In the second half of Ezekiel 37, Ezekiel was told to take two ‘sticks’ for himself (one for each of the Two Houses of Israel), and then to bring them together as one in his hand.

 

 

 

This passage tells us that the two sticks are symbolic of the Two Houses, but why exactly did YHWH choose the word ‘stick’? What is so special about this word ‘stick’ in the Hebrew, that YHWH uses it to represent the Two Houses here?

 

In the Hebrew, the word ‘stick’ is the word ‘etz’ (עֵץ). Strong’s Concordance tells us that this word means first and foremost ‘tree’ (while the word ‘stick’ is actually a secondary [or even a tertiary] derivation).

 

 

Since the word etz (עֵץ) means ‘tree,’ we should also be able to see that the Two ‘Sticks’ of Ezekiel 37 are the Two Olive Trees of Revelation 11:3-4.

 

 

 

If:

 

 

However, we should also take note of the specific language that is used in this passage, because it will show us something very important. Notice that Ezekiel was told to “take a stick” for himself (and to write on it).

 

Most Pre-Millennial Return Theorists will insist that the term ‘son of man’ can only refer to Yeshua. However, while Yeshua did sometimes refer to Himself as the “Son of Man,” the majority of times the term ‘son of man’ is used in Scripture, it refers to a human (and not to an immortal being, such as Yeshua). Moreover, in context, it is fairly clear that YHWH commanded the man Ezekiel to take this stick (and not Yeshua).

 

But why did YHWH command the man Ezekiel to take a stick? And what does it mean symbolically, that the man Ezekiel would ‘take’ a stick (and write on it)?

 

As we have already seen, the word ‘stick’ (עֵץ) in this passage means, ‘a tree.’

 

 

 

The word עֵץ, however, basically refers to wood in its natural form (trees, wood, and sticks). The thing that trees, sticks, and other pieces of wood all have in common, then, is their firmness. They are not piles of sawdust, or splinters. Rather, they are solid, and cohesive. They have structure, form and firmness.

 

Interestingly, if these Two Olive Trees will be made into one, then Scripture tells us that Yeshua is the Root.

 

The Apostle Shaul appears to have been aware of the requirement for Judah and Ephraim to become one Olive Tree when he wrote his epistle to the Romans.

 

 

 

Even back in the first century, the Apostle Shaul knew what Ezekiel 37 foretold: which was that the way to get Judah saved was to mobilize the Ephraimites, and to bring them together as a ‘stick’ (i.e., a nation); and that it would be by virtue of the Ephraimite people coming together as a nation under Torah that Judah would ultimately be provoked to jealousy (and to salvation).

 

 

 

It was not by making ‘Christians’ out of ‘gentiles’ that Shaul would see the Jewish people accept Yeshua as their long-awaited Messiah. Rather, it was when the Jewish people saw that Yeshua was the reason the Ephraimite people voluntarily submitted to the whole of the Torah that Judah would be unable to escape the conclusion that Yeshua really is their Messiah.

 

What is so exciting, then, is that while Shaul labored so long and so hard to help bring Ephraim back together as a literal nation back in the first century, the actual reformation of the Stick (or the Nation) of Ephraim is prophesied to take place in our day. If we do not see it take place ourselves, then our children surely will.

 

But does Scripture give us any clues as to how Ephraim will be reformed as a nation? If we look at Ezekiel 37, can we see how this will happen?

 

Notice that in Ezekiel 37, first Ezekiel ‘takes’ a Stick for Judah (and writes on it), and then Ezekiel ‘takes’ a Stick for Joseph (and writes on it). The specific language is the same for both Houses; and what this should tell us is that the Stick of Ephraim will be brought together in exactly the same way that the Stick of Judah was brought together.

What is so fascinating about Ezekiel 37, then, is that by seeing what happened to Judah, we can also know pretty much what will happen with Ephraim.

 

 

In 1896, a man named Theodore Herzl wrote a booklet called Der Judenstadt (the Jewish State). This booklet proposed that the only real solution to Christian anti-Semitism was for the Jewish people to reclaim their ancient homeland (centered about Mount Zion).

