Saturday, April 17, 2010

It's amazing the things we find when we really dig in and study God's word. I repent for my years of laziness regarding God's Word.


This is taken from the article which is linked below:


"But, still, the religious Jews maintain the Shabbat, the Festivals, the dietary rules, and have a deep desire for the coming of Messiah. In fact, the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews call out four times a day, turning to the north, south, east and west: “Come home, Ephraim”. That should make us weep. They are calling for us to “come home”.

"Do they know what they are saying? Yes, they know—they know that these Christians that come to Jerusalem at Sukkot and other times, because they love Israel, and stand with Israel, are really the prodigal coming home. "





List of some Scriptures regarding the re-gathering of the two Houses:

Isaiah: 2:1-4; 11:1-16; chapter 35; 43:4-6; 49:22; 52:6-10; chapter 54; 56:8 and

chapter 62. Jeremiah: 3:12-19; 16:14-16; 23:3-8; 34:3-8; 30:7-10; 31:31-36; 32:37-42; 33:7-26; 39:25-29; 50:4. Ezekiel: 11:16-20; 28:25-26; 34:11-16, 22-26; 36:24-28 and chapter 37. Hosea: 1:10-11; 2:14-23, chapter 3. Amos: 9:11-15. Zechariah: 2:4-13; 12:1-10; 13:1; 13:1-5.

http://laydownlife.net/yedidah/word/WHO%20ARE%20THE%20TEN.doc

That post touched my heart too Wendy.
I saw that Sid Roth show (I never miss him!)
I love the idea of the One New man and us coming togther as one as the time of Christ's reign on earth.

It will be a wonderful day!

why would the Gentiles be Ephraim????

Here is the theory.

Ephraim Come Home! Are You Part Of The 10 Lost Tribes Of Israel?

After King Solomon died, Israel divided into 2 kingdoms.

The 10 northern tribes rebelled against Solomon's son and became known in the Scriptures as "the house of Israel" or as "the house of Ephraim" which referred to the most dominant tribe in the northern kingdom which was Ephraim.

3 tribes (Judah, Benjamin and the Levites) stayed in the south and they became known in the Scriptures as "the house of Judah" which referred to the most dominant tribe in the southern kingdom which was Judah.

As we see in the following Scriptures, God promised to bring back both Judah AND Ephraim to the land of Israel in the last days. Judah (the Jews) started returning to Israel in 1948. However, God also promised in Ezekiel 37 that Ephraim WOULD return and be reunited with Judah:

Ezekiel 37:15-22

15 The word of the LORD came to me: 16 "Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, 'Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, 'Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.' 17 Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.
18 "When your countrymen ask you, 'Won't you tell us what you mean by this?' 19 say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim's hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.' 20 Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on 21 and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. 22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.

So the promise of God is that once this happens they will never be divided again.

Has this happened yet?

No.

So it is a prophecy that is waiting to be fulfilled.

This promise of a reunification between Judah and Ephraim is also found in Isaiah 11:

Isaiah 11:10-13

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.

12 He will raise a banner for the nations
and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.

13 Ephraim's jealousy will vanish,
and Judah's enemies will be cut off;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.

So who is Ephraim today? Long before Christ came, Assyria invaded the northern kingdom and took the ten tribes away and scattered them to the four winds just as the Scriptures foretold.

So how can we identify them today? A good place to start is in Genesis.

Genesis 48:17-19

17And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.

18And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

19And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

The term in v. 19, "a multitude of nations", should literally read "the fullness of the gentiles" because that is what the Hebrew text actually says. Even back in Genesis, God knew that Ephraim would someday be mixed in with the gentile nations.

Today God has been revealing to His people that much of what is called "the church" around the world is Ephraim. But Ephraim is unfamiliar with many of God's ways:

Hosea 8:11-12

11Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin.

12I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.

Isn't that an exact description of our day? God has written to Ephraim the great things of His Law in the Bible, but we consider the "Old Testament" to be a "strange thing", don't we?

But the days of restoration are coming just as the Lord promised through Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 23:5-8

5 "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.

6 In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
The LORD Our Righteousness.

7 "So then, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when people will no longer say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,' 8 but they will say, 'As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.' Then they will live in their own land."

The truth is that God is calling Ephraim from the 4 corners of the earth to be reunited to his brother Judah, and they will have one shepherd (Yahshua - Jesus) over them.

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread355942/pg1

That doesn't make any sense. If Ephraim is Israel (the Northern Kingdom) then they have come back. The people living in Israel today are desendents of all the tribes.

Is this "Lost Tribe" theology? I've heard that theory before and it's roots are in Mormonism and deeper than that, Areanism (how do you spell that?)

R-U-D-E

I was kind enough to take time to answer your questions twice. You don't need to speak to me like that.

It is a fact that the tribes of Israel are scattered all over the earth. Please refer to the scriptures posted. I do not believe they are Mormon scriptures.

