What Judaism Really Says About
Joseph’s Seed!
By Rabbi Moshe Koniuchowsky
Part Four In A Series On The
Full Restoration of Israel
**All sources quoted for
the Rabbi’s Study are well documented and most reliable. Space limitations do not
allow us to list them. The footnotes are available and will be sent to you upon written
request.
***Please feel free to
make as many copies of the following teaching as is necessary. Parts one through three,
are available as back issues from Your Arms To Israel and may be ordered at no cost.
Despite the denials of large
segments of Messianic Judaism and the blindness of major parts of Christendom, the ancient
Jewish rabbis, leaders and sages had understanding and revelation into the status and
whereabouts of the House of Joseph. There was very little mystery surrounding the
"ten lost tribes", as there seems to be today. These sages understood that the
House of Joseph, also known as the ten tribes, were not only never lost, but had keen
awareness of exactly what had become of them. The very idea that they were lost, or that
somehow Yahweh could not trace them, was considered an anti-Semitic doctrine, that sadly
wished away the people of Israel. Most of the ancient sages have based their insights on
Scripture and therefore they are to be considered most valid. Their extraordinary
conclusions in most cases, do line up with Scripture.
Those in modern day Messianic
Judaism, need to reconnect with the past understanding in this area, in order for other
traditional Jews to take them seriously as a legitimate form of Judaism. Almost all of the
great sages of our nation had some kind of virtual agreement regarding the House of Israel
or Ephraim, which became a separate nation from the rest of the House of David officially
in 921BC, and remains so to this day. The Scriptures that ancient Judaism used to validate
Ephraim’s eternal chosen status and eternal existence, were found in such clear texts
as Psalm 60:9, where Ephraim (a term used for the collective ten tribes of the
north), is called the strength of Yahweh’s head. In order for the ten
tribes to be lost, Yahweh would in essence have to lose His strength or His very
head!
Jeremiah 31:9 declared to the
ancients that the nation of Israel was His eternal son (Hosea 11:1) and that Ephraim would
always be the firstborn to Him. Later in Jeremiah 31: 20, Yahweh reminds all of us,
that despite His past pronouncements against His firstborn son Ephraim, He earnestly and
sincerely, remembers him and therefore will have mercy on him.
This pronouncement by Yahweh, is
in direct contrast to those within modern religious circles, who have announced Ephraim as
missing in action, or dead on arrival and a mere figment of the imagination of two-house
proponents. If Yahweh remembers and recognizes them as still being functional as
individuals within the world (though never fully reassembled as a distinct nation any time
before Yahshua), we must not forget that we, as Messianic Jews, are in fact our brothers
keeper. Psalm 80:1 is a clarion call to those who consider themselves true shepherds of
Israel, to lead Israel as does Yahweh Himself, the one who dwells between the cherubim.
Verses 2and 3 of Psalm 80, state
that in order to be a New Covenant shepherd after Yahweh’s own heart, the people that
the shepherd must lead are EPHRAIM AND BENJAMIN, not just Benjamin. If a
shepherd of Israel recognizes that the people of Israel he is leading are a redeemed
remnant from both houses, then that individual will be able to minister to all the former
lost sheep of the children of Israel. From Scripture it is abundantly clear that Judahites
and Ephraimites, who have been redeemed by Yahshua’s precious blood, both have
different needs to be met by loving pastoral care. These needs are often very different In
order for Messianic leadership to dispense the proper pastoral care, we must first
recognize the differing needs within the flock that is being led.
According to Psalm 80, that
flock is identical to the one our Heavenly Father Himself leads from heaven. Whether we
fully understand this biblical principle of two-house restoration through Messiah or not,
it is nevertheless incumbent upon us to realize that salvation is the saving grace to all
Israelites from both houses! Both houses are represented within our flocks, for that is
the way the Master Yahshua has ordained it. We must adjust our leadership accordingly. Our
leadership must take on more of an acceptance and allowance for Joseph’s seed, just
as did the ancient sages of the Jewish people.
An early Jewish work called the
Zohar, stated that Israel (10 tribes), is represented by a rose, the description of which
represents the Tudor Rose of England. In contrast, the rose among the thorns (Song of
Solomon 2:2), is said to be the full assembly of Israel (12 tribes) among the nations.
Just as the rose petals are red and white among the thorns, all of Israel is dispensing a
dual positive aroma of justice and mercy among the gentiles. The Rose Of Israel is said to
have 13 petals for the 13 tribes including Levi, but the English Tudor Rose only has 10
petals. Why ten? The British Empire, dominated by the predominant tribe of Ephraim,
is composed of ten tribes! The rabbis have confirmed that in the precincts of the two
ancient Temples on Mt. Moriah, was a special rose garden situated between the current
wailing wall and the actual temples (Mishnah Middott ch.1). According to the ancients of
Judah, this rose garden will have to be replanted when the third temple is built. Since
many believe that the USA is primarily composed of Manasseh/Israelites, it is most
interesting that there is a rose garden in front of the White House in America, named
America according to many Jewish rabbis because of Machir, Manasseh’s firstborn son.
The Zohar also describes
the future return of the ten tribes with the House of Judah. Rabbi Eliezer of Pirkei Avot
fame stated "Every prince or great man that arose in Israel, was given the name Ephrati."
Ephrati is defined as one who is an aristocrat or noble man. The Talmud believed that
descendents of the House of Ephraim became noble aristocrats wherever they were scattered.
In the Talmud Yalkut Shimeoni A77, commenting on First Samuel 1:1, Rabbi Raddak states
that "Ephrati is taken to mean someone from the tribe of Ephraim and of noble
birth." These rabbis understood that when the House of Joseph was scattered around
the world, they would turn up in the west as nobles, aristocrats and monarchs. Rabbi David
Kimchi who lived in 1157-1236, in his commentary entitled Radak, said, "‘in the
mountain of Ephraim’ means greatness and importance." Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi
states that "‘Ephraim means’ those who dwell in the palace, or an extremely
noble person living in Mt Ephraim. The implications are clear. The ancient sages
understood that the ten tribes would flourish as noblemen every where they went.
