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POSTED 15 NOVEMBER, 2002
The
"Ephraimite Error": Critical Errors
by
J.K. McKee
editor@tnnonline.net
Many of you who are
familiar with the Two-House teaching of Judah
and Ephraim have no doubt encountered, in some
form or another, “The Ephraimite Error” white
paper. This theological position paper is a
co-production of the Messianic Jewish Alliance
of America (MJAA) and the Union of Messianic
Jewish Congregations (UMJC), under the auspices
of the International Messianic Jewish Alliance (IMJA).[1]
The white paper is an analysis of the Two-House
teaching and basically says that it is in error,
flawed, and even heretical. These are the
conclusions drawn by most who read it.
TNN Online takes
issue with much of what has been said about the
Two-House teaching in “The Ephraimite Error”
paper. While we advocate a belief in the reunion
of all Israel, and a return of all Believers to
the truths of the Torah and their Hebraic Roots,
we also adhere to a widely evangelical Biblical
theology. As a third party that was not
referenced in the white paper, we offer our
analysis of it and the principal problems that
we have with it.[2]
The Issues at Hand
Whether proponents
admit it or not, espousing a belief in Judah and
Ephraim is controversial. It is controversial
first and foremost because we believe that there
are more Israelites—physical descendants of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—on Planet Earth than
the 14-15 million Jews of today. We believe that
there are possibly many more millions of people
on Planet Earth descended from the scattered
Northern Kingdom of Israel/Ephraim that was
taken into Assyrian exile in 721 B.C.E., which
never corporately returned to the Land of
Israel. We believe that in this hour the God of
Israel is gathering Judah, or Jewish people,
together with scattered Ephraim, many of whom
may be found in today’s Christianity, as one
people in Messiah Yeshua. We believe that God
has only one group of elect, the people of
Israel, composed of Judah and Ephraim and their
companions. We do not believe in a separate
entity called “the Church.” And, we believe that
all Israel is called to uphold and follow the
Torah—the constitution of Israel.
Much of this runs
completely contrary to what is taught in
mainstream Christianity and most of Messianic
Judaism. Evangelical Christianity widely teaches
that God has two groups of elect: Israel and
“the Church.” Most in Messianic Judaism believe
the same, and that as Jewish Believers that they
can co-belong to both assemblies. The vast
majority of Christians and many Messianic Jews
do not believe that non-Jewish Believers should
follow the Torah. And, because the Lord has two
groups of elect, it is often said that “the
Church” will be whisked away into Heaven prior
to the Seventieth Week of Israel in the
pre-tribulation rapture, leaving a faithless
Israel—considered to be the Jewish people—behind
to face the antimessiah/antichrist.
As it should be
stated quite candidly, TNN Online does reject
these beliefs.
Letting Others Define Ourselves
One of the biggest
problems that we have with “The Ephraimite
Error” white paper and with those who believe
what it says—or more likely those who read the
“Short Summary” of the white paper or hear
second hand reports from other people (who have
skimmed it)—is that others are defining what we
believe. We fully recognize that Messianic
Judaism is diverse and that broad-sweeping
statements about it should not be made,
but many in Messianic Judaism will often not
give the fledging Two-House movement this
same courtesy. Just as there is a wide
perspective of views and beliefs among those who
are a part of Messianic Judaism, so is there
among those who believe in (some form of) the
Two Houses of Israel. TNN Online is as unique as
the next ministry that promotes the restoration
of all Israel.
What Messianic Judaism Says About
Us & What TNN Believes
The following
statement comes from page 1 of “The Ephraimite
Error.” This is, in essence, what they believe
about us, and what we will be addressing in this
analysis:
“A movement
alternately known as the ‘Ephraimite,’
‘Restoration of Israel,’ ‘Two-Covenant Israel,’
or ‘Two House’ movement has recently gained
ground in some areas among ardent Christian
Zionists. Proponents of this movement
contend that members of the ‘born-again’
segment of the Christian church are, in fact,
actual blood descendants of the biblical
Israelites who were dispersed as a result of the
Assyrian invasion of the ancient kingdom of
Israel in 722 B.C.E.
“The movement's
proponents further argue that these dispersed
‘Israelites,’ or ‘Ephraimites,’ whose identities
have remained undisclosed even to themselves
until recent times, primarily settled in areas
now recognized as largely populated by
Anglo-Saxons. At times they argue that all
Anglo-Saxons, and even all of humanity, are
descended from these lost Ephraimites. At other
times, that only born-again Christians can claim
descent. In either case, Christians from
Anglo-Saxon lands, such as Great Britain,
Australia, Canada, and the United States, can
feel assured that they are most likely direct
blood descendants of the ancient people of
Ephraim.