This was an innocent thread with a beautiful message and it is a shame how it had to turn.

Thank you for posting this article, 2HH. Very intriguing, indeed!

Thank you Dee & Charity. I really get weary of this.
I am glad you appreciated the thread.

Thanks for pointing me to TN Doves post.
I missed that.

Blessings.

Glad you posted this info, 2HH . . .

Thank you dear Donna.

TN WOW!!!! You really have it all laid out here.
Can't wait to study this!

Thanks so much!

There is nothing more beautiful than the One New Man, the Jews and the Gemtiles worshipping the True Messiah together one day! I could cry to think of it.

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.

Thanks so much TN. I am saving this info and also sending it to all my Christian friends.

This is very exciting and so hopeful.

Bless you.

Thank you RJ. You really touched my heart.
I am really glad you enjoyed that also.

Bless you brother.

2HH, I was not being rude at all. I read an article (boy, I'll have to look up the source.....might take me some time), by Messianic Jews who said that the Lost Tribes theory is not correct and that it is something that the Mormons embrace and it's also part of the Arean (guy, I don't know how to spell that!) philosophy.

Give me time to do my homework and I'll look it up.

Again, I wasn't being rude.

Not saying either or . . what ya'll think of this info by Chuck Missler . .

~~~~

TN Dove,

The theory that the lost tribes are English is called British Israelism (look here for definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Israelism

Is this what you are saying or something different?

As for Americans being the lost tribes, Mormons believe that native americans are the descendents of those tribes.

Can you see why I am questioning this stuff? Not being rude, just questioning???

Thank you, Donna, for posting that. 2HH, just because there is disagreement with your post does not mean that we don't love you! I have appreciated so many of your beautiful posts.

I would give strong caution to the idea that the gentile Church is the lost tribe of Ephraim or any other tribe.

While it is true that the tribe of Ephraim has fulfilled Jacobs blessing by becoming a multitude of nations, and that many of us on this forum may unknowingly have some Jewish blood from Ephraim or Dan, it is a twisting of scripture to suggest that the gentile church IS the lost tribe of Israel and therefore subject to all the commandments in the Mosaic law. That is what the source of the "two houses of Israel" teach and believe.

Remember that the tribe of Ephraim and Dan are not part of the 144,000 that are sealed during the start of Daniels 70th week. That is because they are no longer part of House of Israel. God said that ALL of Israel would be saved did He not.

I am not criticizing or making a personal statement against anyone on this thread. I love you all as myself. I just want to put out a "caution" flag in love.

Lets keep our eyes on the prize


Tom

this is turning into a great thread!! When TN posted a lot of the stuff before I didn't get to study it like I wanted and then lost track of the thread. Now RJ, 2HH and Donna have all posted stuff I can't wait to devour!! I find this ten lost tribe stuff fascinating!!!

RJ, I wish I could know the Bible like you know it (or knew it :0)...there isn't enough time left for me to get all the Old Testament stuff down, but then I guess I'll have to ask Jesus to teach me HIMSELF I say this with all sincerity...if I could study this stuff 24/7 for years to come I would and I am sad I missed doing just that all these years. Not that knowing it makes one a better Christian or more loved by Jesus, but honestly...when you finally understand that the Bible is the Word of God you can't help but crave it.

Donna, I love Chuck Missler....Plan on downloading that video to my ipod to watch.

Kama glad to know you still love me. Ditto honey and hope you feel better!

Tom thanks for the word of caustion. I am open minded and am interested in exploring the ideas presented.

Its a lot of fun and so interesting.

Yes, Mark W, I have read that about the Cherokees, but if I understand correctly, it's not quite "proven" (???)

No, not all is Mormonism, but much needs to be questioned. The 10 Lost Tribes Theory is based in a lot of speculation and a lot of cult beliefs were based upon that premise.


God has preserved the Jews throughout history and they are very distinct. Have some interbred with gentiles? Yes, but the 10 lost tribes theory takes it quite a bit further.

Yes Mark, I too have Cherokee blood and have considered DNA testing. But in the end, figured it didn't really make any difference one way or the other. It is the "spiritual" DNA of Christ blood running through my veins that matters.

There is ample evidence that at least part of some Israelite tribe came to America long before Columbus leaving evidence throughout the Mississippi valley regions.

Donna, you caused me to have to use my old brain.. LOL

I like Chuck's teachings, but I can't go along with what he stated in this video.. He's being a little flippant here.. LOL

Look at Nehemiah 10:1.. and finish reading the book.. You'll see that only 3 tribes are listed in the geneology report, not 13 tribes. I'm not sure, it might have been Chuck, but one time I heard someone state that all the tribes were recorded here.. NOT SO.. Only the Jewish ...

I know it's boring reading thru all the names, but look for headings like this:
Ne.11:4 And in Jerusalem dwelt certain of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin.
Ne.11:15 And of the Levites:

