From:          Charlene
Subject:      Why is their disagreement about the two house teachings?
To:            heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org

>
>Shalom Eddie,
>
>I know you are real busy but I have a question for you.  Why do some scholars
>not believe the teaching of the two houses is true?  I am having more and
>more people come to me and tell me that the Holy Spirit has told them they
>are from a certain tribe.  And they did not even know about this teaching.   I
>really torn.  It seems I am in the middle of two opposing teachings and
>please pray that the Lord will lead me as what to do about it.
>
>Love in Yeshua,
>charlene
>

WHY IS THEIR DISAGREEMENT ABOUT THE TWO HOUSE TEACHING?
                                    (Part 1 of 2)             

   Charlene,

   This is an excellent question and many people in the newsgroup are
experiencing the same struggles and have the same questions.
Therefore, for the benefit of all members of the newsgroup, please
let me take the time to answer your question for you.

    There are a combination of reasons. One is "partial blindness"
and being in a state of "spiritual slumber". I will cover these
reasons in Part 1 of my response. In Part 2 of my response, I will
cover the "political reasons".

First, let me address the issue of "partial blindness". The Apostle
Paul (Rav Sha'ul) addresses this issue in Romans 11.

KJV Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid.
For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of
Benjamin. 2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.

Therefore, God still has a plan for His people Israel.

KJV Romans 11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.
Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh
intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3 Lord, they have killed
thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and
they seek my life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have
reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to
the image of Baal. 5 Even so then at this present time also there is a
remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then is
it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of
works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. 7
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the
election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 8 (According as
it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that
they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this
day. 9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap,
and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:

Therefore:

#1) God has a remnant who is still faithful and who still believes.
Paul uses the example of Elijah who believed that all of Israel had
forsaken the Torah and the heritage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and
had worshipped Baal and none was worshipping the God of Israel except
Elijah. Yet, God told Elijah that he had a remnant of people who had
not bowed the knee to Baal. Paul uses this example to explain that
the God of Israel still has a remnant of people who worships Him in
Spirit and in truth according to the election of grace (chesed ...
God's lovingkindness bestowed upon His people).

#2) Those who do not believe have stumbled at the stumblingblock.

KJV Romans 11:9 And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and
a trap, and a STUMBLINGBLOCK, and a recompence unto them:

      In Isaiah 8:14, it tells us that Messiah would be a
stumblingblock to BOTH houses of Israel as it is written:

KJV Isaiah 8:14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a STONE of
STUMBLING and for a rock of offence to BOTH the houses of Israel, for
a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many
among them shall STUMBLE, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and
be taken.

     The ancient Rabbis commentaries on Isaiah 8:14 interpret the
"stone" as being the Messiah. So, how has the Messiah been a "stone
of stumbling" to BOTH houses of Israel? Corporate Judaism (house of
Judah) has embraced the Torah  and doesn't accept Yeshua/Jesus as the Jewish
Messiah. Corporate Christianity (Ephraim / the house of Israel / the
house of Joseph) accepts that Yeshua/Jesus is the Jewish Messiah but
rejects following the Torah of the God of Israel.

    The rejection of following the Torah by the house of Israel /
house of Joseph / Ephraim is spoken about in Hosea 8:12.

KJV Hosea 8:12 I have written to him the GREAT things of my LAW, but
they were counted as a STRANGE thing

    The word "strange" is the Strong's word 2114. It is the Hebrew
word Zoor. The Hebrew word Zoor means "foreign, alien" and has the
connotation as being "adulterous".

KJV Proverbs 5:20 And why wilt thou, my son be ravished
with a strange woman <02114> (08801), and embrace
the bosom  of a stranger?

    By forsaking the Torah of the God of Israel, the God of Israel
told Ephraim (house of Israel / house of Joseph) that He would take
away their sabbath and feast days.

