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From: Eddie Chumney
To:      heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Chapter 12: Ephraim and Judah Become One House


                                        CHAPTER 12

            EPHRAIM AND JUDAH BECOME ONE HOUSE


                      from the book by Eddie Chumney

              "RESTORING THE TWO HOUSES OF ISRAEL"

         Copies can be purchased for individual or group study by
         writing to me (Eddie Chumney) at: (chumney@hebroots.org)


                  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


                                   CHAPTER 12

             EPHRAIM AND JUDAH BECOME ONE HOUSE

                                     (Part 5 of 6)


                   THE GATHERING OF THE EXILES
                      BACK TO THE LAND OF ISRAEL

     In Acts 1:6-8, the disciples (talmidim) asked the Jewish Messiah
 (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus if He was going to "restore the kingdom to
Israel" (redeem, restore and gather all twelve tribes from exile and
bring them back to the land of Israel) during His first coming as the
suffering Messiah known as Messiah ben Yosef/Joseph. The Jewish
Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus answered by saying that this event
would happen through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Ruach
HaKodesh) upon those who would be witnesses of this restoration at a
later time. In Acts 1:6-9 it is written:

      "When they therefore were come together, they asked of him,
      saying, Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom
      to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the
      times or the seasons, which the Father has put in his own power.
      But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost [Ruach
      HaKadesh] is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses [of the
      restoration of all twelve tribes back to the land of Israel]
      unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and
      unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken
      these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud
      received him out of their sight."

     From a Jewish (house of Judah) perspective, the very last words
of a person can be prophetic and very significant. For example, Jacob
(Ya'acov) blessed his twelve sons and told them their prophetic
destiny on his deathbed (Genesis [Bereishit] 49). Therefore, the last
words of the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus before He
ascended into the heavenlies are very significant. THE EVENT which He
reminded His followers to understand is the restoration and gathering
of the exiles from both the Northern Kingdom (house of
Israel/Christianity) and the Southern Kingdom (house of
Judah/Judaism) back to the land of Israel from all the nations of the
world through the outpouring of the G-d of Israel's Holy Spirit
(Ruach HaKodesh). This event is associated to His second coming as
the Kingly Messiah (Mashiach) known as Messiah ben David. This is the
fulfillment of the prophecy in Ezekiel [Yechezekel] 37:15-28).


 EPHRAIM (CHRISTIANITY) AND JUDAH (JUDAISM) BECOME
                                    ONE HOUSE

     In Ezekiel (Yechezekel) 37:15-27, the G-d of Israel promised that
He would unite the two houses of Israel, Ephraim (house of Israel /
Christianity) and Judah (house of Judah/Judaism), and bring them back
to the land of Israel in the end of days. When they return to the
land of Israel after being scattered in all the nations of the world,
they will return in repentance (teshuvah) and keep the Torah of the
G-d of Israel. After this event, the G-d of Israel promised to set up
His tabernacle (Mishkan) and dwell with His people through His
servant David (the Jewish Messiah [Mashiach] Yeshua/Jesus) and usher
in the Messianic Age (Athid Lavo). In Ezekiel (Yechezekel) 37:15-27
it is written:

      "The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou
      son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah,
      and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another
      stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and
      for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to
      another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
      And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee,
      saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these? Say
      unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the
      stick of Joseph [CHRISTIANITY], 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 [JUDAISM], and make them one
      stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks
      whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
      And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; 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: And I will make them one nation in the land upon
      the mountains of Israel [WEST BANK]; 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: Neither
      shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with
      their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions
      [TESHUVAH]: but I will save them out of all their dwelling
      places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so
      shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my
      servant [THE JEWISH MESSIAH] 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. And they shall
      dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant,
      wherein your fathers have dwelt [THE LAND OF ISRAEL]; and they
      shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their
      children's children forever: and my servant David shall be their
      prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with
      them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will
      place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the
      midst of them forevermore [THE MESSIANIC AGE]. My tabernacle
      also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they
      shall be my people."

