 |
PART
THREE
What
a miraculous occasion it will be when the modern peoples of
Yisra’ĕl
realize who they are! The idea that the "Lost Ten Tribes of
Yisra’ĕl" can be found in Western nations is highly unpopular
today. Those in the West who have even heard of it put this notion
somewhere between uneducated, wild-eyed fanaticism at best - and
racism at worst.
This
is assuredly not common knowledge today, and clearly, the peoples of
Yisra’ĕl do not want
to believe the historical fact of their ancestry. As with the rest of
Yahweh's truth that is rejected by carnal man, Yisra’ĕlites
believe what they have been conditioned to believe (Ephesians
2:1-3)
and what they want
to believe.
An
individual's belief in his physical descent from Yisra’ĕl is
highly unpopular, at least in part, because when he accepts it, he
must also accept the requirements and obligations that come with it.
How often do Christian leaders - many of whom are
Yisra’ĕlites -
make statements such as, "Only the Jews have to keep the law;
Christians are under grace"? In these words, they misunderstand
the intent of the law as well as the identity of Yahweh's physical
people today. This predisposition, even among the religious, is so
set against the reality of where Yahweh's people are that it will
take something extraordinary for the scales to be stripped from their
eyes. Atheists and secularists will take even more convincing,
because they do not believe in Yahweh or the Scriptures in the first
place.
Somehow,
though, this knowledge
will be restored to Yisra’ĕl, or at least to the remnant. We
know
from Yisra’ĕl's history that she does not like being called
into
account or told things that are inconvenient or that would cause her
to have to change. This is why, more often than not, she killed the
prophets, the messengers Yahweh sent to warn or to instruct. It
usually took something calamitous - like captivity or subjugation -
before the Yisra’ĕlites would relent and listen to Yahweh.
Perhaps
this is part of the reason Ya'aqob's Trouble will be so severe, and
why Yahushua describes it as a time of “great
distress,
such as has not been since
the
beginning of the world until
this
time.” Matthew
24:21.
Yisra’ĕlites are a tough people to crack, especially as they
have
become more secular, and it will take a tremendous amount of distress
for them to let go of their worldly predispositions and accept
Yahweh's Word.
A
CHANGED PEOPLE
However, Yirmeyah
31:7-11,
describing the Second Exodus, shows that, one way
or another, this will take place. Yisra’ĕl is again ransomed
from
the hand of someone stronger, just as in the original Exodus.
Similarly, Yirmeyah
30:8
foretells that Yahweh will “break
his yoke from [Yisra’ĕl's] neck, and
tear off your bonds, and foreigners no more enslave them.” Yeshayah
10:20
adds that “those
who have escaped of the house of Yaʽaqob,
never again lean upon him who defeated them, but shall lean upon YHWH,
the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl, in truth.”
The
Yisra’ĕlites return with weeping and with pleas for
forgiveness
(Yirmeyah
31:9; 50:4).
The Tribulation has humbled them, and now they can see both how they
have fallen short and what is expected of them. They are broken
through destruction, so at last, reconciliation with Yahweh can
occur. They finally recognize that they need
Yahweh, a concept totally foreign in the nations of Yisra’ĕl
today. Yahweh will once again be their Father, rather than being
rejected and estranged as He is today. Ephraim will resume his place
as Yahweh's son. (Ephraim was the leading tribe in the north, and
thus often represents all of the northern ten tribes.)
Yirmeyah
31:18-21 describes
this change of heart:
“I
have clearly heard Ephrayim lamenting, ‘You have chastised
me,
and
I was chastised, like an untrained calf. Turn me back, and I
shall
turn back, for You are YHWH
my Elohim. 19
‘For after my turning back, I
repented.
And after I was instructed,
I struck myself on the thigh. I was ashamed, even humiliated, for I
bore the reproach of my youth.’ 20
“Is Ephrayim a precious son to Me, a child of delights? For
though
I spoke against him, I still remembered him. That is why My
affections were deeply moved for him. I have great compassion for
him,” declares YHWH. 21
“Set up signposts, make landmarks; set your heart toward the
highway, the way in which you went. Turn back, O maiden of
Yisra’ĕl,
turn back to these cities of yours!”
