Tag jesus

Chapter 21 of The Corrupting The Image 3 : Rephaim Cast Down

Jesus’ wrath is directed specifically against the Beast (Satan’s Avatar). The leadership of Jerusalem and all who call upon the name of Jesus will be spared that wrath. “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:9). Isaiah says that God’s people will escape his wrath in rooms or chambers. 

“Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past” (Isa 26:20). 

In context, we see that this “hiding yourself” is happening concurrently with the time of the resurrection. It is very revealing to review the preceding verse in the NKJV, which reads: 

“Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead” (Isa 26:19). 

The use of the words “dew of herbs” and “dead,” in the Hebrew text, present us with exciting details. The word translated as “dead” is actually “Rephaim,” and is not rendered literally by many translations. Therefore, after a closer look, I decided to do my own translation, which is based on the Hebrew and corroborated by the Latin Vulgate:  

“Your dead will live, my corpse, they will rise; wake up [הָקִ֨יצוּ hakitzu] and rejoice O dwellers of the dust because the dew of lights [טַ֤ל אוֹרֹת֙ tal orot] is your dew and the earth will cause the Rephaim [רְפָאִ֥ים] to fall [תַּפִּֽיל tappil]” (Isa 26:19 My translation). 

The first thing we notice is the call to the dead (dwellers of the dust) to wake up [הָקִ֨יצוּ hakitzu]. It is the same word used in Daniel, where those sleeping in the dust will wake. The only difference is Isaiah’s version is a command to “wake!” and Daniel’s is in the future tense, “will awake.”  

“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake [יָקִ֑יצוּ]… (Dan 12:2) Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Dan 12:3).  

In Daniel’s prophecy, we learn that those who wake will shine. In my translation of Isaiah 26, I translated tal orot [טַ֤ל אוֹרֹת֙] as “dew of lights.” The idea is people are dwelling in the ground. When they awake, they will be covered with dew like someone who slept outside. However, this dew is not of herbs (grass), but of lights [אוֹרֹת֙]. When we compare this with Daniel’s account (“shall shine”), we find they are parallel.  

Lastly, Isaiah uses the feminine singular “hiphil” form of the verb naphal (to fall).³¹⁶ The hiphil is the causative aspect of the verb, which means: the earth will cause the Rephaim to fall. We examined the Rephaim in detail in Corrupting the Image 2 and determined they are angel-human hybrids. The Latin Vulgate confirms our reading by translating it as “et terram gigantum detrahes in ruinam (Isa 26:19 VUL) “and the earth will drag down the giants in ruin.”  

God’s Awesome and Unusual Work  

In Isaiah 28, God revealed that He would do an amazing, unusual work where He says He will fight Rephaim (which are the transformed people who have taken the mark of the Beast, altering their core genetic makeup and rendering them hybrids). This transformation is almost certainly the reason we are told: “In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them” (Rev 9:6).  

With the call and supplication of Jerusalem’s leadership to Jesus, God (Jesus) does an “unusual act.”  

“For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon– that He may do His work, His awesome work, and bring to pass His act, His unusual act” (Isa 28:21).  

To understand the significance, we need to understand what happened at those two places. In the Valley of Gibeon, God listened to a man concerning the sun and moon.  

“Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel … ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.’ So the sun stood … till the people had revenge upon their enemies…” (Josh 10:12–13). 

Joshua and the children of Israel were facing the Amorites who were Rephaim, (genetic hybrids) that were an abomination in God’s sight—beings emerging not from God’s will but that of Satan’s. We have seen this multiple times through the Corrupting the Image series. Here are summary verses: 

• The Amorites … are stronger than we are … and all the people that we saw in it are of great height… we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim) … (Numb 13:29–33, ESV).  

• Rephaim … a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim (Deut 2:20–21a, ESV). 

God says it was He who “destroyed the Amorite … whose height was like the height of the cedars” (Amos 2:9). God’s “awesome work,” and “unusual act” in the Valley of Gibeon was fighting against hybrids. 

Next, at Mount Perazim, David fought the Philistines, some of whom were genetic hybrids, like Goliath and his brothers (who in Hebrew are called Rephaim and in Greek, gigantes / giants).  

• At Gath, where there was a man of great stature … and he also was descended from the giants [רפה rapha] (2 Sam 21:20 ESV). 
• Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite [Gath] … he also was descended from the giants [Rephaim] … These were descended from the giants in Gath (I Chron 20:5–-6, 8 ESV). 

David was fighting the Philistines who “went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim [עֵ֥מֶק רְפָאִ֖ים emek Rephaim]” (2 Sam 5:18). The Septuagint reads “την κοιλαδα των τιτανων “the valley of the Titans.” We explored the Rephaim and Titans extensively in Corrupting the Image 2 and concluded they were angel-human hybrids. Mount Perazim is the Valley of the Rephaim / Titans, a place where a battle occurred against hybrids and the principalities and powers which David intimates in this his victory cry: 

“’The LORD has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.’ Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim” (2 Sam 5:20; 1 Chr 14:11).  

Those who fled from before David (and ultimately YHWH), “left their images there… (2 Sam 5:21) to which: “David gave a commandment, and they were burned with fire” (1 Chr 14:12). God’s “awesome work,” and “unusual act” at Mount Perazim, which Isaiah spoke of (Isa 28:21) was that God was fighting against Rephaim / Titans and the principalities and powers; and He broke through like water. Then, the vestiges of the battle (the images) were burned with fire. God is saying He is going to do that amazing work again! He tells the mockers and scornful men in Jerusalem:  

“Now therefore, do not be mockers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts, a destruction determined even upon the whole earth” (Isa 28:22). 

