Professor of Humanity at Aberdeen, did archaeological work in Asia Minor and established the reputation of Luke as a true historian. In 1896, G. M. Legrain initiated work at Karnak temple. In 1897, J. de Morgan saw work at Susa.

In 1898, M. Loret discovered the tomb of Amenhotep II in the Valley of the Kings. 1899 saw Robert Koldewey at Babylon. 1900 saw George L. Robinson at Petra. 1901 saw Gaston Cros at Telloh (Lagash). 1902 saw R. A. S. Macalister begin his excavation of Gezer, which lasted seven years, and, also, Ernst Sellin begin a three-year survey of Tell Taanach. In 1903, G. Schumacher, trained by Sellin, oversaw investigation of Megiddo, the well-known Jeroboam seal being discovered.

1904 saw David G. Hogarth at Ephesus. In 1905, James Henry Breasted contributed his Ancient Records of Egypt and 2nd ed. History of Egypt, showing striking advances in Egyptology. 1906 found Hugo Winkler working at Boghazkoy, a Hittite site. 1907 saw Herman Thiersch, Herman Kohl, Carl Watzinger and Ernst Sellin surveying the synagogue of Galilee, with Watzinger and Sellin overseeing a dig at Jericho.

1908 saw D. G. Lyon, C. S. Fisher and G. A. Reisner at Samaria. 1909 saw Duncan Mackenzie at Bethshemesh. 1910 saw Howard C. Butler at Sardis. In 1913, Watzinger and Sellin investigated Shechem. 1917 saw The Palestine Department of Antiquities founded, headed by John Garstang. 1919, with WW I over, saw Albright, Woolley, Fisher, R. L. Hall, Wace, Montet, and Dunand at various digs. 1922 saw Albright working at Gibeah, Howard Carter discovering Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, A. Schmidt and H. Kaer working at Shiloh and Sir Charles Leonard Woolley digging at Ur.

1923 saw W. J. Phythian-Adams and John Garstang at Ashkelon. 1924 saw David M. Robinson on the Pisidian Antioch. 1925 saw Dr. Edward Chiera at Nuzi discovering the Patriarchs were true historical people. 1926 saw W. F. Badè at the Biblical Mizpah. In 1928, Elihu Grant began a series of five campaigns at Beth-Shemesh. 1929 saw Dorothy Garrod investigating Palestinian caves. 1930 saw Theodore D. McCown with C. S. Fisher continue work at Gerasa, G. L. Robinson discovering Petra’s “high place” and John Garstang working at Jericho.

In 1931, Ernst Herzfeld was at work at Persepolis and A. Maiui at Pompeii and Herculaneum. O. R. Sellers with W. F. Albright was working at Bethzur. Also, J. W. Crowfoot continued the project at Samaria where Reisner left off. Then M. E. L. Mallowan appeared on the scene with work at Nineveh. In 1932, G. E. Ederkin explored the site of Syrian Antioch. J. L. Starkey began a dig at Lachish. R. W. Hamilton investigated a site at the foot of Carmel.

In 1933, Roman Ghirshman began work at Tepe Siyalk. P. Dikaias was working at Cyprus, Charles Morey continued work at Syrian Antioch, aided by Richard Stillwell. In 1934, excavations at Bethel were conducted by J. L. Kelso and W. F. Albright. 1935 saw J. P. Black working at Samaria, Erich Schmidt at Persepolis, and Gordon Loud at Megiddo. 1937 saw Nelson Glueck excavating a cemetery at Jebel-et-Tannur. In 1938, J. L. Starkey was murdered while Lankaster Harding and Charles H. Inge continued briefly at Lachish.

1947 brought to light the Dead Sea Scrolls, of which, W. F. Albright later commented. In 1948, Robert Braidwood worked at Qalat Jarmo, in NE Iraq. 1950 saw William Morton at Dibon in Moab. 1953 saw Joseph P. Free at Dothan. 1954 saw Kurt Bittel at Boghazkoy investigating the Hittite Empire, Zakarie Goneiun busy at Saqqara, Richard Haines at Nippur, Philip Hammond at Petra, Kamal el Mallakh at Giza and Jean Perrot at Tell Abu Matar, near Beersheba, etc.

? WHAT DID THESE HUNTERS FIND ?