     In Ezekiel (Yechezekel) 37:15-27, we see the fulfillment of the
G-d of Israel's covenant with Abraham  (Avraham) based upon the
following:

           1. The family of the G-d of Israel living in the land of
           Israel (after being scattered in all the nations of the
           earth) (Ezekiel [Yechezekel] 37:21-22, 25).

           2. The family of the G-d of Israel (Christianity and
           Judaism) repenting (teshuvah) and keeping His Torah
           (because it is written upon their heart) (Ezekiel
           [Yechezekel] 37:23-24).

           3. The G-d of Israel setting up His tabernacle (mishkan) so
           that He could dwell with His people (during the Messianic
           Age) (Ezekiel [Yechezekel] 37:23, 26-27).

           4. The Kingly Messiah known as Messiah ben David, ruling
           over the family of the G-d of Israel (Yeshua/Jesus)
           (Ezekiel [Yechezekel] 37:22, 24).


          EPHRAIM (CHRISTIANITY): THE PRODIGAL SON

     In Luke 15:11-32, the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus
tells a parable about a prodigal son.

     When the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus came to the earth
at His first coming as the suffering Messiah (Mashiach) known as
Messiah ben Yosef/Joseph, the Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) had
already been scattered and assimilated into the nations of the world
for over 700 years because they had broken the marriage contract at
mount Sinai and rebelled against the Torah of the G-d of Israel. The
two sons in the parable refer to the two houses of Israel, the house
of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and the house of Judah (the Southern
Kingdom). In Jeremiah (Yermiyahu) 31:20, Ephraim (house of Israel) is
called a son of the G-d of Israel who has rebelled against the G-d of
Israel and His Torah and has a desire to repent (teshuvah).
Therefore, Ephraim (house of Israel) is the prodigal son in the parable.

     The Northern Kingdom, Ephraim/house of Israel, is also a
spiritual picture of future Christianity. Following the death and
resurrection of the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus, the early
believers in Yeshua/Jesus as the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) were
considered a sect of Judaism (Acts 28:22). At this time, they kept
the Biblical Sabbath (from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) and
the Biblical festivals (Leviticus [Vayikra] 23.

     As the body of believers in the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach)
Yeshua/Jesus became more and more non-Jewish, some of the leaders of
the movement became anti-Semitic and encouraged the people to not
obey the Torah of the G-d of Israel. Eventually, this ushered in the
dark ages and brought unfathomable hardship to the Jewish people
(house of Judah).

     In modern days, more and more members of the house of
Israel/Christianity are repenting (teshuvah) of the sins of their
fathers and embracing the Hebraic/Jewish roots of their faith in
Messiah. In doing so, there is an increased desire among a remnant in
the house of Israel/Christianity to keep the Torah and the
commandments of the G-d of Israel. The love of the Torah and keeping
the commandments of the G-d of Israel is the key of David. The Jewish
Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus has the key of David (Revelation 3:7).

     In Luke 15:11-32 is the parable of the prodigal son as it is
written:

      "And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of
      them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods
      that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not
      many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took
      his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance
      with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a
      mighty famine in that land: and he began to be in want. And he
      went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he
      sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have
      filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no
      man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How
      many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to
      spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my
      father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against
      heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy
      son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and
      came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his
      father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his
      neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have
      sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy
      to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring
      forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his
      hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf,
      and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was
      dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they
      began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he
      came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And
      he called one of the servants, and asked what these things
      meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come: and thy father
      hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe
      and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came
      his father out, and entreated him. And he answering said to his
      father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither
      transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never
      gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as
      soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living
      with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he
      said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have
      is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad:
      for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again: and was lost
      and is found."

     Let us examine the details of this parable closer so that we can
understand how the prodigal son is a  reference to Ephraim who is a
spiritual picture of future Christianity.

           1. A certain man (G-d the Father) had two sons (Luke
           15:11).

           2. The elder son is Judah (house of Judah /Judaism) and the
           younger son is Ephraim (house of Israel/Christianity).
           Judaism dates back to the original marriage contract given
           at mount Sinai. Christianity dates back to the (renewed)
           marriage contract (Jeremiah [Yermiyahu] 31:31-33, Hebrew
           10:15-16) through the death and resurrection of
           Yeshua/Jesus.

