http://beholdthebeast.com/one_more_time.htm9 - ONE MORE TIME
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CHAPTER 9
They shall come with weeping,
and with supplications will I lead them:
I will cause them to walk
by the rivers of waters in a straight way,
wherein they shall not stumble:
for I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.JEREMIAH 31:9
DEEP in the mountainous interior of Irian Jaya, formerly Dutch
New Guinea, there lives a tribe of natives called the Yalu. They
were one of the most isolated peoples on the face of the earth yet
they had a very formalized blood sacrificial system. They had a
law of Ten Commandments called the wene malalek and a holy
ground called an osuwa. That osuwa was surrounded by a stone
wall. Any man not consecrated to the spirits of kembu, or any
woman who trespassed on that ground, would be killed. Within
the osuwa was a sacred building called the kembu-vam. It had two
rooms, an outer room where the priests of kembu held
ceremonies, and an inner room which held the sacred stone. The
stone was never allowed to be moved by one man, but had to be
carried by four men at its four corners. Pigs were slaughtered and
roasted in the court outside the kembu-vam, and priests, with
awesome ceremony, took pig fat into that holiest of rooms and
anointed the sacred stone.1
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1 A more detailed account of the Yalu folk religion may be found in Don Richard-
son's Lords of the Earth (Ventura, CA Regal Books, 1977) pp. 76-80.
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82 The False Prophet
Though unbelievably corrupted, the parallels of the Yalu folk
religion to the Levitical code are so inescapable that one has to
ask: Where did they get all that?
In Burma, there was a tribe of people called the Karen who
worshiped the God Y'wa. Their prophets declared that they once
possessed a book of the law but had lost it many centuries before.
Sacred songs passed down from generation to generation,
reminded them of their lost law:
Omnipotent is Y'wa; Him have we not believed.
Y'wa created men anciently.
He has a perfect knowledge of all things.
Y'wa created men at the beginning.
The earth is the treading place for the feet of Y'wa.
And heaven is the place where He sits.
He sees all things and we are manifest to Him.
Y'wa formed the earth originally.
He appointed food and drink.
He appointed the "fruit of trial."
Mu-kaw-lee deceived two persons.
He causes them to eat of the fruit of the tree of trial.
They obeyed not; they believed not Y'wa ...
They became subject to sickness, aging and death ...
O children and grandchildren,
If we repent of our sins,
And cease to do evil - restraining our passions -
And pray to Y'wa. He will have mercy upon us again.
If Y'wa does not have mercy on us, there is no other one
who can.
He who saves us is the only one - Y'wa.
O Children and grandchildren! Pray to Y'wa constantly.
By day and by night.1
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1 Don Richardson, Eternity in Their Hearts (Ventura, CA, Regal Books, 1981)
pp.77-79, cites from The Gospel in Burma, Wylie, p. 6, and The Karen Apostle,
Mason, p. 97-99.
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One More Time 83
Y'wa is just too close to Yahweh (the Hebrew name for God)
to be coincidental. And what about the "fruit of trial" and prayer?
Those traditions do not appear to be founded in the New
Testament Gospel, but upon a knowledge of the Old Testament.
Again we have to ask: Where did they get all that?
The Lahu of northern Burma had a tradition that Gui'Sha, the
Creator of all things, had given their forefathers His law written
on rice cakes. The Rengma tribe in India believed that the
Supreme Being gave His words to their forefathers written on
animal skins (which, by the way, is what the Mosaic law was written
on). But according to their traditions, the forefathers of the
Rengma people had been careless with the skins and dogs had
eaten them.1
These examples are not unique. The native religions of almost
every isolated people on earth contain haunting memories, in
varying detail, of an earlier knowledge of the true God, or of His
Law. So, once again we ask; where did all this knowledge come
from? To find out, we may need to go back again into the history
of the children of Israel ...
Jacob, named Israel by the Lord, was Abraham's grandson.
Jacob had twelve sons, among whom was Joseph, and those
twelve men became the fathers of the twelve tribes of the nation
of Israel. After the death of Jacob, Israel's twelve tribes remained
in Egypt for 430 years. They fled Egypt in 1446BC, and were in the
wilderness for another 40 years. After Joshua's conquest of
Canaan, they lived in the Promised Land, under judges, for
another 300 years. Then, during the judgeship of Samuel, the
people demanded to have a king.
