The Two House Teaching of Scripture Part 4
As a
quick recap, we have seen:
* All the
nations of the earth being scattered abroad for their sin at Babel (Genesis 11)
*
Abram/Abraham being called to be a blessing to all the nations of the earth
(Genesis 12)
* The
promise of the seed/seeds (Yeshua, as well as the many descendants) that will
come through Isaac
* The
promise of the land to the descendants of Abraham
*
Jacob/Israel becoming the father of the twelve tribes
* Judah as
the ancestor of Messiah Yeshua
* Reuben
losing his firstborn status, being replaced by Joseph
* Jacob
giving Joseph “one portion more” than his brothers, effectively giving him
the firstborn blessing and birthright, along with the responsibility that comes
with being firstborn
* Jacob
adopting Ephraim and Manasseh, and blessing Ephraim as the firstborn over
Manasseh
* The
prophecy over Ephraim that he will become the “Melo Ha Goyim” or the
“fullness of the nations”
* The sons
of Israel multiplying greatly in Egypt
* God
leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, along with a “mixed multitude”
that joined themselves with Israel
* Yahweh
viewing the “mixed multitude” as the same entity as Israel, as long as they
trusted in Him and obeyed
* The
prophecy that Israel will be cast into the nations if they disobey and fail to
follow Yahweh’s Torah
* The
settling of Israel into the promised land
* The
fulfillment of prophecy as the northern tribes are carried away in captivity by
Assyria, and the southern tribe of Judah carried away to Babylon
* The
returning of Judah to the land
* The
northern ten tribes being referred to as “Israel”, “Ephraim”,
“Samaria” and “Joseph”
* The
northern ten tribes (Ephraim) remaining scattered in the nations
As we have
seen, Israel committed harlotry by following after other gods.
Israel “went a whoring” after other gods, and Yahweh divorced her.
Eze
6:1
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze
6:2
Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy
against them,
Eze
6:3
And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus
saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the
valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a
sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.
Eze
6:4
And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I
will cast down your slain men before your
idols.
Eze
6:5
And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their
idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.
Eze
6:6
In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high
places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate,
and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and
your works may be abolished.
Eze
6:7
And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am
the LORD.
Eze
6:8
Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some
that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered
through the countries.
Eze
6:9 And they that escape of you shall remember me among the
nations whither they shall be carried captives,
because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and
with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe
themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
Eze
6:10
And they shall know that I am the
LORD, and that I have not said in vain
that I would do this evil unto them.
In Hosea
is the classic account of Yahweh divorcing His betrothed, Israel, and the
prophecy of His luring her back to Him in the end of days:
Hos
1:1
The word of the LORD which came to Hosea the son of Beeri, during the
days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king
of Israel.
Hos
1:2
When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea,
"Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have
children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking
the LORD."
Hos
1:3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she
conceived and bore him a son.
Hos
1:4
And the LORD said to him, "Name him Jezreel;
for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of
Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
Hos
1:5
"On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley
of Jezreel."
Hos
1:6
Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And the LORD said
to him, "Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion
on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them.
Hos
1:7
"But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and
deliver them by the LORD their God, and will not deliver them by
bow, sword, battle, horses or horsemen."
Hos
1:8
When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son.
Hos
1:9
And the LORD said, "Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My
people and I am not your God."
Hos
1:10
Yet the number of the sons of Israel Will be like the sand of
the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered; And in the place Where it is said
to them, "You are not My people," It will be said to them, "You
are the sons of the living God."
Hos
1:11
And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered
together, And they will appoint for themselves one leader, And they
will go up from the land, For great will be the day of Jezreel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hos
2:1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah.
Hos
2:2
Plead with your mother, plead: for she is
not my wife, neither am I her husband:
let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries
from between her breasts;
Hos
2:3
Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and
make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
Hos
2:4
And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be
the children of whoredoms.
Hos
2:5
For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath
done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me
my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.