While all of these archaeologists found many things verifying Biblical places, times and events, probably the most important of these were the cuneiform clay tablets found in the excavations of the Assyrian royal library at Nineveh. It might appear today, after a lapse of 2500 years, all hope of tracing the Israelites has been lost in the midst of antiquity. Archaeologists have, though, during the last 100 years, unearthed and published the original contemporary records of the Assyrians who took the Israelites captive. From these records, in recent years, vital clues have come to light. These records consist of cuneiform clay tablets which can be found today in the British Museum. These tablets serve today as archaeological evidence of Israel’s migrations. These clay tablets were frontier post reports of Assyrian spies, to the Assyrian king, keeping watch over the captive peoples. Among these tablets were over 1,400 different texts, including reports of how the captive peoples (Israelites) were breaking away in small groups and heading northwest in the general direction of Europe. The texts of these Assyrian clay tablets were not deciphered until about 1930. These Assyrian reports were saying in effect: “The last time we saw those sons of Omri (as the Israelites were called by the Assyrians), they were breaking away and heading in a northwesterly direction toward Europe.”

Not to inquire about this evidence, found by the prophesied “hunters”, would therefore be foolhardy; for there is nothing imprudent in Scripture! After all, who are we to condemn, repudiate, disavow or scoff at Jeremiah’s inspired written prophecy? If Jeremiah predicted “hunters”, you can be assured there would come a time for “hunting.” To accept the “fishers” without the “hunters” is to embrace only half of Yahweh’s Word!

Besides, all this is substantiated by the ‘apocryphal’ book that used to be in the original King James version of the Bible before they removed it, 2 Esdras 13:39-45. I have a 1611 edition of the KJV and it’s there:

“39 And whereas thou sawest that he gathered another peaceable multitude unto him; 40 Those are the ten tribes which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar the king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters and so came they into another land. 41 But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt. 42 That they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. 43 And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river. 44 For the most High then shewed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over. 45 For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is called Arsareth.” (Also check Josephus, Antiquities, 8:11:1; 10:9:7 and 11:5:2)

At this juncture, we can no longer say no one ever told us who the “hunters” are, or the people for whom they were “hunting”! As a matter of fact, our Redeemer made it quite clear who the people were to whom He was sent when He instructed His disciples, Matthew 10:5-6:

“5 These twelve Jesus (Yahshua) sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles (heathen), and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the HOUSE of Israel.”

This passage is reinforced by Yahshua the Messiah Himself when He said, Matthew 15:24:

“... I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

This coincides perfectly with Amos 3:2 where Yahweh speaks of Israel:

“You only (Israel) have I known of all the families of the earth ...”

These passages also accord with Deuteronomy 7:6 where:

“For thou art an holy (set apart) people unto Yahweh thy Mighty One: Yahweh thy Mighty One hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”

This is the same idea brought forth in, and conveys the same meaning as 1st Peter 2:9 which says:

“But ye are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar (set apart) people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (check Exodus 19:5-6)

The same concept is expressed in Psalm 147:19-20:

“19 He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. 20 He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they (the non-Israelites) have not known them.”

Again, the same thought is advanced in Deuteronomy 14:2 which says:

“For thou art a people set apart unto Yahweh thy Mighty One, and Yahweh hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the (other) nations that are upon the earth.”

For another rendering of the same basic precept, Isaiah 41:8 says the following:

“But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.”

Contrary to what some advance, Yahweh does not promote the doctrine of universalism.

MORE ON THE FISHERS AND HUNTERS

For this phase of this presentation, I will quote from Howard Rand’s Study in Jeremiah, pages 81-82 entitled “Fishers And Hunters” (I will use Yahweh (Tetragrammaton) instead of God):

“Yahweh sets forth the method by which He will bring Israel back to Himself. This is a most important prophecy for in sending for fishers and hunters the way in which Israel is to be awakened to spiritual values and to the need of obeying His Covenant is revealed to Jeremiah:

“Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith Yahweh, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. (Jeremiah 16:16)

“Who are these fishers and hunters and what is the particular task each is to perform in the respective fishing and hunting periods? The sending of these two groups designated as fishers and hunters indicates that there are two entirely different methods by which an appealp style= would be made to Israel. A fisherman patiently waits as he undertakes to snare the fish in a net or catch it on a line, but the hunter tramps through the woods and over the hills and mountains exerting energy and strength as he travels in search of his especially selected prey. Actually Jeremiah prophetically referred to the two distinct phases of the Gospel in their respective appeals to Israel for the purpose of bringing them back to covenant relationship with Yahweh. The first would require fishers and the period of their fishing is clearly defined by the events of the Gospel Age. The second would require hunters and the period of their activity would be at the end of the Gospel Age. This is demonstrated by the activities of those who have sought to establish the identity of Israel in these last days, hunting out the evidence and tracing Israel from Palestine, throughout her years of wanderings, to the present time. History reveals how faithfully the predicted fishing and hunting missions have been carried out by those chosen of Yahweh for each purpose.”

