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The True Fulfillment of Prophecy, part 4

The prophetic progression from Judah to Shiloh (in regard to the dominion mandate) overlays the progression from Judah to Joseph as well as the progression from Judah to Israel.

This is because Joseph was given the birthright itself (1 Chronicles 5:2), and his sons were given the right to use the birthright name, Israel. This is established in Genesis 48:15, 16 when Jacob-Israel blessed Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, adopting them as full sons who were to receive full tribal inheritances.

¹⁵ He blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, ¹⁶ the angel who has redeemed me from all evil [at Penuel], bless the lads; and may my name [Israel] live on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

The angel in question was the angel that Jacob wrestled just before he gave Jacob the name Israel (Genesis 32:28). A new name signifies a new nature and a new identity. Legally, he became a different man. Jacob was the name of his “old man,” as Paul termed the fleshly child descended from the first Adam, while Israel was his “new man,” the child of the promise.

Believers and Overcomers

Jacob was a believer all of his life, but Israel was an overcomer. Not all believers are overcomers, as we see in the angelic messages to the Seven Churches of Asia in Revelation 2 and 3. Each church was given a message, but not all of the believers had ears to hear what the Spirit was saying. Hence, Revelation 2:11 says,

¹¹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.

The second death is the judgment of the “fiery law” (Deuteronomy 33:2 KJV) upon all unbelievers after the White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:14). Yet most people fail to realize that the non-overcoming believers too will be “judged yet so as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15). In Luke 12:42-49 Jesus distinguished between faithful stewards and those who used their authority to oppress their subordinates. Both were stewards (believers), but some were not overcomers.

Again, Jesus said in John 5:28, 29,

²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, ²⁹ and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

This resurrection will take place at a given “hour.” It will include both believers and unbelievers. This is not the first resurrection of Revelation 20:5, where we read,

⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

The first resurrection is a limited resurrection. The second resurrection in Revelation 20:11, 12 includes the rest of the dead, that is, the majority of humanity who were not raised to life in the first resurrection. This is the resurrection to which Jesus pointed in John 5:28, 29, which included both unbelievers and believers.

Therefore, it is clear that the first resurrection will include only the overcomers, which the Old Testament calls a “remnant.” These are called as “priests of God and of Christ” to “reign with Him for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6), while the other believers—after being judged temporarily—will be part of the citizenry. Overcomers will reign over the citizens.

These overcomers, then, are not Jacobites but Israelites, having received the inheritance of the birthright at the first resurrection.

The Unity Principle

In the Old Testament, after the death of Solomon, the kingdom split into two nations: Judah and Israel. Because the sons of Joseph had been given the name Israel (via Jacob’s blessing), the national name Israel remained with the tribes who were united with Ephraim. The southern kingdom of Judah had to settle for the name of the dominant tribe, because they did not have the lawful right to call themselves Israel.

From that moment on, the name Israel lawfully applied only to the ten tribes that were united with Ephraim, who specifically carried the name given to Jacob by the angel. Conversely, the northern kingdom did not have the right to call itself Judah. Hence, legally speaking, an Israelite was not a Jew, nor was a Jew an Israelite.

Each tribe, of course, had its own sub-calling within the parameters of Judah and Israel. Yet the tribes of Naphtali or Gad were Israelites only because they were in union with Ephraim. Judah was NOT in union with Ephraim after the division, and so they were lawfully excluded from the name Israel.

The Lost Birthright

The big problem came later, when the house of Israel was given a writ of divorce and God sent them out of His house according to the law (Deuteronomy 24:1; Jeremiah 3:8). The birthright seemed to be lost forever. How could Israel fulfill its Joseph calling after being divorced? It appeared that the birthright (that is, the right to become sons of God) suddenly vanished from the earth. This was catastrophic from a prophetic standpoint.

Judah was not divorced (prior to 70 A.D.), even though they were “treacherous” (Jeremiah 3:11) and worse in God’s sight than “faithless Israel.” Yet Judah’s calling was to bring forth the Messiah, who alone could provide the solution to the problem of the lost birthright. Judah fulfilled its calling when Jesus was born from the tribe of Judah. But what about the calling of Joseph-Israel?

The prophets often speak of the day when Israel would “return” to God. But the writ of divorce stood as a legal impediment to any such return. The simple answer is that Christ is the ex-Husband, and Israel is His ex-wife. But having been married under an Old Covenant contract, it expired upon the death of the Husband (Romans 7:2). Hence, in part, Christ died to negate the writ of divorce, leaving Him free to remarry whomsoever He wills (Romans 7:3).

In so doing, He became lawfully eligible to remarry Israel. However, by this time Israel had already run away with other “lovers” (gods). He would not remarry her under those conditions. Neither would this be another Old Covenant marriage. The solution is for Israel—and all other ethnic groups united with the repentant Israelites—to “return” to Christ under a New Covenant, which writes the divine law upon their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).

The right of birth (birthright) must be given according to biblical law. A woman does not have the right to give birth to children out of wedlock. Israel cannot give birth to the sons of God apart from a New Covenant marriage relationship. It is only through marriage to Jesus Christ that the sons of God can be begotten and brought to birth. So John 1:11-13 tells us,

¹¹ He came to His own [nation or tribe], and those who were His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³ who were born [begotten], not of blood [fleshly bloodline], nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

To receive the right of birth from God requires one to be part of the body of people who are in unity with Christ. Anyone who rejects Jesus Christ is disqualified from obtaining the birthright and is not an Israelite according to any definition of God’s law. Jews are not Israelites if they reject Jesus Christ. Other nationalities cannot become Israelites apart from Jesus Christ.

Jesus came the first time from the tribe of Judah to be eligible to fulfill Judah’s calling. He must come the second time to fulfill Joseph’s calling as an Israelite. Joseph was a type of Christ in His second coming. The issue in His first coming was whether or not people would accept Him as the King holding the scepter. The issue in His second coming is whether men will support His claim to the birthright. In both cases, some do, but the majority do not.

Whereas in His first coming the issue was quite clear, in His second coming most people do not even understand the issue itself. When one does not understand the issue, he is more easily deceived into supporting the wrong side. To understand the issue first requires a knowledge of the difference between Israel and Judah and between the callings of Judah and Joseph. There are other important truths as well, which we will cover later.

The Inheritance

The prophets make it clear that the birthright will not be lost forever. Neither will the division between Judah and Israel be permanent. Christ will rule a United Kingdom, not only of the original tribes of Israel and Judah but also the whole world. Christ is the “heir of the world” (Romans 4:13) and the universal “heir of all things” (Hebrews 1:2).

Those who are in unity (agreement) with Him are legally one with Him. They are “fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17) and “heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29). Their position is not based on physical bloodline, but upon being in spiritual union with Him, having a single purpose and agreeing with His plan as revealed in Scripture and by the Spirit.

Under the Old Covenant, the land of Canaan was the Promised Land. Under the New Covenant, the “land” is the glorified body (“dust of the ground”) that Adam lost when he sinned. So Paul speaks of “the redemption of our body” in Romans 8:23. Again, Paul tells us that the present body will be “changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51). This was illustrated on the Mount of Transfiguration, so Paul says that we are “being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

This is the provision of the birthright, as clarified in the New Testament. Canaan was a mere type and shadow. It was good, but from the beginning God had something better in mind. And this was the “better country” that Abraham sought (Hebrews 11:16).