The destruction is coming upon the entire planet because the entire planet is coming against Israel. “The LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle” (Zech 14:3). When Jesus comes back, He will come as a lion, not a lamb. Ezekiel says,  

“When Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord GOD, “that My fury will show in My face (Ezek 38:18). “For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken,” (Ezek 38:19).  

Jesus spoke of how He would bring fire on the earth one day: “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49).  

This battle of the ages is what the Bible calls the Battle of Armageddon. 

Chapter 20 of Corrupting the Image vol 2: Jesus Reclaims the Land of the Snake-Dragon (Hermon)

There in the land of Bashan: land of the Snake-dragon, land of Og and the dead and deified king, land of the Rephaim, the abode of the dead—Jesus made it clear that He, the anointed one of Israel, had come to win. He would free mankind from the snares of the ultimate snake-dragon (Rev 12:9). He declared His victory at the base of the snake-dragon’s mountain when He said the Gates of Hades (Kingdom of Darkness) will not prevail.  

He then declared: “I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark 9:1 NET). Then just “six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John and led them alone up a high mountain privately” (Mark 9:2), to stake His claim at the top of the mountain Hermon,^ccvimeaning “devoted to destruction”. Also known as Mt. Bashan (batios), it is where the watchers came down and execrated themselves: “According to the command of the great bull god Batios, those swearing an oath in this place go forth.” It was on that mountain that: 

He was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiantly white, more so than any launderer in the world could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared before them along with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus (Mark 9:2–4 NET).  

On the mountain that Satan’s team claimed as their own, Jesus showed them that the kingdom of God had come with power.  

So Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters [σκηνας skenas]—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (For they were afraid, and he did not know what to say.) Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came from the cloud, 

“This is my one dear Son. Listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more except Jesus. As they were coming down from the mountain, he gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept this statement to themselves, discussing what this rising from the dead meant (Mark 9:5–10). 

It must have been amazing to see Him transfigure and to hear the Father’s voice, but why was this event so important? Why did Jesus go on a secret excursion on that mountain? Why did he need to transfigure in front of Peter, James and John? Did he just want to encourage them by letting them witness His glory, or could there be another reason? King David provides important clues in Psalm 68:  

MT. BASHAN IN PSALM 68 

A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan. Why do you look with envy, O mountains with many peaks, At the mountain which God has desired for His abode? Surely the LORD will dwell there forever. The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; The Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness. You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives; You have received gifts among men, Even among the rebellious also, that the LORD God may dwell there (Ps 68:15–18 NASB).^ccvii  

There are in fact, three peaks at the top of Hermon, which led Easton’s Bible Dictionary to suggest: “There is every probability that one of its three summits was the scene of the transfiguration.”^ccviii It very well may be the reason Peter suggested building three tabernacles—one on each peak.  

Peter later mentions the experience in his second epistle and explained how God the Father’s “voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (2 Pet 1:17). Peter implies they were on Hermon (meaning devoted, set apart for destruction) when he says: “We heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain” (2 Pet 1:18). 

The top of Hermon is also loaded with pagan temples, and perhaps Peter considered this landscape and thought it would be fitting for their team to stake a claim by having tabernacles (dwelling places) there, as well. We may never know the exact reason. The Psalmist seems to mock Bashan, the mountain with many peaks, because it is envious of God’s mountain. It is not clear in the text if Zion is being referenced as God’s mountain, or if this is a tacit reminder that ultimately, Bashan also belongs to God.  

The presence of the mighty prophets, Moses and Elijah, at the transfiguration served as a reminder to the forces of darkness that God intended to keep His promises to His servants. The three apostles watched as Jesus radiated with His glory, then Moses and Elijah appeared, and God’s voice boomed from the sky, calling him “Son”. Moses was, of course, the one who brought God’s people to the edge of the Promised Land. When they saw the people of Bashan: the snake-dragons, the Nephilim-Rephaim corrupted-people—they lost their faith in God and retreated, to wander the wilderness for forty years. In a sense, the snake-dragon people contributed to Moses himself not being allowed to enter the Promised Land.  

Moreover, Elijah was forced to deal with the corrupted king and queen of the Northern Kingdom, Ahab and Jezebel, who were caught in the grip of Batios / Baal (Melqart / Ninurta) and Ashtoreth (Ishtar), which are manifestations of the snake-dragon. Elijah, who ironically was called “troubler of Israel,” 

confronts this power couple and exposes them as the ones who have grievously troubled Israel. Elijah sets up a public test of the powers resulting in Yehovah / God triumphing over the Baal / Ashteroth, et al.  

Jesus transfiguring on top of Hermon was also a fulfillment of a promise He had made earlier in Psalm 68, that He would bring back captives from Bashan. If we keep in mind that Bashan is not just a place, but is the snake-dragon, then we discover an entirely new perspective. Charlesworth reminds us: 

M. Dahood, who wisely employs Ugaritic to shine light upon dark passages in the Psalter, perceives that Bashan in Ps 68:23[22] refers to a dragon-snake or serpent … The translators of the NEB also opted to bring out a reference to a snake in Ps 68:23[22]: “from the Dragon”. It is clear that in antiquity Bashan meant not only a mountain but also a mythological dragon-snake. The meaning “dragon-snake” is what was intended in Psalm 68:23[22] (Emphasis mine).^ccix  

We also recall how on the pinnacle of the Temple, Satan challenged Jesus to throw himself down using Psalm 91:11–12, but stopping before the next verse: “You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra (peten – venomous snake), The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot (Ps 91:13). Jesus would tread on the peten [[פתן, a creature which is closely related linguistically to the Bašmu snake-dragon. (See Figure 63, opposite). DDDB notes the tension between Mt. Sinai, where God came down after the Exodus, and Mt. Bashan, where the “gods” or fallen angels descended, according to 1 Enoch and the Hermon inscription. 

