In the last chapter we saw how the lost ten tribes of Israel were sent into the dispersion for disobedience. But how long were they to be gone? When were they to return? Several of the prophecies give us answers to these questions, and more.

Ezekiel was told to lie on his left side for 390 days. Each day was symbolic of a year that Ephraim was to remain in the dispersion (outside the land).

Yehezqel (Ezekiel) 4:4-5
4 “Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.
5 For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days: three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel [Ephraim].”

If the lost tribes would repent after the 390 years, they would come home; but Leviticus tells us that those who do not repent at the end of being punished will have their time of punishment multiplied sevenfold.

Vayiqra (Leviticus) 26:14-18
14 “’But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,
15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,
16 I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.
18 ‘And after all this, if you [still] do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.’”

The Assyrians did not carry the Ephraimites out of the land all at once. Rather, they began invading around 732 BCE, and then the campaigns went on for many years. If we use 732 as a start point, and add 390 years to that, we arrive at 342 BCE. Clearly, Ephraim did not repent then, so Yahweh multiplied her punishment seven times, for a total of 2,730 years.

If Ephraim’s punishment began in 732 BCE, then 2,730 years later brings us to 1998 CE. If this calculation is correct, then the Ephraimite nation would start to be restored about then; and that is what happened. While the Ephraimite movement had started some decades earlier, it began to flourish and grow around 1998 CE, as Yahweh began to turn back Ephraim’s punishment.

Scripture gives us several other major witnesses to the restoration of the house of Ephraim. One of these witnesses is in the book of Hosea. Hosea was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Ephraim. He was speaking about the Ephraimites when he prophesied:

Hoshea (Hosea) 6:2
2 “After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.”

Kepha (Peter) tells us not to forget that a prophetic day with Yahweh is equal to a thousand earth years.

Kepha Bet (2 Peter) 3:8
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with Yahweh, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

If a prophetic day is as a thousand years, then the two prophetic days of Hosea 6:2 represent two thousand earth years. Therefore, what Hosea says is that after two thousand years, the Ephraimites will be raised up, so that they might again live in Yahweh’s favor (sight).

The phrase “the third day” gives us a remez (hint) that this prophecy relates to Yeshua, since He was raised on the third day.

Marqaus (Mark) 9:31
31 “And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.”

Modern scholarship tells us that the Messiah was born about 4 BCE. If we add two thousand years to 4 BCE, we come to about 1996 CE, which is about the same year Ezekiel 4 says Ephraim’s punishment ran out (above). This means we are now in the third prophetic day, which is why we are beginning to see the house of Israel restored all around the world.

Because Avraham obeyed Yahweh’s voice, and was willing to sacrifice his only son, Yahweh said that all of the families of the earth would be blessed in him. It is important that we see this particular passage only refers to Avraham’s physical offspring.

B’reisheet (Genesis) 17:4-8
4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
5 No longer shall your name be called Avram, but your name shall be Avraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be Elohim to you and your descendants after you.
8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their Elohim.”

Avraham’s children would become like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand of the seashore, which is neither numbered nor counted—because Avraham had obeyed Yahweh’s voice.

B’reisheet (Genesis) 22:15-18
15 Then the messenger of Yahweh called to Avraham a second time out of heaven,
16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son —
17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

The above blessings speak of physical multiplicity, but there was also a spiritual blessing of salvation, so that the divine relationship that was lost in the Garden of Eden could be restored. Yeshua tells us that salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22), but the roots of this promise are given in Genesis 17, where Elohim said that the covenant of redemption and salvation in Yeshua would not come through Ishmael, but through Yitzhak (Isaac).

B’reisheet (Genesis) 17:19-21
19 Then Elohim said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Yitzhak; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But My covenant I will establish with Yitzhak, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”

If we look closely, in Genesis 28:14 (below) we will see that there were two blessings given to Ya’akov (Jacob)/Israel. One would be genetic (referring to Israel’s physical descendants), while the other referred to Ya’akov’s seed (meaning Yeshua, and the spiritual salvation that would come through Him).

B’reisheet (Genesis) 28:10-15
10 Now Ya’akov went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of Elohim were ascending and descending on it.
13 And behold, Yahweh stood above it and said: “I am Yahweh Elohim of Avraham your father and the Elohim of Yitzhak; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.
14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you [genetically] and in your seed [Yeshua] all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

Some people have a hard time believing that Avraham’s genetics could spread to every continent in the world, and become part of every nation, every tribe, every clan, and every family over the course of four thousand years or so. But why should we doubt it? Israelites have always been a commerce-and-trade-loving people, and they have always gone wherever there is money to be found. Ancient trade routes went south into Africa, and east into India and China, and archaeology shows us that the ancient Israelites also traveled to the Americas. So if the Israelites were in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe, then why should we be surprised that Avraham’s genetics would make their way into every nation, every clan, and every family over a four thousand year period?

If we pour chlorine into one end of a swimming pool, eventually it makes its way all through the pool. Now let us consider that Israelite genetics were infused into mankind’s gene pool wherever there were trade routes, over land and by sea. How hard is it to permeate the world’s gene pool when you lace it with Israelite genetics over many different routes, over millennia?