It is true that when Jeroboam set up the pagan temples and changed all the Holy Days to his, that the Levites were kicked out from the north, but the Bible doesn't make it noticable that any of the other tribes left. Actually the 10 tribes land holdings were all around Judah if you look on the map.. They say Northern tribes, but they were all over.. Ephraim was north with Samaria as the Capitol..


Tom, on Ephraim and Manassah in Gen. 48:15-19. Here's how I visualize what it's describing here..

Ephraim would become a great colonizing nation on the earth, and Manassah would become a great single nation on the earth.. Two of the greatest powers to ever exist on planet earth, but nobody seems to be able to understand what is written here or how God is using them, until the "times" are finished.

God would make Judah low and raise Ephraim up.
26 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

In the book of Samuel Jesus promises King David that his seed would always sit upon the throne until He (Jesus) comes to sit upon it.. Where is that throne today... and yes, it is still in existance.. It's in Ephraim and the Crown is on his head.

God calls Ephraim his first born, when in the natural he was the second.. I'm trying to think where the verse is.. speaking of the crown sitting upon the head of Ephraim... Slips my mind. Hmmm.. might be the other word for kingship. (Ge.49:24-26)

Also Note: the name Israel and Jacob has been put upon these two lads.. Thusly the dividing of the land "House of Israel" and the "House of Judah".. All this is for a purpose from God, for our understanding.

You stated also that Ephraim is not listed in Rev. 7, in a sense you're correct, but it does show, Manassah and "JOSEPH".. Joseph is the Ephraim tribe. Who else could it be... Right...

The only tribe not mentioned is Dan... But Ezekiel shows Dan being there during the 1000 years, (Eze. 48:1) ... So that tribe is not done away with..

At the end of the age God will deal with his people once again for killing babies and homo-sins as in the old days:
Jer 46:28 Fear thou not, O Jacob
my servant, saith the Lord: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.



And last but not least...Kama.. Again this is not the hog wash that the Mormons are using.. This is from the Word of God..

My MIL found a Mormon Bible in a trash can where she worked and took it home.. I was over there visiting, and it was laying there. (years ago) I asked what that was doing here... They told me, I picked it up and read couple pages, and stated "What a crock" and laid it back on the table....

I understand exactly what you are saying about their teachings.. But this has nothing to do with that.. Isaiah 49 shows that the tribes went north and west from the Black Sea. This is reerring to the House of Israel and not the Jews.. History also tells us almost the same to a certain point.. The historians has no clue where these Celtics came from, made up names btw..

It's all in the Bible.. Beginning to the End..

Here's what I did as a young man in 1982.. I wrote 3 things on a piece of paper that I wanted God to show me.. One was this, and I'll go into a similar prayer that I used back then with it...

"Father, in all your infinite wisdom, being all knowing or all things, I know when you had the prophets write your Holy Words down, that you knew at some point that there would a great nation that we call the United States today.. I can not find that in your Word anywhere, if it is there, please reveal it to me."

Within two weeks I was led to Gen. 48:15-19.. Followed by 1Kings 11:9-11. Like an old hound dog, after I got on the scent of the Word, I went to trackin clues, trying to tie things together.. After while I got burned out so it was put on hold awhile. Then in 1991, after praying and fasting the Holy Spirit climbed inside of me like a river of peace, silky milk flowing thru my body. This was more than just a spirit flash.. What a great feeling..

The Holy Spirit was now using my mind to put thoughts into it. Now this is hard folks.. When he spoke, you can hear, but with thoughts, then you have to ask yourself is that me or you, Lord. Anyway, right after he climbed into me.. He put this thought in my head..."Read the Bible again".. It took me 2 months and 1 week to read it all that time. 4 years the first time. During this time he tied so much together and revealed a lot to me..

1) King David's Throne promise.. where is it today or did God lie to David.
2) 10 tribes what's their purpose in the world
3) Rapture before, during, or after

I might add I was almost a mid-trib hoping for a pre-trib before this revelation to me..

When I got to Revelation, he then tied it all for me. It's so simple with the Holy Spirit.. People want to make this hard....LOL

So much knowledge in the Bible..

But since, I've gotten old and the brain isn't what it use to be.. Plus a major surgery didn't help in that area either...

The main thing is to keep Jesus in front of us daily... If one doesn't understand it all, it doesn't matter.. There's still a lot of stuff I do not understand.. I have even learned a lot from you guys just by being here almost a year..

I love you guys so much...

Praise our wonderful Savior, Jesus...


Joseph

RJ
A former church called the World Wide Church of God used to teach that Ephraim was Great Britian and Mannaseh was America.
I am NOT saying I beleive that I am just saying that church used to teach that.

As far as a cult teaching this, the devil draws cults into teaching certain truths to diminish them. This is how he keeps us from seeing God's awesome plan.

satan is nothing if not clever (in a diabolical way)