| Judah and Ephraim; the Commonwealth of Israel | 6 June 2010 |
| Ezekiel, meanwhile, refers to this coming unity in this way: "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them." (Ezekiel 37:21, 22, 24) Now all this is in perfect harmony with the words of Paul in his epistles to the Gentile believers in Rome, Ephesus and Galatia. In fact it was a central truth in the teaching of the Apostle Paul to the Gentiles - that they, through their faith in the Messiah, had become part and parcel of the tree or commonwealth of Israel, grafted unto ONE tree with them. He describes it as a mystery that first was not known and hidden, but which has now been revealed by God's apostles and prophets. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh-who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands- that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:11-22) ...that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, (Ephesians 3:6) And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Romans 11:17-25) This indeed is a mystery, still not fully understood by most believers: that Gentile believers, because of their faith and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, have become ONE BODY with the former people of God. One tree, one flock and one commonwealth of Israel! And that in that tree there is no longer a distinction between what formerly were poles apart - the Jews on one side and the Gentiles on the other. For in the Messiah (Christ), as Paul so clearly teaches, there is "neither Jew nor Greek." But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. (Colossians 3:8-14) And even more clearly: For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29) Notice however - and this is quite important - that this newfound unity between Jewish and Gentile believers is found by faith in the Jewish Messiah only inside the tree and commonwealth of Israel! As Paul tells us that even when the unbelieving Jews will come to the faith they will be grafted back "on their own tree" (not on a newly formed Christian tree or church!) We see this development today with those Jews who have come to the recognition that Yeshua indeed is their Messiah. Formerly, in decennia past, these Jews would call themselves "Hebrew Christians"; today most who have come to faith call themselves "Messianic Jews". The difference is enormous. Whereas formerly those Jews who believed Yeshua to be their Lord and Savior felt part of Christianity, today they want to relate and belong first and foremost to their own Jewish people, therefore the term "Messianic Jews." In a way this is very biblical, but it also has an inherent danger, as is seen in many a Messianic Jewish assembly, where their emphasis on their Jewishness sometimes seems to obliterate the clear teaching of Paul that inside Christ THERE IS NO MORE Jew or Gentile - but we are, when we assemble as believers, be it as Jews or Gentiles, all sons and daughters of God and brothers and sisters of one another - not one a Messianic Jewish believer and the other a Gentile believer! Yet there is indeed another side to this; Paul teaches that everyone should try to live according to his or her own calling - Gentile or Jew. This is how he puts it in his epistle to the Corinthians: But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches. Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called. (1 Corinthians 7:17-24) Now we see this distinction held up in the Acts of the Apostles where it is stated that all the first Jewish believers still lived as Jews (zealous for the law of Moses) and the Gentile believers were clearly addressed by the same Jewish believers and elders that they were not bound by all the laws of Moses. Here are the two distinct and relevant passages for this: And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, "You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. (Acts 21:17-21) And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: 'After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things.' "Known to God from eternity are all His works. Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, ]from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath." (Acts 15:13-29) During the days of the Apostles, there was no such thing as a Messianic Jewish place of assembly - those Jews sought to worship God at the Jewish hour and Jewish place of prayer. In their days that was the Temple and for Paul, during his many travels in the Diaspora, it was the local Jewish synagogue. In other words, the first Jewish believers did no withdraw from their people but stayed among them, living as Jews, till they were rejected or expelled!! Here are some of the verses that describe this custom: Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." (Acts 3:1-6) But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, "Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life." Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on." (Acts 13:14-15) So, as regards their calling as Jews, the Jewish believers lived as much as possible as Jews, going to the Jewish places of prayer. But when it came to their faith, they assembled just as brothers and sisters with anyone who had made Christ their Lord, be it Jewish or Gentile believers!! And this could happen anywhere in homes or in catacombs! Coming back to the passage of Judah and Ephraim in Ezekiel 37, it should be noted that Ephraim was the youngest son of the Gentile, Egyptian woman Asnath, who gave birth to two sons from the loins of Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh! This is quite amazing for it teaches that at least two of Israel's tribes had a Gentile mother! (According to mistaken rabbinical law today, a person who cannot claim a Jewish mother is not counted as being Jewish!) Be that as it may - it is an amazing indication that from the start the people of Israel were injected with those who came from outside their race and people. Here are some additional scriptural examples: Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds-a great deal of livestock. (Exodus 12.35-38) 'A mixed multitude' indicating others than just Israelites who intertwined with the people of Israel as later Ruth, the Moabite, and Rahab, the harlot, were to do - to mention only a few. There is however an amazing parallel between the 12 sons of Israel and the 12 apostles of Jesus, both of these are mentioned as being an integral part of the heavenly Jerusalem or bride of the Messiah (see Revelation 21:9-14). From the 12 brothers, one went to the Gentiles: Joseph. From the 12 apostles (if we view Paul as one of them after the departure of Judas), one was especially called and sent to the Gentiles: the Apostle Paul. Joseph with his seed begat Manasseh and Ephraim from the Gentile woman Asnath. Likewise Paul armed with the seed of the Gospel went to the Gentiles and begat out of them the beginning of what one day would become "the fullness of the Gentiles", born of the Spirit and coinheritors with the people of Israel, as Paul writes to the Romans: But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, "In Isaac your seed shall be called." That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. (Romans 9:6-8) For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." (Romans 10:10-13) Perhaps it is good to quote here in full the already mentioned passage from John's book of Revelation where it is clearly stated that the New Jerusalem is firmly based on these two: the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles! Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names[i] of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Revelation 21:9-14) "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day, The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head." But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations." (Genesis 48:14-19) "A multitude of nations" 'melo� hagoyim' which literally translate "a fullness of the gentiles." These are the same words Paul uses to describe the forthcoming oneness between the Jewish people and Gentile believers when he writes: And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. (Romans 11:23-25) As also James relates: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: 'After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things.' (Acts 15:14-17) First God would take out of the Gentile nations a people for His Name (also named the fullness of the Gentiles) and only after this would God return and rebuild the tabernacle of David and "restore the kingdom to Israel!" This is also clear from the answer given by Jesus Himself, when asked at what time He would restore the kingdom to His people: And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:7-8) Is this, perhaps, the nation mentioned and seen already by Isaiah when he prophesies: "Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you." (Isaiah 55:5) Likewise: 'Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.' "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'" (Zechariah 8:22-23) All these verses foretell not only the insertion of these Gentile believers into the tree and commonwealth of Israel, but also the Gentiles coming to aid them and be part of them in their battle, as Ruth the Moabite exclaimed: "Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me." (Ruth 1:16-17) Thus, although in a somewhat hidden way, nevertheless the mystery of the grafted-in Gentile believers is already revealed throughout these verses. Now, just as the tribe of Judah became the most prominent of the 12, and the name bearer of the house of David, which included the tribe of Benjamin, Levites and those who had joined the house of David from some of the other tribes... Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him. (2 Chronicles15:9) ...so too Ephraim became the most prominent, and sometimes even the name bearer of the northern kingdom which was made of the ten tribes as is seen by the following verses: Thus says the Lord GOD: "It shall not stand, Nor shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, And the head of Damascus is Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken, So that it will not be a people. The head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If you will not believe, Surely you shall not be established." "The LORD will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father's house-days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah." (Isaiah 7:7-9, 17) Therefore it is an entirely accurate description the prophet Ezekiel uses when he adds both to "the stick of Judah" as well as to "the stick of Ephraim" "and for the children of Israel, his companions." "As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.' Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. "And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, 'Will you not show us what you mean by these?'- say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."' (Ezekiel 37:16-19) So Judah, although it represented mainly those Jews - who originally came out from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and partly from Levi - it also included some from the other tribes who had joined the House of David, as Anna the prophetess is said to have come from the tribe of Asher in Luke 2:36. So also Ephraim, though the most predominant of the 10 tribes included other Israelites and companions. The kingdom of Israel - the 10 tribes - was taken into captivity some time before the kingdom of Judah was taken to Babylon. According to Hosea the kingdom of Israel, the 10 tribes, would never return or be established again. But Judah - or 'the Jews' - derived from that term would come back but 'not by sword or battle' as they indeed did by the willingness of Cyrus who allowed them graciously to return to their land according to this promise of God through Hosea. And she conceived again and bore a daughter. Then God said to him: "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah, For I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, But I will utterly take them away. Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, Will save them by the LORD their God, And will not save them by bow, Nor by sword or battle, By horses or horsemen." (Hosea 1:6-7) And they came and settled in all of the land originally inhabited by the house of Judah and the house of Israel. The Zebulonites, nor the Gadites, nor those of Naftali or any other of the 10 tribes returned and the Jews therefore settled also after their return from Babylon in those areas originally allotted to these tribes. Although God through Hosea announced by way of his three children Jezreel, Lo-Ruhama and Lo-Ammi that the ten tribes of Israel would not come back and would not be called anymore God's people, the prophet also announced that God would get Himself His children from the Gentiles instead. Here is how God said it: Then God said: "Call his name Lo-Ammi, For you are not My people, And I will not be your God. "Yet the number of the children of Israel Shall be as the sand of the sea, Which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' There it shall be said to them, 'You are sons of the living God.' (Hosea 1:9-10) That this verse applies truly to the Gentiles we can learn from Paul who writes in his letter to the believers in Rome the following words: As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her beloved, who was not beloved." "And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God." (Romans 9:23-26) Do not let the son of the foreigner Who has joined himself to the LORD Speak, saying, "The LORD has utterly separated me from His people"; Nor let the eunuch say, "Here I am, a dry tree." For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, Even to them I will give in My house And within My walls a place and a name Better than that of sons and daughters; I will give theman everlasting name That shall not be cut off. "Also the sons of the foreigner Who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, And to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants- Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, And holds fast My covenant- Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, "Yet I will gather to him Others besides those who are gathered to him." (Isaiah 56:3-8) Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director International Christian Zionist Center | |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment