Nazarene Israelite Two House Congregation of Port Elizabeth
Two house restoration.
The entire book of Hosea and many other Scriptural prophecies revolve around the lost ten tribes of Israel’s estrangement from Elohim and their re-gathering to Him and His Torah covenant with them and their Jewish Brothers in the Promised Land. The rehabilitation of the lost ten tribes in Messianic times is an integral part of the restoration of all Israel. Elohim is slowly but surely busy uniting the two houses of Israel so that Israel can function as a nation of priests, to teach the Abrahamic faith and covenant to the entire world.We need to be ever mindful of the fact that Ephraim and Judah is really one nation and the marriage of the Lamb will not take place before their re-unification and restoration.
YHVH our Elohim wanted the united nation of Israel to be a royal priesthood and model nation to show the rest of mankind how to live; serving Him and being blessed for doing so, fifty days after He brought them out of the land of Egypt and gave them His Torah covenant at Mount Sinai. YHVH created mankind specifically to dwell with them as their Elohim, and after the fall of Adam and the subsequent flood of Noah to destroy the wicked by drowning, YHVH started over a third time with one man named Abraham. Our heavenly Father started the nation of Israel through Abraham and entered into a covenant with Him, promising that he and His children through Isaac and Jacob would become a nation (the house of Judah) and a commonwealth of nations (the house of Israel), as witnessed in Genesis 35: 9 – 12, where Elohim spoke to Jacob as follows: ‘Then Elohim appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. (10) AndElohim said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” Thus He called him Israel. (11) Elohim also said to him, “I am Elohim Almighty; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come forth from you. (12) And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.” YHVH our Elohim who knows the end from the beginning knew before the nation of Israel entered the Promised Land that He will scatter the house of Israel into the nations of the world because of idolatry, but also that they will in the last days before Messiah come to rule them from Jerusalem, return to Him and His covenant, as witnessed by Moses in Deuteronomy 4: 23 – 31, saying: “So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of YHVH your Elohim which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which YHVH your Elohim has commanded you. (24) For YHVH your Elohim is a consuming fire, a jealous Elohim. (25) When you become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of YHVH your Elohim so as to provoke Him to anger, (26) I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. (27) YHVH will scattered you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where YHVH drives you. (28) There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. (29) But from there you will seek YHVH your Elohim, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. (30) When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you,in the latter days you will return to YHVH your Elohim and listen to His voice. (31)For YHVH your Elohim is a compassionate Elohim; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.”
We read a prophecy about the restoration of Jacob, meaning all twelve tribes from Jeremiah 30: 18 – 24, in this way: “Thus says YHVH, ‘Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city will be rebuilt on its ruin, and the palace will stand on its rightful place. (19) From them will proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those who celebrate; and I will multiply them and they will not be diminished; I will also honor them and they will not be insignificant. (20)Their children also will be as formerly, and their congregation shall be established before me; and I will punish all their oppressors. (21) Their leader shall be one of them, and their ruler shall come forth from their midst; and I will bring him near and he shall approach Me; for who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares YHVH. (22) ‘You shall be My people, and I will be your Elohim.’” (23) Behold, the tempest (or storm) of YHVH! Wrath has gone forth, a sweeping tempest; it will burst on the head of the wicked. (24) The fierce anger of YHVH will not turn back until He has performed and until He has accomplished the intent of His heart; in the latter days you will understand this.” In this revealed outline of prophecies, we as returnees find ourselves confused as to what to do as a suitable response to Elohim’s calling. However, Elohim expected our confusion and wrote instructions for us about what to do at the time of our awakening, millennia in advance of our ability to act on them, saying in Isaiah 49: 8, “In a favorable time I have answered You, and in a day of salvation I have helped You; and I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, to restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages.”In searching for YHVH and these directions, as He prophesied in Deuteronomy 4, we find comforting news of impending deliverance to the exiles of ancient captivities as YHVH prophesied through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 30: 10, saying:‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares YHVH, ‘and do not be dismayed, O Israel; for behold, I will save you from afar and your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease, and no one will make him afraid.’