“It is now
incumbent upon these members of ‘Ephraim,’ they
argue, to ‘accept their birthright’ and live as
members of Israel. They urge Gentile Christians
to keep the Torah in obedience to the Hebrew
scriptures, to strive to re-educate Jews and
other Christians about their new, ‘latter-day
prophecy,’ and to work toward the repatriation
of the land of Israel by their own number.”
Based on these three paragraphs,
there are indeed some truthful statements
concerning what TNN Online believes and
advocates concerning the reunion of all Israel:
1.
We do believe that many
non-Jewish Believers (“Christians”) may be
flesh-and-blood descendants of the Northern
Kingdom Israelites captured and dispersed by
Assyria in 722-721 B.C.E.
2.
We do believe that non-Jewish
Believers in Yeshua who are coming to a
knowledge of their Hebraic heritage and
should obey the Torah.
3.
We do believe that one day
people of the scattered House of
Israel/Ephraim will return to the Land of
Israel, just as the House of Judah has, in
fulfillment of critical end-time prophecies
such as Isaiah 11:14; Jeremiah 3:18, 30:3;
and Zechariah 10:7, 10.
However, there are
some mistruths in these statements as well, that
TNN Online as an advocate of the Two-House
teaching does not agree with:
1.
We do not
believe that every non-Jew or “Christian” is
a physical Israelite.
2.
We do not
believe that the scattered descendants of
the Northern Kingdom of Israel/Ephraim are
exclusively contained in areas populated by
the British, i.e., Anglo-Saxons and Celts,
or for that same matter, Northern Europeans.
Hearing Both Sides of the Story
We do not appreciate the fact
that the IMJA has written a rather vengeful
analysis of the Two-House teaching. They have
taken the viewpoints of a few, and applied them
to the many. Sadly, what has happened is that
the majority of people in Messianic Judaism, be
they Jewish or non-Jewish, have accepted “The
Ephraimite Error” analysis without looking into
the Two-House message further. The biggest
problem with those who read “The Ephraimite
Error” is that they usually fail to hear both
sides of this issue. People who read the white
paper usually do not take the time to read
anything else, and have often come to hasty
conclusions. As a result of this, many of us who
advocate a belief in the Two Houses of Israel,
feel slandered. We have been misrepresented. We
believe we have been treated unfairly and in a
spirit that is unbecoming of truly born again
Believers in Messiah Yeshua.
The Torah gives us very clear
instructions about not hearing both sides of an
issue and drawing conclusions in haste:
“You shall not bear a false
report; do not join your hand with a wicked man
to be a malicious witness. You shall not follow
the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify
in a dispute so as to turn aside after a
multitude in order to pervert justice;
nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his
dispute” (Exodus 23:1-3).
The Orthodox Jewish ArtScroll Chumash
commentary says this: “It is forbidden to
believe unverified gossip about another person.
This applies both to an individual, who is
forbidden to believe
[rh !Avl
[lashan hara], evil talk, and to a
judge, who is forbidden to listen to a disputant
unless the second party is present.”[3]
We are not to be a follower of
the majority so as to simply yield to the
majority in a dispute. We are not to simply
yield to what the “trend” or prevailing opinion
is. We are told quite plainly that we must hear
the whole case before passing judgment or
drawing a conclusion.
In the modern world, these
principles are, of course, extremely important
when dealing with civil cases. In politics, we
would all agree that before establishing a
position on issues such as universal heath care,
a missile defense shield, or how to deal with
terrorism, that we should subject ourselves to a
thorough examination of the issues at hand. So
in the realm of Biblical faith, why do many
not follow this pattern? Why do those who
oppose the Two-House teaching, the masses in
Christianity and Messianic Judaism, not examine
both sides of the issue? Why do they violate
moral principles in the Torah that they both
claim to uphold? This does not mean that they
have to necessarily agree with teaching of
Israel’s reunification, but too many have not
acted fairly or reasonably, and have simply
disregarded it without even considering it.
We may never know the answers to
these questions. But one thing can be certain;
God will hold the masses that follow the
majority accountable for not hearing our side of
the issue. If we have indeed been treated
unfairly, He will deal with them.
The Critical Errors
As stated previously, this
article is not intended to address every issue
presented by “The Ephraimite Error” and its
handling of the Two-House teaching. These are
addressed in various articles and publications
by our ministry. TNN Online has established
six critical errors that we have with the
white paper:
1.
No alternative interpretation
of the two sticks prophecy of Ezekiel 37 is
given
2.
The belief that we teach that
non-Israelites cannot be saved
3.
The idea that the Two-House
teaching is a reworked form of British-Israelism
4.
The Apostolic Scriptures do not at all speak
of the Two Houses of Israel
5.
Obeying the Torah is optional and is thus
not necessary for non-Jews
6.
