The entire house of Jacob is comprised of two houses or kingdoms. Ephraim (called Israel) and Judah. These two houses are also the twelve tribes of Israel representing the twelve sons of Jacob and the mixed multitude that left out of Egypt during the mass exodus as described in the book of Exodus making the entire house of Jacob; also called the house of Israel because the Lord changed Jacob’s name to Isra’el after he wrestled with Him (Genesis 32:28). Isra’el means to strive with El (GOD), to overcome with El and to rule with El. Strive –To judge, to strive or contend for; Hebrew – Diyn, [pronounced deen] Strong’s Dictionary 1777 – To rule, to judge as in umpire (as at law), to execute or minister judgment. When Jacob blessed his sons with their inheritance, he included Joseph’s two sons, they are Manasseh and Ephraim. By doing this he added an additional tribe to the lineage making the number thirteen, but the Lord set aside the tribe of Levi to be priest unto Him, therefore receiving no land inheritance. They are instructed to care for the house of the Lord and so doing the Lord is their inheritance.
THE NUMBER OF GOVERNMENTAL PERFECTION. There were 12 tribes of Israel; 12 Disciples, 12 foundations in the heavenly Jerusalem; 12 gates; 12 pearls; 12 messengers. The measurements of New Jerusalem are 12,000 furlongs or stadia, while the wall will be 144 (12 x 12) cubits (Rev. 21:16-17).
The Tribes where divided into two kingdoms after the reign of Solomon. Ten tribes went to the North, they are called the Northern Kingdom, and three remained in the South, which is known as the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom is called Ephraim because his clan eventually out numbered the other tribes. The Southern Kingdom is called Judah because his clan also out numbered the other tribes. Levi was scattered within the two kingdoms, so it is very likely that the Levites that returned to Jerusalem in the book of Nehemiah were not the total sum of that Tribe. It is possible to find Semitic peoples from South Africa to Russia who claim lineage back to the Levitical priesthood. This fulfills the promise given to Father Abraham that he will have a seed of multiplicity within the earth, and that through him ALL the clans of the earth will be blessed.
The Two Houses of Israel:
Southern Kingdom Exiled 586 B.C.
Judah, Benjamin, Levi (in part, Levi was scattered through out Israel)
Northern Kingdom Exiled 722 B.C.
Reuben, Simon, Zebulun, Gad, Issaskar, Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim
Ephraim Is – Double Fruit
Ephraim was the youngest son of Joseph. His mother was Asenath who was the daughter of an Egyptian priest. When Jacob was brought to Egypt after the identity of Joseph was revealed; he embraced Joseph’s sons and blessed them as his own (Genesis 48:11-14) giving them an inheritance along with his birth sons. Jacob in blessing the two boys crossed his arms and laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, and the left hand on Manasseh giving the first born blessing to Ephraim. Joseph tries to stop his father thinking that he is making an error due to the state of Jacob’s eyesight, but Jacob says, “I know my son, I know he [Manasseh] also becomes a people, and he also is great. And yet, his younger brother is greater than he, and his seed is to become the completeness [Fullness] of the nations.” (Genesis 48:17-19, Jude 24, Ephesians 5:28 [Jesus] Yahshuah is also without blemish as the Bridge Groom, 1 Peter 1:19 and we as His bride are expected to be without blemish also). This also refers to the lambs without blemish spoken of in Exodus 12:5, Leviticus 1:10, Numbers 6:14, Ezekiel 46:4. The word ‘Complete’ – (Hebrew –Tamiym) means entire, integrity, truth, without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely, sound, without spot, undefiled, upright, whole. This is why Yahshuah states that He is coming back looking for a bride without spot or ‘blemish’. (Jude 24) Joshua (Yehoshua or Yeshua in Hebrew) was of the tribe of Ephraim who lead the children of Israel into Canaan. Jeroboam 1st was also an Ephraimite who lead the ten tribes into the north to establish the Northern Kingdom (I Kings 12). Yahshuah (Jesus) was of the Tribe of Judah who brings redemption and will lead the people set apart to the One True and Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the land of promise. In Joshua 17:17-18, Joshua was trying to give one lot (of land) to the children of Joseph, but it was not enough. The children of Ephraim and Manasseh asked for additional land because of their size and received a double portion of land in the hill country. {Remember Jacob’s blessing}.
