HHMI Newsgroup Archives

From: Pam Staley
To:  heb_roots_chr@hebroots.com>
Subject: Two Houses of Israel testimony


Dear Mishpachah (family):

    Many of the family have expressed their longings, desires and
even confusion as to their status 'in the family'.... As I read each
heartfelt message, the underlying theme seems to reach out to me and
say...'I love God, I love Israel and the Jewish people, but I long to
*BELONG*'.  The reason this speaks so loudly to me is that yes, I
have also torn my garments many times and cried out to HaShem....with
the very same question - "Who am I?" "Why am I doing this??"

    Beginning the journey of 'truth' about 15 years ago, I set out to
find out just who I was...growing up in a very catholic upbringing..I
had been thoroughly brainwashed to believe that it was 'others' who
should be asking that question and then once realizing their mistake,
convert to catholicism. However, God touched my heart one
Passover/Easter church service in an AOG church... I was only there
under protest, and to please my mother who had had this 'born again'
experience.

   Well, needless to say, the Great "I AM" called to me that day, and
my search for truth, which hereto had been deep into Edgar Cayce,
Ruth Montgomery ect.., had now taken a turn. I was now reading a book
that had before only been a coffee table decoration...the Bible. And
I could not believe it...here, in this book, on every page I turned,
in every chapter I read, in every sentence...was "truth". It was
there for the reading...and the believing.


        But being a stubborn and stiff necked person...I still had
many many questions, and I questioned God quite often. Even the most
naive and childish questions were spoken outloud...for example...one
of my very first questions was, 'ok, if this book is real and
accurate...WHERE ARE THE DINOSAURS!' .. ok ok, I know..stupid
question...but they told me that it contained EVERYTHING... and even
though God had touched my heart and drawn me near...I had to know the
answers ... it is the character that he gave me. And for those of you
wondering...yes, dinosaurs are in the bible, it says in Genesis that
He made ALL THE CREATURES OF THE DEEP and EVERYTHING on the land...so,
in my mind (and still) that covered just about everything...including
dinosaurs. ;->

       But as the search continued, and the desire to know God
deepend, I also found myself in a very disturbing position. No one in
my catholic upbringing, nor in the few 'word' churches that I was
beginning to venture into, could answer my questions concerning the
land, the people, and the reason for it's importance. Answers were
'spiritualized' in order to replace Israel, the bride, the city, the
people....and actually, the answers sounded very good, very
reasonable, and after all...these were MEN OF GOD...who was I??
nobody. But my Father also gave me something else....a small tiny red
flag within me that shot up within everytime something was said that
colored the truth..not that I paid attention to that 'voice' within
everytime...most of the time I hushed that voice and allowed myself to
be drawn in to the half-truths that the MEN OF GOD were speaking. And
I am afraid to say that it didn't just happen once or twice, but many
many times...and still happens today ...... I believe that learning
how to totally rely on God is a daily learning experience, the cross
we must take up to die to ourselves daily.

However, God did direct me to some wonderful teachers, and I learned
from each one. But when it
finally dawned on me that no one really knew this book called the
bible, it was because they didn't know the people, the culture, the
fabric......the land........from a Hebraic perspective. In the
beginning, I called it a Jewish perspective....I sat under rabbis, I
attended classes at the local Jewish Community Center, I 'became' as a
Jew...even to the point of searching out my ancestors in the desperate
hope that I would find a 'Jew' lurking somewhere back there that would
give me credibility, that would fill the longing to 'belong'. And in
all this search, trying to hold my head up and act like I was 'just as
good' even if I wasn't 'Jewish'. But deep down.... it did matter...I
was jealous...I was not 'twice blessed' ... merely once blessed
(you've heard that haven't you?)..

