It is often good to look back at our past and rejoice in Yahweh's blessings. It is equally important to have a firm grasp on the present and know what we are to be for Yahweh. Understanding our purpose for Yahweh. However, it is also necessary for us to consider the future where are we going, and how will we get there. As we consider the future of our ministry, we each need to remember these thoughts. We must be visionaries, with great dreams for we serve a great and awesome G-d!
"Who are the people of the two Houses?"
In Isaiah 49: 5-6, the Scriptures say that one of the purposes of forming Messiah from the womb was to restore the tribes of Jacob.
Without understanding the Two Houses (House of Israel) and (House of Judah), we will be teaching an incomplete gospel message. Much in the Messianic Scriptures is misunderstood and incorrectly taught, because the Two Houses of Israel are overlooked and considered a small thing. However, in order to understand the writings of Paul, it is extremely important that we understand the two houses.
Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible sometime before 1400 B.C. That leaves approximately 1500 years of copying and as many years for transcribing errors. It would be foolish not to recognize that some of the original meaning of words has been lost throughout these centuries.
What the translators did was to take the Hebrew word 'goi' or 'goy' (singular) and 'goyim' (plural) and the Greek word 'ethnos' (sing.) and 'ethne' (pl.) and put the word 'gentile' in whenever they could. The modern use of the word has come to mean non-Jew or non-Israel. This was not the intent of the Old and New Testament.
It would cause much confusion about the Abrahamic Covenant, if 'gentile' were inserted into Genesis 12:2. The verse would then read "I will make of thee a great Gentile." Or Rebekah pregnant with Jacob and Esau having, "Two Gentiles in thy womb" (Gen. 25:23). It can only be nations (goy) or would have been just as correct had it been translated 'tribes' or 'peoples'. It took a vision from Yahweh to help Peter understand that he was to take the Kingdom message to Cornelius and other kindred peoples.
It would have been illogical for the Jews (Judahites) to praise anyone for loving the 'gentiles' and they wouldn't have tolerated the centurion building a meeting hall for the 'gentiles or another kindred peoples. But such was the case, because racially, the Judahites in Judea were the same family of people as the dispersed Israelites.
When Yahweh told Hagar that He would make her son a great nation [goy], indeed Ishmael would be the progenitor of the Arab world. Exodus 34:24 has God casting out nations (goy) in Israel to enlarge her borders. "Learn not the way of the heathen (nations - goy)" Jer. 10:2.
The discussion of the terms "Jew" and "Gentile" are not to describe or identify specific peoples of today, but to show the kingdoms represented by these terms. Terms, or words, and their false or true meanings have been dividing and depriving people of their "birthright" for many ages. The purpose here is to see if we can see these terms and their meanings from a Scriptural perspective instead of a traditional perspective.
Example: Jacob is considered the patriarch of what is called the "Jewish" people. The Scriptures say Jacob had twelve sons. These sons became the patriarchs of the tribes:
The descendants of Reuben were called Reubenites;
The descendants of Simeon were called Simeonites;
The descendants of Judah were called Judahites, etc.
Each tribe was linked to the patriarch by a term of identification.
However, after Jacob's name was changed to Israel, all the tribes were linked to Jacob by the term "Israelite". Here, we will use the terms "house of Israel" and "house of Judah" to help us see the separation of the kingdoms and their eventual return and reunion. Today, some people who consider themselves to be Jewish (from the tribe of Judah) may actually be descended from one of the other tribes without knowing it.
On the other hand, those who consider themselves to be Gentiles, might have more clearance and may realize being descended from Jacob without knowing it. We will not attempt to identify you personally, but we will attempt to dispel the teaching that the "church" has replaced the Israel as the chosen people with the gentile. Gentile definition is "a pagan".
The intent of Yahweh's Word, before it was translated into English, revolved around a physical "seedline" of people. The word 'gentile' has created so much misunderstanding, that the wrong people are identified as to whom Yahweh has chosen to do His will upon the earth.
Let's begin our journey seeking the truth which sets you free. In Isaiah 8:14, the word says, "He shall become a sanctuary and a stone of stumbling and a rock of falling to both houses of Israel...." Here, in the words of Isaiah, we know that Isaiah recognized the Two Houses of Israel that existed during his time. To see how the two houses came into being, we must understand that Abram the Hebrew fathered Isaac, the son of promise. Isaac fathered Jacob, the person whose name was changed to Israel . Israel then fathered twelve sons, whose descendants became known as the twelve tribes of Israel. Judah was the fourth son of Israel. Thus the eleventh son, Joseph, did not come from Judah, but was Judah's brother. Now, Ephraim, the son of Joseph, is Joseph's heir; so Manasseh and Ephraim are also Israelites.
