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               From: James Trimm  <jstrimm@h...>
               Date: Tue Aug 15, 2000 4:12pm
               Subject: The Two Houses
 

               My personal thoughts on the two houses:

               After the time of Solomon the Kingdom of Isreal split into two kingdoms
               known as the two Houses of Israel.  The Southern Kingdom became known as
               the Kingdom of Judah.  The Northern Kingdom became known as the Kingdom of
               Israel.  This Northern Kingdom was also often called "Ephraim" after its
               most promenant tribe.  2Kings 17 tells us of how the Assyrian kiing Sargon
               II took the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom captive in 723 BCE and
               resettled them so that "none was left except the tribe of Judah" (17:18).
               These came to be known as "the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel".  They were
               divorced by YHWH (Jer. 3:8 ) but there was yet a promise of an eventual
               reunion of the two houses of Israel ( Is. 11:11-12; Jer. 3:6-18; Hosea 1-3;
               Amos 9:8-10; Obad. 15-21; Micah 2:12-13; 5:3-15; Zech. 8:13; 9 & 10;
               Ezekiel 34-37 esp. 37 ).

               Part of the reason that the split took place is that Ephraim would not be
               under the authority of Judah.  As a result they rebeled and established
               their own authority, their own priests and their own sanctuary.  They also
               mixed the true religion of Torah with paganism.

               Recently research has been conducted by Orthodox Jewish Israeli scholars
               which traces the migrations of these Lost Ten Tribes.  Two of these
               scholars are John Hulley (Yochanan ben David) and Yair Davidy.

               John Hulley recently published a paper in the Israeli journal B'Or Ha'Torah
               (In the light of Torah) in which he traced the migrations of these "Lost
               Tribes" north west, accross the Bosphorus straits between the Mediturnian
               and the Black sea.

               Yair Davidy has written three books under the Rabbinic approbation of
               Orthodox Israeli Rabbi Abraham Feld.  These are The Tribes; Ephraim and
               Lost Israelite Identity.  Yair Davidy's thouroughly documented research has
               shown that the Lost Ten Tribes, which
               had been transplanted to the outskirts of Assyria came to be known as the
               Sakeans (they were previously known as Yitzakheans or in Aramaic Isakeans).
               These Sakeans are known to have migrated northwest and made their way into
               Europe to become the Scythians
               (S'kitheans) and Saxons (Saksons). Davidy's research has shown that other
               tribal groups of the Lost Ten Tribes also emerged in Europe under names
               similar to those of the Tribe of Israel, such as: Galics (Galileans); Danes
               (Dans); Cimereans (Simeons); Goths/Gots (Gads "Gad" is pronounced in Hebrew
               as "God").

               Dr. James Tabor of the Universtity of North Carolina has said:

                       Based on this and much additional research it can
                       be definitely be shown that significant portions of
                       the Lost Tribes migrated northwest, toward Europe
                       and are to be found today among the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic
                       and associated peoples.  In other words the tribes are
                       largely located today in the United States, Great Britain,
                       northwestern Europe, Australia, New Zealand and
                       other scattered areas.  They are primarily Protestant...
                       (Restoring Abrahamic Faith; James Tabor; page 46)

               Dr. Tabor has also said:

                       This is not the so-called "Anglo-Israel" theory of many
                       of the racist groups.  This is hard-core historical
                       research as to where these tribes actually migrated.
                       (Remarks on the Return of the Lost Tribes; James Tabor)

               As these Ephraimites migrated northwest into Euprope they brought their
               pagan gods and goddesses with them.  Thus the Babylonian goddess Ishtar
               became the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre   and Ba'al Gad became "God" .  They
               worshiped these pagan gods in temples they called "KIRKS" .

               These same people eventually became Christians.  As you will recall we
               noted in the last chapter that Pope Gregory wrote to Augustine the first
               missionary to the British Isles (C.E. 597):

                      Do not destroy the temples of the English gods; change them
                      to Christian churches. Do not forbid the "harmless" customs
                      which have been associated with the old religions;
                      consecrate them to Christian use.

               Thus the Anglo-Saxons continued to worship "God"; celebrate "Easter" and
               worship in their "Churches" (Kirks).

               It is by-and-large these western European peoples that eventually became
               Protestantsism.

