(a) I was
rather sadly shocked sometime last
year, whilst attending a "home
fellowship" of inter-denominational
believers, I overheard a rude, vitriolic
outburst by a retired Baptist minister in
Cape Town when a fellow-believer innocently
greeted him with the word "Shalom"!
(b) On
another more recent occasion, at a local
prayer meeting of believers in Somerset
West, after calling for prayer requests from
the few people present, the leader of the
group (also a retired pastor) was visibly
shaken and taken aback when I announced my
request "Can we please pray for the peace of
Jerusalem?" Needless to say the one and
only Jewish believer present in the group
bravely and audibly made known this "unheard
of" request to Yehowah!
(c)
The church has truly lost track of its
Hebraic Heritage! It has got it all wrong!
However, the teaching in Holy Writ about
Yisrael is so evident that it makes one
wonder how it could possibly be that the
they got it all so very wrong.
(d) If
someone were to ask me to sum up what
I interpreted to be the main theme of
Scripture, for my tuppence worth, I would
readily answer "Yisrael"!
(e)
To any careful reader, the word "Yisrael"
is most prominent in Scripture; it occurs
numerous times and surely this should
make one ask "why?". By virtue of this fact
it must surely be of great importance in the
mind of the divine Author! The word occurs
as Strong's words (in brackets) in the
Tenach (OT) as "Yisrael", a Hebrew
word, meaning 'he will rule as Elohim'
(3478) from the root words "sarah" meaning
'lady', 'princess' or 'queen' (8282, 8283)
and "el" meaning 'mighty', 'the Almighty' or
'strength' (410). It also occurs many times
in the Brit Hadashah (NT) as Strong's word
"Israel" (2474) being simply a
transliteration of the Hebrew "Yisrael". The
word also occurs as "Israelite(s)",
"Israelitish", and in the genitive form,
"Israel's". As synonyms the word also occurs
as "Jacob" and three times in the Torah as
"Jeshurun". Other synonyms are "Elect"
(972), "Elected", "Election", "Elected" and
in the genitive "Elect's"; "Chosen" (977)
and "Twelve Tribes".
(f)
The word occurs for the first time in
Genesis 32:28 "And He said, your name shall
be called no more Jacob but Yisrael for as a
prince you have power with Elohim and with
men, and have prevailed." The word occurs
throughout Scripture and occurs for the last
time in Revelation 21:12 in the description
of the New Jerusalem reading from verse 11,
"Having the glory of Elohim; and her light
was like a stone most precious, like a
jasper stone, clear as crystal; and had a
wall great and high, and had twelve gates,
and at the gates twelve angels, and the
names written thereon, which are the names
of the twelve tribes of the children of
Yisrael."
(g)
The reformer, Calvin, almost
got it right with his Five Points
(TULIP): Total depravity, Unconditional
election, Limited atonement, Irresistible
grace and Perseverance of the saints. But
Calvin was mistaken in that he was
"hijacking" these points as referring to the
"church" whereas they in fact refer to
Yisrael!
(h)
Yehowah did not make a covenant with the
"church" nor with the "gentiles"! He made
His Covenant with (1) the House of Yisrael
and (2) the House of Judah (Jeremiah
31:31-33; Luke 22:20; Hebrews 8:6-12; 1
Corinthians 5:7);
(i)
In the reading of Scripture one soon
discovers that, historically, these Two
Houses make up the Twelve Tribes of Yisrael,
being (1) The Ten Northern Tribes (2) the
Two Southern Tribes.
(j)
The following points, extracted from a study
guide by Batya Wootten of MIA, as reproduced
by TNN Online, to whom all credit is
given, explain how these Two Houses came
about and the vitally important implications
thereof:
1. Abraham
was promised a countless progeny
(Genesis 12:3; 15:5);
2. This
promise was given to Isaac (Genesis
26:2-5);
7. Ephraim's
seed was to become "melo hagoyim" meaning "a
fullness of gentiles" (Genesis 48:19;
Romans 11:25; Isaiah 8:14); the word
fullness is also used in Psalm 24:1;
8.
Israel was divided into Two Houses
- Ephraim/Israel and Judah (1 Kings
1:11; 11:31-35; 12:15 - "the cause was from
the Lord"; 12:24 "for this thing is from
Me");
9.
Ephraim was later sent into captivity in
Assyria for their idolatry (2
Kings17:6-18,24; 1 Chronicles 5:25,26; 1
Kings 14:15);
10.Ephraim
became "LoAmmi" - meaning "not a
people" (Hosea 1:9) and was swallowed up
among all nations. Thus they lost touch with
their Yisraelite identity.