KJV Hosea 2:1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters,
Ruhamah. 2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife,
neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her
WHOREDOMS out of her sight, and her ADULTERIES from between her
breasts;

KJV Hosea 2:11 I will also cause all her mirth to CEASE, her FEAST
DAYS, her NEW MOONS, and her SABBATHS, and all her SOLEMN FEASTS.

This did NOT happen to the house of Judah who still celebrates these
things but it did happen to the HISTORICAL house of Israel and it
happened to HISTORICAL Christianity. The early believers in Messiah
(the book of Acts) keep the Sabbath and Biblical Feast day. Later,
the "church fathers" began to take Christianity on a path which
rejected and departed the Torah and the celebration of the Sabbath
and Biblical Feast days. Therefore, in the course of time, the
celebration of these things CEASED within Christianity (house of
Israel / Ephraim / house of Joseph).

God promised to slay Ephraim (the house of Judah / the house of
Joseph) with THIRST for being rebellious against His Torah.

KJV Hosea 2:3 Lest I strip her NAKED, and set her as in the day that
she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry
land, and SLAY her with THIRST.

The THIRST for water refers to two things:

#1) The Torah is likened to water
#2) The Messiah is likened to living water

Ephraim is slain and becomes thirsty for Torah.
Judah is slain and becomes thirsty for Messiah.

The Torah is likened to water.

KJV Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 My DOCTRINE shall drop as the
RAIN, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small RAIN upon the
tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

KJV Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will
send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for
[natural] water, but of hearing the words of the LORD [spiritual
water]:

The rabbis interpret this FAMINE as being a famine of TORAH which are
the "Words of the Lord".

This was the FAMINE of the "prodigal son" (Ephraim) that Messiah told
about in Luke 15.

KJV Luke 15:13 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 (adulterous) LIVING. 14 And when he had
spent all, there arose a mighty FAMINE in that land; and he began to
be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that
country; and he sent him into his fields to feed SWINE.

The "prodigal son" (Ephraim) fed on swine (a Hebraic way of saying
that he departed from Torah and swine is considered to be the most
unclean of animals and a departation from Torah). While feeding on
swine, there arose a FAMINE in the land (Amos 8:11).

For Judah, the THIRST is a cry for Messiah. Even today, the Chabad
(Ultra-Orthodox Jews) are crying out with all their might that
Messiah would come speedily in our days and the late Rebbe Menachem
Schneerson told the Chabad to do ALL that they can do to help bring
about the coming of Messiah.

Messiah is the living water and the fountain of living waters.

KJV John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus
stood and cried, saying, If any man THIRST, let him come unto ME, and
DRINK. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of
his belly shall flow rivers of LIVING WATER.

KJV John 8:1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2 And early in the
morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto
him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees
brought unto him a WOMAN taken in ADULTERY; and when they had set her
in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this WOMAN was taken in
ADULTERY, in the VERY ACT. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that
such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said,
tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped
down, and with his finger WROTE ON THE GROUND, as though he heard them
not . 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said
unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a
stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9
And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience,
WENT OUT ONE BY ONE, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus
was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

Messiah was making an allusion by writing on the ground to Jeremiah
17:13-14.

KJV Jeremiah 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that FORSAKE thee
shall be ashamed, and they that DEPART from me shall be WRITTEN in the
EARTH, because they have FORSAKEN the LORD, the FOUNTAIN of LIVING
WATERS. 14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I
shall be saved: for thou art my praise.

The "healing" comes after TWO DAYS (2,000 years of time).

KJV Hosea 6:2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he
will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. 3 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.

So, BOTH the Torah and the Messiah is likened to water, living water
or healing water.

KJV John 8:10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the
woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath
no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto
her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and SIN NO MORE.

In John 8, Messiah is giving a TORAH parable showing that he was not
going to condemn the adulterous woman if she would "go and sin no
more" but those who reject the "fountain of living water" would be
condemned.

In this story, the ADULTEROUS woman is a type of BOTH HOUSES of
Israel.

