[Matt Anderson]

After some delay, here is my final post on the Israel of God... There is so much to capture, it is impossible to write it all down. I keep finding more as I read more in recent years, but here is what I will stop with on this subject...

If you haven't already noticed, I am relying on a combination of the types, figures and the history of Israel to paint a picture of the Israel of God. There is a lot to this picture. I am going to try to make this my final post on the Israel of God which will leave a number of things unsaid.

Key Blessings
1. Read the blessing on Judah by Jacob/Israel (Gen 49:8-12) and Moses (Deut 33:7)
2. Read the blessing on Joseph by Jacob/Israel (Gen 49:22-26) and Moses (Deut 33:13-17)

You cannot help but notice when you compare these two that the blessings on Joseph seems much greater than the ones on Judah. Keep in mind what 1 Chronicles 5:1-2 says. Judah has a chief come from him, but Joseph and his adopted son's have the birthright.

There is one part of the blessing on Joseph by Moses that seems to have End Times significance. This particular verse always used to stick out to me and left me with the question "huh?!?" until I began to understand about Ephraim and Manasseh as sons of adoption and Joseph as a perfect type of Christ in the Old Testament. Joseph is not just a type of Christ in His first coming, but also in His second coming.

Deuteronomy 33:17

17 As the firstborn of his ox, majesty ⌊belongs to him⌋, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he drives people together, and they are the myriads of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”

KEY MOMENTS IN HISTORY
1. Starting with the adoption of Ephraim as adopted into the place of the FIRSTBORN by Jacob/Israel, Ephraim is placed by choice to inherit the TITLE OF ISRAEL and position of the HEAD OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL.
2. There are two faithful witnesses who spy out the Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb. It is no mistake that Caleb is from Judah and Joshua is from Ephraim. Who is the "true and faithful" witness? Jesus Christ. There are two aspects of Jesus Christ foreshadowed in Joshua (Ephraim) and Caleb (Judah). There is an aspect that is tied to the blood line of Christ through Judah and Jesus's first coming. There is a second aspect that is tied to God's choice (election) and the birthright which belongs to Ephraim/Manasseh.
3. Given Ephraim's status as title bearer (Israel) and head of the house of Israel, it is correct that Joshua (i.e. Yeshua) leads the children of Israel into the Promised Land at the end of their wandering in the wilderness. I always used to wonder why Caleb as representing Judah and in the line of Christ didn't lead them in, but now I see what God connected with Ephraim,
4. The tent of meeting does not go to Jerusalem when they enter the promised land. It goes to Shiloh in the territory of Ephraim. God's choice was Ephraim at this time. Later God rejects Ephraim and moves the Ark of the Covenant and the tent of meeting. This choice of God is recorded in Psalm 78. The whole Psalm is a historical review of Israel, but verses 56-68 show this change of location.

Psalm 78:56-60

56 But they tested and rebelled against God Most High and did not keep his statutes.
57 And they turned and were treacherous like their ancestors. They twisted like a crooked bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and made him jealous with their images.
59 God heard and he was very angry and rejected Israel utterly.
60 So he abandoned the dwelling place at Shiloh, the tent he had placed among humankind.

In verse 59, it says he rejected Israel utterly. This is directed at the current title bearer of Israel (Ephraim). It is not how most think of the word Israel in our modern age. This is one of those examples where you have to really understand the timing of a verse and who the audience really is.

Psalm 78:67-70

67 And he rejected the tent of Joseph, and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion that he loved.
69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever.
70 And he chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds.
71 He brought him from following nursing ewes to shepherd Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.

5. This Psalm gives us a clear record of God's transition from Ephraim to Judah. I believe that Judah became the title bearer of "Israel" as the period of Judges ended and the United Kingdom begins.
6. The United Kingdom splits into two parts. The Northern Kingdom (aka Israel or Ephraim) and the Southern Kingdom (aka Judah). The title of Israel goes with Ephraim (the Northern Kingdom).
7. The Northern Kingdom is destroyed (documented as a divorce) of one of the wives of God. Sounds strange, but read Ezekiel 23 where two sisters are identified (Oholah and Oholibah) as belonging to the Lord as wives. The language of an adulterous wife is ascribed to the Northern and Southern kingdoms repeatedly. Eventually, in Hosea 1, God divorces the Northern Kingdom, but preserves His relationship with the Southern Kingdom.
8. Multiple scriptures point to the restoration of Ephraim (i.e. Israel/Northern Kingdom) even after they are divorced. All of these references are prophetic.

The most significant references based on my reading to date are:

Jeremiah 31:9b (for I am a Father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn) which is part of the entire chapter which introduces the New Covenant with the "house of Israel".

Ezekiel 37:21-22

21 And speak to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am taking the Israelites from among the nations to which they went, and I will gather them from everywhere, and I will bring them to their own soil. 22 And I will make them into one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and they will all have one king as their king, and they will not again be two nations and will not again divide into two kingdoms again.

Hosea (multiple parts), but I will mention the reference that connects to Paul in the New Testament

Hosea 1:8–11 (LEB)

8 And when she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And he said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God. 10 The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea that cannot be measured or counted; and in the place where it is said to them, “You are not my people,” it will be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 Then the children of Judah and Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint for themselves one head; and they will take possession of the land, for great is the day of Jezreel.

This connects us back to the New Testament where in Romans, Paul says

Romans 9:23–26 (LEB)

23 And he did so in order that he could make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy that he prepared beforehand for glory, 24 us whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he also says in Hosea, “I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and those who were not loved, ‘Loved.’ 26 And it will be in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

Paul equates the verses that are directed at the House of Israel to us as Gentiles. Hosea shows us that God's action to cast out the Northern Kingdom by destroying them and scattering the people wherever the Assyrians sent them was an action to "seed the field" of the earth (i.e. seed the field of the Gentiles) with some who would later become the ekklessia ("ones called out of" the world). So, yes, the church is sourced from the Gentiles, but the Gentiles have also been "seeded" with the Israelites. This isn't to say that every Christian has to have a heritage back to the Northern Kingdom, but it is to say that God has been tracking every single one whom He cast out and their progeny. He is calling them back along with making a call to ALL the gentiles.

Matt