In Ps 68: 16 … Bashan is a har ‘elohim, the same expression used in the Bible to designate -Yahweh’s abode … According to the same Ps 68:9, 19 Yahweh has His original abode in Sinai … Mount Bashan is rather set against Sinai.^ccx  

King David thus prophesied that God would take possession “of this divine mountain as His own ancient abode,” and thereby evict the “divine dwellers of Bashan whom the Ugaritic tradition records are: the mlkm/melakim (rpum/Rephaim).” ^ccxi Notably, the description of Bashan in Psalm 68 has “the syntagma har/ harim gabnunnim, most commonly construed as a metaphor for ‘high mountains’ … and the tauromorphic appearance of Baal and other deities in Canaan.”^ccxii The tauromorphic appearance of Baal is exactly what we deciphered on the Hermon inscription—“According to the command of the great bull god, Batios.” 

Figure 63 Mušḥuššu H. Frankfort, Cylinder Seals, text-fig. 33 (=ANEP #511) (Gudea; Girsu [Tello]). 

THE TRANSFIGURATION: WARFARE OF MISDIRECTION?  

When a country becomes a nuclear power, it detonates one of its weapons to demonstrate to the world that the nation has arrived and is not to be provoked. Jesus’ transfiguration was a significant showdown. We must not miss the importance of Jesus’ show of strength.  

For months before the invasion of Normandy beach, the Allies created inflatable tanks and stationed them in locations in Britain to give the spying Nazis the impression that the landing would take place further north in Calais. Their fake show of force worked, and the Nazis were caught by surprise on D-Day. Despite the obstacles, the Allies were able to establish a foothold in Europe which led to the ultimate defeat of the evil Nazi regime.  

Jesus’ transfiguration was a significant demonstration of His weaponry. It was an epic, intergalactic tour de force. The transfiguration may have been a decoy analogous to the fake tanks in Britain. After all, no real battle took place; we saw that Jesus was transfigured and chatted with Moses and Elijah, and then the Father spoke. No doubt it was impressive and meaningful, but from a strategic-war perspective, it was a non-event. Or perhaps, that is how God wanted it to seem! 

Here is what we know: Bashan was the very mountain where the sons of God descended according to the command of the great bull god Batios… that is, according to Satan’s command as found on the Hermon / Bashan Inscription. Satan knew of God’s stated intentions concerning Bashan, as gleaned from Psalm 68: that God was claiming it as His own abode (vs 16); that God’s chariots were in the millions, that God was going to be among them (v 17); that Bashan would be the place where God / Messiah would have “ascended on high” and “led captivity captive” (Ps 68:18)—which Paul quotes in Ephesians 4:8–10 after the fact, of course. 

Looking at Psalm 68:20–22, we learn more clues:  

Our God is the God of salvation; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death. Surely God will shatter the head of His enemies, The hairy crown of him who goes on in his guilty deeds. The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan. I will bring them back from the depths of the sea” (Ps 68:20–22). 

Satan, who is learned in the scriptures, would have known that God would save people from death, would shatter His enemies’ heads, and would return (or bring back). DDDB notes how it will be at Bashan that the God of Israel will make His return.  

Bashan, the divine mountain, is simultaneously the ‘infernal’ sphere from which the God of Israel promises to make his faithful return (v 23). This coincidence of the ‘celestial’ and ‘infernal’ levels is congruent with the Canaanite mythology that locates here the abode of its deified dead kings, the mlk(m)/rpu(m) that dwell(s) in ‘Štrt-hdr’y. Again the parallelism clarifies the issue, making plain the infernal character of Bashan. (Emphasis mine.) ^ccxiii 

God will do those things on the very mountain that was known as the infernal abode of the deified dead kings and where the angels came down to war against God. God’s faithful return will be nothing short of a show of force and an outright declaration of war! Just as the Nazis thought the Allies were amassing tanks for an invasion in the north of France, Satan likely interpreted the activities of Jesus at Mt. Hermon as the pause for a deep breath before the battle. After all, visibly present were Moses, the one who bested Og, King of the snake-dragons and Elijah, the one who defeated the four hundred priests of Melqart (Satan’s alias in Ezekiel 28). Satan would have been well aware of God’s strength, as demonstrated in Psalm 68, and in the story of Elisha (Elijah’s understudy, whose servant feared the Syrian army but gained resolve when he saw that God had myriads and thousands and thousands of chariots): 

And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha (2 Kgs 6:15–17) (Emphasis mine).  

Satan most assuredly has many texts stored in his photographic memory that could have come to mind. For example, Isaiah’s incredible vision of God’s fire and His chariots: 

For behold, the LORD will come with fire And with His chariots, like a whirlwind, To render His anger with fury, And His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword The LORD will judge all flesh; And the slain of the LORD shall be many (Isa 66:15–16). 

Also, Isaiah 2 could have come to mind, because it references the impending battle of God that results in men casting away their idols that were used to worship Satan and His minions.  

In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver And his idols of gold, Which they made, each for himself to worship, To the moles and bats, To go into the clefts of the rocks, And into the crags of the rugged rocks, From the terror of the LORD And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily (Isa 2:20–21).  

The battle of Gog of Magog could have come into Satan’s mind, for he understands the Sumerian meaning of the name, Gog, and he knows that the battle is directed at him.  

“I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. “And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone” (Ezek 38:21–22).  

