367 When will Israel & Judah get togethe

When will Israel and Judah get together?

The restoration of all Israel is not a figment of someone’s imagination, but is a reality based upon the unqualified promise of YHVH. Between 721 and 718 BCE the northern ten tribes of Israel were taken into captivity and deported by the king of Assyria, whilst their homeland were repopulated by foreigners who became known as the Samarians in Messiah’s time.Even though the House of Israel is presently scattered throughout the nations in the world and think of themselves as Gentiles, not a ‘least grain’ will be lost, as may be understood from Elohim’s promises through His prophets.As a side light, notice that the word grain as used here refers to the first fruit grain offering of the house of Israel called out of the world, who will if they qualify, be resurrected as first born children of Elohim at Messiah’s return.

In Hosea 1 YHVH told the prophet Hosea to take for himself a wife of harlotry, and to have children of harlotry, because the people of Israel under king Jeroboam committed flagrant harlotry and forsook YHVH their Elohim. Hosea then married Gomer a harlot who bore him three children. YHVH tells Hosea to name his first born son Jezreel; a name that is very similar to Israel and which in Hebrew means to sow or scatter. This was showing prophetically that YHVH was going to scatter the house of Israel amongst the nations of the world as punishment for their sin of idolatry under Jeroboam. We see further from verse 7 of Hosea 1 that this punishment is specifically meant for the House of Israel, whilst YHVH will have compassion on the House of Judah, as follows: “But I will have compassion on the house of Judah and deliver them by YHVH their Elohim, and will not deliver them by bow, sword, battle, horses and horsemen.”It was during the time of their scattering amongst the nations that Hosea tells us that these Israelites would lose their identity. Hosea’s second and third children were named Lo-ruchama (meaning not-pitied) and Lo-ammi (meaning not My People). This essentially meant that during their captivity amongst the nations, they would not receive any pity from YHVH and that they would no longer be known as His people.

Even though the house of Judah was also taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon about 120 years later, they returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple under Ezra and Nehemiah 70 years later. However, about 40 years after the death of Messiah, Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed again by the Romans and the surviving Jews were taken away as slaves. They too were gradually dispersed throughout the nations of the world, but could always be identified as a Torah observant, Sabbath keeping people who feared YHVH their Elohim, and were as a result, persecuted throughout the past 1900 years because of the jealousy of the nations amongst whom they lived. Soon after World War I, Jews from all over the world slowly started returning to join a few of their brethren remaining in the land of Israel. The Treaty of Versailles ending World War 1 requested the establishment of a Jewish homeland on one percent of the land of the old Ottoman Empire. In addition the British Balfour Declaration of 1917 recognized the land of Israel by then known as ‘Palestine’ as the former Jewish Homeland. The State of Israel was finally declared during 1948, and since then millions of Jews started and are still returning to the land of Israel.

Fortunately YHVH also promised that He will not leave the people of the house of Israel scattered amongst the nations of the world forever. We see that Hosea prophesied that at the time when the number of the descendants of Israel will be as ‘the sand of the sea’, some of this immeasurable group who used to be known as ‘not My people’ will again come to be known as ‘sons of the Living El.’ This means that they will regain their identity – they will realize that they are not Gentiles, but belong to the so called ‘lost ten tribes of Israel.’ We have seen this prophesy about this bringing back of the lost tribes of Israel, in Deuteronomy 30: 3 – 6, as follows: ‘Then YHVH your Elohim will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where YHVH your Elohim has scattered you. (4) If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there YHVH your Elohim will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. (5) And YHVH your Elohim will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. (6) Moreover YHVH your Elohim will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.’ We also see according to a prophecy of Isaiah that only a small number will ultimately return to the land (or be saved during Messiah’s return) in Isaiah 10: 20 – 22, in this way: ‘Now it will come about in that day that the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on YHVH, the Holy One of Israel. (21) A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty Elohim. (22) For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant within them will return; a destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.’