11.Yisrael is
forever chosen to choose; they must choose
to follow the Holy One of Yisrael
(Deuteronomy 28:1-68; 30:19; Joshua 24:15);
12.There is
an eternal call on all descendants of
Yisrael; the facts about one's biological
heritage cannot be changed based on one's
faith [or even a lack thereof] (Exodus
19:4-6; Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:6,8; 10:15;
Jeremiah 31:37;
33:25,26; Romans 11:28,29);
13.Though
scattered, like Judah, Ephraimites continue
to be physical Israelites (Jeremiah 31:20; 2
Kings 17:23; Daniel 9:7; Ephesians 2:17;
Hosea 5:3; 8:8; Amos 9:9; Jeremiah 31:20);
14.Ephraim
has been "lost" to, or ignorant of, his
Yisraelite heritage (Hosea 1:6; 3:4;
31:18,19);
15.As to
Ezra's sacrifice for "all' Yisrael. "all"
defines those present, and does not serve to
prove that all biological Yisraelites were
there (Ezra 8:25; 1 Kings 12:20);
16.Reunited
Yisrael will be sinless, will not be
uprooted from the Land, and
Yeshua will reign over them (Isaiah
11:11-14; Jeremiah 3:14-18; 50:4,5,20;
Zechariah 8:3,7,13; 9:13; 10:7,8,10; Hosea
11:10; Obadiah 1:18; Ezekiel 37:22-26;
Isaiah 27:9;)
17.Ephraim
and Judah are Yehowah's Two Chosen Families
(Jeremiah 33 23-26);
18.The Chosen
people of Yisrael are Yehowah's witnesses
(Isaiah 43:8-13; 44:8);
19.Yehowah
divided His witnesses into Two Houses (2
Chronicles 11:4; Revelation 11:3,4;
Zechariah 4:11,14);
20.Messiah
Yeshua is also called Yisrael (Isaiah
42:6,7; 49:1-6; Matthew 2:15);
21.Yeshua
made His Brit Hadashah with the children of
Yisrael [see (h) above]
22.Yeshua
has one flock and He is one with the Father;
together They have one people (Matthew 2:6;
15:24; John 10:16, 27-30; 17:11,
20,21; Ezekiel 34:11-16);
23.In ancient
Yisrael foreigners joined Yisrael by
observing circumcision, Passover and
sojourning; thereafter they were considered
as natives of the Land (Leviticus 19:34;
Numbers 9:14; 15:15,16; Deuteronomy 18:
15-19; Isaiah 56:3,6-8; Ezekiel 47:23);
24.Yisrael's
three citizenship rules were continued in
the Brit Hadashah Yisrael as (A)
circumcision of the heart, (B) Yeshua's
Passover of Bread and Wine and (C) living in
harmony with those of His Kingdom
(Matthew 21:43; Luke 12:32; 22:30; John
1:29; Acts 1:6; 1 Peter 1:1,2; 2:9; Hebrews
7:12, 27; 9:12; 10:10; 1 Corinthians 5:7;
Revelation 3:20; Jeremiah 4:4;Acts 15:21;
Jeremiah 31:33; Ephesians 2:11-22);
25.In the
Brit Hadashah non-Jewish believers are
considered to be "former gentiles". They are
no longer "heathens" but instead are
Israelites (Ephesians 2:11-22);
26.The
"church" or "ekklesia" was in the wilderness
and therefore cannot be "separate from
Yisrael" as is often taught (Acts 7:38;
Hebrews 4:2);
27.Believers
belong to Yeshua's "ekklesia of the
firstborn" (Hebrews 12:23);
28.The olive
tree of Yisrael has two major branches,
Ephraim and Judah. The Root of the tree is
Yeshua (Jeremiah 11:10,16; Isaiah
8:13,14;Revelation 22:16);
29.Believers
in Messiah are not to be arrogant toward the
Jewish branches that were broken off for
unbelief. Instead, in a positive way,
believers are to provoke them to jealousy,
that they might be grafted in again (Obadiah
1:12; Joel 2:32; Luke 13:1-5; Romans 11:11,
18-21);
30.Ephraim is
jealous of Judah and Judah vexes Ephraim
(Isaiah 11:13);
31.Ephraim
repents of his youthful sins when instructed
(Jeremiah 31:18,19);
32.Ephraim is
called to be a watchman (Hosea 9:8; Jeremiah
31:6);
33.Ephraim is
called toreturn
to righteousness (Jeremiah 31:21; Ezekiel
37:23);
34.The first
example of two witnesses who gave a good
report about the Elohim of Yisrael were
Caleb and Joshua - a Judahite and an
Ephraimite (Numbers13:2,6-8);
35.Yeshua
gives His two witnesses the power to
prophesy and He describes them as two olive
trees (Revelation 11:3,4);
36.Yeshua's
two witnesses are called two lampstands.
Lampstands are "ekklesias", "assemblies",
"congregations" (Revelation 1:20);
37.Yehowah is
calling forth two congregations of peoples -
Judah and Ephraim - and He is making these
two sticks (trees) one in His hand (Ezekiel
37:15-28; Jeremiah 3:18; Hosea 11:10);
38.Judah will
believe in Messiah when he sees Ephraim
properly representing both the Messiah and
Yehowah's Torah. Even as Judah has been blind
tothe Messiah and Ephraim has been blind to
the truths of Torah, so both must begin to
see. It is the "wild branch Ephraim" who
must bring this to pass (Matthew 23:37-39;
Isaiah 8:14; Romans 11);
39.When
Ephraim and Judah are united in Yehowah they
become an invincible army - one that is
empowered to fight the battles of the Elohim
of Yisrael (Isaiah 11:14; Zechariah 9:13;
10:10; Hosea 1:10,11)." Let
us return to our Yisrael roots and to the
Root and Offspring of David.