Jeremiah’s prophecy against the arrogant usurper, could have flooded his mind:  

But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation. Thus you shall say to them: “The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens” (Jer 10:10–11). 

And of course, in the Garden of Eden, God had promised that the Messiah would crush his head. The text in Psalm 68 said, “Surely God will shatter the head of His enemies” (Ps 68:21). Satan may have concluded that this was it! This was the big moment, the show down for which he had been planning for millennia. God was assembling the troops and chariots; God had His champion, Jesus, who had donned His glorious apparel and showed His divine prerogative to cover himself “with light as with a garment” (Ps 104:2). Matthew says Jesus’ face “shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matt 17:2). Jesus is putting on His armor of glory as prophesied in Isaiah 63: 

Who is this who comes from Edom, With dyed garments from Bozrah, This One who is glorious in His apparel [הָד֣וּר בִּלְבוּשׁ֔וֹ], Traveling in the greatness of His strength?—“I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? “I have trodden the winepress alone, And from the peoples no one was with Me.  

For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, And I have stained all My robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, And the year of My redeemed has come (Isa 63:1–4). 

Satan may have thought this was God’s big move to deliver a checkmate. All the signs suggested the battle would be fierce, a battle unlike any other:  

All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree. “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment (Isa 34:4–5).  

We know from the book of Revelation that such a battle in the heavenlies between Satan and his forces and God’s army is real and is coming. 

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him (Rev 12:7–9).  

We also know that it was possible that such a battle could have taken place at that time, due to Jesus’ own statement in the garden of Gethsemane:  

But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. “Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? (Matt 26:52–53).  

Jesus revealed that roughly sixty-thousand angels were ready for him to give the orders to attack! His statement reveals that God’s own angels likely did not understand the details of Jesus’ mission, as Peter explained: 

Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully … (1 Pet 1:10). To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven–things which angels desire to look into. (1 Pet 1:12) (Emphasis mine). 

Angels are incredibly smart, but they are not all-knowing, nor do they have knowledge of the future, other than what God reveals. Thus, they were eager to learn how God’s plan would be fulfilled. The implication is that they did not know what Jesus was going to do, but they stood ready to do whatever their captain called them to do.  

Thus, we conclude that Satan viewed the transfiguration as the staging of the coming battle: He realized that his kingdom was in grave danger. As the supreme leader of this kingdom, he took immediate action to hold his ground and protect his assets. If our theory is correct, then the decoy worked: Jesus’ transfiguration on that location, the dragon’s home turf, goaded Satan into action because he was not about to go down without a fight.  

Naturally, Satan understands warfare. Quite possibly he inspired Sun Tzu in his book the Art of War, which said: “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” So Satan’s reasoning must have been like this: God’s champion would not be able to usher in the Day of the Lord, battle for dominion of the earth, and crush his head if He were dead. If he could take out God’s champion before the battle even began, then he might avert the battle altogether, or at the very least, level the playing field.  

Such conclusions seem well justified based on the fact that Satan was personally involved in the betrayal of Jesus by making sure it happened exactly according to plan: He first planted the seed: “The devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him” (John 13:2). Then, he assumed the controls of Judas, his vessel: 

Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude (Luke 22:3–6) (Emphasis mine).  

Satan entered Judas to make sure the job was done right. After all, this job, the entrapment and execution of the Promised One, must be done right in order to stop the One who declared war at Bashan—the One who was prophesied to stomp on his head. 

At the Passover celebration (Last Supper), Jesus was aware of Satan’s presence and declared Judas would betray him. “Having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot” (John 13:26). “Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What you do, do quickly’” (John 13:27) (Emphasis mine).  

Jesus called out Judas’ evil intentions and gave him the bread, and after Judas ate it, Satan possessed him. Were Jesus’ words, “Do quickly” addressed to Judas or to Satan, or both? Judas certainly carried the culpability of his actions, yet it was clearly Satan in the driver’s seat. It was almost as if Jesus was daring Satan to do it, urging him, “Go for it!” Satan accepted Jesus’ challenge, for shortly thereafter, in the garden of Gethsemane, Satan delivered. Through his agent Judas, Satan walked up to Jesus and kissed him, in what has gone down in infamy as the greatest demonstration of betrayal.  

And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:47–48).  

THE HOUSE OF JACOB

The Bible is full of stories of betrayal, adultery and redemption; of covenants made with man and broken by him. However, there is one that although you may have read, you will, perhaps, have not understood. In this article I will uncover it for you, and hopefully, by the end, you’ll be as amazed as I was when YHVH revealed it to me.

ISRAEL’S BLESSING

We pick up the biblical narrative after the flood and the lives of Abraham and Isaac, when Jacob has misappropriated his brother’s birthright and blessing, fled and returned from Laban’s house, has wrestled with YHVH, lived in Shechem, settled in the land of Canaan with his sons, moved to Egypt and been reunited with the son he thought lost to wild animals, Joseph.

YHVH has given Jacob the name ‘Israel’ which means ‘struggled or wrestled with God’. The descendants of his twelve sons would become the twelve tribes of Israel. As he was approaching the end of his life, he blesses them all (along with Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh who he adopts as his own (Genesis 48:5-6)).

Jacob (Israel) split the firstborn blessing between Joseph (and his lineage through his sons) (Genesis 48:14-20) and Judah (Genesis 49:8-12), who would become the house of Israel and the house of Judah respectively. To Joseph he gave a double material portion and to Judah he gave the priestly blessing, the pre-eminence and kingship (which is why Y’shua came from this line). This is key, in understanding how everything played out from then onwards.

