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Have The Ten
Tribes Ever Been Torah Observant?
by Edward
Anderson
I made a short post on the Brit-am website
[along the following lines]:
I think
a lot of the confusion with the "lost tribes" message stems from the fact that
everyone, especially Jews, expects these "lost tribes" to be looking like,
acting like, speaking like, and worshipping like JEWS, and these tribes have
NEVER been "Torah observant"!!!
Amos
5:25-26 Have ye offered unto Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty
years, O house of Israel? (26) But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch
and Chiun,
your images, the star of your gods, which ye made unto yourself.
Also,
Ezekiel Ch. 20 points all of this out, that even IN EGYPT, the house of Israel
were idolaters, and God was prepared to wipe them out even in Egypt. It was the
Covenant with Abraham that saved them, time after time.
I
believe that the reason for the "forgetfulness" of God by these tribes... was
that since Israel refused to be a "nation of priests" unto the world, God then
decided to scatter these tribes into ALL the world in order to drag the world
BACK to Him when He restores Israel.
Hosea
14:1-9 shows the time when Ephraim WILL repent of his idolatry and return to
God. ..We'll ALL be Torah observant folks!!!
Read
Ezekial
40-47 for that, as well as Zechariah. What happened with Joseph and his brothers
is playing out today. Same story, same people, same outcome in the future. I
think there will be TWO "shocked" people groups when all of this transpires: the
people of Joseph will be shocked to discover who they really are, AND the Jews
will be shocked when they also realize who these people are!!! I'm just hoping
that all of this happens in my lifetime as I'd love to be there when this
happens!!!!!!
[This opinion was objected to and]
one/some took
exception, [saying] that I was "incorrect" though they offered NO PROOF against my
thesis, but only gave their "opinion" which is no proof of anything at all. We
ALL have "opinions" and you know what everyone says about that? When I posted my
comment, I did NOT do a detailed analysis as it should have been clear from the
few Scriptures that I used to state my thesis on proved my point. However, it
has become apparent that a full article will have to be done to enlighten those
that do NOT study the Scriptures or are new to the subject, and I thank Yair for
giving me the opportunity to do this. The statement that I posted was not
whether Ephraim/Joseph ever had anyone from their Tribes Torah observant, but
that, as a whole, the lost Ten Tribes were NEVER Torah Observant, hence the
REASON for their DIVORCE from God (Jer. 3:8) for their CONTINUED violation of
it!!! Judah had violated it too on many occasions, BUT, as a whole, they ALWAYS
CAME BACK TOO TORAH, whereas, the Ten Tribes, led by Ephraim, NEVER returned to
Torah. One of the BEST places to start on this subject is in Ezekiel Chapter 20.
This chapter is a panoramic view of Israel's (the Ten Tribes) history from the
time they were in Egyptian captivity up until the return of Messiah to bring
them BACK into the Promised Land the SECOND time!!! Before I get to that
section, we must start at the beginning of this discourse to see TO WHOM Ezekiel
is addressing his message:
Ezekiel 3
1 Moreover He said to me, 'Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and
go, speak to the
house of
Israel.'
4 Then He said to me: 'Son of man, go to the
House of Israel
and speak with My words to them.
5 For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language,
but to the house of Israel,
7 But the house of Israel
will not listen to you, because
they will not listen to Me; for
all
the house of Israel
are impudent and hard-hearted.
8 Behold, I have made your
face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their
foreheads.
17 'Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the
house of Israel;
therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me:
Now, it should be very clear to everyone that God is going to
address this discourse to THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, NOT TO THE HOUSE OF JUDAH!!!
These are TWO separate kingdoms and two separate people with two separate
destinies and promises. Please get Yair's books to understand this!!! Please
notice that God made it clear in Ez. 3:7 & 17 that "ALL" of the house of Israel
was REBELLIOUS and that they WOULD NOT LISTEN to Him!!! It begs the question
then that if they would NOT listen to Him, would they then, as a whole, be Torah
observant!!!??? We will soon see:
Ezekiel 20
1 It came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of
the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and
sat before me.
