The Two Witnesses - Part 7: Nobody Said There Would Be Math!

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 Hello My Friends!

Welcome back for Part 7 of The Two Witnesses.  Over the past 6 installments of this series, I have tried to:

  • Explain why we are looking for 2 witnesses in a prophetic sense as related to the Feast of Trumpets 
  • Make a case that upon their agreement that Messiah will return
  • Examine possible "suspects" as to who these 2 witnesses may be
  • Develop a scripture-based theory as to the identity of the 2 witnesses -- my theory being Judah and Joseph
  • Define who these brothers are in our day - We are working through this now.
And it has taken 6 blogs so far.  I greatly appreciate that you have come back for #7.  
In this installment, we are going to revisit Genesis 48 and Romans 11 without all the technical talk.  While I will not be asking you to dig into Hebrew or Greek, I will be asking you to do some simple math .  Ready to get started?  Let's go!

I'm going to begin this time with a graphic.  You can laugh.  It's not very sophisticated, but I think it will get the job done.  
12 Sons / 12 Tribes

This is a list of the 12 sons of Israel (Jacob).  They are referred to as the 12 Tribes.  But, did you know that there are actually 14 sons?  See, Jacob/Israel adopted 2 more sons near the time of his death.  Who's sons did he adopt?  Joseph's sons.  That is how we happened to find ourselves in Genesis 48 last time.  That is the adoption chapter.  But we do not ever hear anyone talking about the 14 Tribes of Israel, do we?  Why not?

Well, our Heavenly Father is a wonderful mathematician 😀

I bet you recall that Levi was set apart from his brothers to be the priestly line.  This meant that Levi would not inherit in the same way as his brothers.  But don't feel sorry for him.  His inheritance is in serving YHVH.  Sometimes Levi is counted as one of the 12.  But when he isn't being counted, YHVH still has 12 tribes.  How?

Adoption.

Israel / Jacob adopted his 2 grandsons and blessed them as sons.  Have you ever heard of Ephraim and Manasseh being included in the 12 tribes?  These were Joseph's sons, and they inherited all the rights and privileges as though they were the sons of Israel.  So if we added 2 sons, but we only took Levi out of the count, how do we still end up with 12 tribes?  

You take out Joseph.  

If Joseph is represented by his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, then there is no need to list his name separately...he is still there.  In this way, YHVH always has 12 Tribes at the ready.  Here is another unsophisticated graphic:
12 Sons / 12 Tribes

So why does this matter?

It matters because Ephraim's blessing - as a son of Israel - in Genesis 48:19 tells us that Ephraim will become...

the fullness of the nations (gentiles)

This is super important because, as you will recall from our dissection of Romans 11:25 in Part 6, it is...

the fullness of the gentiles (nations)

that The Father is waiting for to "come in" before all Israel will be saved.   

That's pretty heavy.

It took me some time to digest this, so be kind to yourself if it is taking you some time, too.

You may be wishing for some clarification, so here goes:

I believe that scripture tells us that Joseph/Ephraim are largely made up of gentile populations today.  I believe that some of you reading this statement may be Joseph. I believe those of you who are not physically of Joseph, are being blessed because The Father is blessing Joseph in our time.

Paul calls this a mystery!

I certainly can agree.

So, how did Joseph/Ephraim become gentiles?  Recall that in 722BC the northern kingdom of Israel - Joseph's 10 tribes - were conquered by Assyria.  Assyria displaced them and sent in others to occupy the land.  We never hear of their formal return....


Do We Believe Him?

This people group are different from Judah.  Recall that the southern kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians...but they were returned.  They maintained their identity.  Over many captivities, dispersions, and holocausts, they have kept their identity and traditions as Judah...as Jews. 

Joseph/Ephraim did not.  Joseph/Ephraim lost his identity in the nations.  I believe he is still in the nations today...waking up...to his true identity.

When Joseph/Ephraim is fully awake, he will help to restore his brother Judah, and the brothers will dwell in unity to call Messiah Yeshua back.  It is then, when these 2 witnesses agree, that Yom Teruah / Feast of Trumpets will be fulfilled.  

Heavy. Right?

I have made some pretty bold  statements.  

And they can be very controversial.

I have even had individuals break fellowship with me over what I have just publicly shared with the world via internet.

 But you have hung in with me this far.  I hope you will keep clicking and allow me to continue building the case for the reunification of these brothers, these witnesses, and the outcome...Messiah's return...that I believe we are told it will bring.  Be watching because, I will most definitely be inviting you back to...

Come Seek With Me!










Comments

  1. Nancy L. HoustonJune 29, 2021 at 2:56 PM

    YES! AND AMEN! Love your graphics. Agree with your theory and WANT to hear more! Adoption is a very important factor... another side of it is that we can only be adopted into God's family because we came from the family who is called the world of darkness! Keep up the wonderful, exciting, and encouraging study!

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