2002-2003 The truth's out there somewhere...

I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for this next installment, and as I hope you'll see, the wait was worth it. Also know that I'm using the Hebrew names and I'm using Yahweh instead of God or LORD, as during this time frame I was just coming into the knowledge of His Name. When I learned His name it was also shown in the Modern Hebrew, of which there were only 4 letters - Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey (Hebrew reads from right to left) that I recognized

Well, during one of Michael Rood's tours, he had a scroll of Yeshayahu (Isaiah) written on deer skin from Iraq, that I believe is 300 years old. Remember Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon who carried off Yahudah to Babylon for 70 years? Only 10% returned back to the land afterward. That left many Yahudim there that never left. I thought okay, if this holds true as to His real name, then I should see Yahweh's name on this scroll. This to me was to be further proof that this was in fact His Name. So when I went up to that display case, there I saw His Name written all over the place !
Here you see His Name in both Modern and Paleo Hebrew:

Alrighty then...as you know there's so much being put up on the web these days, that it's not hard to find credible information, if you look in the right places. But that wasn't so in 2002. I found bits and pieces here and there, but there weren't too many sources as there are now. By this time what I had newly learned vs. what I had been brought up believing were causing the same questions to run over and over in my mind. Again this is a recap of some of what you've already read, but these were some of my thoughts, and you too may be able to identify with some:

• How can so many people not be doing what Yahweh says to do, like keeping the Sabbath, as Scripture says it's forever. So how long is forever?
• Why did Yahshua get renamed to Jesus? This isn't a Hebrew name at all?
• If everyone was Hebrew in Israel, their language was Hebrew and Aramaic, why do they say the New Testament was written in Greek?
• Yahshua says to keep his commands. Exactly what are his commands? One of them is to Love Yahweh and your neighbor as yourself, so where does this come from? Is it in the Old Testament? He says He and the Father are one, yet everyone preaches that the Old Testament has been done away with. If that's true, then there's a conflict with what Yahshua says, and what Yahweh says.
• What Yahshua said to the Pharisees and Scribes regarding what Laws they're keeping i.e. the Old Testament, so I've been taught, that they have been nailed to the cross, done away with. Except what He says the Pharisees are requiring, I can't find it in the Old Testament. I must not be smart enough to find this for myself.

So now what what to do? My wife and I started going periodically to different churches to see if any had more truth than the other, but alas we kept coming up empty handed. This continued on into 2003. At least I could look forward to seeing Michael Rood once a year. My ears were burning to hear what he had to share. We decided to go to a Jewish Messianic congregation once. Albeit we showed up in our Sunday best, and everyone there was dressed in white. It was Yom HaKippurim (Day of Atonements), which we weren't familiar with. We felt like two grains of pepper in a sea of salt. They were nice enough, a little standoffish perhaps. The service wasn't anything we ever experienced before, and so we left, not wanting to return, as it didn't feel right for us.

One day I heard on Christian radio, of a congregation out in a rural area not too far from us that sounded like they may be on to something. I got the phone number, called the Pastor and talked with him awhile. He was just starting down the path that I was looking to go, but I was looking for those that were more established. We even tried a big church that was headed by a man who was Jewish, had a TV ministry, and also just out of the gates on this quest for truth. I figured the way things looked there, it would take 25 years if we stuck it out under that roof, so it wasn't the place either. It started to feel like the story of Goldilocks where things weren't just right yet.

Well the day finally arrived, I was driving down the freeway on a Thursday, and I'm listening to Christian radio about 10:30am, when two guys got on there named Ben and Allen. I listened to them, and boy did I start getting excited about what I was hearing! I said to myself, "self they're talking my language!" Ben gave his phone number and I wrote it down and called him the first chance I got. I had a great conversation with him, telling him what I was looking for, and he invited us to a Sabbath service. Needless to say we showed up, and it wasn't a big congregation, but we really liked it. After the service they invited us to stay for Oneg, a sharing of a meal and fellowship. So we did just that. It was such a great time! We asked so many questions and they certainly had the answers! The biggest answer of all was one I never saw coming!

Allen gave us a book on this "Big Answer" I'll call it, titled "Who Is Israel?". It was written by a woman by the name of Batya Wooten.

This was HUGE!!! With what they told me during Oneg, and with what I read in this book, it made so much sense, it darn near made me cry. This is the truth of the matter! This is why things have been the way they are for so many centuries! This is what's happening now in our very day and age! I can now say without hesitation, "I FOUND IT!", or maybe more appropriately "I WAS FOUND!"

I hope by now you're excited about what this is, even though you don't know what is "is" yet! I'm going to give you a very boiled down version of it here, you might say it's the Oneg version. And then I'm going to give you a link to read it for yourself! Alright here we go!

