Testimony
Some of you may not know me or my story so I wanted to share it with you and also share with what happened to me this week.
My whole life I have called myself a Christian.
I believed Christ died for our sins but I truly didn’t understand 99% of it.
In my 20’s I ended up falling away and started going down my own path.
I felt free, partied, had girls, didn’t have a care in the world, and was having the time of my life for a few years, until my kingdom of me started crumbling piece by piece.
It culminated when I got my girlfriend of 6th months pregnant, marrying her, only to lose the child at 5 months.
This was an extremely difficult way to start a marriage and it ended with her moving in with guy in my same condo complex.
I would come home from work and seeing her new boyfriend walking my dog.
So taking account of my life at that point, I looked back at the trail of destruction I had created by going my own way.
I had severed my relationship with my mom because of her embarrassment of me getting a girl pregnant out of wedlock, who she had not even met yet.
I was completely broken, ashamed, and humiliated.
She was posting pictures of her on facebook with the guy before I had even told my friends we were getting a divorce.
I had so much anger and bitterness towards at her for what she was doing even though I was equally to blame for all that happened.
One day I was walking around the complex and she was walking our dog.
When the dog saw me it tried running towards me, scratching and clawing as hard as it could to run to me, but she held her back on the leash and I kept walking.
I loved that dog so much but didn’t I couldn’t stop because I still had so much anger toward my wife and I didn’t want to speak to her.
When I got to back into my condo I hit the floor and cried out to God, “please save me!”.
I was at such a low point in my life that I honestly didn’t know if I could keep going.
At my lowest point I felt God’s hand reaching out to me.
He started to slowly pick me up and started to put back the pieces in my life, and repair what I had broken.
I still had so much anger and bitterness in me from the divorce though. I couldn’t shake it.
When I finally laid it at the cross and gave it to God, I was able to start forgiving her and myself.
That’s when He really started healing my heart and when I truly started understanding the power of Christ.
I finally started understanding what true forgiveness was and why God hates divorce so much.
When we hurt, He hurts. He knows the pain it causes us and He hates seeing us suffer.
As He started healing my heart, He also started mending back the relationship with mom.
The past several years I have had a hunger and thirst to know about who Jesus is, and what He did for us.
I have learned a ton over the past several years but there was something in my heart telling me I was missing a big piece of the story.
On Saturday I went down to where I was born in Mississippi for my childhood’s friends wedding.
I went down with parents and we went by the church we used to go to.
I started having all these flashbacks and remember when I told my Dad I wanted to get baptized.
He took me in His car before church and before we got there He pulled off the side of the road and told me the significance of my decision that I was making.
I said I did, and that I wanted to give my life to Christ, but looking back I obviously didn’t fully understand what I was saying or understand the meaning of it.
I just felt in my heart that that’s what I wanted to do.
As we kept driving around I continued having all these child hood memories flooding back to me.
Things I hadn’t remembered in 20 years. I remembered how happy and innocent I was back in those days.
Which got me thinking about this verse:
17Truly I tell you, if anyone does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child, he will never enter it.”
This week I began to see how God has watched over me ever since my decision as a kid and the story he has weaved in my life.
Even though I failed miserably at following him, turned my back on him, he has always been there watching over me openly accepted me back with open arms.
His love and grace for me made me whole again.
My story of rebellion, divorce, broken relationships, being healed, and returning to the father showed me who he truly is and is endless love for us.
Tuesday at our Men’s Bible Study I had a buddy mention being “Married to Christ” before he left which I found interesting.
I know we have heard the gospel, but if you are like me you truly didn’t understand the depth of it and how everything fits together.
Have you ever asked yourself these questions? I know I have.
Who are the lost sheep?
What exactly is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb?
Why exactly did Jesus have to die?
How do the OT and NT tie together
Where do we fit in the bible?
Where are we in the script-ures?
What is God’s Will?
How does Israel fit in the picture?
How does his law, covenants, and what He did on the cross tie together?
What is the Mystery of the Gospel that Paul wrote about?
Who is the bride and who is the bridegroom?
I have learned a ton about the bible over the past years but I knew I was missing something.
Turns out it was the most important storyline in the whole Bible.
When I fully understood the following, I finally began to see my identity in His Story.
I finally began to understand His plan of redemption.
God spoke the Word into creation.
Jesus was the Word become flesh and We are in His Script (His-Story).
His Book of Life and His script cannot be broken.
