[ Strongs Hebrew Dictionary H01471: gôy ]
Apparently from the same root as H1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of {animals} or a flight of locusts: - {Gentile} {heathen} {nation} people.
In God's very first promise to Abraham, He used the word gôy (plural gôyim) three times, i.e He was not speaking of only one ethnic nation.
God's purpose for choosing Abraham was to make him the father of many (Gentile) nations, and through Abraham's seed (Jesus), to bless all families of the earth. This could no have come to pass if Abraham did not have a son called Isaac, who did not have a son called Jacob/Israel, who did not become the father of twelve sons, one of whom (Judah) became the patriarch of the tribe of Judah (the Jews), through whom God chose to bring the seed promised to Abraham (Jesus) into the world,
through Whom all the families of the earth are blessed (Jesus was born a Jew), and so Abraham became the father of a multitude of Gentile nations, just as God had promised.
The biblical scriptures are about THE seed of Abraham, who is Jesus the Christ.
Israel - the twelve tribes descended from Jacob/Israel's twelve sons - split into two kingdoms after the time of king Solomon: The northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judah.
THE NORTHERN KINGDOM
The tribe of Reuben - not "Jewish"
The tribe of Gad - not "Jewish"
The tribe of Asher - not "Jewish"
The tribe of Naphtali - not "Jewish"
The tribe of Dan (substituted with Manasseh in Revelation chapter 7) - not "Jewish"
The tribe of Simeon - not "Jewish"
The tribe of Levi - not "Jewish"
The tribe of Issachar - not "Jewish"
The tribe of Zebulun - not "Jewish"
The tribe of Joseph - not "Jewish"
THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM
The tribe of Benjamin - not "Jewish"
The tribe of Judah - "the Jews" - Judah being the ancestor of king David, the ancestor of Jesus the Messiah, according to the flesh (through his mother).
So out of the 10 tribes of the Northern kingdom, which tribe's patriarch is the patriarch of the Jews?
None of them.
Out of the two tribes of the Southern kingdom, which tribe's patriarch is the patriarch of the Jews?
Judah. (Bejamin's descendants became amalgamated with Judah's descendants - the Jews - over time).
Neither were Ephraim, son of Joseph, a Gentile born in Egypt to an Egyptian mother, whose descendants Jacob/Israel prophesied would become "the fullness of the Gentiles" (or "a multitude of nations"), and his descendants, Jewish.
Neither were Manasseh, son of Joseph, a Gentile born in Egypt to an Egyptian mother, and his descendants, Jewish.
The vast majority of all the above descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were exiled from Israel by the Assyrian king in 725 B.C, ceased being a nation before God, and became scattered among the nations, where their descendants have continued to intermarry with Gentiles in the nations to this day.
THE TEN NORTHERN TRIBES CEASED BEING A NATION BEFORE GOD
In Isaiah 7:8 (and many other passages in the books of the prophets) the ten northern tribes of the house of Israel are collectively called Ephraim:
"Ephraim shall be broken so that it shall not be a people." -- Isaiah 7:8
Circa 725 B.C - over 700 years before the time of Christ - when God judged the house of Israel (a.k.a Ephraim) for its idolatry (at the hand of the Assyrian king), the overwhelming majority of the ten northern tribes of Israel were exiled, but God continued, at the time, to have mercy upon the southern kingdom, a.k.a the house of Judah.
From circa 725 BC, and following their exile after the invasion of the Northern kingdom by the king of Assyria, which resulted in the ending of the Northern kingdom, the house of Israel became scattered among the nations. It ceased being a nation before God; and the descendants of the 10 tribes of the house of Israel intermarried with the Gentiles in the nations after their dispersion, to the point where over time "the lost ten tribes" are untraceable today.
It's not that the descendants of the 10 tribes of Israel no longer exist in the world - but even if it were possible for someone to discover that his genetic ancestry is partly of Israel's ten sons whose descendants were judged by God in circa 725 B.C, that person will have many Gentiles in his ancestry too.
Jacob (Israel), Joseph, & Ephraim
On his death-bed, and blessing his two grandsons (the sons of Joseph), this is the prophecy Jacob (Israel) gave to his son, Joseph, regarding Joseph's second-born son, Ephraim:
Genesis 48:17-19
"When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim's head, it displeased him. So he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head."
But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He (Manasseh) too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother (Ephraim) will be even greater and his descendants will become [the fullness of the Gentiles]* a multitude of nations."
* [ Hebrew, m'lo gôy: (the) fulnness (of the) Gentile (nations) ].
Joseph is a biblical type of Jesus, and Joseph took one wife - a Gentile woman. His children were born in Egypt, and were Gentiles, but they were part of Israel, the seed of Israel (Jacob), the seed of Abraham. Ephraim's seed became "the fullness of the Gentiles" (the Hebrew wording of Genesis 48:19).
(Note: The blood of Christ became necessary to receive God's grace and have a relationship with God the very moment Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil):
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all will be made alive." -- 1 Corinthians 15;22
John 11:25
"Jesus said to her, I am the Resurrection and the Life! He who believes in Me, though he die, yet he shall live."
John 14
6 Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.