When Israel blessed Ephraim (Joseph’s son), in Genesis 48:17-19, he uses a phrase that will become very significant:

17 And 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.

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

19 And 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.

‘Multitude of nations’ in Hebrew is מְלֹֽא־הַגֹּויִֽם ‘melo ha’ goyim’ which can be translated into the Greek phrase πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν which we have rendered as ‘fullness of the gentiles’ in Romans 11:25. This will be discussed below.

A gentile is simply a member of a nation other than Israel and hence implies that they are out of covenant with YHVH. We as Christians are not gentiles. There is no such thing as a gentile believer; only people who used to be gentiles but are now believers. In the context of Ephraim, Jacob is saying that he is going to become a group of people who are out of covenant with YHVH and no longer a part of Israel, and indeed they do. We will look at that more fully below as well.

In Exodus 19, Moses goes up unto YHVH who makes a covenant with all of the children of Israel (house of Jacob) at the base of Mt. Sinai. Consistently through the scriptures, when we draw close to YHVH, things go well for us; we reap His blessings.

Deuteronomy 4:40
40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which YHVH thy God giveth thee, for ever.

When we stray from YHVH’s teaching and instruction (a more accurate translation of ‘Torah’) and start to think that we can be wiser than God, things go badly for us; we reap the curses described in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. God lays the whole situation out in Deuteronomy 30:15-18:

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

16 In that I command thee this day to love YHVH thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and YHVH thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

Among the specific curses that are listed in Deuteronomy 28, this is mentioned in verse 64:

64 And YHVH shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

By the time His people were about to cross the Jordan, into the promised land, a generation had passed and YHVH reiterated the words of His covenant.

Deuteronomy 29:1
1 These are the words of the covenant, which YHVH commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb [Mt. Sinai].

YHVH reiterated the words of the covenant He made at Mt. Sinai with the sons and daughters of those with whom He had made the original covenant. Their parents had seen the miracles that YHVH had done, their children had not. YHVH reiterated the promises of Leviticus 26 by saying He would scatter His people throughout all the nations of the Earth if they broke His Torah. He makes it clear that this is not only true for the people standing before Him that day but with their future descendants:

Deuteronomy 29:14-15
14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;

15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before YHVH our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:

YHVH made this covenant with you if you are a believer. He is and will be the same yesterday, today and forever. The covenant is with the Israelites, then and in the future, and with anyone who would attach themselves to the Israelites and become grafted into them.

When the Israelites were leaving Egypt, there were Egyptians who wanted to go with them. In Exodus 12:49, YHVH said:

49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.

Ephesians 2:12 talks in the same terms when it says:

12 That at that time ye were without Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Anyone who follows the terms of the covenants and submits to YHVH’s Torah, are counted as His people:

Isaiah 56:2-8
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to YHVH, speak, saying, YHVH hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.

4 For thus saith YHVH unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;

5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to YHVH, to serve him, and to love the name of YHVH, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant;

7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

8 The Lord YHVH, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

THE SPLIT OF THE TWO HOUSES

When the Israelites took back the land of Canaan, they wanted to have a King to rule over them like the nations that surrounded them; to appease them, YHVH gave them Saul, David and Solomon. The twelve tribes (the house of Jacob) were ruled as one, until events described in 1 Kings:

1 Kings 11:31
31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith YHVH, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:

The rule of the kingdom would have been passed to Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, who succeeded him as king, but Solomon took many foreign wives whom he allowed to worship other gods in contravention to YHVH’s law. Solomon even built shrines for his wives to sacrifice on and granted special privileges to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, thus alienating the ten northern tribes. The prophet Ahijah of Shiloh prophesied that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, would become king over ten of the twelve tribes, instead of Solomon’s son.

YHVH split the northern kingdom, the house of Israel, and southern kingdom, the house of Judah. The house of Israel were ruled by Jeroboam, the servant of Solomon, and consisted of the tribes of Reuben, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Ephraim, Manasseh and part of the tribe of Levi. The house of Judah (from where we get the name ‘Jew’), was the southern kingdom and consisted of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin (and part of the tribe of Levi). 1 Kings 11:33 states YHVH’s reason for doing this:

33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

The worship and glorification of false gods among YHVH’s people who are still engaged in pagan rituals, instead of the Biblical celebrations that He has commanded, is still a major issue today but that’s a different subject for another day.

1 Kings 22:39 talks of ‘the annals of the Kings of Israel’ and in 1 Kings 22:46, about ‘the annals of the Kings of Judah’. By the reigns of Ahab and Jehoshaphat (the Kings of Israel and Judah respectively) the two Kingdoms had quite distinct identities.

THE KING OF ASSYRIA

The house of Israel (also referred to as the house of Joseph and Ephraim (Ezekiel 37:16)) and the house of Judah are of the same father (Jacob) but of different mothers. Joseph was born to Rachel and Judah was born to Leah. They were the two sons amongst whom Jacob’s firstborn blessing was split. There was fighting between them until the house of Israel were taken into captivity by the king of Assyria. Both houses were in open rebellion to YHVH, and following after pagan gods but the house of Israel were the worst offenders and in c.722bc, they were taken into captivity:

1 Kings 17:13-18
13 Yet YHVH testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.

14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in YHVH their God.

15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom YHVH had charged them, that they should not do like them.

16 And they left all the commandments of YHVH their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of YHVH, to provoke him to anger.

18 Therefore YHVH was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.

The pagan worship continued in Judah, until the reign of Hezekiah who trusted in YHVH and turned from the evil practices of the rulers before him.

2 Kings 18:1-7
1 Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign.

2 Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah.

