Tag Archives: Ephraim

Isaiah and the Second Exodus

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What is below is an extract from a much larger work I have published on this blog on the subject of the second exodus. You can find it at http://hoshanarabbah.org/blog/2014/04/19/the-second-exodus/. Natan

Isaiah 11:10–12:6, The Second Exodus

Although consisting of two chapters, this passage of the Scriptures is part of the same prophecy and speaks about the coming of Messiah, and the regathering of the outcasts of Israel from the nations to which they have been scattered. Below is a list of the salient points that pertain to the second exodus along with my commentary.

Suitcases and bags in trunk of car ready to depart for holidays

11:10, The root of Jesse (the Messiah) will be an ensign or banner to the Gentiles of the nations. We know that Yeshua was that root of Jesse who commanded his followers to preach the gospel to the Gentile world. The gospel has gone to the entire Gentile world only in the 20th century via the means of modern travel and mass communications.

11:11, Here, the prophet seems to be talking about another group of people — a remnant of his people (the outcasts of Israel, verse 12) as opposed to the larger group of Gentile believers from among the nations (who have heard the gospel message) referred to in verse 10. YHVH will recover his people ­— the remnant of Israel — the second time (i.e., the second exodus) from all lands including the islands of the sea (North and South America, England, Australia, Japan, etc.).

11:12, YHVH will set up an ensign or banner for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah. Yeshua is that banner. Even though Yeshua is the ensign for the Gentiles of the nations and for the remnant outcast of Israel who are scattered among the nations, only the outcasts of Israel will be regathered along with the dispersed of Judah.

11:13, It is among this remnant group of scattered redeemed Israelites and dispersed redeemed Jews that peace between the two groups will occur. How may we ask are these two previously antagonistic groups brought together? This can Continue reading →

 

Prophecies Concerning the Jews and Christians; the Formation of the NT

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Isaiah 8:14–16, In the following several verses we see an amazing prophecy concerning the two houses of Israel who, generically speaking, have become the modern church and the rabbinic Jews.

Here Isaiah prophesies about the canonization of the Bible into two subdivision—the Torah (or loosely speaking, the Old Testament) and the Testimony (the New Testament). He also predicts that each of these two religious groups (the Jew and he Christians) would spiritually stumble over or have a problem with the identity of the Messiah, who is the Stone of Stumbling and the Rock of Offense. In general, as we shall see, the Christians struggle with the pro-Torah message of the Old Testament (or Word of Elohim), and the Jews reject the message of the New Testament (or Testimony of Yeshua) about the Messiahship of Yeshua.

Isaiah 8:14, Stone of stumbling. Both houses of Israel (Ephraim and Judah; i.e., the Christian [see notes at Gen 48:14,16] 48: and the Jews) have stumbled over the stone of stumbling, who later on is identified as Yeshua, the Messiah (1 Pet 2:4–8; Rom 9:32–33; 1 Cor 1:23). The non-believing Jews stumbling over the Messiahship of Yeshua who is the Living Torah-Word of Elohim incarnate (John 1:1,14), while the Christians stumble over the Written Torah, which they claim was abolished and is minimally relevant to them.

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This stone of stumbling is an obvious reference to Yeshua who is a stone of stumbling to both houses of Israel (i.e., the non-believing Jews and the Christians.) The Christians stumble over or reject (at least, in part) Yeshua who is the Written Torah-Word of Elohim (John 1:1). The non-believing Jews, on the other hand, reject Yeshua, the Living Torah-Word of Elohim who came in flesh form (John 1:14).

Isaiah 8:16, 20 Bind up the testimony…my disciples. Heb. testimony means “confirmation, attestation.” This appears to be a prophecy concerning Yeshua’s disciples, whom he commissioned to “seal the Torah” (loosely speaking, the Old Testament or OT) and add to it the Testimony about him (the New Testament or NT).

Here Isaiah is prophesying the canonization of the NT by the disciples of Yeshua (who are mentioned in verse 13). Did you know that the NT’s name for the NT isn’t the NT, but the Testimony of Yeshua—a name that John who finalized the NT canon gave it when he was writing the Book of Revelation? There, he calls the OT or Tanakh the “Word of Elohim” and the NT “the Testimony of Yeshua” (see Rev 1:2, 9; 6:9; 12:17; 14:12; 20:4).

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What do the words bind and seal signify? The Hebrew for the word bind means “to close.” The word seal means practically the same: “to cap off, to enclose.” This is exactly what the apostles did with the message which Yeshua the Stone and Rock of Isaiah 8:14 gave them. They were to complete it. Bind it up. Close it shut. The authority to perform such an important job may have been reflected in Messiah’s teaching that the apostles had power to ‘bind on earth’ (Matthew 16:19). The word to bind has the significance of authorization or giving judgment, just as the word unbind means “not to receive or not accept. …” In a word, the apostles felt that they had authority, even from the Old Testament, to bind, seal, authorize and canonize the Law and Testimony of Messiah. This meant to put the teachings of Messiah in a book, just like the Old Testament was given to the early Jews (Restoring the Original Bible, by Ernest Martin, pp. 298–299). (For more on this subject, see notes at John 16:12–15; Rom 16:25–26 and Mark 3:16–17.)