Nowhere is this truth found more than in the former British Empire and her colonies, where
the class of nobility is separated from the commoners to this day.
The Talmud states in Yebamot 17
B, that the ten tribes of scattered Israel in their places of exile, are legally
"gentiles" for all intents and purposes as far as keeping Torah and halachah
are concerned. This clear traditional rabbinical understanding stands in direct opposition
to much of Messianic Judaism, who swear by heaven that saved gentiles returning
(Acts 15:19) to the Sukkah of David, cannot possibly be lost Israelites. This
pontification stands in direct contrast to Yebamot 17B, which, while not inspired by the
Ruach Hakodesh, does give us insight into the consensus of the traditional Jewish rabbis. Malachi
4:4 reminds us, that in the restoration of Israel all Israel will keep Torah, since Yahweh
states that it was given for all Israel, not just for Jewish Israel.
The rabbis understood that
Isaiah 49 was a clear reference to the location of the ten tribes of Israel. In Isaiah
49:1, Yahweh speaks to the isles and the people of Israel far away. These are the isles of
the Atlantic Ocean ( Britain, coastlands of Europe, North America ). These places are
mentioned in Isaiah 49 in direct correlation with the tribes of Israel. The flag of
Britain is called the Union Jack, or the Covenant of Jacob. In Isaiah 49:5,
Scripture states that the Messiah would be formed (born) primarily to "bring Jacob
back." Back from where? According to verse 1, Israel will return from the coastlands
and islands of Britain, Northwest Europe and North America. Isaiah 49:6 states that the
Messiah, Yahweh’s personification of all that is Israel (Hosea 11:1), will be
Yahweh’s chosen and formed servant to "bring Jacob back." The
Messiah would lighten the nations or gentiles, in order to rescue the preserved ones (
notzrim ) of Israel and through this rescue, the restoration of the tribes would occur.
This includes all 12 tribes from both houses (verses 5-6).The phrase ends of the earth
in verse 6, indicates the location from where this rescue of Israel’s preserved ones
will occur. According to the Jewish sages, the term ends of the earth in verse 6
mean all the peoples who dwell "in the geographical extremities of the continental
land masses, furthest away from Jerusalem, considered to be the earth’s center. Rav
Shaul (Paul), confirms this midrashic interpretation in Ephesians 2:17-19, where he calls
those returning FROM FAR or from the ENDS OF THE EARTH, as
reclaiming citizenship in Israel by Messiah’s blood and by His determined
search and rescue mission for the ten tribes (Ephesians 2:13)! The term "far
off" or "ends of the earth", is not as is commonly taught, a term for
gentiles. Rather it is and has always been a catch phrase, for scattered Israel amongst
the gentiles, who were said to be "far away" from Jerusalem, the geographical,
cultural and religious center of the globe. In Isaiah 49:8-9, this same servant of Yahweh,
is said to be given to the people of Israel as a "Brit-Am" or a covenant of the
people. The ancient rabbis understood this to mean, that Messiah would restore the
earth by causing the "covenant people" of Israel, to inherit the world’s
desolate heritages. Through colonialism, the peoples of Northwest Europe, the British
Empire and other places of Israelite dispersion (Denmark, Ireland, France, Spain etc.),
would inherit the former desolate heritages. These desolate heritages include but are
not limited to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe and parts of North
America. These desolate heritages were positively influenced by the Brit Am or the Covenant
People, that Yahshua is said to be bringing back. Verses 9-11 of Isaiah 49, teach us
the stabilizing influence upon the desolate heritages, that ten tribe Ephraim will exert,
which will allow them to also inherit these lands, by the theocratic freedom they will
proclaim.
The midrashim Numbers Rabah 1:6,
Eicah Rabah 2:9, (Jerusalem Sanhedrin 17:6,29) on these verses (Isaiah 49:9-11) comment as
follows: Rabbi Beracahiah and Rabbi Chelbo, in the name of Rabbi Shmuel Bar Nachman said.
"To three places was Israel (Ephraim) exiled. One to beyond the Sambation River,
one to Daphneh of Antioch and one to where the clouds came down and
covered them. In the same way that the tribes east of the Jordan River were also
exiled to three places (Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh). How do we know this? From the
verse that says "to the prisoners go forth" (Isaiah 49:9). These are those
exiled beyond Sambation. "To them that are in darkness, show yourselves", these
are those whom the cloud descended upon and covered. "Let them feed on the ways and
let their pasture be on all the bare hills." These are those exiled to Daphne of
Antioch."
Isaiah 49:10-11, speak of the
fact that the ten tribes of Ephraim/Israel will settle and return from an area not lacking
in food and water. Verse 11 states that their migratory path away from Israel to far
away places, would be primarily through mountainous terrains. History shows (Josephus
and others), that the bulk of the tribes of Ephraim, were resettled north of Assyria in
the Caucasus mountains. These mountains provided the way towards their eventual migration
westward and Northwest into Europe. This is substantiated from Scripture. In Hosea 11:10
when Ephraim/Israel learns to follow Yahweh, they will roar like a lion. Obviously it is
the Lion of the tribe of Yehudah who teaches them to roar. They mimic His roar as a verbal
sign of the end of their diaspora. When Ephraim puts forth the roar of Judah’s
Almighty Lion, the sons of Ephraim/Israel, according to this verse "shall tremble
from the west." They can only come trembling from the west if they have settled
in the west (Europe, North America and the Atlantic Ocean’s coastlands).
Hosea 12:1 states that Ephraim
in their rebellion, followed an east wind, which blew them directly west of Jerusalem.
When they return in obedience through Judah’s lion, they will follow a west wind,
which will blow them and carry them back directly east to the Middle East and into the
land of Yisrael! According to Hosea 6:2, this return of the House of Israel to the
children of Israel, will occur two days or two thousand years after Messiah’s
appearing, so that starting with the third millennium AD, they can be raised up to zoe
(abundant) life in Messiah. The commencement of the third day (2001 AD), is destined to
bring renewed life to Ephraim/Israel and takes place at the close of the second day, or
the two thousandth year since Messiah’s first advent!