KJV Jeremiah 3:6 The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the
king, Hast thou seen that which BACKSLIDING ISRAEL hath done? she is
gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there
hath played the HARLOT. 7 And I said after she had done all these
things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous
sister JDUAH saw it. 8 And I saw, when for all the causes whereby
BACKSLIDING ISRAEL COMMITTED ADULTERY  I had put her away, and given
her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister JUDAH feared not,
but went and PLAYED THE HARLOT also. 9 And it came to pass through the
lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed
adultery with stones and with stocks. 10 And yet for all this her
treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart,
but feignedly, saith the LORD.

IF the adulterous woman (BOTH houses of Israel) would REPENT (go and
sin no more ... John 8:11), Messiah would forgive and NOT condemn
her.

So, the house of Judah (Judaism) follows Torah but not Messiah.
The house of Israel / Ephraim (Christianity) follows Messiah but not
Torah. BOTH houses of Israel needs to REPENT (not just the house of
Judah).

    So, for nearly 2,000 years, the non-Jewish followers of
Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah witnesses to the house of Judah telling them
Isaiah 53 speaks about the Messiah. The house of Judah rejects
this because the house of Judah is interpreting that the non-Jewish
followers of Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah  (Ephraim / the house of Israel
/ the house of Joseph) is trying to tell the house of Judah to
believe in a Jewish Messiah and forsake following Torah. Since Judah
KNOWS that the God of Israel desires for His people to follow the
Torah, they cannot accept Ephraim / house of Israel (Christianity)
telling Judah to believe in a Jewish Messiah and forsake Torah.

      Therefore, PARTIAL blindess is upon BOTH houses of Israel.
Judah (Judaism) follows Torah but rejects Messiah. Christianity
(Ephraim / house of Israel / house of Joseph) follows Messiah but
rejects Torah.

This is what Paul further explains in Romans 11.

KJV Romans 11:25 For I would NOT, brethren, that ye should be
IGNORANT of this mystery (SOD is a deeper meaning in Hebrew and means
that it is not readily seen or understood in the literal
interpretation of scripture ... PESHAT), lest ye should be wise in
your own conceits; that BLINDNESS in PART is happened to ISRAEL (BOTH
HOUSES), until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all
Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion
the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from JACOB (not just
JUDAH): 27 For  this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away
their sins.

The SIN to be taken away from Judah is knowing who is Messiah.
The SIN to be taken away from Ephraim is departing from Torah.

IF BOTH HOUSES REPENT of their SIN.

This "partial blindness" would exist UNTIL the "fulness of the
Gentiles". In Hebrew, this is the "melo hagoyim". This is a reference
or allusion back to Genesis 48:19.

KJV Genesis 48:15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my
fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life
long unto this day, 16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil,
bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my
fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the
midst of the earth. 17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his
right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up
his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's
head. 18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this
is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. 19 And his father
refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become
a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother
shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a MULTITUDE  OF
NATIONS.

"Multitude of nations" in Hebrew is "melo hagoyim".

In studying this out further, Ephraim (house of Israel / house of
Joseph) would not only be an "multitude of nations" but would settle
in the "ends of the earth" (USA, South Africa, Australia, New
Zealand).

When Ephraim (house of Israel / house of Joseph) would be settling in
the "ends of the earth" (USA, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand)
and upon the dawning of the coming of King Messiah, Romans 11:25-27
tells us that this "partial blindness" would be lifted. This has
started to happen TODAY in these days in which we live.

#3) Those who are blinded are in a spiritual state of slumber.

KJV Romans 11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he
seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were
BLINDED 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the SPIRIT
of SLUMBER, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should
not hear;) unto this day.

This "spirit of slumber" is an allusion to Zechariah 4:1-4.

