Judah's Plea

Shalom Fellow Israelite,

This next week President Obama will be coming to Israel. He is just another of the long line of national  leaders who are set to bring some resolutions to the various Middle East conflicts (which are only compounding), and in particular to Israel's impasse with the Palestinians.  However, unknowingly these world leaders are attempting to accomplish the work of an enemy whose desire is to diminish the identity of the Jewish people. 

There are many so-called Christian nations, there are fifty or so Muslim nations, so why can there not be one Zionist, Jewish nation?  According to Scripture the first of the nations that YHVH gathers is the stick/nation of Judah (see Ezekiel 37:16). Has He brought the Jews back to the land, established them as His witness and has preserve them through all the turmoil, wars and terror attacks for nought?

When the Almighty declared through the prophet Hosea that He would not have mercy on the other house, the House of Ephraim, He pronounced in the same breath: “Yet I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them… and will not save them by bow, nor by sword or battle, by horses or horsemen" (Hos. 1:7). Judah is a nation today simply by the faithfulness of YHVH their Elohim.  We know that Satan does not want this Jewish stick to exist in any form, let alone as a nation.  Ephraimites, you are the second witness/stick or nation that YHVH is gathering at this point in time. I know your heart’s desire is to return to the Land, but please consider something, your witness is different than your brother Judah’s.  You, at this time are out before the eyes of the nations in which you reside.  Your testimony is the new creation life that has resurrected you out of the graves of forgetfulness, much like Joseph who was taken out of his prison and was lifted up in the land of Egypt - to be second only to Pharaoh, ultimately to be his brothers’ “savior”. 

We must be our brothers’ keepers and help them maintain their Jewishness as a nation.  The Israelis feel that the very reason for the existence of the State is being undermined, and are now resorting to maintaining that status at all costs in the only way they know how, and that is to compromise land for “identity”.  It is not so much a “land for peace” issue any more. Suddenly everyone seems to have awakened to the fact that the Muslim propagation is such that it endangers the existence of the Jewish State, not militarily, but demographically.  Thus, the attempts at negotiations, which are supposed to resolve the complexity of our situation here, are actually not about peace but about “identity”.  Therefore the supposition that the Judeans would be more receptive to having Ephraimites come and live here, has to be put on ‘hold’ because if that were the case what would happen to the uniqueness of Judah’s testimony?  It would be swallowed up by the “second stick”. As things are, it is already a struggle to maintain a majority in the midst of a fast growing Muslim population. It is therefore understandable that the welcome mat to Ephraim may not be rolled out that quickly. There is also the concern that Christians are ‘becoming’ Ephraimites so as to convert more Jews to Christianity. 

In light of all of this we are in great need of wisdom from above to discern the times, and to know where the Elohim of all Israel is in His prophetic scheme.  If you come over here to live, before a door is open, you may find yourself having to deal with rejection and that can lead to bitterness and other unloving spirits.  Ephraimites, you have His life and Kingdom within you, learn to rule your own being, your family and in your communities, so that when the time comes to return you will be prepared.  YHVH will also prepare Judah for our future union.  Please, do not get me wrong, if YHVH is admonishing you to come over do not disobey or be discouraged; but be aware of present conditions in the Land.  The Ephraimites who live here have seen many come and go.  It is sad to bid farewell, and we do wish that all those who want to stay could do so, but the laws, at least at this point, are not in our favor.  So until such a time when they change, we have an opportunity and an obligation to love our brothers and to support their cause to exist as a Jewish nation. There are those in Judah who know a little about the Ten Lost Tribes, but need a “sign” to become more confident that this is for real, so much so that they feel that they have an obligation to help us as well.

The Ephraimites also have a big job out in the nations, as the Messiah is still searching for His treasure, a great part of which is still hidden in the Earth: “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says YHVH” (Jer. 31:20).  Those little lost and loved orphans out there need to know that “in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people,' There it shall be said to them, 'You are sons of the living Elohim”  (Hos. 1:10).  They need to hear again: “I am a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is My firstborn” (Jer. 31:9).  They need the love of their heavenly Father to heal their wounds from rejection and alienation.

However, what we need out in the nations is unity of vision, and a sanctified Ephraimite priesthood, one nation, one in Messiah.

Ephraim