Has the Torah Been "Done Away"?

I have been asked another great question. The answer to this will probably take more than one article to answer so consider this Part 1. Here is the question: "Are you now under Jewish law or does your church hold to New Testament teachings on the law?"

My answer I guess would depend on what you mean by the "New Testament Teachings on the Law" and even what you mean by “Jewish Law”. There is actually only one word in Hebrew for the commands of Yahweh and that is Torah. The word Torah has been interpreted as Law, Instruction, Command, Word, and Teachings. Anytime you see the word "Law" it is from the Hebrew word Torah. The Greeks did not have a word for Torah so they used either of these other words in their interpretations. We have therefore followed in this practice in the English language as well.

The first question we should ask is “What is the Torah?” The Torah is the first 5 books of the Bible (Genesis - Deuteronomy). It is Yahweh’s laws, instructions, commands, teachings etc. So when you say “are you under Jewish law”, I would say “NO”. The Torah was never created by the Jews. The Torah is Yahweh’s instructions given to the Hebrews. By the way, the “Jews” only covers the tribe of Judah, or Yahudah, some of the Levites, and Benjamin. The term “Jew” was never applied to the other tribes. So you can be a Hebrew and not be Jewish. But if you are Jewish you are from the Southern Kingdom. So am I under Yahweh’s commands? To this I would wholeheartedly answer, “YES!”

You would probably agree to this yourself, as you would say that you keep the 10 commandments to the best of your ability. The “10 Commandments” are part of the Torah, but not in the least bit all of Yahweh’s commands. For instance, when you read about keeping the feasts in Scripture, are they referred to as the “Jewish Feasts”? Actually No. Each and every time they are referred to as Yahweh’s Feasts! He states several times “these are My Feasts”. Throughout all Scripture you will see, guard My commands, keep My laws, follow My instructions, obey My right-rulings, listen to My word, etc. Each one of these references is the word Torah. So if we were to interpret it correctly the Scriptures would say guard My Torah, keep My Torah, follow My Torah, obey My Torah, listen to My Torah, etc. Let’s look at Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Again, in Hebrew the word is Torah. “Your Torah is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

So what is this lamp that lights our path? The Torah, the instructions in the first 5 books of the Bible. Not just the 10 commandments, but all of the Torah. The Jews did not make these laws or commands. Nor did any other Hebrew. Matter of fact, they kept breaking them! The Torah was written by Yahweh and given to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

Furthermore the Torah was not just for the Hebrews, let’s look at Exodus 12:49 for instance. “There is one Torah for the native-born and for the stranger who sojourns among you”.

This is not the only scripture reference that states this. The Torah was for the Hebrew and any one else who aligns themselves to Israel. Some of you may not believe you are Jewish or Hebrew but do you align yourself with Israel? Think about it. You read a book that is about the history and future of a Hebrew people, that was written by Hebrews, in the Hebrew language, about a covenant that was made with the Hebrew people, and about a promised Hebrew Messiah, who came as a Hebrew, born of a Hebrew woman, raised by Hebrew parents, who Himself states He “came for the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel”, and who will return to Israel, re-joining the 2 Houses of Israel, so that He will rule and reign in Jerusalem! If you don’t think you are aligned with Israel then you must not be reading the same Scriptures I am.
Now as for the “New Testament teachings on the law”. What does the New Testament teach about the Law/Torah? Let’s establish one thing first. If Yahshua would tell you to keep the Torah and Paul or any other one of the disciples would tell you not to, who would you follow? My hope is that you would choose Yahshua over any man. So assuming that you answered Yahshua, let’s look at what Yahshua said concerning the commands.

Matt 5:17-19 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete. “For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done. “Whoever, then, breaks one of the least of these commands, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the reign of the heavens."