Notice
how different verses
18-19
sound from anything being spoken by the peoples of Yisra’ĕl
today.
After Ya'aqob's Trouble, Yisra’ĕl will actually grieve and
moan
due to the correction she receives. She will beg
to be brought back to Yahweh.
Verse
20
shows the unmistakable compassion and feeling that Yahweh has for His
people, and His determination to lift them out of the pitiful
physical and spiritual condition they will be in at that point.
Verse
21
tells of Yisra’ĕl reversing the course of her migration
millennia
ago, “...set
your heart toward the highway, the way in which you went. Turn
back...”
Yisra’ĕl comes to this condition and pleads for Yahweh's
restoration before
she makes the Second Exodus, just as Yisra’ĕl cried out in
Egypt
to the Yahweh of their fathers, and then
Yahweh delivered them. If this is correct, the identity of
Yisra’ĕl
will be recognized sometime during Ya'aqob's Trouble, but before the
Second Exodus takes place.
If
the patterns of Yisra’ĕl's history remain consistent, Yahweh
will
remind Yisra’ĕl of her obligation to Him, which will include
the
knowledge of who Yisra’ĕl is. She will not listen -
Yisra’ĕl
has rarely listened - so Yahweh will cause the nations of Ya'aqob to
go through such "distress" as they have never experienced.
Though Yahweh does not revel in destruction, He knows best what it
will take to turn His people around. In the end, the repentant people
who remain will be willingly led back to the Promised Land.
ONE
NATION AGAIN
After
the
Great Tribulation Yahweh
brings back repentant Yisra’ĕl,
it will be rejoined with
the remnant of Yehudah under the resurrected King David:
“And
speak to them, ‘Thus said the Master YHWH,
“See, I am taking the children of Yisra’ĕl from
among the
gentiles, wherever they have gone, and shall
gather
them from all
around, and I shall bring
them into their land. 22
“And I shall make them one
nation
in the land, on the mountains of
Yisra’ĕl. And one sovereign shall be sovereign over them all,
and
let them no
longer be two nations, and
let them no longer be
divided
into two reigns. 23
“And they shall no longer defile themselves with their idols,
nor
with their disgusting matters,
nor with any of their transgressions. And I shall save them from all
their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and I shall cleanse
them. And they shall be My people, and I be their Elohim, 24
while Dawid
My servant is sovereign over them. And they shall all have one
shepherd and and walk
in My
right-rulings and guard
My laws,
and shall do
them. 25
“And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Yaʽaqob
My servant, where your fathers dwelt. And they shall dwell in it,
they and their children and their children’s children,
forever,
and
My servant Dawid be their prince forever. 26
“And I shall make a covenant of peace with them –
an
everlasting
covenant it is with them. And I shall place them and increase them,
and shall place My set-apart place in their midst, forever. 27
“And My Dwelling Place shall be over them. And I shall be
their
Elohim, and they shall be My people. 28
“And the gentiles shall know that I, YHWH,
am setting Yisra’ĕl apart, when My set-apart place is in
their
midst - forever.” ’ ” Yehezqel
37:21-28
(see also Hoshea
1:11)
The
reconstituted nation of Yisra’ĕl, as well as the Promised
Land,
will undergo a tremendous restoration:
“Look,
the days are coming,” declares YHWH,
“that the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the
treader of
grapes him who sows seed. And the mountains shall drip new wine, and
all the hills melt. 14
“And I shall turn back the captivity of My people
Yisra’ĕl.
And
they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them. And they shall
plant vineyards and drink wine from them, and shall make gardens and
eat their fruit. 15
“And I shall plant them on their own soil, and
not uproot them any more from their own soil I have given
them,”
said YHWH
your Elohim!” Amos
9:13-15
The
desert will bloom, the people's hearts will be strengthened, and the
sick will be healed (Yeshayah
35:1-7).
The land will produce abundantly, the people will multiply, and the
old cities will be rebuilt (Yehezqel
36:8-12).
