There is so much online chatter on the topic of the Hebrew Israelite and who is or is not descended from the Patriarch Jacob. Many people wonder if being a descendant of slaves guarantees their being Israelites. To that I can only answer that there were Irish slaves in America just as there were other slaves all around the world. Many of these were also transported by ships. So, how do I know I am the right descendant of the slaves mentioned in Deuteronomy 28? Well, there are other markers that distinguish the Israelites besides the slave ships.

5-Step Challenge

I therefore thought I’d post this 5-steps Israelite challenge and hope you have fun going through it.

Step 1 – The hard labor challenge

Israelites were in Egypt for circa 430 years. They were enslaved with hard labor for 210 of those years (according to the book of Jasher). There was no sunscreen lotion available to protect them during this period of outdoor labor yet they were ok.

Here is the challenge; put on your shorts and Tee shirt and hit the outdoors in the summer with no sunscreens on. Stay outdoors for upto 7 hours between sunrise and sunset 7 days a week for three weeks. To be fully convincing, you can do this on your vacation in Egypt; otherwise, downtown LA is good enough. Remember, the key here is to not use sunblock.

Please not that you can terminate this challenge at anytime during the three weeks if you feel discomfort. After the three weeks, you can then re-evaluate your ancestry. If your skin is burnt, seared or singed at any point during this period, then you have failed this test. If you were comfortable working outdoors for long hours without sunscreen, then you’ve aced it.

Scoring: If you pass, you score a 3. If you fail you score 1.

Step 2 – The circumcision challenge

There is one distinguishing marker that exclusively identified the Israelites through out history – circumcision. This of course only refers to male circumcision. It was so important to the Most High and the Israelites that the Almighty sought to kill Moses for not circumcising his sons. Only his wife’s quick thinking saved him.

Though recently, it is also done for hygiene purposes, but traditionally, only the Israelites did this practice as a nation. It therefore doesn’t carry as much weight as it could have.

If you are an Israelite, it is likely that you are already circumcised. You may not have been given any other reason for it except that it is tradition. The captives on the slave ships were known to have continued the practice on their children. Even Esau was circumcised. Countries that ban circumcision are not Israelite countries, they are probably Canaanite or Japhetic ones.

If you are circumcised, excellent, you passed and can proceed to step three. If you are not circumcised, you failed, but it is ok. The Most High has provided a means of salvation through the Messiah for you too.

If you failed this step however and still believe that you are an Israelite, then it is time to sharpen the blades and to take the mark of the covenant. You know what to do, good luck.

Scoring: If you are circumcised you score 2. If not you score 1

Step 3 – The Y-DNA challenge

The most High tracks His people through paternal lineage as shown in Matthew chapter 1. Y_DNA is a great way to track paternal descent since it remains unchanged for upto 500 generations or 15000 years.

The Israelites all descended from Jacob (Israel), so they all should have the same Y-DNA haplogroup.

Using Deuteronomy 28 to track the slavery via ships of the people from the West African kingdom of Judah, we see that they primarily belong to the E1b1a Y-DNA haplogroup. It is logical therefore to conclude that the Hebrew Israelites are expected to have the E1b1a Y-DNA and its different subclades.

If you have this DNA, in my opinion, your genealogy is certain. If you don’t and you still think you are an Israelite, maybe it is time for you to sit grandpa down and ask some very serious questions. Note that women will have to get their direct male relatives to take the test.

Scoring: If your DNA is E1b1a, your score is 5. If not, you score 1.

Step 4 – The history challenge

The Bible recounts the story of how the Isrealites were displaced and became refugees a number of times. They therefore had to relocate multiple times making their history quite convoluted. Due to these migrations, you likely do not know your ethnic origins or your tribal history beyond a few centuries. Your tribe or nation has changed names several times. You are likely to also have a history of slavery during the transatlantic slave trade and don’t even know your ancestral family home or name beyond what the slavers gave you. Your ancestral history has been taken away from you.

Scoring: If the description above applies to you, you score 3. If it doesn’t, you score 2.

Step 5 – The hue-man challenge

The Bible describes the Israelites as Negroes with wooly hair and black faces. The fifth and final step is a color test. If your skin has a brown to black hue to it and you have passed most of the tests above, it is very likely that you are an Israelite.

Scoring: You score 2 if your skin color is brown to black. If not, you score 1.

How to tally and interpret your score

The maximum score attainable is 15, and the minimum is 6 points.

Scores 11-15. – Congratulations, you are an Israelite

Scores 9 -10. – You may be an Israelite, but you need further investigation. You probably just need a Y-DNA test done on you or your direct male relative (if you are a woman).

Scores 8 and below – you are most certainly not a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Regardless of what your score was, you’ve got to admit it was worthwhile taking the challenge. If you really did step 1, then you must have taken a lovely vacation 😀 That has to be at least worth the whole experience.

I will certainly like to know how you fared with the challenge. Do leave a comment at the bottom of the post.