Well, looking around I still see the earth beneath me and around me, therefore, I would say that not one single thing from the Torah has passed away. What else does Yahshua say about His commands? Well here’s a few examples:

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you shall guard My commands.”
John 14:21 “He who possesses My commands and guards them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I shall love him and manifest Myself to him.”
John 14:23 “Yahshua answered him, “If anyone loves Me, he shall guard My Word. And My Father shall love him, and We shall come to him and make Our stay with him.”
John 14:24 “He who does not love Me does not guard My Words. And the Word which you hear is not Mine but of the Father Who sent Me.”

So if Yahshua and the Father are One, then would They have different commands? Would They have a different Torah? There’s no way They could. He did not teach a different covenant. He upheld His Father’s commands because they were the same as His own. When He was asked which command was the greatest, did He say, “Oh those aren’t in effect anymore!” Of course not! What He did say was a quote from the Shema. Shema means Hear and Obey.

Mark 12:29-30 "And Yahshua answered him, “The first of all the commands is, ‘Hear, O Yisra’el, Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is one. ‘And you shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first command."
Deut. 6:4-5 “Hear, O Yisra’el: Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is one! “And you shall love Yahweh your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might."

He was quoting from the Scriptures Yahweh’s commands.

Here’s another point to consider. What is a prophet? A prophet not only foretells future events, a true prophet upholds the Torah of Yahweh. Every prophet in Scripture told the people to follow Torah, to repent and keep Torah. John the Baptist was a prophet. He told the people to repent. Repent to what? The word repent is “teshuva” which means to come back or to turn back, turn back to what? Back to Torah! Yahshua was also called a prophet. If He would say that we are no longer to follow Torah (the instructions of Yahweh, His Father) He would be a false prophet. If you read about Yahshua’s life, He kept the feasts, He kept the Sabbath, when He healed people, as in the case of the leaper, He told them to go to the priests (this was per the instructions in Torah), in everything He did, He followed Torah.

Now we come to Paul or his Hebrew name Sha’ul. Whenever someone wants to say that the Torah is no longer in effect they turn to Paul. None of the other disciples ever said anything to imply that the Torah was “done away”. Paul is the only one that people like to quote saying that the Torah was “done away”. As I stated earlier, even if this were true, whose words would you go by, Yahshua or Sha’ul? So did Sha’ul (Paul) really say that the Torah was “done away”? Let’s see what Sha’ul said about the Torah in Romans which was towards the end of his ministry.

Rom 2:12 "For as many as sinned without Torah shall also perish without Torah, and as many as sinned in the Torah shall be judged by the Torah.”
Rom 3:31 “Do we then nullify the Torah through the belief? Let it not be! On the contrary, we establish the Torah.”
Rom 7:1 “Or do you not know, brothers - for I speak to those knowing the Torah - that the Torah rules over a man as long as he lives?”
Rom 7:12 “So that the Torah truly is set-apart, and the command set-apart , and righteous, and good.”
Rom 7:14 “For we know that the Torah is Spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.”
Rom 7:16 “But if I do what I do not wish, I agree with the Torah that it is good.”
Rom 7:22 “For I delight in the Torah of Elohim according to the inward man,”
Rom 7:25 “Thanks to Elohim, through Yahshua Messiah our Master! So then, with the mind I myself truly serve the Torah of Elohim, but with the flesh the law of sin.”
Rom 13:10 “Love does no evil to a neighbor. Therefore, love is completion of the Torah.”

That’s just one book. I won’t quote every Scripture. But let’s look also at Sha’ul’s life. He kept the Sabbath, he kept the feasts, he followed the Torah in all that he did. Reading Acts you will see that there came a time when he was accused of teaching that the Torah was “done away”. To this he wholeheartedly denied! They asked him to prove it by not only taking a Nazarite vow (which is in Torah) but to also pay for 4 others to do this as well. He did all they asked to prove that he still believed in the Torah and that he was not teaching others that it was “done away”.

