From: Eddie Chumney
To:      heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Chapter 2: Who is the church and who is Israel?


                                     CHAPTER 2

           WHO IS THE CHURCH AND WHO IS ISRAEL?

                      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)

                                        PART 2 of 2

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


                                       CHAPTER 2

           WHO IS THE CHURCH AND WHO IS ISRAEL?

                                        (Part 2 of 2)


                                THE HOUSE OF JUDAH
         IS AN UNFAITHFUL WIFE TO THE G-D OF ISRAEL


     Both the Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) and the Southern
Kingdom (house of Judah) broke the marriage covenant that the G-d of
Israel made with His called out assembly (kahal/church/ekklesia) at
mount Sinai. In Jeremiah (Yermiyahu) 3:6-8, 10 it is written:

      "The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast
      thou seen that which backsliding Israel [house of Israel] hath
      done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every
      green tree, and there hath played the harlot . and her
      treacherous sister Judah [house of Judah] saw it. And I saw,
      when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel [house of
      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 . and yet for all this her
      treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole
      heart but in falsehood saith the Lord."


         G-D DOES NOT DIVORCE THE HOUSE OF JUDAH

     Even though the Southern Kingdom (house of Judah) broke the
Torah/marriage covenant at mount Sinai along with the Northern
Kingdom (house of Israel), the G-d of Israel proclaimed that the
Southern Kingdom (house of Judah) would be punished for their sins
but that He would not remove His mercy (chesed) from them or divorce
them because of His love for David and the city of Jerusalem
(Yerushalayim). In Psalm (Tehillim) 89:1-3, 28-37 it is written:

      "I will sing of the MERCIES of the Lord forever: with my mouth
      will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I
      have said, Mercy shall be built up forever: thy faithfulness
      shalt thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant
      with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant . my MERCY
      will I KEEP for him forevermore, and MY COVENANT SHALL STAND
      fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure forever, and
      his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law
      [Torah], and walk not in my judgments; If they break my
      statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their
      transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
      Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him,
      nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not
      break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once I
      have sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His
      seed shall endure FOREVER, and his throne as the sun before me.
      It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful
      witness of heaven. Selah."


                         THE NORTHERN KINGDOM
                IS PROMISED MERCY IF THEY REPENT

     The G-d of Israel is slow to anger, quick to forgive and abundant
in mercy. In Psalm (Tehillim) 103:8-9, 17-18 it is written:

      "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous
      in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his
      anger forever . But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to
      everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto
      children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those
      that remember his commandments to do them."

       In Jeremiah (Yermiyahu) 3:5, 12-13 it is written:

      "Will he reserve his anger forever? . Go and proclaim these
      words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding
      Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall
      upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep
      anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast
      transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy
      ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not
      obeyed my voice, saith the Lord."

     The G-d of Israel promised that if the Northern Kingdom (house of
Israel) would repent that they would again be called His people. In
Hosea (Hoshea) 1:10 it is written:

      "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand
      of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall
      come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye
      are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the
      sons of the living God."


                         THE NORTHERN KINGDOM
                   BECOMES FUTURE CHRISTIANITY

     Once again, in Hosea (Hoshea) 1, the G-d of Israel proclaimed
that the Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) would not be His people
(Lo-Ammi - Hosea 1:9) and He would have no mercy (Lo-ruhamah - Hosea
1:6) upon them. But, if they would repent, (teshuvah) (Jeremiah
[Yermiyahu] 3:5, 12-13) they would be called again His people (Hosea
[Hoshea] 1:10). The Apostle (Shaliach) Peter (Kefa) makes a direct
link with those from among the nations who have accepted Yeshua/Jesus
as the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) with the prophecy that the G-d of
Israel made to the Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) in Hosea
(Hoshea) 1. In I Peter (Kefa) 2:5-6, 9-10 it is written:

      "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a
      holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to
      God by Jesus Christ [Yeshua HaMashiach]. Wherefore also it is
      contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner
      stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not
      be confounded [Isaiah 28:16] . But you are a chosen generation
      [Deuteronomy 7:6], a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar
      people [Exodus 19:5-6] . which in time past were not a people
      [Lo-Ammi - Hosea 1:9] but are now the people of God [Hosea
      1:10]: which had not obtained mercy [Lo-ruhamah - Hosea 1:6],
      but now have obtained mercy [through the Jewish Messiah
      (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus who is of the seed of David (Revelation
      5:5)]."

     The Apostle (Shaliach) Paul (Rav Sha'ul) also wrote about how the
G-d of Israel would pour out His mercy upon the Northern Kingdom
(house of Israel) through the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus.
In Romans 9:23-26 it is written:

      "And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
      vessels of mercy [those who would accept the Jewish Messiah
      (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus], which he had afore prepared unto
      glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but
      also of the Gentiles [those from the house of Israel and from
      the nations who previously assimilated into Gentile culture]. As
      he saith also in Hosea, I will call them my people, which were
      not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved [Hosea
      2:23]. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was
      said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called
      the children of the living God [Hosea 1:10]."