YHVH the Elohim of Israel has declared that when the time of our estrangement from Him in dispersion would come to an end, we would turn to Him, asprophesied by Him through Micah in Micah 7: 18 - 20, in this way: ‘Who is an Elohim like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love. (19) He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (20) You will give truth to Jacob and unchanging love to Abraham, which You swore to our forefathers from the days of old.’ YHVH tells us that at the time of our awakening by the shofar call, the remnant of Jacob will begin to respond to His instructions in Isaiah 51: 14 – 16, saying: “The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking. (15) For I am YHVH your Elohim, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar (YHVH of hosts is His name). (16) I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, “You are My people.’”We read a second witness from Hosea 3: 14 – 16, as follows: “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 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. (16) It will come about in that day,” declares YHVH, “that you will call Me Ishi (meaning my husband) and will no longer call Me Baali (My Lord or Master, or my Baal). (17) For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, so that they will be mentioned by their names no more.”
We as Nazarene Israelites are appointed as watchmen as confirmed by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31: 5 & 6, in this way: “Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the planters will plant and will enjoy them. (6) For there will be a day when watchmen on the hills of Ephraim call out, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to YHVH our Elohim.’”Our job function as Nazarene watchmen is to declare to members of the lost ten tribes their transgressions as the prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 58: 1, saying: “Cry loudly, do not hold back; raise your voice like a trumpet, and declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.’We read further about our duties in Isaiah 62: 6 & 7, as follows: ‘On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind YHVH, take no rest for yourselves; (7) And give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.’ These verses clearly show us where we are at present and what we are to do. We are at the start of the re-gathering of the lost ten tribes, and are the trail blazers being called out of the false religions of the world to perform the function as a type of Elijah doing what the prophet Malachi prophesied we should do in Malachi 4: 4 - 6, saying: “Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. (5) Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of YHVH. (6) He will restore the hearts (meaning the belief system or faith) of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.’ We need to teach our children and new returnees about the faith of our fathers in the faith; to return to YHVH in repentance (Teshuvah) and full Torah observance and remember the promises that YHVH made to our fathers in the faith, namely that they (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and their descendants will dwell in the Promised Land eternally and that King David would rule over them as the commonwealth of Israel known as the Kingdom of Elohim on earth. We need to understand that to be able to live eternally in the Promised Land, we will have to be resurrected as spiritual children of Elohim, similar to the way Yahshua was resurrected to become the Son of Elohim (as per Romans 1: 1 – 4[1]).
For this to happen we as the first few of the lost ten tribes called out of the world, need to perform the commission Yahshua gave His disciples in Matthew 10: 5 – 8[2], but also in Matthew 28: 18 – 20[3]. In other words we need to teach new believers about the coming kingdom of Elohim on earth as it is now in heaven, and help them to forget the false doctrines taught by the churches of the world, especially what happenswhen we die. In addition we need to immerse new believers in the saving name of YHVH namely Yahshua, for the forgiveness of their sins as instructed in Acts 2: 38 & 39[4] and Acts 8: 12, 14 – 17[5]. This will provide returneesfrom the lost ten tribes with the true key to salvation as Rav Shaul explained in Romans 8: 11, saying: ‘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 dwells in you.’ Israelites who used to believe they are Gentiles are presently being called by YHVH as prophesied by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 3: 12 - 15, saying: “Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares YHVH; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares YHVH; ‘I will not be angry forever.’ (13) ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against YHVH your Elohim and have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares YHVH. (14)‘Return, O faithless sons,’ declares YHVH; ‘For I am a master to you, and I will take you one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.’ (15)‘Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding.’” We are summoned here to prepare the pioneer contingent from Ephraim for service to YHVH our Elohim. We read Amos’s warning to the Northern House of Israel who is presently dispersed in mainly the western world in Amos 4: 12 – 5: 4, saying: “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your Elohim, O Israel.” (13) For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, YHVH Elohim of hosts is His name. (5: 1) Hear this word which I take up for you as a dirge (or funeral song), O house of Israel: (2) She has fallen, she will not rise again— the virgin Israel, she lies neglected on her land; there is none to raise her up. (3) For thus says YHVH Elohim, “The city which goes forth a thousand strong will have a hundred left, and the one which goes forth a hundred strong will have ten left to the house of Israel.” (4) For thus says YHVH to the house of Israel, “Seek Me that you may live.”