Rashi, also know as Rabbi Shlomo
Yitzchazki ( lived in France in the 11th century ), is perhaps the most revered
Jewish commentator on Scripture in the history of the Jewish nation. One would be
hardpressed to find a Hebrew Tanach (First Covenant), without his commentary footnoted for
every single verse on the bottom of every page. Rashi’s commentary on this verse
teaches that Ephraim will return in the days of the building of the third temple (third
millennium AD). Once that third temple is built, you and I can expect to see the
floodgates of Ephraimite/Christian/Zionist immigration, spill over from tiny modern
Israel, into the greater Israel, promised to the patriarchs (Zechariah 10:10). These are
those days my friends. May they never end!
Isaiah 49:12 talks about
Israelites coming from far away and specifying this return as coming from the
north, the west and the land of SINIM. Sinim, according to Rashi and the Aramaic
translation of verse 12, is the land of "the south." The land farthest away and
furthest south from Israel is Australia! In the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible by
Jerome, the word in verse 12 for Sinim is Australi, or in English Australia! Rashi
attributes the lost tribe of Simeon to Australia, the "great Southland."
Furthermore, the name Sinim contains the root word for Sinai, both the mountain and the
entire Sinai Peninsula. The Sinai Peninsula hosted a large population from the tribe of
Simeon. In many respects Australia is similar to the Sinai Peninsula. In verses 14-17 of
Isaiah 49, we see ten tribe Israel’s response to their end time ingathering. They are
commanded to sing songs of Zion in verse 13 and to give up their old refrain of "we
are lost and forgotten." It is the Messiah Yahshua who puts a new song in their
heart, replacing the old "lost and forsaken" lament.
In verse 16 of Isaiah 49, we
see that it is by the nail scarred imprints in Yahshua’s hands which He
received on Golgotha, that this restoration takes place. He reminds the
scattered sheep of the House of Israel to look at the nail scarred hands of Messiah and
realize that they have not been forgotten, lost, or forsaken. This passage has to be
referring to Israel (Ephraim), since Judah had not yet been taken captive to either
Babylon in 585BC, or globally by the Roman Emperor Titus in 70AD, when Isaiah was written
in 720 BC. In verse 18 of Isaiah 49, Yahweh tells His Son Yahshua to put on regathered
Ephraim as an ornament of Yahweh’s remarriage to His people. In verses 19-21 of
Isaiah 49, we see a major divinely mandated role reversal. In Messiah’s days, we see
Ephraim’s oppressors and captors being tormented with global dispersion never to
be regathered, while Ephraim/Israel has been regathered back to the land of their
former destruction! Those who did the swallowing will take Ephraim’s place in the
exile as the swallowed! This is exactly what historically has happened to the now defunct
Assyrian empire. Isaiah 49 verse 20 shows that returning Ephraim, will be so numerous,
that the land of Israel as it appears today will not have enough room to contain
Joseph’s seed! In verse 21 the amazed peoples of Ephraim, are flabbergasted at the
fact that their brethren (other lost Israelites) are not only still extant, but in fact
numerically multiplied, and prosperous,
"From where did THEY
(other fellow Israelites) come?" The rabbis understood these verses clearly. It
is amazing how Messianic Judaism does not. I guess Isaiah knew this, when he talked about
both houses stumbling through partial blindness (Isaiah 8:14, Romans 11:25). Rabbi Bar
Shalom compares Isaiah 49:21 to Genesis 48:8, when the patriarch Israel turns to JOSEPH
AND ASKS (about Ephraim and Manasseh), WHO ARE THESE? Rabbi Bar Shalom by
implication is saying that returning (saved) Judah, will not recognize Ephraim and
Manasseh, in much the same manner that Israel the patriarch, the first Israelite, failed
to initially recognize his grandchildren, who were his Ephraimite offspring and biological
Israelites!
Rabbi Abba’s commentary on
this verse in Isaiah 49:21, is similar to Rabbi Bar Shalom’s. "What does this
verse imply?" he asks. That the Heavenly Patriarch of Israel (Yahweh), foresaw the
assembling of Israel before Him in the future." According to Isaiah 11:11 "In
that day Yahweh shall set his hand again the second time, to recover the remnant of
His people which shall be left from ASSYRIA, Mitzrayim ( Egypt ), Pathros and form
Cush ( Black Israelites ), from Hamamth and from the ISLES OF THE SEA!"
Rabbi Abba understood that the first time Yahweh would call Israel home to the land, it
would be Jewish/Israel. The second call would be to Ephraim/Israel. Isaiah 11:12-13
states that the restoration of the House of Judah is simultaneous to that of the House of
Israel. By definition the Jews cannot return to Israel physically and Messiah spiritually,
without a simultaneous retrieval of the other House of Israel. Ephraim will be regathered
as gentiles until they come to know who they really are at a later period, following
gentle and loving instruction by regenerated Judah (Zechariah 8:23). Jeremiah
31:18-19, Zechariah 10:6-12, speaks of Israel’s simultaneous return from among the
nations as a return of gentiles. Zechariah 6:15 talks about returning Ephraim as born
again Israelite-Christians ( non-Jewish believers ) and Christian Zionists, who will
rebuild the Hekel, or the third temple on Mt. Moriah! In the clearest possible terms,
Rabbi Abba and Rabbi Shalom both talk about the returning Israelites, who will be
RECONVERTED, REUNITED AND RESTORED as one with Jewish/Israel!!
What is utterly fascinating is
that later in this same Zohar verse, it states that "they will divide from each
other", which means that the foreign non-Jewish believing element will voluntarily
separate from returning Israel, not wanting any part of it and its right of circumcision
(Torah). In other words, though some believers have the scriptural opportunity to return
as legitimate saved physical citizens of the Commonwealth of Israel, they will
disobey Yahweh and voluntarily (because of Jew-hatred and poor teaching?), separate THEMSELVES
from Israel, even though Yahweh continues to view them as Israel.