2 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
3 "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, 'Thus says the
Lord GOD: 'Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live, says the Lord GOD, 'I will
not be inquired of by you.'"
4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then make known to them
the abominations of their fathers.
It seems to me that even in these few short verses, that these tribes are NOT
keeping Torah, but let us see how their history, and the "rest of the story"
pans out:
Ezekiel 20
5 "Say to them, "Thus says
the Lord GOD: On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand in an oath to
the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land
of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them, saying, 'I am the LORD your God.'
6 On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land
of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and
honey, the glory of all lands.
7 Then I said to them, 'Each of you, throw away the abominations which are
before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the
LORD your God.'
So we see here, in the very BEGINNING of them being set free from the bondage of
Egypt, these Tribes as a whole were not Torah observant but were worshipping the
idols of Egypt. God took them to be His People and had told them to get RID of
their idols, but did they? Also, please keep in mind that this discourse is for
THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL -the TEN TRIBES:
Ezekiel 20
8 But they
rebelled
against Me and would
not
obey Me. They did not all cast
away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the
idols of Egypt. Then I
said, 'I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the
midst of the land of Egypt.'
9 But I acted for My name's
sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were,
in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of
Egypt.
10 Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the
wilderness.
These rebellious tribes were very very LUCKY that God was not
willing to destroy them in Egypt because then it would have shown the heathens
that the God of the Hebrews was not able to bring His people out. It should also
be apparent that they were NOT Torah observant. But let us continue the story
and see if they EVER get Torah observant any time soon:
Ezekiel 20
11 And I gave them My
statutes and showed them My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall live by
them.
12 Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that
they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
13 Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not
walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall
live by them; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out
My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
14 But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the
Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out.
And what ELSE were these supposedly "God-fearing" people doing in
the wilderness the forty years that they spent there, besides NOT following
Torah???
Amos 5
25 Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O
house of Israel?
26 You also carried Sikkuth
your king
And Chiun,
your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,
Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.
Because the House of Israel CONSISTANTLY rebelled against God's Torah, they were
to be sent beyond Damascus in captivity!!! In the 208 years that the Kingdom of
Israel (the Ten Tribes) existed after the split from Judah following the death
of Solomon, there was not one righteous king among them, not one revival back to
Torah, all we find that SOME of the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Manasseh
returned to Judah to keep the Passover (see 2 Chron. 30:6-11). Not one person
from the tribe of Ephraim returned!!! But back to our chronology of the House of
Israel's history:
Ezekiel 20
15 So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would
not bring them into the land which I had given them, 'flowing with milk and
honey', the glory of all lands,
16 because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but
profaned My Sabbaths; for their
heart went after their idols.
17 Nevertheless My eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of
them in the wilderness.
We know what happened to THIS generation: they wandered in the wilderness forty
years until every one of them DIED in the desert because of their rebellion to
God's Torah. Let us see if their children learn the lesson:
Ezekiel 20
18 But I said to their
children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor
observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
19 I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them;
20 hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may
know that I am the LORD your God.'
21 Notwithstanding, the children
rebelled against Me; they did
not
walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, which, if a
man does, he shall live by them; but they
profaned
My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger
against them in the wilderness.
22 Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and acted for My name's sake, that it should
not be profaned
in the sight of the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out.
23 Also I raised My hand in
an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles
and disperse them throughout the countries,
24 because they had not executed My judgments, but had
despised
My statutes, profaned
My Sabbaths, and their eyes were
fixed on their fathers' idols.
Well, let us see how the record stacks up for the Ten Tribes at this point: The
fathers rebelled against God and Torah in Egypt, their children follow the ways
of the fathers and rebel against God and Torah in the Wilderness, let us see if
they finally obey Torah in the Promised Land:
Ezekiel 20
25 Therefore I also gave
them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not
live;
26 and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they
caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them
desolate and that they might know that I am the LORD.
27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the
house of Israel,
and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'In this too your fathers have
blasphemed Me, by being unfaithful to Me.
28 When I brought them into the
land concerning which I had
raised My hand in an oath to give them, and they saw all the high hills and all
the thick trees, there they offered their sacrifices and provoked Me with their
offerings. There they also sent up their sweet aroma and poured out their drink
offerings.
