Who is the Israel of the Bible? It is not solely the house of Judah or the modern nation of Israel, but rather, God applies the names Israel and the house of Israel to what has become known as the Ten Lost Tribes. Judah is included only when those names identify all the tribes descended from the patriarch Jacob, whom God later renamed Israel. While these tribes are lost to the world and to themselves, they are not lost to God, and prophecies indicate that they will exist in the last days and be reunited with the house of Judah. God gives a prophecy through Jacob in Genesis 49, providing distinct identifying characteristics for each of his sons that apply to their descendants in the last days. These prophetic descriptions suggest that each tribe is an identifiable people or nation today. For those who believe that we are living in the last days, these prophecies are relevant and must be taken seriously, as God gave them for a purpose specific to our present time. In Genesis 49, Jacob's prophecy about Simeon and Levi indicates they are scattered among the tribes of Israel, implying that the other tribes are not scattered but have formed into nations. Therefore, just as Judah has formed into a recognizable nation, the other tribes, especially those larger than Judah, are expected to have done the same. We are looking for countries and peoples extant today that fit the profiles given by God to Jacob in Genesis 49. Regarding Judah, the house of Judah has not lost its identity, and the link between Judah today and the prophecy in Genesis 49 is evident. Jacob ascribes a trait to Judah that their brothers will praise them and they will defeat their enemies, a characteristic seen in the modern descendants of Judah through their military victories and leadership. Genesis 49 also highlights Judah's role in rulership and leadership among the tribes, a gift ordained by God, evident in the overrepresentation of Judah's descendants as leaders in various fields today. Beyond Judah, the prophecy also gives prominence to Joseph, with clues pointing to the Western democracies as potential locations for Judah's lost brothers. The prophecies about Joseph apply to both his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, indicating their significance among the tribes. To understand and heed the warnings in biblical prophecies about the last days, it is crucial to identify who the Israel of the Bible is in today's world.

God first uses the name Israel to identify Jacob, the progenitor of the twelve tribes, as seen in Genesis 32:28 where He declares, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." From this point, the Bible uses Jacob and Israel interchangeably. In Genesis 48:16, Israel blesses Joseph's sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, saying, "Let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth," thus placing the name Israel specifically on these sons, not on Judah. Initially, the term "house of Israel" refers to all tribes, but by the time of King Saul, God begins to distinguish Israel from Judah, attaching the name Israel to the other tribes excluding Judah. This distinction is evident over 250 years before the ten tribes become known as the Ten Lost Tribes, showing that the name Israel does not include Judah unless God speaks of all the children of Israel collectively. After Solomon's reign, a final separation occurs, with Israel comprising the ten tribes and Judah including Judah, Benjamin, and the Levites. The Bible consistently identifies as Israel those nations known as the Ten Lost Tribes, rather than the house of Judah. Although the house of Israel may seem lost to themselves and the world, God affirms in Amos 9:9, "For surely I will command, and will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve; yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground," indicating that He knows their existence and location even today.

The mass expulsion of the children of Israel from Canaan by Assyrian and Babylonian kings left the land nearly devoid of Israelites, with the theocracy and monarchy gone, and the people enslaved to Gentile nations as a consequence of their habitual rejection of God's law. God established a specific time to terminate Israel's punishment, which becomes a vital search criterion for identifying modern-day Israel. In Leviticus 26, God promises blessings for obedience and punishment for disobedience, using the phrase "seven times more" to indicate the duration of punishment, not its intensity. This duration is calculated as seven prophetic times, equaling 2,520 years, based on the year-for-a-day principle, with each prophetic year being 360 days. Scriptural evidence shows that Israel's punishment extended far beyond a mere seven years. Daniel, writing about 178 years after Israel's deportation in 718 BC, indicates that the exiles of the Kingdom of Israel had not returned. In about AD 31, Christ stated He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, showing they were still lost and not returned to Canaan. Decades later, the apostle James addressed a letter to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, confirming that the house of Israel remained in exile and under punishment more than 750 years after Assyria's conquest. Additional records, such as II Esdras from AD 81 to 96, affirm that ten-tribed Israel was still in captivity at that time. Prophetic references, like Ezekiel lying on his side for 390 days to represent 390 years of punishment and Hosea's allusion to revival after symbolic days representing years, reinforce the year-for-a-day principle. Thus, the punishment of "seven times more" in Leviticus 26 spans 2,520 years, beginning with Israel's fall in 718 BC and concluding in AD 1802, providing a precise criterion to identify modern-day Israel.