Joseph and Judah became the most prominent of Israel's sons. Ultimately the twelve tribes were divided into two distinct houses. From reading the books of Kings and Chronicles, we recognize that the nation was divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Yet the Word says, BEFORE THEY WERE SEPARATED, all Israel and Judah loved David, and so King David ruled over all Israel and Judah. David became king over the house of Judah first .
In the book of First Kings, Chapters 11&12, we are told that King Solomon loved many foreign women, even though the Israelites were instructed not to intermarry, because YHVH knew the women would turn the men's hearts away from Him to other gods. Therefore YHVH told Solomon...because he had done this with the women and rebelled against the covenant of YHVH, YHVH said He would take the kingdom away from Solomon and give it to his servant . The kingdom was then split, with the tribe of Judah in the south and ten tribes in the north. Rehoboam was king over Judah and Jereboam became king over Israel.
YHVH promised Jereboam He would build an enduring house for him, as He had done for David. After the death of Solomon the separation of the two houses became effective; with Jereboam ruling over the house of Israel and Rehoboam ruling over the house of Judah. Now Rehoboam intended to restore the house of Israel and the house of Judah back into one kingdom, but YHVH stopped him. Now that we have seen the establishment of the Two Houses of Israel, we will look at the time frame between the establishment and dispersion of the two houses.
The establishment of two kingdoms, under Rehoboam and Jereboam, took place in 928 B.C.E.. The house of Israel continued from 928 B.C.E. until 722 B.C.E. when Shalmaneser, King of Assyria carried the house of Israel away and placed them in other lands and cities . During the following 200+ years, the house of Israel had nineteen kings.
The last king of the house of Israel was Hosea. Beginning with the sin of Jereboam, who caused the people of the house of Israel to sin, the people committed great spiritual adultery by departing from YHVH. Now YHVH sent prophets to the house of Israel, to call them to repentance and return to YHVH. We see the promises of YHVH to cast out the disobedient people beginning in the book of Deuteronomy. Also, the entire twenty-third chapter of Ezekiel addresses the harlotry of both the house of Israel and the house of Judah. The entire book of Hosea outlines YHVH'S plan to bring an end to the kingdom of Israel. This was the end of a kingdom, not a people.
In Hosea, YHVH instructed Hosea to marry Gomer, a harlot; symbolizing the harlotry of the house of Israel. She, Gomer, conceived and bore a son, Jezreel (which means, "EL will sow"). This is a prophecy about the scattering of the house of Israel among the other nations in the world. Gomer also bore a daughter, called Lo-Ruhamah (meaning "no-mercy"), for YHVH said He would no longer have mercy on the house of Israel. Then she bore a son and called his name Lo-Ammi (meaning "not my people"), for YHVH said they were not His people and HE would not be their EL, because of their disobedience. Yet by great mercy, YHVH speaks of the future restoration and coming together again of the two houses.
The fulfillment of the breakup of the house of Israel occurred in 722 B.C.E. The house of Judah continued for another 136 years, until they were taken away captive to Babylon in 585 B.C.E. This shows that the house of Israel ceased to exist in 722 B.C.E. Judah returned to the land after 70 years of captivity in Babylon, yet Israel has not returned. After the house of Judah's return from Babylon, they continued as a kingdom and became the sole representative of all the remaining descendants of Jacob. It was after the dispersion and return of Judah that the term "Jew" begain to be used to apply to all Israelites.
As you read the book of Hosea, you will see that YHVH used the name Ephraim as a synonym for the house of Israel many times. This usage established the tribe of Ephraim as the predominant tribe in the house of Israel. We will see the importance of this as we look at the loss of the birthright by Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob. Because Reuben defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph. Although the birthright actually belonged to Joseph , Jacob adopted the two sons of Joseph and made them equal heirs with Reuben and Simeon, his first and second-born sons. That is why the apostle Paul referred to the adoption as belonging to the Israelites and coming to the Israelites, including His predetermined plan to adopt the Israelites back into the family. YHVH designated Ephraim as His firstborn in the book of Jeremiah.
At the time of the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob pronounced a blessing upon Manasseh and Ephraim which was to come to pass in the latter days, our days now. He said the lads would multiply like fish in the earth. Everyone knows that fish lay eggs in the millions when they spawn. This signifies the growth of the descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim.
Jacob also spoke a special blessing over Ephraim, saying he would become greater than Manasseh and would become a multitude of nations. This phrase in Hebrew is "MELO GOYIM", meaning "the fullness of the gentiles." This is the reference Paul was speaking of when he said, "hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved ."