 

As with Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, the idea of a Jewish State had been proposed before; but thanks to YHWH, in 1896 it was an idea whose time had finally come. Soon after Der Judenstadt was published, the Jewish community began pressing for a Jewish State, and the Zionist Movement was born. Fifty-two years and a Holocaust later, it finally became a reality.

 

While Zionism is not synonymous with Judaism, the Zionist Movement cannot really be considered a secular movement. Just the fact that Zionism proposed that the Jewish people should center themselves about Mount Zion makes it scripturally related.  Notice also how this is related to the idea that Ezekiel was not just any old (secular) human being, but a priest.

 

 

While it may be true that Zionism is only a populist least-common-religious-denominator among the Jewish people, it was nonetheless Zionism that made the State of Israel a reality. It was this common Jewish desire to escape Christian persecution, as well as Judah’s deep-seated yearning to reconnect with his ancient Middle Eastern homeland that ultimately paved the way for the establishment of modern Israeli religious institutions (such as the Sanhedrin).

 

Much as Constitutionalism is fueled by Pre-Millennialist American Christian sentiment, Zionism is fueled by populist Jewish religious sentiment. We will talk later in this book about how a corresponding Ephraimite least-common-religious-denominator will be used to draw the Ephraimite people back to the Land of Israel, but first, let us notice something important.

 

If we look at the plain and simple meaning of the Text, Ezekiel was not told just to sit around and wait to be handed a stick. He was also not told that Yeshua would take him back to the Land of Israel in the clouds. Rather, Ezekiel was told to take a stick for himself, and identify it as belonging to the House of Judah (by writing on it). And, if we look at the history, this is a perfect picture of what the Jewish people did: they formed themselves into a nation, thereby taking a stick for themselves, and then they identified it as belonging to Judah (just as the Prophet Ezekiel foretold).

Now, if we Ephraimites can understand that Yeshua is not going to bring us back to the Land of Israel in a cloud (wind whipping through our hair, sunglasses on, theme music playing), then we should also be able to see that Ezekiel 37 requires Ephraim to come back to the Land in the same way that Judah came back to the Land: That is, we must take a stick (i.e., a nation) for ourselves, and then identify it as belonging to Ephraim. That is to say, we must establish a nation for ourselves.

 

 

 

Just as Judah had to make a nation for himself, so too must Ephraim make a nation for himself. To believe anything else is essentially to suggest that Ezekiel 37 will not come to pass just exactly as it is written (which is essentially to suggest that Ezekiel 37 is not inspired, which is essentially to call YHWH a liar).

 

Pre-Millennialism suggests that Ezekiel is a liar: It tells us that it would be heretical for us to make a nation for ourselves, even though prophecy requires it. Further, it suggests that it is wrong to be used to fulfill Prophecy.

Pre-Millennial Return Theory argues that it is wrong (and altogether presumptuous) for any human being to believe that they can be used to fulfill prophecy. As if to prove their point, they remind us (for example) that it was YHWH (and not any man) who brought our forefathers out of Egypt.

 

 

 

The post-millennialist knows that it was YHWH who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. However, the post-millennialist also knows that YHWH used Moshe to bring them out. Further, the post-millennialist points out that while it was YHWH who gave the Land of Israel to His people, He nonetheless used Yehoshua (Joshua) to lead His people to take the Land. 

 

To drive the point home, the post-millennialist asks us to be aware of who smote Amalek.

 

YHWH plainly said that He would smite Amalek; and yet YHWH commanded Israel to perform that smiting.

 

 

 

It was YHWH who smote Amalek; and yet YHWH used Israel to smite Amalek, just like He used Moshe to draw Israel out of Egypt (just as He used Yehoshua ben Nun to lead the conquest of the Land, and just as the children of Israel had to take the Land in the first place). This is because while nothing happens by our own power and strength, YHWH typically works in (and through) His people. Can we see the connection?

 

Therefore, let us acknowledge that it was YHWH’s Spirit that led the Jewish Zionist Movement to fulfill Ezekiel 37. It was by only the leading and guiding of YHWH’s Spirit that Judah ever ‘took’ a stick for himself. Therefore, will it not also be by the leading and guiding of YHWH’s Spirit that Ephraim will take a stick for himself? Is this not what Ezekiel 37 says?

The pre-millennialists refuse to acknowledge any of this. Instead, they cling to their theory about Yeshua returning at the start of the Millennium, because the thought of Yeshua doing all the work just seems easier.