 

New Video: 12 Benefits: Knowing Who the Two Houses of Israel Are

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The biblical prophetic writings speak of the house of Israel/Joseph/Samaria/Ephraim and the house of Judah/the Jews. The Bible teaches that these are two different groups of people and they will exist on the earth in the end times. Knowing who these players are in biblical prophecy will help us to understand what will happen prophetically in the end times as this video shows.

 

Genesis 42–46 Two Brothers and the Two Houses of Israel in End-Time Prophecy (Pt 3)

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Judah Approaches Joseph (Gen 44:18)

Judah came near to Joseph willing to lay down his life for his younger brother (Gen 44:18–34). This is another prophetic picture of the future Messiah who would come to this earth in willingness to give his life as a ransom to save his brothers. The Scriptures call Yeshua the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” (Rev 5:5) who initiated the process in seeking to save his brothers who were spiritually lost (Rom 5:8; Luke 19:10; Matt 18:11; ), and who Yeshua referred to as the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt 10:6; 15:24).

Joseph Had to Reveal Himself (Gen 45)

The brothers didn’t recognize Joseph because he resembled an Egyptian; he had to reveal himself to them. Today, Christians (the descendants of Joseph according to Gen 48:16, 18 and Rom 9:24–27 and the descendants of Abraham according Eph 2:11–19; Gal 3:7, 14, 28, 29), are revealing themselves to their brother Judah through several ways:

  • Through donating money to Jewish relief agencies.
  • Through Christian tourism of Israel.
  • Through Christian interfaith organizations (Bridges for Peace, Christians United for Israel, Christian Friends of Israel, etc.).
  • Through the Messianic Jewish Movement
  • Through the Messianic Israel Movement.
  • Through America’s (and Britain’s) military, political and economic support of the nation of Israel.

Two Messiahs in One Story

Judah and his brothers didn’t recognize Joseph; he had to reveal himself to them (Gen 45:1–4). They were “blinded” to who Joseph was. Most of Judah has spiritual blindness to this day (Rom 11:25). They are largely blind to Yeshua the Messiah, son of Joseph, and to the fact that Christians (many of whom are the descendants of Abraham through Joseph) are their long lost brothers. So in our story, Judah plays a dual role: that of spiritually blind Judah and that of the Messiah, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. His former role is prophetically emblematic of the Jewish nation including the modern Jews who have been largely blind to their Messiah (the Son of Joseph), and in the latter role as Yeshua the Messiah who was willing to lay down his life to save his brothers.

Even as Judah was a prophetic antitype of the Jewish people and the Jewish Messiah, likewise Joseph also fulfilled an antitypical role of the Messiah. He too was the spiritual father of his people—Ephraim and Manasseh—the dominate tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel who went into apostasy and become as “lost sheep” among the nations of the world (Hos 7:8; 8:8; Ezek 34:16 and numerous other scriptures). Therefore, Joseph prophetically represents the “lost sheep of the House of Israel” and the Messiah who would come and seek out those sheep.

The Jewish sages have seen a prophetic picture of the coming Messiah Son of Joseph, the Suffering Servant in the story of Joseph. They have written about the Suffering Servant, a Messiah Son of Joseph figure, who they felt would be a descendant of Ephraim and who would come to redeem the lost sheep or exiles of the House of Israel in preparation for a second Messiah to come. They refer to him as the Conquering King or Messiah the Son of David. Although I have found no instances where they also identify Judah with the coming Messiah, it is not hard to see some allusions to this in the interplay between Joseph and Judah. Let’s note what the sages write about Joseph as well as the descendants of his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Notice the striking similarities between modern Christians and those the Jewish sages viewed would be the followers of Messiah Son of Joseph?

What kind of blessing was this prediction that one day [Jacob’s] descendants—the Ten Tribes—would be scattered among the nations? R. Munk explains: while it is true that the dispersion was caused by the unfaithfulness and sinfulness of Ephraim’s descendants (Hos 7:8ff), Jacob’s blessing was not in vain for “they will return to God” and will have their share in the world to come ([Talmud] Sanhedrin 110b). And R. Eliezer adds: ‘Even the darkness in which the Ten Tribes were lost will one day become as radiant as the day’ (according to the version of Avos d’Rabbi Nosson 36). And in the perspective of history, did not these exiled children of the Patriarchs enlighten the nations among whom they were scattered? They did so by teaching their conquerors the fundamental ideas of the knowledge and love of God, ideals they had never forsaken. Hence they too have a messianic vocation and their Messiah the … Messiah son of Joseph (Succah 52a), also called Messiah son of Ephraim (Targum Yonasan on Exodus 40:11), will play an essential role in humanity’s redemption, for he will be the precursor of the … Messiah Son of David…. (emphasis added, note bolded part).

