The Mystery of Ephraim

Chapter 35 is a prophecy of the destruction of Edom, who had threatened Israel, their hatred and slaughter of the Israelites, the cause of their downfall.

But who is Edom/Esau today? The answer lies in the  book of Obadiah; and Jonathan Targum identifies Esau (Sepharad of the Southland identified) as Spain! Obadiah 1:20; the Targums identified Sepharad with Spain, hence, Spanish Jews are called Sephardim.

Wikipedia: Sepharad (/sɛfəræd/or səˈfɛərəd/ Hebrew: סְפָרַד Sp̄āraḏ; also Sefarad, Sephared, Sfard) is the Hebrew name for Spain. A place called Sepharad, probably referring to Sardis in Lydia (‘Sfard’ in Lydian), in the Book of Obadiah (Obadiah 1:20, 6th century BC) of the Hebrew Bible. The name was later applied to Spain.

Ezekiel 35

¹ Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, — as the Targum says, the word of prophecy from the Lord; that is, another prophecy as the next verse says.

² “Son of man, set thy face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it — Son of man set thy face against Mount Seir; which derived its name from Seir the Horite, who first possessed it; and was succeeded in it by Esau and his posterity, the Edomites;  (Genesis 36:8; Deuteronomy 2:12), so that the country of Edom or Idumea is intended here.

³ and say unto it, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out Mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. — behold, O Mount Seir, I am against thee: not the face of the prophet only, but the face of God himself was against them;

— the Targum says, “behold, I send my fury upon thee.”

⁴ I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. — “and thou shalt know that I am the Lord” indicates thechildren of Edom repented, they do know God ultimately and survive!

⁵ Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end, — because thou hast had a perpetual hatred; subsisting in the posterity of Esau against the posterity of Jacob, because the latter supplanted the former, and got the birthright from him;

— it started on the part of Edom led to their refusal of permission for Israel to pass through their land  (Numbers 20:14-21); to their invasion of Judah (II Chronicles 20:10-11); to their aiding Nebuchadnezzar in the overthrow of Jerusalem (Obadiah 1:1,13); and to the outrageous conduct of the Herods and their dynasty against the purposes of God during the days of Christ and the apostles. The Herods were Idumaeans (Edomites). See much more on this in Isaiah 34-43;

— (more at the end: “Rage it, rage it, even to the foundation thereof!” Psalms 137:7)

⁶ therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee for blood, and blood shall pursue thee. Since thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee. — therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God; the form of an oath; the Lord swears by himself, because he could swear by no greater;

— since thou hast loved cruelty, and taken delight in shedding blood, vengeance and slaughter shall pursue thee, and thou shalt fall into the hands of those that will be as eager to shed blood; the Targum says; “they that slay with the sword shall pursue thee.”

⁷ Thus will I make Mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth. — this was fulfilled; for the Nabatheans having driven the Edomites out of their ancient habitations in the time of the Babylonish captivity, they settled themselves in the southern part of Judea, where they were afterward conquered by Hyrcanus, and obliged to embrace the Jewish religion.

⁸ And I will fill his mountains with his slain men; in thy hills and in thy valleys and in all thy rivers shall they fall that are slain with the sword. — take them as a whole, there is nothing like them in the world, especially those near Petra.

⁹ I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. — thy cities shall not be restored to thee again; not only Mount Seir, but all the rest of the mountains, in Idumea; where they shall flee for refuge, and the enemy shall pursue them, and slay them; and where their carcasses will fall in such numbers, as to cover the mountains with them;

— and ye shall know that I am the Lord when they shall see all these things exactly accomplished, that the omniscient God of Israel could foretell events and come to their senses, thus they survive rather having their names remember no more.

¹⁰ “‘Because thou hast said, “These two nations and these two countries shall be mine and we will possess it,” though the Lord was there, — these two nations and these two countries; these are Israel and Judah, the covenant people after Solomon, the northern and the southern Israels, Samaria and Jerusalem.

¹¹ therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them when I have judged thee. — when I have judged thee: so God is known by the judgements that he executeth, like Petra in the picture above or to Jerusalem in AD 70, when such wicked ones are taken in their own works, as snares which themselves have laid.

— Petra, “when I have judged thee” is now described as:

“This land, once so rich in flocks and herds, so mighty in its rock-hewn cities, so extensive in its commercial activities, so renowned for the architectural splendor of its palaces, is now a desolated and deserted wilderness. Its whole population consists of three or four miserable tiny villages. No merchant would now dare to enter it; its highways are unused; its cities are in ruins.”

