The Two House Teaching of Scripture Part 2
Review
In
this study I want to come to an understanding of the “two houses of Israel”
that are referred to in scripture. Who
are they? Are we as believers in
Yeshua part of one of the houses? The
important thing is to find out what scripture has to say!
Eze
37:16
"And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, 'For
Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick
and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of
Israel, his companions.'
Eze
37:17
"Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that
they may become one in your hand.
Eze
37:18
"When the sons of your people speak to you saying, 'Will you not
declare to us what you mean by these?'
Eze
37:19
say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will take the stick
of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his
companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make
them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."'
According
to this famous prophecy, which has yet to be fulfilled, there are two
groups of people that will be joined in the last days, becoming one in
Yahweh’s hand.
One is the
stick of Joseph in the hand of Ephraim, and one is the stick of Judah. Note
that each stick has “companions”! So we cannot ignore scripture… there are two
“sticks” or “houses” of Israel. The
important thing is to understand who they are, and how Yahweh views them.
There is
much misunderstanding within “Messianic Judaism” about the “two house
teaching”. In this study I want
to look at:
-
The history of the 12 tribes of Israel
-
How the tribes were dispersed into the nations
-
Where they are now
-
Their future regathering
-
Whether we as believers in Messiah Yeshua are part of Israel
-
Some of the concerns of the “two house teaching” within Messianic
Judaism.
We saw in
Genesis 11 that Yahweh scattered the peoples of the earth by confounding their
language:
Gen
11:6
The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the
same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they
purpose to do will be impossible for them.
Gen
11:7
"Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they
will not understand one another's speech."
Gen
11:8
So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole
earth; and they stopped building the city.
Then in
Genesis 12, Abram was called to be a blessing to all the
nations of the earth:
Gen
12:1
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from
your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;
Gen
12:2
And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your
name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
Gen
12:3
And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will
curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be
blessed."
Abram/Abraham
is called to bless all the families of the earth, not
take their place or be more important than they are.
We saw a
progression of “seed and soil” promises.
The promise of Abraham’s seed to be a blessing to all the nations of
the earth, and that his descendants will inherit the land.
This “seed” will come through Isaac:
Gen
21:12
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of
the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee,
hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
The word
for “called” is Strong’s 7121, qara, and it means, among other things
(please look up the word for yourself):
“To
be called out, invited or chosen.”
Abraham’s
descendants are to become:
-
As the dust of the earth
-
As the stars in the sky
-
As the sand on the seashore
The
promise of a multitude of descendants was given to Abram/Abraham, and that
promise followed down through Isaac and Jacob/Israel.
We saw an evolution of the phrase “multitude of nations” as we
progressed down the line.
Abraham:
“hamon goy” A
bustling tumult of peoples that will be lifted up or exalted.
Jacob:
“qahal am”
An assembly or congregation, possibly religious, of kindred people.
Israel:
“qahal goy”
An assembly or congregation, possibly religious, of peoples that will be
lifted up or exalted.
Ephraim:
“melo goy”
A fullness, accomplishment, and satisfaction of peoples that
will be lifted up or exalted.
We saw
that the meaning of the name “Joseph” (Strong’s H3130 Yoseph) is “Yahweh
has added”. The root word is
Strong’s H3254 which means “to add, increase, do again; to join or join
oneself to; to cause to add or increase”.
So the
name Joseph is a picture of joining or being joined to Yahweh.
Joseph’s
sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, were born to him in Egypt before the famine came.
Years later, Jacob blesses the boys:
Gen
48:1
Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, "Behold,
your father is sick." So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with
him.
Gen
48:2
When it was told to Jacob, "Behold, your son Joseph has come to
you," Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed.
Gen
48:3
Then Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in
the land of Canaan and blessed me,
Gen
48:4
and He said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous,
and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give
this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.'
Gen
48:5
"Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt
before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as
Reuben and Simeon are.
Gen
48:6
"But your offspring that have been born after them shall be yours;
they shall be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance.
Gen
48:7
"Now as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow,
in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go
to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)."