3 And he did that which was right in the sight of YHVH, according to all that David his father did.

4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

5 He trusted in YHVH, God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.

6 For he clave to YHVH, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which YHVH commanded Moses.

7 And YHVH was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.

Hezekiah came under siege by the King of Assyria, who had taken the northern kingdom into captivity. He prayed to YHVH to ask His will, concerning the matter. Isaiah was sent to him with this word, as detailed in 1 Kings 18:30-34:

30 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

31 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of YHVH Tzeva’ot shall do this.

32 Therefore thus saith YHVH concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.

33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith YHVH.

34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

YHVH saved the city. The angel of YHVH came that night and destroyed the 185,000 Assyrians encamped around it and Sennacherib retreated to Nineveh.

This break in pagan worship and the rebellion of the people was not long lived however. After Hezekiah’s reign, the house of Judah were involved in pagan worship, divination, enchantment and idolatry of all kinds again.

THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

In 589bc, Nebuchadnezzar II besieged Jerusalem which fell after an 18 month siege. After killing all of Zedekiah’s sons, Nebuchadnezzar took Zedekiah to Babylon, putting an end to the independent kingdom of Judah. Much of Judah was devastated and the temple was destroyed:

2 Kings 25:1-11; 21
1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about.

2 And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.

4 And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king’s garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain.

5 And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him.

6 So they took the king, and brought him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah; and they gave judgment upon him.

7 And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon.

8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem:

9 And he burnt the house of YHVH, and the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man’s house burnt he with fire.

10 And all the army of the Chaldees, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down the walls of Jerusalem round about.

11 Now the rest of the people that were left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the king of Babylon, with the remnant of the multitude, did Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carry away.

…

21 And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was carried away out of their land.

THE PROMISED REJOINING

After the Babylonian captivity, the house of Judah returned to the land (in part; some remained in Babylon) but the house of Israel, have never returned since they were taken by the king of Assyria and divorced by YHVH (Jeremiah 3:8). They are commonly referred to as ‘the lost tribes’. However, as we know, YHVH does not renege on His promises:

Deuteronomy 30:1-6
1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither YHVH thy God hath driven thee,

2 And shalt return unto YHVH thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;

3 That then YHVH thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither YHVH thy God hath scattered thee.

4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will YHVH thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:

5 And YHVH thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

6 And YHVH thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love YHVH thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Judah returned to YHVH and obeyed His voice but the house of Israel are yet to do this. The first century Jewish historian, Josephus tells of how those of the northern kingdom, who had not yet fully dispersed, lived just outside of Israel in Y’shua’s time. John refers to the dispersion himself in John 7:35:

35 Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?

The northern kingdom, are referred to as the house of Israel, the house of Joseph or just Ephraim. When you see these references in the scriptures, this is what is being referred to. The house of Jacob is both the house of Israel and the house of Judah together. YHVH promised to bring the house of Judah (the Jews) and the house of Israel (the multitude of nations) back into relationship with Him; and thereby, bring the house of Israel back into covenant.

Ezekiel 37:19-24
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord YHVH; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.

21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord YHVH; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.

23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

Also in Jeremiah 31:31 (also quoted in Hebrew 8:8), YHVH says:

31 Behold, the days come, saith YHVH, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

The new covenant is only between YHVH and these two houses but as we saw, YHVH will welcome anyone who seeks Him and does the things which He finds pleasing, as His people.

Y’SHUA

Y’shua’s incarnation started the chain of events prophesied in Ezekiel 37, and this is something that is rarely taught in our churches. This is a tragedy, as it is such an integral part of our heritage.

Y’shua states that He only came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel:

Matthew 15:24
24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

When He sent the disciples out, He instructs them that they are to only go to the house of Israel:

Matthew 10:5-6
5 These twelve Y’shua sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Y’shua was only sent ‘unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel’. He says so himself. Judah had not been divorced by YHVH as Jeremiah 3:8-11 says:

8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.

9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith YHVH.

11 And YHVH said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.

In Ezekiel 16:30-32, speaking of Israel, YHVH says:

30 How weak is thine heart, saith the Lord YHVH, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious whorish woman;

31 In that thou buildest thine eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thine high place in every street; and hast not been as an harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

There was a great mystery in the time before Y’shua’s incarnation; YHVH had divorced the northern kingdom and yet had promised to bring them back into covenant with Him.

Hosea 11:8-9
8 How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.

9 I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city.

‘How shall I deliver thee, Israel?’ was indeed the question. Paul discusses this issue in Romans 7:1-4 and reveals YHVH’s amazing solution:

1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Messiah; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

By sending Y’shua to die, YHVH was releasing the northern kingdom from His own law, which said an adulteress could not remarry unless her husband had died. Y’shua (who is YHVH (Jeremiah 23:6)) was the husband to whom the house of Israel had been unfaithful; His death released them to be betrothed again to Him when He was raised.

Ezekiel 36:17-27 speaks of the return of the house of Israel, it is striking how much it speaks of Y’shua’s salvific work as an integral part of it:

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.

18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:

19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of YHVH, and are gone forth out of his land.

21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord YHVH; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am YHVH, saith the Lord YHVH, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Of course, the scope of Y’shua’s ministry was beyond this mission alone:

Isaiah 49:6
6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Although it is stated that Y’shua’s mission was to ‘restore the preserved of Israel’ Y’shua’s ministry was to be ‘a light to the gentiles’ amongst whom the house of Israel were scattered. Luke 2:25-32 also speaks of this:

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Ruach HaKodesh was upon him.

