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From: Ephraim & Rimona Frank [mailto:shevet@netvision.net.il] To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org Subject:Two Witnesses
The Two Witnesses: Ephraim and Judah
Shalom Fellow Israelite,
In the past few weeks I have been taking part in several meetings of Yair Davidi's Brit Am (which involves several orthodox Jews who support Yair in his research on the Ten Lost Tribes). Dialoging with the participants in these meetings and reading Yair's books have all been giving me a better understanding of how the House of Yehuda views Ephraim.
The resulting observations have caused me to do a lot of mental searching as to my present position on the Two House concept. At this point in time examining this notion is like looking at a beautiful landscape during a fog. I am finding that nothing can be taken for granted. That is to say, we all have different opinions and varying interpretations of what we see, understand and communicate. My descriptions, therefore, of the phenomenon are solely from my own perspective without claiming to represent Brit Am, or any of the people associated with it.
As mentioned in last week's letter, we must step back and view anew the Two Houses of Israel. They are two separate and distinct witnesses out of the House of Ya'acov, having each his own peculiar character and expression, which the Almighty Creator caused to be ingrained in them over three thousand years of history. They/we are not going to change overnight and this means that we must find a path of communication in order to begin to understand each other from our present and respective vantage points. The best place to begin, of course, would be with the Scriptures themselves. However, the destiny of the Two Houses, if it is indeed a truth and not a theory, should also be seen in the annals of history. There are those who spurn works like Yair's, because they think that the only witness necessary is the spiritual or heavenly one. But according to YHVH's justice system there must always be two witnesses, as seen just before the twelve tribes entered the land, during which time He called heaven and earth to bear witness to the word He was giving to Israel.
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. "But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them" (Deut. 4:26-31).
The heavens and the earth were to bear witness to this awesome prophecy. It hardly seemed fair to YHVH's chosen nation. They had not even entered the land, neither have they been given a chance to be obedient to the commands or ordnances of the Torah, and lo, their predetermined destiny had already been determined and sealed by the testimony of the heavens and the earth!
Many years later the prophet Isaiah picked up the theme of this earlier prophecy, and affirmed the reality of YHVH's creation as His two witnesses. "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For YHVH has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me" (Is. 1:2).
Just as the heavens and the earth are to bear witness against the twelve tribes of Israel, so has YHVH chosen the two witnesses from the house
of Ya'acov to bear His testimony before all the nations of the earth. He divided the twelve tribes into two houses, Yehuda and Ephraim (the latter being the prophetic and generic term for the house of Joseph, which is made up of the Ten Lost Tribes). They each have their own testimony that will go down in man's history. Just as it is written...
"Then those who feared YHVH spoke to one another, And YHVH listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear YHVH and who meditate on His name." (Mal. 3:16).
At this time there is, I believe, a remnant out of Yehuda and Ephraim which has this holy reverence, or fear of YHVH. This deep-felt attitude of worship is the driving force motivating those involved to look across the annals of history, and to reach out the right hand of fellowship and begin a process of "speaking to one another", and repenting of the previous relationship marked by strife, contention, enmity, hatred and murder.
Our chronicles are bathed in love, but more so in hate. Isaiah foretold that there would come a day when YHVH Elohim would "set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah, from the four corners of the earth. And that the envy of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim" (Isa. 11:12-13). Has this day arrived in the generation you and I are living in?
The House of Ya'acov (Israel and Yehuda) belongs to YHVH for His purposes. The Torah asserts that anything that belongs to YHVH is holy. Thus, we sin against Him and defile His name when we touch that which is holy unto Him in an unworthy manner. I hope we will learn to walk circumspectly when reaching out our hand to touch the people whom YHVH has declared to be His inheritance. We can defiled His Holy Name, not by how we pronounce or utter it with our lips and tongue, but by our heart of pride and self-righteousness. The prophets of Israel were not only called to prophecy future events, but were mostly anointed for the task of calling the people to repentance. This was not an exclusive 'ministry' to only one of the houses, but to both Yehuda and Ephraim.
Repentance does not mean that Ephraim is to become Jewish, or even take on some Jewish 'traits', nor that Yehuda is to convert to some form of Christianity. This is not what constitutes repentance in the eyes of our mutual Elohim. We have forsaken our relationship with our Husband and King, defiling His most holy name and as a result, just as it was prophesied, "You will serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell" (Deut. 4:28). "And now, Ephraim and Judah, what does YHVH your Elohim require of you, but to fear YHVH your Elohim, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve YHVH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul, (Deut.10:12).
Let us take the hand of our brother, in the fear of YHVH, that we not profane His Holy Name.
Shabbat Shalom
Shevet Achim
Ephraim Frank Elon Moreh, Israel
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity, (Ps. 133)
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