Hos
2:6
Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall,
that she shall not find her paths.
Hos
2:7
And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them;
and she shall seek them, but shall not find them:
then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was
it better with me than now.
Hos
2:8
For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and
multiplied her silver and gold, which
they prepared for Baal.
Hos
2:9
Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and
my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given
to cover her nakedness.
Hos
2:10
And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none
shall deliver her out of mine hand.
Hos
2:11
I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons,
and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts.
Hos
2:12
And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said,
These are my rewards that my lovers have
given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat
them.
Hos
2:13
And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense
to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went
after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.
Hos
2:14
Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the
wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
Hos
2:15
And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor
for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and
as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
Hos
2:16
And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that
thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali.
Hos
2:17
For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall
no more be remembered by their name.
Hos
2:18
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with
the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with
the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and
the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
Hos
2:19
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
Hos
2:20
I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the
LORD.
Hos
2:21
And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear,
saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;
Hos
2:22
And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they
shall hear Jezreel.
Hos
2:23
And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy
upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art
my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.
What
is this “Jezreel” that is referred to so often?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The
Jezreel Valley is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the south of
the Lower Galilee region of Israel. It is bordered to the south by the West Bank and Mount
Gilboa, to the north by the Lower
Galilee, to the west by the Mount
Carmel range, and to the east by the Jordan
Valley.
The
phrase "valley of Jezreel" was sometimes used to refer to the central
part of the valley, around the city of Jezreel, while the southwestern portion
was known as the valley of Megiddo, after the ancient city of Megiddo, which was located
there.
In
Christian Eschatology, the
part of the valley on which the Battle of Megiddo was fought is believed to be
destined to be the site of a final battle, between good and evil, known as Armageddon (a word derived from Megiddo).
-Wikipedia
Hosea
is clearly speaking of this final battle, when the bow of Israel will be broken
in the valley of Jezreel (Hos 1:5). Hosea
makes reference to “that day”, which is referring to the “day of the
Lord”, when His judgment is poured out during the tribulation.
Hosea mentions this again in 1:11, “for great will be the day of
Jezreel”. In 2:14, Hosea says
that Yahweh will lure her (Israel) into the wilderness.
He refers to “that day” again in 2:16, 18 and 21.
So
clearly Israel’s final forgiveness and return to Yahweh will not be completed
until “that day”, or the “day of the Lord” during the tribulation!
I found a
fascinating parallel between the word “Israel” and the word “Jezreel”.
Let’s look at these words, with the definitions and word pictures:
H3478
ישׂראל
yiśra^'e^l
(Israel)
yis-raw-ale'
From H8280 and H410; he will rule as God; Jisrael,
a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity: - Israel.
H3157
יזרעאל
yizre‛e^'l
(Jezreel)
yiz-reh-ale'
From H2232 and H410; God will sow; Jizreel,
the name of two places in Palestine and of two Israelites: - Jezreel.
Israel:
yod - sheen
- resh
- alef -
lamed
hand - El Shaddai - head - leader - staff
The staff in
the hand of God appoints the head
leader
Jezreel:
yod - zayin
- resh -
ayin - alef -
lamed
hand - weapon - head - eye - leader - staff
See the weapon
in the leader’s hand
H8280
שׂרה
śa^ra^h
(root word of Israel)
saw-raw'
A primitive root; to prevail: - have power (as a prince).
H2232
זרע
za^ra‛
(root word of Jezreel)
zaw-rah'
A primitive root; to sow; figuratively to disseminate, plant,
fructify: - bear, conceive seed, set with, sow (-er), yield.
sarah:
sheen - resh - hey
behold
the head of El Shaddai
zara: zayin - resh - ayin
see the
weapon on the head
The words
are strikingly similar, except the words for Jezreel include a weapon, hinting
at the judgment that will come during the tribulation!