Is there a better explanation anywhere in any rabbinical literature, of the future status
of the man made separate entity? Through rebellion they broke away from the New Covenant
twelve tribe remnant people of Israel and called THEMSELVES "THE CHURCH"!
This separate entity moved
the capital of New Covenant Israel from Jerusalem to Rome and from Yahweh as the true
Almighty, to the Pope and his papal cohorts as false lords, who became hirelings over a
separate flock. Isaiah 56:3-8 strictly and soberly warns all believers in Yahweh, NOT
TO DISOBEY YAHWEH’S GRACE BY FORMING A SEPERATE ENTITY OF ANY KIND, especially one so
anti-nomian, anti-Semitic and Judeophobic, as the current ecclesiastical
church system.
It is amazing that the ancient
sages of Israel, quickly picked up on the fact, that some of returning Ephraim/Israel,
along with some non-Israelites (his companions), would not be satisfied with being
regrafted back into remnant and returning Israel. They foresaw that many of those
returning would, out of open acts of self will and self rule, leave the olive tree that
Yahweh planted ( Jeremiah 11:16-17 ), in favor of a dry tree, full of paganism and
without any life to sustain it! According to Isaiah 56:3, this separation results in total
spiritual dryness and depravity! Much of this separation was Ephraim’s desire to
replace his brother Judah as the only Israel (replacement theology )and to avoid living in
harmony with him.
As previously mentioned
according to the rabbis, the ten tribes wound up in primarily three places. First, beyond
the Sambation River, second, under the clouds of darkness
and third, in Daphne of Antioch. Abraham Polok in his studies, says that the
post-exilic Jewish writers referred to the Don River as the Sambation River. The Greeks
also called the Don River the "Sambation" or river of Sabbath. The area beyond,
or north of the Sambation River became Scythe-Israelite territory, which included
Sakkiz the Scythian capital, named after Isaac! From the river, all the way north to south
Russia and west Asia, the lost Israelites migrated and settled in droves, which according
to Josephus, "were an innumerable multitude", thus fulfilling the promise of
physical multiplicity to all the patriarchs by the time of Messiah Yahshua. The second
place of exile according to the rabbis, was an area covered by dark clouds. The midrash
Olam Rabah (Great Universe) 17:16, says that "part of the exiled House of Joseph,
went to mountains of deep darkness."
Rashi himself identifies these
mountains as the mountains of Mannae (named after wilderness Manna ), while others equated
them with the nearby Caucasus Mountains. This dark mountainous area is due north of the
Sambition River and Israel proper. In this area of mountainous darkness, the ten tribes
who were exiled, emerged briefly thereafter as the Scythians, Goths and Cimmerians,
named after Samaria the fallen northern capital.
Homer the Greek poet stated
"the Cimmerians live in the deep sea of Oceanos (Atlantic), which is the world’s
boundary, where night is forever spread over these unhappy mortals." Homer
attributed the Cimmerians, who lived under darkness, to have moved to the shores of the
Atlantic and Orphic Argonautica ca. 500 BC, thus placing them in the British
Isles after migrating from the mountains of darkness. "The Cimmerians were
hidden from the sun rising by the mountains of Ripaeus in Britain near the vicinity of
Hades", according to Homer! In other words, mountain darkness followed them
regardless of where they migrated!!
From the initial mountains of
darkness, the tribes migrated a little further east into Daphne or Asia. This Antioch in
Syria (Asia), was the first city where lost Ephraimites were called Christians ( Acts
11:26 ). Antioch was teeming with Ephraimites at the time of the Shaliach
Shaul. Antioch, though on the Syrian coast, was considered part of greater Israel and thus
part of the promised land. Therefore the Israelite prisoners taken there, were not really
exiled but merely relocated there for later exile. Obviously, many remained there and got
saved there. These early Messianic believers had children and multiplied. Thus the
early believing community was filled with the offspring of these Antioch /Ephraimite
believers! 2000 years later, many of those descended directly from the early believers and
apostles are still with us as believers! These Israelites have multiplied over two
millennia and have settled comfortably into the body of Yahshua!
Daphne was a city within a city
or within Antioch of Syria. Daphne was once the center of the tribe of Dan in the Galilee.
The site of the golden calf in Dan, was also called Daphne. Chaim Bar Derma, an Israeli
scholar, said in 1958 "that the ancient Israelites under David and Solomon,
controlled the entire Middles East, including Syria and the city of Antioch." Daphne
of Antioch was a long held city of Israel and thus became a major area of resettlement for
the House of Joseph. Thus we see that the early Jewish sages knew exactly where
Joseph’s seed was and it was a matter of lament, rather than a matter of mystery!
Isn’t it amazing how we of
Messianic Judah can become so focused on how to keep a kosher home and raise up a
culturally Jewish family, that we forget the weightier matters of the Torah, such as
justice, equality and mercy towards Ephraim! True faith in the Scriptures will teach us
the same things they taught our ancient sages about the House of Joseph.
Would to Yahweh that Messianic
Judaism should take its collective head out of the sand and look for Ephraim, before
concocting and perpetuating a make believe fairy tale entitled "The Reunion That
Took Place In The Village Of Anatevkah In The Days Of King Josiah." The
rabbis of our Jewish nation did not for one single minute, put up with that folly
and neither will this author. We have never been FULLY reconstituted as a united 12
tribe theocracy since the days of Solomon and it is for that reason that we trust and need
Yahshua to do just that. We have not missed the reunion of our people as some teach,
because the reunion did not begin until Yahshua was anointed at the age of thirty and has
continued ever so slowly until this very day. Josephus the Jewish historian,
who was a contemporary of Messiah Yahshua said "the ten tribes are beyond the
Euphrates River till now and are an immense multitude, not to be estimated in
numbers." From Josephus we learn that the supposed reconstitution of all
Israel under the Josiah Revival around 600 BC, is a religious myth propagated by those who
would rather wish Ephraim away, then have to deal with him! According to Josephus the ten
tribes were still in exile, 600 years after the King Josiah Revival! From
Josephus, we further learn that it was common knowledge that the patriarchal promise of
physical multiplicity was already being fulfilled through the ten tribes, not through tiny
Judah!