KJV Zechariah 4:1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and
waked me, as a man that is WAKENED out of his SLEEP, 2 And said unto
me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a
CANDLESTICK all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his
SEVEN LAMPS thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the
top thereof: 3 And TWO OLIVE TREES  by it, one upon the right side of
the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4 So I answered
and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my
lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me,
Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

The God of Israel is giving Zechariah a prophetic foreshadowing of
the future redempion of His people. When Zechariah saw the
CANDLESTICK (Menorah) and TWO OLIVE TREES, he did NOT know what he
saw and needed to be AWAKENED out of his SPIRITUAL SLUMBER to have
what he saw explained to him.

The CANDLESTICK (Menorah) is a symbol for the assembly of Israel or
the people of Israel who the "church" in Greek into English.

KJV Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the LORD'S DAY , and heard
behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and
Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book,
and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus,
and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto
Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 12 And I turned to
see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw SEVEN
GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS.

JV Revelation 1:20 The MYSTERY of the seven stars which thou sawest in
my right hand, and the SEVEN golden CANDLESTICKS. The seven stars are
the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which
thou sawest are the SEVEN CHURCHES.

John saw these things on the LORD'S DAY. The Lord's day is the
sabbath and the sabbath foreshadows the Messianic Era.

KJV Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the SABBATH, from
doing thy pleasure on MY HOLY DAY; and call the sabbath a delight, the
holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine
own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own
words:

So, the CANDLESTICK that Zechariah saw in Zechariah 4 is the "church"
(assembly / congregation) in Hebrew (Revelation 1) which was birthed at Mount Sinai
(Acts 7:37-38, Deuteronomy 9:10. 10:4,  18:16).

The TWO OLIVE TREES in Zechariah 4 are the TWO WITNESSES of the God
of Israel in Revelaion 11.

KJV Revelation 11:3 And I will give power unto my TWO WITNESSES, and
they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days,
clothed in sackcloth. 4 THESE are the TWO OLIVE TREES, and the TWO
CANDLESTICKS (Menorah's)  standing before the God of the earth.

The God of Israel TWO WITNESSES are His TWO OLIVE TREES. These TWO
WITNESSES are BOTH houses of Israel. The house of Judah (Judaism) has
been a WITNESS that the God of Israel has a TORAH which is ETERNAL.
The house of Israel (Christianity) has been a WITNESS that
Yeshua/Jesus is Messiah. BOTH houses of Israel make up the HOUSE OF
JACOB who is called to be a SERVANT and a WITNESS unto the God of
Israel.

KJV Isaiah 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O
JACOB, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have
redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

KJV Isaiah 43:10 Ye are my WITNESSES, saith the LORD, and my SERVANT
whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand
that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there
be after me.

Therefore, according to the Apostle Paul in Romans 11, Zechariah 4
and Revelation 1, 11, BOTH houses of Israel would be in a state of
"spiritual slumber" when the message of the restoration of BOTH
houses of Israel would be presented to them.

In Ezekiel 37:15-17, it was also prophecied that BOTH houses of
Israel would ask that this message be EXPLAINED to them because they
were in a state of "spiritual slumber".

KJV Ezekiel 37:15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 16
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: 17 And join them one
to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. 18
And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying,
WILT THOU NOT SHEW US WHAT THOU MEANEST BY THESE?

Therefore, part of the reason for rejecting the message of the
restoration of both houses of Israel is because of "partial
blindness" and being in a state of "spiritual slumber". DON'T be
surprised by the reaction and response that some people give you when
you say that you believe in the restoration of both houses of Israel
becaue the Bible tells us that His people would be in a state of
"partial blindness" and "spiriitual slumber" about the restoration of
the Kingdom. The "partial blindness" and "spiritual slumber" is PROOF
that the message is Biblical because the Bible tells us that their
would be a "partial blindness" and "spiritual slumber" regarding
understanding the message of the restoration of both houses of
Israel.

I will cover some of the "political" reasons in Part 2.

Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int'l

                          (End Part 1 of 2)

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