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The joy of return! (The return of the two groups)


Judah and Ephraim are going to be brought back and made one on the mountains of Israel. ( Ezekiel 37:21-22)These are the natural seed of the whole house of Israel. Those coming back with Yahshua will be a supernatural people. (1 Thess. 4:14:17 & 1 Cor. 15:50-53)
So one group is to return naturally to the Land of Israel to receive the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31) from the risen Messiah and the other group is to return supernaturally with the risen `Messiah which consists of the people of faith throughout history and those who have already received the New Covenant after and including the early Congregation.

The people and the promise of the first Covenant

Yahweh said He would bring the twelve tribes of Israel to Canaan, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’ (Ex. 3:8,17; 13:5, 33:3) Yahweh made them this promise under the Covenant He made with them through Moses. However, because some of them continued in disobedience and idolatry, they forfeited the right to remain in the land and were expelled. Read 1 Kings 11:13, 29-33, 1 Kings 12:21 "...and will give 10 Tribes to thee..." Because of sin, Israel became divided, with Jeroboam and the 10 Tribes in the north of Israel, and Rehoboam in Jerusalem with the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the south of Israel. The two groups became enemies.

The northern ten tribes were sent to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29 & 17:6) and the southern two tribes were sent to Babylon (Read 2 Kings 24:1, 15) Also in 70 A.D. the Jews were again dispersed at the fall of Jerusalem. However, Yahweh’s love for Israel is such that He continually reached out and is still reaching out to His people with the promise to bring them back to the land of Israel. He has promised restoration both to Himself and the land of Israel in many scriptures including Hosea. For a later dispensation, the prophets speak again and again of the return of Israel to their Elohim and to the land of Israel. In Jeremiah 23:1-8 we read how Yahweh promises to bring the “…descendents of the house of Israel from the north country and I myself will bring them back from all the countries where I had driven them and they shall dwell in their own land”. Also in Isa 43:5-7 and 11:11-12, 15-16 He states that they will be brought back to Israel naturally “from the north, east…my sons and daughters…” Zech. 10:6-10 & Jer. 31:8-9 Jer. 50:4,5 and 20. He will gather them and bring them home. For more information read “Israel the Beloved”

The first priesthood – of the natural seed

In Exodus 20:18-19 we read: “Now all the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes, and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, “Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not Yahweh speak to us lest we die.”

Here, we see that the people did not want to hear Yahweh speaking directly to them, they desired a ‘go-between’. They wanted Moses to relay His messages. This was a momentous and far-reaching decision which would affect them and their ancestors through all their generations. They made a Covenant with Yahweh through Moses. This was the beginning of a priesthood largely of works, rather than faith although Moses himself was a man of faith.
Paul, speaking to the Congregation in Corinth, (1 Corinthians 10:1) about the Israelites in the wilderness, called them “Our fathers”. He stated that with most of them Yahweh was “not well pleased” because they “craved evil things” As an outcome of this thousands – on one occasion 24,000! - were destroyed as He brought judgement on them. (see Numbers 14:21-38, 25:9 )

The second Covenant people and the seed of faith

Yahshua came to be the mediator of the second Covenant with Israel and Judah. In Jeremiah 31:31 we read “...a new covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah….not like the covenant I made with their fathers…” In Hebrews 8:6-13 it states that Yahshua was the Mediator of a “better Covenant, which was established on better promises” and it goes on to say that “…all will know Me from the least to the greatest of them…” In Heb.12:18-24 we read about this second Covenant. “…just men made perfect … the New Covenant” This is a different covenant with better promises. Jer. 31:31 The second covenant is “NOT like the former covenant with Israel”
The first Covenant – OF WORKS
The second Covenant – OF FAITH and WORKS
For the most part, the children of Israel who were in the wilderness did not experience a Covenant of FAITH. They (1 Corinthians 10:1-6) “craved evil things”

However, there was a people of faith among them i.e. “… nevertheless, with most (implying that at least some of them were not included in this statement) of them Yahweh was not well pleased…” Numbers 14:29-31. This verse mentions Joshua and Caleb by name as being men of faith.

And what about the "dry bones" who are they?