The Two-House teaching and its proponents
represent a dangerous threat to the State of
Israel
Error #1: No alternative
interpretation of the two sticks prophecy of
Ezekiel 37 is given
In “The Ephraimite
Error” white paper the IMJA offers no viable
alternative interpretation of the two sticks
prophecy involving the House of Judah and the
House of Israel/Joseph/Ephraim. The ignorance of
this is so bad, that in some cases, those who
have read the white paper or Short Summary
version actually deny that there are prophecies
in Scripture involving the Two Houses of Israel.
Consider the prophecy of Ezekiel 37:15-28, the
primary verses upon which the Two-House teaching
is based:
“The word of the
Lord
came again to me saying, ‘And you, son of man,
take for yourself one stick and write on it,
“For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his
companions”; then take another stick and write
on it, “For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all
the house of Israel, his companions.” Then join
them for yourself one to another into one stick,
that they may become one in your hand. When the
sons of your people speak to you saying, “Will
you not declare to us what you mean by these?”
say to them, “Thus says the Lord
God,
‘Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which
is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of
Israel, his companions; and I will put them with
it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one
stick, and they will be one in My hand.’” The
sticks on which you write will be in your hand
before their eyes. ‘Say to them, “Thus says the
Lord God,
‘Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from
among the nations where they have gone, and I
will gather them from every side and bring them
into their own land; and I will make them one
nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel;
and one king will be king for all of them; and
they will no longer be two nations and no longer
be divided into two kingdoms. They will no
longer defile themselves with their idols, or
with their detestable things, or with any of
their transgressions; but I will deliver them
from all their dwelling places in which they
have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they
will be My people, and I will be their God. My
servant David will be king over them, and they
will all have one shepherd; and they will walk
in My ordinances and keep My statutes and
observe them. They will live on the land that I
gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers
lived; and they will live on it, they, and their
sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My
servant will be their prince forever. I will
make a covenant of peace with them; it will be
an everlasting covenant with them. And I will
place them and multiply them, and will set My
sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling
place also will be with them; and I will be
their God, and they will be My people. And the
nations will know that I am the
Lord
who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in
their midst forever.’”’”
This prophecy has yet to be
fulfilled as the Lord has yet to fully reunite
the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph
(Ephraim) in His hand. Furthermore, those of
both Houses of Israel have yet to return to the
Land of Israel, and Yeshua, the Greater David,
has not returned to formally become king over
all Israel. The IMJA’s failure to address this
prophecy is inexcusable, and we would challenge
Messianic Jews who find the Two-House
understanding flawed to
offer a viable alternative interpretation.
Interestingly enough, noted pre-tribulationist
Tim LaHaye writes in his Prophecy Study Bible
concerning Ezekiel 37:15-23, “The Kingdom of
David and Solomon split in 931 B.C., becoming
Israel and Judah. In restored Israel, all tribes
are represented and the nation will be united,
as the sign of the fused stick reveals.”[4]
To the casual observer, from a dispensationalist
pre-tribulational publication, this implies that
the two kingdoms have yet to be reunited. LaHaye
and others like him would not be advocates of
the Two-House teaching, and may not even look
favorably toward Messianic Judaism, but this
quotation certainly indicates what we
believe—the fact that all Israel has yet to be
reunited.
Why does “The Ephraimite Error”
white paper not provide an alternative
interpretation of this prophecy? We may never
know.
Error #2: The belief that we
teach that non-Israelites cannot be saved
Many who read “The Ephraimite
Error” come to the conclusion that the Two-House
teaching advocates that only physical Israelites
are guaranteed salvation in Messiah Yeshua.
Therefore, anyone who is not a physical
Israelite cannot be saved because only the Two
Houses of Israel, Judah and Ephraim, are
involved in the reunion. Those who are not
physical Israelites are thus condemned to
eternal punishment.
This viewpoint is
patently wrong. Aside from the fact that the
Torah clearly speaks of physical non-Israelites
or sojourners joining and being welcome among
the people of Israel, there are non-Israelites
involved in the reunification of the Two Houses.
Notice what Ezekiel 37:16, 19 specifically says:
“And you, son of man, take for
yourself one stick and write on it, ‘For Judah
and for the sons of Israel, his companions’;
then take another stick and write on it, ‘For
Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house
of Israel, his companions.’…say to them,
‘Thus says the Lord
God,
“Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which
is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of
Israel, his companions; and I will put
them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make
them one stick, and they will be one in My
hand.”’”
If you read this prophecy
closely, then you noticed that both Judah and
Ephraim have “companions.” ATS renders this as
“comrades.” In its singular form, the Hebrew
term used to describe this is chaver (rbx)
which BDB defines as “united, associate,
companion.”[5]
The plural form in modern Hebrew is chaverim
(~yrbx)
which means “friends.” These comrades,
companions, or “friends” if you will, are
non-Israelites who are enjoined to one of the
Two Houses of Israel. While not physical
Israelites, they are nevertheless considered to
be part of either Judah or Ephraim.