YHVH has a plan to re-establish the kingdom of Israel on earth, whether we like it or not. Most true believers of the house of Judah are looking forward to the time when Elohim’s kingdom be established upon the earth. It is also for this reason that Yahshua’s disciples asked Him in Acts 1: 6, saying: “Master, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”Messiah’s memorial Passover has to do with national salvation rather than individual salvation and is also a foretaste of the Marriage supper of the Lamb described in Revelation 19. It is very important for us as the house of Israel to understand that Yahshua came specifically to bring us back to the Father, but also to Brother Judah, as there can be no Kingdom without the return of the lost house of Israel. It is for this reason when Yahshua first send out His twelve disciples He said to them in Matthew 10: 5 – 8, 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. (7) And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ (8) Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received, freely give.” This is also why Yahshua said to the Canaanite woman who asked Him to heal her demon possessed daughter in Matthew 15: 24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

In fact the prophet Isaiah prophesied about Yahshua’s first coming in Isaiah 49, saying specifically in verses 5 – 7: ‘And now says YHVH, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, in order that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of YHVH, and My Elohim is My strength). (6) He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones (Nazarenes)of Israel; I will also make You alight of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (7) Thus says YHVH, the Redeemer of Israel, and its Holy One, to the despised One, to the One abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, Princes shall also bow down; because of YHVH who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.’ We read about the re-gathering of Israel from verses 15 – 23 of Isaiah 49, where YHVH says:“Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. (16) Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me (YHVH was not prepared to give us up, and even died to buy us back). (17) Your builders hurry; your destroyers and devastators will depart from you. (18) Lift up your eyes and look around; all of them gather together, they come to you. As I live,” Declares YHVH, “You shall surely put on all of them as jewels, and bind them on as a bride. (19) For your waste and desolate places, and your destroyed land—Surely now you will be too cramped for inhabitants, and those who swallowed you will be far away. (20) The children of whom you were bereaved will yet say in your ears, ‘The place is too cramped for me; make room for me that I may live here.’ (21) Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children, and am barren an exile and a wanderer? And who has reared these? Behold, I was left alone; from where did these come?’” (22) Thus says YHVH Elohim, “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and set up My standard to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders. (23)And kings will be your guardian, and their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you will know that I am YHVH; those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.”In the end YHVH promises through Isaiah in verse 26, saying: “And I will feed your oppressors with their own flesh, and they will become drunk with their own blood as sweet wine; and all flesh will know that I YHVH am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” Yes, after Yahshua’s return to earth, all the earth will know that He is YHVH our Savior, who redeemed us – how much clearer do we want this Scriptural truth stated?

People, without repentance and the correct immersion into Yahshua’s saving name, for our disobedience to Torah and without returning to the original Hebrew Roots of the faith of our fathers in the faith, there can be no physical return. People who immerse others willy-nilly without following the correct procedure, namely to read in the hearing of the person they immerse the original covenant YHVH made with Israel at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20), ensuring that the individual is truly repentant of his/her past Torah breaking, and that he/she accepts Yahshua as his/her personal Passover, should be discouraged. In addition unless a Torah teacher or a teaching elder lay hands upon the person being immersed, such a person will not receive a portion of Elohim’s Set-apart Spirit necessary to indwell him/her to finally be resurrected at Messiah’s return, as witnessed in Romans 8: 11, as follows: ‘But if the Spirit of Him who raised Yahshua from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Messiah Yahshua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.’ At this point I am reminded again about the methodology used by false teachers in Jeremiah 23: 14 – 17, as follows: “Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing; the committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; and they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah. (15) Therefore thus says YHVH of hosts concerning the prophets, ‘Behold, I am going to feed them wormwood and make them drink poisonous water, for from the prophets of Jerusalem pollution has gone forth into all the land.’” (16) Thus says YHVH of hosts, ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; they speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of YHVH. (17) They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘YHVH has said, “You will have peace”’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, they say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’ We should accordingly dissuade known false teachers who give people false hope of salvation, by immersing them without going through the proper procedures. But we should also teach those who do so sincerely, but in ignorance,to ensure that they are taught to follow the way of Elohim, before they start performing religious ceremonies which they will only be able to perform correctly once they are fully trained. Since immersion is directly related to Messiah’s memorial Passover, in that it reminds those who partake of the Passover annually of their own immersion (or symbolic death) when they were saved from sin or their personal Egypt as potential first born children of Elohim. We need to be mindful that Messiah’s disciples partook of four Passovers with him, the last one a few hours before His death, before they conducted their own Passovers with their own disciples.

Both the Tanach and the Renewed Covenant mentions the longstanding believe of Judah about the return of the lost ten tribes of Israel and their reconciliation with Judah into one nation. The Hebraic Restoration movement is also beginning to understand that the kingdom that will be established by Messiah when He returns one day refers to the re-united 12-tribe Kingdom of Israel. However, some are at this time rejecting the fact that the Rabbinical Jews of today are the custodians of the oracles described as the milk of the Gospel in Hebrews 5: 12, in this way: ‘For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach the elementary principles of the oracles of Elohim (the timing of the Feast Days of Elohim, including the weekly Sabbath preserved for us by our Jewish Brothers), and you have come to need milk (to be taught about these elementary principles of Elohim’s oracles) and not solid food (meaning the meat or gospel which are both called the ‘Besorah’ in Hebrew).’