¹² And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are laid desolate. They are given us to consume.” — and that God have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel; the people of Israel and Judah literally, and the churches and people of God figuratively.

¹³ Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard them. —blasphemies against Israel and against me; God regards what is said or done against his people as done against himself.

¹⁴ Thus saith the Lord God: When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate. — this gives the requisite antithesis to Ezekiel 35:15; as Edom rejoiced over the destruction of Judah, the whole earth will be overjoyed at her desolation.

¹⁵ As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee. Thou shalt be desolate, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am the Lord.’” — even though all Edom were made desolate, they survive at the end: “and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

— and finally the remnant of Israel are not lead into “a place of safety” but are to be “scattered into all the winds.”

. . . and I will execute judgements in thee [Israel], and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds Ezekiel 5:10.

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The Lord was asked to remember in Psalms 137 against the Edomites who had asked that Jerusalem be razed to its foundations:

⁷ Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem’s fall, who said, “Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof!” Psalms 137:7.

To call for the razing of the Temple of God “Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof!” is a heavy crime against the God of the Most High. The Most High dwelled there and these Edomites cheered the Babylonians to burn it down? Madness! Just Madness!!!

Ezekiel 36

The house of Israel verses the house of Judah

More on (1) Ephraim / The United States; (2) Ephraim and Manasseh

Although Isaiah 8:14 refers to “both houses of Israel” or the “two houses of Israel” it implies the single house of Jacob, the full twelve tribes.

But Jacob was given a new name, Israel, in which the full house of Israel as in Ezekiel 20:40, the twelve tribes are all included. And after King Solomon, the single house of Jacob or now call Israel was broken into two, the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah.

Hence, the names of the two houses are separated, namely the 10-tribes “house of Israel” and the 2-tribes “house of Judah.” Further, the “two houses of Israel” in Isaiah 8:14 is redefined as “the house of Jacob” in Isaiah 8:17.

State it in another way in more details, the word “Israel” has four (or even five) possible meanings:

(1) Israel in place of Jacob, since the angel gave Jacob a new name, Israel;

(2) the children of Israel, or all the house of Israel as in Ezekiel 20:40, 36:10 in the sense of all the progeny of Jacob, all twelve tribes; sometimes expressed as the “whole house of Israel;”

(3) the “two houses of Israel” in Isaiah 8:14 or “both houses of Israel” would mean the ‘first’ house of Israel as the house of 10-tribes Israel; and the ‘second’ house of Israel as the 2-tribes house of Judah;

(4) the ‘second’ house of Israel as the 2-tribes house of Judah; this happened during Rehoboam reign when the kingdom was broken into the house of Israel (north) and the house of Judah (south); in this context, the house of Israel could be the 2-tribes Israel as in Ezekiel 8:6,11,12 and Matthew 15:24;

(5) Israel, the modern state of Israel, established in 1917 by the Balfour declaration and gained independence in 1948.

In understanding prophecies, the second and third meanings are mostly in use; the fourth very rarely. Still, it may seem confusing, but one should be able to separate the two by sounding out the context.

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¹ “Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel and say, ‘Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. — repeated “the mountain of Israel;” this prophecy is concerning the desolations of the United States, UK and France. And “Israel” mentioned 14 times in this chapter alone, is judged in relation to the nations.

² Thus saith the Lord God: Because the enemy hath said against you, “Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession,”’ — because the enemy, particularly the Edomites or Idumeans, had said against you, aha: rejoicing at the calamity of Israel as in the preceding chapter; and who are chiefly meant; and also the Ammonites and Tyrians, Ezekiel 25:3.

³ therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Because they have made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the nations, and ye are taken up on the lips of talkers and are an infamy (gossip: the state of being well known for some bad quality or deed; or scoffing) of the people,

— and “Edomites or Idumeans” shall swallow you up on every side; all their southern neighbours, being their enemies, were like ravenous beasts of prey, gaping upon them with their mouths; and, observing the low condition into which they were brought by the king of Babylon, helped forward the destruction; and everyone shared in the spoil and plunder nearest to them they could conveniently come at.

⁴ therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are round about”

— before only the mountains are spoken to, but now, “and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys;” these are the hills: Ireland, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Finland, and Iceland; and the valleys, the low countries: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg;

—.the rivers of the mountains of Israel are their maritine trade routes that flow into foreign land: British West Indies, Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands; Gibraltor, Malta, Suez Canal, Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, Sri Lanka, Penang, Malacca, Singapore, Hong Kong.