        I would attend Messianic synagogues
and be welcomed with open arms, smiles, hugs, ect...and yet...who lit
the candles? who read the blessings? whose words were more intently
listened to? who can be a FULL MEMBER and who a 'SPONSOR'? the
Jew....the > gentile < ... yes, the > gentile < wore a yellow
badge..and the invisible patch was quite obvious. The wall was and
still is very much intact. Even for all the good intentions, and all
the explanations given concerning this atmosphere: the hundreds of
years of repression and oppression, the agonies of the holocaust and
the realization that it was their 'due' to be able to shout with joy
and rejoice in their freedom of being Jewish and being one in
Yeshua... these reasons too made 'sense' ... and were very real - and
were acceptable - to my mind...but not my heart. My heart kept
reaching out, my heart kept crying out to God. I needed a reason to
understand in my HEART why Israel meant so much to ME, why the
biblical feast days were being burned into MY heart and MY being, why
I was obsessed with learning the truth from a hebraic
perspective...all of this goes against the tide, it slaps the face of
'Christianity' - it distances you from family and it seperates
you...and you 'don't belong' to either group. One can only play the
game so long, and then you realize...the game has no winners. You can
put on your happy face and say all the right things, and dance and
sing and for a time be content... but as you drive home in your
car..and the night comes upon you and silence fills your soul....you
again wonder...why me God? I'm not even JEWISH!

And you repeat outloud all the pat answers you have learned to quiet the
questions...but
still it is not enough. But God is a good and merciful God...and the
truth is a never ending journey...each day brings new light to your
eyes, and your heart. He has allowed me to stay in the land for many
weeks at a time for the past 6 years...and the first time, of course
was the most special... but I also knew that it was "my" land, my
heritage, my homecoming. The people he set before me taught me many
truths - from an older most wise Jewish believer, who has since passed
on, who was as a first century rabbi and taught so vividly the truths
of the bible and the plan of God to restore the House of Israel and
bring the two houses together...WHAT you say? yes, so did I... what 2
houses?? to an orthodox Rabbi who two years later taught me the same
thing...and that they were waiting for their brothers to recognize
themselves and be drawn back to the land. I must admit..I seized upon
this information and read everything I could concerning the history of
the 12 tribes of Israel. I studied the replacement theology of the 10
tribes, the false accusations by some groups, but I also found
truth...thru Jew and NON-Jew alike.

And the message is clear, at least
to me it is... the reason I have this undying love for Israel, for the
biblical traditions, and for the Jew...is because it is not only
spiritually my heritage.....but PHYSICALLY my heritage. I can not
speak for others, but in my heart...just as I can not prove that I am
saved, I can also not prove that I am one of the decendants of one of
the 'other' tribes other than Judah (and possibly Judah, who
knows?)...but I know - just as sure as I'm born from above, that I am
literally of the seed of Abraham. Both are by faith. So then, you say,
what now? Well, I don't know. God is revealing this truth to many many
people in the last days, and as scripture says, the two sticks will
become one in the hand of Joseph. The scriptures are full of this
truth....but just as our previous programming and teaching denied the
truth of our biblical heritage...we must admit, we are still babes
learning how to walk... therefore, we must examine and search for
truth amongst the 'new teachings' of our biblical heritage so that we
will continue to grow and show ourselves approved. Some of the
questions I pondered on may be of some value to those of you, who deep
within, have not been able to quench the question....where do I
belong?

1.) Why was the blessing that Ephraim (symbolizing the 10
tribes of the North) given by the HEBREW patriarch Jacob/Israel that
Ephraim would become the FULLNESS OF THE GENTILES?? Have you ever
thought about that? Why would any Israelite WANT that kind of
blessing?? Unless God knew (and He did) that later the northern tribes
would be assimilated into the nations, thus fulfilling prophecy...but
nonetheless, those dispersed remained as Israelites and passed that
onto future generations.

2.) There are 3 ways according to scripture
in which an 'outsider' is JOINED to the commonwealth of Israel: Ex.
12:48 - celebrating passover, circumcision, and sojourning....they
were then to be considered NATIVE ISRAELITES..Numbers 9:14 says that
if they do this, there is only one statute, Ex. 12:49 states there is
only one law for the citizen and the stranger and in Lev. 19:34, "The
alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love
him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE TWO. It was a perpetual statute. Are those of us who believe in
the Messiah of Israel any less 'family' then the believing Jew? do we
not remember the Passover, have been circumsized in our hearts and
sojourn with the people? Does that not make us NATIVE
ISRAELITES?....or do we ignore what God says because we can't 'prove'
it? Are we not part of the HOUSE OF ISRAEL when we accept the Messiah
of Israel?

