God first uses the name Israel to identify Jacob, the progenitor of the twelve tribes of Israel, as seen in Genesis 32:28 where He declares Jacob's name to be Israel for having struggled with God and men and prevailed. From this point, the Bible uses Jacob and Israel interchangeably. In Genesis 48:16, God through Jacob places the name Israel on the sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, not on Judah, indicating a distinction in God's view. The term "house of Israel" appears in various scriptures referring to all the tribes initially, but by the time of King Saul, God begins to distinguish Israel from Judah, attaching the name Israel to the other tribes apart from Judah. During King David's time, this distinction continues, with the house of Israel representing the ten tribes, as evidenced by their claim of ten shares in the king. Over 250 years before they became known as the Ten Lost Tribes, God reveals this division was already in place, excluding Judah from the name Israel unless referring to all the children of Israel. After Solomon's reign, a final separation occurs, with Israel comprising the ten tribes and Judah including Judah, Benjamin, and the Levites. After deportation, the house of Israel takes a path of historical oblivion, unlike Judah's path of prominence. The Bible consistently identifies as Israel those nations known as the Ten Lost Tribes, rather than the house of Judah. God indicates in Amos 9:9 that He will sift the house of Israel among all nations, yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground, affirming that to Him, the house of Israel is not lost and exists today. The Bible also speaks of a future reunification of the house of Israel and the house of Judah at the end of this age, implying the continued existence of the house of Israel alongside the house of Judah.

The mass expulsion of the children of Israel from Canaan by Assyrian and Babylonian kings left the land nearly devoid of Israelites. As a consequence of their habitual rejection of God's law, the people became slaves to Gentile nations. God established a specific duration for Israel's punishment, as recorded in Leviticus 26, where He states He will punish Israel for a length of seven times, referring to duration rather than intensity. Using the year-for-a-day principle, seven times equates to 2,520 years, beginning with the fall of the Kingdom of Israel in 718 BC and ending in AD 1802. This timeframe serves as a vital search criterion for identifying modern-day Israel. Scriptural evidence indicates that the punishment of the house of Israel persisted long after the initial deportation. Daniel, writing about 178 years after the fall in 718 BC, notes that the exiles of the Kingdom of Israel, referred to as those far off, had not returned. In about AD 31, Christ declares He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, indicating they were still lost and not returned to Canaan. Decades later, the apostle James addresses a letter to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, showing that the house of Israel remained in a state of punishment and exile more than 750 years after Assyria's conquest. Additional references, such as Ezekiel's symbolic act of lying on his side for 390 days to represent 390 years of punishment for the house of Israel, and Hosea's allusion to a progressive mercy after periods of affliction, reinforce the extended duration of this punishment. The calculated end of the 2,520-year punishment in AD 1802 provides a specific marker to trace the identity of modern-day Israel.

The history of Israel begins with Jacob, whose name was changed by God to Israel, marking his descendants as Israelites. Jacob fathered twelve sons, who became the forebears of the twelve tribes of Israel. The inheritance was split, with the scepter, the right to rule, going to Judah, and the birthright, the double portion of inheritance, bestowed upon Joseph, whose sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, were adopted by Jacob as half-tribes. During the time of monarchy, the tribes divided into two houses: the house of Israel, comprising ten tribes in the northern areas led by the half-tribes of Joseph, and Judah, including Judah, Benjamin, and most of Levi. After Solomon's death, the house of Israel rebelled against David's line, establishing their own monarchy under Jeroboam and soon falling into idolatry, rejecting the Levites, and breaking God's Sabbaths. Within just over two centuries, Assyria conquered the house of Israel, capturing many of its people, and as a whole, they never returned to Palestine. Though some post-captivity Israelites, identified as Scythians, briefly resettled their ancestral lands during Josiah's reign, they soon rejoined the main body of Israelites near the Caspian Sea. Meanwhile, Jeremiah's prophecy makes clear that David's dynasty would perpetually rule the house of Israel, not just Judah, underscoring the enduring significance of this division in God's plan.