Q:You say that we are still obligated to
keep the Law because the Torah (or Mosaic) covenant is everlasting. But the Law
never applied to gentiles, even when it was first given. Yahweh only mandated it for the Jews, and that for their hardness of heart.
A:Oy vey, is this line of thought ever
common, but as we shall see, it doesn't hold water. The facts are that Israel
was composed of twelve tribes which were later divided into "two houses"
(Ephraim and Judah), and the Torah (or Law) was given to all twelve tribes
--both houses of Israel-- and not to Judah alone. Next, the Torah was proclaimed
as a statute forever (see Deuteronomy 29:29
and Psalm 119:44), affirming it as eternally
binding for all twelve tribes. Now the question is--where are the twelve
tribes?
In Genesis chapter 22, Yahweh promises
Abraham that He will multiply his descendants exponentially. He says:
Genesis 22:17. "Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I
will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand
which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.
[18] In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you
have obeyed My voice."
The Hebrew word translated "seed" is
ZERA, and means "sowing, seed, descendants,
offspring, children, and posterity."(1) Its
equivalent in Greek is "SPERMA"(2) and the Latin Vulgate uses
the word "semen", making it absolutely clear that the text is speaking of
physical people, and not just some generic "spiritual seed" or
descendants.
Genesis 35:11. Elohim said also to (Jacob/Israel), "I
am El Shaddai (the Almighty); be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company
of nations shall come from you, and sovereigns shall come forth from
you"
This promise experienced fulfillment in
ancient times as Moses attests later on.
Deuteronomy 1:10. Yahweh your
Elohim has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven
in number.
Conservative Biblical scholars estimate that
the ancient Israelites numbered anywhere in the company of two to three million
when Moses made this declaration, which serves to make his words in the very
next verse most astounding.
[Verse
11] "May Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers,
increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you, just as He has
promised you!"
Taking Mosheh's (or Moses') words in the
literal PASHAT and multiplying two to three-million by one-thousand, we
find that an excess of two-billion would be full bloodline descendants of the
twelve tribes today, had Israel not been dispersed. Seeing, however, that Israel
has been dispersed and has married the sons and daughters of the nations, the
number of human beings with a percentage of Israelite blood is increased
many-fold.
Genesis 28:14. And they shall become your seed
(sperm/ZERA), as the dust of the earth, and you shall breach forth to the sea
(or west) and to the east, to the north and to the south. And in YOUR SEED
shall ALL THE FAMILIES of the earth be MIXED
(NIVRECHU). --Hebrew Text (3)
The Hebrew word, "NIVRECHU" means
"mixed" or "grafted" just as much as it connotes blessing,(4) and appears only three times in the Tanakh, all in association
with the Abrahamic blessing of multiplicity (see Genesis 12:3;
18:18; 28:14). The means by which this mixing or ingrafting would
occur is, in turn, revealed in Jacob's blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh,
Joseph's two sons.
Genesis 48:16b. Let them increase to a multitude in the midst of
the earth..... [19b] (Manasseh) also will become a people and he also will
be great, but his younger brother (Ephraim) will be greater than he, and his
descendants shall become the multitude of gentiles (MELOH HAGOYIM).
The Hebrew verb translated "grow" or
"increase" is DAGAH, meaning "to multiply or
increase",(5) and is related to
"DAG",(6) the Hebrew word for "fish".
The Artscroll Tanakh renders this verse as "may they proliferate
abundantly like fish within the land," with the understanding that
just as fish multiply abundantly under the sea, so would the Israelites multiply
abundantly on the face of the earth. But there is more to this than meets the
eye, because just as fish multiply unnoticed under the sea, so would the
Israelites multiply unnoticed on the earth, under the veil of assimilation, even
as they have they done to this day. A prime example of this is the "dwindling"
Jewish population in America. At the close of World War Two there were
six-million identifying Jews living in the United States, and although their
numbers should now exceed 18-million in accordance with the laws of natural
increase, they have been reduced to 5.5 million instead. What is happening,
according to one writer, is that each day approximately 144 Jews marry non-Jews,
which amounts to an average of 52,560 Jewish/Gentile marriages every year. This
intermarriage and conversion does not rid them of their Jewish blood, only their
Jewish identity -- they are still descended from Jewish families, which means
they are still Jewish by nationality, but no longer by religion; they still have
Jewish heritage, but within the next several generations, their offspring will
likely not know it. Consequently, the number of people with a percentage
of Jewish blood actually continues to increase under a veil of assimilation, and
this has been happening for many thousands of years. The same is also true of
the ten northern tribes (Israel/Ephraim), except here it has occurred on an even
much larger scale.
