205 What did Yahshua our Messiah have to

What did Yahshua our Messiah have to say about two house restoration?

Because of the misinterpretation of much of what Yahshua the Messiah taught in the Scriptures, those whom YHVH is busy calling out of the churches of the world misunderstood most of His teachings in the Renewed Covenant as being against the Jewish leaders of His time. This essentially caused the anti-Semitic outlook in many who claim faith in Him. In agreement with Elohim’s plan of salvation for all mankind, YHVH has hidden Messiah’s identity as well as His main purpose for coming to the earth 2000 years ago to the house of Judah and most of humanity. It was for this reason that they could not understand His teaching in the Temple on Chanukah, when He told the Pharisees in John 10: 11 – 16, saying: “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (12) He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, a d scatters them. (13) He flees because he is a hireling, and is not concerned about the sheep. (14) I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me, (15) even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. (16) And I have other sheep (meaning the lost sheep of the house of Israel), which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd.” Yahshua told the Pharisees a truth most Jews believe to be the main purpose of the true Messiah’s coming to the earth, namely that He will eventually bring the lost sheep of the house of Israel into the Jewish faith into which He was born, to rebuild the Temple and institute Temple services once again. However, at the time they were blinded to His identity, to allow the full number of the remnant of the lost ten tribes to return, so that the commonwealth of Israel could be reestablished as the Kingdom of Elohim.

Even though the restoration of the two houses of Israel is spoken about throughout the Scriptures, only the house of Judah and those whom YHVH is busy calling from the lost sheep of the house of Israel understood what Yahshua our Messiah had to say about it? To commence with, Yahshua clearly stated in Matthew 15: 24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” A second witness to this comes from Luke 19: 10 (and Matthew 18: 11), where Yahshua said: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In addition Yahshua spoke to His disciples after instructing them in Matthew 10: 5, saying: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; (6) but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” However, where did Yahshua talk about the fundamentals of the Two House Restoration in more detail? The two house teaching is like most other important issues to YHVH hidden in plain sight in the Scriptures. This means that if we want to get the details about what Yahshua taught, we have to search out the hidden matters, as witnessed in Proverbs 25: 2, as follows: ‘It is the glory of Elohim to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.’ Now, you might say: ‘But we are only normal everyday people, not kings, so why do we have to search for it?’ But, if we fully understand the covenant YHVH made with Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob and the fact that we from the lost sheep of the house of Israel are again able to become heirs of Abraham through his one seed, Yahshua, the answer to this question is given in Revelation 1: 5 & 6, in this way: ‘And from Yahshua Messiah, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, (6) and He has made us to be a kingdom, priest to His Elohim and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amein.’ As potential co-rulers under Messiah in the coming kingdom of Elohim, we need to make sure that we know what Yahshua taught, if we truly want Him to acknowledge us as His people at His return one day. In order to discover what Yahshua had to say about two house restoration in the Scriptures, we need to determine what the prophets had to say about the matter in the Tanach. Let’s therefore turn to the book of Hosea, where YHVH through Hosea is telling us about the rebellious house of Israel and what He is planning for those of us alive during the time of the end.