I pray this will help you start removing the veil on the bible as it did for me and show just how incredible and true God’s word is and the promises He has given us.
I promise it is worth going all the way through and understanding it.
What does scripture says about who Israel is?
Just like the US, Israel became divided in two into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, but unlike the US, Israel never came back together.
Both Kingdoms ended up being banished from their land and taken into captivity.
The Northern Kingdom, “House of Israel”was taken by the Assyrians.
The Southern Kingdom, “House of Judah” led into Exile in Babylon.
Only a portion of the Southern Kingdom was led back into Israel.
Understanding the division is paramount and absolutely foundational to understanding of the bible.
And once you understand it, it becomes self explanatory.
In order for us to understand the New Testament we must a firm foundation of the old.
GENESIS 22 – PROMISE TO ABRAHAM
17I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of hisd enemies, 18and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
GENESIS 26 – PROMISE TO ISAAC
4I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Isaac was the 2nd born but received the 1st Born Blessing
GENESIS 28 – PROMISE TO JACOB
13And behold, the LORD stood above itc and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Jacob was the 2nd born but received the 1st Born Blessing
Jacob and his sons first lived in Canaan and was renamed to Israel which means “He who strives with God”
- 160 of the 660 Nobel Peace Prize Winners – Jewish
- 20% of billionaires are Jewish
- Vanity Fairs 2010 Top 100 Most Powerful – 51 Jewish
Because of famine Israel moved his family from the land of Canaan to the Land of Goshen, just outside of Egypt.
It is here where Israel blesses the sons of Joseph. Israel even claims that’s Joseph’s sons are to be treated as his.
GENESIS 48 : Promise to Ephraim
5And now your two sons, EPHRAIM and Manasseh, which were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
17And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.19And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and HIS SEED SHALL BECOME A MULTITUDE OF NATIONS.
EPHRAIM was the 2nd born but received the 1st Born Blessing
Again the first born blessing goes to the second born Ephraim.
Ephraim, who received the 1st born blessing was prophesied to be the fullness of the nations, those belonging to God.
So from God’s perspective you are either of HIS nation, or of THE nations.
GENESIS 47
27Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied greatly.
After Joseph died, they became enslaved.
EXODUS 1: THE ISRAELITES MULTIPLY IN EGYPT
5All the descendants of Jacob (Israel) were 70 persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.6Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
EXODUS 1: OPPRESSION BY A NEW PHARAOH
8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.
The rest of Exodus is how Yahweh delivers his people through Moses, and uses Moses to lead them.
It was at this time the law was written and given to his people (the 12 tribes), and the aliens that had left and joined with them, on Mt. Sinai
Yet they rebelled against God and did not have the faith to take the Promise Land, so they could not enter into it.
NUMBERS 14: THE PEOPLE REBEL
1Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” 5Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes 7and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey.9Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” 10Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. 11And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?12I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
It was only the children of this generation, that was to enter the Promised Land under Joshua.
Just before entering we see God adding a new covenant, to that which was given to the generation before.
The covenant that came to the first generation under Moses, were not so much the instructions, but the blessings and curses that would result pending the obedience or disobedience to the Law.
The Covenant at Moab was an expansion of the blessings and curses given at Horeb.
Compare to what Moses says to the next generation:
DEUTERONOMY 4
7For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
Here Moses talks briefly about the added covenant being given to them.
25“When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.
DEUTERONOMY 28 : THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE
1“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.2And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God.
DEUTERONOMY 28 : THE CURSES OF DISOBEDIENCE
15“But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
DEUTERONOMY 29 : THE COVENANT IN MOAB
1 These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb.
So we see here he was just adding to the covenant, not taking away.
As a part of the curse of this new covenant, we see that the father declares, He will literally scatter His people into the nations if they choose to disobey
DEUTERONOMY 4
. 27And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.
DEUTERONOMY 28
36“The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.
He then goes onto tell what will happen if they choose to return to His ways.
DEUTERONOMY 30 : RESTORATION PROMISED
1“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, 2and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.
DEUTERONOMY 30
11“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it..
DEUTERONOMY 29
14It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, 15but with whoever is standing here with us today before the LORD our God, and with whoever is not here with us today.
So this covenant was given not only to that generation, but to all generation that came after them. After this covenant the Israelites began taking back the land of Canaan, and eventually decided to have a king over them.
Under King Solomon rule, he led Israel to follow other gods.