           3. The younger son (the Northern Kingdom,
           Ephraim/Christianity) spent his inheritance on riotous
           living (by departing from the Torah of the G-d of Israel)
           and went to a far country (the nations of the world) and
           was feeding on swine (a reference to not obeying the Torah)
           (Luke 15:12-15).

           4. There was a famine in the land (a famine of the hearing
           and teaching G-d's Torah/Word - Amos 8:11) and he (younger
           son/Ephraim/Christianity) decided to return to his Father
           and repent before Him (for departing from Torah) (Luke
           15:14-21).

           5. The Father was waiting for his younger son
           (Ephraim/Christianity) to return to Torah. When he
           repented, G-d the Father extended mercy to Him (Jeremiah
           [Yermiyahu] 31:18-20) (because of G-d's promise to David)
           and forgave him (Luke 15:21-24).

           6. The joy of the Father was so great when the younger son
           (Ephraim/Christianity) returned (back to Torah) that the
           Father (the G-d of Israel) decided to fit him with the best
           robe (wedding garment) and put a ring on his hand (wedding
           terminology) (Jeremiah [Yermiyahu] 31:18-22, Luke 15:21-24)
           which is a reference to the Messianic Age [Athid Lavo].

           7. The elder son (Judah/Judaism) was in the field and
           inquired about the celebration that the father was giving
           the younger son (Luke 15:25-26).

           8. It was told to the elder son (Judah/Judaism) that the
           younger son (Ephraim/Christianity) had repented (returned
           to Torah) and the Father was waiting for the younger son's
           (Ephraim/Christianity) return and now that he has returned,
           there will be a wedding party (the advent of the Messianic
           Age/Athid Lavo) (Luke 15:27).

           9. The older son (Judah/Judaism) was upset because he told
           his Father that he had never departed from the commandments
           (Torah) and the Father never had a wedding party (ushered
           in the Messianic Age/Athid Lavo) for him. But now after the
           younger son (Ephraim/Christianity) had departed from Torah
           and repented, the Father was having a wedding party (usher
           in the Messianic Age/Athid Lavo) for the younger son. (Luke
           15:28-30).

           10. It was told the older son (Judah/Judaism) that he was
           forever with the Father (Luke 15:31-32).

     Therefore, when the prodigal son (Ephraim/house of
Israel/Christianity) repents (teshuvah) for departing from the Torah
of the G-d of Israel, the G-d of Israel will celebrate with the
greatest family reunion party that you can ever imagine - the
ushering in of the Messianic Age!!!


                      G-D'S PEOPLE FLEEING FROM
                           THE LAND OF BABYLON

     Today, the greatest number of members from the house of
Israel/Christianity and the house of Judah/Judaism live in the United
States. When the two houses of Israel become united (Ezekiel
[Yechezekel] 37:15-28), the house of Israel/Christianity and the
house of Judah/Judaism will need to leave the USA and go to the land
of Israel when the USA (Babylon) comes under the judgment of the G-d
of Israel (Jeremiah [Yermiyahu] 50/51 and Revelation 18).

      Spiritually (sod/deeper meaning), the USA is the land of
Babylon. The word Babylon means  "confusion." Babylon is a generic
term in the Bible that refers to the ways of the adversary (HaSatan)
and his kingdom of darkness. The Bible talks about a financial
Babylon, a political Babylon, a religious Babylon and a land of
Babylon. Literally (Peshat), the land of Babylon is the area of Iran
and Iraq. However, today, very few members of the house of
Israel/Christianity and the house of Judah/Judaism live in Iran and
Iraq. Therefore, there must also be a spiritual (sod/deeper meaning)
land of Babylon.

     Today, the USA is the spiritual land of Babylon. The G-d of
Israel's greatest judgment of any nation on the earth will fall upon
the USA because she has encouraged Israel to part the land (Joel
[Yoel] 3:2) that the G-d of Israel promised Abraham (Avraham)
(Genesis [Bereishit] 17:7-8) through UN Resolutions 242 and 338 and
because the USA does not recognize Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) as being
the capital of the nation of Israel but rather desires for it to be
an international city. Furthermore, there is great immorality in the
USA because of abortion, homosexuality, drugs, gambling and
pornography etc.