According to the prophets the spiritual and moral foundations will have to be laid before the rehabilitation of our people can happen. Speaking specifically to the house of Israel,Amos wrote in Amos 5: 14 – 15, saying: ‘Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and thus may YHVH Elohim of hosts be with you, just as you have said! (15) Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate! Perhaps YHVH Elohim of hosts may be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.’The prophet Hosea predict this searching for Elohim and His ways in Hosea 3: 5, saying: ‘Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek YHVH their Elohim and David their king; and they will come trembling to YHVH and to His goodness in the last days.’Yes, the searching for Elohim and the Messianic inheritance of David will begin whilst the lost ten tribes are still in dispersion as witnessed by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29: 13 & 14, in this way: ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (14) ‘I will be found by you,’ declares YHVH, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares YHVH, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’ The remnant of the lost ten tribes will prepare to receive the Messiah of Israel, who comes specifically to repentant Jacob, as Isaiah witnessed in Isaiah 59: 20, saying: ‘“A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares YHVH.’Whilst we were in our captivity far from Elohim, and not being heard, He has preserved us as he decreed in Isaiah 41: 1, saying: “Coastlands, listen to me in silence, and let the peoples gain new strength; let them come forward, then let them speak; let us come together for judgment.” When we begin to answer Elohim’s call, though we have little strength, he encourages us in Isaiah 41: 8 – 14, saying: “But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend, (9) You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its remotest parts and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you. (10) Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your Elohim. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ (11) Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish. (12) You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent. (13) For I am YHVH your Elohim, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’ (14)Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you” declares YHVH, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.”
The question is: how are the few to prepare the remnant of Israel to come near to Elohim with all their heart (belief system)? From the prophecies given above, it is clear that we should inform the house of Israel to come out of the religions of the world with their false beliefs intended explicitly to get their followers to defy Elohim’s commandments. Sunday worship, Xmas and Easter as well as Halloween were never ordained by YHVH as He said through Isaiah in Isaiah 29: 13, as follows: “Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote(repetition or habit).”Leaving these false religious systemsdoes not only mean acquiring a Hebraic understanding of the Scriptures, but also a wholehearted declaration of the creedal statement of the Scriptural faith, namely the Sh’ma and espousing its proclamation to listen to the One Elohim of Israel: “ Hear O Israel, YHVH is our Elohim, YHVH is ONE.”But it is also a call to return to the covenant YHVH entered into with both houses of Israel at Horeb, i.e. to take the yoke of the kingdom of Elohim, by obeying and living by the commandments of Elohim, which we had thrown away (as witnessed in Hosea 8: 12[6] and Jeremiah 13: 10[7]), and being cleanedfrom community and personal sins, which caused our downfall as a people, and brought Elohim’s judgment upon us in the nations where we find ourselves in. Even so, the good news is that Elohim promises us help in our recovery from this state of uncleanness, to be able to approach Him again, in Jeremiah 33: 7,8 & 14, saying: ‘I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel and will rebuild them as they were at first. (8) I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. (14) Behold, days are coming,’ declares YHVH, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah.’
Our heavenly Father’s original intent was that we remain near to Him and for us, the very trail blazers or pioneers, being called out of the false churches of the world (or Babylon), it is incumbent to prepare our hearts, and engage in dialogue on behalf of the rest of Israel in dispersion as quoted earlier in Jeremiah 30: 21, saying: ‘Their leaders shall be one of them, and their ruler shall come forth from their midst; and I will bring him near and he shall approach Me; for who would dare to risk his life to approach Me?’ declares YHVH.’ This ‘coming forth’ and ‘approach’ by the trail blazing few for the rest of Israel is necessary for her speedy deliverance and healing. This job function is reflected in the Jewish custom of ‘standing in’ for someone who is not there to receive the blessing as we read from Deuteronomy 29: 14 & 15, in this way: “Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, (15) but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of YHVH our Elohim and with those who are not with us here today.” The one who is carrying the burden for the healing of others, stand up and goes to the bema to have the Rabbi recite the prayer for healing. According to the Rabbis this service by a few is needed because ‘all sacred acts require summoning.’ Even though Elohim by His mercy and grace has already started calling us without any action on our part, the continuance of the process depends on our coming near to Him. Doing so by the few will speed up the process of redemption and also mitigate Elohim’s corrective judgment on the many as we read from Isaiah 48: 8 & 9, as follows: “You have not heard, you have not known. Even from long ago your ear has not been open, because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; and you have been called a rebel from birth. (9) For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, and for My praise I restrain it for you, in order not to cut you off.” We are expected to turn to YHVH, when He begins to draw near, as Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 55: 6 & 7, saying: “Seek YHVH while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. (7) Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to YHVH, and He will have compassion on him, and to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah tells us further in Isaiah 58: 9 – 14how YHVH will be merciful to us and restore our fortunes, in this way: “Then you will call, and YHVH will answer; you will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, (10) and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday. (11) And YHVH will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. (12) Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; your will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell. (13) If because of the Sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of YHVH honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, (14) then you will take delight in YHVH, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of YHVH has spoken.” Jeremiah gives more details regarding the way YHVH will restore our fortunes in Jeremiah 31: 8 & 9, saying: “Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, and I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and she who is in labor with child together; a great company, they will return here. (9) With weeping they will come, and by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, on a straight path in which they will not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
Wow, what a promise – to be given the honor to becoming partakers in Elohim’s restorative and redemptive work. For Ephraim who have not kept Torah for almost two thousand years, this redemptive work is an exceptional measure of Elohim’s grace. But what part of this service is required by us as early pioneer representatives of the house of Israel? Since we have learnt to walk in the ‘narrow straight way’ of Torah and have already tasted its benefits and blessings in this life – i.e. to know Elohim’s plan of salvation for all mankind, YHVH wants us to start showing newly called out brethren the way, as confirmed in Deuteronomy 33: 4 & 5, as follows: “Moses charged us with a law, a possession for the assembly of Jacob. (5) And He was king in Jeshurun (a pet name for Israel), when the heads of the people were gathered, the tribes of Israel together.” Part of our Torah heritage is the prayers of Israel, preserved for us by the house of Judah, one of which, namely‘The Amidah’, we have sent out recently with our weekly teachings, also to be found in the Hebrew prayer book, called the Siddur – meaning order of prayers. Most of these prayers are taken directly from, or are based on the Tanach and is appropriate not just at this time, but also as a means for Ephraim to return to his Torah heritage in general. It is as Elohim admonished us from the house of Israel in Hosea 14: 1 & 2, saying: ‘Return, O Israel, to YHVH your Elohim, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. (2) Take words (Torah – or more specifically Deuteronomy transliterated as ‘Debarim’ in Hebrew) with you and return to YHVH. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips.”’ Once you and I start doing so, Elohim will help us come out of captivity, as he promised in Jeremiah 31: 10 (quoted earlier), as follows: ‘… with supplication will I lead them…” According to the Prophets our former sacrifices were mixed with paganism and were not acceptable to YHVH, as we read from Amos 4: 4 & 5, in this way: “Enter Bethel and transgress; in Gilgal multiply transgression! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days. (5) Offer a thank offering also from that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill offerings, make the known. For so you love to do, you sons of Israel,” declares YHVH Elohim.” Our thank offering should never contain leaven and we should never boast about how much are given as freewill offerings, as they do in the churches where we come from.
Our thank offerings did not reconcile us to Elohim, and as before He tells us again in Psalm 50: 7 – 15, saying: ‘Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am Elohim, your Elohim. (8) I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are continually before Me. (9) I shall take no young bull out of your house nor male goats out of your folds. (10) For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. (11) I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine. (12) If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and all it contains. (13) Shall I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of male goats? (14) Offer to Elohim a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High; (15) Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.’Elohim is looking forward to a time when we will pay our vows. The question is; how are we to pay our vows and what vows are we to pay? For us from the lost ten tribes of Israel, the answer is: to once again be true to the Covenant of the one true Elohim of Israel, vowed at Horeb. It is to do justice to His choosing Israel, the people called by His name, consisting of both the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It is finally to return to Him as a nation of priests as witnessed in:
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Exodus 19: 6: ‘And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.’