Unfortunately, among some Two-House teachers
this is not clarified, and a few extremists
do believe a gross fallacy that
non-Israelites cannot be saved. This does not
include us. The ancient mandate given to
Abraham and later Israel was to be a blessing to
the entire world (Genesis 12:2; Deuteronomy
4:6), being a testimony of God’s goodness.
Error #3: The idea that the
Two-House teaching is a reworked form of
British-Israelism
Many people come
to the conclusion that the Two-House teaching of
Judah and Ephraim is a reworked form of
British-Israel theology. British-Israelism was
quite popular in the mid-1800s when the British
Empire was at its zenith, and many believed that
Britain was the new manifestation of the Kingdom
of Israel on Earth with the British Crown in
actuality being the throne of King David. This
is seriously compounded by the fact that there
are many who believe in Judah and Ephraim,
having been members of the Worldwide Church of
God (WWCOG) founded by Herbert W. Armstrong,
which advocated British-Israelism. Such people,
unfortunately, have been given a voice among the
Two-House community. There are many offshoots of
the WWCOG that while believing that the Lost
Tribes were scattered throughout Planet Earth,
deny that the Jewish people are legitimate
Israelites and are extremely anti-Semitic. Thus,
it is often assumed that the Two-House teaching
is anti-Semitic.
This claim against the Two-House teaching is
something that I take very seriously—because
I am of British ancestry—and I have never
believed that the scattered tribes exclusively
became Anglo-Saxons and Celts.[6]
It should be readily noted that
there are many forms of British-Israel teaching
out there. Some of them range from believing
that a substantial number of the Lost Tribes of
the Northern Kingdom settled in the British
Isles and then spread worldwide via the British
Empire. Others of them teach that the throne of
the United Kingdom is in actuality the throne of
David and that the House of Windsor is of the
Biblical line of David. Other teachings attest
that Britain and the United States are now the
“new Israel” and all end-time prophecies
involving Israel in actuality involve the U.K.
and U.S.A. and “JerUSAlem.”
The promises given to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob/Israel regarding their seed
tell us that it will be spread worldwide
(Genesis 28:14). It is entirely possible that
many Anglo-Saxons, Celts, and for that matter
people of Germanic, Slavic, Greek, Roman,
Persian, Indian, Chinese, African, and other
ethnicities descend from people who originated
in the area north of Israel. After all, is this
not where the Fertile Crescent is located, which
for several millennia was the primary center of
civilization? And is it too much of us to ask
that perhaps many of the Northern Kingdom
Israelites who were taken into captivity by
Assyria later migrated into Europe or
elsewhere? If we believe that within a short
period of two-hundred years the Western
Hemisphere can go from being relatively unknown
by Europe to being colonized and later populated
with several million inhabitants by 1700, surely
we can believe that scattered Israel has spread
worldwide in the past 2,700 years.
Does the teaching of the Two
Houses of Israel mimic those who believe that
the British Crown has some divine connection to
the throne of David, and that God somehow
ordained the British Empire and Commonwealth?
Although there may be some similarities
in both the wanting to distinguish between the
House of Judah and the House of Israel/Ephraim,
and the fact that both positions consider that
the descendants of the Northern Kingdom of
Israel to be quite numerous, this would not
be an accurate assessment, especially when
we compare the theology of the movements.
One major difference between what
our ministry advocates about the reunification
of Israel and what British-Israelism teaches, is
that we completely disavow the belief that the
word “British” is in actuality a Hebrew word.
Proponents claim that “British” is a combination
of the Hebrew words b’rit (tyrB)
or “covenant,” and ish (vya)
meaning “man,” implying that God’s covenant is
with those of British ancestry. Such an equation
of b’rit and ish to “British”
reduces the validity of the promises of
multiplicity given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
limiting it to those solely of British ancestry.
As Dr. Walter Martin validly notes in his work
Kingdom of the Cults,
“It is sufficient to point out…that the Hebrew
words berith and ish literally
mean ‘covenant and man,’ not, ‘men of the
covenant,’ as Armstrong and Anglo-Israelites
maintain. When to this is added the unbiased and
impeccably researched conclusions of the
venerable Oxford English Dictionary and
every other major English work on etymology,
there is absolutely no connection between the
Anglo-Saxon tongue and the Hebrew language.”[7]
It is notable, in response to Martin’s comments
that English and Hebrew are unrelated, that a
work by the Jewish scholar and linguist Isaac E.