Commencing in Hosea 1: 2, YHVH commanded the prophet Hosea to marry a wife of harlotry. In obedience Hosea marries Gomer (Hosea 1: 3), to demonstrate how the house of Israel became an unfaithful wife to YHVH. YHVH prophetically staged His putting away (or divorcing) the house of Israel through the naming of Hosea’s three children. YHVH tells Hosea to name his first-born son ‘Jezreel ’ (Hosea 1: 4), literally meaning ‘Elohim sows by scattering’ – YHVH is therefore saying that He will take the house of Israel out of the Promised Land and scatter them into the nations of the world, as He also told Joseph in Genesis 48: 15 -19, as follows: “And he blessed Joseph, and said, ‘The Elohim before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the Elohim who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, (16) the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and may my name live on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.’ (17) When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. (18) And Joseph said to his father, ‘Not so, my father, for this one is the first-born. Place your right hand on his head.’ (19) But his father refused and said, ‘I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people and he also shall be great. However, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations (transliterated as the ‘Melo Hagoyim’ in Hebrew).’” Continuing in Hosea 1: 6, YHVH tells Hosea to name the second child ‘Lo-ruhamah’ – meaning ‘no mercy or no compassion’ in Hebrew. YHVH basically told Hosea that after He has scattered the house of Israel, He will no longer have mercy on them. Then YHVH tells Hosea to name his third child with Gomer, ‘Lo-ammi’ – meaning ‘not my people’ in Hebrew. YHVH also informs Hosea that the house of Israel is no longer His people. This final statement is a harsh judgment on the house of Israel and the prophet Jeremiah confirms the same in the first part of Jeremiah 3: 8, saying: “And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce.” However, when reading further in chapter 1 of Hosea we see that even though YHVH has scattered us, the lost ten tribes of the house of Israel amongst the nations of the world, in the end He will have compassion on both us and Judah, as we read in Hosea 1: 11, in this way: ‘And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one leader (Messiah, also known as the son of David), and they will go up from the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.’ YHVH promises to save those of us from the Lost Ten Tribes, whom He calls out of the world and who answers His call to return to Him in obedience, together with the Torah observant Jews.

If we qualify, we will with the faithful Torah observant Jews, become kings and priests under Yahshua. It is for this reason that YHVH informs brother Judah in Isaiah 66: 20 & 21, saying: ‘“Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to YHVH, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My set-apart mountain Jerusalem,” says YHVH, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of YHVH. (21) I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says YHVH.’ The valley of Jezreel referred to in Hosea 1: 11, is approximately 10 miles from the Jordan and extends north-west toward Mount Carmel near the Mediterranean Sea. Even though YHVH has scattered us the lost ten tribes into all the nations of the world, He tells us here (in verse 11) that He will again gather us and the sons of Judah together. This is one of many Scriptural witnesses for those Assemblies of YHVH and Nazarene Israelites who are too anti-Semitic to believe that we will be joined together with brother Judah in the end. In Hosea 2: 1 YHVH talks to Jezreel, saying: ‘Say to your brothers, “Ammi,” and to your sisters, “Ruhamah.” YHVH informs Jezreel through Hosea that they will again become His people and He will again have compassion on them, essentially saying the exact opposite of His original pronouncement in Hosea 1. We read further from Hosea 2: 2 to the first part of verse 5, “Contend with your mother, contend, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband; and let her put away her harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts, (3) lest I strip her naked and expose her as on the day when she was born. I will also make her like a wilderness, make her like desert land, and slay her with thirst. (4) Also, I will have no compassion on her children, because they are children of harlotry. (5) For their mother has played the harlot; she who conceived them has acted shamefully.” Although the accusations are made against Gomer, it is depicted as a courtroom in which YHVH is the Plaintive bringing charges against the nation of Israel, where the physical acts of Gomer’s immorality is likened to the spiritual idolatry of Israel. Continuing in the second part of verse 5, we read: “For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’” The words ‘I will go’ indicates Israel’s intense desire for the pagan idols of her neighbors, forgetting that YHVH is our provider and showing that nothing would deter her from chasing after her lovers. This describes the frenzy with which Christians are planning for their upcoming pagan festivities.