⁵ therefore thus saith the Lord God: Surely in the fire of My jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations and against all Edom, who have appointed My land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out as a prey.’ — to those neighbouring nations that “have appointed My land into their possession” were Ammon, Moab and Edom.

— with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey; with the utmost joy they joined Nebuchadnezzar’s army when he invaded the land of Judea and besieged Jerusalem, out of pure malice and spite to the people of the Jews, in order to eject them from the possession of their land, that it might become a prey to them; who said, “Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof!” Psalms 137:7.

⁶ Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My fury, because ye have borne the shame of the nations.

— because ye have borne the shame of the nations; their reproaches and scoffings, their injuries and abuses; all which were resented by the Lord; surely they shall bear their shame; the punishment that which is justly due to them for reproaching and putting to shame the people of God.

⁷ Therefore thus saith the Lord God: I have lifted up Mine hand. Surely the nations who are about you, they shall bear their shame. — surely the nations that shall bear their shame; the punishment of their shame; that which is justly due to them for reproaching and putting to shame the people of God:

— or they shall be a laughing stock to others, and be reproached and derided themselves, and so be paid in their own coin; a just retaliation this for their treatment of the Jews.

⁸ “‘But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people of Israel, for they are at hand to come. — ye shall shoot forth your branches; that is, the branchs from the trees that grew upon them should; the vines and the olive trees, planted on hills and mountains;

— these branches could be their colonies: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa; American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands; Gibraltar; Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Mayotte, Réunion.

⁹ For behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown. — they shall return to their own border in the Promise Land, promised to Abraham.

¹⁰ And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the wastes shall be built. — all the house of Jacob, all the tribes of Israel, the ten tribes as well as the other two: for all shall return.

¹¹ And I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bring fruit. And I will settle you according to your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

— and I will settle you after your old estates; that is, you mountains shall be inhabited by those that formerly dwelt in you, and you shall be enjoyed by your right owners; by those who had you in possession from the beginning, from the times of Joshua; by whom you were settled on them by lot, according to their several tribes. These land shall to be taken back from Ammon, Moab and Edom (verse 5 above).

¹² Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even My people Israel; and they shall possess thee and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men. — MSG

“‘But you, Mountains of Israel, will burst with new growth, putting out branches and bearing fruit for my people Israel. My people are coming home! Do you see? I’m back again. I’m on your side.

You’ll be plowed and planted as before! I’ll see to it that your population grows all over Israel, that the towns fill up with people, that the ruins are rebuilt. I’ll make this place teem with life—human and animal. The country will burst into life, life, and more life, your towns and villages full of people just as in the old days.

I’ll treat you better than I ever have. And you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll put people over you—my own people Israel! They’ll take care of you and you’ll be their inheritance. Never again will you be a harsh and unforgiving land to them.

¹³ Thus saith the Lord God: Because they say unto you, “Thou, land, devourest up men and hast bereaved thy nations,” — some say to you, ‘You devour people and deprive your nation of its children;’

¹⁴ therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God. — because some say, “The land of Israel is known for devouring its people and depriving them of their children,” so thus saith the Lord God, that shall cease.

¹⁵ Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the nations any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God.’” — neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God; by famine, sword, or pestilence, or any other judgment caused by sin:

— or, “thou shalt not bereave” and which the Targum and many versions follow: now what is promised, in this and the preceding verse, had not its full accomplishment upon the Jews’ return from the Babylonish captivity.

CSB says: I will no longer allow the insults of the nations to be heard against you, and you will not have to endure the reproach of the peoples anymore; you will no longer cause your nation to stumble. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’”

¹⁶ Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, — as the Targum says, the word of prophecy from the Lord; that is, another prophecy as the next verse indicates.

¹⁷ “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings; their way was before Me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. — the comparison with the house of Israel is with a woman who has been set apart for uncleanness.

¹⁸ Therefore I poured My fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it. — God’s fury upon the house of Israel was shed because of her idols and for the blood they had shed upon the land; the innocent and righteous blood.

¹⁹ And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries; according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. — like the Egyptians, and they were dispersed through the countries; or blown about as chaff, stubble, or any such like thing, is by the wind;

— according to Israel’s self proclaimed standards and according to their doings I judged them; condemned and punished them as their evil ways and wicked works deserved.