Yahweh
gave his betrothed, Israel, a writing of divorce, because she committed
adultery. Yahweh hates divorce, and
it was never His intention to divorce His beloved. But she followed after other gods. According to the Torah, once you divorce, you may not remarry
your first spouse. The only way you
can legally remarry is if your spouse dies.
Mal
2:11
"Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been
committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah has profaned the
sanctuary of the LORD which He loves and has married the daughter of a foreign
god.
Mal
2:12
"As for the man who does
this, may the LORD cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone
who awakes and answers, or who presents an offering to the LORD of hosts.
Mal
2:13
"This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the LORD with
tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the offering
or accepts it with favor from your hand.
Mal
2:14
"Yet you say, 'For what reason?' Because the LORD has been
a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt
treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
Mal
2:15
"But not one has done so who
has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that
one do while he was seeking a godly
offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously
against the wife of your youth.
Mal
2:16
"For I hate divorce," says the LORD, the
God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the
LORD of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal
treacherously."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deu
24:1 "When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens
that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her,
and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it
in her hand and sends her out from his house,
Deu
24:2
and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife,
Deu
24:3
and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate
of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter
husband dies who took her to be his wife,
Deu
24:4
then her former husband who sent
her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been
defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall
not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rom
7:2
For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but
if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.
Rom
7:3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to
another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is
free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to
another man.
Israel
joined herself to another (Baal). Yahweh
divorced her. The only way to
legally take her back as His bride was for Him to die!
Yeshua gave Himself willingly on the cross so He could take us to Himself
as a pure bride, without spot or wrinkle!
Jer
3:1
God says, "If a husband
divorces his wife And she goes from him And belongs to another man, Will he
still return to her? Will not that land be completely polluted? But you are a
harlot with many lovers; Yet you turn to
Me," declares the LORD.
Jer
3:2
"Lift up your eyes to the bare heights and see; Where have you not
been violated? By the roads you have sat for them Like an Arab in the desert,
And you have polluted a land With your harlotry and with your wickedness.
Jer
3:3
"Therefore the showers have been withheld, And there has been no
spring rain. Yet you had a harlot's forehead; You refused to be ashamed.
Jer
3:4
"Have you not just now called to Me, 'My Father, You are the friend
of my youth?
Jer
3:5
'Will He be angry forever? Will He be indignant to the end?' Behold, you
have spoken And have done evil things, And you have had your way."
Jer
3:6
Then the LORD said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you
seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every
green tree, and she was a harlot there.
Jer
3:7
"I thought, 'After she has done all these things she will return to
Me'; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
Jer
3:8 "And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless
Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce,
yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot
also.
Jer
3:9
"Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and
committed adultery with stones and trees.
Jer
3:10
"Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not
return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception," declares the
LORD.
Jer
3:11
And the LORD said to me, "Faithless Israel has proved herself more
righteous than treacherous Judah.
Jer
3:12
"Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, 'Return,
faithless Israel,' declares the LORD; 'I will not look upon you in anger. For I
am gracious,' declares the LORD; 'I will not be angry forever.
Yahweh
pleads for Israel to return. As
long as she acknowledges and repents of her sins, He will take her back.
Judah was
also treacherous, but scripture does not record that Yahweh divorced
Judah.
Psa
89:3
"I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My
servant,
Psa
89:4
I will establish your seed forever And build up your throne to all
generations." Selah.
Psa
89:30
"If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments,
Psa
89:31
If they violate My statutes And do not keep My commandments,
Psa
89:32
Then I will punish their transgression with the rod And their
iniquity with stripes.
Psa
89:33
"But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor
deal falsely in My faithfulness.
Psa
89:34
"My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I
alter the utterance of My lips.
Psa
89:35
"Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David.
Psa
89:36
"His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun
before Me.
Psa
89:37
"It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in
the sky is faithful." Selah.
We’ve
seen how Israel (Ephraim) was scattered into the nations, has not yet
returned, and was given a writing of divorce by Yahweh.