It's being in Christ through faith in the Word of God that always mattered, regardless of genetic ancestry:
"For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." (Romans 4:3).
Whether Noah, Abraham, or Moses, the way to receive God's grace is through faith in the Word of God, i.e believing God. Noah believed God. Abraham believed God. Jesus is the Word of God who became a human being when He came to die for the sins of Adam and Eve and all their descendants.
In the books of the prophets in the Bible, depending on the context of the passage and who is being spoken to in the writings of the prophets, the name "Israel" could be referring to:
* The northern kingdom only; or
* To both kingdoms (i.e both the house of Israel and the house of Judah); or
* It could also be referring to the Jews or "the house of Judah" only.
Therefore when reading Old Testament prophecy it's important to know the historical background, and to pay attention to what the prophet is saying (or what God is saying through the prophet), so that the reader is aware of which kingdom is being spoken about, or spoken to. In this way you will understand that in its Old Testament context, the prophecy quoted below where God says, "You are not My people" is referring only to "Ephraim" a.k.a "the house of Israel" (not to the Jews or "house of Judah"):
Hosea 1:6b-11a
“For I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel. But I will utterly take them away.
But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.
Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for all of you are not my people, and I will not be your God.
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, All of you are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, All of you are the sons of the living God.
Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head".
Note: There was a small remnant of (the house of) Israel/Ephraim that escaped to Judah when the above prophecy was fulfilled, but the above prophecy is not referring to them.
PROBLEM: "Ephraim shall be broken so that it shall not be a people." -- Isaiah 7:8
The house of Israel ceased being a nation circa 725 B.C. They are no longer one nation.
By the time the apostle Paul made the following statement, the seed of Ephraim/the house of Israel had become mixed with the seed of the Gentiles:
"What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared unto glory,
Even us, whom he has called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
As he says also in Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, All of you are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God." (Romans 9:22-26).
Right there Paul included Gentiles who believe in Jesus in a prophecy that in its context in Hosea speaks only of the house of Israel/Ephraim.
Hosea 1:6
"And she conceived again and bore a daughter. And God said to him, Call her name No-mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel. But I will utterly take them away."
They never returned, and they ceased being one nation before God. Yet Peter said to Gentiles who believe in Jesus:
1 Peter 2:9-10
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You once were not a people, but now you are God's people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy."
Paul said the same thing numerous times and in various ways:
Romans 4:16-17
Therefore it is of faith so that it might be according to grace; for the promise to be made sure to all the seed, not only to that which is of the Law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it has been written, "I have made you a father of many nations") --before God, whom he believed, who makes the dead live, and calls the things which do not exist as though they do exist.
The seed of Abraham through whom all nations are blessed, and in whom all the promises of God and covenants are fulfilled, is not Isaac and Jacob, but Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20; Galatians 3:16).
The first promise to Abraham was that he would become the father of many nations.
Colossians 3:11
There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, slave or freeman, but Christ is all things in all.
The reason Paul gives in Ephesians 2:11-13 as to why they who were Gentiles (the nations) had been strangers and aliens before the time of Christ, is not because they were not "born of Israel", but because they had been without Christ:
Ephesians 2:11-13
Therefore remember that you, the nations, in time past were in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
and that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who were once afar off are made near by the blood of Christ.
In Romans 9:6-27 Paul said,
"Not however that the word of God has failed, for not all those (who are born) of Israel are Israel; nor because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. But, "In Isaac shall your Seed be called.".
What Paul meant by that, is that it's of God and God's election of those who are of the faith of Abraham: It has nothing to do with the flesh, or the fact that Isaac and his descendants, (today collectively called "the Jews"), are the natural descendants of Abraham.
The 10 Northern tribes ceased being an (one) ethnic nation. However, the unbelieving part of Judah ("the Jews") ceased being part of the elect before God, having been broken off from the Israel of God (completely) through their rejection of Christ - but Israel still exists because the remnant of the Jews in Christ remain (through their faith in Christ), and together with Ephraim / the fullness of the Gentiles, they are God's one and only Israel:
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision has any strength, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. -- Galatians 6:15-16
Individual Jews will be grafted back in again - under one condition:
Romans 11: 23: "And those also, IF they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in. For God is able to graft them in again."
IF they do not continue in unbelief (for those individuals who turn to faith in Christ) they will be grafted in again - but God's Israel does not revert back to an ethnic nation, because Israel is in Christ - Christ alone, the one and only, the seed of Abraham who was promised - and God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations.
A time came when God promised:
"I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more." -- Jeremiah 31:31-33.
Jesus said, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission (forgiveness) of sins." -- Matthew 26:28.
So the apostle Paul reminded the church at Rome that long before Christ came into the world it was written that, "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant with them, when I have taken away their sins." -- Romans 11:26.
Many Christians mistakenly read Romans 11:20-32 as a future event because they completely miss, or at the very least downplay the fact that Paul provides the timing for what he is saying about ALL Israel being saved, with the above words.
In Romans Chapter 11 Paul teaches that those who are natural descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but do not believe in Jesus, have been broken off from the elect and the promises to Abraham and his seed (the Israel of God). Gentiles who believe in Jesus are being grafted in among the remnant of the natural descendants who do believe. The natural branches who have been broken off through their unbelief will be grafted in again IF they do not continue in unbelief.
