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The House of Israel in Paul’s letter to the Romans In the first eight chapters of Paul’s epistle to the Romans, Paul attempts to explain to this Gentile church that God is not unfair. He tries to explain how God’s special favor for the Jews is not unfair and how the Jews and Gentiles are actually equal before God even though their responsibilities are different. In chapters nine through eleven the focus changes from Jew/Gentile relations and responsibilities to the lost House of Israel. It is amazing that this is missed by even most “two house” people. Throughout the first eight chapters it is “Jew,” “Gentile,” “Jew,” “Gentile,” etc. In chapters nine through eleven the emphasis shifts to a message about the House of Israel. This is not clear to most Christians and Messianics because of their failure to recognize the clear message of Rabbi Joshua ben Joseph (Jesus). Rabbi Joshua said,
To his Jewish disciples there would have been no confusion about this statement. The lost sheep of the House of Israel referred to ten lost tribes who had been removed from the land of Israel by the Assyrians. There are many Messianic Jews who teach that the tribes were reunited when Babylon took over the old Assyrian empire (two hundred years after the exile of the ten northern tribes). This teaching runs totally contrary to the teachings of Orthodox Judaism. Though there were successive waves of refugees from the northern kingdom that did join themselves to Judah (and preserved their tribal identities) the vast majority of the House of Israel was relocated far to the north. This region (the Caucasus region) was never taken over by Babylon. If the tribes had been reunited, the Talmud would not make reference to the return of the lost ten tribes in yet a future context with the coming of Moshiach. [See Everyman’s Talmud, page 354.] Likewise, the New Testament would not make reference to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel.” Paul makes a very curious statement:
This term “fullness of the gentiles” is found in only one other place in the Bible. The Hebrew phrase “meylo ha goyim” (which means literally: “fullness of the gentiles”) is found in Genesis 48:19 where it says:
The term “fullness of the gentiles” refers to Ephraim which was the principle tribe of the House of Israel. See Ezekiel 37:16 & 19. In this prophesy about the reuniting of the two houses God says that “the stick of Joseph” is “in the hand of Ephraim.” In Hosea 1-3 the northern ten tribes were prophesied to be scattered through the nations and become gentiles (“Lo-Ami” or “not My people”). It must be understood that Paul is very careful about his terminology. When he says “Jews” he is referring to the House of Judah, and when he says “Israel” he is referring to the House of Israel. “So we see, according to Paul that blindness is upon Israel not upon Judah. [Also see the article: The Redemption of Israel] Help this ministry with a tax deductible donation.
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