               Now their is no shortage of Tanak passages which promise an eventual
               reunion of these two houses.  However it must be remembered, that the House
               of Israel was divorced by YHWH (Jer. 3:8 ) while Judah yet rules of YHWH (
               Hosea  11:12 ).  The hope of the House of Israel is the reunion of the two
               houses.  This is not accomplished, as some have taught, by merging these
               two houses on equal terms, and it is not accomplished by an "Ephraimite
               movement" that persists in doing its own independant thing appart from
               Judah since that was Ephraim's fatal error in the first place.

               One of the most powerful illustrations of the reunion of the two houses is
               to be found in the two sticks prophecy of Ezekiel 37:15-23:

                       15  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
                       16  Moreover, thou son of man,
                       take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah,
                       and for the children of Israel his companions:
                       then take another stick, and write upon it,  For Joseph,
                       the stick of Ephraim
                       and for all the house of Israel his companions:
                       17  And join them one to another into one stick;
                       and they shall become one in thine hand.
                       18  And when the children of thy people
                       shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not
                        shew us what thou meanest by these?
                       19  Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
                       Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph,
                        which is in the hand of Ephraim,
                       and the tribes of Israel his fellows,
                       and will put them with him,
                       even with the stick of Judah,
                       and make them one stick, and they
                        shall be one in mine hand.
                       20  And the sticks whereon thou writest
                       shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
                       21  And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
                       Behold, I will take the children of Israel
                       from among the heathen, whither they be gone,
                       and will gather them on every side,
                       and bring them into their own land:
                       22  And I will make them one nation in the land
                       upon the mountains of Israel;
                       and one king shall be king to them all:
                       and they shall be no more two nations,
                       neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms
                       any more at all.
                       23  Neither shall they defile themselves any more
                       with their idols, nor with their detestable things,
                       nor with any of their transgressions:
                       but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces,
                       wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them:
                       so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
                       (Ezek. 37:15-23)

               Notice that in this prophecy Judah is not joined to Ephraim, nor are the
               two sticks brought together on equal terms.  Instead Ephraim is joined to
               Judah.

               This is also illustrated in Zech. 8:23:

                       Thus saith the LORD of hosts;
                       In those days it shall come to pass,
                       that ten men shall take hold
                       out of all languages of the nations,
                       even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew,
                       saying,  We will go with you:
                       for we have heard that God is with you.
                       (Zech. 8:23)

               NOW LETS LOOK AT THE OLIVE TREE PARABLE OF ROMANS !!

               Who are the "Jews" and "Gentiles" of Rom. 9:24 (and Rom. 9-11)?

               Rom. 9 begins the contrast of the "Jews" and "Gentiles" by quoting Hosea
               2:25(23); 2:1 (1:10) in Rom. 9:25-26.  But if we look up the context of the
               people "which were not my people" which he calls "my people" in Hosea we
               find that they are the "children of Israel" (Hosea 2:1 ( 1:10)) as opposed
               to "the children of Judah" (Hosea 2:2 (1:11))  So if Paul is quoting Hosea
               in context and contrasting Jews and Gentiles (Rom. 9:24) using Hosea 2:1-2
               (1:10-11) then the "Jews" of Rom. 9:24 are the "Childern of Judah" of Hosea
               2:2 (1:11)
               and the "Gentiles" of Rom. 9:24 are the "children of Israel" of Hosea 2:1
               (1:10).  If this is true then as this contrasting pair advances into Rom.
               Chapter 11 the two trees are the two Houses.

               This is also clear from Rom. 9:32 which quotes Is. 8:14 as applying to both
               of the houses of Israel.

               (This reasoning carries on thru Romans 11 M'LOA HAGOYIM = "a multitude of
               nations"/"fullness of the Gentiles" (Gen. 48:19 = Rom. 11:25).   The word
               "etz" in Hebrew which is the word for "stick" in the two sticks prophecy of
               Ezek. 37 also means "tree" tieing in with two trees in Rom. 11.  In Ezek.
               37 the two sticks are the two Houses of Israel.)

               (The term GOYIM ("gentiles" or "nations") is occasionally used in the Tanak
               to describe the House of Israel as oposed to the House of Judah (see Gen.
               48:19 & Is. 9:1 for example).

               So the "Jews and Gentiles" of Rom. 9 are not Jews and non-Hebrews but Jews
               and Ephraimites.

               James Trimm
 
 

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