by Ansley F. Rash

Before the outbreak of war a great deal of ignorance existed among British Israelites about our brethren on the Continent of Europe. Just as the Jews are not all Israel, so the British, although the majority, are not all Israel. As united Israel is to build the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God upon the earth, and usher in the new world order, it is time that we considered the matter a little more carefully than hitherto.

It is our privilege as Ephraim, the birthright tribe, the nation and company of nations, to act as host at this time to large numbers of our brethren and to many strangers from afar; to offer to them the shelter and protection of the Throne of David. Thus shall we fulfill our mission and invite others to share with us the security of this tight little island, this precious stone set in a silver sea, to which YEHOVAH God has been a wall of fire round about and the glory in the midst.

Even in the turmoil of this terrible tragedy [Second World War] which has engulfed the whole world, YEHOVAH God is working His purpose out by uniting the Israel people in preparation for the return of His Son to take the throne and reign.

Who are the brethren whom our forefather Jacob blessed with ourselves, and whence came they? I am going to write of a gallant people whose links with Britain, racially and culturally, are as strong as any in the world. They are the people who dwell in that lovely country so aptly described as "the land of the Midnight Sun."

Mention of Norway immediately conjures up visions of the hardy Vikings in their long-ships sailing to the uttermost parts of the earth. We recall how a band of Northmen led by Leif Eiriksson discovered America in AD 1000, four hundred years before the appearance of the Genoese Columbus. In his book Northmen of Adventure Charles Marshall Smith tells how the Asar, led by Odin, who was later deified by the Norsemen, left their home at Asgard on the east bank of the Don, migrated northward through Russia to the shores of the Baltic and finally crossed into Scandinavia. He also points out that the most reliable historian of those early days, Snorri Sturlason of Iceland, informs us that these Asar people were fair-headed, blue-eyed and big-bodied, a strong and dominant race mentally and physically.

Viking Ship

Students of British-Israel identity will note the similarity between Asgard and Arsareth, where the Ten Tribes were last heard of after throwing off the Assyrian yoke. [1] Another interesting point worth mentioning is that one of the signs of the Nordic culture was the perforated battle-axe, and the finest specimens of this weapon come from the two extremities of Europe. They were the handiwork of the Northmen of Scandinavia and the heroes who fought at Troy. Students of Israel identity will also remember that Brutus the Trojan, who laid the foundations of the City of London, was a great-grandson of Zarah, son of Judah.

It is, of course, quite impossible in a short article to deal with the long history of the Norwegian people, or to dwell at any length upon the influence they have exerted in past days upon the life and destiny of the British race. We must concern ourselves now with the last two centuries.

Inspired by the French revolutionaries' concepts of freedom, and modeled on the American Constitution, the Norwegian Constitution drawn up on 17 May, 1814, lays down that "the Kingdom of Norway is a free, independent, indivisible and inalienable Kingdom. Its form of Government is a limited and hereditary monarchy. The Evangelical Lutheran religion is the public religion of the nation. The inhabitants professing it are required to bring up their children in the same. The executive power is vested in the King, the legislative power in the Storting, and the judicial power in the Judicature." Two important general provisions in the Constitution are, firstly, that no person can be imprisoned without a trial, and, secondly, there shall be unlicensed printing and freedom of the press. Nobility was abolished in 1821.

Writing in the first issue of The Norseman, Dr Arne Ording, Lecturer in Modern History at the Nobel Institute, Oslo, since 1935, says: "From 1814 to 1939 Norway lived at peace, and this was a period of remarkable development for the Norwegian people. The country was largely industrialized, our foreign trade grew, our shipping fleet became one of the most important in the whole world, production for the open market extended to the rural districts, and the standard of living of the people became one of the highest in Europe. On the basis of the free Constitution, the social system became more and more democratic, and the peasants and the workers became the strongest elements in political life. Popular education and social legislation were steadily developed, and numerous professional and economic organizations were formed which brought large sections of the people into public affairs. Our art and science convinced the world that a nation's contribution is not dependent on the size of the population."