Now for some excerpts from this same book from pages 85, 86 & 87 on this same subject of the fishers and hunters:

Page 85: “The fishers were to be followed by many hunters according to Jeremiah, thus indicating a change in method and message. The task of the hunters was to search for Israel. The fisherman blindly casts his net and gathers into it all kinds of fish, some good and some bad. [Some Israelite which are to be kept, and some non-Israelite which are to be ‘cast away’ at the end of the world, Matthew 13:47-49.] That is not so with the hunter who seeks to find the particular object of his search. All this points to the modern endeavor to identify the House of Israel in the world today ...”

Page 86: “‘Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.’ (Matthew 10:23) ... But the Gospel of the Kingdom was to be proclaimed exclusively to the Israel peoples. All the cities and towns in the Israel lands have not yet heard this message which the hunters have been commissioned to proclaim ...”

Page 87: “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek Yahweh: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you. (Isaiah 51:1-2)”

THE NEW JERUSALEM

In the Book of Revelation, chapter 21, we are told of a city four-square having twelve gates in all. The city is described as having a great, high wall. There are three gates on each of its four sides, east, north, south and west, with the names of the twelve sons of Jacob-Israel. In order to enter this city, one is required to be able to enter the gate according to their tribe. Because nothing abominable will be allowed to enter, each one entering will have to be a racially pure Israelite with his father’s line going through one of the twelve Patriarchs. Unless one can enter through one of the gates named after the twelve Patriarchs, there simply is no other way into that city. If you are a racially pure Israelite, it was your father and mother who made it possible in qualifying for entering into that city. When we consider all of these things, it becomes quite evident why we must understand just who the “hunters” are of Jeremiah 16:16!

“JEWS” ARE NOT HIS SHEEP (John 10:26)

It may come as a surprise to many, but the “Jews” are not Israelites. I know that this is the message echoed throughout the Church-world and among the “Jews” themselves, but it simply is not true. And, wishful thinking is not going to make it so. Not one single “Jew” on the face of the world is an Israelite. Therefore, the biggest lie in the world is: “the ‘Jews’ are God’s chosen people.” The second biggest lie is: “Jesus was a ‘Jew.’” Anyone making these statements is a liar, or is repeating another person’s falsehood. Yahshua told the “Jews”, John 10:26: “... ye are not of my sheep.” The Interpreter’s Bible, volume 8, page 632: “In that case evidently you have no manner of kinship with me.” Again, Yahshua told the “Jews”, John 8:47: “He that is of Yahweh heareth Yahweh’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of Yahweh.” Yahshua further disassociated Himself from the “Jews” by saying to them, John 8:23: “... Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.” In Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, Yahshua said of the false Jews: “... I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews (sic of Judah), and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” From this, you can plainly see the “Jews” will not be able to enter the gate of the city mentioned in Revelation 21:12 which is inscribed “Judah.”

William MacDonald’s Believer’s Bible Commentary, pages 2356 & 2359 remarks thusly on Revelation 2:9 and 3:9:

“As Jews, they claimed to be God’s chosen people, but by their blasphemous behavior they showed that they were a synagogue of Satan ... Those who claimed to be God’s chosen people, though actually a synagogue of Satan, would be forced to admit that the despised Christians were actually the chosen flock.”

Matthew Poole’s Commentary On The Holy Bible, volume 3, page 954, goes one step further in identifying the “Jews” as being the descendants of Cain the murderer:

“But are the synagogue of Satan: but are indeed a collection of devils, or children of the devil, whose works they do, continually reviling true Christians, and murdering the saints, after the manner of their father, who was a murderer from the beginning.”

Cain was the murderer from the beginning who was fathered by Satan himself in the seduction of Eve. The “Jews” are actually genetic descendants of Satan himself walking about in shoe-leather. What does the future hold for Israel then? Jeremiah 46:28 says to our people:

“Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith Yahweh: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure: yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.”

Again, I ask the question: Who are the hunters? Don’t you think it is about time the pastors in the churches of our Israel lands are asked this question? Why is it that they refuse comment? After all, the subject of the “hunters” is in the Bible and it is not going to go away, and the Almighty is going to demand an answer to this question! In Isaiah 56:10-11, it speaks of “shepherds that cannot understand.” If our “shepherds” won’t inform us, in the end, it becomes the responsibility of each one of us to, (2 Timothy 2:15):

“Study to shew thyself approved unto Yahweh, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Bibles are available today, and we are without excuse!