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Deuteronomy 7: 6 – 9:‘For you are a holy people to YHVH your Elohim; YHVH your Elohim has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. (7) ‘YHVH did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, (8) but because YHVH loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, YHVH brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (9) Know therefore that YHVH your Elohim, He is Elohim, the faithful Elohim, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments.’
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Isaiah 66: 20 & 21:‘”Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering (of first fruits) 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.’ and
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1 Peter 2: 9: ‘But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR ELOHIM’S OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.’
That will mean standing up for the deliverance of Israel, and like true priests of Elohim wear head coverings (as per Exodus 28: 40[8] and 29: 9[9]) when we pray and during worship services, but also to tell those who are downtrodden in Israel about the coming kingdom of Elohim, during which righteousness and justice will be implemented throughout the world. After all it is as we read from Isaiah 43: 10 – 12, in this way:“‘You are My witnesses’, declares YHVH, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no Elohim formed, and there will be none after Me.(11) I, even I, am YHVH, and there is no savior besides Me. (12) It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; so you are My witnesses, declared YHVH, and I am Elohim.” As the few trail blazers and representatives of the returning lost ten tribes, we can start by praying for all Israel. We read from Isaiah 42: 23 - 25 – 43: 1 – 3: ‘Who among you will give ear to this? Who will give heed and listen hereafter? (24)Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to plunderers? Was it not YHVH, against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they were not willing to walk, and whose law they did not obey? (25)So He poured out on him the heat of His anger and the fierceness of battle; and it set him aflame all around, yet he did not recognize it; and it burned him, but he paid no attention.’ (43: 1)‘But now, thus says YHVH, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!(2)When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. (3)For I am YHVH your Elohim, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place.’ We read further from Psalm 50: 5: ‘Gather My godly ones to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.’In addition those of us drawn to respond to YHVH in service to Him should pray and ask Him for guidance according to all these promises. Ask Him to grant us repentance then pray Psalm 30, 103, 118 to give thanks on behalf of the lost ten tribes and for the beginning of his re-gathering. Also use Psalm 74 and 80 to plead for mercy for Joseph and that YHVH strengthen and revive us.
Especially after this season of Chanukah, when minds and hearts are turned towards rededication, our prayers may be instrumental in the rededication of the ‘house of prayer’ for all Israel. With Elohim’s help we could in this way start rebuilding the fallen tabernacle of David at this time, as witnessed in Amos 9: 11 & 12, as follows:‘In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, and wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old.(12) That they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by My name, declares YHVH who does this.’ May YHVH hear our prayers at this time! Amein and Amein!
[1] Romans 1: 1 – 4:‘Shaul, a bond-servant of Messiah Yahshua, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of Elohim, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of Elohim with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Yahshua Messiah our Master.’
[2] Matthew 10: 5 – 8:‘These twelve Yahshua sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.”’
[3] Matthew 28: 18 – 20:‘And Yahshua came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Set-apart Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”’
[4]Acts 2: 38 & 39:’Kepha said to them, “Repent, and each of you be immersed in the name of Yahshua Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Set-apart Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as YHVH our Elohim will call to Himself.”
[5] Acts 8: 12& 14 – 17: ‘But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of Elohim and the name of Yahshua Messiah, they were being immersed, men and women alike. Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of Elohim, they sent them Kepha and Yochanan, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Set-apart Spirit. For he had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been immersed in the name of the Master Yahshua. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Set-apart Spirit.’
[6] Hosea 8: 12,’Though I wrote for him ten thousand precepts of My law, they are regarded as a strange thing.’
[7] Jeremiah 13: 10, ‘This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless.’ This is talking about the waistband which YHVH told Jeremiah to hide in the Euphrates in a crevice of a rock and to fetch it after many days, when it was totally ruined, as a prophecy to the house of Israel and those in the house of Judah who did not listen to Him.
[8] Exodus 28: 40:‘For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics; you shall also make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty.’
[9] Exodus 29: 9: ‘You shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them, and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.’