26 And it was revealed unto him by the Ruach HaKodesh, that he should not see death, before he had seen YHVH’s Messiah.

27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Y’shua, to do for him after the custom of the law,

28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Here all of Israel is referred to together. Simeon was ‘waiting for the consolation of Israel’ which Y’shua will eventually bring. In Romans 11:25, Paul says:

25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.

If you remember, the term ‘fullness of the gentiles’ can also be translated as ‘multitude of nations’ and refers to Ephraim or the house of Israel. The Bible always defines itself, and the mystery that Paul speaks of is the blindness of the house of Judah (the Jews), which will continue until the house of Israel, Ephraim (who became that multitude of nations when the northern kingdom were scattered), have come back in. Paul refers to those that are blinded in contrast to those of ‘the election’ in verse 7:

7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

The whole of Israel has not obtained righteousness, which comes by faith in Y’shua (Romans 3:22, 4:13), only ‘the election’. This term will become relevant shortly, as you will see it refers to those whom YHVH had foreknowledge of and who constitute ‘Israel’ in His eyes. Paul speaks of Israel (both houses) as a whole in verses 26-28:

26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father’s sakes.

As Ezekiel 36:22 says, ‘Israel’, are saved for YHVH’s sake; the sake of His name. They were His chosen people and He fulfils His promises and covenants.

John 10:14-16
14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

The elect refers to all believers, as we see in Matthew 24:22:

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

They are elected because YHVH had foreknowledge of those who would employ their freewill to choose Him, not according to Calvinist doctrine.

Two separate ingatherings were prophesied; the house of Judah (Jeremiah 29:14) and the house of Israel (Ezekiel 11:15-17, Ezekiel 20:40-42, Amos 9:9). The fact that both houses will eventually be gathered together is often prophesied (Isaiah 66:8, Jeremiah 23:3, 31:8-10, 33:7-10, Zechariah 10:6-10). However, until the house of Israel have come in, Judah will be blinded to the truth of their Messiah being Y’shua. They are the ‘other sheep’ ‘which are not of this fold’ (this fold being the house of Judah in context).

Isaiah 11:10-13
10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that YHVH shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.

Y’shua is that ensign, the root of Jesse (David’s father) that Isaiah 11:10 speaks of, and we are one people under Him. Peter’s first epistle makes it clear that Y’shua’s mission was to the house of Israel in 1 Peter 1:1-2:

1 Peter, an apostle of Y’shua HaMashiach, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Ruach HaKodesh, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Y’shua HaMashiach: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

He speaks to ‘the strangers’ who are ‘scattered’; the ‘elect’. The house of Israel made up the majority of YHVH’s people that were scattered. The house of Judah, came back to the land after the Babylonian captivity:

James 1:1
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Y’shua HaMashiach, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

Not all of Judah had come back after the Babylonian captivity but this emphasises that Y’shua’s mission specifically concerned the scattered tribes. The issue is written about throughout the New Testament but two epistles are specifically addressed to these people.

Y’shua called himself ‘the gate for the sheep’ (John 10:7) but who are these sheep?:

Jeremiah 50:17
17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

Micah 2:12
12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

Ezekiel 11:16
16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord YHVH; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.

Ezekiel 34:12
12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

Y’shua’s incarnation started the process of healing that would lead to the two houses being rejoined as one flock, with one shepherd. His death allowed the then gentile house of Israel to come back into covenant. Y’shua’s ingathering of the house of Israel is spoken of throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament). When He arrived on Earth, the situation He had come to rectify was already clearly understood.

THE TWO HOUSES ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE

The two houses are characterised throughout scripture:

Characteristics of the House of Judah

Will have the law of God (Genesis 49:10)

Would reject the Messiah (Isaiah 53:1-6)

Did not lose their identity after their scatterings

Known as ‘those that are near’ (Daniel 9:7)

Characteristics of the House of Israel

Live amongst the gentiles (Hosea 8:8)

Will forget the name of their God (Jeremiah 23:27)

Do not know or understand the law of God (Hosea 8:10-12)

They are called ‘my people who are not my people’ (Hosea 2:23), ‘those that are far off’ (Isaiah 57:19) and ‘lost sheep’ (Jeremiah 50:6)

The majority of them will come from the west when they are regathered (Hosea 13:15)

Today, the Christian world satisfies the characteristics of the house of Israel exactly. Most strikingly, we have forgotten God’s real name (YHVH); ‘the LORD’ replaces ‘YHVH’ (the Tetragammaton) 6823 times in most translations of the Bible.

Most of the Christian world have come to the erroneous conclusion that Y’shua came to do away with YHVH’s Torah (teaching and instruction), because of a complete misinterpretation of what Paul says (2 Peter 3:15-17). This is why the Jews today don’t recognise Him as their Messiah, because they are expecting a Messiah who is the Torah made flesh. Most Christians completely misunderstand what the Torah is, even thinking that it is some kind of curse to people if they seek to follow it. They teach, not that Y’shua came to do away with the curse of the law (our penalty under it) but the law itself. It is ‘counted as a strange thing’. Mistranslations and misinterpretations of Scripture have led to this, but there is a growing awareness of it, just as YHVH said there would be in the end times.

As believers, we are grafted into Israel. The New Jerusalem will only have twelve entrances, one for each of the tribes. The tribe to which we belong will be determined by whom we ‘sojourn with’. I’ll leave the meaning of that to your imagination:

Ezekiel 47:21-23
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.

22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.

23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord YHVH.