Gen
48:8
When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, "Who are these?"
Gen
48:9
Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me
here." So he said, "Bring them to me, please, that I may bless
them."
Gen
48:10
Now the eyes of Israel were so
dim from age that he could not see.
Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
Gen
48:11
Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face, and
behold, God has let me see your children as well."
Gen
48:12
Then Joseph took them from his knees, and bowed with his face to the
ground.
Gen
48:13
Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left,
and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right, and brought them close to
him.
Gen
48:14
But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of
Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, crossing
his hands, although Manasseh was the firstborn.
Gen
48:15
He blessed Joseph, and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham
and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
Gen
48:16
The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; And may my
name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may
they grow into a multitude in the midst of
the earth."
Gen
48:17
When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, it
displeased him; and he grasped his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's
head to Manasseh's head.
Gen
48:18
Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the
firstborn. Place your right hand on his head."
Gen
48:19
But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know; he also
will become a people and he also will be great. However, his younger
brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude
of nations."
Gen
48:20
He blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will pronounce
blessing, saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!'" Thus he
put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Gen
48:21
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will
be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
Gen
48:22
"I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took
from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow."
The
promise of a “multitude of nations” that was first given to Abraham is
continuing through Ephraim. However
the promise of the land is not spoken over Ephraim, because the promise
of the land is for all Israel, not just Ephraim.
The word
used above for “multitude” when speaking to both
Ephraim and Manasseh in Gen. 48:16 is Strong’s H7230, rob.
It means multitude, abundance, greatness, numerous.
The root
word is H7231, rabab, which means to become many, much or great.
The word
used for “multitude” when Jacob is blessing Ephraim alone in
Gen. 48:19 is Strong’s H4393, melo, which means fullness, that
which fills, fullness, handful, mass, multitude, entire contents, full length,
full line.
The root
word is Strong’s H4390, male, which means to be full, fullness,
abundance, to be accomplished, to be ended, to be satisfied, to complete.
This word
carried a much different meaning… one of satisfaction, abundance, fullness,
completeness.
Now that
we have reviewed, let’s continue on with Ephraim:
Ephraim
was born to Joseph in the land of Egypt before the years of famine came.
Let’s look at the meaning of the name Ephraim:
H669
אפרים
'ephrayim
BDB
Definition:
Ephraim
= “double ash-heap: I shall be doubly fruitful”
1)
second son of Joseph, blessed by him and given
preference over first son, Manasseh
(He
was actually blessed by Jacob)
2)
the tribe, Ephraim
3)
the mountain country of Ephraim
4)
sometimes used name for the northern kingdom (Hosea or Isaiah)
5)
a city near Baal-hazor
6)
a chief gate of Jerusalem
Part of
Speech: noun proper
masculine
A
Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: dual of H672
H672
אפרתה
/ אפרת
'ephra^th
/ 'ephra^tha^h
BDB
Definition:
Ephrath
or Ephratah = “ash-heap: place of fruitfulness”
1)
a place near Bethel where Rachel died and was buried (noun proper
locative)
2)
another name for Bethlehem (noun proper locative)
3)
wife of Caleb (noun proper feminine)
Part of
Speech: see above in
Definition
A
Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H6509
H6509
פּרה
pa^ra^h
BDB
Definition:
1)
to bear fruit, be fruitful, branch off
1a)
(Qal) to bear fruit, be fruitful
1b)
(Hiphil)
1b1)
to cause to bear fruit
1b2)
to make fruitful
1b3)
to show fruitfulness, bear fruit
A
Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: a primitive root
The root word for Ephraim is the word for “fruit”!
You may remember from my new age study, that fruit represents
not only our actions, but what we speak or confess.
The spirit of antichrist does not confess that Yeshua came in the flesh.
Someone who is fruitful will have not only good deeds, but positive
speech or confession… they will declare that Yeshua did come in the flesh!
