Having been granted the privilege of a short rejoinder by way of reply to the new matter in Brother Bole's third (and final) negative, I proceed to notice the additional arguments brought forward.

      1. It is argued that two and one-half tribes of Israel never had any inheritance in Palestine--to wit, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, whose inheritance lay beyond the Jordan. But the land of the promise was not confined to the Palestine west of the Jordan. It extended "from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." (Gen. 15:18.) A glance at the map will reveal how vast an area beyond the Jordan belongs to Israel's promised land.

      2. In the very same chapter in which God says by Hosea that he will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel (the northern kingdom) he predicts also their future restoration. "The children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and shall go up from the land; for great shall be the day of Jezreel." Then the judgment of "Lo-ammi" ("not my people") and "Lo-ruhamah" ("not shown mercy") will be rescinded for them: "Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi ["my people"]; and to your sisters, Ruhamah ["shown mercy"]." The entire context shows this. For Hosea is especially prophesying to and about the northern kingdom--i. e., the ten tribes--and predicts their restoration. (Hos. 2:14-23; 3:4, 5.) This reunion of Israel with Judah and their joint restoration is also and plainly foretold in Jer. 31:1; 50:4, 5; Ezek. 37:21-24; Isa. 11:11-13, a prophecy not of any past event, but of Messianic times ("in that day"--that is, [77] according to Isa. 11:1-10, in the time of Christ's reign). This is yet to be fulfilled.

      3. "The genealogy of the Jews has been lost," says Brother Boles. "Where would he go should he return to Palestine?" The difficulty is God's, not ours. If God said, "Lo, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, . . . and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it" (Jer. 30:3)--why, I have no doubt God will have his own ways and means to carry out his promise to the letter, even though it may seem impossible to our eyes. "Is anything too hard for Jehovah?"

      4. Even if Brethren Barclay, Creath, and Milligan had differed radically on those Scriptures (I do not see any serious differences), that would not discredit those Scriptures nor prove them uninterpretable. Among our own circle of brethren I can collate widely differing views on important Bible subjects; yet we hold that the Scriptures can be understood. Again I must remind my brother that it matters not at all when, where, how, Israel is regathered or converted. I think I could easily justify all my former utterances on the subject and show how an unbelieving contingent shall have gone back to the Land before the great restoration takes place, and how I distinctly pointed out in the Word and Work that such a regathering as the present one, for instance (nor any mere return in unbelief), is not the promised restoration. But what has that to do with the proposition and the issue before us? [78]

[UP 77-78]