"As
for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel Israel
In this famous Ezekiel 37
passage, YHVH tells Ezekiel to pick up a stick, or “a tree”, “etz”, and to
write Judah’s name on it. After he completes the task YHVH tells him to take
another “stick” and write Joseph’s and Ephraim’s names on it (Eze.37:16). YHVH
is clearly focusing here on Israel ’s
two houses (see also Is. 8:14). He even challenges the people of the two nations, by telling the prophet to hold
the two sticks up in front of their eyes. Upon seeing them, they will inquire
of him: “Will you not show us what
you mean by these?” (Ez. 37:18).
YHVH tells them what these two
“etzim” are, although He doesn’t do it directly. Instead, He foretells their
destiny. In the context of this prophecy He answers their question, saying that
these are two nations divided into two kingdoms (ref. v.22). The first of the two nations that YHVH exiled
out of the land was the northern kingdom
of Joseph/Ephraim Judah
was also cast off their land for the same reason - iniquity and sin. Both these peoples were expelled from the
land and scattered into all the nations.
Thus both lost their national identity.
However, according to His word, YHVH intends to restore both “etzim”
(trees/nations).
When the time finally came for
the restoration of the two nations, Judah ’s stick/nation appeared
before Joseph’s. This order has been
true in the family of Jacob all along, as Judah was born before Joseph and
had taken the leadership in the family from Reuben (who had lost his firstborn
privileges). Even the apostle Paul
recognized this order in the family of Jacob, when he wrote: “to the Jew first”
(Rom 1:16; 2:9-10). Yeshua also came
first to the people of Judah ,
as did the outpouring of the Spirit of Holiness.
In the last hundred years, YHVH
has been restoring by His Spirit the national identity of the House of
Judah. Once this first “etz” was brought
back to the land, the Spirit began to unveil the “hidden ones” of the House of
Joseph/Ephraim. Why would He do
this? Obviously to fulfill His word that
He spoke through His prophets of old.
Because YHVH is faithful, He will gather the second of the two “etzim”
trees/nations and restore it as well, just as He did the first one. But in order to have two trees become “one in
His hand”, He must first have two separate and distinct “etzim”.
How did He bring about the restoration of the first
“etz”? When the time came He stirred the
hearts of a handful of Jews, and they responded to the call. So it will be with the second nation. There are a number of us who have been
stirred for years over this move of the Holy One of Israel. So far we have only seen the Spirit bring
back to remembrance our ancestral identity as Ephraimites, but is that all
there is to the story? No! We, also, like our brothers from the first
“etz”, must become a nationally recognized people (the second stick/tree). We obviously cannot be of this first nation
of Judah ; we must be of the
second tree/stick, and have our own government and national identity, just as
the prophet was told to write: “For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for
all the house of Israel
It should be apparent that our
government is a theocracy ruled by a King.
This King must be of the House of David and anointed by
YHVH to rule over His nation (Jacob/Israel).
Every subject must pledge allegiance to the King and His government -
the Spirit of Holiness (ref. Rom 14:17). We all should know by now who this
King is, and be mature in our responsibilities to serve Him. The angel Gabriel, sent by YHVH, announced
before His birth who He would be: "Behold,
you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name
Yeshua/Jesus (which means salvation). "He will be great, and will be
called the Son of the Highest; and YHVH will give Him the throne of His father
David. "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His
kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:31-33). Paul and Barnabas, after returning to
Antioch, preached the gospel in a synagogue, confirming that the gospel is
about Yeshua the Messiah Son of David (Acts 13:32-44).
At this point in time the Greek-originated form of
government, that is, democracy, governs Judah . This is why it becomes paramount that Yeshua
Son of David governs us, who form the second tree/nation. Yeshua returned to His Father in the heavens
in order to take up residence in the hearts of His called out ones, and govern
them through the Spirit of Holiness. The
establishment of an Ephraimite nation here on this earth will not work without each
of the subjects having this kingdom dominion in his heart. Both Judah
and the Palestinians declared their national identity before they had a piece
of land to call their own. Thus, we must
not be ashamed of our national roots either, especially since we have a
government not of this world order. Peter, writing to the aliens, that is the
“people living along side, or in, the heathen nations”, tells them that they
are a Holy nation (ref. Pet.1:1; 2:9). He tells them that to be a nation and to
have a national identity is perfectly acceptable, even while living amongst the
other nations. This is what Judah did 50
years before the other nations recognized their national identity (although
there are some that still do not acknowledge its existence). We too must raise the level of our consciousness
at this time, to be compatible with the prophetic word concerning us. Ephraimites, we are the second stick or
nation. But because we have a righteous King, after the order of Melchizedec,
ruling us, and a holy government in our hearts, we remain at this point a
separate and distinct “etz” (nation) from Judah ! We have to become accustomed to being
obedient bondservants and subjects of our King.
May we all “examine ourselves to see if we are in the
faith for do we not know this about ourselves that Yeshua the Messiah [son
of David] is in us” (2Cor. 13:5)!
Ephraim 08/08/03
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