²⁰ And when they entered unto the nation whither they went, they profaned My holy name, when they said to them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of His land.’ — among the nations, they profaned my holy name; by their pornography, sexual immorality and promiscuity, by their violation of both tables of laws; by their gun violence, family breakdown, homelessness;

— among other nations, they use dirty language while invoking God’s name, whereby they gave the Gentiles an occasion to reproach them, their religion, and their God, Romans 2:24; and not only do they promote LGBTQIA and other filths at home but being hubris and narcissistic they also try to promote and enforce them onto other nations; in doing so “they profaned My holy name,” so said the Lord!

²¹ But I had pity for Mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations whither they went. — but for my holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the natons whither you go.

²² “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the nations whither ye went. — it is emphasised that God would restore his people, not for their sakes, not for the house of Israel’s sake, but for his own.

²³ And I will sanctify My great name which was profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. — to sanctify is the opposite of to profane;

— God will restore his great name to its holy state which has been desecrated in every nation by the nation of Israel! After all these things come to pass, God will reveal his holiness through Israel right before your eyes, then these Gentile nations will know that I am the Lord God.

²⁴ For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. — the mention of “I will take you . . . out of all countries” shows Ezekiel’s prophecy to have been directed beyond their time or immediate future; second, this haven’t been fulfilled yet.

²⁵ “‘Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. — that cleansing is the removal of already contracted defilement, especially idolatry, facing the East, worshipping the Sun; Christmas, which honor the Mithraism, Easters, a celebration of Ishtar, the Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility and sex.

²⁶ A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. — this is flashing forward into the Millennium in the days of the Messiah.

²⁷ And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgements and do them. — “and ye shall keep My judgements” or ye shall be careful to keep them or understand God’s judgement; one significant judgement was implemented in AD 70; as some sects faced their judgement and were sent to their death?

— these sects faced their adversed judgement and “disappeared” in the AD 70 inferno: All Sadducees, Herodians, Boethusians, Essenes, together with the House of Shammai Pharisees and those of its military arm, the Zealots. They all had their days of vengeance and disappeared from history. Were they receiving their judgement?

— but history recorded only two sects that escaped the inferno of AD 70: (1) The Christians, known as Nazarenes in Acts 24:5. They escaped to a northern town called Pella, west of the Jordan River;

— (2) some Pharisees, those of the House of Hillel; they were headed by a rabbi, Johanan ben Zakkai, the head of the Sanhedrin, who escaped to Yavne and, later, his followers re-emerged as Rabbinic Jews, who established the Hillel Calendar, which was revealed by Hillel II in about AD 359 concerning the rules of the calendar.

²⁸ And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God. — this is flashing forward into the Millennium in the days of the Messiah;

— and ye shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; not only shall be brought into it, but shall inhabit it, and continue there, and that in great safety and plenty; because this land between the rivers is the gift of God, and what he gave to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by promise so long ago, and to their seed.

²⁹ “‘I will also save you from all your uncleannesses; and I will call for the corn and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. — this is flashing forward into the Millennium in the days of the Messiah;

³⁰ And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the nations. — more details of the Millennium could be found from Ezekiel 40 to Ezekiel 48;

³¹ Then shall ye remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. — only then would they remember, but not now where they is full of pride, arrogance and jingoism: “If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see further into the future.”

³² Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel! — not for their sakes, not for the house of Israel’s sake, but for God’s own; as you would be ashamed and confounded of your own ways.

³³ “‘Thus saith the Lord God: In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be rebuilt. — again, this is flashing forward into the Millennium in the days of the Messiah;

³⁴ And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.

³⁵ And they shall say, “This land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities have become fortified and are inhabited.” — more details of the Millennium could be found from Ezekiel 40 to 48;

³⁶ Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I, the Lord, build the ruined places and plant that which was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.’ — “I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it;” God has spoken of it by his prophets; he has promised it in his word, and he will surely do it; for he is true and faithful to his promises, and able to perform;

— but many false shepherds have claimed that because of Israel’s sin, God’s project of the OT has failed, and he now has a redemptive process calls the “Covenent of Grace!”

³⁷ “Thus saith the Lord God: I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. I will increase them with men like a flock. — yet again I’m going to do what Israel asks. I’ll increase their population as with a flock of sheep.

³⁸ As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

— God said of the house of Israel that “they shall know that I am the Lord” this implies that they do not know God at this time, despite many claim they are Christians, a few pretentious at best. How could they? In today’s world of professing Christians, no less than 99.99 percent of them disgracefully don’t even know the Oracles of God!

~ by Joel Huan on November 18, 2022.

Posted in Ezekiel