Josephus, the famous Jewish historian, wrote
in the late first century:
"There are but two
tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are
beyond Euphrates until now and are an immense multitude and not to
be estimated by numbers."(7)
Many authors have written scholarly works
detailing the Israelite ancestry of the European peoples, but not all of the
tribes went west.(8) And so we also have the
Shilong tribe of northeast India who are descendants of the tribe of Manasseh,
and have recently been granted the right of return to Israel. Then there are the
Ching-min of Tibet, the Kozars, the Karaites (some of whom live in Israel to
this day), the Samaritans,(9) the Berbers of north
Africa, the Shindai tribe of Japan, and various American Indian groups, all
descendants, to varying extents, of the ten northern tribes. Meanwhile we have
the Falacias from Ethiopia who trace their lineage to Judah, and the
east-central and south African Lemba who have many Jewish traditions, and whom
DNA tests have proven to be Levitical members of the house of Judah and
descendants of Aaron.
Noted two-house advocate, Dr. John Hulley,
and author of "Ephraim In Deed: The Lost Tribes And Their Fulfillment Of
Prophecy", in fact, determined through mathematical calculations that only
2-3% of humanity, at most, does not have Israelite blood (or Abraham's genetics
through Isaac). This brings us, then, to Ishmael, who was circumcised alongside
his father (Genesis 17:25,26), thereby entering the
Abrahamic covenants of promise(11) -- the same Ishmael of
whom Elohim said, "I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and
will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make
him become a great people" (Gen.
17:20).
THE ARABIC
FACTOR
"One of the
tongues (spoken on the day of Shavuot or Pentecost), interestingly enough, was
Arabic (Acts 2:11). And so we see here that the Good News and the Torah were
given in Arabic BY
Yahweh some 600 years
BEFORE REVELATION WAS SUPPOSEDLY GIVEN TO MOHAMMED in something called the
Koran. When Yahweh spoke both the
Torah and the testimony in Arabic, it was to bring Arabs into Israel's glorious
commonwealth and eternally secured national destiny."(12)
"It is
Yahweh's expressed and explicit
desire to affirmatively answer Abraham's prayer/declaration found in Genesis
17:18... (and) to re-make Ishmael's offspring into an identifiable part of the
people of Israel, (correcting Abraham's fleshly error) by Ishmaelites joining
the people of Israel through personal trust in Israel's Messiah
Yahshua. So while the outworking of
messianic redemption and national identity would initially bypass Ishmael's
offspring, the Great Tribulation, and ultimately the Millennial Earthly Reign,
will see many of Ishmael's children becoming Israel.....as He makes Ishmael part
of the "one new man", (and) Jacob and Ishmael dwell together in the
expanded tents of Shem.... We see an enactment of this principle in Genesis 25:9
where the death of Abraham reunites Isaac and Ishmael after Ishmael had been
cast out (of the covenant) into the wilderness of the nations. In like manner it
is the death of Messiah Yahshua, Son
of Abraham, that brings these two sons together as they weep over Him who had
been pierced/killed (Zechariah 12:10)....
"It is interesting to further
note that when Ishmael dies in Genesis 25:17,
Yahweh states that he also was
'gathered to his people'. This reference apparently makes no
distinction between Abraham being gathered to Abraham's people of promise, later
known as Israel, and Ishmael's people, later to be scattered in many Hamitic and
Japhethic lands. Both Isaac and Ishmael were said to be gathered to the SAME
PEOPLE!....
"Like Israel, Ishmael's heirs
would be divided into 12 tribes, with 12 tribal leaders (Genesis 17:20).... Is
it (not) possible then that the 24 elders of Revelation 4:4 represent....the
eternal bliss of Israel's 12 tribes, as they are joined by Ishmael's 12 tribes,
united in the Father's hand, as millennial glory reigns
supreme.