God first gave them Saul, then David, and with David began
the line of kings through which Jesus would be born. But the
kingdom remained unified for only two generations. If you read
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1 Ibid pp. 85-91
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84 The False Prophet
the account carefully, it appears that Solomon, the wisest man who
ever lived, had a son who was truly inept. Rehoboam's decision to
raise taxes caused a revolt, so during his reign the Davidic
kingdom divided. God separated Judah and Benjamin from the ten
northern tribes, and the twelve tribes became two separate
nations: Israel in the North, and Judah in the South. Jerusalem
remained the capital of Judah while Samaria became the capital of
Israel.
Northern Israel remained in continual rebellion to the Lord,
putting it in conflict with Judah and the nations around them.
Finally, in 748BC, Tiglath-pileser of Assyria made northern Israel
a vassal state and took captives off to Assyria. In 725BC, Shal-
maneser began a major deportation of Israel, and put Samaria
under siege. Samaria itself fell in 722BC and what was left of the
nation of Israel was taken captive and relocated near the Caspian
Sea (north of what is now Iran) and they were never heard from
again. This happened just as Moses prophesied it would:
Nehemiah 1:8
Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou
commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I
will scatter you abroad among the nations:
Why did God ever allow this to happen? Were the Israelites not
part of God's chosen people? Didn't the everlasting covenant God
made with Abraham include the ten tribes? The prophet Isaiah
saw what was going on around him and lamented:
Isaiah 63:17
O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy
ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy
servants. sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.The fall of northern Israel was not just an unfortunate
accident in history. It was an integral part of God's eternal plan,
and the Lord told His people about it in advance.
Hosea was placed in Israel just before its fall, and he alone
details the future of the ten tribes after their dispersion among
the Gentile nations. Hosea prophesied from about 750-722BC and
One More Time 85
he prepares God's people for the calamity that is about to befall
them. Read the prophet carefully, and you will see that the
destruction of Israel and Samaria is fixed. It is going to fall to
Assyria, no matter what. Hosea is not a call to repentance to save
the northern kingdom. Instead, the prophet is describing the
Lord's plan for the ten northern tribes after they disappeared.
GRAPH NUMBER 13
In the verse below, we begin to see the everlasting love our
Heavenly Father has for His wayward Israelites. While they were
figuring out ways to rebel against Him, God was putting a long-
term plan in motion to save them: a plan spanning thousands of
years. The following verse is in that setting. Israel is about to go
into captivity when God tells them:
Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as
the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor
numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where
it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be
said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.That is a paradoxical Scripture is it not? Note the tense of the
verb, "shall be." Shall be is future to when it was written. Israel is
86 The False Prophet
about to go into captivity never to be heard from again, and the
Lord tells them that they are going to be numerous beyond count.
Furthermore, He tells them that no one will know they are His
Israelites. Nonetheless, they will be called the sons of God. Isn't
that mystifying?
Hosea 2:19-20
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever ... I
will even betroth thee unto me ... and thou shalt know the
LORD. The Lord then declares that this lost and scattered people will
be His bride, a bride whether they know it or not. Impossible from
man's standpoint, nevertheless, an accomplished fact from God's.
But there is more. If we picture in our minds how seed was sown
in the old days, we can also understand this unique Old Testament
figure of the sower:
Hosea 2:23
And I will sow her [Israel] unto me in the earth;
and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy;
and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art
my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.Taking from his bag of grain, an ancient farmer would cast
seed evenly over every square foot of his field with a side-wise
motion of his arm. That is what the Lord did with Israel. He
scattered Israelites all over His great field, the earth, from South
Africa to China. Oh my, can you see it? God scattered the seed of
Israel over the whole world, from Terra del Fuego to the tip of
Siberia.
Descendants of the lost tribes of Israel are everywhere, and
God did not disperse them to lose them. In spite of their
scattering, the Lord declared that He would have mercy on them.