 

Genesis 42–46 Two Brothers and the Two Houses of Israel in End-Time Prophecy (Pt 2)

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Joseph Meets His Brothers (Gen 42)

While in Egypt, Joseph became aware that his brothers (and father) were still alive. He recognized who they were, but they didn’t recognize him, since he resembled an Egyptian (a Gentile).

In the end times, Christians, who many of Joseph’s descendants would become according to Genesis 48:14 and 16, have begun to recognize Judah as their brother. Until this time, most of Christianity had either persecuted the Jews, believed that Christians had spiritually replaced the Jews, or were ambivalent toward the Jewish people. This attitude of many Christians toward Jews, however, began to change in the 1960s with the beginning of the “Jews for Jesus” movement which helped Christians to become aware of the need to evangelize the Jews. The result was that many Christians themselves began to become interested in the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. Beginning in the 1960s, many Messianic Jewish congregations began forming for Jewish believers in Yeshua, but surprisingly often seventy-five percent of the members of those congregations were actually non-Jewish “Gentile” Christians who were seeking to understand and even practice the Jewish roots of their faith!

From the Jews for Jesus or Messianic Jewish Movement of the 1960s came two unexpected results:

  • As Messianic Jewish congregations formed, a large percentage were “gentiles” and not Jewish.
  • In the early 1980s, the Messianic Israel or “Two-House” Movement was birthed through Angus and Batya Wootten.

In this latter movement, which is occurring in the 21st century church, Christians are beginning to open their eyes not only to the fact that the Jews are their brothers, but that they themselves are Israelites and are descendants from the ancient tribes of Israel (Gen 48:14, 16; Rom 9:24–27). As this is occurring, very few Jews (as was the case with Judah Continue reading →

 

Genesis 42–46 Two Brothers and the Two Houses of Israel in End-Time Prophecy (Pt 1)

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I post this  teaching nearly every year. Some of you have read it before, but we have many new readers to this blog who haven’t read it. Hopefully this post will be a blessing to both our old and new friends. It contains very important truths relevant to understanding Bible prophecy and end times events. Parts 2 and 3 will follow.  Enjoy!

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Biblical Types and Antetypes

A major key to understanding biblical prophecy is to recognize the relationship between antetypes and types in the Scriptures. This means that an event or a series of events occurred once, was recorded in the Scriptures, and then at a later time a similitude of the event repeats itself, but with different characters and scene.

An antetype is a type or pattern of something that occurs before the actual event occurs (sometimes incorrectly referred to as an antitype, which means opposite rather than before). In other words, the first event predicts or points prophetically to the future event. This is a way for the Creator to give clues and hints about future events that will come to pass. Those who are ardent students of his Word and those “who have (spiritual) ears to hear” will pick up on these clues and be able to have a sense of what the Creator is going to do at some future date. In this way, those who diligently seek him are rewarded with understanding or “inside information” about what he is planning to do in the future. At the same time, his divine plans and purposes will be obscured from those who don’t have a diligent heart to seek him Continue reading →

 

What is Jacob’s Trouble and how does it relate to end times prophecy?

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Genesis 32 is the story of Jacob’s return to Canaan after having been exiled from his homeland for 20 years. This is often referred to as Jacob’s Trouble (from Jer 30:7). His exile occurred after he obtained his divinely promised birthright through shrewd if not unscrupulous means from his brother Esau resulting in his having to flee Canaan for fear of his life due to Esau’s vengeance. Jacob found refuge in the region of Babylonia at his Uncle Laban’s home where he married Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Genesis 32 recounts Jacob’s encounter with Esau who, along with his small army, physically stood in Jacob’s way from entering the land of his promised inheritance—later to be known as the land of Israel or Promised Land.

country road with lightning

The Jewish sages believe that this encounter between Jacob and Esau is prophetic in nature and will happen again in the end times, but this time on a much larger scale and this time involving the numerous descendants of Israel and Esau. The Israelites will be attempting to return to their ancestral homeland, while the descendants of Esau will be attempting to block their way. As we proceed in this study, we will see whether this prophecy is beginning to come to pass in our days.

Rolling the film backwards a little, Laban had chased Jacob out of the area of Babylon, and yet Jacob was being blocked from entering Canaan by Esau (or Edom meaning “red”). This is reminiscent of Pharaoh chasing the Israelites out of Egypt only to find themselves blocked by the Red Sea, which is a picture of Edom (meaning “red”). In both instances, Continue reading →