Acts 21:18-24 "And on the following day Sha’ul went in with us to James, and all the elders came. And having greeted them, he was relating one by one what Elohim had done among the gentiles through his service. And when they heard it, they praised the Master. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Yahudim there are who have believed, and all are ardent for the Torah. “And they have been informed about you that you teach all the Yahudim who are among the gentiles to forsake Mosheh (Moses), saying not to circumcise the children nor to walk according to the practices. “What then is it? They shall certainly hear that you have come. “So do this, what we say to you: We have four men who have taken a vow. “Take them and be cleansed with them, and pay their expenses so that they shave their heads. And all shall know that what they have been informed about you is not so, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Torah.”

So if Sha’ul (Paul) kept the Torah why would he teach others that it was “done away”? He didn’t. Now there are verses in his letters that he wrote that would seem he is contradicting himself. This is where you have to have an understanding of Jewish culture. I say Jewish here because at this time it was the Jews, from the tribe of Judah (Yahudah) who were in Jerusalem. there are two different Torahs discussed in Sha’ul’s (Paul’s) writings. There is the Oral Torah and the Written Torah.

Next month’s article I will do my best to describe what the Oral Torah is and what Sha’ul really said. For now may I suggest that you do a word search if you have a computer program like E-Sword on the words “Commands”, “Law”, “Word”, “Statutes”, “Teaching”, Instructions”, etc. and see what the Scriptures say about the Torah.
Shalom,
Saya

Ephraim’s Punishment Part 2

So, when will it end? When will Ephraim come to the end of his season of punishment? If we count 2730 years from 734 B.C., we arrive at the year 1996! If we use the year 722 B.C.E as a base, we come up with the year 2008!

So, why do we need to understand Ephraim’s punishment? Because some of us are Ephraim and our punishment is now coming to an end! Also, we need to see that Yisra’el would not be rewarded with restoration of their kingdom while a majority of the people were still undergoing their punishment of not being a recognizable people! And, they could not be recognized as the people of Yisra’el until now! Even so, non-Jewish believers (Christians) have not seen themselves as physical co-heirs with Yahudah. They have not seen that they might well be actual heirs to the promises made to the Patriarchs. Instead, many have been taught that they have replaced Jewish Yisra’el, or that they are spiritual Yisra’el. But, these believers have not seen themselves as part of the corporate (physical) people of the commonwealth of Yisra’el. And, they especially have not seen themselves as a people who need to be reunited with their brother Yahudah.

When Yahshua returns, we as his people will be freed! But before full restoration can come to pass, the price had to be paid. For YHWH has to adhere to His own Word. So, Yahshua cannot return until the punishment that YHVH mandated for those of Ephraim is completed. Praise YHWH we are now in the time of the completion of our punishment! We cannot be absolutely sure as to the exact beginning or end of YHWH’s decreed discipline. However, based on Scripture in Ezekiel and Leviticus, I believe starting in about 1996 and through 2008 Ephraim’s punishment is coming to end.

The ending of Ephraim’s punishment begins a new and accelerated phase of two house truth and national reconciliation with our brother Yahudah! Mainly since 1996 non-Jewish believers (Christians) began to see that there are two houses of Yisra’el, Ephraim and Yahudah, as described in Scripture. And, the believers now are beginning to come out of the Church. Isaiah 8:14 “And He shall be for a set-apart place, but a stone of stumbling and a rock that makes for falling to both the houses of Yisra’el, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem)”. Further, it is evident that the two houses have not as yet been fully reunited as one Kingdom.

For the people of Yisra’el have not yet taken full possession of the Land. And, the Son of David is not ruling over us. So, it is in this day or age that people are beginning to see that Ephraimites are full-fledged members of the commonwealth of Yisra’el.
YHWH is now in the process of restoring Yahudah and Ephraim, the two sticks as His one united Kingdom! (Ezekiel 37:19-22).

We see this restoration in the parable of the fig tree. The generation that sees the fig tree blossom will see His return. (Matthew 24:32-34 HRV). “Learn you the parable from the fig tree, when its branch is tender and the leaves sprout you know that summer fruit is near”. “So likewise you, when you will see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door.” “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away, until the whole is accomplished.” Notice, Vs 32 says, “Learn you the parable from the fig tree, when its branch is tender and the leaves sprout you know that summer fruit is near”.