Here, at the beginning of the 21st century, it is only a hundred
generations from when God made an everlasting covenant with
Abraham. Since the very hairs of our heads are numbered, surely
the Lord has no trouble remembering every one of Israel's
One More Time 87
descendants. The prophet Amos also spoke of this continuing
covenant with a dispersed Israel, but in figurative language:
Amos 9:9
For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of
Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet
shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.Can we hear that? "Yet shall not the least grain fall upon the
earth?" The Creator of the universe was going to save his
wayward Israelites. But not only them. God didn't have just a little
local plan to deal with a few Israelites. The Lord saw and planned
the history of the whole world and its inhabitants in eternity and
He is very good. Everything God does is good. So it is reasonable
to believe that the Lord scattered the ten tribes of Israel abroad
for a good reason, and not just as judgment upon His people. To
see why Israel was dispersed, we need to stand outside our 21st
century mind-set and look back on Earth's 6000 years of recorded
history from the standpoint of God's overall plan.
Earlier in this chapter we saw how bits of the true faith were
spread among the primitive peoples of the world.1 Apostate as
northern Israel became, it is scripturally provable that there were
still men within it who retained a knowledge of God and of His
law (2 Ki 17:26-28). Taking a broad view of history, it appears
that 700 years before Jesus was born, the Lord may have spread
the children of Israel over the whole earth for the express purpose
of sharing the knowledge of the true God with the Gentile nations.
To prepare the hearts of the people of the world for the coming of
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1 Because parallels to prominent historic Israelite figures like Abraham, Moses, and
David do not appear in most native religions, Don Richardson (author of Eternity
in their Hearts, Peace Child and Lords of the Earth) questions whether these
religions originally sprang from Hebrew roots. But the beliefs of these primitive
peoples were passed down by oral tradition over the 2700 years that Israel has
been dispersed. During that length of time, almost any amount of corruption or
omission could have taken place. The importance of their great historic figures
would have lessened as the memory of their deeds was lost in antiquity. If a culture
barely remembers that it once had a "lost book," it seems unlikely that it would
remember who wrote it or what it contained.
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88 The False Prophet
Messiah and the preaching of the Gospel. Now we can see a literal
fulfillment of a verse that is usually spiritualized:
Romans 11:25-26
Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And thus all Israel
shall be saved.What does that verse say? That Gentiles must come to the
Lord for all Israel to be saved. But when the Gentiles do turn to
Jesus, ALL Israel shall be saved! Do you see what that verse could
mean if taken literally? Despite the dispersion of the ten northern
tribes, it could mean that God intended to save the Israelites all
along, and in the Christian Era there is only one way He would do
so: by leading them to a knowledge of His Son. Everyone in the
Church may not be a direct descendant of Jacob, but from Amos
9:9 and the other verses we have read, it is reasonable to conclude
that the dispersed descendants of Israel are saved and in the
Church.
No matter what the color of your skin, or where you are on
this planet, if you have come to the Lord with a humble heart it is
very possible that you are a physical descendant of one of the ten
tribes of Israel, and as such you could be the physical brother or
sister of every other believer on Earth. Greetings, then, my brother
or sister, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
EPHRAIM, WHERE ARE YOU?
Now we have discussed all Israel, but what happened to the
tribe of Ephraim? Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Our historic setting for the following quote is with them, in Egypt,
at Israel.s bedside 3700 years ago. The great seven-year famine is
long past. Jacob is old and full of years. He is almost blind, and
now he is about to die.
Jacob (Israel) called his twelve children around him to give
them his final blessing. Joseph and his two sons were ushered in
One More Time 89
first. Joseph herding his boys before him, just as any parent would
do when he wants you to notice his children:
Genesis 48:13
And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right
hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand
toward Israel.s right hand, and brought them near unto him.14-16
And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it
upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left
hand upon Manasseh.s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for
Manasseh was the firstborn. And he blessed Joseph, and
said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did
walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads;
and let my name be named on them, and the name of my
fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth.17-18
And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right
hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he
held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head
unto Manasseh's head. And Joseph said unto his father, Not
so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand
upon his head.19
And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I
know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be
great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he,
and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.So the half tribe of Manasseh would become a great people,
but further into the future, the half tribe of Ephraim would
become a multitude of nations. Ephraim never did become a
multitude of nations in Old Testament times, so if they didn't do
so before they were taken captive, they would have do so after
they were absorbed into the Gentile world. Obviously, the tribe of
Ephraim is not out there claiming to be Israel, so they must not
even know who they are themselves. Where has the Lord hidden
them, and can it be proven biblically?