Centuries later, the apostle Peter, addressing new believers in Yeshua,
links them to the scattered ones that Yahweh said were not His people:
1Pe
1:1
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as
aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
who are chosen
1Pe
1:2
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work
of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace
and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
1Pe
1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to
His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe
1:4
to obtain an inheritance which
is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away,
reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe
1:5
who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready
to be revealed in the last time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1Pe
2:9
But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE
FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may
proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light;
1Pe
2:10
for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF
GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
1Pe
2:11
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts
which wage war against the soul.
1Pe
2:12
Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so
that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of
your good deeds, as they observe them,
glorify God in the day of visitation.
Peter is
directly quoting Hosea, telling these believers in Yeshua that even though they
were once “not a people” they are now the people of Yahweh.
And even though they once had no mercy, now they have received mercy.
This could only have been accomplished through the atoning death of
Yeshua, who made the way, through His death and resurrection, to draw His bride
back to Him! The scattered ten
tribes are now coming back to Yahweh through Yeshua!
But is it
only the scattered ten tribes that are receiving Yeshua?
What about those of the tribe of Judah?
What about the other nations of the world that are not descended from the
scattered ten tribes? And 2000 years later in our time, how are we, as believers in
Yeshua, related to these scattered tribes that are known as Israel or Ephraim?
If we are from one of these “lost” ten tribes, then what does it mean
to be grafted into Israel? Were we
Israel already, or do we become Israel?
These are
some of the questions that we must address to fully understand the “two
houses”. We have seen a clear
illustration so far of the two houses of Israel… that of Ephraim, the northern
kingdom; and that of Judah, the southern kingdom.
But did Ephraim “become” Christianity?
Or do we, as believers, “become” Ephraim? Or both? Let’s
study some more scripture to answer some of these difficult questions.
Jer
11:6
And the LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of
Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, 'Hear the words of this covenant
and do them.
Jer
11:7
'For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up
from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying,
"Listen to My voice."
Jer
11:8
'Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the
stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of
this covenant, which I commanded them to
do, but they did not.'"
Jer
11:9
Then the LORD said to me, "A conspiracy has been found among the men
of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Jer
11:10
"They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who
refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the
house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with
their fathers."
Jer
11:11
Therefore thus says the LORD, "Behold I am bringing disaster on them
which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will
not listen to them.
Jer
11:12
"Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go
and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save
them in the time of their disaster.
Jer
11:13
"For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as
the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing,
altars to burn incense to Baal.
Jer
11:14
"Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer
for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.
Jer
11:15
"What right has My beloved in My house When she has done many vile
deeds? Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster, So that
you can rejoice?"
Jer
11:16
The LORD called your name, "A green olive tree, beautiful
in fruit and form"; With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on
it, And its branches are worthless.
Jer
11:17
The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you
because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they
have done to provoke Me by offering up sacrifices to Baal.
Yahweh
likens Israel to an olive tree. Romans
11 explains how we, as believers in Yeshua, are grafted into the olive tree,
Israel:
Rom
11:1
I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For
I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Rom
11:2
God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what
the Scripture says in the passage about
Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
Rom
11:3
"Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR
ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE."
Rom
11:4
But what is the divine response to him? "I HAVE KEPT for Myself
SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL."
Rom
11:5
In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a
remnant according to God's gracious
choice.
Rom
11:6
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise
grace is no longer grace.
Rom
11:7
What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who
were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;
Rom
11:8
just as it is written, "GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO
SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY."
Rom
11:9
And David says, "LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A
STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.
Rom
11:10
"LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS
FOREVER."
Rom
11:11
I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never
be! But by their transgression salvation has
come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.
Rom
11:12
Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is
riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!
Rom
11:13
But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an
apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
Rom
11:14
if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of
them.
Rom
11:15
For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their
acceptance be but life from the dead?