3. God said he would make a NEW COVENANT ---- 'with the
HOUSE OF ISRAEL" ---- he did not make one with the nations. To partake
of this covenant, one JOINED the people of Israel. I have often also
wondered about the scripture - 10 men (the 10 dispersed tribes??)
would cling to the Jew...for the obvious to me is that the 10 have
been assimilated and have followed foreign gods..while Judah has
continued to follow His precepts..Ephraim has always outnumbered Judah
- 10 to 1 (1 Kings 11:31,36 & 1 Samuel 11:8; Zech. 8:23) so does it
not make sense that in the end days the dispersed 10 will return,
repent, and learn again from their brother Judah?

4.) The early church
in the first century was made up of thousands upon thousands of
physically born Israelites.. surely they had numerous children
throughout those years, and those children had children who had
children who had children.....so how many drops of blood does it take?
do you not consider yourself part Irish/English/Scotch and German (or
whatever?)? then how can you NOT consider yourself part Israelite?

5.) God spoke "Lo-ammi. You are not My people" to the Northern Kingdom and
declared an end to the kingdom (not the end of the people)..100 years
later God said thru Jeremiah, "'Is Ephraim My dear son? ... I will
surely have mercy on him'" (Jer. 31:20) God used Hosea's children to
portray the condition of the Ephraimites and His ultimate plan for
them. And God promised that one day they would be restored to become
"THE SONS OF THE LIVING GOD"! Isn't that also what Paul tells us in
Romans 9:24-26? That IN THE SAME PLACE that it was declared to them
that they were NOT God's people...it would be said to them that they
are now "The sons of the Living God?" (Read Zechariah, Hosea and
Jeremiah and pay attention to the promises and prophecies directed at
the two houses)

6.) Throughout scripture, from the beginning to the
end..it STILL speaks of TWO HOUSES...TWO NATIONS... TWO FAMILES chosen
for a purpose - the WHOLE house of Israel and the WHOLE house of
Juda...(Jer. 13:11...

7.) Not all of Israel was, or is, called
Judah!....The Tribe of Judah DOES NOT represent all of Israel...there
are STILL TWO HOUSES... Now...I know this has been extremely long, and
I pray that Eddie sees fit to post it, but for those of you who
believe that I am trying to be "Jewish"...please believe me...I don't
have to be...and I would also be content to just be a follower of the
Messiah of Israel and spiritually identify with Israel and Judah, IF
that had been HIS plan...but He has chosen to call me (and thousands
of others) and reveal to them that they are truly PART of Israel,
physically as well as spirtitually...and that it is TIME for the
brothers to recognize each other and join together ... Ephraim and
Judah have always been at odds...and they still are...it is time for
both sticks to be in the hand of Joseph (Messiah). I will close with
one last thought, and will quote from Batya Wooten's book "In Search
of Israel" ....it says it more elequently than I ever could...please
pray...and study it thru...but at the very least...do not call
yourself a >> GENTILE CHRISTIAN << you can not be both - a HEATHEN -
and a CHRISTIAN... you are simply a non-Jew. "...

The life that was in the Twelve Princes of Israel was in their blood. Today
that bloodline
is in that of their seed. Exactly where the bloodlines of the tribes
of Israel have gone - only God knows. However, if the Creator of the
universe chose to follow that line, it would be a simple thing for Him
to do so. Assuming a new generation is produced every forty years, it
would take only 100 fathers per person to go back 4,000 years to the
time of Abraham. Remembering 100 fathers per person would be
effortless for the God who numbers the hairs of our head. Surely there
are countless millions in the Church who are bloodline descendants of
the Twelve Tribes. Surely there are those who are descended from the
Apostles. The thousands and thousands of early Church believers must
have resulted in millions and millions of descendants. ... In light of
that, how can we possibly believe that the fifteen million Jewish
people of today fully represent the repeatedly blessed physical seed
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! If today there are only 15 million
identifiable physical descendants of Isaac - and 650 million
descendants of Ishmael - then Isaac got only 1.76 percent of the
physical blessing given Ishmael! The church must realize it cannot be
entirely made up of former Gentiles. Literal millions must be physical
descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! Thus, within the church there
are countless millions of bloodline descendants of Israel!"