Hypothetically, even if a man somewhere on earth (for example, in the Amazon jungle) did not have any of Avraham’s genetics, he could still graft into the nation of Israel by faith. Genetics would not be an issue. In fact, the idea of grafting into the nation by faith long predates Yeshua. For example, Rahab joined the nation although she was a Canaanite (Joshua 6), and Ruth the Moabitess went on to become King David’s great-grandmother. She became an Israelite the moment she gave her allegiance to Yahweh.

Root (Ruth) 1:16
16 But Root said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your Elohim, my Elohim.”

While Yahweh has used certain genetic groups of people to fulfill His purposes, ultimately Scripture is not a book about genetics—Scripture is a book about giving our allegiance and obedience to Yahweh, and becoming the best bride we can for Him. Genetics only show us the historical means by which Yahweh chooses to fulfill His prophecies.

The ten tribes went into the dispersion despite their genes. Brokenness and obedience would have served them much better. Still, it helps to understand the mechanics of what took place historically. Jacob’s dream, recorded in Genesis 28, helps us understand prophecies that could only be fulfilled by the dispersing of the tribes. Let us read it closely, for there are some things which both Jewish and Christian scholars often miss.

B’reisheet (Genesis) 28:10-15
10 And Ya’akov went out from Be’er-Sheva and went toward Haran.
11 And he came on a place and stayed the night there, for the sun had gone. And he took stones of the place and placed them at his head; and he lay down in that place.
12 And he dreamed; and behold! A ladder was set up on the earth, its top reaching toward the heavens. And behold! The angels of Elohim were going up and down on it!
13 And behold! Yahweh stood above it and said, “I am Yahweh, the Elohim of your father Avraham, and the Elohim of Isaac. The land on which you are lying, I give it to you [genetically], and to your seed.
14 And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you [Israel’s children] shall spread to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you [genetically]; and [in] your Seed [Yeshua].
15 And behold! I will be with you and will guard you in every place in which you may go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not forsake you until I have surely done all that I have spoken to you.”

In Galatians 3:16, the Apostle Shaul (Paul) tells us that this word “seed” is singular, and refers to Yeshua.

Galatim (Galatians) 3:16
16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds”, as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed”, who is the Messiah.

There are two blessings in Genesis 28:14 (above). In addition to being blessed in Yeshua, all the families of the earth would be blessed in Ya’akov, and could now receive salvation in Yeshua, because they would have Ya’akov’s righteous genetics. Of course, they still need to accept Yeshua, and be filled with His Spirit; yet because Christianity does not understand the genetic component, they only understand grafting in by faith. Sadly, this yields a lopsided picture.

Galatim (Galatians) 3:26-29
26 For you are all sons of Elohim through faith in Messiah Yeshua.
27 For as many of you as were immersed into Messiah have put on Messiah.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek [Hellenized Jew], there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua.
29 And if you are Messiah’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The Christians understand that if we are grafted in by favor through faith in Messiah Yeshua, then we are heirs to the promise of salvation—but they don’t understand the need for a literal genetic component. Yet, if there is no genetic component, then there is no way for Yahweh to fulfill the promise He gave to Israel in Genesis 28:13-15, that He would scatter his descendants to the four winds, bless all the families of the earth in his genetics, and then later bring a remnant of their descendants back to the land of Israel.

B’reisheet (Genesis) 28:13-15
13 And behold! Yahweh stood above it and said, “I am Yahweh, the Elohim of your father Avraham, and the Elohim of Isaac. The land on which you are lying, I give it to you [genetically], and to your seed.
14 And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you [Israel’s children] shall spread to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you [genetically]; and [in] your seed [Yeshua].
15 And behold! I will be with you and will guard you in every place in which you may go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not forsake you until I have surely done all that I have spoken to you.”

Then, in Genesis 35:10-12, we are told that Israel would father “a nation” (Judah) and a “company of nations” (the Christian nations of Europe).

B’reisheet (Genesis) 35:10-12
10 And Elohim said to him, “Your name is Ya’akov; your name shall not be called Ya’akov anymore, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.
11 Also Elohim said to him: “I am Elohim Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a [Jewish] nation and a company of [Christian] nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.
12 The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.”

Some people argue that the Jews of today are not really Jewish, since many of them descend from white European stock. However, as we saw earlier, when someone joins himself to the nation of Israel, and gives allegiance to Yahweh, he becomes an Israelite. This principle extends to the Jewish nation, as well as to the Ephraimites. If someone joins himself to the Jewish nation and sojourns as a Jew, he becomes Jewish, no matter what his ethnicity used to be.

Astonishingly, some people claim verse 11 refers to Ishmael (the Muslim people). However, this cannot be, in that we are told that the “company of nations” would descend from Ya’akov, whereas the Muslim people descend from Ishmael. Yet various prophecies tell us that after some great wars in the Middle East, many of the Muslim people will also convert to the worship of Yahweh.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 19:23-25
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria — a blessing in the midst of the land,
25 whom Yahweh of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”

Judah and Ephraim are now scattered to the corners of the earth. They are mixed with every tribe and tongue and people. Every nation, every clan, and every family is blessed with Israel’s genetics, and is capable of receiving Yeshua.