First there's the need to know some Scriptural history:

• The "First Born Blessing" was recorded 3 times in Scripture. Each time it was given, it was to the 2nd born: Ishmael 1st, Yitshaq (Isaac) 2nd ;Esau 1st, Ya'acob (Jacob) 2nd who in turn was named Yisra'el by Yahweh
• Now before we go further, remember Yoseph (Joseph), one of the 12 brothers (tribes) who was sold into slavery by his brothers, and he had 2 sons in Mitsrayim (Egypt), and for certain reasons Ya'acob adopted Yoseph's 2 sons: Menashsheh (Manasseh) 1st, Ephrayim (Ephraim) 2nd
• Ya'acob (Jacob) gave the First Born Blessing to Yoseph's 2nd born Ephrayim, and gave both Yoseph's sons his name Yisra'el to carry forward
• The First Born Blessing however was not given in total to Ephrayim, he was given the blessing of multiplicity, and would be the "completeness or fullness of the nations". The other portion of this blessing was not given to him, but to his uncle Yahudah (Judah) and that would be the "Authority" or kingship. This is the kingly linage of Yahshua HaMoshiach (The Messiah).
• I believe the 2nd born receiving the First Born Blessing was a shadow picture of the 1st born Adam losing this blessing due to sin, and Yahshua being the 2nd Adam being given this blessing.
• Moving rapidly forward in time, we see King David's son Shelomoh (Solomon) setting up pagan temples for his many wives on the high places, and so he committed idolatry/adultery in the face of Yahweh. He's told by Yahweh that the kingdom will be broken/split during the reign of his son Rehoboam because of his sins. Yahweh told Jeroboam, an Ephraimite (one from the tribe of Ephrayim, Yoseph's 2nd born), who's one of Shelomoh's talented craftsman, that he'd receive ten tribes resulting from this split in the kingdom of Yisra'el after Shelomoh's death. Rehoboam would have only 2 tribes in the south, that being Yahudah and Benyamin (Benjamin).
• What I'm about to share are Master Keys that unlock understanding for so much of Scripture! Now the two kingdoms are known by a few different names, so memorize this chart:

• Now when I got armed with this knowledge, I came to recognize that indeed there are Two Houses of Yisra'el! Now because the Northern Kingdom or Ephrayim, went after paganism big time, and after repeated warnings from Yahweh through the Prophets, He gave them a certificate of divorce! That's right cut off! The punishment was banishment from the land of Yisra'el. Yahweh caused the Assyrians to come down and carry most everyone away from the Northern Kingdom over a twelve year span, from 734 BCE-722 BCE. There was a punishment that was given that was to last initially 390 years, but because of repeatedly sinning and refusing to repent, it was to last 2,730 years! Wow! So these are the "Lost 10 Tribes of Yisra'el" I had been hearing about in times past, but didn't know enough of history to understand it.
• Now another amazing fact came out while studying all this. Maybe you've read this too, in Matthew 15:24 Yahshua stated in the clearest possible terms that He was sent for no one except for the lost sheep of the house of Yisra'el! I couldn't contain myself, this was awesome! I'd never seen it put this way before, and yet it was as clear as day! I started having so many questions like you probably are, and like I said, this is the Oneg version, and I'll give you a link to read all about it at the end.
• Another big question you're probably asking is where did the House of Ephrayim end up going? There's been a lot of research on this one, and the simple answer is, all over the earth! There's more to this, but remember the promise Yahweh gave to Abraham that he would be the father to many nations. This is how that promise was in large part fulfilled, and yes there's more. But again this is the Oneg version.
• So one question you might be asking is where does 2,730 years fit in? Man you're smart! It's through Yahweh’s Prophet Yehezqel (Ezekiel) as we see that Yahweh had him lay on his side for 390 days to signify 390 years of punishment for the House of Ephrayim. “And lie on your left side, and you shall put the crookedness of the house of Yisra’el on it. As many days as you lie on it, you shall bear their crookedness. “For I Myself have laid on you the years of their crookedness, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days. And you shall bear the crookedness of the house of Yisra’el. (Ezekiel 4:4-5)
• Ephrayim didn’t repent after this 390 years of time, and there's much more to this story, but suffice it to say that Yahweh said in Wayyiqra (Leviticus) 26:18 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I shall punish you seven times more for your sins. 390 X 7 = 2,730 years. The beginning of this punishment starting in 734 BCE + the 2,730 brings all the way to 1996-1997! We know it took 12 years for the expulsion to occur, so the fullness or completion of this punishment will be around the year 2008-2009. It is attested that in 1996-1997 many people started waking up to their pagan practices and questioning what is Torah. 1997 is when I myself started questioning if you remember! The scales have started falling from our eyes and ears. The House of Ephrayim is coming to the end of it’s punishment!
• Chances are because of intermarriage and time, you are part of the seed of Abraham! The truth is coming out in our day and time. We know that there's all kinds of Scripture that Ephrayim is suppose to return back to Yisra'el and join their brother Yahudah. But it's never happened to date, and now we know the reason, but it will happen! Scripture says so!
• I know this is getting long but I'm going to give you one more item, and that is the story of the prodigal son. This is Ephrayim, and his older brother is Yahudah, and their father is Yahweh! Think about it!

Now as I promised the link to this story is called Two House 101 . This one goes into greater detail than I could do here today, and you should really consider printing it out and reading it for yourself.

This is our legacy, and this is just the beginning. There's so much more exciting things yet to share with you. Next time I'll be sharing something amazing regarding what Yahshua did and who He is, that when I shared this with others, they were nearly speechless and in awe, I know I was when I found out!

May Yahweh Bless You and Guard You,

John