ISRAELITE IDENTITY

April 27, 2007

It has been a number of years now since I have started using this introduction (namely "fellow Israelite"), to reinforce our identity as a redeemed Jewish or Gentile person in Messiah. Many believers are coming into what is termed the "Hebraic roots". This must translate itself into a national identity, and not into a religious uniqueness of sorts. Peter, writing to both Gentiles and Jews, declares that we are a "Holy Nation" (ref Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9). Doesn't this nation have a name, or is it devoid of one? Paul gives us a clue in his Epistle to the Ephesians.

"Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision " by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands-- remember that you were at that time separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Messiah Yeshua you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah" (Ephesians 2:11-13).

He continues to write to these two people groups (that are in Messiah), telling them that the wall of partition has been broken down, and that they have become one within the same house, through the life (blood) of the Redeemer. He goes on to say that there is no Jew or Greek (ref Col 3:11), but yet all are identified with Messiah, thus with Israel. He is calling his audience "former Gentiles" who are now Israelites. Perhaps Jewish believers need to come to the same understanding; i.e. that they too were formally Jewish but now are Israelites. This puts both parties on notice that they do not belong to themselves, but to Him who has made them one people through His divine nature and has begotten a new creation and a holy nation.

But is this commonwealth of Israel only a spiritual reality, or does its witness include being a part of the physical fulfillment of Biblical prophecy? Are the redeemed Jews the only ones in this new family that the fulfillment of prophecy is referring to, or are all Israelites included? Are we one, or are we not? Do we belong to the same commonwealth or are there two, one for the Jew and another for the Gentile-cum-Israelite? In fact, if this is the case then there must be two covenants, one with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and one with all those who are not of this genus.

While the Spirit is drawing the believing community to the roots of YHVH's plan for the redemption and restoration of His kingdom to all Israel, there are some who are falsely charging us, of telling non-Jews in Messiah that they are to become Jewish. Just to set the record straight; we are declaring, in accordance with the words of the prophets and apostles, that we are all Israelites. Those who are dividing the body of Messiah through false accusation, jealousy, or resentment are not walking in love, or in the reality of the Gospel. If our spiritual enemy and our natural ones can prevent us from becoming a royal priesthood and holy nation, they will have won the battle without too much resistance on our part. As a royal priesthood we are to offer ourselves up as a living sacrifice (ref Romans 12:1), casting down every thought and imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohim (ref 2 Corinthians 10:5). It is very important that we all understand what it means to be an Israelite, YHVH's firstborn nation (ref. Exodus 4:22).

Ephraim

BEES, FISHERS AND HUNTERS

April 20, 2007

I'm sure most of you have been watching the News, of the latest mass killing that just took place in the U.S.A. Another loss that is taking place in great proportions in many nations, that is only now beginning to make headlines, is the disappearance of the honey bee, especially in the United States and Europe. This fact in the long run could spell disaster for the food chain and affect the crops. The experts are calling this phenomenon, "colony collapse syndrome". It is thought that the cellular phone antennas are causing the bees to loose their homing capabilities. The word for "bee" in Hebrew is "d'vorah", stemming from the root d.v.r which is the root for the verb "to speak". We thought it quite ironic, or perhaps prophetic of the last days when the "Word of Elohim" - "Dvar YHVH" - is being confused by the multitudes of man's communication devices and as a result His people have lost their ability to return to their home in "Zion", not to mention the collapse of the family unit, which is breaking down human society.

Speaking of homing capabilities, a few years ago I intermittently sent my personal testimony, as part of the weekly Friday letters. Close to the time of completion of this series, Batya Wootten suggested to compile the letters into a book. This is now history as the book came out about two years ago. It is called "Return to the Land - an Ephraimite's Journey Home", published by Key of David Publishing. Over an eight year period I have written over 350 Friday letters, along with other articles on a variety of subjects, in addition I have traveled and given lectures and seminars on the theme of the "Gospel of the kingdom in the Torah and Prophets". Yet the main thrust of these teachings has been the exposition of YHVH's plan of redemption, and its connection to the restoration of His kingdom to the whole House of Israel.