This has been an ongoing reality since Jesus died for our sins and rose again: The Deliverer who came out of Zion is a reference to Jesus, who came out of Zion and took away our sins, nearly 2,000 years ago. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have received the New Covenant, as God promised through the prophet Jeremiah; and salvation - both of believing Jews and believing Gentiles - has come, and it's in Christ.
However, because most of the natural branches have been broken off through unbelief, it means, as Paul puts it, that in all this time blindness in part has happened to Israel (blindness has come upon part of Israel - the part that has been broken off through their unbelief) and this sad reality will continue until "the fullness of the Gentiles" has come in. Then the end of this Age will come, when Jesus returns.
Many other Christians, though, have developed a wrongful and very sinful attitude towards Jews who do not believe. Instead of understanding that "For all (of us) have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" -- Romans 3:23-24, they read instead,
"For all unbelieving Jews have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and so are not being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, but are condemned."
The gospel truth is that no one - Jew or Gentile - is better than another, "For all (of us) have sinned and come short of the glory of God", and we are all saved by the grace of God alone, not by our own works, and whether Jew or Gentile, "He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the Light, because their deeds were evil." -- John 3:18-19.
The only way to be part of the elect Israel of God is to be in Christ through faith in Christ, i.e to be one of the Messiah's people, and without faith in Christ anyone who is a natural descendant of Jacob (Israel) is broken off (Romans 9:6; Romans chapter 11).
It's the house that God built, and it should be marvelous in our eyes. Sadly, many Christians do not believe it.
Joining of the house of Israel & the house of Judah into one nation
"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as were baptized into Christ, you put on Christ. There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is no male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise."
So since this is how (and it can only be how) all are joined into one nation (in Christ), then this has been taking place (present, ongoing tense) since the first century. "The fullness of the Gentiles" (Romans 11:25) is being gathered in. Is it any wonder that Paul included the Gentiles in the fulfillment of Hosea 1:10-11 when he quoted this part of Hosea's prophecy in Romans 9:22-26?
The twelve tribes in Revelation Chapter 7
Only two of the twelve tribes of Israel listed in that chapter are citizens of "the house of Judah" (Benjamin & Judah). The other ten are "Ephraim". Dan is omitted from the list and replaced with Ephraim's elder brother, Manasseh, but Ephraim is not mentioned in the list - but the very next verse sums up all twelve tribes:
"After these things I looked, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palms in their hands." (Revelation 7:9).
In Romans 3:1-2 Paul writes, "What, then, is the advantage of the Jew? or what the profit of the circumcision? Much in every way; for first, indeed, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God"; and in Romans 9:4-5 Paul writes that the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law-giving, the service, the promises, and the fathers are of Israel, of whom is the Christ (according to the flesh), "who is over all, God blessed to the ages. Amen."
Joseph , the father of Ephraim, is a type of Jesus, who is a descendant of Judah. So Paul makes it very clear in Romans chapters 8 through 11 that regardless of man's hubris, self-exaltation and self-flattery, God's election is God's election; and God's first promise to Abraham was that Abraham would become father of a multitude of (Gentile) nations (gôy).
What about the restoration to the land of their fathers
promised to the house of Israel and the house of Judah?
In the Revelation, the blessings promised to both (a) those who come out from great tribulation (Revelation Chapter 7); and (b) to the saints in the New Heavens and New Earth, are the same blessings:
Revelation Chapter 7
Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple. And He sitting on the throne will dwell among them.
They will not hunger any more, nor thirst any more, nor will the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will feed them, and will lead them to the fountains of living waters. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes."
Revelation Chapter 21
"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
To him who thirsts I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes."
- Ezekiel Chapters 36-39 promise the whole house of Israel that the tabernacle of God will be in their midst forevermore.
- Ezekiel Chapters 40-48 describe a new city and a new temple.
- Revelation Chapters 7 & 21 describes a new city, and the tabernacle of God dwelling among those who came out of great tribulation, and those who overcame.
- In Revelation Chapters 11 and 21, the tabernacle of God and the holy city are measured.
- Ezekiel Chapters 40-48 give detailed dimensions of a new city and tabernacle.
- The river of Life and trees growing on either side of its banks producing fruit which is for the healing of the nations is seen running out from the temple in both Ezekiel and in the Revelation (Ezekiel 47:1-12; Revelation 22:1-2).
- Revelation Chapter 20's thousand years closes with the armies of Gog / Magog coming against "the camp of the saints".
- In Ezekiel Chapters 38 & 39, Gog & Magog's war is against the people who had already been gathered back into the land of their fathers (Ezekiel 36:16-18 and Ezekiel 39:23-29). This is after the house of Israel and the house of Judah had been joined again into one nation (Ezekiel 37:15-28; Hosea 1:11; Galatians 3:28)
God's first promise to Abraham has been realized: Abraham has become the father of a multitude of (Gentile) nations. The house of Israel and the house of Judah (i.e "the whole house of Israel") is being joined into one nation in Christ.
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