So Ephraim represents double fruitfulness, not only in the number of
offspring that will populate the earth from that tribe, but in the walk
that they are called to. Could
this be a picture of having the testimony of Yeshua and keeping the commandments
of Yahweh? Could this be a picture
of Ephraim sharing the good news of Yeshua with the nations?
Part of
the meaning of the word for “fruit” above is “to branch off”.
This brings to mind Romans 11 where Paul describes the natural branches
being broken off, and others grafted in:
Rom
11:17
But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive,
were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the
olive tree,
Rom
11:18
do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember
that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports
you.
Let’s
continue on with the history of the tribe of Ephraim, and Joseph his father.
As mentioned, he was born in the land of Egypt before the years of
famine. His father was Joseph, one
of the greatest pictures of the Messiah in scripture.
His mother was a “gentile”, a daughter of an Egyptian priest.
There are
several curious things about the account of Jacob blessing Ephraim and Manasseh
in Genesis 48:
Joseph
goes to Jacob before the gathering and blessing of all the sons in
Genesis 49.
Jacob
reiterates the promise of the offspring and the land to Joseph in Genesis 48:4.
Jacob
reiterates the promise of the offspring to Ephraim, but he does not reiterate
the promise of the land to Ephraim.
Jacob
adopts Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons.
Jacob
specifically mentions Rachel being buried in Ephrath (Bethlehem) which is in the
definition of the name of Ephraim.
In 48:10
it’s indicated that Jacob’s eyes are too dim to see, yet he sees Ephraim and
Manasseh and comments about being able to see them, and it seems as though he
has not seen or met them before this day. This
is an indication of Jacob “seeing” through spiritual eyes, not physical
eyes.
Jacob
crosses his hands in order to put his right hand on Ephraim, putting him before
Manasseh.
He gives a
double portion to Joseph, effectively making Joseph the firstborn
among the 12 with the birthright, and Ephraim means “doubly
fruitful“.
Gen
48:21
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will
be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
Gen
48:22
"I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took
from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow."
We must
remember that being given a double portion does not mean he was worth more, or
more important. It means that he
had to “shoulder the responsibility” of the firstborn. Being given a double portion puts him in the position of
being responsible for his brothers, to redeem them if they get into trouble.
Not just to have twice as much “stuff” to keep for himself.
Joseph certainly became responsible for his brothers and shouldered the
responsibility in a big way when he was sold into Egypt and became second only
to Pharaoh, being a picture of the Messiah Yeshua!
Remember, Jacob reiterated the promise of the offspring and the
land to Joseph. Since he is
effectively the firstborn now, he has the responsibility of carrying that
blessing.
Reuben was
physically Jacob/Israel’s firstborn son.
However, he defiled his father’s bed, and therefore the birthright was
taken from him. In Genesis 48:22,
Jacob blesses Joseph and gives him a double portion, which is the blessing of
the firstborn. Then in Genesis 49,
Jacob confirms that he has taken that birthright away from Reuben:
Gen
49:1
Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, "Assemble yourselves that I
may tell you what will befall you in the days to come.
Gen
49:2
"Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; And listen to Israel
your father.
Gen
49:3
"Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and the beginning of my
strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
Gen
49:4
"Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence,
Because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it--he
went up to my couch.
Gary
mentioned several weeks ago that the word for portion used in
Genesis 48:22 when Joseph was given the birthright was the word “Shechem”.
Let’s look at that verse again:
Gen
48:21
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will
be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
Gen
48:22 "I give you one portion
more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword
and my bow."
H7926
שׁכם
shekem
BDB
Definition:
1)
shoulder, back
1a)
shoulder, shoulder-blade
1b)
back (in general)
Part of
Speech: noun
masculine
A
Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H7925
H7925
שׁכם
sha^kam
BDB
Definition:
1)
to rise or start early
1a)
(Hiphil)
1a1)
to rise early, make an early start
1a2)
early (as adverb)
a
primitive root
The
shoulder represents the part of the body that carries the burden.
“Shouldering” responsibility, for instance.
The one in charge must rise up early to carry the burden for the others
and lead the way. Shechem is the
place where Mount Gerezim and Mount Ebal are located.