29 Then I said to them,
'What is this high place to which you go?' So its name is called
Bamah
to this day.
["Bama"
in Hebrew means "High Place". It is interesting that the Septuagint has this
verse as: And when I said unto
them, What is this Abama,
that you go thither, they called its name
Abama,
which it retaineth
to this day; This could just as
easily be translated as "Obama"
especially since millions are
calling this guy, "THE One", the "Savior" and the "messiah of the world". ALL of
which he has never repudiated or denied!!! Hmmm!!!???]
30 Therefore say to the
house of Israel,
Thus says the Lord GOD: 'Are you defiling yourselves in the manner of your
fathers, and committing harlotry according to their abominations?
31 For when you offer your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you
defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. So shall I be inquired
of by you, O house of Israel,
As I live, says the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you.
So here we have it. The Ten Tribes, the House of Israel, did NOT keep Torah in
Egypt, did NOT keep Torah in the Wilderness, did NOT keep Torah in the Promised
Land, and we now come up to OUR times, because the next few verses take us from
NOW to the immediate future:
Ezekiel 20
32 What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, ?We will be like the
Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.
This verse is pivotal because this is the juncture of time that we now find
ourselves at. I believe that the NEXT verse will be fulfilled when the "elites"
announce their "North American Union" and the people of this country just shrug
their shoulders, say, ho-hum, yawn, and go BACK to their slumber. And the reason
for my saying so is from reading a detailed history book of the beginnings of
America called, "The Light and the Glory" by Peter Marshall & David Manuel. You
will read for yourself the detailed miraculous accounts of Divine intervention
in America and that every time the colonists attacked Canada to add territory or
mess with the Canadians, it was a total disaster, every time!!! God gave the
people of America THIS country ONLY, none other, and when we allow it to be
mixed as the nations of the world, well, let us wait and see what happens!!!
The next verse will start the future of the Ten Tribes:
Ezekiel 20
33 "As I live," says the Lord GOD,
"surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out,
I will rule over you".
As can be seen, this verse is NOT happening now. It may be in the not too
distant future that this will take place, but as will be soon seen, there is
going to be a major CORRECTION of the people taking place. The rebellious and
Torah breakers will NOT be allowed into the Promised Land THIS time:
Ezekiel 20
34 I will bring you out from the peoples
and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand,
with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will
plead My case with you face to face.
36 Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of
Egypt, so I will plead My case with you, says the Lord GOD.
37 I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the
covenant;
38 I will purge the rebels from
among you, and those who transgress against Me;
I will bring them out of the country
where they dwell, but they shall
not enter the land of Israel.
Then you will know that I am the LORD.
This is not going to be a Sunday picnic folks. When God says that
He is going to pour out His fury on us, many BAD things are going to happen!!!
Have you understood by now WHY God is going to do this after all the Scriptures
that we've looked at so far!!!??? IT'S BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE HAVE REFUSED FOR THE
LAST 3000 YEARS TO KEEP GOD'S TORAH!!! And there is coming a time when the Ten
Tribes will NOT be given a "choice" whether they want to keep it or not. To be
made to "pass under the rod" means that those that rebels will be knocked on the
head and done with!!! The rod and staff are NOT the same thing. The staff was a
long pole with a crook on it, usually 5-7 feet, which was used defensively. It
was mainly to snag any sheep that might have fallen down a ravine or shallow
that needed to be snagged and pulled up. The rod was a shepherd's offensive
weapon. It was a club about 2 feet in length, and it usually had a good size
stone attached to the end of it to crush the skulls of predators, such as bears
and lions that might attack the sheep. It will be THIS "rod" that we will have
to pass under, and we are being warned here, that NO rebels or Torah violators
will be allowed back into the Land. They will be knocked in the head and done
with!!! Greasy grace, sloppy agape, name it and claim gospel believing ain't
gonna do it this time folks!!! God is going to bring us under the Covenant
again, and this time, the tribes WILL keep it. But, in the meantime:
Ezekiel 20
39 As for you,
O house of Israel,
thus says the Lord GOD: Go, serve every one of you his idols, and hereafter, if
you will not obey Me; but profane My holy name no more with your gifts and your
idols.