Mozeson, author of The Word: The Dictionary
That Reveals The Hebrew Source Of English,
proposes there may be connections between
English via Greek and Latin to Hebrew. (Whether
there are or not can probably be vigorously
debated, and I am currently not convinced of the
“validity” of his research). Mozeson states,
“Greek and Latin are merely grandfathers, while
Hebrew is the patriarch.”[8]
However, it is important that we point out that
nowhere in Mozeson’s book does he make a
connection between “British” and the words
b’rit and ish. The modern Hebrew term
for “British” is Britee (yjyrb), which is
hardly what one would expect if “British” were
indeed a Hebrew word.
A small number of people among
Two-House proponents believe in the connection
between the Hebrew words brit and ish,
mostly from backgrounds in the WWCOG, or have
been influenced by literature coming from the
WWCOG. But why do many people have such a
concern about British-Israelism? It is because
British-Israelism has often been closely linked
to the Christian Identity movement, many of
whose members are vehemently anti-Semitic,
opposed to the American government, and some of
whom have participated in domestic terrorism. As
Bruce Hoffman validly summarizes in his book
Inside Terrorism,
“The connecting thread in this
seemingly diverse and disparate collection of
citizens’ militias, tax resisters,
anti-federalists, bigots and racists is the
white supremacist religious dogma espoused by
the Christian Identity movement, itself based on
the ‘Anglo-Israelism’ movement that emerged in
Britain during the mid-nineteenth century. The
core belief of Anglo-Israelism was that the ten
lost tribes of ancient Israel were composed of
Anglo-Saxons, not Jews. However, in marked
contrast to the present-day Christian Identity
movement in the United States,
nineteenth-century Anglo-Israelism embraced an
entirely pacifist doctrine. The basic tenants of
the contemporary American version of the
Identity movement include the beliefs that:
●
Jesus Christ
was not a Semite; but an Aryan;
●
the lost
tribes of Israel are not composed of Jews,
but of ‘blue eyed Aryans’;
●
white
Anglo-Saxons and not Jews are the true
‘Chosen People’;
●
the United
States is the ‘Promised Land’.
“In this context,
Jews are viewed as imposters and Children of
Satan who must be exterminated.
“Identity theology,
combined with militant tax resistance and a form
of regressive populism, figures prominently in
Christian Patriotism doctrine subscribed to by
the ‘marching’ militia groups today. The
ideological hermit to the Posse Comitatus with
its hard-line anti-federalist principles,
Christian Patriotism goes one step further by
embracing a salient theological component that
combines Identity interpretation of scripture
with the myth of the Illuminati—the global
conspiracy theory, first promulgated in the late
eighteenth century in respect of Freemasons and
later adapted to include Jews, worldwide banking
interests and other dark, mystical forces.
According to its modern-day American
interpretation, the so-called ‘two seed’ theory
embraced by Christian Patriotism, there are two
races on earth: one godly and one satanic—the
former comprised of white, Anglo-Saxon
Christians and the latter of Jews and all
non-whites…”[9]
In these comments
above, those of us who believe in the end-time
restoration of Israel need to be very conscious
of the connections that many people will make
between the Two-House teaching, British-Israel,
Christian Identity, and then Christian
Patriotism with its anti-government and
anti-Semitic viewpoints. The only way we can
break out of any false connections that people
might make is by non-Jewish Believers who
believe in the restoration of all Israel
closely cooperating with Jewish Believers and
supporting the State of Israel. We must keep
the Two-House message well within the confines
of the Jewish theological expectation of the
restoration of Israel. Otherwise, in some ways,
what makes us not unlike the groups described
above? We do believe that many non-Jews may
indeed be descendants of the Patriarchs, but we
are very supportive of the Jewish people. If
indeed there are scattered descendants of the
Northern Kingdom “out there” in the world, we
should not have the arrogance to think that they
are constrained to one particular ethnicity.
Error #4: The Apostolic
Scriptures do not at all speak of the Two Houses of
Israel
After reading “The
Ephraimite Error,” or its Short Summary, many
also come to the conclusion that the Apostolic
Scriptures (New Testament) do not speak or
allude to in any way, shape, or form, all
Israel. There are, in fact, many references to
the Two Houses of Israel in the New Testament.
Some of them are quite obvious, and some of them
you have to look for. Here are some examples:
In both Acts 2:39
and Ephesians 2:13 we are told of those who are
and were “far off,” a direct reference to the
scattered tribes:
“For the promise
is for you and your children and for all who are
far off, as many as the Lord our God will
call to Himself” (Acts 2:39).
“But now in
Messiah Yeshua you who formerly were far off
have been brought near by the blood of Messiah”
(Ephesians 2:13).
In Acts 15:19,
James the Just speaks of those who are
“returning”[10]
to God “among the Gentiles,” quoting Amos
9:10-11 as his proof, and he addresses his
epistle to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.
“Therefore it is
my judgment that we do not trouble those who are
turning to God from among the Gentiles”
(Acts 15:19).