 

Ironically, when faced with the fact that Scripture requires Ephraim to work to rebuild his nation, the pre-millennialist generally becomes angry. He hates the thought that he might actually have to work to go back home to the Land. The thought of having to earn his reward seems loathsome to him.

 

But let us ask ourselves, what kind of spirit is it that claims to be dead to the flesh, and which yet finds the thought of having to support Yeshua’s priesthood to be hateful (and not joyful)? What kind of spirit says it wants to lay down its life for Yeshua, and yet hates the thought of working to build Yeshua’s kingdom? Is it the Set-apart Spirit that says these things?

 

If these thoughts seem strange, consider that in Ezekiel 36, YHWH told Ephraim that first He would give him a new spirit, and then bring him back to His Land. Then, after Ephraim is brought back to the Land, then YHWH will give Ephraim so much of His Spirit that Ephraim will even begin to loathe himself.

 

Now, if Ephraim first comes back to the Land, and then loathes himself for his own ways, that would seem to suggest that the House of Israel will not come back to the Land in a completely pure state. Rather, it will only be after his return that he is given true purity.

 

However, this raises the question, “Why would the House of Israel even want to come back to the Land, if it is not already pure? Is it not a desire for purity that makes one want to return to the Land to begin with? And if the House of Israel is not already completely pure, then why would it want to come back?”

 

The answer is that Ephraim has never really been pure. While YHWH says He will give him a desire for more purity, his purity has pretty-much always been relative; and in fact, the object of his numerous migrations over the past 2730 years has never really been true purity, but subjective purity. That is to say, he has not really sought what is right in YHWH’s eyes, but in his own.

 

As we will discuss in Migrations: the Lost Ten Tribes, when the main prophetic body of the House of Israel migrated from the Old World to the New, Ephraim was indeed seeking a form of purity. Religious Protestants left the Old World to make a new and better life for their children; and yet it was the lawless Christian ideal (and not a Torah-obedient one) that they sought.

 

Ephraim still desires this better life. However, with the continuing deterioration of Christian social and cultural values in the United States (as well as in other Western countries), and with literal witchcraft (i.e. Harry Potter, ‘Earth Day,’ etcetera) being taught to America’s children, how long will it be before Ephraim finds his Judeo-Christian social and cultural values even more unwelcome than they already are?

Judeo-Christian beliefs are illegal in many countries, and in today’s America, it is now considered unlawful to restrict marriage to men and women only. Many other traditional ‘Christian’ values are already classified as ‘hate crimes’ in America’s courts; and the trend against Judeo-Christian values is generally getting worse.

 

Since the days of World War Two, American society has been utterly transformed. In the 1960’s the Ten Commandments were taken out of the public schools. American society in general has departed from the Judeo-Christian way of life, and Judeo-Christian belief is now openly ridiculed in all walks of life. Therefore, what aspects of Torah life can we expect to see marginalized and/or criminalized as America’s Judeo-Christian minority continues to shrink, while the Harry Potter Generation comes of voting age?

 

If YHWH wants to make Ephraim earnestly desire to return to the Land of Israel, all He really has to do is to allow the American political and cultural scene to continue to deteriorate. The way things are going, America will soon enough criminalize Judeo-Christian social and cultural values.

 

But aside from speculating on the anti-religious and cultural pressures that will probably be placed on true believers in the coming decades, we should also note that Prophecy speaks of a series of several wars with the Muslim people. 

 

With Islamic oil money going to support terrorist activism internationally, and with some eleven million Muslims now living in the United States, what kind of terrorism does America have to fear on her own shores in the coming years? What kind of ‘fifth column’ action can she expect from her own citizens?

Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the world.  There are now more than one billion Muslims: and the number is growing rapidly.

 

While originally founded as a Judeo-Christian nation, the United States now has Islamic senators and congressmen. At the time of this writing there is even an Islamic presidential candidate. How does this play into prophecy?

 

Before we talk about how to reform the Ephraimite nation (and thus move Judah to jealousy, and bring about the Ingathering) let us turn for a moment and explore what Scripture has to tell us about the coming wars with Islam. Then let us also consider the effects of the coming terrorism on American soil.