Speculations on why Christ said:

"I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel"  Matthew 15:24

Why did Christ say this puzzling thing?  First, you have to understand that the term "House of Israel" is very specific. Matthew 10:6,

“Do not go onto the road of the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.
vs6, "Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel."

FORENSIC CLUES ,,,,Who are the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel?

The House of Judah (2 tribes, Judah and Benjamin) went into captivity for 70 years, but they came back. The 10 Lost Tribes of the House of Israel never came back from their captivity. In 722 bc, they were taken north of the Euphrates up around the Black and Caspian Sea areas.  From there they pivoted and migrated into Europe and other areas. They did not go back down to Israel, the book of James is addressed to the 12 tribes "scattered abroad." Very clear they were not in Israel anymore, even from the time of Christ, which is why He called them lost.  They were lost to the world, but not to God.

People are small minded, and they say, well, these Israelites couldn't have migrated to Europe. They could and did. Look at the migrants in Europe now, they come from long distances. Remember how Herrod wanted to kill the Christ child, so his family took him to Egypt till the heat was off. How far is Egypt from Israel? As the crow flies, 400 miles, but by land transport, it's 700 miles one way.  The ancient world travelled extensively, and they were not as regressive as some think.  Remember, the Romans of Christ's time ruled Judah, and they ruled Britain too.  If the Romans were able to travel to the Middle East, the road runs both ways, and people of the Middle East could also travel to Europe and even to the Isles of the UK, and they did.

The term "The Isles" in the Bible is code for the Britannic Isles.
Britain at one time was called the Tin Isles, much of the tin from the Bronze Age came from the Tin Mines at Cornwall, England. (Tin+copper = bronze)

Eusebius, known as the Father of Church History, says “The Apostles passed beyond the ocean to the Isles called the Britannic Isles”. British Historian Gildas (A.D. 516-570) taught that these Isles of Britain received Christianity at the latter part of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Tiberius Caesar was the reigning Roman Emperor when Christ was crucified. He reigned from A.D. 14-37, therefore Christianity was introduced into Britain well before A.D. 37. And, well before the Roman Catholics arrived in Britain, in 597 AD.  Ask yourself a question, if early Christianity had been established in the British outposts for 600 years, how did it get there?

CHRIST SENT EARLY CHRISTIANITY TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL IN BRITAIN!

Christ clearly said, "I am not sent but to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel."  Are there any traditions in Britain that might show that Christ or the Apostles or disciples were in England?  Did Jesus as a boy and young man go there during the 18 missing years from age 12 to 30?  If He did, why did He go, and who took him? Are their any legends or British historical clues?  Yes, many, many, many!

A poem by British poet William Blake says,

"And did those feet in ancient time, walk upon England's mountains green, and was the holy Lamb of God, on England's pleasant pastures seen. And did the countenance divine shine forth on our clouded hills...." 

These words are the beginning of the song Jerusalem, which is Britain's beautiful unofficial anthem. They sing it so often, and don't understand that Christ was sent to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel...them.  We intend to show that Christ did go to Britain, to the lost sheep of Israel, and the British still sing of it to this day. When will they open their eyes, when will they awake from their long long sleep?  Find all this hard to believe?  Read on, look at some of the historical and biblical references.

As we said, if  Christianity was well and deeply established 600 years before the Catholic Church even stepped foot in Britain, how did it get there?  Sunday was not the day of worship until nearly 400 years after the death of Christ. The early Christians were Sabbath keepers.

"The historian Bede wrote in 603a.d.: "Now the Britons did not keep Easter [Latin Pascha , i.e., Passover] at the correct time but between the fourteenth and twentieth days of the moon . . . Furthermore, certain other of their customs were at variance with the universal practice of the Church. But despite protracted discussions, neither the prayers, advice, or censures of Augustine and his companions could obtain the compliance of the Britons, who stubbornly preferred their own customs to those in universal use among Christian [Catholic] Churches" (A History of the English Church and People , 731, Book 2, chap. 1; compare chap. 19; Book 3, chap. 25 translated by Leo Sherley-Price, 1955)."

These early Christians were keeping the Passover at the right time.  And the early true church were Sabbath keepers, for example, after Christ died, the women did not go down and put spices on his body until after the Sabbath was over. The true Church were law keepers,  And the true church of God still keeps the 10 commandments, including the 7th day of the week, the Sabbath.  Christ said, if you say you know me, and keep not my commandments you are a liar and the truth is not in you. Still true.  Anyone who doesn't keep the Law does not know the true Christ.

DID JOSEPH OF ARIMETHEA AND GREAT NEPHEW JESUS TRAVEL TO BRITAIN?