The Josiah Revival was
primarily a Jewish revival, with all Israel (12 tribes) well represented, but not in full
attendance ( Second Chronicles 35:17-18 )! The Ephraimites who did not live in the
land, but who did in fact attend, were Scythians from the north who did not eat swine,
loathed idolatry, kept Shabbat and other Israelite customs. Yahweh spoke of these
Scythians or exiled Israelites 150 years after their exile. He declared via Jeremiah
the prophet, in chapter 3 verses 11-12, that the House Of Israel, though
backslidden, was doing better ( 150 years after exile ) then Judah just 70 years
after The King Josiah Revival! In Jeremiah 3:12, Yahweh tells these Scythians to
return fully and receive full grace! Yahweh gives Jeremiah an inspired word for
exiled Israel 150 years after they supposedly disappeared, or 70 years after they
supposedly rejoined Judah. We see that this cannot be so, since Yahweh told
Jeremiah that Israel, though in exile ( not lost ), is doing better then Judah.
These sons of Isaac ( Scythians
), while decisively defeating Assyria and Persia in major battles ( ca 600 BC ), left
Judah intact because of their recognition that Judah was their tribal brother.
These Scythians are the same ones joining Josiah for Passover!
From the original Ephraimites
of the north, none stayed in the land and remained ( Second Kings 17:18 ).
Therefore, the Ephraimites spoken of in Second Chronicles 35:17-18, were returning
Israelites who had become known as Scythians. Having this understanding, we see that
there is no contradiction between the aforementioned verses and Second Kings 17:18 in
which Yahweh did not allow any Israelites in northern Israel to avoid exile! These
Ephraimites in the King Josiah Revival, were` simply returning as Scythians and
therefore agreed to join King Josiah!
Rav Shaul (Paul), recognized the
Scythians as lost Israelites people in Colossians 3:11, where he favorably contrasted them
to barbarians! The Greek word translated barbarians in Colossians 3:11, is actually
foreigners. Thus he compared foreigners to non-foreigners or Scythians. Jewish
Rav Shaul knew that the Scythians were not foreigners when it came to the Jewish
people! This truth appeared in Scripture later ( 600 years later ), when he wrote
Colossians from a prison cell. Why don’t we know these things?
The great and brilliant 19th
century Hebrew Christian scholar, Alfred Edersheim wrote, "The great mass of the ten
tribes WAS IN THE DAYS OF MESSIAH, AS OUR OWN, LOST TO THE HEBREW NATION."
Edersheim’s comment reinforces the truth that the final two-stick reunion, is totally
eschatological and that it did not take place in the days of, or in the days
prior to Messiah Yahshua! In his study on rabbinical thought regarding the House Of
Joseph, Edersheim further stated, "as regards to the ten tribes, there is this truth
underlying. That as their persistent apostasy from the Elohim of Israel and His worship
had cut them off from His people, so the fulfillment of the Divine promises to them
in the latter days, would imply as it were a second birth (born again experience), to make
them once more Israel!!!"
Edersheim’s
explanation clarifies why Yahshua said you must be born again to gain entry into heaven
and back into Israel! It is amazing that the rabbis, according to Edersheim, taught that
only through the divine promise of, as it were, a NEW OR SECOND BIRTH, could
Ephraim/Israel return. Praise be to Yahweh for documentation like this, in the face of
naysayers!
Instead of looking at the House
of Joseph as the enemy of our exclusive claim to choseness, we must look at him even as
did our patriarchal father Jacob (Gen. 30:25). What difference did the birth and
manifestation of Joseph and his house make to the patriarch? According to Rabbi Schmuel
Ben Nachmani, it made a world of difference. In Talmud Baba Batra 123:B, Rabbi Schmuel
said "Jacob our forefather saw that the seed of Esau is not destined to be delivered
into the hands of anyone (including Judah), save Joseph, as it says in
Obadiah 1:18. "The House of Jacob shall be a fire and the House of Joseph a flame and
the house of Esau for stubble." Obadiah 2:18-19 and Isaiah 11:14-15, teach in the
simplest possible terms, that the Jewish people will never ever conquer the Palestinians,
Arabs, Edomites and sons of Esau ,until they are reunited with one heart, one Spirit and
one accord, into one massive army, through the reconciliation of Jewish Israel with
non-Jewish Israel. As long as we do not recognize this victorious equation for spiritual
and military alliance, as did Jacob , as did Rabbi Schmuel and as in some respects does
the government of the State Of Israel, we (believers) will continue to struggle and fight
ourselves, over the question of who is the real Israel, instead of both camps recognizing
the other house as also being legitimate heirs in Israel!
Only a reunited Israel in these
final last days of humanity, will be able to overthrow the nefarious forces of Islam. This
can become a reality in our lifetime! Islam cannot stand against a united Israel, for
greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. According to Yair Davidy, Nazi
Germany and other German governments, considered the ten lost tribes to be part of their
apocalyptic enemies, all the while embracing the sons of Esau. We must never make that
same mistake as they did. We must look upon them (Ephraim in our midst), with great favor
and grant them the recognition they deserve, so that they can take their rightful place in
national Israel as physical Spirit-filled co-heirs, who are willing to join in military
and spiritual warfare operations against Israel’s historic enemies. We will
receive the consolation of Jacob, only when we preserve the REVELATION OF JACOB,
found in Genesis 30:25!
With a reunified Israel, the
Middle East problem will end according to Scripture, when the west, along with all Israel,
puts the Palestinians on airplanes and sends them away. Isaiah 11:14 in its most
literal translation reads "THEY SHALL FLY THE PHILISTINES AWAY WESTWARD!" Those
in Messianic Judah who in ignorance fight the two-house restoration, are actually
postponing the inevitable Israelite victory over our enemies. Instead of worrying solely
about being learning Hebrew and keeping kosher, Messianic Judaism should be concerned with
victory. Biblical victory can only be achieved by a reunified two-house, two front
(spiritual and military) solution, to the Arab-Israeli conflict (Obadiah 1:18)!