Yahweh will deliver them from their uncleannesses, undo the land's
desolation, and bless the fruit of the fields and the trees (Yehezqel
36:25-36).
Yisra’ĕl will be comforted, be given hope, and will finally
call
Yahweh “My Husband” (Hoshea
2:14-16).
SPIRITUAL
REFORMATION
Even
more importantly, Yisra’ĕl will undergo a spiritual
rejuvenation. Yirmeyah
31:31-34
provides an encouraging conclusion to the saga of Yisra’ĕl
and
Yehudah once they have repented and returned to the land:
“See,
the days are coming,” declares YHWH,
“when I shall make a new covenant with the house of
Yisra’ĕl and
with the house of Yehudah, 32
not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I
took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim, My
covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them,”
declares YHWH. 33
“For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of
Yisra’ĕl
after those days, declares YHWH: I
shall put My
Torah in their inward parts,
and write
it on
their
hearts. And I shall be their
Elohim, and they shall be My
people. 34
“And no longer shall they teach, each one his neighbour, and
each
one his brother, saying, ‘Know YHWH,’
for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of
them,” declares YHWH.
“For I shall forgive their crookedness, and remember their
sin no
more.”
(See also Yehezqel
37:26; Yirmeyah
50:5,20)
These
verses, quoted in Hebrews
8:8-12
and 10:16-17,
show that this is the same covenant that the Body of Messiah has
already made
with Yahweh. Rather than doing away with the Torah of Yahweh, the
Renewed
Covenant gives the people the means, not to merely obey it, but to
accept it and make it a part of their lives. Yahweh will give the
people of Yisra’ĕl and Yehudah new hearts, and they will
finally
be able to follow Yahweh consistently and have real relationships
with Him. Yahweh will forgive their sins, and Yisra’ĕl will
finally begin to be the witness to the rest of the world that Yahweh
intended her to be. (see Deuteronomy
4:5-8; Yeshayah
62:1-2)
Even
though Yahweh makes this covenant primarily with Yisra’ĕl and
Yehudah (Yirmeyah
31:31),
it is not exclusive. Through Yeshayahu, Yahweh shows that Gentiles who
submit themselves to Him can and will also make this covenant. Of
particular interest is the requirement that the Sabbath be kept by
those wishing to do this. (Yeshayahu
56:1-2, 6-8)
Interestingly,
despite Yahweh bringing the remnant of Yisra’ĕl out of the
countries of their scattering and their being ashamed of their
conduct, Yahweh will further sift His people to ensure that any
rebels against Him will not be allowed into the land. Apparently,
some will return from captivity but be prohibited from entering the
land due to their rebellion (Yehezqel
20:33-34, 37-38).
Finally,
Yehezqel
11:17, 19-21
foretells of Yisra’ĕl and Yehudah receiving from Yahweh a new
heart—a spiritual heart that will enable them to keep His
Commandments and Torah:
“Therefore
say, ‘Thus said the Master YHWH,
“And I shall gather you from the peoples, and I shall
assemble
you
from the lands where you have been scattered, and I shall give you
the land of Yisra’ĕl... 19
“And I shall give them one heart, and put
a new
spirit within you.
And I shall take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a
heart of flesh, 20
so that they walk
in My laws,
and guard
My right-rulings, and shall
do them. And they shall be My
people and I shall be their
Elohim. 21
“But to those whose hearts walk after the heart of their
disgusting matters and their
abominations, I shall recompense their deeds on their own
heads,”
declares the Master YHWH.”
Throughout
its history, the essential difficulty in Yisra’ĕl's
relationship
with Yahweh was one of the heart. Yahweh exclaims, “Oh,
that they had such a heart in them, to fear Me and to guard
all My
commands always, so that it
might be well with them and with
their
children forever!” Deuteronomy
5:29
In Hebrews
3:10,
Yahweh again identifies this problem: “Therefore
I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘They always go
astray in their heart,
and they have not known My ways.”
The
heart or spirit of a man is the center of his thought, reason, and
motivation. Because of human nature, the natural – unconverted
- “The
heart is crooked
above all, and desperately sick – who shall know
it?” Yirmeyah
17:9.