Until we reach that time when God will rule over us, God has just said that we
are to worship our idols, violate His Torah, just don't claim to be worshipping
Him while we are doing it!!! So now, we come to the HAPPY part where the Ten
Tribes WILL return and keep God's Torah:
Ezekiel 20
40 For on My holy mountain,
on the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord GOD, there
all the house of Israel,
all of them in the land,
shall serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require your
offerings and the firstfruits
of your sacrifices, together with all your holy things.
41 I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and
gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will be
hallowed in you before the Gentiles.
42 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of
Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your
fathers.
43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you
were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all
the evils that you have committed.
44 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for My
name's
sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings,
O house of Israel,
says the Lord GOD.
As you can see, this story does have a "happy ending" but NOT for all of us.
Those that REFUSE to obey God's Torah are NOT going to be back enjoying His
blessings. They are NOT going to there at all because God will no longer
tolerate rebellion against His Laws!!!
The book of Hosea has the account of Ephraim repenting of his
rebellion and idol worshipping:
Hosea 4:
1 Hear the word of the LORD,
You children of Israel,
For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land:
"There is no truth or mercy
Or knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing and lying,
Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint,
With bloodshed upon bloodshed.
3 Therefore the land will mourn;
And everyone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field
And the birds of the air;
Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.
Hosea 14:
8 Ephraim shall say, 'What have I to do anymore with idols?'
I have heard and observed him.
I am like a green cypress tree;
Your fruit is found in Me.
The whole book of Hosea is mainly about Ephraim but also the
Ten Tribes whom Ephraim heads. It will ONLY be when God re-gathers the tribes
back into the Land will Ephraim finally repent. This can be seen very clearly by
reading the whole chapter of Ezekiel 20. Now there is just one more point to
clear up in this article. It was stated that because Joshua and Samuel were of
the tribe of Ephraim and they were Torah observant, then somehow, that must mean
that ALL of the tribe was observing Torah. I disagree. The reason being that I,
unlike most people, READ my Bible, the Scriptures!!! It is true that Joshua and
Samuel were from the tribe of Ephraim, but just a casual reading of the
Scriptures will show that the REST of the tribe was NOT following Torah. Let us
take a look:
Hosea 24:
14 Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth,
and put away the gods
which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the
LORD!
15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day
whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the
other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.
But as for me and my house, we
will serve the LORD.
As can be seen from this discussion, Joshua is telling the people
to PUT AWAY THE GODS THAT THEY ARE NOW SERVING!!! He tells them that HE and HIS
house will serve the LORD, but that the "rest of them" will have to choose to do
so. Joshua is the EXCEPTION here, not the rule for keeping Torah. Let's now take
a look at Samuel and see if everyone there is keeping Torah:
1 Samuel 8
1 Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over
Israel.
3 But his sons did not walk in
his ways; they turned aside after
dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,
5 and said to him, 'Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways.
Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.'
Again, we can see from this verse that Samuel was the exception
to the rule of keeping Torah. He kept it but his sons did not. We can also
plainly see, or we should be able to see just from reading Ezekiel Chapter 20
that the Ten Tribes, OVERALL, not separate individuals here and there, DID NOT
KEEP TORAH. They didn't keep it in Egypt, didn't keep it in the Wilderness,
didn't keep it in the Promised Land, they are NOT keeping it NOW! but they WILL
be keeping it in the future but after a terrible judgment comes upon them. I
would urge ANY who might want to escape God's fury to start keeping Torah now. I
would also like to point out that this is NOT an exhaustive study on this
subject of the rebellion of the tribes to keep Torah, but only a study on one
chapter in Ezekiel that gives us an overview of the history of these tribes.
Please get Yair's books and any other information in learning to keep God's
Torah.
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Details on How To Contribute to Brit-Am http://britam.org/contribute-Brit-Am.html Scroll Down\
Have The Ten
Tribes Ever Been Torah Observant?
I made a short post on the Brit-am website
[along the following lines]:
[This opinion was objected to and] |