In Norway before the war, education was on as high a level as anywhere in the world. It was compulsory and even High School and University were free and available to all. There were no illiterate adults in Norway. The aim of the Norwegian Education Authorities was not only to establish literacy, but also to help the children to become efficient and right-minded citizens, to develop the individual personality and potentialities of every child. This system has played a very important part in the building of modem Norway. The children were not all to be cast in the same mould. They were to develop each according to his capacity, and here lies the best guarantee against intellectual regimentation, such as is common in Germany and Italy.

About 97 per cent of the population of Norway belong to the Evangelical Lutheran State Church, 1 per cent belong formally to no church, and the remaining 2 per cent are divided among Lutheran Free Congregations, Methodists, Baptists, and Congregations of Pentecost. There are only about 3,000 Roman Catholics and 1,400 Orthodox Jews.

Norway's contribution to the cultural life of the world must not be forgotten. The names of Ibsen, Bjornson, Svendson and Grieg will be honored wherever the true spirit of music and literature is appreciated. The name of Fridtjof Nansen, explorer, humanitarian and peace­maker, is written indelibly upon the long roll of fame. His work for the homeless and persecuted will be remembered in every land where the torch of freedom still burns.

Composed of 150 representatives, of whom one-third represent the towns and two-thirds the rural districts, the Storting -- that is, the Parliament -- is elected every four years by universal suffrage, women voting equally with men. The last election was in 1936; previous to that elections were held every third year. One quarter of the Storting is elected to constitute the Lagting, the other three-quarters forming the Odelsting; all laws are dealt with by both parts in separate sittings. There are fifteen permanent Parliamentary Committees.

Oslo City Hall

Norway, like Britain, is a country whose foreign trade is essential to her prosperity; and that trade is largely conducted with the British Empire and America. Norway, in time of peace, supplies Britain with products of great value, notably fish and minerals; and perhaps most important of all, Norway and Britain have a common interest as being both vitally dependent on the carrying trade which their merchant fleets conduct for other countries.

The Norwegians, like the British, are essentially a seafaring people, and have learned the lessons of the sea: the wide outlook, the tolerance of strange climates and ways of behavior, the habit of migration. As Professor Gilbert Murray has truly said: "Norway understands us. There is probably no nation with whom the average Englishman finds intercourse so easy and friendship so natural. There are possibly some qualities due to race; an honesty and simplicity, a certain intellectual laziness, a tendency to take things easily and not get excited, combined with a fierce fighting power if tempers are once lost."

Professor Murray further states: "If stability is to be found anywhere -- and without stability civilization is doomed -- it will be in Britain, Belgium and the Scandinavian Group. The inestimable treasure of what we call 'Christian civilization,' and the liberal humane culture which goes with it, is mainly in their hands to keep or to lose. When the first disorders of victory are over, it will be for these nations to stand together for the restoration and maintenance of that moderate and law-abiding public life which is the mark of civilized man."

The Norwegians are a sturdy nation, inhabiting the most northerly of all civilized countries. They have to work hard and use all their ingenuity to wrest a livelihood from nature. Indeed, 74 per cent of Norway is made up of mountains and moors, glaciers and lakes, which make magnificent scenery and attract tourists from all parts, but have very small productive value. Forests cover 23 per cent of the country and only 3 per cent of the surface is cultivated land.

To these stalwart people, our brethren and kinsmen, we stretch out our hand. A nation truly progressive in time of peace and valiant in war, we salute the Blue Cross of Norway and the Vikings who sail the seven seas, our comrades in arms, of one blood with ourselves, sharing common ideals of justice, truth and freedom.

"From Yangtse to Mississippi, from Dnieper and Don to Thames,
The same high purpose is glowing, the same bold spirit flames,
For eastern and western barbarian the reckoning hour draws nigh;
Satan has smitten a world, and a world will now reply!"
(A Norwegian poet).

End Note:

[1] That is one locality assigned to "Asgard." The original locality identified by Sir H. Rawlinson as Asagata of the Persians is in the very country of Israel's captivity.

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