Melo Ha Goyim – Multitude of nations or fullness of the gentiles. (Genesis 48:19; Romans 11:25) Joseph was the 11th son of Jacob
Ephraim represents a major portion of the house of Isra’el, which is inclusive of the ten northern tribes of Jacob after they split from the 3 southern tribes (Judah or known as the Jews today). There are also times in Scripture when God speaks of the entire house of Jacob as Isra’el. We read in the book of Hosea the story of our people many years ago who fell in hands of the Asyrians in 722 B.C. because of their disobedience to our God’s Word, which is known as the Torah (Teachings and Instructions/ Commandments). God said that He would scatter them into the entire world and that they would not be a people unto Him. Three places in the Scriptures coincide with this matter. Hosea 1:9-10 Lo-Ammi meaning For you are not My people, and I am not for you, I Peter 2:9 God states through Peter that we were once not a people, but now a people unto God. He also says that we are a chosen people, royal priesthood, a set a part nation (Holy). The ten northern tribes of Israel were chosen to be the priest of the Nation of Israel (Israel as a whole including Judah), and finally, Romans 9:24-26 Paul quotes Hosea saying, “they shall be called the sons of the living God.” The Scripture states in Romans 10:19 that YHVH says through Moses, “I shall provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I shall enlarge you by an unwise nation.”
As we teach, study and continue to search for our roots; (Romans 11:23-24) we are finding that we are the wild olive branch that was once connected to the vine walking in the whole Torah of God and not just some group of people that just stumbled into something good. We believe that Christians are the lost tribes of Israel and our brothers are of the tribe of Judah or the Southern Kingdom and they are looking for us. Are we the entire House of Israel? No. We are part of Israel some by blood and some by belief in Messiah Yahshuah. This is a message of inclusion not exclusion.1
If you will read the book of Hosea it speaks about two people Ephraim (who is also called Israel) and Judah (who is also called Israel). In Matthew 15:24 our Messiah Yahshuah says that He came but to the lost house of Israel. In Matthew 10:5-6, He instructs the disciples to go not by way of the gentiles, but find the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In Ezekiel 37:15-17, God instructed the Prophet Ezekiel to take a stick and write on it the name of Judah and another stick and write on it the name of Ephraim and put them in his hand, and they shall become one in your hand. If we continue in that chapter God says, in verses 21 and 22, that He is taking the children of Israel from among the gentiles wherever they have gone and he will gather them from all around and He will make them one nation in the mountains of Israel, and One God over them, no longer two nations, but one. Let us consider the two witnesses of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Christian community and the Hebrew community have always believed in the One, True and Living God of Israel. This is why many Churches support Israel still to this day. We have searched a little deeper into the idea that the disobedient children of the Northern Kingdom that were dispersed out in the world because of their idolatrous ways were our forefathers. History proves that they migrated into many different lands after being released from Assyria. Nova and A&E have produced videos funded by the European Jewish community on this subject. Elohim scattered His seed all over the world to reap a greater harvest, now the ingathering has begun.
References
1 Genesis 18:18 Since Aḇraham is certainly going to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
Genesis 22:18 And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, “because you have obeyed My voice.”
Genesis 26:4 And I shall increase your seed like the stars of the heavens, and I shall give all these lands to your seed. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
Acts 3:25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which Elohim made with our fathers, saying to Aḇraham, ‘And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.
Galatians 3:8 And the Scripture, having foreseen that Elohim would declare right the nations by belief, announced the Good News to Aḇraham beforehand, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed in you,