Since YHVH planned from the beginning to reunite the house of Israel and the house of Judah, we are told many times that He would bring the house of Israel back from where He had scattered them and reunite them in the land.
The Messiah said He was sent only to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel". The Messiah sent out the twelve disciples, instructing them not to engage in the ways of the gentiles (PAGANS), and not to enter a city of the Samaritans, but to go to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" . When Paul said, inasmuch as he was an apostle to the Non-Jew, he magnified his ministry , he was talking about the large area he had been given to cover: He was sent to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel," wherever YHVH had scattered them. Salvation therefore came to all peoples in order to reach the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" . There have been many misconceptions concerning the house of Israel, and the house of Judah, the children, the gentiles and the church (called out ones).
These misconceptions have led to many false teachings, such as, the church has replaced Israel, or that the two houses are the Jews and the gentiles, as well as the false teaching that EL has different rules for the different people. In reality we see the plan for reuniting the house of Israel and the house of Judah in Jeremiah, when YHVH says the day will come when He will make a new (actually renewed) covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah .
Anyone who joins with them will become part of the children of Israel, just like the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with the descendants of Jacob. You can see how this eliminates the concept of having different laws for gentiles and Jews. YHVH has one law for all, it is called the Torah. This is stated in many places, but I will quote one from Leviticus 24:22, "You shall have the same law for the stranger and one from your own country; for I am YHVH your EL." We can now understand the parables spoken by Messiah in Luke 15 concerning the lost sheep and the prodigal son . Knowing who the two houses are shows us that the lost son is Israel and the son who stayed home is Judah.
In summary, I believe we have seen that YHVH developed a people for Himself that He called chosen. They were chosen to receive instructions from YHVH: His Sabbath, His feasts and their customs, which all teach the instructions for having life. This set of instructions is called the Torah, the first five books of Scripture, written by Moses. They were given all these things so that the rest of the world might see EL in them and join with them to partake of the adoption, the glory, the covenants and the promises, and that all might become members of the commonwealth of Israel. YHVH established the Two Houses of Israel and He will reunite them. No nation, people or anything else will replace the chosen people of YHVH.
The House of Israel has been scattered for so long that they have lost their identity and do not know who they are, but YHVH is calling to the lost sheep of the house of Israel through the people of Ephraim. The true Bride of YHVH is composed of those who keep the commandments of EL and have the testimony of Messiah. The Two Houses of Israel are Israelites, who like Ruth, choose to say, "Your people shall be my people and your EL my EL"
Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that it shall no more be said, As Yahweh lives, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; Jer 16:14-15
The promising of a deliverance greater than that from Egypt, implied also a chastisement more terrible than the bondage in the iron furnace there. Instead of their being placed in one land, there was to be a scattering into the north and many other countries, followed finally by a restoration. The prophet, rejoicing at the hope of mercy to come.
The Jewish people never gave up hope that we would someday return to our home in Israel. That hope is expressed in the song Ha-Tikvah (The Hope).
As long as deep within the heart
The Jewish soul is warm
And toward the edges of the east
An eye to Zion looks
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years
To be a free people in our own land
In the land of Zion and Jerusalem.
To be a free people in our own land
In the land of Zion and Jerusalem.
Gradually over the last decade, this Mystery has become unveiled as Yahweh began removing the veil of secrecy which He had placed over the nations as a protection for His people. We are only being cast out of the holy land for a time. Prophecy says true Israel will return.
A great Revelation has already started to unfold and we realise that there are a strong movement of Restoration at hand. “The deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob” Rom 11:25.
Ancient Bible Prophecy have foretold for "the End Times', a Return by these Ten Tribes, who had rejected the Torah of Yahwew and His mandated 'caretakers' of His Law and Customs, the Tribe of Judah. This Return to Torah (Law and System of the Creator G-d of Israel) would be a guarantee of the authenticity of their intentions, because mankind's nature is to rebel against G-d's Law and 'Jewish' System and Customs.
Jerusalem will be called "the Throne of YHVH...” Jeremiah. 3:17
"I shall live here amongst the sons of Israel for ever" - Ezekiel. 43:7
Hosea 3:4-5 - "For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol. Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their G-d and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days."
Hosea 6:1 - "Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds."
Ezekiel 20:34 - "I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered -- with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath."
Isaiah 11:11-12 "In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth."
Isaiah 43:5-6,21 "Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, `Give them up!' and to the south, `Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth..."
"... the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise."