Rom
11:16
If the first piece of dough is
holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.
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.
Rom
11:19
You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be
grafted in."
Rom
11:20
Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you
stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;
Rom
11:21
for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare
you, either.
Rom
11:22
Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell,
severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness;
otherwise you also will be cut off.
Rom
11:23
And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will
be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
Rom
11:24
For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and
were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much
more will these who are the natural branches be
grafted into their own olive tree?
Rom
11:25
For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery--so
that you will not be wise in your own estimation--that a partial hardening has
happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has
come in;
Rom
11:26
and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE
DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."
Rom
11:27
"THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."
We become
Israel (Ephraim) by being grafted into the olive tree by faith.
Salvation has come to the Gentiles… the nations… all
the nations of the world, not just the lost ten tribes.
The root supports us, not the other way around.
We must not become conceited and boast, because we can be broken
off again!
We must
not look at the teaching of the two houses of Israel as any type of replacement
theology!! Paul says in 11:1 that
Yahweh has not rejected His people, may it never be! We are joined to Israel by His grace through faith,
and were never meant to replace or be more important than the natural branches!
We must be
grafted into the olive tree as wild olive branches… the branches that were
broken off and became “Lo Ruchamah” and “Lo Ammi”. Therefore, we become EPHRAIM when we are saved.
Judah remains as the natural branches.
Ephraim was divorced, and cut off. Whether
we are blood descendants of one of the ten lost tribes or not, we must be
grafted in, or back in, as Ephraim.
Paul
continues in 11:25 to say that a partial hardening has come to Israel until the
“fullness of the Gentiles” has come in.
Remember that phrase? It’s
“melo ha’goyim” in Hebrew, the exact phrase that was spoken over Ephraim
by Jacob as he blessed the boy with the blessing of the firstborn.
Ephraim was prophesied to become the fullness of the nations, or
Gentiles!
What does
it mean for the fullness of the Gentiles to come in? Remember the word “melo” means filling up, fullness,
satisfaction, or completion. The
filling up of the gentiles, or the completion of the gentiles is what is being
referred to. Remember that Yahweh
told Abraham that his descendants would be a blessing to ALL the nations
(Gentiles) of the earth? What does
Yahweh consider a blessing? How did
He want Abraham to bless the nations?
When we
think of blessing, in our human terms, we think of riches, fame and fortune.
When Yahweh thinks of blessing, he thinks of salvation through His
blessed son Yeshua! The
only way the nations could be blessed to satisfy Yahweh is for the nations to
come to the saving knowledge of Yeshua.
Jacob
prophesied over Ephraim that he would become the “melo ha’goyim” or the
fullness of the nations. Ephraim is
the one to bring that blessing to the nations.
How was that ordained to be accomplished? Through Yeshua. When as many people as possible from all the
nations accept Yeshua, then the fullness of the nations (gentiles) has
come in. Ephraim will
be full, accomplished, and complete at that time.
Remember
that Ephraim was blessed as the firstborn?
Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob/Israel, Jacob begat the twelve, of
which Joseph was ordained the firstborn, and Joseph begat Ephraim who was
ordained the firstborn over Manasseh. Ephraim,
as the firstborn, is called to shoulder the responsibility
of the firstborn. He is not better
or more important, but was called to carry the responsibility of the
firstborn by declaring the gospel of Yeshua to the nations!
Let’s
look at some more scriptures that illustrate our being grafted into Israel and
becoming Ephraim:
Eph
2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God;
Eph
2:9
not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Eph
2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Eph
2:11
Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh,
who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called
"Circumcision," which is
performed in the flesh by human hands--
Eph
2:12
remember that you were at that time
separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to
the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Eph
2:13
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought
near by the blood of Christ.
Eph
2:14
For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups
into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
Eph
2:15
by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which
is the Law of commandments contained
in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus
establishing peace,
Eph
2:16
and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it
having put to death the enmity.