                       THE MESSIAH IS THE AGENT
                  OF G-D'S MERCY UPON HIS PEOPLE


     Even though both the Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) and the
Southern Kingdom (house of Judah) was an unfaithful wife to the G-d
of Israel, G-d promised MERCY/GRACE to both houses of Israel if they
would repent (teshuvah). In His judgment upon His people, the G-d of
Israel divorced the Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) but He did not
divorce the Southern Kingdom (house of Judah). Why did the G-d of
Israel not divorce the Southern Kingdom (house of Judah) because of
their unfaithfulness to Him? The reason is because of the G-d of
Israel's love for David and for the city of Jerusalem (Yerushalayim).
In I Kings (Melachim) 11:34, 36 it is written:

      "Howbeit, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but
      I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my
      servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments
      and my statutes . that David my servant may have a light always
      before me in Jerusalem [Yerushalayim] the city which I have
      chosen to put my name there."

     The G-d of Israel promised that He would ALWAYS have mercy upon
the seed of David (Psalm [Tehillim] 89:1-3, 28-37). The Jewish
Messiah (Mashiach) was promised to come through the seed of David. In
Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 11:1 it is written:

      "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and
      a Branch [a term for the Messiah] shall grow out of his roots."

      David was a man after the G-d of Israel's heart. In Acts
      13:22-23 it is written:

      ".he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he
      gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a
      man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. Of
      this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto
      Israel a Savior, Jesus [Yeshua]."

     The Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus is the root and
offspring of David (Revelation 22:16) and has the key of David
(Revelation 3:7).

      The G-d of Israel did not divorce the Southern Kingdom (house of
 Judah) because of His love and mercy for David, the city of Jerusalem
 (Yerushalayim), and all those who believe upon the Jewish Messiah
 (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus for their salvation (deliverance/redemption).
 
     The G-d of Israel made provision in the Torah that if a family
member of the G-d of Israel sold his possession or inheritance (which
the Northern Kingdom [house of Israel] did when the G-d of Israel
divorced them) that one of his kin (somebody from the Southern
Kingdom [house of Judah] - the Jewish Messiah [Mashiach]) could
redeem a near kinsman (go'el), which was sold away. In Leviticus
(Vayikra) 25:25 it is written:

      "If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his
      possession [Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) Hosea 1], and if
      any of his kin [Southern Kingdom (house of Judah) through the
      Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus] come to redeem it, then
      shall he redeem that which his brother sold."

     The Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus is the agent of the
G-d of Israel's mercy upon His people. In Luke 1:54-55, 72-73 it is
written:

      "He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his MERCY;
      As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever
      . to perform the MERCY promised to our fathers, and to remember
      his holy covenant; the oath which he swore to our father
      Abraham"


                  THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL IS GRAFTED
                    INTO THE NATURAL OLIVE TREE

     The physical descendents of Abraham (Avraham), Isaac (Yitzchak)
and Jacob (Ya'acov) are the root and natural branches of the G-d of
Israel's olive tree. The physical descendents of Abraham (Avraham),
Isaac (Yitzchak) and Jacob (Ya'acov) who are members of the Southern
Kingdom (house of Judah) will remain as a natural people as long as
there is a sun, moon and stars. In Jeremiah (Yermiyahu) 31:35-36 it
is written:

      "Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day,
      and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by
      night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar, The
      Lord of hosts is his name: If these ordinances depart from
      before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall
      cease from being a nation before me forever."

     Following the reign of Solomon (Shlomo), the house of Jacob
(Ya'acov) split into the Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) and the
Southern Kingdom (house of Judah). For being disobedient to the terms
and conditions of the marriage contract (ketubah) made with the G-d
of Israel at mount Sinai, the G-d of Israel divorced the Northern
Kingdom (house of Israel). By repenting of their sins, the G-d of
Israel promised mercy to the divorced Northern Kingdom (house of
Israel). The agent of the mercy of the G-d of Israel is the Jewish
Messiah (Mashiach) from the seed of David and from the Southern
Kingdom (house of Judah). By repenting of their sins and by putting
their faith, trust and confidence (emunah) in the Jewish Messiah
(Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus for their salvation, redemption and
deliverance, the assimilated Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) and
all people from among the nations are GRAFTED into the natural olive
tree and become members of the commonwealth of Israel. In Ephesians
2:11-13 it is written:

      "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the
      flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the
      Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye
      were without Christ [Mashiach], being aliens from the
      commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of
      promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: but now
      in Christ Jesus [Yeshua HaMashiach] ye who sometimes were far
      off are made nigh by the blood of Christ [Mashiach]."