"If that gathering was a past
gathering together in the earth, how much greater shall be the final gathering
THROUGH the life of Messiah as the twelve tribes of Ishmael's descendants, join
the twelve tribes of the restored Tabernacle of David?"(13)Now my question to you is whether you
will refuse the Torah merely because you're not
sure if you are an Israelite? And if you can somehow manage
to get that obstacle course cleared, then try these:
Exodus 12:37. And the
children of Israel set out from Rameses to Sukkoth, about six hundred thousand
men on foot, besides the little ones. [38a] And a MIXED MULTITUDE went up with
them too.
[Vs. 43a] And
Yahweh said to Mosheh and Aharon... [49]
"There is one Torah and one judgment, both for the native born and for
the stranger who sojourns among you." (also see Numbers
15:16)
Well -they say- we're not sojourning among
them, so we still don't have to do it. Okay, you might have refused to
sojourn among them, but what does Yahweh say about you in that
case? THE FATE OF GENTILE NATIONS
NOT FOLLOWING TORAH
In Hebrew idiom "GOYIM" or gentiles
not following the Torah are known, quite simply, as "dogs". The first
time we find this terminology used is in Yahweh's own words, warning of the
slaying of the firstborn among the Egyptians.
Exodus 11:6. There shall be a
great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as has never been or ever will
be again. [7] But against any of the children of Israel no dog shall move its
tongue, against man or beast, so that you know that
Yahweh makes distinction between Egypt and
Israel.
So what happened to the firstborn of the
Egyptian gentiles who did not join themselves to the Children of Israel as part
of the mixed multitude? They were slain by the death messenger, of course. Oh
-they say- but we're not Egyptians, so its different. Well, my Scriptures say in
Hosea 9:3,5 that "Ephraim shall RETURN
TO EGYPT, and EAT UNCLEAN FOOD.... (and forget about) the Sabbaths and Feasts
of
Yahweh."
So if you insist on disobeying the Torah and eating pork
and keeping SUNDAY, Xmas, Easter, and Lent, and this Scripture still isn't
talking about you..... Well okay, but the Egyptians weren't the only dogs. Under
these circumstances, it appears as though you may be a Philistine or
Palestinian.
1 Samuel 17:43. And the
Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks?"
And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
David says:
Psalm 22:16. Dogs have
surrounded me; the assembly of the unrighteous have encircled Me..... [20]
Deliver my life from the sword, from the power of the
dog.
Oh -they say- but we're not Palestinians
either. Well, I'm glad to hear it, but Yahshua Himself applies the term "dogs"
to gentiles in general (see Matthew 7:6; 15:22-28; Mark
7:27,28) while the apostle Paul in Philippians chapter three,
warns against dogs (gentiles) and the concision (or Jews) in
contrast.
Philippians 3:2. Beware of
dogs-of evil workers-and beware of the
concision.
Err, ah, oh, well -they say- we don't know
what you're talking about, because we're not gentiles--we're the church. Well,
I'm sorry, but if, after all this, you still insist on ignoring the Creator's
clear-cut instructions, and yet claim to be his people on top of this, then by
all appearances it seems that you must be a "dog" who has infiltrated the
assembly, and as such, qualify for the appellation: "RAVAGING WOLF" (see
Matthew 7:15; John 10:12; Acts
20:29).
Revelation 22:15. Outside (the Kingdom) are the DOGS....
and the idolaters, and everyone who loveth and maketh a
lie.
Revelation 21:9. And one of the
seven messengers (said) "Come, I shall show you the bride, the
Lamb's wife." [10] And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high
mountain, and showed me the great city, Renewed Jerusalem,... [12] having a
great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates, twelve messengers, and
names written on them, which are those of the TWELVE TRIBES OF THE CHILDREN OF
ISRAEL.
There are ONLY TWELVE GATES into the city of
Renewed Jerusalem--one for each tribe of Israel--and surrounding the city is a
great and high wall. What is the purpose of a wall but to prevent unauthorized
entry? So if you are indeed a "gentile at heart" (either spiritually or by
bloodline) and are not sojourning among the children of Israel by keeping the
Torah, how will you gain admittance?