HOWEVER please remember this...while it is possible for one to be related to
the FLESH that housed the Messiah, such a physical relationship wlil
not save one from spiritual death. To live eternally in the presence
of God, one must be born a second time of the Seed from above,
becoming the Israel destined to live eternally. ------------------ I
hope that at least one person was blessed by this....and that many
will at least think on it... thank you for your time, and may HaShem
guide you in all things....

Shalom,

Pam Staley

**********************************************************************

From: Messianic Rabbi Michael Silver
To:      heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Two Houses of Israel testimony


     I began to questions some time ago the references to Israel in
the Bible especially the Tanakh. My reasons for doing this were many
but specifically centered around my upbringing as a Jew and later my
acceptance of Yeshua as Messiah and the church's claim that they were
now Israel as the Jews had rejected the Messiah and had a hand in
killing Him. This never showed itself to be true as God's covenants
are forever and for the claim to be made that Israel was now the
church would show that God changed the covenant and if that was true
then God cannot be taken at His word. I also struggled with the
concept that Judah was Israel because she survived the exiles and
remained intact as a people while the northern house of Ephraim/Israel
went into dispersion as promised by God as a punishment for their sin
but and this is a big but, God said that He would bring them back at a
future time and re-unite Judah and Ephraim into one people and nation
and that nation would be Israel. We are not talking about the Israel
of the Middle East as this is not Israel of the Bible but Israel made
up of mostly Judah. God has a plan for Judah and a plan for Ephraim.
As He deals with them separately He also is dealing with them as a
whole in allowing Ephraim to realize who she is and come back to her
roots of Torah and to take her place in the nation of Israel. He also
is allowing Judah to begin to see her Messiah and Judah is exhorted as
the elder to accept Ephraim back and share Torah with her. Ephraim is
to share Messiah Yeshua with Judah and both Houses are to stand
together in faith in Messiah and following Torah. I began to have real
difficulties over the past year regarding the place Messianic Judaism
had claimed for herself in that while accusing the church of
Replacement Theology Messianic Judaism was actually doing the same
thing in reverse and now they have taken upon themselves the so-called
protector of the faith shield against this 'heresy' of Ephraim who
they describe as "Jewish wanabees.'

    The truth of who Israel is came home to me through the revelation of
the Two Houses after Solomon and the numerous references in the Torah,
Prophets and Re-newed covenant. God's covenant was made with ALL of
Israel and Israel are those who composed the mixed multitude that came
out of Egypt at the exodus and who were not only from the 12 tribes
but from other nations as well. When they came out of Egypt they were
called a mixed multitude and when they came to stand before God at
Mount Sinai they were called a people and then called a holy nation
which in Hebrew is 'vi'goy kadosh.' It is interesting to me to see the
word goy used here because in today's Hebrew it means anyone who is
not Jewish and in Biblical Hebrew it means nation, which is any people
whether Jewish or not. So when God refers to the people at Mount Sinai
as being goy He is calling them a nation, the first such reference to
the people who would be Israel which is a clear indication of who
Israel is.