Israel was divided into the Northern and Southern Kingdom after Solomon’s reign.
So after Solomon died, He gave 10 tribes of Israel to Jeroboam and 2 to Judah.
Jeroboam was an Ephraimite.
We must remember:
It was Ephraim that was promised to be the fullness of the nations. (Gen 48:19)
The Gentiles. The fullness of those not belonging to God.
Here we see the prophesy of Ephraim begin to manifest.
It is here that we see Israel divided into 2 divisions.
The Northern Kingdom did nothing different than what Solomon did under his rule.
In 721 BC God had Assyria conquer Sumeria and take the Northern Kingdom captive to Assyria.
2 KINGS 17
6In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
28So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the LORD. 29But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived.30The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places. 33So they feared the LORD but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away. 34To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the LORD, and they do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the LORD commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.
God had warned Israel just before crossing the Jordan River, with the added covenant, that this would happen if they didn’t obey, but they ignored the covenant that said…
Deuteronomy 28
36“The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away.
Now we see this scripture in Deuteronomy beginning to unfold, as the people of Israel no longer remain a people, but begin assimilating into the nations.
God divorced the Northern Kingdom because they hardened their hearts and rejected God’s Law in pursuing other Gods.
They are truly, no longer His people.
Israel today is only known by the Southern Kingdom today…Judah.
In all of this we see that which was spoken over 1100 years earlier concerning Ephraim, by Jacob himself.
Genesis 48
5And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
17And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head. 19And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
You would think with all that happened to the Northern Kingdom, the Southern Kingdom would make it a lesson learned for themselves, but they didn’t and they were taken captive to Babylon.
Jeremiah 3:8, 2 Kings 20:17-19, 2 Kings 24:20
The Northern Kingdom, however, never returned and rarely acknowledged as unified entity in scripture again, because they were eventually dispersed and never returned to Sumeria, like the Southern Kingdom returned to Judah.
So where did they go?
No one really knows.
As a whole they became truly lost.
Jeremiah 50
6“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold.
Ezekial 34
11“For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
Amos 9
9“For behold, I will command,
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
Hosea
8Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
9Strangers devour his strength,
and he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
and he knows it not.
10The pride of Israel testifies to his face;a
yet they do not return to the LORD their God,
nor seek him, for all this.
11Ephraim is like a dove,
silly and without sense,
calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.
12As they go, I will spread over them my net;
I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation.
13Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me.
14They do not cry to me from the heart,
but they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
they rebel against me.
15Although I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
16They return, but not upward;b
they are like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision in the land of Egypt.
God said he would rescue the sheep He scattered.
Yet how can this be?
How can Yahweh search for his lost sheep after He has already divorced her?
Wouldn’t this break his own law?
His own law forbids the one who He divorced.
Are we looking at a do as I say, not as I do situation?
Surely not.
Hosea 4
17 Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.
Hosea 6
10I have seen an horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
HOSEA 8
9For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: EPHRAIM HATH HIRED PROSTITUTES.
This was Ephraim’s intent even after being banished.
ISAIAH 7
8For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within 65 years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
They showed no repentance to return and they continued in there ways.
Another reason why God couldn’t remarry Ephraim is this:
A priest could only be a priest if he was a descendant of Aaron.
LEVITICUS 21
14A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
If this is the case for priests, how much more so for Yahweh?
He was the first true High priest as He was the first to offer up a sacrifice for a Adam and Eve to atone for their sins.
Example of God being High Priest:
HEBREWS 5
4And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;
Jesus was a priest because He was God’s Son.
Just like a Levitical Priest through Levitical Priesthood had to be a descendant of Aaron.
Here we see Jesus is established as a priest first by being the Son of God.
What is it said of us regarding being priests?
1 PETER 2
4As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
REVELATION 20
6Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Why are we be going to be considered priests?
Because we will be adopted as sons by God, the first High Priest.
ROMANS 8 : PRIESTS THROUGH SONSHIP
23And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
ROMANS 9
4Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
EPHESIANS 1
5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
So we see in this that Yahweh can not bring Ephraim back because He himself being a priest cannot break His own law that He gave regarding priests. Again:
But we also see that Ephraim back is definitely his intent….
EZEKIAL 34
15I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.
Micah 2
12I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
This was a great mystery to all the priests and rabbis.
They wondered how can He remarry the very one He divorced and declared to have given herself over to prostitution.
