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John K. McKee, Editor
The Tribulation News Network (TNN) Online
http://www.tribnews.net
Current Events Covered from a Prophetic Perspective Comparing
Bible
Prophecy to Modern Times with Expositions on the Hebrew Roots of
the
Christian Faith and Christian/Messianic Apologetics
Mailing Address:
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P.O. Box 2631
Norman, Oklahoma 73070
From the Website:
http://www.tribnews.net/bibanswers/messianic/identity.html
THE IDENTITY OF ISRAEL
(Part 3 of 3)
The Time of Jacob's Trouble
Alright, so what if many Christians may be physically
descended from Israel [Jacob]? This doesn't have any prophetic
significance right? Wrong.
How
does this play into the end-times? The regathering of
Judah and Ephraim must occur prior to Messiah returning to Planet
Earth, which some believe means that a significant number
of
Ephraim, those Israelites who have been assimilated throughout
the
nations, will actually return to the Land of Israel in the Middle
East, as prophesies such as the following demonstrate:
Jeremiah 3:18 (NAS) "In those days the house of Judah will
walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from
the
land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an
inheritance.
The
verse above has been used to support the massive
prophetic exodus that is occurring with many Russian Jews
returning
to the Land of Israel, which we fully support. However, it also
tells
us that the house of Israel [Ephraim] will return to the land as
well,
something which has yet to occur. Take important note at these
important prophesies from Ezekiel 37:
Ezekiel
37:15 (NAS) The word of the LORD came again to me
saying, 16 "And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick
and
write on it, `For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his
companions'; 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 the Lord GOD, "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."'
20 "And
the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before
their
eyes. 21 "And say to them, `Thus says the Lord GOD,
"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. (emphasis ours)
One must conclude that the ultimate
restoration of Israel is
Millennial under the reign of Yeshua HaMashiach [Jesus Christ].
However, consider these verses from Isaiah:
Isaiah 12:11 (NAS) Then it will
happen on that day that the
Lord Will again recover the second time with His hand The
remnant of
His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush,
Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the islands of the sea. 12 And He
will lift
up a standard for the nations, And will assemble the banished
ones of
Israel, And will gather the dispersed of Judah From the
four corners
of the earth. 13 Then the jealousy of Ephraim will depart, And
those
who harass Judah will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous
of Judah, And Judah will not harass Ephraim. 14 And they will
swoop
down on the slopes of the Philistines on the west; Together
they
will plunder the sons of the east; They will possess Edom
and Moab;
And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them. (emphasis ours)
What does this
mean when Judah and Ephraim will make the
nations bolded "subject to them"? Notice these
following passages
from Ezekiel 38 & 39, which occurs after the
regathering of Ephraim
and Judah into the Land of Israel:
Ezekiel 38:1 (NAS) And
the word of the LORD came to me
saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land
of
Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy
against
him, 3 and say, `Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am
against you,
O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 "And I will
turn you
about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out,
and all your
army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a
great
company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; 5
Persia, Ethiopia, and Put with them, all of them with shield and
helmet; 6 Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the
remote
parts of the north with all its troops -- many peoples with
you. 7
"Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your
companies that
are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. 8 "After
many
days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into
the
land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been
gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which
had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from
the
nations, and they are living securely, all of them. (emphasis
ours)
Ezekiel 39:21 (NAS) "And I shall set My glory among the
nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I
have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. 22
"And the
house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from
that day
onward. 23 "And the nations will know that the house of
Israel
(Ephraim) went into exile for their iniquity because they acted
treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave
them
into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by
the
sword. 24 "According to their uncleanness and according to
their
transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from
them."'" 25
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Now I shall restore
the fortunes
of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and
I shall be jealous for My holy name. 26 "And they shall
forget their
disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated
against Me,
when they live securely on their own land with no one to make
them
afraid. (emphasis ours)
Many
prophecy teachers are familiar with the prophesies of
Ezekiel 37 & 38. We believe they speak of a Russian/Arab
invasion of
Israel. Could it be that before this occurs that both Judah and
Ephraim have been regathered into the Land of Israel? This is
quite perplexing. Could it be that Ephraim is mentioned because
those
descended from the Northern Kingdom (those physical Israelites
who
were dispersed throughout the world) are helping Judah fend off
this
invasion? How is the regathering of all Israel tied into the
end-times?
Consider
these possibilities. Most "Gentile" Christians are
waiting for the "big elevator ride" (the
pre-tribulation rapture) to remove
them from these prophesied events. But wait just a moment, if the
"church" (ekklesia) and Israel are the same, than where
does that put
Christians who are truly born again? In the Seventieth Week of
Israel
(more commonly known as the [seven-year] Tribulation
period).