Verses 6 – 8 of Hosea 2, informs us about the action that YHVH will take to force us (from the house of Israel) to return to Him, as follows: “Therefore, behold, I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her so that she cannot find her paths. (7) And she will pursue her lovers, but she will not overtake them; and she will seek them, but will not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now!’ (8) For she does not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil, and lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal.” The nation of Israel started worshiping Baal during the time of the judges and it became firmly established when King Ahab married Jezebel. She did everything in her power to stop Israel from worshiping YHVH. We understand from verse 8 that the offerings that Israel used in worshiping Baal, actually came from YHVH. We read from verses 9 & 10, YHVH saying through Hosea, “Therefore, I will take back My grain at harvest time and my new wine in its season. I will also take away My wool and My flax given to cover her nakedness. (10) And then I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one will rescue her out of My hand.” YHVH pledges to put an end to the luxurious lifestyles the house of Israel got used to during the past few centuries and to expose her wickedness for all to see, adding that not one of her idols will be able to save her from what is coming upon her. Continuing in similar vein in verse 11, we read: “I will also put an end to all her gaiety, her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths, and all her festal assemblies.” Soon after Israel left Egypt they started mixing idol worship with the worship of Elohim; and continued doing so to this day, by keeping Xmas and the like, saying they do it for Him. This is confirmed about the house of Israel in 2 Kings 17: 33, as follows: ‘They feared YHVH and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile.’

In fact Hosea 2: 11 talks about the house of Israel’s feasts, new moons and sabbaths, not those ordained by YHVH through Moses, meaning worshiping on Sundays, Xmas and Easter, but it could also mean the annual feast days that some keep at different times to when Judah keeps them. YHVH is not pleased with these feast days and informs us, the latter day descendants of Israel, how He will punish us to force us to return to Him, as recorded in verses 12 – 15, in this way: “And I will destroy her vines and fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages which my lovers have given me.’ And I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field will devour them. (This is happening right now In South Africa.) (13) And I will punish her for the days of the Baals (Xmas, Easter, Valentines and Halloween) when she used to offer sacrifices to them and adorn herself with her earrings and jewelry, and follow her lovers, so that she forgot Me, declares YHVH. (14) Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness, and speak kindly to her. (15) Then I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor (valley of trouble) as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.” However, we are assured here that YHVH will again speak kindly to Israel and restore her to Himself. Praise YHVH, for He tells us that our punishment will not last forever. What a merciful Elohim do we serve? We read appropriately from verse 16, “And it will come about in that day,” declares YHVH, “That you will call Me Ishi (meaning my husband) and no longer call Me Baali (meaning my master).” Ishi denotes affection, whereas Baali denotes rulership. We are told in verse 17 that YHVH is going to remove the names of the Baals (pagan gods) from our mouths, so that we do not mention them any longer. YHVH is not pleased with the false names that the people from the lost ten tribes use in worshipping Him. Continuing in verse 18, we read: “In that day I will also make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds of the sky, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and will make them lie down in safety.” This gives us a preview into the time after Messiah’s return, when He will have restored everything to what it was like in paradise, when all nations will be subject to Him.

These are very encouraging Scriptures, but we need to find out where Yahshua spoke specifically about two house restoration in the Scriptures? Let’s look at the first few verses in Yahshua’s Sermon on the Mount with understanding and we will discover that this is where Yahshua reveals His systematic plan for the restoration of the two houses of Israel. To find the two house restoration teaching in these verses, we need to focus on the promises made in each verse. Starting in verse 3 of Matthew 5, we read: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (It is in heaven at this time, but we know that Yahshua proclaimed its coming to earth in the near future). We read further from verses 4 – 8: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (5) Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. (6) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (7) Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (8) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see Elohim.” Now let’s consider each promise in turn to see how verses 3 – 5 reveal a three-step plan for reversing the alarming message that Hosea prophesied to happen; with the next three verses giving a three-step witness to the same: The words “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” inform us that we who were called ‘not my people’, will again, one day soon, become Elohim’s people in His coming Kingdom. We are referred to here as ‘the poor in spirit’ because our rebellious spirits are broken and even though we have discovered that we are part of the lost ten tribes, we are remorsefully longing to be fully reconciled to our heavenly Father. We are promised to be ‘Elohim’s people’ once again, which is a reversal of Hosea’s ‘Lo-ammi’ proclamation.

