hebrew-identity-featured-img

Our Hebrew Identity

The sheep of the house of Israel were rejected by YeHoVaH but He himself promised that this would not be forever…

While it is true that we all have an identity or nationality from the country in which we were born, believers in Yeshua (Jesus) have another identity — an inner desire to know the truth about their identity as part of God’s people.

Regardless of being raised in a believing family or attending a Sunday church, there is often a restlessness in one’s heart to really know the God of Israel. Has this happened to you?

If your answer is yes, you are not alone. The same thing has happened to many of us, and we are involved in that same search for that deep feeling of love for God and for the people of Israel.

In 1 Kings 11, YeHoVaH (God) divided the kingdom of Israel because of King Solomon’s sin; the result was the house of Judah and the house of Israel. The house of Judah, despite being exiled to Babylon because of their sin, was allowed to return to the land of Israel and preserve YeHoVaH’s Torah (God’s instructions in the five books of Moses) to this day. The opposite happened to the house of Israel, which was taken into captivity by the Assyrian empire and was eventually dispersed throughout the nations.

At some point in history, the sheep of the house of Israel were rejected by YeHoVaH (Hosea 1:6,9) but He himself promised that this would not be forever (Hosea 2:19-20,23).

Ezekiel also mentions a beautiful prophecy where the house of Judah and the house of Israel will return and will be one nation, and his servant David will reign, and YeHoVaH will dwell in their midst:

Thus saith YeHoVaH: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to which they have gone, and will gather them from everywhere, and will bring them into his land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king to them all; and they will never again be two nations, nor will they ever again be divided into two kingdoms. Nor will they defile themselves any more with their idols, with their abominations, and with all their rebellions; and I will save them from all their rebellions with which they sinned, and I will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in my precepts, and my statutes they will keep, and they will do them. They will dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they and their children and their children’s children will dwell in it forever; and my servant David will be their prince forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant it shall be with them; and I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary among them forever. My tabernacle will be in their midst, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Ezekiel 37:21-27

Indeed you have a Hebrew identity! You are part of the house of Israel that was scattered throughout the nations, but one day you will be called home again, back to your home with our Father YeHoVaH and his “servant David,” our King Yeshua.

Shalom!

Israel’s Biblical Diet

Many people believe that the instructions regarding food appeared when Moshe received the Torah at Mount Sinai, but actually, this is not true.

Every living creature will be food for you; as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything. However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it. Genesis 9:3-4

Many people believe that the instructions regarding food appeared when Moshe received the Torah at Mount Sinai, but actually, this is not true. Genesis 9 clearly tells us that Noah already knew which animals were clean and unclean.

Why did Noah bring seven pairs of clean animals on the ark? The answer is obvious. After the flood, it was going to take some time for the earth to recover and produce fruit again. The clean animals were necessary to offer the relevant sacrifices before Yehovah, and they would also most likely provide food for Noah and his family until everything was restored. 

Notice that it was not until after Noah left the ark that Yehovah told him that he could eat “every living creature” (Genesis 9:3), as well as green plants, which had already been given as food to Adam.

What did Noah understand with those words? When Yehovah told him “every living creature“ he was NOT saying: “everything that swims, crawls, runs, and flies you can take to the pot.” Rather he was authorizing him to consume those animals that Yehovah had declared edible.

These are some aspects that although not explicitly found in the text, we can infer: the instruction is really limited to those animals on the list already known by Noah.