Luke 13:24. Strive to enter
through the narrow gate, because many -I say to you- shall seek to enter in and
shall not be able. [25] When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut
the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying,
"Master, Master, open for us", and He shall answer and say to you,
"I do not know you, where you are from." [26] Then shall you begin to
say, "We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our
streets." [27] But He shall say, "I say to you I do not know you, where
you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of LAWLESSNESS. [28] Verily
verily I say unto you, There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the reign of Elohim, and
yourselves thrown outside."
Matthew 5:17. DO NOT
think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I DID NOT come to
destroy but to ACCOMPLISH.... [20] And I say unto you that unless your
righteousness EXCEEDS that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means
enter into the reign of
Yahweh.
Selah -- Pause and consider.
Footnotes:
1. Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament (Baker and
Carpenter); p.304, Strong's Heb. #2233
2. Strongs; Grk. #4690
3. hyhw
]urz rpuk {rah hxrpw Ve'hayah zerok ke'aphar ha-eretz
ve'ehparatsah [And he becomes] [seed of you] [as
dust of] [the earth] [and you breach forth]
wkrbnw ]b lk thpcm hmdah
]urzbw Ve'nivrechu bekah kol mishpachot
ha-adamah ve'bazerok [and they are mixed] [in you] [all]
[families of] [the ground] [in your seed]
4. "There is ..... an opinion
shared by Rashbam, Chizkuni, Da'as Zekeinum, and quoted by Tur that the verb
(nivrecu) is related to the root, barak, as in the Mishnaic term, mavreek,
meaning to "intermingle or graft." (cf Kelaim 7:1, Sotah 43a). ..... This
interpretation is inspired by the fact that nowhere else besides (the Abrahamic
blessing) do we find barak in the sense of blessing in the niphal conjugation,
while in the sense of "grafting" it is common in that form." (Orthodox Jewish
Artscroll Tanakh Vol. 1, p. 432) Also see Gal. 3:29, Rom. 11:13-17
5. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Vol. I, p. 401 #H1711
6. Strongs Heb. #1709
7. Josephus, Antiquities Of The Jews XI.5.133
8. Wooten, Batya Ruth; Messianic Israel Ministries, PO Box 700217, St.
Cloud FL 34770 <www.mim.net>
Esposito, Don; The Chosen People;
Congregation of YHWH Jeru- salem; PO Box 832, Carteret NJ
<congregationofyhwhjerusalem.com>
9. "Mentioned in 2 Kings 17:29 as 'the people of Samaria', it is
customary to refer the Samaritans in the passage to the colonists brought by the
king of Assyria in place of the deported Israelites; but.....in Hezekiah's time
(2Chr. 30:11), in Josiah's time (34:9), and even in Jeremiah's (Jer. 41:5),
there were Israelites in the Northern Kingdom (Samaria) who clung to the worship
of Yahweh at Jerusalem.....All the indications are that the depopulation (by the
Assyrians) was not thorough and was limited to the city of Samaria (the capital
of the northern tribes) and its vicinity......The Samaria of Josephus, indeed,
embraced what was formerly the territory of Ephrayim, but the Cuthaean
Samaritans "possessed only a few towns and villages of this large area" and
western Manasseh......The repeopling was not done all at once..... Their blood
would become more and more Hebraized by the addition of renegade Jews and by the
inter-marriage with surrounding Israelites, who would find among them the
familiar worship of former times."(10)
10. The New Unger's Bible Dictionary, p. 1117, Moody Press, Chicago '
11. While it is in Isaac that Abraham's seed is promised to be called
(Gen. 21:12), Ishmael is not completely removed from the picture. All
that happens is that Isaac is accounted as the firstborn (just as happens with
Jacob and Esau, and Ephraim and Manasseh later on) and Ishmael is sent into
assimilation (much like Ephraim) as depicted by he and Hagar's departure into
the wilderness.
12. Koniuchowsky, Moshe; The Full Restoration Of All Israel Series,
Part 26, Torah For All Israelite Nations, <http://yourarmstoisrael.org/
Articles_new/restoration/?page=26>
13. Koniuchowsky, Restoration Of Israel Part 24, Ishmael's Sons In
Israel <http://yourarmstoisrael.org/Articles_new/restoration/?page=24>
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