“James, a
bond-servant of God and of the Lord Yeshua the
Messiah, to the twelve tribes who are
dispersed abroad: Greetings” (James 1:1).
The Apostle Paul
talks about “the fullness of the Gentiles,”
which is exactly what Ephraim was to become, as
he was prophesied by Jacob to become “a
multitude of nations” (Genesis 48:19):
“For I do not want
you, brethren, to be uninformed of this
mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own
estimation—that a partial hardening has happened
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles
has come in” (Romans 11:25).
“But his father
refused and said, ‘I know, my son, I know; he
also will become a people and he also will be
great. However, his younger brother shall be
greater than he, and his descendants shall
become a multitude of nations’” (Genesis
48:19).
Paul also writes
that “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, ‘Though
the number of the sons of Israel be like the
sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be
saved’” (Romans 9:27; cf. Isaiah 10:22).
The Apostle Peter
writes to new non-Jewish Believers in 1 Peter
2:10 telling them that they “were
not a
people, but now you are
the people
of God; you had
not
received mercy, but now you have
received
mercy.” Peter quotes directly from Hosea
1:10, which reveals for us again that “the
number of the sons of Israel will be like the
sand of the sea,” a direct reference to the
scattered Northern Kingdom of Israel/Ephraim.
Finally, the
Apostle John tells us in Revelation 7:4 that “I
heard the number of those who were sealed, one
hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from
every tribe of the sons of Israel,” as the
144,000 sealed servants are from all twelve
tribes of Israel, and not just the Jewish
people.
It may be
difficult for some to see at first, but there
are indeed allusions to all Israel in the
Apostolic Scriptures. Some of these may only
be passing or indirect references, but they
nevertheless cannot be ignored.
Error #5: Obeying the Torah is
optional and is thus not necessary for non-Jews
This claim against
Two-House advocates is one that is notably not
universal in Messianic Judaism. There are
Messianic Jews who believe that all of God’s
people should honor and obey the commandments of
the Torah. But, there are many Messianic Jews
who do not believe this, and their position on
the Torah or Law of Moses mimics that of too
much of modern evangelical Christianity, which
basically asserts that Yeshua the Messiah came
to abolish the Torah. A common reason why
Messianic Jews, it is said, are supposed to obey
the Torah, is because this is how they can
express commonality with the Jewish
community—but by no means is it probably
necessary.
TNN Online takes a very pro-Torah
viewpoint. We do not believe that Torah
obedience is something that is “optional.” We
encourage it as a part of a Believer’s continual
growth and maturation in the faith. While we do
recognize that there are legalists in the
Messianic community that make an extreme burden
out of obeying God, which is unfortunate and
something that we do not advocate, we likewise
do not advocate antinomianism or a dismissal of
the Torah altogether. We are to follow Yeshua’s
example, who followed the Torah perfectly.
Within Messianic Judaism there
exist many different streams of thought
concerning Torah application to non-Jewish
Believers. Many readily emphasize obedience to
the Law, and then many others shun it, perhaps
saying that non-Jews are only subject to the
so-called “Noahide laws.” Scripture does not
support the position that obeying the Lord is
“optional.” After all, does not the Apostle John
write, “Everyone who keeps sinning is violating
Torah—indeed,
sin is violation of
Torah”
(1 John 3:4, CJB)? John, the closest of the
original twelve to Yeshua, says quite bluntly:
“sin is lawlessness.”
If the IMJA insinuates that
“Gentile Christians” should not necessarily be
obeying God’s Torah, what does that signal? Does
it not signal that they are encouraging the
continued practice of violation of the
Torah—which is sin? How can people who claim to
follow the Torah dishonor God’s Law by
encouraging others not to obey it?
One of the major superior
attitudes resonant among many Messianic Jews is
the idea that “only we are ‘destined’ to
keep the Torah.” In this, the so-called burden
of “Torah observance” is not placed on
non-Jewish Believers, who, among some Messianic
Jewish circles, are told that they have no
business participating in Messianic Judaism.
To further compound the problem
by implying that the Torah is “optional,” is
where we are to find a clearly defined set of
standards and rules that we are to live up to.
As Believers, we are to all have the Torah
written on our hearts as part of the promised
New Covenant of Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8, so
that we might keep it with the empowerment of
God’s Holy Spirit. The Torah is to be a constant
reminder of our necessity for salvation, our
need to “work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling” (Philippians 2:12), lest “we go
on sinning willfully after receiving the
knowledge of the truth” (Hebrews 10:26). The
Torah is our guide so that we would continue to
be on the correct path, working out our
salvation ever daily, so we do not lose sight of
what the Lord considers acceptable and
unacceptable. The Torah defines sin, and gives
us an explanation of what we should and should
not be doing, and how we should conduct
ourselves in the world. Salvation does not
come as a result of our obedience to God’s
Law, but obedience does come as a result of our
salvation. Would there be debates in
Christianity over whether pre-marital sex or
homosexuality were sin if it did not teach that
the Law of Moses was abolished by the Messiah?