God can not break the very righteous laws that define his own Righteousness
Breaking the law of God is Sin, the law defines sin according to God’s own words. God cannot Sin.
How then can God remarry the lost sheep of Israel without breaking His own Law?
Romans 7 : Released through Death
1Or do you not know, brothersa—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.b
Paul goes onto say that we die in Christ, when we come into the faith.
Releasing both us and God from the requirement of the law as it relates to divorce and remarriage.
So Christ came down and died for the Lost Sheep in order to bring them back into the fold.
It is the greatest love story never told.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus prayed in the garden “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
He had to drink as prescribed in the law for the wife accused of adultery
Numbers 5
11And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12“Speak to the people of Israel, If any man’s wife goes astray and breaks faith with him…
It was these ordinances written on the scroll that were contrary to us or against us.
It was these written ordinances that were washed off the scroll into the cup.
This is the curse mentioned in Numbers 5:21, that he took away from us.
Numbers 5
21 then’ (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) ‘the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your body swell.
22May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’ 23“Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness.
So we see that Yeshua died not only so he could remarry his divorced bride, but he took the place of her judgement.
Nailing that judgement to the cross.
He had to drink from the cup, the cup of bitter water, that was to be given to the wife, accused of adultery.
He knew what the outcome of the cup would bring, therefore he prayed for it be taken away.
And this was what Paul was referring to as being Nailed to the Cross.
Colossians 2
13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made
alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
The thigh in Numbers 5:22 is representative a person’s word or credibility, or even authority.
Used in matters of keeping one’s word.
This is why we see oath’s given why a man’s hand was under the others thigh. Genesis 24:9, 47:29
The thigh wasting away was representative of ones credibility being useless.
When Yeshua did not give the crowds proof of being the Son of God, His credibility meant nothing.
Matthew 27
40and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42“He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
He held no credibility with them.
Yet there will be no mistaking his word, credibility, or authority, at his second coming.
His thigh will make it very clear.
Revelation 19
15From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
The strongest muscle in the body is the quadriceps, in the thigh.
How did his thighs waste away on the cross.
It was the thighs that one used in raising themselves up, in order to breathe when being crucified.
After all of this suffering and torture that happened before ever seeing the cross.
Then after several hours on the cross, constantly lifting himself up, on the cross, just to struggle to breath, his thighs finally gave way.
Which shows how he suffocated after saying, “It is finished”.
Because truly his thighs could lift him no more.
There was no strength left and he suffocated as a result of his thighs wasting away.
Our lungs expand towards the least resistance given.
In a relaxed state, that expansion is downward.
Our Savior had been up all night in a mock trial, plus we know he was stressed because his sweat was mixed with blood, the night of praying in the garden.
He didn’t enter this day on a good night’s sleep, on a nice mattress.
So he has been up over 24 hours, after being smacked around by the Pharisees, and having his beard pulled, he gets beat up by the Roman soldiers, then presented to his people, with a crown of thorns.
Then he gets flogged to the point of hardly having human recognition.
Isaiah 52
14As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
Then he has to carry the weight of his own cross.
Every breath he took on the cross was in weakness, not strength.
His lungs filled with fluids while hanging on the cross why in the hands of the Romans.
The shear weight of the lungs would have been enough to push down on the abdomen and push it out.
- His stomach was pushed out just like in the curse given to the unfaithful wife. (Numbers 5:21)
- He endured bitter suffering on the cross and the punishment of the unfaithful spouse. (Numbers 5:27)
- He took the curse. (Numbers 5:23)
- And He nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14)
He enabled his wife to be wiped clean of her guilt and be remarried at the same time.
She can now be justified.
Justified – declared or made righteous in the sight of God.
Just-if-I’d never done it.
Romans 3
23for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; 24being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
He takes our sin and removes it, through His death.
He removed all barriers from preventing the Northern Kingdom from coming to him through His death on the cross.
The law never was a barrier that kept people from coming to him.
It was the sin of the Northern Kingdom.
It was the curse of not obeying his instruction.
Just as Egyptians left with the Hebrews in the Exodus by way of the Passover lamb, Christ has opened the door that whosoever can call upon Him will be saved.
He came as the word, to die in our place.
The only way the covenant could be annulled was through death of either partner.
This was his goal, to die as the Son of God, to restore that which was lost.
LUKE 19
10For the Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost.
What was lost? His people.