Davidy explains that the sages
taught that Obadiah 1:20, was best translated and understood as follows: "This first
exile (of the ten tribes), would reach from the land of the Cannanites (Germany), to
Zarapheth (France and Britain).
The Hebrew word in Obadiah 1:20,
translated as host, is better understood as first. The first
of exiled Ephraim, were positioned to go into Europe through the land known today as
Germany, to France and to Great Britain. Historically this is exactly what transpired!
This was the belief of the great Don Isaac Ben Yehudah Abarbanel (1437-1508) the great
Spanish Jew, who stood up to the King and Queen during the Spanish Inquisition."
How come the noble scribes
like Abarbanel, DID NOT CONSIDER EPHRAIM LOST? Both Christianity and Messianic
Judaism, have much truth to learn in the years of restoration that lie ahead. In
Rashi’s commentary on Obadiah 1:20, he states that "Zarapheth is the kingdom of
France." Rashi, the hallowed commentator states that the lost ten tribes of
Israel are in France!! This conclusion of Rashi, is fully backed up by
another legendary Jewish commentator, Iben Ezra (1080-1164), born in Toledo Spain, who
visited many of the lost tribes of Israel in his lifetime. Iben Ezra stated that
"Zarapheth is France!" Rabbi Moshe Ben Nachman, known as Ramban, commented
on Obadiah 1:20, "the vision of Obadiah is the House of Joseph and refers to the ten
tribes, who are exiled and STILL ARE IN THEIR PLACE OF EXILE, the exile of Zarapheth
and Canaan." In 1270 AD Ramban said that the ten tribes had not returned!!
Messianic Judaism teaches that
tiny, 16 million-member Judah today, IS THE REUNIFICATION OF ALL ISRAEL. Whose report will
you believe? Will you believe the report of the rabbis based on the book of Obadiah,
or the party line reaction of manmade steering committees, operating through a spirit of
fear and exclusivity? We see how foolish is the claim that the ten tribes already returned
in the past. It is biblically, logically and historically, an indefensible position! No
wonder we as Messianic leaders are often ridiculed, due to our lack of schooling and
training in some of the most foundational areas of our precious Jewish faith!
Perhaps the most breath taking
pronouncement regarding Obadiah 1:20, is found in the writings of the previously mentioned
Don Isaac Abarbanel. He said "Zarapheth is France and so too the exile of
Sepherad (verse 20 B) is Spain! Do not err just because Zarapheth (France is spoken of and
Angleterre (England), is not recalled (in this verse). For there too (England), did the
exiles go, for lo and behold that island is considered a part of Zarapheth (France) and in
the beginning belonged to it and in their ancient books they call it the isles of
Zarapheth (the isles of France), even though it later separated itself from
Zarapheth (France) and became a kingdom (England) in its own right."
In another similar startling
admission Don Isaac Abarbanel admits to thousands of Ephraimites being in pain, because of
their punishment of living like gentiles among the gentiles. He said, "And
maybe the intention is too, that those children of Israel, who completely left religion
(Hebraic), due to the weight of troubles and persecutions, remain in Spain in their
thousands and TENS OF THOUSANDS (Deut. 33:17-18), IN HUGE COMMUNITIES. They shall return
and request the Lord their Elohim". Abarbanel, a Hebrew and CHRISTIAN scholar
echoes the same commentary in another portion of his work, on the book of First
Kings.17:9, where he insists that Zarapeth includes France and Great Britain.
The term thousands (Manasseh) and ten thousands (Ephraim) that Abarbanel used, are a
direct quote from Torah in Deuteronomy 33:17-18.
As many already know
"British" means covenant of man, or covenant man and "Union
Jack" means, the Commonwealth or Union of Jacob. While these great sages may
not have had every detail of Israel’s restoration at hand, they had enough evidence
from the plain reading and study of Scripture, to conclude beyond any reasonable doubt,
that the exiles of the ten tribes of Ephraim in numerous droves, settled in the
west (Europe and the Americas). Thus many of those we mistakenly refer to as Morannos
or Conversos who became Christians or Catholics, are in fact Ephraimites as well as
Judahites. These Conversos are not as popularly understood made up solely of converted
Jews. Rather the Conversos and Morannos are made up of converted Israelites and Judahites
from both houses!
Another identifying mark of
Ephraim/Israel according to the sages of Israel, is that in the last days the returning
Israelites will unfortunately have certain pagan characteristics. According to Isaiah
66:17, there are biological Israelites who separated themselves from Israel into a
separate people. They are characterized by a disdain for kashrut and Torah (verse 18) and
the general dislike of Jews. Despite this perversion of Torah, Yahweh declared in Isaiah
66:18 that nevertheless, by sheer grace, He will reveal his glory to them. We know in
light of the Brit Chadashah, that this took place through the person of Yahshua the
Messiah, who reaffirmed that He was sent to the swine eating, Shabbat breaking, antinomian
"lost sheep of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL!"
Verse 19 of Isaiah 66 teaches
that Yahshua would send His talmidim to the coastlands of the nations as well as Spain (
Tarshish ) and Europe ( Tubal ), to share the report of the manifest glory of
Yahweh in the face of His Son Yahshua. Verse 19 also reminds us, that these lost
Israelites will return to Jerusalem from the coastlands (British Isles and their
colonies). These returnees are called the brothers of Judah in verse 20. Yahweh says
in Isaiah 66 verse 21 that from returning Israel, He will take priests to function as
Levites, though not biologically descended from that tribe. We know from Scripture in
First Keefa (Peter) 2:9, that Peter talks about all born again believers being
royal priests to Yahweh! These priests will minister to Yahweh, right into the earthly
millennium
( Isaiah 66: 22, 23 ).
