What
is it that identifies us as being of the progeny of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob? Surely there must be some
birthmark that the scriptures point to, that reveals this biblical God-given
relationship between this generation and the lives of the forefathers of 4,000
years ago! The covenants that YHVH made
with our natural forbearers is that they would have multitudes of descendents
like the sand of the sea, dust of the earth and the stars of heaven, too
numerous to number. The prophets
reiterated these promises of the multiplicity. How will we ever know how “great
the day of Jezreel” (Yah’s sowing, Hos. 1:10), if the descendents are only
a handful of Jews, in this generation, who are easily countable? Will there always be a suppressed doubt in
the back of bible believers’ minds that YHVH was not true to His word and
faithful to the covenant of multiplicity? Or will His Word be regarded simply
as containing numerous figures of speech?
These questions, although not at the hub of this letter, do raise
another: who are to inherit all the blessings and promises that were given to
these natural forefathers and to their offspring? The Abrahamic seed, that is Israel (both
houses), has an inheritance to claim, and other promises from YHVH that
specifically belong to them. But if we
have lost our ancestral line, how are we going to claim those promises? What
proof do we (Jews or Ephraimites) have that will allow us to possess the
inheritance, especially at a time when there are other people groups who are
contesting our rights vis-à-vis that inheritance?
The apostle Paul warns us that we are not going to be able
to trace our ancestry through a biological tree of the generations, and if we
try it will only result in strife and contention: “…nor give heed to fables
and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly
edification which is by faith” (1 Tim 1:4). And again, “But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies,
contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and
useless” (Titus 3:9). Is there any
one on this earth who can trace their genealogy back 150 generations? There may be a handful of Jews today who can
possibly go back 2,000 years or 50 generations, but still that is no
proof. Of course an easy way out of this
would be to just blurt, “God knows”, which is true - yet the ones who really
need to know are the rightful inheritors themselves.
Let
us see if we can find some scriptural ‘identification papers’ that are
necessary to stake a claim on the inheritance, or the riches of the promises.
The above quote from Timothy already gave us a clue.
What
was inherent in the forefathers that marked them and set them apart, and made
them special in the eyes of their Covenant Maker? They all seemed to have one thing in common -
they believed YHVH, utilizing the ability that was in them called “faith”. However, even though this characteristic was
in the life of the father (Abraham), it was not going to be made fully manifest
in his offspring until after the redemption. “For I would not, brethren, that you should be
ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that
blindness in part is happened to Israel [Judah-Israel], until the
fullness of the Gentiles/nations [Ephraim-Israel] (Gen 48:19) be come
in. And so all Israel [both houses]
shall be saved: as it is written, there shall come out of Zion
YHVH
said, “I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, for, lo, I will
command, and I will sift the house of Israel Israel ) will be
well mixed into the nations but YHVH will not lose track of any one “segment”
or “part” (which is what that Hebrew word means in this context). YHVH was saying, then, that even though Israel will
lose its identity and will be scattered in the nations, through divine
providence they would somehow continue to remain in groupings of their own kin
(as depicted by the popular cliché, “birds of a feather flock together”).
Isaiah also prophesied that YHVH would “cause
them that come of Jacob to take root” and that, “Israel
“And he [Abraham] received the sign of
circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being
uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all those who have the faith,
though they be not circumcised” (Rom 4:11). We know from biblical history
that the ten tribes of the northern kingdom did not keep Torah and consequently
were not circumcised. But yet the
promises remain to all the seed, “for the promise, that he should be the
heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed through the law, but
through the righteousness of faith” (Rom 4:13). Active faith, like that of
Abraham’s, seems to be the birthmark that we are looking for in order to
identify the inheritors of the promises.
“Therefore
it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might
be sure to all the seed [sperm], not only to those who are of the law [the
Jews, who have the faith, but in some, as is true of all Israel, it is still
hidden], but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the
father of us all” (Rom. 4:16). “Therefore know that only those who are
of faith are sons of Abraham” (Gal 3:7).
“And if you are Christ’s [in other words, have the anointing of
the Spirit of God], then are you [recognized as] Abraham's seed, and
heirs according to the promise” (Gal 3:29). Being anointed with the Spirit
does not make you one of his natural offspring, because that interpretation
would eliminate and make of non-effect all the prophecies and blessings from
the Tanach. The Apostle, in writing to
the Galatians, was not contradicting himself, but in fact was staying
consistent with what he had written to the believers in Rome . His writings line up with many Old
Testament prophecies about the Spirit of God anointing the Abrahamic seed. “Fear
not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I
will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I
will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon your offspring: And
they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses” (Isa. 44:2-4). Here we see that the Spirit that was promised
in the new covenant to the two houses of Israel (Judah and Ephraim), is
given as an anointing (“Christ”) to the believers, through the same faith that
was in their forefather Abraham. This anointing is another of the identifying
marks, or second witness if you will, to being of the Abrahamic seed.
Scriptures
show that faith was always evident to some degree in the progeny (see Hebrews
11), but remained mostly dormant. It was not seen in the multitudes until after
the redemption, at which time it came to the fore through the preaching of the
Gospel of the Kingdom and Yeshua as Messiah. “But
before faith came or appeared, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the
faith which should afterwards be revealed [meaning, the unveiling of its
hidden presence]” (Gal. 3:23). The full
potential of the seed is already inherent within it, but it has to “fall into
the ground” and to receive a scent of water, before it can shoot forth. Faith was already in Abraham and his progeny,
but it had to wait until YHVH would send His Son with His faith to accomplish
redemption for His kinsmen from the Abrahamic family. Only after the faith of Yeshua was made
manifest to His brethren, could the faith that was in them become evident so
that they could receive the promises, especially of the Spirit.
Moreover
whom he did predestinate [sperm of Abraham], them he also called
[Isaac/Jacob], and whom he called, them he also justified [those who
have the faith of Abraham]: and whom he justified, them he also glorified [Israel ]”
(Rom 8:30). Sing, O you heavens; for
YHVH has done it: shout, you lower parts of the earth: break forth into
singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for YHVH has redeemed
Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel
Our
father Abraham “did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief; but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded
that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform” (Rom 4:20-21).
I
pray that we, like our forefather, will not stumble nor stagger in unbelief, but
be strong in the faith, especially now that we have been “sealed with that
holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest [or down payment] of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession [all
Israel], unto the praise of His [YHVH’s Son] glory” (Eph.
1:13-14).
Ephraim
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