A friend of ours has taken much of this material and has come up with an essay, which is her own elucidation of this theme, that is - "The Restoration of YHVH's Kingdom to Israel". I too have compiled a manuscript with more of an emphasis on unlocking YHVH'S plan for the redemption of the creation. With the permission of this friend, I will be putting her manuscript on a blog site. At the same time, I may be sending out, periodically in chapter form, the manuscript I had composed as the weekly Friday letter. As I stated in an earlier letter, all revelation knowledge belongs to the Spirit of Holiness who has been sent to teach us and guide into all truth. Thus, the glory does not belong to man but to the name that is above all names. We all see through a glass darkly, so if I have added things that are not clear or that reflect my own understanding or interpretation, I trust that you will be so kind as to forgive and even give me some scriptural guidance.

We are presently living in a period of the outpouring of YHVH's Spirit, an outpouring which is leading us into "present truth". There are, therefore, many in the Body of Messiah who are seeing and hearing these same truths and are sharing them, so that others may be edified and receive confirmation as to what the Spirit is, in turn, revealing to them. YHVH is currently in the process of bringing the nations to the Valley of Jehosaphat ("Yah's judgments"); we therefore need Him to reveal to us as much truth as possible, so that we will not be ensnared by the deception of the growing "Anti-Messiah" spirit.

Over the past hundred and fifty years, YHVH has been sending the fishers out to bring the message of the Gospel of Yeshua the Savior to all nations. Now He is sending the hunters (Nimrod, Esau, Amalikites, Ishmael) into those same nations by way of Islam.
"Behold, I will send for many fishermen," says the LORD, "and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks" (Jeremiah 16:16).
Because this is of Elohim, nothing will stop their advancement until they accomplish the mission for which they have been sent.

Sadly, many, who have been called out to become disciples of Yeshua, will fall away because of lies which they have been fed concerning YHVH's Word. The Apostles wrote their letters based on the revelation that they had received from the scriptures (Torah, Prophets and Writings) therefore, the New Covenant writings must be confirmed by those same scriptures.

I solicit your prayers and encouragement in order to get this message out. Freely YHVH has given to us His Spirit and freely it must flow to others. We pray that what is happening to the bees will not happen to the redeemed remnant of Judah and Israel/Ephraim.

May Abba richly bless you as you seek first the Kingdom of YHVH and His righteousness in Messiah Yeshua (the Davar of YHVH).

Ephraim

PASSOVER AND OUR NATIONAL UNITY

April 1, 2007

It is quite significant that it was at Passover time that YHVH declared Israel to be His firstborn nation; the only nation that would ever have this status before Him. Israel’s birth as a liberated nation came as a result of the death of a lamb, and its blood having been smeared on the doorposts of the homes. I hope this year we will consider the importance of our unity as YHVH’s redeemed firstborn nation, and what it means to be called an “Israelite”. Paul said that the feasts are but a shadow of things to come: May Abba grant us the ability to see beyond the shadows into the light of His redemptive work through the sacrifice of His lamb (Yeshua). The redemption of the firstborn (the nation of Abraham) means that the creation will be set free by a nation of the sons of YHVH, "saviors" who will come out of Zion and establish His kingdom, as it is written: "Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom shall be YHVH's" (Obadiah 1:21; and ref. Hosea 1:10).

It was over 3,800 years ago, when the Elohim of Jacob sent His family down to Egypt to preserve them. Speaking to His servant Jacob, He said: “I am YHVH, the Elohim of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation [goy] there’” (Genesis 46:3). One of the Hebrew words for “nation” is “goy”. It is first used in the Tanach, in the Covenant that YHVH made with our forefather Abraham, “I will make you a great nation [goy]; I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). One man, one Elohim, one Covenant, one national identity; this was at the heart of YHVH’s plan for the redemption of the creation. The Elohim of Abraham set apart a man, and swore by His own name that his seed/sperm would become a great and holy (set-apart) nation.

