For the fourth week of seven weeks of the 50-day count of the omer.
Numbers 5–11; Jeremiah 29–42; and Psalms 31–37
Most of this week’s blog discussion points will be on these passages. The full year’s Bible Reading Schedule can be found on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links.”
If you have general comments or questions on the weekly Scripture readings not addressed in a blog post, here’s a place for you to post those. Just use the “leave a reply” link below.
The Jewish Sages Affirm That Ephraim Will Return to the Land of Israel (along with the Jews/Judah) in the End Times
The biblical prophets predicted that all the tribes of Israel (including the ten tribes of the northern kingdom or Ephraim) would be scattered to other lands outside of Israel, and that YHVH would regather them in the last days and return them to the land of Israel. This has also been the dominant belief of the Jewish sages as recorded in their writings and in their oral traditions including the Talmud. For example, the Scriptures tells us about the scattering of the twelve tribes,
And YHVH rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land [eretz acheret], as it is this day.” (Deut 29:28)
The Babylonian Talmud, in Yevamot 17a (written ca. A.D. 500, The Soncino Talmud) confirms this when it states,
“[T]hey had declared them [i.e., the ten tribes of Israel, see rabbinic footnote below]19 to be perfect heathens [or gentiles]; as it is said in the Scriptures, ‘They have dealt treacherously against YHVH, for they have begotten strange children.’”
A rabbinic footnote on this passage states, (19) ‘The ten tribes; (20) Hos 5:7.’”
The ArtScroll Tanach Series Bereishis/Genesis (an Orthodox Jewish commentary on Genesis) states, regarding Genesis 48:19, quoting Orthodox Jewish sage of the Middle Ages, Ibn Ezra:
Many nations will descend from him [Ephraim]. That is, the word, fullness, melo, connotes ‘abundance,’ the phrase meaning: ‘and his seed will become the abundance of the nations’ (Neter; Karnei Or, p. 2121).
According to Radak’s (R. Dovid Kimchi, a Torah scholar in the Middle Ages) commentary on the same verse,
This refers to the Exile when the lands of others will be filled with his scattered descendants. See also Hosea 7:8:
Ephraim shall be mingled among the nations (Ibid.).
Pertaining to the end-time regathering of the twelve tribes, the late well-known orthodox Jewish rabbi, Menachem Schneerson stated that the future King Messiah (Messiah Ben [Son of] David) will not only redeem the Jews from exile, but will restore the observance of the Torah-commandments to its complete state, which will only be possible when the Israelites are living in the land of Israel. At this same time, Schneerson who is quoting the notable rabbinic sage of the Middle Ages, Moses Maimonides also known as the Rambam, says, Continue reading
Jeremiah 23:3, 7–8. The Second Exodus of the End Times. The Bible clearly teaches that the ten tribes of the ancient northern kingdom of Israel (known biblically by various names such as the house of Israel, Samaria or Ephraim) were exiled among the nations of the world because of sin. At the same time, the biblical prophets and Jewish sages over the past 2000 years have predicted that in the end times (at the coming of the Messiah), through a series of supernatural events, these tribes will be regathered and return to the land of Israel to be reunited with their Jewish brethren who are descended from the southern kingdom of Judah. Furthermore, there is clear biblical and historical evidence that the ten northern tribes of Israel collectively known as Ephraim are largely to be found among the Christian peoples scattered across the earth. I have attempted to prove this point from biblical, linguistic, archeological, historical and rabbinic Jewish sources in a previous work.
In these last days before Messiah’s second coming, more and more redeemed believers in Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus) are discovering a new-found love for the Jewish people and the land of Israel. At the same time, they are awakening to the need to return to the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith by adhering to a more Torah-centered lifestyle and spiritual walk. It then follows that some are coming to the fundamental truth taught numerous places in the Testimony of Yeshua (the more biblically accurate name for the “New Testament”) that born-again believers are actually redeemed Israelites and are either the literal biological or are the “grafted in” descendants of Abraham. As such, many are beginning to see that the numerous promises YHVH (the LORD) made to Abraham and his descendants apply to them—especially the promises that the land of Israel is an important aspect of their promised future inheritance. With these revelations often comes a new-found zeal and enthusiasm about returning to the land of Israel. For many, it is a question of not if, but “when do we return?” Continue reading
Jeremiah 16:19, The prophet Jeremiah speaking of end-times Israel (that’s you and me), who are being regathered out of the Gentile nations, declares,
Surely our fathers have inherited lies…
Lies? What lies (i.e., those things that are contrary to the clear Word of Elohim) were you taught in the church system before coming to an understanding of the biblical, Torah-based Hebraic roots of the Christian faith? Which of these lies that you believed in angered you the most once you found out the truth of the Scriptures?
Please share your thoughts even if your comments are brief.
For the third week of seven weeks of the 50-day count of the omer.
Leviticus 25–27; Numbers 1–4; Jeremiah 15–28; and Psalms 24–30
Most of this week’s blog discussion points will be on these passages. The full year’s Bible Reading Schedule can be found on the right sidebar under “Helpful Links.”
If you have general comments or questions on the weekly Scripture readings not addressed in a blog post, here’s a place for you to post those. Just use the “leave a reply” link below.
Here are seven biblical reasons to celebrate the feasts of YHVH Elohim:
Leviticus 18:21, Pass through the fire. In the juxtapositioning of this passage directly after the Torah’s prohibition of illicit sex, it would appear that YHVH is broadcasting a clear message to his people. Extra-marital sex often results in unwanted babies. In our day, many choose to murder their undesired offspring through abortion. In ancient times, some of these unwanted children were likely sacrificed to the pagan Canaanite god Moloch by being burned alive. That is certainly the implication in this passage. Whatever the case, YHVH hates the murder of children for any reason!
This passage (along with Exod 21:22) is one of the strongest pro-life, anti-infanticide verses in the Scriptures. The penalty for those who sacrificed their children to Moloch was that the land would vomit the people out of it (vv. 25 and 28.) Could any clearer statement be made about how the Creator feels about the sanctity of life?
The murder of the innocent children is perhaps the greatest sin that a nation can commit. Abortion is a form of child sacrifice, which is something many ancient cultures practiced (the Aztecs, Incas, Phoenicians, pre-Islamic Arabs, and the biblical Canaanites). In the Bible, YHVH condemns the practice of heathens and apostate Israelites who made their children pass through the fire in worship of the demon-god Moloch (See Lev 18:21; 20:2–5; Deut 12:30–31; 18:10.) What judgment did YHVH place on the Jewish nation for sacrificing its children to Moloch? (See Jer 7:30–34; 32:35–36.)
By the way, here are some statistics about abortion:
(Sources of information: abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html; guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html; abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/)