Daniel 12:1
(Lamsa) And at that time shall Michael arise,
the great angel who has charge over your people [Israel]; and
there
shall be a time of trouble such as never has been like it since
the
beginning of the world; and at that very time some of your people
will be delivered, every one whose name shall be found written in
the
book.
Matthew 24:21 (KJV)
For then shall be great tribulation, such
as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor
ever shall be.
It is the common
belief amongst most pre-tribulationists that
the Tribulation or "bad stuff" is for the Jews. This is
incorrect;
the Seventieth Week of Israel or time of Jacob's trouble is for
all
Israel. If you are born again you are part of Israel and
the
possibility of your being part of physical Israel is also quite
high. Notice
these following verses:
Jeremiah 30:4
(KJV) And these are the words that the LORD
spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. 5 For thus saith
the
LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of
peace. 6
Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child?
wherefore
do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman
in
travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? 7 Alas! for that
day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of
Jacob's trouble;
but he shall be saved out of it. (emphasis ours)
Jeremiah writes
concerning the "time of Jacob's trouble,"
which occurs prior to the Day of the Lord in which God's wrath is
poured out upon Planet Earth. Is all of Israel involved? Yes.
Jeremiah 30:4 confirms that this is "concerning Israel and
concerning Judah."
There are also other
intriguing eschatological phenomena tied
directly to the prophesied corporate identification of all
Israel.
The ekklesia Israel is most certainly mentioned after Revelation
4:1
and the 144,000 are Israelites - from all twelve tribes of
Israel,
not just Judah as has been commonly taught.
Revelation 7:1 (KJV) And
after these things I saw four angels
standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds
of
the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the
sea, nor on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from
the
east having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a
loud
voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the
earth and
the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the
trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their
foreheads. 4 And I heard the number of them which were
sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four
thousand
of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 5 Of the tribe
of Juda
were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were
sealed
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of
the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of
Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses
were
sealed twelve thousand. 7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed
twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve
thousand. Of
the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8 Of the tribe
of
Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph
were
sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed
twelve
thousand. (emphasis ours)
The Lord Jesus Christ
[Yeshua HaMashiach] will be returning
to rule over Planet Earth from Jerusalem, so if you're saved - we
would advise you start thinking of yourself as part of Israel
now,
before eternity begins.
If you are born
again, you are part of Israel and you will
remain on Planet Earth to experience the time of Jacob's trouble,
prior
to God pouring out His wrath upon humanity (see our article
"The
Dangers of Pre-Tribulationism" for more details).
CONCLUSION
The exact
identity of Israel has been highly contested and
is debatable. In this article we have barely scratched the
surface
concerning the phenomenon known as "Israel." Equally
so, we hope that
we have stirred an interest in you to go search the Scriptures
for
yourself and to seek Biblical truth. If you are a Christian who
is
deeply moved to study the Hebrew roots of our faith, it is
possible
that as God is leading you to a fuller understanding of His Word
it is
because you are a physical Israelite. Equally so, in the end, the
only ones who can be termed "Israelites" are those who
are of the
Commonwealth of Israel spoken of by Paul (Eph. 2:11-12 KJV) and
are
born again (Eph. 2:19 KJV).
Unfortunately, there
have been few that have addressed the
two houses of Israel and there are many issues associated with
the
understanding that all believers are part of Israel and with the
corporate regathering of Ephraim and Judah.
In the
future, you can be guaranteed that we will address
many issues surrounding the two houses of Israel - Judah having
been
epresented by the Jewish people and Ephraim being represented by
Christianity. This understanding invokes many questions for us
and others, as none of us have reached a state of spiritual
perfection. "Who Is Israel? And Why You Need to Know,"
Batya
Wootten's [book's] title asks. This question will continue to
stimulate more discussion and controversy as we edge closer and
closer to the return of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah
We close this article
with commentary from Eddie Chumney's
book Restoring the Two Houses of Israel:
"For over 2,000
years, Orthodox Jews have prayed for the
Ingathering of the Exiles (Qibbutz Galuyot) from the four corners
of the earth (Deuteronomy [Devarim] 30:1-5). Ever since the
destruction of Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) and the Temple
(Beit HaMikdash) by the Romans in 70 CE (Common Era), Orthodox
Jews
have prayed three times a day for this Ingathering. For
Orthodox
Jews, the Ingathering of the Exiles is synonymous with NATIONAL
Redemption.
