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To understand how Bible prophecy is being fulfilled today requires a proper understanding of two things: the feast of Tabernacles and modern Zionism. These are the dominant issues of our time, because we live in the prophesied era of the final struggle between flesh and spirit to obtain the Birthright of Joseph.
There are many issues that feed into this central focus, and to comprehend them all, one must have a good grasp of the Scriptures and of history. One must understand the conflict between the contenders for the Birthright--primarily Esau and Jacob, but also Ishmael and Isaac.
One must also know that this contention has come to us in two parts, because the Birthright itself comes in two parts: Dominion and Fruitfulness, which is Authority and Responsibility. In the first coming of Christ, the primary conflict was over the Dominion Mandate, because it was a struggle over the Throne Rights of the Messiah, Son of David. In the time of the second coming, however, the primary conflict is over the Fruitfulness Mandate given to Joseph, which is called the Birthright in 1 Chron. 5:1 and 2.
So if we had been living in the time of the New Testament, our focus would be different from what it is today. The main biblical pattern of our focus would have been on the story of David and Absalom. That was the OT pattern that played out in the NT, with Jesus playing the role of David, the chief priests playing the role of Absalom, and Judas playing the role of Ahithophel, David's counselor and friend who betrayed him.
But that was then, and now is now. The main story to discuss today is the story of Jacob and Esau and the "controversy of Zion" (Is. 34:8). Zionists may rant and rave against me, but they can never counter the historical data showing that the descendants of Esau (Idumea) were conquered and absorbed by Judea in 126 B.C. That is really the bottom line, and that simple fact ends all argument.
But the story of Esau is not the whole picture. We must also understand the identity of Israel, both on a physical and a spiritual (character) level, because this is the other side of the coin. Further, one must know the difference between Judah and Israel and that after the kingdom was divided into two nations, the prophets always distinguish between them.
The prophecies to each are different as well, because each has a different calling. Judah had been given the Dominion Mandate, and so his calling came to the forefront in the first coming of Christ. But Joseph was given the Fruitfulness Mandate (i.e., the "Birthright"), and so his calling is now coming to the forefront in the time of the second coming of Christ.
The prophets speak of the restoration of "Israel" many times. But the restoration of "Judah" is given only as they are in association with the house of Israel. Yet the nations had two very different histories. Israel was taken to Assyria and "lost." Judah was taken to Babylon for 70 years and then returned to the old land because the Messiah had to be born in Bethlehem of Judea.
Judah was not lost. And "Jew" is simply a contraction for "Judah." Hence, the Jews are not the Israelites of Bible prophecy, although they are trying hard to convince the uninformed that they are physical Israelites as well as Judahites. If their proposition had been true, they too would have been "lost," but it is self-evident that they were never lost. Hence, they are not fulfilling the prophetic pattern set forth in the life of Joseph, who was "lost" in Egypt for many years.
I remember in 1971 sitting down with my dad and showing him that Israel and Judah were two distinct nations. After a few minutes, he shook his head and said in an astonished voice, "I knew that, but I did not know it."
This Bible college graduate, pastor, and missionary had spent many years preaching the gospel, but blindness in part had covered his eyes. Because of this, he had been tricked into thinking that Judah and Israel were the same people, and that the descendants of Esau were those Israelites and Judahites. Like Isaac, he was blind and was unable to distinguish between Judah and Israel and also between Jacob and Esau.
Yet when the blinders were removed, he was able to see it clearly, because he already knew the Scriptures very well, and these came flooding into his memory.
But recently, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke at the 65th anniversary of the liberation at Auschwitz, saying that Ezekiel 37 was fulfilled there.
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=898508
He was linking the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37 to the "death camp" as if the Jews had fulfilled the prophecies of Israel. In doing so, he was deliberately perpetuating the classic case of mistaken identity. That chapter is not about death camps, but about the loss of Joseph's tribes in Assyria in 721 B.C. It was about Israel being "swallowed up" by Assyria (Hos. 8:8, 9), even as Jonah had been swallowed up by the great fish before preaching to Nineveh, the "city of fish." As a nation, Israel "died" in Assyria.
Netanyahu probably missed the next prophecy in Ezekiel 37, which speaks of the "two sticks" of Judah and Joseph being re-united. Joseph must be found before he can be re-united with his brethren. So the prophetic pattern shows us in Genesis 45. But Joseph was not found in 1945 when Auschwitz was liberated. If Joseph had been truly found, there would have been no Israeli state in 1948, because Esau would not have been able to trick Isaac into thinking he was Jacob and thereby take the Birthright for himself.
No, it is more likely that Joseph is being found in the year 2010. A reader pointed out just yesterday that the year 2010 is 6 x 490 years after the kingdom was divided in 931 B.C. I'm not sure how I missed that. It was staring me in the face for years. But my focus was upon the 210-year cycles (14 x 210) from 931 B.C. to 2010 A.D. I neglected to do the math and see that this is also 6 x 490 years.
As they say, "Pobody's Nerfect."
In Matthew 18:22 and 23 Jesus showed us that 490 (or 70 x 7) is the prophetic time granted before reckoning the accounts. It appears that the year 2010 is the Year of Reckoning, in this case, for Esau and Jacob, who have contended for the Birthright of Joseph-Israel.
This time cycle strongly implies that the problem of division in 931 B.C. is being rectified in 2010. Joseph is found. The bones are coming together. The sticks are being re-joined as one in the hand of Jesus Christ, the Head (Hos. 1:11).
I now have a better understanding of what occurred last Sunday, February 14, on the 62nd anniversary of the Latter Rain. The Birthright reverted back to Joseph, after the Latter Rain (representing the Church) gave it to Esau in 1948. Esau has now lost the Birthright (legally). This could only take place because Joseph has been found.
Joseph was "found" on Sept. 24, 2009, as the signs showed back then.
February 14, 2010 was the historical moment in time when the Birthright reverted back to Joseph, according to the Divine Court ruling. This does not mean that everyone now knows it. No, but it ought to be made known everywhere, for it is a huge step in the divine plan for the earth. Netanyahu's nonsense should be exposed by all who know the Scriptures and the prophetic history of Esau.
The good news is that in spite of all the blindness and mistaken identity, the divine plan is progressing perfectly well, because the Plan called for this blindness in the first place. It was integral to the plan. Up to now.
This is the Year of the Manifestation of Joseph.