In the course of time the former
northern territory of the land of Israel became known as Samaria, and the occupants of
that land as Samaritans, who were a mixed breed of Ephraimite food growing landowners and
Assyrian colonists. Many scriptures prophetically speak of a future day in Messianic times
during which these same mountains of Samaria will be inhabited by notzrim. These
prophetic scriptures reveal the glorious plan of the Father, to turn these idolatrous
territories into one of the future home bases of the notzrim of Israel. The
word notzrim speaks of watchmen appointed by Yahweh and assigned to the task of
watching over the restoration of all Israel. Scripture talks about the Mountains of
Ephraim ( Samaria ), that will produce the watchmen of the last days.
The Samaritans believed at one
time, that Joshua son of Nun was their founder and the son of God. It was natural
then, that when true revival broke out in Samaria in John chapter 4 and Acts chapter 8,
that the early Samaritan believers would have a lot of religious and idolatrous baggage
that would be brought into the Messianic faith!
Unfortunately, this amalgamation
of Messianic faith with the profane has been a terminal condition in Ephraim to this day.
The Samaritans are credited with originating the heretical Christian sect and doctrine of
Gnosticism. The Gnostics were notoriously anti-Jewish and anti-Torah. They loathed
anything in the physical realm, believing all physical matter to be inherently evil.
History teaches that the Ephraimite/Samaritan man named Simon Magus, found in Acts 8:5-25,
became a early Gnostic leader after practicing sorcery and in essence became the first
Gnostic Pope in Rome, even before Constantine!
We can see the sins of Jeroboam
son of Nebat, that were so prevalent in Israel before 721 BC, lodging in almost identical
manner within the separate entity known as the "Christian Church." Matthew
chapter 13 includes seven parables taught by Yahshua Himself, about the complete leavening
of the separate entity called "the church". Read it for yourself and weep!
Unfortunately, this behavioral manifestation of the spirit of Jeroboam ( First Kings 12:
25-33 ), is a telltale sign that most Christians are in fact the redeemed remnant
of the House of Joseph. Like father like son!
Isaiah 65:11 is a
condemnation of apostate Ephraim/Israel who were being removed from Israel, due to their
penchant for forsaking Yahweh, his holy mountain, his provision, and exchanging those
things for gods of fortune, destiny, luck and a pantheon of super-heroes. The word
"Gad," used in the original Hebrew of this verse, is a generic term for any and
all man-made deities. It was Ephraim’s exile throughout the globe, that caused them
to carry and proliferate the concept of "Gad" or "God" throughout the
pagan world.
Bill Burton, in his Study of
The Separated (Holy) Name, documents the definition of "God" as found in
several well-known reference works. The consensus of most reliable sources is that
"God" came into the English language by way of the Teutonic dialects. He
explains that the term "God" was originally used to refer to Teutonic pagan
deities. There is hardly a known language today that does not use some form of
"God," in place of the sacred, true, eternal redemptive Name of Almighty Yahweh!
How tragic!
These statements are not to
be misconstrued as a blanket condemnation of all forms of Christianity. The
example of the origin of "God" is one of many examples of paganism that was
assimilated into the brand of Christianity that developed in Europe. Since Europe was the
area of settlement for numerous exiled Ephraimites, it follows that the early European
Christians exhibited many of the same behaviors as ancient Ephraim/Israel, prior to their
conversion to popery and its various deviations. One can only imagine and lament as to how
many non-Jewish Israelites, are to be found today in the Roman Catholic Church. Yahweh
help us!
The early Samaritans as well as
many apostate Jews, worshipped Tammuz (Ezekial 8:14) the Babylonian god as El Elyon,
a title reserved for Yahweh. Now we understand why Ezekial 37:22-23 talks about Yahweh,
through the Greater David (Yahshua), cleansing Joseph and Judah from all their detestable
habits and disgusting behaviors! We see the need for both houses to experience total
cleansing and sinless perfection through Yahshua, before being fully restored to
Yahweh and to the land of our fathers. Scriptures like Isaiah 49:6, Isaiah 60:21, and
Jeremiah 31:6, all make reference to the notzrim of Israel, or the notzrim
of Ephraim! Christians were called notzrim or "preserved ones", by
outsiders as well as by the believers themselves. Notzrim is still one of the main
Hebrew words used today for Christians! The identical term was used at various times
for both Ephraim/Israel as well as Christian believers in Yahshua! Today, when one
suggests to Messianic Jewish leadership that notzrim is the term used for
Christians in Hebrew, as well as the name given to preserved individuals from Ephraim who
make up the former House of Israel, they often disdain this notion, with ridicule and
laughter.
The sages of our Jewish people,
however took a different approach to the former Ephraimites showing up as the latter day
notzrim or Christians. Yehonatan, Rashi, Radak and many others, all state that the term Nozri
Yisrael is synonymous with Christians!!
Listen to the luminous Don Isaac
Abarbanel: "The prophet (Jeremiah), foresaw through divine inspiration, that
the ROMAN DESCENDENTS OF EDOM (Constantine, Augustine, Origen and some early church
fathers?), would believe in that faith (European paganism) and therefore would be called
noztrim." Don Abarbanel in the most vivid terms possible, interprets the terms
notzrim as referring to the founding fathers of the European Roman Church system, who
unfortunately were made up of many very lost Ephraimites and Edomites.
An interesting question must be
asked at this point. Do the more modern traditional rabbis, or those from the last several
hundred years, agree with the two-house conclusions of the former rabbis(CE 1000-1300)?
Or, do they, like most modern Messianic Jewish rabbis, scream "replacement
theology", when presented with the scriptural and historical facts? Rabbi Zvi
Kalisher in his book Am Habonim Smaycha said "Judah will
first return to Israel and prepare the land, so that it will ultimately be able to support
a great community. Then part of the lost ten tribes will return and together with the
Jews build the Third Temple. Once the temple is rebuilt, the remainder and numerically
greater part of the lost ten tribes WILL ALSO COME BACK, WHEN (SUFFERING) MESSIAH SON OF
JOSEPH APPEARS and reigns in Jerusalem. Then all Israel will hallow THE NAME of
Elohim (Yahweh) and all will worship Him in one tongue-Hebrew!" Here is
a traditional rabbi, who ties in the two-house restoration of Israel with the appearing of
Messiah Ben Yosef , the suffering dying Messiah of Israel, coming to reign! If
Yahshua is Messiah Ben Yosef, then both houses are being reunited by Him. The reunion
commenced at His first appearing, with the ultimate accelerated phase to be gloriously
completed at His reappearance in Jerusalem on clouds of glory!