It has an innate,
powerful pull toward the self, always making
evaluations based on what it perceives as good for the individual
regardless of the effect on others. Humanity has had approximately
6,000 years of such self-centered and destructive living, proving
that man is simply unable to govern himself for very long. He needs
direction and leadership from another – divine - source.
The
First Covenant that Yahweh made with Yisra’ĕl was a good
agreement as far as it went, because all of Yahweh's works are good.
The problem was not with its terms, but with the people
who made it (Hebrews
8:7-8, 10).
They lacked the right heart that would have allowed them to follow
Yahweh truly and obey His Laws. Yahweh, though, will give a new heart
- a new spirit - to repentant Yisra’ĕlites, along with any
others
who desire to covenant with Him.
This
"new spirit" is the Spirit of Yahweh—the Ruach haQodesh
(see also Yirmeyah
32:37-42; Yehezqel
36:26-27; 37:14;
39:29;
Yoel 2:28-29).
It is the same spirit that Yahushua told His disciples they would
receive, the power that would allow them - through their words and
especially through the conduct of their lives - to be witnesses of
Yahweh (Acts
1:8;
see Luke
24:49).
It is a spirit "of power
and of love and of self-control."
(2
Timothy 1:7)
- a mind that is balanced because Yahweh's concerns reside at its
core. It is a mind inclined to obey Yahweh and to seek Him as the
only Source of true solutions in a world that does not have the means
or inclination to live in a way that is good for everybody and good
eternally.
A
MODEL NATION
As
Yisra’ĕl becomes Yahweh's model nation, due to her new heart
and
spirit, the rest of the world will see that Yahweh's way - including
His commandments, statutes, and judgments - produce peace and
abundance. It is the nature of Yahweh's laws that, because of their
Source, they bring good, prosperity, health, abundance, peace, and
contentment (Deuteronomy
4:5-8).
Yet, it takes the same spirit – heart - as the Lawgiver for
one
to
understand and keep the laws in their true spiritual intent.
Yisra’ĕl's righteous example will be so striking that the
rest of
humanity will desire to live the same way and will seek, not only
Yahweh's Torah, but Yahweh Himself:
“Thus
said YHWH
of hosts, ‘Peoples shall yet come, inhabitants of many
cities, 21
and the inhabitants of the one go to another, saying, “Let us
earnestly go and pray before YHWH,
and seek YHWH
of hosts. I myself am going.” 22
‘And many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek יהוה of
hosts in Yerushalayim, and to pray before YHWH.’ 23
“Thus said YHWH
of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all languages of the
nations
take hold, yea, they shall take hold of the edge of the garment of a
man, a Yehudite,
saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that Elohim is
with
you.” ’ ” Zecharyah
8:20-23
This
is also foretold in Yehezqel
37:27-28:
“And My Dwelling Place shall be over them. And I shall be
their
Elohim, and they shall be My people. 28
“And the
gentiles shall know that I, YHWH,
am setting Yisra’ĕl apart,
when My set-apart place is in their midst –
forever.”
’ ”
Yahweh,
then, will chastise, humble, restore, and bless Yisra’ĕl with
a
new heart (spirit) so that she can show the rest of the world how to
live. Kepha (Peter) writes,
“YHWH is not slow in regard to the promise, as some count
slowness,
but is patient toward us, not
wishing that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance.” 2
Peter 3:9
Throughout
the many prophecies concerning Yisra’ĕl, the trustworthiness
of
Yahweh is revealed at every turn. Because of Yahweh's trustworthiness
to His promises, He will act to overshadow the Exodus from Egypt with
a Second Exodus. Due to His trustworthiness, the tides of history
will again turn, and He will redeem His people from the depths of
desperation and raise them to new heights. The nations that oppress
Ya'aqob will themselves be plundered and enslaved.
Because
Yahweh is trustworthy to His purpose for Yisra’ĕl, she will
be
humbled and brought to repentance. He will not completely destroy her
but will do what is necessary to bring her to the spiritual condition
and physical location that He planned from the beginning. Though His
promises span thousands of years, Yahweh's faithful purpose will
never fail!
|