Eph
2:17
AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO
THOSE WHO WERE NEAR;
Eph
2:18
for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
Eph
2:19
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are
fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,
When we
were gentiles we were separate from Yeshua, excluded from the commonwealth of
Israel, strangers to the covenants, and without hope and without Yahweh.
But in Yeshua, we are brought near… near to what?
Near to the commonwealth of Israel, the covenants, hope, and Yahweh.
The same things that we were separate from before we believed.
We become Israel when we are saved!
Remember
the “mixed multitude” that left Egypt with the children of Israel?
They were not blood Israelites… but they had joined themselves to
Israel. They had put the blood on
their doorposts and were saved by the blood of the lamb on that first Passover.
They went out with Israel, and were counted as part of Israel (the whole
group were referred to as the sons of Israel).
There are
some disturbing beliefs among some that hold to the teaching of the “two
houses”. Some think that if you
are saved, you must be a blood descendant of one of the ten lost tribes.
Some think that only those that are descended from the ten lost tribes
can be saved. Still others believe that Ephraim is only those who are
Messianic and who follow Torah. This
leads to many being offended at the “two house” teaching, as it appears that
those that hold to the teaching of the two houses are exclusive, causing pride
to raise its ugly head. As we have
seen, that view is simply not scriptural. Yahweh
commissioned Abram/Abraham to be a blessing to ALL the
nations of the world. His desire is
for all peoples to be saved!
So who
exactly is Ephraim in these last days? Are
they just the blood descendants of Ephraim the son of Joseph?
Are they the blood descendants of the lost ten tribes only?
Or are they everyone from every nation that join themselves to Yahweh?
As we have
talked about, it is nearly impossible to trace one’s physical ancestry back
over the past 3000-4000 years or so. I
suggest that you study some of Robert’s teachings. Remember how we trace our ancestry? I have two parents. They
each had two, and so on. If that
remained true over the past 3000 years, then you would have more descendants
that there were ever people on this earth!
So somewhere back, cousins were intermarrying, causing the number of
physical ancestors to be fewer. Our
family tree is shaped more like a diamond than an umbrella.
However, I believe that Yahweh traces ones ancestry through the fathers
(since all genealogies in scripture are recorded that way) , and therefore I
have a direct line through my father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. that
traces thousands of years back to whomever I am descended from.
I could be a blood descendant of one of the ten tribes, or I may not be. More importantly, I am a saved believer in Yeshua.
Either way, I am grafted into Israel, therefore becoming Ephraim.
We also
talked about the fact that genealogies are recorded in scripture, and are
therefore important to Yahweh. No
one is more important than someone else because of a bloodline, but they are
recorded in scripture. So what does
that mean to us?
As a
reminder, let’s look at the word for mixed again, referring to the mixed
multitude, or those that were not blood Israelites that had joined themselves to
Israel:
H6154
ערב
/ ערב
‛e^reb
/ ‛ereb
BDB
Definition:
1)
woof
1a)
as mixed, interwoven
1b)
knitted material
2)
mixture, mixed people, mixed company
A
Related Word: from
H6148
According
to Wikipedia, In weaving, weft or woof
is the yarn which is drawn under and over parallel warp
yarns to create a fabric:
Remember
the Hebrew meaning of the phrase “and in you all the nations of the earth will
be blessed”? The
word could actually mean interwoven, grafted in, or mixed!
The
prophecies declare that Ephraim was to become the fullness of the Gentiles, and
we have seen that the northern tribes were scattered into all the nations.
Ephraim, as the firstborn, was to carry the charge that was given to
Abram/Abraham of being the blessing to all the nations of the earth.
So, logically, there are natural born Israelites descended from the ten
tribes, that have been woven into the fabric of the nations.
They have accepted Yeshua and have taken the good news of His salvation
to the nations.
Look at the illustration above. There are those that are direct descendants of the ten tribes that are saved.&nb