'Two-House' Theory

This week we are going to continue dealing with the question concerning a concept taught in Messianic circles concerning what is the “Ephraimite/Two House” theory and how it is affecting believers. Those in Christian Churches may not be familiar with this, but the roots of Gentile Christianity have similar concepts, and some Christian denominations still hold to some of it but it is known by different names. We ended last week with 4 major flaws of the teaching, which will be abbreviated to “E/TH” for convenience. First of all the main premise of this theory is that there are “lost tribes” and this is a myth. There are lost “sheep” or people but not lost tribes. They were not lost after Assyria and Babylon deported some of them to Mesopotamia. Many remained in the land and participated in Hezekiah’s Passover. They were known up to the first century and came to Jerusalem in Acts 2. Much of the information sent out by the adherents of the E/TH theory get their information from the old British Israelite teachings, so there is nothing new under the sun. Because the mainstream Messianic Movement teaches that Gentiles have less status than Jews, many came out of those congregations thinking they were not “up to par” with Jewish believers.

There had to be a reason they had a desire to follow the Torah, so it had to be they were “lost Jews/Israelites” and so the theory was resurrected, painted with a different brush and packaged different and then sold to unsuspecting believers. They began to emphasize bloodline lineage (which they can’t prove anyway) rather than faith and that always appeals to the flesh. For some, and I have personally experienced this many times, this theory became a litmus test. Either you were for them or against them. This teaching is racist and designed to make adherents feel special and give them the “upper hand” over other believers. Rather than see their desire to come out of pagan beliefs and follow the Messiah and His Torah as a fulfillment of the Spirit’s work reaching Gentiles, they disregard their Gentile roots and say they are “Ephraimites” or “Israelites” and play a semantic game.

They avoid being called “Jewish” because that is “Judah” and they see themselves as from the “lost” ten northern tribes even though for hundreds of years before Yeshua all these terms were synonymous, as history will attest to. Their leaders teach that the union of Judah and Israel, led by “Ephraim” (themselves) is one of the most significant prophecies concerning the work of the Messiah. They believe that Yeshua died on the cross so that the “two houses” may become one, quoting John 10.14-17. But this verse has nothing to do with their false teaching about two houses. He is referring to those who are not yet in the Kingdom of God, whether they are Jew or gentile.

Ephesians 2.11-22 speak of the Gentiles as being “afar off” but they have been brought near by Yeshua’s death and are “one man” with the Jewish believer and an heir to the same promises, which had always been God’s plan. It has nothing to do with seeking people with a particular blood-line and it has to do with faith in Him. When the Lord speaks of sheep He means people not tribes. Yeshua, John the Baptist, Paul and every New Testament writer knew full well that bloodline does not save anyone and it was not the purpose of the Messiah to save a certain ethnic group. God created the nation of Israel to fulfill His promise to the fathers that through them the nations of the earth would be blessed. They are to be the ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, the bearers of “good news” (gospel) to the world that all men have sinned but now have forgiveness in the Messiah by faith. Israel is to be “little lamps” in a dark world reaching the lost sheep in humanity not a particular tribe or tribes.

The lost sheep includes gentiles. E/TH teachers have twisted these Scriptures to say something it doesn’t. Volumes have been written about the grafting in of the Gentiles into one body, one faith, one olive tree and so on. To these “Ephraimites” the good news is that they are of ancient Israel and the sooner they realize their destiny the sooner certain prophecies can be fulfilled, but like Don Quixote they are fighting windmills and chasing the wind. James knew where the 12 tribes were (1.1) and knew how to get a hold of them. Yeshua did not die on the cross to unite the “two houses”. The Jewish people of the first century understood the role of the coming Messiah quite well. They knew that when the true Messiah came he would go to the Gentiles. In John 7.34 Yeshua said He was going away and they could not go with Him. They wondered among themselves whether He was now going to the Gentiles to teach.

They knew that the prophecies clearly state the one of the signs that Messiah had come would be the salvation of the Gentiles. Paul used his work among the Gentiles and the signs he saw as evidence that Yeshua was the Messiah. That’s why he was sent among the Gentiles to begin with, it was to seek the lost sheep and to teach them. Isa 56.6-8 plainly says that the Gentiles would join themselves to the Lord and serve Him and that He would “gather them” just like He did with Israel. The terms “afar off” and “scattered abroad” have to do with people separated from God spiritually, not physically. In Acts 1.6-8 the disciples (talmidim) ask Yeshua about this “physical reunion” they heard about and when it was going to happen. They thought Yeshua was going to be like King David and restore the physical kingdom and the tribes to their rightful “status” with all the other kingdoms under their authority. But Yeshua told them they didn’t have the right idea about it all and to go into the world and teach the good news and stop worrying about all that “other stuff.”

The “hope of the fathers” and the “promise of the Father” was the Messiah Himself (Gen 3.15) who would destroy the enemies of mankind (sin and death) and reconcile the world to Himself. Yeshua’s job was a lot bigger than just Israel, the tribes and it crossed every border of the world, they just didn’t understand that and neither do the adherents of the E/TH theory. They were told to get out there and be salt and light to every creature, teaching them about the redemption through Yeshua and making them students of the Kingdom of God. It has nothing to do with “lost Ephraimite identity” and the joining together of “two houses” and so on. Next week we will pick here with several other concepts including to whom was the New Covenant referring to and given to.