     The USA is the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. In Jeremiah
(Yermiyahu) 50:4-6, 17-18, 51:50 it is written:

      "In those days and in that time [a reference to the day of the
      Lord and the advent of the Messianic Age], saith the Lord, the
      children of Israel shall come [the assimilated Northern
      Kingdom/house of Israel/Christianity], they and the children of
      Judah together [the Southern Kingdom/house of Judah/Judaism]
      going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their God.
      They shall ask the way to Zion [the land of Israel] with their
      faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to
      the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. My
      people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to
      go astray [pastors in the church and rabbi's in the synagogues],
      they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from
      mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place
      ...Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away:
      first the king of Assyria hath devoured him [the Northern
      Kingdom/house of Israel] and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of
      Babylon hath broken his bones [the Southern Kingdom/house of
      Judah]. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of
      Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
      as I have punished the king of Assyria ... Ye that have escaped
      the sword, [the war in Babylon/the USA] go away, stand not
      still: remember the Lord afar off, and let Jerusalem come into
      your mind [return to the land of Israel]"

     In these verses in Jeremiah, we see the following:

           1. The children of Israel (the Northern
           Kingdom/Christianity) AND the children of Judah (the
           Southern Kingdom/Judaism) fleeing Babylon (the USA) and
           seeking their way to the land of Zion (the land of Israel)
           (Jeremiah [Yermiyahu] 50:4-5).

           2. Their shepherds (religious leaders) in Christianity and
           Judaism have led the family of the G-d of Israel astray
           (Jeremiah [Yermiyahu] 50:6).

           3. Those who have escaped the sword (war and judgment in
           the USA) are seeking the way to Jerusalem (Jeremiah
           [Yermiyahu] 51:50).


                      WHEN WILL THE TWO HOUSES
                          OF ISRAEL BE UNITED ???

     In Hosea (Hoshea) 5:15, 6:1-4, it gives us a time reference when
the two houses of Israel will be united as it is written:

      "I will go and return to my place, till THEY acknowledge their
      offence, and seek my face: in their affliction [the
      tribulation/Jacob's trouble/the birth pangs of the
      Messiah/Chevlai shel Mashiach] they will seek me early. Come,
      and let us return unto the Lord: for he has torn, and he will
      heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days
      [2,000 years] will he revive us: in the third day [1,000-year
      Messianic Age/Athid Lavo] he will raise us up, and we shall live
      in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the
      Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall
      come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the
      earth. O Ephraim [house of Israel/Christianity] what shall I do
      unto thee? O Judah [house of Judah/Judaism] what shall I do unto
      thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early
      dew it goeth away."

     Highlighting these verses, it says:

      "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their
      offence . in their affliction they will seek me early .after two
      days . his going forth is prepared as the morning . O Ephraim
      what shall I do unto thee? O Judah what shall I do unto thee?."

     In this scripture, it tells us that the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach)
Yeshua/Jesus will not return to the earth as the Kingly Messiah known
as Messiah ben David until THEY, Ephraim (the house of
Israel/Christianity) and Judah (house of Judah/Judaism), acknowledge
their offence. What offence does Ephraim (house of
Israel/Christianity) have to acknowledge? What offence does Judah
(house of Judah/Judaism) have to acknowledge? Ephraim (house of
Israel/Christianity) has to acknowledge that they have departed from
the Torah of the G-d of Israel and have called it a "strange thing"
(Hosea [Hoshea] 8:12). Judah (house of Judah/Judaism) has to
acknowledge that Yeshua/Jesus is the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach).

     This will happen after two days (2,000 years) from the first
coming of the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus as the suffering
Messiah known as Messiah ben Yosef/Joseph during their "affliction"
which is a Jewish idiomatic phrase for the tribulation/Chevlai shel
Mashiach/birth pangs of the Messiah/Jacob's trouble.

                                    (End Part 5 of 6)

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