Hosea 11:8-9
How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I
deliver thee, Israel Mine heart is turned within me, my
repentings are kindled together ... I will not execute the fierce- 90 The False Prophet
ness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I
am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee.As the warrior tribe, Ephraim was the most powerful house in
Israel. In fact, that tribe was so influential that Ephraim's name
was sometimes used in reference to all ten tribes. But when the
Lord tells us He will not give Israel up, He does make a special
reference to Ephraim, so Ephraim might have a special prophetic
significance.
Hosea 11:10 ...
then the children [of Ephraim] shall tremble
from the west.They are going to return from the West, and, since Israel's
lands bordered the Mediterranean Sea wherever they are, west
would have to be west of the Holy Land itself!
Hosea 7:8
Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.That is one of my favorite verses. The tribe of Ephraim is not
only mixed among the nations, but it is also a bread not turned.
What can that possibly mean? Well, the ancient Israelites baked
their bread one side at a time, something like the pancakes we
make today. It took time to bake one side, and more time to bake
the other. At the time of Hosea, the Lord tells us that only one side
of the bread is baked, in other words, Ephraim's history is only
half over. For Ephraim's future, the cake would need to be turned
and baked on the other side. God is telling us that half of
Ephraim's saga was still future to this prophecy and that it would
take place after their dispersion. So where did God put them?
Hosea 9:13-17 (excerpts)
Ephraim ... is planted in a pleasant
place: but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the mur-
derer ...1 Oh Lord: what wilt thou give? give them a
miscarrying womb and dry breasts...yea, though they bring______________________________
1 "Murderer" in Hebrew is: H2026. harag, haw-rag.; a prim. root; to smite with
deadly intent: put to [death], make [slaughter], slay (-er), "Shall bring fourth his
children to the murderer (slaughter)" In OT times, Israel "went forth to war." This
is probably a figurative reference to warfare, to abortion, or to both.
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One More Time 91
forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb . .
and they shall be wanderers among the nations.Ephraim will be placed in a pleasant land, but in these terrible
texts, we see that Ephraim's future would not always be pleasant.
A warrior tribe still, they would be involved in foreign wars. And
many of their children would die unborn, either through miscar-
riages or abortions. So who and where are they?
REVELATION'S "TIMES" IDENTIFIES EPHRAIM
The "time, times, and half a time" in Daniel were provably
2500 years, so unless there is a good scriptural reason to disregard
that principle, Revelation's "times" should also be 2500 years.
Revelation 12:14
And to the woman [Israel]
were given two wings
of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into
her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times,
and half a time, from the face of the serpent.This 2500 year period cannot be in our future because there
can be only one generation (forty years or so) following the time
of the Gentiles and the time of the Gentiles is over (Luk 21:24-32).
So to find out when this "time" fits, we need to lay this 2500 years
over past history.
The last we heard of Israel was when they were taken captive
into Assyria. Samaria, the capital of Israel, fell in 722BC. But the
major captivity took place about two years earlier, circa 724BC.
Hosea stated, "Ephraim is mixed with the nations," and his book
was written just before the fall of Samaria. Could 724BC be when
Revelation's "time, times, and half a time" began?1 If so, then this
time should lead us to a significant year in the history of Ephraim:
2500 - 724BC = 1776AD...The United States became a nation!_________________________________
1 The language of the verse does not tie us to the date of the destruction of
Samaria. "Fly into the wilderness" speaks of the dispersion itself, and would be
applicable for any time between 725-722BC.
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92 The False Prophet
GRAPH NUMBER 14
Is America the pleasant land where Ephraim was planted, and
could the people who come from all over the world to seek
freedom from tyranny and religious persecution be the
descendants of those missing tribes? It certainly appears to be a
possibility. For years people have been looking for the United
States in prophecy. Now that we have found some evidence that
this nation might contain the remnants of Ephraim and the ten
lost tribes of Israel, do you suppose anyone will want to believe it?
Not a chance. We would rather hang in there with the Seven-Year
Tribulation view for which there is NO biblical or historic evidence
whatsoever. But, unless we can think of some other incident of