These are the two mountains where the curses and the blessings were
declared over Israel. They are a
picture of two shoulders and a neck.
Deu
27:9
Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying,
"Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the
LORD your God.
Deu
27:10 "You shall therefore obey the LORD your God, and do His
commandments and His statutes which I command you today."
Deu
27:11
Moses also charged the people on that day, saying,
Deu
27:12
"When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to
bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.
Deu
27:13
"For the curse, these shall stand
on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
It’s
interesting that Joseph and Judah are both on Mount Gerizim, representing the
blessing. These are also the tribes
that represent the two houses. That
is not to say that the tribes on Mount Ebal are cursed, or are less important.
The study
of Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim is very interesting. Yahweh spoke through Moses and commanded the children of
Israel to write all the words of the Torah on stones coated with lime, when they
entered the promised land. According
to the BDB definition of the word lime, lime is made by burning bones.
They were to put the stones on Mount Ebal.
But Mount Ebal was the place where the curses were coming from!
Is it because the Torah reveals sin… that without the Torah we know no
sin? Then the Levites are to recite
all the curses to the children of Israel, and they are to answer and say amen.
It was not commanded specifically for the blessings to be recited.
What an interesting study for you to pursue further!
We
are seeing a bloodline emerge. Abraham à Isaac à
Jacob/Israel à
Joseph à Ephraim.
Are bloodlines important to Yahweh?
Apparently so, or there would not be so many bloodlines, or genealogies
recorded in scripture.
PLEASE don’t misunderstand me at this point.
I am not suggesting that anyone is more important than someone else
because of their bloodline! And
I am not suggesting that you have to be of a specific bloodline or tribe to be
saved, or to belong to Yahweh.
But we
must not ignore scripture! Many
bloodlines are recorded in scripture. Throughout
the Torah and the writings, genealogies are recorded.
Would they be in scripture if they were not important?
Of course not. Yahweh has not put any idle words in scripture.
But to know your physical bloodline, it must be traceable.
The
genealogy, or bloodline, that we have seen so far is:
Abraham
Scattered Nations
/
\
After
Tower Of Babel
Isaac
Ishmael
||
/
\
V
/
Arab Nations
Many People In
/
The Earth
Jacob/Israel
||
/
V
12 sons
(tribes) including
Producing Offspring
Joseph
& Judah
/
\
Ephraim
(Messiah Yeshua
comes
/
from this line)
Multitude
of
Nations (Melo
HaGoyim)
So there
are many nations emerging from Ephraim, and many nations emerging from the other
scattered peoples.
We are
also seeing two branches emerge from Israel… that of Israel or Ephraim, and
that of Judah. Remember in Genesis
11 that Yahweh confounded the language of the peoples and scattered them over
the whole earth? They existed before
Abraham and his descendants came on the scene.
And they continued to multiply and cover the earth.
What about the descendants of the other 12 tribes?
They, no doubt, also multiplied greatly and became numerous.
So why are we focusing on Ephraim and Judah?
Doesn’t Yahweh desire ALL peoples to come to Him?
Of course He does, as we will see as we continue.
Lets continue on looking at genealogies.
Remember
that Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh first, (in Genesis 48),
adopting them as his own sons. Then
Jacob called all of the twelve sons and spoke blessings over them (in Genesis
49). If he adopted Ephraim and
Manasseh as his own sons, why did he not wait until he called the twelve, and
include them in the blessings at that time?
Why was the blessing over Ephraim and Manasseh performed in private?
Is it possible that it was because of Joseph being sold into slavery by
his brothers? There is no record in
scripture of the brothers ever confessing to their father what they did to
Joseph. But Jacob is able to
“see” spiritually, if not physically. Did Jacob take Joseph and his sons aside to avoid more
possible jealousy, and even retaliation, by the brothers?
Lets look
at the blessings that Jacob spoke over Joseph and Judah in Genesis
49. These are not just blessings,
but prophesies of what will become of each tribe.