Finally, this now reveals what is meant in what is one of the most hotly debated passages in the New Testament;

Ephesians 2:11-19
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh (remember ‘gentile’ implies ‘out of covenant’), who are called Uncircumcision (circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant and this was a derogatory term that was used for those not in covenant with YHVH including the house of Israel) by that which is called the Circumcision (the Jews, or the house of Judah who bore the sign) in the flesh made by hands;

12 That at that time ye were without Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

13 But now in Messiah Y’shua ye who sometimes were far off (the house of Israel) are made nigh by the blood of Messiah.

14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances (Greek word is dogma and refers to man-made laws); for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off (the house of Israel), and to them that were nigh (the house of Judah).

18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Remember, ‘those who are far off’ refers to the house of Israel and those that are near (or nigh) refers to the house of Judah. Y’shua made both houses ‘one new man’, by coming and dying for His adulterous bride who He had promised not to forsake. The house of Israel, are no longer strangers and foreigners (exactly the language used by Peter in his first epistle) but ‘fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God’.

The Bible is a love story involving YHVH and His people. YHVH refers to those that keep His covenant or ketubah (wedding vows) as His bride all throughout the scriptures. The story can be followed throughout the following verses: Exodus 19:3-5, Isaiah 49:5-6; 53; 54; 56:7; 59:20, Jeremiah 3:1-18; 31:31-37, Ezekiel 16:1-14; 15-32, Hosea 2:19-20; 11:8-9, Matthew 16:8; 22:2; 24:44-47; 25:10, Mark 11:17, Luke 12:35-37, John 3:29; 17:6-26,Acts 17:27-29, Romans 11:16-27, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 2:11-22; 5:23-32, Revelation 5:9; 19:6-9; 21:2,9; 22:17.

Without understanding the beginning of the Bible, the church (the house of Israel), to whom the law of God is counted as a strange thing, misses this; and without understanding the back of the book, the Jews (the house of Judah) do too.

Revelation 19:7-9
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Shalom

John-Paul McMahon

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The question invariably comes up – just why did Jesus have to die?” While we can be quick to give a pat answer of “He died for our sins”, there

The focal point of history

is actually more to the story. Look at the chiasm below to get an idea of the big events of the cross – talk about killing lots of birds with one stone! When Colossians 1:20 says that all things were reconciled by his blood that is not an overstatement. The death of Jesus is literally the focal point of history and without his sacrifice creation itself would forever be lost, mankind would have no hope either physically or spiritually, Israel’s relationship could never be restored with her husband (God married and then divorced Israel [northern kingdom see Jer 3:8] and promised to betroth her to himself again, [see Hosea 2]. Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice which saved us in so many ways!

• God in perfect harmony with his creation (Gen 2:3)
  • Adam disobeys (Gen 3)
    • Creation falls into bondage (Gen 3:17)
      • Adam dies physically/genetically (Gen 3:18)
        • Adam loses the spirit that God breathed in (Gen 2:7, 17)
          • God chooses / marries united Israel (Deut 7:6)
            • God divorces northern kingdom/chastises Judah because of adultery (Hos 2:2/Jer 3:8)          
              • Redeemer’s blood Harmonizes all things (Col 1:20)
            • Relationship restored with his bride/wife/Israel (Hos 2:19, 20)
          • United Israel restored (Ezek 37:16-20)”
        • Spirit restored to Adam (mankind) (John 20:22)
      • Adam (mankind) restored (physically/genetically) (ICor 15:44)
    • Creation liberated from bondage of corruption (Rom 8:20-23)
  • Adam in harmony with God (Rev 7:17)
• God in perfect harmony with his creation (all things in heaven and earth) (Isa 65:17, Rev 21:1, Mat 19:28)

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As a student of prophecy I sometimes wonder if most of my time would not be better spent simply sharing the Gospel, something I believe is of great importance. Should I devote less time to “meatier” matters and focus more on the basics?

Recently while reading through the book of Hebrews I discovered the answer to my question. In chapter five, the writer of Hebrews finished explaining about Melchizedek and then admonishes the readers that the things he would like to say are “hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.” (Heb 5:11 NKJV)

The writer says to his listeners, “though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” (Heb 5:12 NKJV) What is so surprising is that those “first oracles of God,” those “elementary principles of Christ” that is, “milk” are defined as the Gospel. The author lists them as

• repentance from dead works,
• and of faith toward God
• of the doctrine of baptisms,
• of laying on of hands,
• of resurrection of the dead,
• and of eternal judgment.” (Heb 6:1-2 NKJV)

The author says that “everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb 5:13-14 NKJV) The milk here is of course extremely important; just as a baby vitally needs milk during those first several years, so too does the baby Christian.

A newly-born-again person cannot be expected to skip drinking milk and go directly to eating meat. On the other hand, just as a baby eventually begins to reduce his need for milk and replaces it with more meat, so too should the believer begin consuming more than basics, “leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ.” (Heb 6:1)

The author desires to share the mystery of the person of Melchizedek – something that is not absolutely necessary for salvation. A person can and should be able to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus without having to know about the finer details of a slightly obscure passage from Genesis and Psalms. According to the writer of Hebrews, every believer ought to be moving in this direction; he should not be merely fed milk and for good reason –  God desires that we grow up so that we can learn and digest some deeper and really exciting things in his Word!

The study of prophecy is therefore incredibly important. In fact, God wants us to press on to understand it and chew on it like a wonderful steak that will cause us to grow strong. What then do we do with the elemental principles? Do they not have any place as we grow in our faith and knowledge of the Lord? The answer appears simple: if we had not fed on the milk we would never have been able to eat the meat. As a teacher of the Word, I must remember to feed milk to those who need it and then introduce the meat when ready. And for my own life, because I never want to forget the goodness of the Gospel, I am going to enjoy a glass of milk once in a while feasting on steak!