Even today our Jewish Brothers hold King David of ancient history in tremendous awe. They are fully aware that YHVH promised that He will one day restore the tabernacle of King David which has fallen. It is for this very reason that Rav Yaa’cov (a Jew) concludes the discussion about circumcision in Acts 15: 13 – 21, saying: “Brethren, listen to me. (14) Simeon (meaning Rav Kepha) has related how Elohim first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles (Israelites who believe they are Gentiles and some real Gentiles) a people for His name (15) 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,’ (the children of the house of Israel are essentially called by (YHVH)’s name – the name Israel means that you have striven with Elohim and have prevailed; it is also for this reason that each one of us the progeny of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as well as those who become heirs of Abraham through faith in Messiah, have to strive with Elohim {overcome our difficulties to understand why we need to do whatever Elohim requires of us in His word} before we truly become Israel. Even so, one day after Yahshua start ruling the united nation of Israel during the Millennium and beyond, the rest of mankind will follow the examples set by {both houses of} Israel as the model nation that YHVH wanted us to be from the beginning, when He called them out of Egypt) (18) SAYS YHVH, WHO MAKES THESE THINGS KNOWN FROM OF OLD.(19) Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to Elohim from among the Gentiles, (20) but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood (including not eating meat with blood in it {i.e. properly koshered meat}, but also to follow the laws regarding childbirth and menstruation)(21)For Moses(the first five books of the Tanach) from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” Brethren, do you fully understand what we have just read? This ruling of Rav Yaa’cov is endorsing the return, restoration and establishment of the 12-tribe kingdom of Israel based on the Torah of YHVH as taught by the Levites (the Rabbinical Jews) in the Jewish synagogues today. Yes, it is true that we Nazarenes are not welcome in the synagogues at this time, but we need to make very sure what our Jewish Brother teach so that we may be able to do what they teach – and not necessarily do what they do, as Yahshua confirmed in Matthew 23: 1 – 3.

But at this point we have not yet answered the question asked at the beginning. Let’s first turn to the Tanach for an answer which we will later confirm in the Renewed Covenant. Few people realize that Yahshua is prophesied to return in Ezekiel 37, and will have already established His Kingdom in Ezekiel 38. We start reading therefore from verse 15 – 28 of Ezekiel 37, in this way: ‘The word of YHVH (before He came to earth as Yahshua) came to me saying, (16) “And you, son of man (Ezekiel), take for yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions (Benjamin, and Levy)’: then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.’ (17) Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. (18) And when the sons of your people speak to you saying, ‘Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?’ (19) Say to them, ‘Thus says YHVH Elohim, “Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.”’ (My question at this point is: Do you believe what YHVH is saying here, or not?) (20) And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. (21) 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 (YHVH is presently doing this by calling us out of the religions of the world to start following Him and His Torah once again) 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. (25) And they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons, and their sons’ sons, forever (those who try to convert their children and other family members do not understand that YHVH does the calling. If we go back to the land our children will go back to the land with us anyway[1], if we qualify to be in the kingdom. Our children and grand-children will be taught the truth during the millennium and will once they understand Elohim’s plan of salvation for all mankind and accept Yahshua as their Passover, be changed into spiritual children of Elohim. Similarly will our fathers and mothers,some who have already passed away, be resurrected after the millennium and be given the opportunity to understand the Scriptures and accept Yahshua as their personal Passover, after which they too will be changed into the spiritual children of Elohim. It is therefore clear, YHVH calls whoever He wants at this time and has a plan to save most people, including those who are already in their graves[2]), and David My servant shall be their prince (under Yahshua) forever.(26) And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. (27) My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their Elohim, and they will be My people. (28) And the nations (Gentiles) will know that I am YHVH who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’”Examples in ancient history where the children of righteous servants of YHVH were saved with them are righteous Noah and his family, and Lot and his daughters. Similarly did righteous Yahshua not only atone for the house of Judah, but also for the remnant of the lost tribes of the house of Israel whom the Father shall call, as witnessed in John 11: 51 & 52, as follows: ‘Now this he did not say on his own initiative; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Yahshua was going to die for the nation, (52) and not for the nation only, but that He might also gather together into one the children of Elohim who are scattered abroad.’