Let’s look at Judah first:
Gen
49:1
Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, "Assemble yourselves that I
may tell you what will befall you in the days
to come. (“achariyth ha yomim“ or “last days“)
Gen
49:8
"Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand
shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's sons shall bow down to you.
Gen
49:9
"Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up?
Gen
49:10
"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from
between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall
be the obedience of the peoples.
Gen
49:11
"He ties his foal to the
vine, And his donkey's colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in
wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes.
Gen
49:12
"His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.
This is
the classic prophecy of the Messiah… his garments washed in wine (blood) for
our sins. We know that Messiah
Yeshua comes from the tribe of Judah. His
genealogy is well documented in scripture.
However…
keep in mind
that Yeshua was conceived of the Ruach. So
although His genealogy is traceable and documented, the actual physical
bloodline was broken since He was born of a virgin, conceived by the Ruach!
In essence, Yeshua was adopted by Joseph (Mary‘s husband), just as
Joseph‘s sons were adopted by Jacob/Israel.
(It’s interesting that Mary’s husband’s name was also Joseph, and
that Yeshua is referred to as Messiah Ben Yoseph, the suffering servant!)
His being adopted is a picture of how we come unto Him by faith,
not by a bloodline! We are adopted
into Yahweh’s family! Having
said that, I do believe that Yeshua’s actual bloodline is traceable through
Mary, leading back to King David. But
let’s look at how Yahweh recons ones genealogy:
Yeshua was
of the tribe of Judah. Even though
He was technically adopted, His ancestry is clearly documented in Matthew
chapter 1:
Mat
1:1
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the
son of Abraham:
Mat
1:2
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob
the father of Judah and his brothers.
(Note that
the genealogy starts with Abraham, Isaac & Jacob… the ones that the
promise was given to. Abraham is
the father of many nations, and through Isaac his seed was called).
Mat
1:3
Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was
the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram.
Mat
1:4
Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and
Nahshon the father of Salmon.
Mat
1:5
Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of
Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse.
Mat
1:6
Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon
by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.
Mat
1:7
Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and
Abijah the father of Asa.
Mat
1:8
Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and
Joram the father of Uzziah.
Mat
1:9
Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the
father of Hezekiah.
Mat
1:10
Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and
Amon the father of Josiah.
Mat
1:11
Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the
deportation to Babylon.
Mat
1:12
After the deportation to Babylon: Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel,
and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel.
Mat
1:13
Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and
Eliakim the father of Azor.
Mat
1:14
Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the
father of Eliud.
Mat
1:15
Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and
Matthan the father of Jacob.
Mat
1:16
Jacob was the father of Joseph
the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
Mat
1:17
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations;
from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the
deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
How does
Yahweh recon one’s ancestry? Through
the fathers. Read in the
book of Chronicles, as well as other places in scripture, and you will see that
genealogies are always recorded through the male line.
Isn’t it
interesting that the names Jacob and Joseph appear again, as Yeshua’s father
and grandfather! Jacob/Israel was
the father of Joseph many generations ago, and here the names are again, further
emphasizing that Yeshua IS the son of Joseph, Messiah Ben Yoseph, the suffering
servant! Remember the meaning of
the name Joseph… being joined to
Yahweh! Yeshua is the agent by
which all peoples and nations will be joined to Yahweh!
Also note
that the first Jacob/Israel bore Judah, who was Yeshua’s ancestor since He is
of the tribe of Judah. But now,
Yeshua’s father is Joseph! Here
is a picture of Yeshua being linked to both the tribe of Judah and the Tribe of
Joseph… hinting at the joining of the two houses!
The male
line is always what determines ones ancestry.
Yeshua was
determined to be of the tribe of Judah because his father (albeit adoptive
father) was of the tribe of Judah. Joseph’s
father Jacob was of the tribe of Judah, and so on. Note that scripture does not always record the mothers.
Some are recorded, but not all.
How many
times did Yeshua’s male ancestors marry women not of the tribe
of Judah? Probably frequently.
How many times did they marry women not of Israel at all?
Probably at least some of the time.