JOHN 15 : GREATER LOVE HAS NO ONE THAN THIS
13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
When you die in him, you are dead to the sins of our disobedience.
If you live in him, you can be re-united with the Father.
But if you are not in him, you are still in the divorced state, considered dead in your sins, and you cannot be reunited with God, the first High Priest.
HOSEA
1When Ephraim spake, there was trembling; he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
Notice He was declared dead (spiritually) by the Baal worship.
Would that not be enough to annul the covenant? No.
This just left them dead in their sins and now out of the covenant with the Father because of those sins.
At the point of their rebellion they were no longer considered God’s sons anymore.
HOSEA 1
9And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People,b for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”c
In the eyes of God, they were dead because they were not longer His.
COLOSSIANS 2
13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
Meaning out of covenant. Circumcision represents covenant.
EPHESIANS 2
1And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins,
It wasn’t until the perfect son, Jesus, came and died as the son of God to annul the covenant.
To establish the new.
He died in our place.
He came as the Son of God, Israel.
Israel was no longer son because of disobedience.
Yeshua was son because of obedience.
When He died on the cross, the marriage covenant was made void because He died as the true son, Israel.
So now we can be reunited with Yahweh if we are in Him.
Some have said: “How can Yeshua be the Bridegroom then?
Isn’t there a law saying that a man is not to marry his father’s wife?”
DEUTERONOMY 22
30 A man shall not take his father’s wife, and shall not uncover his father’s bed.
This is not the case with Ephraim.
Ephraim was divorced and is no longer the father’s wife.
We are also dealing with metaphors.
Is one metaphor to be stressed over another? No.
Does this make him a big chicken? No. Its a metaphor.
Even though Israel is the son of God, Yahweh sometimes refer to them as a female.
JEREMIAH 3
8And I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet treacherous Judah her sister feared not; but she also went and played the harlot
20Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,
so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,
declares the LORD.’”
AMOS 5
2The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is cast down upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
So with Israel, the son of God being referred to as such, we see how Jesus, the Son of God, can easily fulfill the sacrifice of the female lamb, for the unintentional sin found in Numbers 15:27-35.
He died to nullify the covenant and make way for the new…
Matthew 13
17For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not.
The mystery was revealed in the Word of God coming to die, in order to rise from the dead, to bring us back to him, and his eternal law.
ROMANS 16
25Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the MYSTERY which hath been kept in silence through times eternal,
EPHESIANS 3 : THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL
1For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6This mystery isa that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 7Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 8To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9and toBRING TO LIGHT FOR EVERYONE WHAT IS THE PLAN OF THE MYSTERY HIDDEN FOR AGES inbGod who created all things,
EPHESIANS 6 : PRAY CONTINUALLY
18with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, 19And on my behalf, that utterance may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the MYSTERY of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
COLOSSIANS 1
25whereof I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which was given me to you-ward, to fulfil the word of God,26even the MYSTERY which hath been hid for ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to his saints,
Christ came to bring His people back into the relationship that was established in His covenant and living in obedience to his Law.
MATTHEW 5 : JESUS FULFILLS THE LAW
17Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil.
He came to redeem His people so they could come back into covenant relationship with Him.
PSALMS 103
17But the lovingkindness of Jehovah is FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING upon them that fear him, And his righteousness unto children’s children;
ISAIAH 24
5The earth also is polluted under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the EVERLASTING COVENANT.
At the time of Jesus the Jews were centrally located in Judea but there were still others who were living in other nations.
JOHN 7
35The Jews therefore said among themselves, Whither will this man go that we shall not find him? will he go unto the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
ACTS 2
5Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven.
These were the ones Peter was referring to later in this chapter.
ACTS 2
39 For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.
Who was he referring to that were afar off that Peter was referring to?
EZEKIAL 11
15“Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen,bthe whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the LORD; to us this land is given for a possession.’
Christ focus was the regathering of the lost sheep of Israel.
At the time of His ministry though, the assimilation of the Northern Kingdom into the nations had already begun, yet not completed.
Yet there were some who still recognized and acknowledged who they were.
LUKE 2 : THE PROPHECY OF ANNA
36And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity,
Knowing that there were still these, living in these surrounding areas, Christ focused on them.
MATTHEW 10
5These twelve Jesus sent forth, and charged them, saying, Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans: 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Though Christ pursued the lost sheep, He still reached out to others.