Psalm 107:2-3 "Let the redeemed of the LORD say this -- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
Zephaniah 3:8-10 "For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, [even] the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering".
Zechariah 8:3 Thus saith the LORD: I return unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
8:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will save My people from the east country, and from the west country;
8:8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
Right now, Jerusalem is not called a city of truth, and Yahweh is not dwelling there, it says that when Israel is back in Jerusalem Yahweh will dwell with them in truth and in righteousness. There is no truth (the laws and commandments) in Jerusalem, there is no righteousness (keeping the laws and commandments) there either.
This only means that Israel is not back in the land as a sovereign nation, they are in the land of their enemies being punished for all their sins (Amos 3:2). When the Hebrews return they will be the righteous nation that they are suppose to be. Unlike the Jews who are in the land today, the majority of them are pagans and Atheist. Verse 8 says we will fully understand and keep the laws of Yahweh, there'll be no sinners in the land when Israel returns.
The nation of Israel is known as the chosen people and bible is very clear about the job of Israel and the reason they were chosen.
The chosen people were chosen for one major reason and that is to bring the rest of the sons of Adam into the truth of YHWH (John 4:22, Acts 13:47). The Israelites are not the only ones to gain salvation, but it was and is our job to teach the world the truth about the heavenly father and His laws.
Strictly speaking it is incorrect to call an ancient Israelite a "Jew" or to call a contemporary Jew an Israelite ."Abraham was the first Hebrew. Yahweh changed his name from Abram (Gen. 17:5). In Gen. 14:13 he is called Abram the Hebrew. So we can see that Yeshua is descended from "Abram the Hebrew." The language of the Jews are "Hebrew."
This is the reason all the apostles, prophets and The Messiah were Hebrew Israelites. This is also why in Acts 10:, the angel of Yahweh told Cornelius (the Italian) to go to Peter the Hebrew Israelite, and that he would tell him what he ought to do. Peter taught Cornelius the full law of Yahweh (acts 10:33). This angel that told Cornelius to go to Peter could have taught him the law, all angels know the laws of Yahweh, but he didn't because it is the job of Israel to teach the world the ways of the Most High. So this angel sent Cornelius to Israel to learn the law.
Exodus 19:6 "and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priest and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Israel.”
Yahweh said he would make Israel a kingdom of priests, the job of a priest is to minister. If you're a nation of priests, who are you going to minister to? It wouldn't be to your fellow country men because they are also priest. Israel was going to be priest unto the world, and teach the world the commandments and laws of the creator. This was and still is the original plan.
Throughout biblical times and even now, Israel had and has become spiritually dead and lawless people. In the past and today, they have become accustomed to mixing the pure worship of YHWH with that of pagan idol gods. Following the Gregorian calendar and in the process of doing this they continue to bring more curses down on them, and at the same time have lost the knowledge that Yahweh has given them.
"Hear the word of the LORD, children of Israel: for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of Yahweh in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood." Hosea 4:1,2
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy G-d, I will also forget thy children."Hosea 6:6
It has became next to impossible for the Israelites to teach the world when they have forgotten what they were suppose to teach. This was the reason for the prophets, all the prophets came to Israel and told them to repent (change their ways) and return back to Yahweh.
"For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." Matthew 13:15
Matthew refers to the distant future and includes it in the missionary discourse to the twelve.
Matt 10:5,6 - "These twelve Yeshua sent out and commanded them saying: 'Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel'."
Yeshua is sending out his disciples for training them, and for spreading the news of His kingdom's arrival and preparation thereof in advance. Yeshua is concerned here with order and the value of the Laws that needs to be taught, how things ought to be done, based on the promises Yahweh has made, and the special place of the Israelites.
There are hints as to the breaking out of the gospel from the Jewish confines throughout His ministry. Not that Yeshua has no interest or plans for the world. Indeed, from John's Gospel chapter 4, we know Yeshua went through Samaria to convert the woman at the well. But that outbreak is particularly to be the fruit of Yeshua's resurrection, and the pouring out of the Spirit. The fact that Yeshua was born Jewish is one of the least contested truths of the Bible.
This is the reason Yeshua came to Israel, He was not sent to any other people other than the tribe of Israel to deliver them from bondage and ensure the truth are proclaimed. Due to Israel and Judah stubborn ways they still do not get the message, as they reject their birthright and promises made.
In Matthew 15:24 Yeshua says “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” It was only later that the Gospel was proclaimed to the Gentiles. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:2
Isaiah 26:6 "In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit."
Isaiah 35:1-2 "The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy...."
"…Without faith it is impossible to please Him…" Hebrews 11:6.
Faith is seeing the invisible and believing the impossible. |