This scripture says branch, not branches, indicating one stick. Also, there is a play on the words “summer fruit”. When we go Amos 8:1-2 we see that the “summer fruit” is Yisra’el. Amos 8:1-2 says “This is what the Master YHWH showed me, and see, a basket of summer fruit. And He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” And YHWH said to me, “The end has come upon my people Yisra’el, no longer do I pardon them.” Amos 8:1-2. From Amos we see that the summer fruit is the house of Yisra’el. Amos was a minor prophet to only the House of Yisra’el. He prophesied their demise and restoration. In the Matthew parable Yahshua was using the basket of fruit to indicate the beginning of the House of Yisra’el (Ephraim) being restored – coming out of their punishment and that the whole restoration was near.

Unlike most who say that the fig tree blossomed in 1948 when Yahudah become a State, I personally believe the fig tree began to blossom in 1996 when the house of Yisra’el began to wake up to who they are and return to the Torah. Why? Because the punishment was coming to an end. I think the house of Yisra’el is the fig tree, not the house of Yahudah. Yahudah represents only 2 of the 12 tribes. And Yahudah never was called Yisra’el until they changed their name to Yisra’el in 1948. The basket of fruit (house of Yisra’el) is the harvested fig tree. The harvest of the house of Yisra’el will not be complete until all the 10 tribes of Yisra’el know their Messiah, realize their heritage and are living in the land with their brother Yahudah joining them. So Ephraim must now be instructed as to his heritage (Jeremiah 31:18-19), and Yahudah to the identity of their Messiah (Romans 11). Then the two houses will become one reunited, victorious house of Yisra’el living in the land! (Isaiah 11:11-14). Ezekiel 37:19-22 “Say to them, ‘Thus said the Master YHWH, “See, I am taking the stick of Yoseph, which is in the hand of Ephrayim, and the tribes of Yisra’el, his companions. And I shall give them unto him, with the stick of Yahudah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand.” ’ “And the sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes. “And speak to them, ‘Thus said the Master YHWH, “See, I am taking the children of Yisra’el from among the gentiles, wherever they have gone, and shall gather them from all around, and I shall bring them into their land. “And I shall make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Yisra’el. And one sovereign shall be sovereign over them all, and let them no longer be two nations, and let them no longer be divided into two reigns.” How will YHWH accomplish this massive task?

We are the generation to whom the truth (Torah) and of the restoration of the two houses is now being revealed. The task of getting the word out about the two house message falls on us!
Now as I was putting this paper together I did come on to something new that I have never seen before that also may mean something to us today. I would like to read Ezekiel 4:1-8. “And you, son of man, take a clay tablet, and you shall lay it before you, and shall inscribe on it a city, Yerushalayim, and shall lay siege against it, and build a siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it, and set camps against it, and place battering rams against it all around. “Then take an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. And you shall set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. It is a sign to the house of Yisra’el. “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. “And when you have completed them, you shall lie again on your right side and shall bear the crookedness of the house of Yahudah forty days, a day for a year. I have laid on you a day for a year. “Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Yerushalayim, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against it. “And see, I shall put cords on you so that you do not turn from one side to another until you have completed the days of your siege.” Now remember that Yisra’el was taken into captivity in the 8th century BCE which was over a hundred years before Ezekiel was even born in the 6th century BCE. Since Yisra’el had been taken into captivity and dispersed by the time of Ezkiel's prophecies, anything he has to say about Yisra’el is for the future, because the fall of the house of Yisra’el was before Ezekiel’s time, so they never heard the warnings of Ezekiel, who is to be a Watchman to the House of Yisra’el. So this warning is for the children from Ezekiel’s time forward and on to us today.