The words “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” is a promise that those who mourn for the sins of Israel and because they received ‘no mercy’ during their time of trouble in exile, will again be consoled, encouraged and strengthened by Elohim. This is a reversal of Hosea’s proclamation of ‘Lo-ruhamah’ in Hosea 1. The words “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth” is a promise that certain ones as also mentioned in Psalm 37 will inherit the earth. Let’s turn to Psalm 37, where we read about the ones who will inherit the land transliterated as ‘eretz’ in Hebrew, meaning the land of Israel or more specifically the Promised Land. We read from verses 9, 11, 22, 29 and 34 of Psalm 37 who the ones are who will inherit the land, as Follows:

(9) ‘For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for YHVH, they will inherit the land.’ Those who wait for YHVH does not sit doing nothing, they do everything in their power to get into the Kingdom of Elohim, by regularly praying and studying Elohim’s word, to get to know Him better as the time draws near.
(11) ‘But the humble will inherit the land, and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.’ It is only when we are humble like little children who do not yet know how to brag about their superior knowledge that we can truly learn to know our Master. When we humble ourselves before YHVH, He will receive us, as he said in Matthew 18: 4, in this way: “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
(22) “For those blessed by Him will inherit the land; but those cursed by Him will be cut off.” We read about the blessings and curses by Elohim from Deuteronomy 28. Under what conditions will we be blessed and under what other conditions will we be cursed. We read the answers to these questions from verses 13 & 15 of Deuteronomy 28, as follows: “And YHVH shall make you the head and not the tail, and you only shall be above, and you shall not be underneath, if you will listen to the commandments of YHVH your Elohim, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully. (15) But it shall come about, if you will not obey YHVH your Elohim, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.”
(29) “The righteous will inherit the land, and dwell in it forever.” Righteous people are those who do righteousness, as opposed to lawlessness which is sin. We read from Psalm 119: 172, ‘Let my tongue sing of Thy word, for all Thy commandments are righteousness.” Righteous people are those who obey all Elohim’s commandments. The words ‘dwell in it forever’, shows they will have gained eternal life at Messiah’s return.
(34) “Wait for YHVH, and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.” So we see that these four verses in Psalm 37 are all a reversal of the ‘Jezreel’ proclamation by Hosea.

Isn’t this wonderful? In the first three verses of Yahshua’s first major teaching, He proclaims a marvelous threefold prophetic restoration of the damning prophetic proclamations made by Hosea. But, in order to ensure that what we believe as Scriptural truth, let everything be established by two or three witnesses as Yahshua said in Matthew 18: 16. Now let’s turn our focus on the next three blessings in Yahshua’s teaching in Matthew 5.

We read accordingly from verse 6, as follows: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” With what shall they be satisfied? Simply put, they shall be satisfied by what they hunger and thirst for. Let’s in this case turn to Psalm 18: 24, for another definition of righteousness, as follows: ‘Therefore YHVH has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.’ This is talking about our application of the commandments or Torah in what we do with our hands. Do we commit sin with our hands or do we do what is right – do we help the less fortunate and work to earn a living, or do we steal, kill and murder with our hands. We need to praise YHVH for His gift of righteousness; He has made us righteous through faith in Yahshua as witnessed in Romans 8: 3 & 4, in this way: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, Elohim did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, (4) in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Because of trusting faith in Yahshua’s sacrifice for us, the right standing of the house of Israel in the eyes of YHVH has been restored. Those in right standing with YHVH are no longer, ‘not My people.’ Here Yahshua provides a witness to the reversal of the ‘Lo-ammi’ declaration of Hosea. Continuing in Matthew 5: 7, we read: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” We are truly merciful if and when we forgive others their transgressions against us, including those who owe us money and cannot repay because of current economic conditions. Another word for mercy is compassion. We are truly compassionate when we help those who are poor and cannot repay us, instead of demanding that they be imprisoned for debt owed us. Yahshua provides us here with a witness to the reversal of the ‘Lo-ruhamah’ declaration of Hosea.