Why is the Messianic movement in the state of
disarray that it is in today? Is it all because
we have failed to follow the foundational
guidelines of Biblical instruction and ethics
contained in the Torah?
We find serious
problems with those of Messianic Judaism telling
us that keeping any of the Torah is only
“optional.” Such a claim is resonant of
lawlessness and attitudes that are unbiblical.
Error #6: The Two-House teaching
and its proponents represent a dangerous threat
to the State of Israel
A serious claim
against us, as insinuated by “The Ephraimite
Error,” is that the ultimate driving force of
those who believe in the Two Houses of
Israel is to not only immigrate to the Land of
Israel, but perhaps even to overthrow the
Israeli government. In this is usually an
attempt to portray us as a supremacist group, a
reprehensible claim which is totally and utterly
false.
If God is to
restore Judah and Ephraim in the end-times, then
an inheritance in the Land of Israel is
something that non-Jewish Believers should look
forward too, albeit it being a somewhat
Millennial Kingdom promise. Quite frankly, I do
not know how these prophecies are to be
fulfilled, and they will without question take
time and serious speculation as we all search
the Scriptures. However, just because the
Scriptures do tell us that Judah and Ephraim
will return to the Land of Israel and
participate in certain end-time prophecies, that
by no means should be interpreted that we
believe in a violent overthrow of the Israeli
government.
TNN Online fully
supports the State of Israel. While the Israeli
government has its problems like any other
secular regime and is a man-made institution,
its birth was ordained by the Lord (Isaiah 66:8)
and it is a key player in God’s economy. The
State of Israel must exist in
order for some major prophecies to come to pass.
Sadly, there are sensationalists
who believe that it is our destiny to utterly
destroy and murder Israel’s enemies, without
showing any concern whatsoever for their
salvation. This includes Messianic Jews who hate
the Arabs every bit as much as some Two-House
advocates. At the same time, we do know that in
the Last Days there will be war in Israel, and
if the Lord would have non-Jewish Believers
participate, just as He would have Jewish
Believers participate, this is something we
cannot stop. But this does not mean that we
advocate the violent overthrow of the Israeli
government as modern-day Crusaders. We strongly
encourage support of the State of Israel and the
Jewish people. We believe that Israel has a
right to exist as a modern country from both the
Bible and contemporary politics, and I would add
that I support many of the premises as put
forward by Theodor Herzl in his work
The Jewish State.
There are a series of end-time
prophecies, however, that we all must consider
which involve the Two Houses of Israel. Consider
Isaiah 11:12-14:
“And He will lift up a standard
for the nations and assemble the banished ones
of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of
Judah from the four corners of the earth. Then
the jealousy of Ephraim will depart, and those
who harass Judah will be cut off; Ephraim will
not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not
harass Ephraim. They will swoop down on the
slopes of the Philistines on the west; together
they will plunder the sons of the east; they
will possess Edom and Moab, and the sons of
Ammon will be subject to them.”
This prophecy
details the end-time regathering of all Israel
and their coming together into the Land of
Israel. The Lord says that He will gather the
Two Houses of Israel from all over the world.
When they return, they will perform mighty
deeds, which if we relate to the present state
of the Middle East, may involve an Israeli
annexation of the Gaza Strip, “the Philistines
on the west”; the West Bank, “they will possess
Edom and Moab”; and the entire country of
Jordan, “and the sons of Ammon will be subject
to them.” Interestingly enough, hardliners in
some Israeli political parties believe that
Israel should control what is today Jordan, so
it is not improbable to see this prophecy
fulfilled one day. Of course how these
prophecies will be fulfilled remains a total
guess at the present time.
If Messianic Judaism has a
problem with the idea that a united army of
Judah and Ephraim is to defeat their enemies,
namely occupying and annexing the territory of
the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and seemingly the
entire country of Jordan—then their problem is
with God Himself who told Isaiah to prophesy
this—not us.
Where do we go from here?
The following
issues we have just addressed are only a
fraction of the claims against the Two-House
teaching as given by “The Ephraimite Error.” But
these claims against us are relatively
universal, as opposed to having been directed at
one particular ministry or individual. The
Two-House teaching, when compared to other
doctrines and teachings of our faith, is
relatively new. I freely admit that it needs to
be further defined and refined, as with all
Messianic things. Time will tell how valid
this is. However, as it should be obvious,
the authors of “The Ephraimite Error” have said
some things about us that are not entirely true.