Historical clues are many

Who established early Christianity in Britain?  The Church of Glastonbury, England claims that the body of Joseph of Arimethea is actually buried there.  Who is this Joseph of Arimethea?  He was the younger brother of Mary's father. Ask yourself, why is there nothing in the Bible about Christ from age 12 to 30?  18 years of His life is missing.  What happened in those years?  Why was a wealthy tin merchant, Joseph of Arimethea who had business interests in Cornwall England's tin mines, given Christ's body by Pilate?  Below we will tell of a Cornish story that will interest you! How was this Joseph of Arimethea able to claim the body of Jesus with no trouble? Under both Jewish and Roman Law it was the responsibility of the NEAREST RELATIVES to dispose of the dead. There is a prophesy that might be referring to rich Joseph of Arimethea in Isaiah 53:9 where it says the Messiah would be buried with the rich. Joseph used his own tomb for Jesus' body, the tomb was at Golgotha, in an area where the rich were buried. 

IS TIN A CLUE?  CORNWALL TIN MINES, ENGLAND, recorded stories.

Joseph of Arimethea was a wealthy man, a tin merchant with the Roman title of Nobilis Decurio or Minister of Mines to the Roman Government. He took Jesus as a boy and teen with him on his travels.  Cornwall England, was one of the main sources of tin mining, worked by the Jews. The rock houses there were traditionally called Jew Houses.  There are many oral accounts, "Sabine Baring-Gould recounted a Cornish story how "Joseph of Arimethea came in a boat to Cornwall, and brought the child Jesus with him, and the latter taught him how to extract the tin and purge it of its wolfram. This story possibly grew out of the fact that the Jews under the Angevin kings farmed the tin of Cornwall."  Tin had been farmed from that area from the bronze age on.  In its most developed version, Joseph, a tin merchant, visited Cornwall, accompanied by his nephew, the boy Jesus. C.C. Dobson made a case for the authenticity of the Glastonbury legend."

   

Tin route from Israel to Cornwall, England,

Speculative information based on historical sources

Jesus Christ knew ahead that he would be rejected by His own, the Jews, who did not receive Him as their Messiah (yet!) and that He knew He was instead sent to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel, headquartered in the Isles of Britain. And He was the messiah of the early church that existed in Britain for 600 years before the Catholic Church arrived.  They were shocked to find it there already.

Amos 7:7-8 from the NET Bible reads: He showed me this: I saw the sovereign One standing by a tin wall holding tin in his hand. The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “Tin.” The sovereign One then said, “Look, I am about to place tin among my people Israel. I will no longer overlook their sin." The word anak is only used in this one passage, and is translated tin here but in most places it's translated plumb line, lead.

"The correction came via Akkadian. The Hebrew word ’anak (ךָאנ (ֲ only occurs in this passage. When scholars first came across the Akkadian cognate annaku, they thought it would mean lead. But annaku appears in many Akkadian texts. For example, the Assyrians had colonies in Anatolia (modern Turkey) from 1945-1740 BC. Letters between merchants and the colonies discuss importing annaku. Other texts mention combining annaku with copper to make bronze that resists corrosion. Bronze is made of copper and tin, not copper and lead. Tin is known to be in that area of Anatolia. So Akkadian annaku is not lead; it’s tin. Which in turn corrects our understanding of the Hebrew. (Anak is tin)." 

Maybe it is not an important point to most, but even if the point about tin is a small clue, that bears out that Christ was sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel, (He went to Britain) then it is eye-opening who the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel are.  Britain is one of the birthright tribes Ephraim. American is the other birthright brother Manasseh.  These are the 2 sons of Joseph, who received the inheritance.  Though they were half Egyptian, Jacob laid hands on them and crossing his arms he blessed them saying Epheriam would become a company of nations (British Commonwealth of Nations) and the Manasseh would become a single great nation."  He said "Let my name (Israel) be on them."  They are the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel, there were 10 tribes in the House of Israel, including the nations of Europe.  But, Moses and Jacob both prophesied that Joseph would be separated from his brethren.  They are separated from Europe by the Atlantic Ocean, and in Britain and the UK by the English Channel.  In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, they are separated from the brothers in Europe too. 

Isaiah 49 prophesies of the return of these Isles, the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel to God!  There will be an awakening when God opens the hearts and minds of Israel and shows them who they are.  He will reestablish them as the 12 joined tribes, it will truly be the United Kingdom of Israel then!  They will listen to Jesus Christ again someday, the real one, the Lord of the Sabbath, and the law of God, who will inherit the throne of David.  I will overturn, overturn, overturn no more, until He comes whose right it is.  Jesus Christ will someday rule the 12 tribes of the House of Israel. He will send a servant of God to speak to the Isles to the people of Israel from afar. They will listen and they will return to God.

"Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified." Isaiah 49:1