The Two Houses of Israel   In the past few years I’ve heard some interesting comments from people concerning the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, some of which have made me chuckle and some of them have made my jaw drop.  Whether I have agreed or disagreed, they have always made me think and they have started many interesting conversations. I have heard people state opinions as fact, while others have flat out denied Biblical truths. I would like to share the ones that stand out most in my mind with you. “The church has replaced the Jews as YHWH’s (God’s) chosen people.” “YHWH will marry the Jews and Y’shua (Jesus) will marry the church.” “Gentiles can come to the Synagogue but they can’t become full members or be equal to Jews.” “The two house movement isn’t Scriptural.” “There are two laws, one for the Jew and one for the gentile.” My all time favorite is, “There aren’t two houses, only one, and the Jews are the only ones in both of them!” That one left me scratching my head!     This disunity from within the body and more specifically from within the messianic movement itself, has caused more harm to YHWH’s people than any attack from the outside could have. I have heard of people breaking fellowship with other believers because they did not agree with one another concerning the one law or two law debate. People have left fellowships because of disagreement on the two house movement. I have even heard of one book distributor that would not carry books by anyone that believed in the two house movement. This insanity has to stop. It’s time that we, as the body of Messiah, stop devouring each other and start loving each other. We need to be fully equipped in our knowledge of the Scriptures to clearly see the truth; our truth must be completely covered in love for our brethren. It’s time to wake up and open our eyes; it’s later than we think.   The truth is that gentile believers everywhere are responding to a call that is being whispered in their ears. In a soft, wooing voice the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh) has been calling believers from all walks of life to seek out and discover the Hebraic (Jewish) roots of Christianity. He has been filling them with a desire to start celebrating His Feast Days and to begin keeping His Sabbaths. They desire to discover how the first century believers lived and worshiped and to understand and embrace the Jewishness of their Messiah.  They are realizing He is coming back for one group of people, not two. This one united group will be made up of both Jews and Gentiles, two houses united as one, if you will. How a person views this two house teaching affects his views on how he is to live as a believer. It also affects how he perceives his role in the end of days.   What exactly is the two house movement?  First let me tell you what it is not. It is not replacement theology. The Jewish people are still very important to YHWH. He has never left them; therefore all of his promises to them are still in effect. It is also not part of the British Israel movement. (The belief that every believer on earth is an actual physical descendant of Abraham.)    What the majority of people in the two houses movement believe, in its purest form, is that YHWH had one house, that became two houses, and will in the latter days become one once again. The first house is called the house of Judah or the SO Kingdom, the second one is the NO Kingdom or the house of Israel, which is some times called Ephraim. This belief is Scriptural; the Bible mentions the two houses many times. Here are just a few.    “When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mustered the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin to make war against the house of Israel.” 1 Kings 12:21   “The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim.” Judges 10:9   There are two houses, which cannot be denied. But who are those two houses and what has happened to them?   Unfortunately both houses were disobedient to YHWH. After trying YHWH’s patience many times, the house of Israel finally went too far.   “I will no longer show love to the house of Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to the house of Judah.” Hosea 1:6&7   What happens to the house of Israel when YHWH no longer shows His love to her?      “I gave Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries.” Jeremiah 3:8              He divorced her because of her adulterous (false) worship system. In Deuteronomy YHWH tells us what the penalty for disobedience is.               “Then YHWH will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other.”             Deuteronomy 28:64   After they were scattered among the nations they became ‘lost’, absorbed into the cultures of the surrounding people, but never lost to YHWH.    “Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 10:6 KJV    “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Matthew 15:24 NIV    “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 15:24 KJV   Although they were ‘lost’ they were never forsaken for all time. Their history and destiny were laid at the foundation of the world. YHWH has a plan for them; they will be gathered together once again.   “When I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess,” Jeremiah 30:3   The Bible is full of the story of the two houses and how they effect and will continue to effect us as believers. If you are a believer in Messiah, whether Jew or Gentile it is important that you understand the two houses as recorded in the Bible.   As believers it is time that we realized that YHWH gave us the entire Bible. From the very first word in Genesis to the last word in Revelation. He could have altered it at any time. He could have made any portion of it disappear but he didn’t. He gave us every book in the Bible because every book is important. The Old Testament is not simply a history lesson but is full of instruction and prophecy for the believers of today. If you dismiss the Old Testament then you can not fully understand the New. Like wise, if you dismiss the two houses you can not fully understand your place in YHWH’s prophetic time line. There is a time coming when;               “Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.” Isaiah 11:13 If you are ready to discover your place in YHWH’s prophetic time line then I invite you to join this in depth study of the two houses of Israel.         Click here to go to ‘Give us a King!’