But what are we to
do? Obviously we leave our critics to God; He
will handle those who commit any malicious
slander. As we are told in 1 Peter 3:14-15, “But
even if you should suffer for the sake of
righteousness, you are blessed.
And do not
fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled,
but sanctify Messiah as Lord in your hearts,
always being ready to make a defense to
everyone who asks you to give an account for the
hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and
reverence.” Messiah Yeshua tells us in Matthew
5:11-12, “Blessed are you when people
insult you and persecute you, and falsely say
all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven
is great; for in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.”
Of course, many
will continue to say that the Two-House teaching
is false and that it is non-Biblical. People are
entitled to their opinions. But TNN Online
issues a severe word of warning to those who
might call this “heresy.” Heresy must be viewed
as something that is a core doctrine or theology
to our faith. Those who deny Yeshua as the
Messiah or that He is God in the flesh or His
atoning work at Golgotha or the inspiration of
the Greek New Testament are heretics. We do
not deny these things, even though there are
some in Messianic Judaism who actually do.
In response, we do not make slanderous remarks
about Messianic Judaism because it too has its
extremists and fundamentalists. We do not
consider the Two-House teaching to be a
salvation issue. It is a matter of ecclesiology
and knowing about who God’s chosen people are
and how it applies to Scripture and one’s walk
of faith. It is a critical part of the end-time
restoration of all Israel. It is a matter of
equality for all Believers who are a part of
Israel—not Israel and “the Church.”
Twenty centuries
ago, the fledging group of Believers in Yeshua
was considered to be heretics by many in the
religious establishment. They were spurned and
slandered by many. However, Gamaliel, the
revered sage of Judaism who trained the Apostle
Paul, urged moderation:
“But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a
teacher of the Law, respected by all the people,
stood up in the Council and gave orders to put
the men outside for a short time. And he said to
them, ‘Men of Israel, take care what you propose
to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas
rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of
about four hundred men joined up with him. But
he was killed, and all who followed him were
dispersed and came to nothing. After this man,
Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the
census and drew away some people after
him; he too perished, and all those who followed
him were scattered. So in the present case, I
say to you, stay away from these men and let
them alone, for if this plan or action is of
men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God,
you will not be able to overthrow them; or else
you may even be found fighting against God’”
(Acts 5:34-39).
If you disagree with the
Two-House teaching that advocates the
restoration of all Israel, you are entitled to
your opinion. But I advise you not to speak
against it or claim that it is “heresy.”
Remember that we believe that when Judah and
Ephraim are reunited Yeshua the Messiah will
return and restore the Kingdom. It will be
consummated with His Second Coming. If indeed
this movement is truly of the Lord—do you want
to be found speaking against it? It would be
advised for you to just respectfully disagree
with us and leave us alone. Time will tell
whether this is truth or error. It is God’s
problem if it is error, not yours.
J.K. McKee (B.A., University of Oklahoma; M.A. Student, Asbury
Theological Seminary) is the editor of TNN Online (www.tnnonline.net)
and is a Messianic apologist. He is author of several books,
including: The New Testament Validates Torah, Torah In the
Balance, Volume I, and When Will the Messiah Return?.
He has also written many articles on the Two Houses of Israel
and Biblical theology, and is presently focusing on Messianic
commentaries on various books of the Bible.
NOTES
[1]
For the purpose of this analysis, we
will refer to the IMJA as the producer
of the “The Ephraimite Error.”
[2]
As a third party, please
be aware that there will be many
references to TNN Online in this
article, so as to distinguish us from
the other Two-House advocates mentioned
in “The Ephraimite Error,” with whom it
should be noted we do disagree
on many issues (both Two-House related
and otherwise).
[3]
Nosson Scherman, ed.,
ArtScroll Chumash, Stone Edition
(Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, Ltd.,
2000), 433.
[4]
Tim LaHaye, ed., Tim
LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible, KJV
(Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2000),
873.
[5]
Francis Brown, S.R.
Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A
Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old
Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1979), 288.
[6]
On a further note, my
family has never been members of
Armstrongism. My family was evangelical
United Methodists until 1994 with a long
history of having been involved in
Southern Methodism, with my own
great-grandfather Marvin Franklin having
served as head of the Council of Bishops
in 1960.
[7]
Walter Martin, Kingdom
of the Cults (Minneapolis: Bethany
House, 1985), 309.
[8]
Isaac E. Mozeson, The
Word: The Dictionary That Reveals The
Hebrew Source Of English (New York:
SPI Books, 2000), 5.
[9]
Bruce Hoffman, Inside
Terrorism (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1998), 112.
[10]
Grk. epistrephō (epistrefw),
“to return to a point where one has
been, turn around, go back” (Frederick
William Danker, ed., et. al.,
A Greek-English Lexicon
of the New Testament and Other Early
Christian Literature,
third edition [Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 2000], 382).
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