Rabbi Kalisher lived in Russia
(1795-1874) and spoke a great deal about Zionism. Rabbi Kalisher also commented on Isaiah
56:8, "This verse applies to those who were lost in the land of Assyria (Isaiah
27:13), from the lost ten tribes and were perishing ( in their identity), that they will
be regathered." With tremendous insight into this two-house restoration, Rabbi
Kalisher wrote "if a great community of those who were lost in the Assyrian exile
would be gathered in first of all, how could they be brought to a wasted and desolate
country? Without doubt they will have to be preceded (by their brothers in Judah), in
order that the land may bring forth bread. Afterwards all of them will be able to come to
a country full of Elohim’s blessings. The wilderness shall be a fruitful field
(Isaiah 35:15), full of fields and vineyards, restored by the hand of Israelites and so
the prophet Hosea predicted."
He went on to say, "So
Judah has set a harvest for you, when I returned the captivity of my people (Hosea
6:11)." According to Rabbi Kalisher, the two-house restoration of Israel and
Judah, will result in the Hebrew language once again becoming the international language
of the globe (Zaphaniah 3:9). We see the start of that with Judah returning. When Ephraim
returns in great numbers, that proliferation of the Hebrew language will greatly
accelerate and encompass the globe, replacing English as the international language.
Davidy refers to two
contemporary rabbis, Dressler and Feld, who are both alive today. They both state that the
reason that Yahweh did not allow the temple to be rebuilt by Judah in the 1967 recapture
of Jerusalem, is because the tribes of Joseph ( USA and Britain ), did not have a Zionist
movement of their own in that direction. These two influential rabbis conclude by
saying "Judah needs participation of the lost ten tribes of Israel, in order
for Hashem to allow the rebuilding of the third temple."
The movement to watch carefully
right now is the Christian Zionist movement, which in actual fact contains large numbers
of Ephraim/Israel! Christian Zionists long to return home. While the modern State of
Israel generally does not take kindly to Messianic Jews, they openly welcome Christian
Zionists, their monies and their tourist pilgrims, with open arms. This is no doubt a
major first step to full restoration! Ephraim is to be regrafted back into the Olive Tree
of Israel which they left in voluntary rebellion some 2000 years ago, to chase the Roman
Pontiff and her crusading harlot daughters. In our time we see the literal fulfillment of
Acts 3:20-21, the promised restoration of all things pertaining to Israel,
spoken of by the (Israel’s) prophets!
Ephraim ( much of Christian
Zionism ), would not even be attracted to the land of Israel, if there had been no
Jewish/Israelite presence preceding them in Israel. Isn’t it amazing that the major
supporters of Gershom Solomon and the dedicated and persecuted Temple Mount Faithful, are
primarily Ephraimites (many Christian Zionists), not traditional Jews and not traditional
Christians. As Rav Shaul reminds us in Romans 9:6, they are not all Israel who claim
to be Israel. ONLY A REDEEMED, RUACH QUICKENED BORN AGAIN REMANANT FROM BOTH HOUSES,
WILL BE THE FORERUNNING CATALYSTS, IN THE FULLNESS OF THE FATHER’S PLAN, FOR THE
RESTORATION OF ALL ISRAEL!!!
Scripture so beautifully
outlines, the exciting days in which we live in Jeremiah 3:18. "In those days the
house of Yehudah shall all walk with the House of Israel and they shall COME TOGETHER
out of the land of the North
( Russia, Asia, Asia Minor ), to
the land that I have given for an inheritance unto their fathers." Regarding the
future restoration and redemption of all Israel, the midrash Yalkut Shimeoni on Song of
Solomon 1:16 states, "The ten tribes who are exiled beyond the river, are they whom
the exiled of Judah and Benjamin are destined to go and to bring back," to
merit with Judah, the Days of the Messiah (Yahshua) and life in the world to come."
The rabbis are telling us that Judahites (Jewish disciples), will be sent by Yahweh
himself (Yahshua), to go out and find and bring back the ten tribes, so that they too can
merit and enjoy the days of Messiah and the world to come. We see this rabbinical teaching
so beautifully followed in the fulfillment of Matthew 28:18-20. The Great Commission
followed Yahshua’s personally outlined treasure map on exactly where to preach the
Gospel, so as to find the lost sheep of all Israel. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria (Ephraim)
and the outermost parts of the earth were the direction that Yahshua outlined.
Praise be to Almighty Yahshua,
that for the last 2000 years millions of lost sheep have returned. They will merit the
days of Messiah and the millennial rule to come (olam habah), where both houses will enjoy
the rebuilt Tabernacle Of David, the rebuilt temple and the rebuilt city that both worked
so very hard and so very long to build.
We must not fall into the trap
of the two disciples on the Emmaus Road ( Luke 24 ), who temporarily gave up on
Yahshua’s Messiahship because they thought it would be He who was the one to restore
and usher in Israel’s consolation immediately in their day. Perhaps we must patiently
wait for His return, for the two sticks of Ezekial 37 to be fully restored. Nevertheless,
rest assured that Israel’s full, final and glorious consolation, will take place only
through Messiah Yahshua, Yahweh’s only begotten Son, the only and final Hope of
all Israel for all times.
RECOMMENDED BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS FOR RESTORING ALL ISRAEL:
-505-382-0193
treelife@etz-chayim.org
1-305-378-5968
mazel_@bellsouth.net
1-503-668-4941
Benjamin Paul Blegen PO Box
694 Black River Falls Wisconsin 54615 britam@actcom.co.il