Ezekiel 3:17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Yisra’el. And you shall hear a word from My mouth, and shall warn them from Me.” Either Ezekiel did what he did and wrote a history lesson, or it is a prophecy for the future. I think this prophecy had already begun to happen by the time Ezekiel came on the scene and is also a prophecy being fulfilled throughout history to this day for both houses, and I might add, that it has already come to pass in our time as you will see later on. This Scripture is plainly a punishment situation and days and years are concerned. YHWH instructed Ezekiel to make a portrait (one translation says map) of Jerusalem. Ezekiel 4:1-3 “And you, son of man, take a clay tablet, and you shall lay it before you, and shall inscribe on it a city, Yerushalayim and shall lay siege against it, and build a siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it, and set camps against it, and place battering rams against it all around. “Then take an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. And you shall set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. It is a sign to the house of Yisra’el.” Now notice carefully, that Ezekiel is to bear the iniquity, not to symbolize it but he was ACTUALLY TO BEAR THE INIQUITY of the house of Yisra’el and the house of Yahudah in his own body: Ezekiel 4:4-5 “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."

The iron plate is behind Ezekiel. Ezekiel 4:3 “Then take an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. And you shall set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. It is a sign to the house of Yisra’el.” He is also tied up. Yehezqel 3:25; 24:7 “Put cords on you and bind you with them, so that you do not go out in their midst.”
This shows that what he is portraying is captivity. Notice that this is different from Numbers 14:36 where Yisra’el was to bear their own iniquity. This time EZEKIEL IS TO BEAR THE INIQUITY of these two houses, who, remember the house of Yisra’el had been taken captive over a hundred years earlier. Since, Ezekiel personally bore the iniquity of Yisra’el in his flesh, is Ezekiel a "suffering servant," or is there something more at play here? In addition, notice: Ezekiel 4:6 "And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the House of Yahudah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.
Therefore, EZEKIEL IS PERSONALLY TO BEAR INIQUITY, this time for Yahudah. Since he was in captivity during the siege days show that he bore their iniquity--which was captivity. Also all the things that were to happen to Jerusalem, were to be a sign to Yisra’el (Ezekiel 4:3).

More on the Punishment of Ephraim in July’s edition! Most of this article was taken from a teaching given by Allen Dodge of Beit Emet Congregation in Vancouver, WA.
Blessings and Shalom! Saya

The Prodigal Son is Ephraim coming home!

The Punishment of Ephrayim

After completing the 5 Part series on the 2 Houses of Israel we need to ask a question. When? When will the 12 Tribes be reunited? We might as well be asking, when will Yahshua return? That’s the age ole question, isn’t it? For over 2000 years man has been asking this question. Well, I’ll tell you right now before someone starts labeling me as a heretic, I don’t have the answer! So don’t go sell everything you own or what I’ve always thought and that’s to go rack up the credit because the world would be ending and then they won’t be able to collect the debt! But seriously, no one knows when Yahshua will return and we know that there are things that have to happen before He will return. Prophecy can be a mystery. Usually you don’t understand the fulfillment until after the fact. Man has for centuries tried to figure out when Yahshua is retuning. People have predicted this date and that date and well, they’ve all been wrong. So am I going to set a date? No way! But I do want to present some interesting facts and let you consider if the time is in fact near.

Growing up in the church I have always heard that Yahshua was coming back “soon”. I’m now 46 and He’s not here yet. Just what did they mean by soon? I thought 46 years was bad until I read Rev 22:20 “He that bears witness of these matters says, “Yes, I am coming speedily.” Ahmein. Yes, come, Master Yahshua!” This was 2000 years ago!

The trend that I see in the church today is that because we have been told He is coming back “soon” and He hasn’t yet, that we and our children don’t believe it anymore. Or at least we don’t really talk about it anymore for fear of looking foolish in the world’s eyes. So instead of hearing sermons on repent, get your life right, seek the Kingdom, we hear sermons on how to get along with your spouse, your neighbor, and your world today. We hear sermons on loving each other and spreading this love to our fellowman. Now don’t get me wrong, these are important subjects as well, but we have shifted our focus to the extreme. I realize that I am speaking in generalities as I’m sure there are some churches who still speak of His return, however, as a former Pastor’s wife who was in full time ministry for 15 years, and in the church most of my 46 years, I have seen the shift and have experienced it.