The requests for
Redemption and for the coming of the Messiah
(Mashiach) are part of the Amidah prayer (known also as "The
Eighteen Benedictions"). This prayer along with the Shema
("Hear, O
Israel") is recited three times a day by Orthodox Jews and
is
regarded as the most important daily prayer. The Amidah
prayer was
edited by Rabban Gamaliel II soon after the destruction of the
Jerusalem Temple by the Romans in 70 CE. The tenth benediction of
the
Amidah prayer is a prayer for the Ingathering of the Exiles
(Qibbutz
Galuyot). The full text of this tenth benediction reads as
follows:
"Blow the Great Shofar
for our freedom, and lift up a banner to
gather our exiles, and gather us from the four corners of the
earth.
Blessed art Thou, O LORD, who gathers the banished of thy people,
Israel."
This is a prayer for ALL 12 TRIBES
to be gathered back to the
land of Israel. Closely associated with this Ingathering of
Exiles (Qibbutz Galuyot) is the ingathering of the Ten Lost
Tribes who
were exiled by the Assyrians in 721 BCE and believed to dwell
beyond
the mythical river Sambatyon."24
If you are interested in learning
more about the two houses of
Israel and their Biblically prophesied restoration, we highly
advise you
purchase the books Restoring the Two Houses of Israel by Eddie
Chumney and Who Is Israel? And Why You Need to Know by Batya
Wootten.
If you are totally unfamiliar with the
Messianic movement or the
Hebrew roots of the Christian faith, we advise you read Mr.
Chumney's
book first, before reading Mrs. Wootten's.
NOTES
1. James Strong, The New Strong's
Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
Comfort Print Editon (Thomas Nelson
Publishers: Nashville, 1995), Greek 82.
2. YHVH is the English equivalent of
hwhy, the proper Name of God contained
in the Old Testament, which is usually
substituted with the English title
"LORD." We discuss the controversy
surrounding its use in our article
"Sacred Name Concerns."
3. Bible Study
Tools, accessed 20 February, 2000,
"Ya'aqob - KJV Hebrew Lexicon,"
[INTERNET, WWW], ADDRESS:
http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Hebr
ew/ heb.cgi?number=03290&version=kjv
4. Bible Study Tools, accessed 20 February,
2000, "Yisra'el - KJV Hebrew Lexicon,"
[INTERNET, WWW], ADDRESS:
http://bible.crosswalk.com/Lexicons/Hebr
ew/ heb.cgi?number=03478&version=kjv
5. Batya Wootten, Who Is Israel? And Why
You Need to Know (Key of David
Publishing: St. Cloud, FL, 1998), pp.
9-10.
6. Eddie Chumney, Restoring the
Two Houses of Israel (Serenity Books:
Hagerstown, MD, 1999), 36.
7. Ibid., pp. 42-43.
8. Ibid., pp. 43-44.
9. Wootten, xxx.
10. Strong, Hebrew 26.
11. Ibid., Greek 26
12. The American Heritage
Dictionary of the English Language
(American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.:
New York, 1969), 550.
13. Wootten, 81-82.
14. Ibid.
15. As many have noted,
the term "Christian" has been abused
throughout the centuries. Truly, not
every person who says he is a
"Christian" is born again or saved. We
entirely understand if you prefer to use
the term "believer" or "Messianic
believer" in place of "Christian," as
long as you do not criticize or judge
those of us who continue to use it. This
topic will be addressed in greater
detail in September 2000's "Who is a
Christian?"
16. Wootten, 93-4.
17. See:
"Introduction to Things Messianic," 01
February, 2000, TNN Online, [INTERNET,
WWW], ADDRESS:
http://www.tribnews.net/bibanswers/messi
anic/intro.html
18. Chumney, 24.
19.
Next month's article "The Instruction of
Our God" will detail the validity of the
Torah for today's Christian believer.
20. Chumney, 44-46.
21. Wootten, 6.
22. Ibid., 86.
23. Chumney, 51-52.
24. Ibid., 8-9.
a. Please note that Batya Wootten,
author of Who Is Israel?, uses the
derivation of "Yahveh" for the proper
name of our Creator, YHVH or hwhy.
Verses marked ASV are from the American
Standard Version.
Verses marked KJV are from the King James Version.
Verses marked Lamsa are from The Holy Bible
From Ancient Eastern Manuscripts, c 1968,
A.J. Holman, Nashville.
Verses marked NAS are from the New American
Standard Bible r (NAS, NASB), c 1960, 1962,
1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, The
Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA.
Verses marked NIV are from the New
International Version, c 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society. Published by
Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids
Verses marked NKJV are from the New King
James Version, c 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas
Nelson, Inc., Nashville.
Verses marked NJB are from the New Jerusalem
Bible, c 1985 by Doubleday, New York.
Verses marked TNKH are from the Tanakh, A New
Translation of the Holy Scriptures, c 1985 by
The Jewish Publication Society, New York.
Verses marked YLT are from Young's Literal
Translation.
(End Part 3 of 3)
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