Today we continued our in-depth study of Ezekiel 37:15-28, focusing on the Two Sticks prophecy:
Eze 37:15 The Word of Yahweh came again unto me, saying,
Eze 37:16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
Eze 37:17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
Eze 37:18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
Eze 37:19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Sovereign GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine Hand.
As we have seen in our study, Israel, which had been one kingdom, came to be divided into two sticks, because of Solomon's idolatry. In the early part of Solomon's son Rehoboam's reign, Israel was split into two, becoming Israel (the Northern 10 Tribes) and Judah (Judah and Benjamin). The Biblical account is recorded in 1 Kings 11:28-38. This split of Israel created the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, who were the two sticks of Ezekiel 37:
The Two Sticks of the Prophecy:
|
Stick 1:
Judah (Judah and Benjamin) |
Stick 2:
Israel (aka Joseph & Ephraim) |
|
King: Rehoboam
(Solomon’s son) |
King: Jeroboam
(Solomon’s servant) |
|
Capital
city: Jerusalem |
Capital city: Samaria |
After the split, Israel - the Northern 10 Tribes - practiced idolatry. As a result, the Bible
tells us that Yahweh warned them that He was going to take the Northern ten tribes of Israel away.
Only the tribe of Judah would remain in the Promised Land. This is exactly what happened. Just one
tribe would remain for David’s sake – Judah (which was joined by Benjamin, who became absorbed into Judah). Later in history, the people from
the tribe of Judah came to be nicknamed “Jews.”
Originally, there was a ranking among the tribes. Four tribes were given leading roles among the 12 tribes. They were: Joseph (aka Ephraim), Judah, Reuben, and Dan.
These four tribes were also represented in the four leading constellations:
Joseph (represented in the Bull constellation)
Judah (represented in the Lion constellation)
Reuben (represented in the Man constellation)
Dan (represented in the Scorpion, serpent & eagle constellations - the star family)
The sun
visually entered the Bull constellation, originally called Re'eym,
at the time of the Spring Tekufah. The Spring Tekufah, now known
as the Vernal Equinox, marked the end of a Biblical year and heralded the start
of the new Biblical year. The actual first day of the new year was the day of
the New Moon, immediately following the Spring Tekufah.
Thus, from
the time of Creation, through the first 2000 years, the Bull
constellation—containing the Proto-Canaanite aleph— marked the
head of the year. Anciently, the year began in the Spring, as it still does on
the Biblical calendar. Thus, the first of the four most-significant
constellations was the Bull, called Re'eym, giving it the
position of supremacy in the sky—such as would be expected for the "first
born" of Israel.
- Worksheet #1: coming soon...
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