     While the natural seed from the Southern Kingdom (house of Judah)
will remain a remnant of people as long as there is a sun, moon and
stars, because they have been unfaithful (Jeremiah [Yermiyahu]
3:6-10) inttheir marriage covenant (Jeremiah [Yermiyahu] 2:1-3) made
with the G-d of Israel at mount Sinai (Exodus [Shemot] 19), they also
need the mercy that the G-d of Israel promised David through the
Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) Yeshua/Jesus.

     When they accept Yeshua/Jesus as the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach),
the natural branches will be grafted into their own olive tree. The
grafting of the wild olive branches (those from the nations not from
the Southern Kingdom [house of Judah]) with the natural root and the
natural branches (those from the Southern Kingdom [house of Judah])
into ONE olive tree by accepting Yeshua/Jesus as the Jewish Messiah
(Mashiach) is mentioned by the Apostle (Shaliach) Paul (Rav Sha'ul)
in Romans 11. In Romans 11:13, 17-19, 24, 26 it is written:

      "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of
      the Gentiles [the grafted Northern Kingdom/house of Israel] .
      and if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a
      wild olive tree, wast grafted in among them, and with them
      partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not
      against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the
      root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were
      broken off, that I might be grafted in . For if thou wast cut
      out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wast grafted
      contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall
      these, which be the natural branches be grafted into their own
      olive tree? . And so all Israel [both the grafted house of
      Israel (wild branches) and the grafted house of Judah (natural
      branches)] shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come
      out of Zion the Deliverer [kinsman redeemer/go'el], and shall
      turn away ungodliness in Jacob [Isaiah 59:20]."


            WHO IS THE CHURCH AND WHO IS ISRAEL?

     In today's world, the term "church" is traditionally identified
and associated with the house of Israel (Christianity) while the term
"Israel" is traditionally identified and associated with the house of
Judah (Jews/Judaism). In this chapter, we learned that the Biblical
"church" was born at mount Sinai. It consisted of physical natural
born descendents of Abraham (Avraham), Isaac (Yitzchak) and Jacob
(Ya'acov) and a mixed multitude from among the nations who came out
of Egypt (Mitzrayim).

     Biblical Israel is the olive tree of the G-d of Israel. The
physical natural born descendents of Abraham (Avraham), Isaac
(Yitzchak) and Jacob (Ya'acov) will remain a remnant of people and a
part of the redemptive plan of the G-d of Israel as long as there is
a sun, moon and stars. Biblical Israel consists of the natural root
of Abraham (Avraham), Isaac (Yitzchak) and Jacob (Ya'acov) and the
assimilated Northern Kingdom (house of Israel) and all people from
among the nations who are grafted into the natural olive tree by
repenting (teshuvah) of their sins and accepting Yeshua/Jesus as the
Jewish Messiah (Mashiach). Those from the Southern Kingdom (house of
Judah) who accept Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah (Mashiach) are natural
branches grafted into their own olive tree. So, Biblical Israel
consists of the physical descendents of Abraham (Avraham), Isaac
(Yitzchak) and Jacob (Ya'acov) and a mixed multitude from among the
nations who are grafted into the natural olive tree. Therefore, the
Biblical terms "church" and "Israel" are synonymous terms.

     The traditional understanding of the word "church" (associated
with Christianity) has NOT replaced "Israel" (associated with the
traditional understanding as Jews who have not accepted Yeshua/Jesus
as the Jewish Messiah). On the contrary, the non-Jews from among the
nations who have repented (teshuvah) of their sins and have accepted
Yeshua/Jesus as the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach) are grafted into the
natural olive tree. While all Jews (those from the Southern Kingdom
[house of Judah]) are Israelites, not all Israelites (those from the
Northern Kingdom [house of Israel] and who have been grafted into the
natural olive tree from among the nations) are Jews. Those grafted in
from among the nations to the natural olive tree are Biblical Israelites.

     In conclusion, in order for restoration to come to both the house
of Israel (Christianity) and the house of Judah (Judaism), both
houses of Israel need to recognize who each other are Biblically. The
house of Israel (Christianity) needs to recognize that they have NOT
replaced the natural seed of Abraham (Avraham), Isaac (Yitzchak) and
Jacob (Ya'acov) but have been grafted into the natural olive tree.
The house of Judah (Judaism) needs to recognize the house of Israel
(Christianity) as being Messianic Israel. Therefore, both houses of
Israel need to understand that they are brethren (Psalm [Tehillim]
133) and members of the SAME olive tree. May the G-d of Israel bring
redemption, restoration, reconciliation and unity to both houses of
Israel speedily in our days. Amen!

                                    (End Part 2 of 2)

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