From a reader:
Hello,
I really enjoyed your article on the tribe of Gad. I was somewhat shocked to find out you believe that West Germany is Gad. As a child, I always heard that Switzerland was Gad. My Dad’s family was from Stutgart and of the royal family there. I always believed I was an Assyrian. So if West Germany is the Tribe of Gad, and East Germany and Prussia are the Assyrians, what tribe is Switzerland? Also, is Austria part of Assyria as well? I am a History Major myself, so your articles are very Interesting to me. Thank you so much for sharing them. God Bless.
Regards,
Kenneth
My response:
Kenneth Schwab,
I am aware of the teaching by some that Switzerland was the tribe of Gad, but that teaching never had any documentation of much biblical support for it. Genesis 49:19 prophesies that Gad will be “overcome” (defeated) during the latter days but will rise to prominence before the latter days end. That doesn’t fit Switzerland at all, but it does very accurately foretell what happened to Germany in World War II until the present. Also, Deuteronomy 33:20 prophesies that Gad will “be enlarged” (become a nation with a large population) and that it will become aggressively militaristic against its neighboring nations. That describes Germany quite well, but doesn’t describe Switzerland at all; therefore, I think the identification of Germany as the modern Israelite tribe of Gad is a solid one. This information is examined in my book, “Israel’s Tribes Today.”
Switzerland is an amalgamated nation with three language groups: German, Italian and French so I do not regard it as being one single tribe of Israel in the latter days. Austria is a German-speaking nation which was not behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, so it is more likely to be Gadite than Assyrian. Also, while Gad was promised to have a large population, in future times, no such promise was given to the Assyrians by God. That also argues that the Austrians are more likely to be members of the tribe of Gad than any other Caucasian/Semitic group.
Steve Collins