     The other point I saw was that the word Israel has over 2000
references in Scripture while the word Judah has only 800. So while
God was dealing with me over this issue I came across material by
Batya Wooten and ordered her book Who Is Israel and why do you need to
know. This book confirmed what God had been showing me and I attended
the Messiac Israel Alliance Ami 99 conference. Meeting other Jews
there who saw what I saw and meeting non-Jews who had a heart for
Torah and did not desire to replace Israel but come into partnership
with Judah only made me realize just how huge God's plan truly was.
Prior to the conference I had been sharing with my congregation about
who Israel really was and except for two people in the congregation
the rest saw the biblical truth that I saw. We voted to change our
name from Etz Chayim-Tree of Life Messianic Jewish Congregation to Etz
Chayim-Tree of Life Messianic Israelite Congregation in acceptance of
God's truth. My teaching on the Two Houses brought me into conflict
with my former organization, the IFMJ, International Federation of
Messianic Jews and its leadership. When the President, Rabbi Haim
Levi, found out that I had attended the MIA conference he leveled some
un-called for accusations against the MIA leadership and quoted me
Hebrew and said that they had mistranslated the phrase 'fullness of
the gentiles.' When I checked with several sources and the Tanakh I
discovered that the phrase had been correctly translated and that
Rabbi Levi had made the mistake. When I showed him his mistake he
never responded back but only told me to go and talk to 'other
rabbis.' My thoughts at that moment were why do I need to talk to
other rabbis and why can't you answer me from Scripture? Well, due to
his attitude and the unkind remarks he had made and continues to make
about the MIA leadership, I resigned from the IFMJ and was accepted
into the MIA immediately. The MIA has exhibited nothing but acceptance
for myself as a Jew and a believer in Messiah. They accept Torah and
they work for the restoration of Israel of both houses, Judah and
Ephraim as one people equal before God.

    The prophecy of the Two Houses and God's plan for them is very clear
when one approaches Scripture with an open heart and mind. Messianic
Judaism says that the Two Houses are a new belief but it is not and is
recognized by Israeli's living in Israel and the movement is as old as
Messianic Judaism is. Rav Shaul recognized the validity of the Two
Houses as well as the prophets of the Tanakh. Messianic Judaism
continues to attack the premise of the Two Houses but offers no solid
Scriptural proof for its accusations against the Two Houses. This is a
truth that will bring believers together as one in Messiah the way God
has always meant it to be, as Israel, Messianic Israel made up of
Ephraim and Judah.

   As a closing note, since coming into the revelation of the truth of
the Two Houses, my congregation in Las Cruces is undergoing growth
like never before. I have also been called to plant another
congregation an hour away and since November when we started with
about 8 people we have grown to between 25-30 and are now looking for
a place to meet. People respons to the message of the Two Houses and
Torah in a positive manner because they see the truth. God is moving
in these last days to bring about the restoration of Biblical Israel
united through Torah and Messiah Yeshua.

Rav Mordechai Silver

*****************************************************************

From: Beth Bridges
To:  heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: ONE HOUSE!


Eddie,

   I wish to thank you for the 6 part series from your book,
'Restoring the Two Houses of  Israel".  It was e-mailed
to me. I have in the recent past grown cold, due at least in part
because the more I studied the Bible(I have been raised a Christian)
the more I became SO dissatisfied with the Churches. I have been
attending some churches that meet on Sabbath but there is still
something lacking. So when I got a computer late last year it gave me
even more things to explore. I looked into Messianic Judaism and felt
this was closer to what was intended by G-d. But like I already stated
I have not been walking closely with G-d the last few months. I have
felt that G-d was angry with me,(maybe it was the other way around?)
You see I have felt at times so close to G-d, yet it never seems close
enough and I get frustrated! Sorry to go on and on. Anyhow what I am
wanting to say is this e-mail was an answer to my prayers, even though
the prayer was prayed months ago and I had given up on the answer. G-d
sent it to me when I wasn't even looking for it but at a time when I
needed it the most(to bring me back to G-d)My prayer was to understand
more in regards to what is REALLY meant in the Bible, not just an
interpretation from someone that doesn't understand what G-d is
refering to.You brought so many things into focus and unlike alot of
things in the Bible that many preachers have tried to explain I can
tell that what you have written is G-d's truth, it is so clear. I
don't have to go dig around and look to see if you took something out
of context to make the word say something G-d didn't say. I would like
to ask you if there is anything you can recommend as far as teaching
my family and myself about Torah/ Keeping G-d's Commandments. I would
like to have a meeting in my home every Sabbath instead of attending a
church. Do you feel this would by alright in G-d's sight? Again thank
you(sorry this is so lengthy)

Beth Bridges

***********************************************************************

Return to Newsgroup Archives Main Page

Return to our Main Webpage


©2011 Hebraic Heritage Ministries International. Designed by Web Design by JB.