Some would say, “Well why worry about when He’s coming back? When He comes I’ll be ready and that’s all there is to it.” Ah, my dear family member or friend, you should be very concerned!

One thing that we must know about Yahweh is that He is never late. He knows exactly when Yahshua will return, reunify the 2 Houses of Israel, and establish His Kingdom. I can’t tell you when but I can show you some things that need to happen before He returns. So let’s venture into Ezekiel and see what we can find. I’m sure this subject will end up being a series as well.
Do you remember singing a song in church that goes, “The Lord is building Jerusalem. The Lord is building Jerusalem. Gathering together the outcasts of Israel, healing broken hearts, binding up their wounds. The Lord is building, the Lord is building up Jerusalem!”

This comes from Psalms 147:2-3 “Yahweh builds up Yerushalayim, He gathers the outcasts of Yisra’el, He heals the broken-hearted And binds up their wounds.” Ephrayim has been under the punishment. The House of Israel has been divorced, called outcasts, and Lo-Ami meaning “Not My people”. From Ezekiel we gain an understanding of the duration of Ephraim’s punishment.

Through Yahweh’s Prophet Yehezqel (Ezekiel) we see that Yahweh had him lay on his side for 390 days to signify 390 years of punishment for the House of Ephraim. “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. We know Yahweh is speaking to Ephraim, Yisra’el, because He also said, In verse 6 “And when you have completed them, you shall lie again on your right side and shall bear the crookedness of the house of Yahudah forty days, a day for a year. I have laid on you a day for a year.”

To understand this punishment we need to see that Ezekiel lived approximately 135 years after the Northern Kingdom of Yisra’el (Ephraim) had become “no more.” Yet, Yahweh had not forgotten them. And, through Ezekiel, He reveals the length of their punishment for their iniquity.

The people of the Northern ten tribes did not repent of their paganism. And, Yahweh was adamant that He is a jealous Elohim and that Yisra’el was to have “no other Elohims” before Him. Yet, He also was, “a compassionate Elohim; who would not fail them nor destroy them nor, and this is a key, He didn’t forget the covenant which He had sworn to their fathers” (Deut 4:31; 5:9).

So this is what He said in Jeremiah, 16:17-18 “For My eyes are on all their ways; they have not been hidden from My face, nor has their crookedness been hidden from My eyes. “And first I shall repay double for their crookedness and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the dead bodies of their disgusting matters, and have filled My inheritance with their abominations.”

Using the base of 390 years and doubling it we see that Ephraim now has 780 years of punishment to begin with. If we calculate from the beginning of their captivity 734 BCE we get the year 46 CE. Or if we calculate from the final fall of Samaria in the year 722 BCE we come up with the year 58 CE. What was happening around the time 46-58 CE? That is the time frame that Sha’ul (Paul) came on the scene to go to the gentiles (nations) looking for the lost sheep of the House of Yisra’el.

We realize the duration of Ephraim’s punishment by first looking at Yahudah’s punishment. For, Ezekiel was instructed to lie on his right side for 40 days, a day for a year. Thus, Yahudah was to receive 40 years of punishment. Unfortunately, these forty years are only part of Yahudah’s punishment. Because in the account of the two sisters in Ezekiel 23, Aholah (Samaria or Ephraim) and Aholibah (Yerushalayim or Yehudah), we see that they engaged in prostitution when they were young and still in Egypt (Ezekiel 23). Additionally, Aholah/Ephraim engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians. And, it was this harlotry with their Assyrian neighbors that led to Ephraim’s downfall.