When Jacob and his band of seventy souls arrived in Egypt, he found another family-member already down there. Joseph and his progeny had lost their identity and connection with their family of origin. Thus, Joseph's children were most likely uncircumcised when their grandfather adopted them, and in a sense formed a prophetic type of the lost tribes of Israel, that is the so called "Gentiles" or the vast company of nations that YHVH had promised to the forefathers. Paul discloses that this hidden company (treasure), in the nations, are those who have (even though uncircumcised) the "faith" of their forefather Abraham (ref Romans chapter 4). Moreover, in Egypt the Children of Jacob also multiplied profusely. This too was a prophetic picture, of a time in which their numerical increase would encompass the entire earth.

Jacob’s family, living in Egypt, eventually became slaves to the lords of the land. While in that state they lost their vision of being a nation, a family and a people with a purpose, and a Divine call. This is portrayed quite vividly in the scene of the two Hebrew slaves, who were fighting one another to their own demise (ref Exodus 2:13). The embittered seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was now characterized by survival instincts. This was only natural, since they were living under extreme conditions, where their captors debased them into mere sub-human slaves. So where was this great nation that was promised to Abraham? His seed, now turned slaves, were cursing the day of their birth. They had become nothing more than dead dry bones in the desert sands of Egypt. So helpless were they that they could not even respond to Moses, when he came to them preaching the good news of their deliverance (ref. Exodus 6:9)!

The Passover story is replete with pestilence, famine and one disaster following another. But when gross darkness covered the land, there was still light in the tents of the Hebrews (ref. Ex.10:23), as the anointing of YHVH’s covenant word (which “is a light”, ref. Ps. 119:105) was still upon them to become a great nation. How was this going to be made possible? It certainly was not going to happen by the nation’s own strength. It was going to take a miracle, a Divine intervention. YHVH, therefore, dispatched a man with a message: “Let My people go”. Moses was faithful to bring that word to the ruler of the slaves, but YHVH hardened the heart of Pharaoh, just to make sure that His people would know that their deliverance was not going to come by the way or authority of man. Had Pharaoh given his permission, these Hebrews would have been forever indebted to their master. They would perpetually be looking to him as their deliverer, and thus would not be able to take up their divinely ordained position as the head of all the nations. In this manner, they would have been bound to Egypt.

YHVH had His plan of restoring these slaves to freedom and to their national identity. He told His servant Moses to, "speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: `On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man's need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats…. Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb….then you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning…. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:3-5; 21-22; 13).

The moment the elders applied the blood to the lintels and the doorposts of the Hebrews’ homes, the latter were sealed into deliverance, freedom and destiny. But even beyond that - their dependency on man has just come to an end. They were now united behind the one sacrifice, totally dependent upon the powerful right arm of the Almighty to bring them out. “Let My people go!” YHVH had already announced to Egypt's rulers to whom these people belonged. This was a people that did not belong to itself. They were and still are today “My people, [“ami” -singular] says YHVH”. But now, through the blood of the lamb, they were set apart to enter into the next phase of His plan. “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel" (Exodus 19:6).

Whereas harsh conditions and bondage reduce human beings to mere existence, effacing their individual uniqueness, affluence can also keep one in bondage to extreme individualism. Therefore, as we, Israelites (Ephraim and Judah), YHVH’s two families of His one People Israel, gather together to honor Him during this year’s Passover, let us leave our individualism and lift up the cup of unity. Remember that we all were once slaves to sin and death and bound to the principalities and powers of this world’s (kosmos) dominion. It behooves us to, “purge out therefore the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Messiah our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; (nor with strife, contention, bitterness and unforgiveness) but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7-8). May we walk together through the Door that is splattered with the blood of the Lamb, out of the houses of our bondage and into the liberty of the new corporate life of the “One New Man”. The wall of partition in the House of Jacob has been broken down, so let us serve one another in the nature of the new creation person (Yeshua) who is the embodiment of the Royal Priesthood and Holy Nation Israel, Elohim’s firstborn!

May you all be blessed during this Passover and Feast of Matzot (unleavened bread) with a sense of national unity! May the eyes of our hearts be opened anew to the fact that we are “My people Israel” in this generation.

Ephraim

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there YHVH commanded the blessing--Life forevermore” (Ps. 133).