We know that Ruth, for instance, was a Moabitess.
Does that make the successive sons any less of the tribe of Judah?
No. If so, one could say
that Yeshua was not fully of the tribe of Judah, or that He was of mixed
ancestry.
Some
people may want to look at genealogies or bloodlines by including the genes, or
ancestry, of the mothers. For
instance, we could say that since Boaz married Ruth, a Moabitess, that Obed was
half of the tribe of Judah and half Moabite.
If, for instance, Obed married someone who was not of Judah, or even of
Israel, then we could say his son Jesse was only one quarter of the tribe of
Judah. Do you see how quickly
one’s tribal ancestry could be lost? By the time we traced down to Yeshua, we
may be able to say that He only had a trace of blood from the tribe of Judah.
But, as we
see from scripture, that is NOT how Yahweh recons ones ancestry!
Therefore, everyone’s ancestry should be traceable, and if you are of
one of the tribes of Israel, you should be able to find that out.
HOWEVER, so many generations have passed over the last 3000-4000 years or
so, that records have been lost, and we can only trace our ancestry so far back.
For
instance, I have my family tree traced back to the 1600’s in England.
Perhaps it could be traced back further.
But I have no idea how to access records that go back any further, if any
even exist. So I have no idea if
I’m a descendant of any one of the twelve tribes or not.
Only Yahweh knows.
I want to
give an illustration of how this works, and why ancestry must be traced through
the fathers.
I am one
person. I have a mother and a
father. They each had a mother and
a father, and so on. If I had to
count the ancestry of ALL my ancestors in determining what my genealogy is, then
confusion would set in almost immediately:
128 128-
8 generations
\
/
total 256
64
64 ancestors
\
/
32
32
\
/
16
16
\
/
8
8
\
/
4
4
\
/
2
2
\
/
Father
Mother
\
/
Me
In just 8
generations (200 years or so?), I have 256 ancestors. What tribes were they all from?
Where any of them from any of the 12 tribes? Were they from Israel at all, or were they descended from the
other nations that were scattered at the time of the tower of Babel?
Who knows? It would be close
to impossible for me to trace all of them back this far, let alone back over the
course of 3000-4000 years or so! My
ancestry would be so watered down over the course of just a few generations that
it would be pointless.
But again,
Yahweh recons ones ancestry through the fathers! That being the case, if records existed, it should be easy to
trace my ancestry, since there would only be one individual in each generation
that determines my ancestry. But
records don’t exist, so I still can’t determine if I am descended from any
of the 12 tribes of Israel. I’m
sure there are people who do have their family records, if only verbally passed
down through the generations, or passed down through traditions.
I don’t have that information, but Yahweh knows where each and
every one of us belong. It’s
possible that I’m descended from one of the nations that existed before
Abram/Abraham came on the scene, and that I have no Israelite ancestry at all.
But
remember the meaning of the names Joseph and Ephraim… Joseph means “joined to Yahweh” and Ephraim means
“double fruitfulness”.
We
are joined to Yahweh by faith!
Gal
3:26 For
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ
Jesus.
Gal
3:27
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ.
Gal
3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free
man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal
3:29
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs
according to promise.
Let’s
not forget these verses!! This is
essential to understand… that it does not matter what your bloodline is…
the blood of Messiah is what matters!
However, as we will continue to see, Ephraim is a picture of the
gentiles being joined to Yahweh.
So keep
thinking about these questions as we proceed through the study:
Does it really matter what physical tribe you are from, or if you are
of Israel at all?
Or is being adopted into Yahweh’s family through faith what counts?
We will
continue by looking at the blessing prophecy over Joseph:
Gen
49:22
"Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a spring; Its
branches run over a wall.
Gen
49:23
"The archers bitterly attacked him, And shot at
him and harassed him;
Gen
49:24
But his bow remained firm, And his arms were agile, From the hands of the
Mighty One of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
Gen
49:25
From the God of your father who helps you, And by the Almighty who
blesses you With blessings of heaven
above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of
the womb.
Gen 49:26