During the century preceding the final destruction of the City of Samaria, the Northern Kingdom was integrated into the Assyrian Empire. Piece by piece various portions of the Northern Tribes became vassals of Assyria until they were entirely absorbed into the Assyrian Empire. When the City of Samaria fell in 722 B.C., it was just the last little bastion of the Northern Kingdom.
It did not take a war for most of Yisra’el to become Assyrian. This fact is confirmed by Yahweh’s statement: “I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians, for whom she had lusted” (Ezekiel 23:9). Re-calling the demise of Aholah/Ephraim, Yahweh said of Aholibah/Yehudah, ‘You have walked in the way of your sister, and I shall give her cup into your hand.’ Ezekiel 23:31-33. “Thus said the Master Yahweh, ‘Drink of your sister’s cup, the deep and wide one – you being laughed at and mocked at – for it holds much. ‘Be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of astonishment and ruin, the cup of your sister Shomeron.”

Yahudah sister’s cup contained 390 years of punishment! Therefore, we add 390 years of punishment to the 40 years that Yahudah initially received. And that gives us a total of 430 years of punishment for Yahudah. So when did Yahudah’s punishment start?

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, subdued Yahudah in 595 B.C.E. After this date, they no longer had political or religious control over their own territory, Yerushalayim, nor over their temple. Thus, if we take 596 B.C.E as the first year of their punishment, and if we move forward 430 years we come to 166 BCE the end of Yahudah’s punishment. What happened in 166 B.C.E? The Maccabean’s revolted against the Greeks. We come to the time of the Maccabean victory, and to the cleansing of the temple. Yahudah’s punishment was over. They had regained religious and political control over their temple and a portion of their territory.

Now let us go back to Ephraim. He was assigned 390 years of punishment. Correct? No. Unfortunately, Ephraim would receive far more than 390 years. We understand this through Yahweh’s fourfold declaration given in Leviticus 26. For this rule establishes unrepentant Ephraim’s fate:

Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, 28 “And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I shall punish you seven times more for your sins. ‘And if you walk contrary to Me, and refuse to obey Me, I shall bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins,... then I also shall walk contrary to you, and I Myself shall smite you seven times for your sins.....then I shall walk contrary to you in wrath. And I Myself shall punish you seven times for your sins”

Yahudah was punished for 430 years. And, when they went to Babylon (that being their punishment), they repented. To this day, the Jewish people (as a whole) do not have idols. And since they repented of their idolatries, their punishment lasted only 430 years. Unfortunately for Ephraim she never repented. So, the Northern Kingdom received a seven-fold punishment: 390 years times 7, for a total of 2,730 years of punishment. Exactly what was Ephraim’s punishment? Yahweh said the Ephraimites would be scattered among every nation, and that there, they would “lose their identity.” They would become, “Lo Ami,” meaning “Not a People” Hosea 1:9; 2:2, 23 “…for you are not My people, and I am not for you.” So Ephraim received a sentence of 2730 years--the punishment being, they would not be a recognizable as Yahweh’s people--they would lose their identity.

When Did Ephraim’s Punishment Start? In determining the date of Yahudah’s punishment, we do not pick the year 585 BC, which was when Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem and destroyed Solomon’s temple. Rather, we start from the year 595 B.C.E, when Yahudah no longer had political and religious control over their territories. Therefore, we will apply this same measure to Ephraim.

When Assyrians completed their campaign against Bet-Omri the last king of Yisra’el, Yisra’el was mortally wounded, decimated by deportation, beaten back into a tiny corner of the Northern Kingdom. With the exception of Samaria, all its cities had been annexed, and the country had been divided into provinces over which Assyrian governors and officials exercised strict control. All that was left of Yisra’el was a dwarf state, a tiny pinpoint on the map: the mountain of Ephraim with the royal city of Samaria. While the city of Samaria was finally destroyed in 722 BCE, the majority of the Northern Kingdom had become a vassal state for the most part to Assyria from 734 BCE to 722 BCE. Confirmation of these facts is substantiated by the Cuneiform Text of Tiglath-Pileser 111, which chronicle his Gaza-Damascus Campaign in 734-722 B.C.E.

So, when will it end? When will Ephraim come to the end of his season of punishment?
Out of room! Stay tuned for next month’s article! Blessings, Saya
Most of this article comes from a teaching by Allen Dodge.