Many Messianic/Nazarene Israelites and like-minded believers have misunderstood what Rav Shaul is teaching in Romans 11, and has as a result become arrogant and some have even become anti-Semitic. However, this is where we find out exactly when a remnant of both houses of Israel will be saved together. Let’s read from Romans 11: 25 – 29 and 32, where Rav Shaul wrote: ‘For I do not want you, brethren (from the ‘Gentile’ assembly that Rav Shaul oversaw in Rome, as the apostle to the Gentiles), to be uninformed of this mystery. Lest you be wise in your own estimation (something which indeed happened to many called out believers who like the ecclesia in Laodicea mentioned in Revelation 3: 14 – 17 did, thinking they know it all, but still had much to learn before they would be ready for Messiah’s return), that a partial hardening (or blinding) has happened to Israel (meaning Jewish Israel in this case) until the fullness of the Gentiles (Israelites from the lost ten tribes who believe that they are Gentiles and some real Gentiles) has come in; (26) and thus all Israel (a remnant from both houses) will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. (27) AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” (28) From the standpoint of the gospel (about the identity of Yahshua the true Messiah) they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of Elohim’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; (29) for the gifts and the calling of Elohim are irrevocable. (32) For Elohim has shut up all in disobedience that He might have mercy on all.’ Do we fully understand what Rav Shaul was trying to get across to us? If so, why do some still try and do what Yahshua said only YHVH will and can do.

Yes I hear some say: But I would like to do the work of Elohim. What is the work of Elohim which you and I as returning Israelites should do? We find the answer given us by Yahshua in John 6: 28 & 29, in this way: ‘They said therefore to Him. “What shall we do, that we may work the works of Elohim? (29) Yahshua answered and said to them, “This is the work of Elohim, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” At this point we also need to remember what Yahshua said at the end of John 5 in verses 45 - 47, as follows: “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father, the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. (46) For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me. (47) But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”So we see here that Yahshua told us clearly what is recorded about the end time true believers as in Revelation 14: 12, in this way: ‘Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of Elohim and their faith in Yahshua.’

Now after reading the above, we understand that there will be a cut-off point for the total number of believers whom YHVH is calling at this time. The cut-off point is as mentioned in Romans 11, when the fullness or full number of Gentiles (from the house of Israel plus some real Gentiles) have come in, then Messiah will return to the house of Judah first as recorded in Zechariah 12: 7. When the Jews in their synagogue see His hand at His return on Yom Teruah (as per Zechariah 12: 10), they will accept Him as their Master and Passover and He will save the remnant of Torah observant ones who remained faithful to YHVH and His Torah to the end, changing them into spirit-beings. This is also the day upon which the dead in Messiah will be resurrected as recorded in first Thessalonians 4: 13 – 16, in this way: ‘But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do 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.’ This is also what Rav Shaul meant with what He wrote in Romans 11: 15, saying:‘For if their rejection be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?.’ This is also why YHVH through Isaiah tells Judah in Isaiah 66: 20 & 21, saying:‘Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering (meaning first fruit believers, as may be understood from Leviticus 23: 17) to YHVH, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels, to My holy 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.’

So contrary to what many Nazarene/Messianic and like-minded believers (from the Assemblies of YHVH and the ones in the offshoots of the Church of G-d) believe, the sons of Israel will not be the only priests and Levites during the millennium rule of Yahshua our Messiah. What a wonderful future is awaiting all Israel of both houses when Messiah returns and we will again be ruled by King David under Messiah as King of kings and Master of Masters. Halleluyah!

[1]We read from Isaiah 61: 6 & 9: ‘But you will be called the priests of YHVH; you will be spoken of as ministers of our Elohim. You will eat the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Then their offspring(the children of those of us who make it) will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them because they are the offspring whom YHVH has blessed.’

[2]King David fully understood YHVH’s plan of salvation for all mankind, and when he wrote Psalm 22 about Yahshua’s death, he also showed us why Yahshua died for the sins of the world, saying in Psalm 22: 27 – 29: ‘All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to YHVH, all the families of the nations will worship before Thee (when all knees will essentially bow before Yahshua, after they are resurrected one day). For the kingdom is (YHVH)’s and He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth (those in the first resurrection at Messiah’s return and their flesh and blood children who survive into the millennium based on what we have just read in Ezekiel 37) will eat and worship, all those who go down to the dust (those already dead and buried) will bow before Him, even he who cannot keep his soul alive (because of the sort of life he lived whilst he was alive). Why then cannot some of us understand these truths and stop trying to call their families; something Yahshua said Elohim is doing HIMSELF – see John 6: 44.