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.

The Ephraimite Jeroboam led a successful tax-revolt against Rehoboam, resulting in the division of Solomon's kingdom into two nations. The ten northern tribes formed the Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam, who instituted religious changes that became a sin for the house of Israel. This sin of the house of Jeroboam was so grave that it led to efforts to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth. Because of Jeroboam's refusal to obey God, he never realized the conditional promise God made to build him an enduring house. The children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not depart from them, causing the Lord to be very angry with Israel and remove them from His sight. God judges that backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah, despite Israel's idolatry and fall. Through prophets like Hosea, God warns Judah not to follow Israel's course of harlotry and idolatry, yet Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity, and Judah stumbles with them.

Though Israel had disappointed God, and He had punished them severely, He did not cast them off completely. He promised to sift the house of Israel among all nations, yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. Conventional wisdom declares the house of Israel, the northern ten tribes led by the half-tribes of Joseph, to be lost, but Jesus Himself declared He was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and He sent His disciples to them as well. He recognized that the bulk of ten-tribed Israel was not among the Jews of His day, implying other sheep not of that fold. The apostle James wrote an epistle around AD 60 to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, indicating he knew their whereabouts. When the Assyrians conquered Israel and dispersed her population, only the house of Judah remained in the Promised Land. Through prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Hosea, God provides directions to find where Israel lives in the last days, primarily to the north and northwest of Jerusalem. Israel, headed by Ephraim, would inhabit islands and coastlands far from Jerusalem, dominating as a sea power in the area of the North Sea, and be among the leaders of the world's nations in the end time. These clues, along with hints of colonization due to burgeoning population and prosperity, point to Britain as the location of Israelites, primarily of the half-tribes of Joseph, the birthright tribes. God places significance in names, as seen with Dan, whose name helps trace migratory Israel after captivity, with place names carrying Dan found throughout northwestern Europe. Additionally, God's promise to Abraham that in Isaac his seed shall be called, and Jacob's blessing on Joseph's sons to bear the names of the patriarchs, particularly Isaac, suggest Israel would call itself by Isaac's name in later times. Ancient records after Assyria's fall mention a new people around the Caspian Sea known as Sakai, Sacae, and other variations, believed to derive from Isaac, eventually becoming Saxon, a name associated with the Anglo-Saxon peoples of northwestern Europe and its colonies, aligning with biblical indications of Israel's location in the last days.

The House of Israel, often represented by the northern ten tribes led by Ephraim and Manasseh, is a central focus in understanding God's enduring covenant and promises. Though they have forsaken Him time and again, God has not utterly abandoned them, even when His righteous wrath led to their punishment and scattering among the nations. In Jeremiah 12:7-9, He declares, "I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest; it cries out against Me; therefore I have hated it." Yet, despite this forsaking, His desire is to show mercy and bring them back to favor, as seen in Ezekiel 20:44, where He states, "Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you for My name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel." God knows precisely where the House of Israel resides, even if they are considered lost to the world. In Matthew 15:24, Jesus affirms His mission, saying, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," and in Matthew 10:6, He instructs His disciples to "go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." This indicates that their location was known to Him and His followers, despite centuries passing since their dispersion. James 1:1 further supports this by addressing his letter to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, implying a dispersed yet identifiable people. Prophecies reveal that the House of Israel will return from the north and west, as stated in Jeremiah 3:12, "Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, 'Return, backsliding Israel,'" and in Isaiah 49:12, "Surely these shall come from afar; Look! Those from the north and the west." They are described as dwelling in the chief of the nations, in isles and coastlands afar off, indicating their presence in significant, powerful regions northwest of Jerusalem, as noted in Jeremiah 31:7 and Isaiah 41:1. Additionally, their pioneering and colonizing nature is foretold in Genesis 49:22, where Joseph's branches run over the wall, signifying a people who expand beyond boundaries. God's plan includes a second exodus for the House of Israel, gathering them from among the nations to their own land, as prophesied in Ezekiel 36:24, "For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land." This restoration is not based on their righteousness but for His name's sake, to uphold His reputation and fulfill His promises. His Word assures that though they have been sifted through the nations, not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground, for He marks them wherever they are, ensuring their ultimate return and redemption.