1 PETER 1
1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
22Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently: 23having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth.24For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth:25But the word of the Lord abideth for ever. And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you.
He then confirms who he is talking to by these next verses:
1 PETER 2
9But ye are a elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:10who in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
EXODUS 19
6and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
JAMES 1
1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are SCATTERED AMONG THE NATIONS, greeting.
GEN 48
19..howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
The fullness of the prophecy of Ephraim was that He would become a multitude of nations, not just scattered among them.
Remember the Hebrew for “multitude of nations” is: “melo ha’ goyim”
Meaning “the fullness of the nations”
“nations” means “gentiles”
“of the nations” or “not of the one nation-Israel”
To reach those who had assimilated into the nations, God gave Paul the ministry or reconciliation to the Gentiles.
1 TIMOTHY 2
7whereunto I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I speak the truth, I lie not), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
2 CORINTHIANS 5
18But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us theMINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION; 19to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.
ROMANS 5
8But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.9Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him. 10For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life; 11and not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
COLOSSIANS 1
20and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, I say , whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.
It was through this reconciliation that Paul was to bring back the Northern Kingdom with the Southern Kingdom, which was no small task because the added laws by Rabbis making up the Talmud.
Plus the Jews had even made a physical barrier in the temple court. Gentile proselytes were not allowed pass this wall.
Paul refers to this wall as metaphor when referring to the law of the Jews.
EPHESIANS 2
11Wherefore remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands; 12that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition,15having abolished in the flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; THAT HE MIGHT CREATE IN HIMSELF OF THE TWO ONE NEW MAN,’SO MAKING PEACE; 16and might RECONCILE THEM BOTH IN ONE BODY UNTO GOD THROUGH THE CROSS, HAVING SLAIN THE HOSTILITY THEREBY: 17and he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh: 18for through him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father.
WHAT HOSTILITY?
COLOSSIANS 2
15having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
DEUTERONOMY 12
32What thing soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
The Southern Kingdom added to it.
The Northern Kingdom took away from it.
Either way it’s rebellion against God’s Law.
This is why Isaiah said to the Southern Kingdom.
ISAIAH 53
6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Today we see them same pattern.
The Jews add to the Law.
The Gentiles take away from it?
ROMANS 8 : HOSTILE TO GOD’S LAW
6For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace: 7because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: 8and they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
ROMANS 9 : ISRAEL’S UNBELIEF
30What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith: 31but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling;
ROMANS 11 : ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED
25For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the FULNESS OF THE GENTILES be come in;26and so ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
“The fullness of the Gentiles” – “The fullness of the Nations”
“all Israel will be saved” – the Southern Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom
Jew and Gentile.
The cultivated and the wild, Representing the 2 Kingdoms.
Meaning the Kingdom, or Olive Tree that was broken is now coming back together.
Ezekial 37 : One Nation with One King
15The word of the LORD came to me: 16“Son of man, take a stickd and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’19say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah,e and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. 20When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.22And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidingsf in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.24“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.
The focus of Christ was to bring His Kingdom back together as one. One in the faith of Abraham…Obedience.
This is why the disciples asked:
Acts 1
6They therefore, when they were come together, asked him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within His own authority.
The Disciples were under the impression that Christ was going to restore the Kingdom of Israel as it were in the days before it was divided.
Hosea 6 : Israel and Judah are Unrepentant
1“Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
2After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
Though we know Christ made it possible for the return to begin, the restoration would not fully come fruition until we were in the 3rd day of the punishment.
Is there a way for us to know where we are in the grand scheme of things in this timeline?
The Northern Kingdom should have begun being restored after 390 years, which is 331 BC.
However, history shows that the Northern Kingdom never returned to their land.
So what else does Scripture give us that can shed light on this.
Leviticus 26 : Punishments for Disobedience
18And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins,
This is the beginning of the process of the hearts of the Northern Kingdom, begin to come back to Him in large numbers.
Thus concluding the Northern Kingdom’s judgement.
The work of Christ started the restoration but its in the 3rd day that He completes the restoration.
After 2 days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. as it says in Hosea 6:2
He is bringing people back to Him and his ways.
2009-2010 just happened to be when my divorce happened and when I fell to my knees asking God to please save me.
This is when I truly started to return to Him and to try and learn his ways.
We are the Lost Sheep of the Northern Kingdom that was scattered!
When we accept him into our hearts, we are grafted in the Olive Tree.