Finally we read from verse 8 of Matthew 5: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see Elohim.” YHVH looks at our hearts – our belief system. Do we practice what we preach, or do we deceive people by not telling the whole truth. We need to remember that we are able to deceive other people, but YHVH knows exactly what we do and say. This is saying that those who are pure in their hearts, will see Yahshua at His return to earth one day on Yom Teruah, as witnessed in first Thessalonians 4: 13 – 17, in this way: ‘But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as so the rest who have no hope. (14) For if we believe that Yahshua died and rose again, even so Elohim will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Yahshua. (15) For this we say to you by the word of the Master, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Master, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. (16) For the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of Elohim; and the dead in Messiah shall rise first. (17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air (on the Mount of Olives), and thus we shall always be with the Master.’ Yahshua will one day rule the world from Jerusalem. If we overcome Satan, the world and our own human nature, we will be with Him and see Him in the Promised Land. This is clearly a complete reversal of the ‘Jezreel’ declaration of Hosea.

Yahshua was sent to seek and save the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Praise YHVH, He overturned the threefold divorce proclamation of Hosea 1 and Jeremiah 3. He did this by systematically reversing each of the dreadful proclamations by Hosea, promising restoration at each step. This is interestingly enough; the same method of restoration that Yahshua used with Kepha following Kepha’s threefold denial of Him after His betrayal by Judas Iscariot. Kepha denied Yahshua three times and Yahshua provided a three-step restoration in John 21: 15 – 17, as follows: ‘So when they had finished breakfast, Yahshua said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Master; You know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs” (16) He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Master; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” (17) He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Kepha was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Master, You know all things: You know that I love You.” Yahshua said to him, “Tend My sheep.”’ Despite Rav Kepha having denied Yahshua three times, Yahshua restored him as a teacher sent by Him (an apostle) to teach the men, women and children in the ecclesia of Elohim.

The parallel of Hosea’s and Yahshua’s teachings go one step further. Matthew 5: 9 reads: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of Elohim.” This agrees with Hosea 1: 10, in this way: ‘Yet the number of the sons of Israel will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; and it will come about that, in the place where it is said to them, “You are not My people, “it will be said to them, “you are the sons of the living Elohim.”’ The restoration of (YHVH)’s people to Himself is the primary message of Yahshua. This message is of such importance to our loving Father that He sent Yahshua to deliver His loving message of restoration to His lost sheep. Let these encouraging words fill your spirit, as we conclude by reading from Hosea 2: 19 – 23, as follows: “And I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, (20) and I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know YHVH. (21) And it will come about in that day that I will respond,” declares YHVH. “I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth, (22) and the earth will respond to the grain, to the new wine, and to the oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. (23) And I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, and I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people!’ And they will say, ‘Thou art My Elohim!’” YHVH repeats three times, that He will again betroth Israel to Himself, showing the intensity of His love for her. At that time Israel will have returned to Elohim and will no longer be a harlot; He will remarry her and will also provide the entire dowry.

We also read Ezekiel’s prophecy regarding the two house restoration in Ezekiel 37: 21 -24, confirming that Yahshua will be our shepherd, whilst David will be king over the commonwealth of Israel once again, as follows: “And say to them, “thus says YHVH Elohim, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; (22) and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and they will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. (23) And they will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people and I will be their Elohim. (24) And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them.” This will also be when the tabernacle of David will be restored as Yahshua’s half-brother Rav Yaa’cov, confirmed in Acts 15: 15 – 18, in this way: ‘And with this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, (16) “AFTER THESE THINGS I will return, AND I WILL REBUILD THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID WHICH HAS FALLEN, AND I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL RESTORE IT, (17) IN ORDER THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK YHVH, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,” (18) SAYS YHVH, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS KNOWN FROM OF OLD.’ What a fantastic future awaits true believers. Baruch HaShem YHVH!