BLOG

The True Fulfillment of Prophecy, part 8

We have shown how to claim the right to the name Judah without usurping the title or lying in regard to manifesting its calling as a praiser. We turn now to the name Israel. Who can lawfully claim the right to the name Israel? And who can call himself an Israelite without lying?

We begin with the little-known verse that is hidden in the genealogy of Reuben that few people read or study. 1 Chronicles 5:1, 2 says,

¹ Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright. ² Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came the leader, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph).

Reuben was the firstborn son, and so the birthright should have been given to him. The law protected the firstborn’s right, except in cases where the firstborn disqualified himself on account of his actions. In this case, a brief statement is given to us in Genesis 35:22,

²² It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it.

Years earlier, when Jacob married Rachel, her father (Laban) gave Bilhah to Rachel to serve as her handmaid (Genesis 29:29). Rachel proved to be barren for some years, so eventually, she gave Bilhah to Jacob as a “wife” (Genesis 30:3, 4). This reflected an ancient custom: a maid could bear children on behalf of her mistress. So we read that Bilhah gave birth to two sons: Dan and Naphtali.

Bilhah was probably quite young, and, of course, Reuben was the oldest son. She may have been somewhat older than Reuben, but it seems that the two had a romantic relationship. Jacob himself was 77 years old when he first went to Laban’s house to escape Esau’s wrath, and he was 84 when he married the sisters, Leah and Rachel. He was 91 when he finished up his obligation to work the next seven years to pay his dowry for Rachel.

So Jacob was about 85 when Reuben was born, and when Jacob returned to Canaan at the age of 98, Reuben was 13 years old. Rachel died near Bethlehem about a year and a half later (Genesis 35:19), and it was soon after this that Reuben had his affair with Bilhah (vs. 22). Reuben was about 15 at the time; Bilhah was probably in her late teens or perhaps her early twenties.

This foolish act of youthful passion disqualified him from receiving the birthright. Jacob then had the option of giving the birthright to whoever he wished. He made his intentions public by giving Joseph a coat of many colors (Genesis 37:3). However, it was only many years later, after Joseph had been sold by his brothers, and after Joseph had been elevated to power in Egypt, that Jacob-Israel formally and legally conferred the birthright to Joseph (Genesis 48:15, 16).

Just as Reuben lost the birthright, so also all of Joseph’s brothers never received it. The only way they could benefit from the blessing of the birthright was if they remained in union with Joseph. Likewise, the only way that these other men (and later their tribes) could be called Israelites was when they were in union with Joseph, whose sons were given the name Israel (Genesis 48:16).

Claiming the Name Israel

Centuries later, when the kingdom was divided, Judah and Benjamin ceased to have the right to call themselves Israel, because they were legally and politically separated from Joseph’s leading tribe, Ephraim. To be an Israelite was not a matter of genealogy traceable back to Jacob-Israel; it was a matter of law and legal rights.

If the southern kingdom of Judah had claimed the name Israel, they would have usurped the name unlawfully, regardless of their ability to trace their ancestry back to Jacob-Israel. If they claimed to be Israelites, they were basing their claim purely on ancestry—not on level of the laws of birthright inheritance.

This is important, because the Jews historically understood this, and even though they often referred to themselves as Israelites, they recognized that the true Israelites were the lost tribes. For this reason, they prayed regularly to be reunited with their brethren of the house of Israel. Only through reunification could they lawfully lay claim to the name Israel.

This is important, because when the Zionist state took the name Israel in 1948, they were not (as Jews) lawfully allowed to do so, for they were well aware that they had not been reunited with the tribe of Ephraim. Most Christians, on the other hand, being largely ignorant of the law, failed to comprehend the legal and prophetic implications of naming that state Israel.

The Fruitfulness Mandate of Israel

Just as the scepter (dominion mandate) was passed down to Judah in Genesis 49:10, so also was the birthright (fruitfulness mandate) passed down to Joseph. These two mandates were instituted in the time of Adam. Genesis 1:26 (NASB) says, “let them rule.” The KJV reads, “let them have dominion.” Then in Genesis 1:28 we read, “be fruitful and multiply,” which is the fruitfulness mandate—ultimately given the authority to bring forth the sons of God.

Unfortunately, Adam sinned, thereby losing the dominion through the sentence of death (mortality). God arranged for the earth itself to redeem him, and so the prime responsibility (curse) fell upon the earth (Genesis 3:17). In return, according to the laws of redemption, Adam became enslaved to the earth and thus became “earthy” (1 Corinthians 15:47). The name Adam means earthy. His name originally referred to the fact that he was made of the dust of the ground, but after he sinned, his name pointed to his earthy master and to his corrupt beast nature.

If Adam and Eve had produced children prior to their sin, they would have brought forth sons of God in their heavenly image “after their kind” (Genesis 1:12). By the law of biogenesis, like begets like. But their children were begotten after they had sinned; so, by the same law, they brought forth imperfect children who then had to seek a way to become sons of God.

The solution, from a New Testament viewpoint, is through Christ, for we read in John 1:12,

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.

This “right” is conditional upon receiving Christ. One must be begotten by the Spirit and by the incorruptible seed of the word by hearing and responding to the gospel of Christ. In the end, all will respond in this way and be fully reconciled to God; however, not all will respond at the same time. Most will not bow their knees to Christ until the great White Throne judgment, when they are fully apprised of the truth (Philippians 2:10, 11). Even then, they will have to remain subject to Christ (and the overcomers) in order to grow to spiritual maturity until all of creation finally is released “into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).

This fruitfulness mandate, being God’s intention from the beginning, was given to Joseph in the birthright after it had been stripped of the scepter that was temporarily given to Judah and the priesthood that was temporarily given to Levi. The right of Sonship was, perhaps, the most important element of the birthright that remained for Joseph, and this right is given to Christ in His second coming as Joseph, with His robe dipped in blood (Revelation 19:13).

The bottom line is that no one can lawfully claim the birthright name Israel apart from having faith in Jesus Christ. Why? Because it is only through Him that one can claim the right to become sons of God (John 1:12). One can claim to be of Judah through heart circumcision, but one must become a son of God to lay claim to the name Israel. Even Jacob himself was not born an Israelite; he received that name after wrestling with the angel of God. This gave him a new perspective and a new level of faith in God’s sovereignty.

In New Testament terms, to be an Israelite is to be part of the remnant of grace, that is, an overcomer, and not merely a believer. Jacob was a believer for two Jubilee cycles (98 years), but he was an Israelite for just the final Jubilee cycle of his life. (He died at the age of 147 at the age of 3 Jubilees, 49 x 3 years.)

The present Zionist state which men call Israel is not qualified (in God’s sight) to hold that name, for that state rejects Jesus Christ to this day. So the question is this: Why did God allow the Zionists to use that name? Is there some prophetic justification for this? Regardless of men’s intentions or fictitious claims, what is God’s purpose in this?

The answer would surprise both Jewish and Christian Zionists.