Consider the fascinating scriptures which mention a group who may be a part of this first resurrection, a people raised from the dead. In Ezekiel 37:1-14 the prophet is asked to prophesy to the bones in the valley. Who are these bones? They have bones and sinews and breath is breathed into them, but they interestingly have no blood! So they are a resurrected people. Are they the Israel of faith from the Old Covenant? They are called

“…the whole house of Israel” Will they accompany the resurrected members of the New Covenant who will be returning with Yahshua? After all, many of the faithful from the first covenant were resurrected after Yahshua’s resurrection “… many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the graves after His resurrection …appeared to many” (Matthew 27:52).
Job knew Messiah “I know that my Redeemer liveth…….He shall stand on the earth…” (Job 19:25) Moses himself knew Messiah (Hebrews 11:24-26) “He considered the reproach of Messiah greater than the treasures of Egypt…” and what about David? His psalms depict an intimate knowledge of YWHW as Redeemer. Yahweh always had a people of faith among His people the seed of faith. (Heb. 11). These special people of faith have a different future. These are they who will return with Yahshua, along with the faithful from the New Covenant. The early Jewish congregation which we read about in Acts was a continuation of this seed of faith in the New Covenant.

According to the witnesses in the Second Covenant scriptures, these (people of faith both from the first and the second Covenant) are the seed of faith both deceased and alive are those who will return with Yahshua. 1 Corinthians 15:51 states: “ The trumpet shall sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed…” 1 Thess. 4:14:17 “…then those who are alive…shall be caught up…” These are a people of faith in the risen Messiah, both Jew and Gentile. In Rev. 20:1-6 we read “…and they lived and reigned with Messiah for a thousand years”. These people will be priests of Yahweh and will reign with Yahshua for a thousand years. Hebrews 11. These are the people of faith. Who are NOT there? The disobedient from the first Covenant. However, those selected ones who were of faith (read Hebrews 11 to know who some of them were) will in fact be there.

The second priesthood – of the seed of faith. The Order of Melchisedek


1. Heb. 7:14-25 Yahshua is after the order of Melchisedek, an everlasting priesthood (for ever) of FAITH. He is not dead, as the former Levitical Priests are, who only served during their lifetime, but He is the Head of the Melchisedek Priesthood which should be in evidence today. (Ephesians 4)
2. This is a Covenant of faith with a priesthood of faith “Faith comes by hearing…the Word of Yahweh” Second Covenant believers in the risen Messiah both Jew and Gentile already have the New Covenant.
3.Eph. 2:11-21 v. 18 “…THROUGH HIM we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” This is the New Covenant, when “…all men shall know Him…” (Jer. 31:31)

Who is “made one through Him?” Those of faith from both covenants! (for in v. 3-5 Paul himself says “…we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh…but Yahweh …made us alive together…”)
4.What and where is the priesthood of the New Covenant? First Apostles (1 Cor. 12:28) - Yahshua was the first (Heb.ch.3 and 5:10) and He chose the 12, all were Jewish! Ephesians 4 – explains the rest.

Conclusion


We see two groups mentioned by Paul: 1 Cor.10:32
1. The Jews without the risen Messiah and the unbelieving Gentiles.
2. The Body of Yahshua made up of people who believe in the risen Messiah both Jews and Gentiles.
The first group will then, return to Israel in a natural way to be made one on the mountains of Israel: “They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced (Zech. 12:10) and “…bring to their own land…make them one on the mountains of Israel…make a covenant of peace with them…”(Ezekiel 37:21-26). and the second group will return supernaturally with Yahshua to rule and reign with Him for a thousand years. Yahweh will honour His first Covenant with Israel and Judah, and His promise to bring them back to the land of Israel, so they will be brought back naturally to come into the New Covenant as it were in boats planes and trains! Jer. 31:31 and Ezekiel 37:24 – 28.
There are also those who are made up of the circumcision and the uncircumcision who will come back with Yahshua supernaturally through the clouds, those of faith from all generations.

If you have been challenged by this article in that you are unsure of whether or not you are a part of those who will return with the risen Messiah of Israel, Yahshua, then you probably need to experience His reality in your life. This link will help you to do this. Yahweh bless you as you come into a greater relationship with Him, the Elohim of the whole House of Israel.


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