Ephraimite Clarification by Eddie Chumney

Yair,

 

Whenever someone tells others what I believe or what I say, it is IMPORTANT to me that what I say or believe is ACCURATELY represented. This is also TORAH. Since my name was used in this note, I would appreciate if what I explain and try to clarify gets read by your list of followers. I feel as though what you said about how I represented the viewpoints of Ephraimites who believe in Yeshua as the Messiah gave the WRONG IMPRESSION to your audience because what you stated in your conclusion was done in a RELIGIOUSLY BIASED manner rather than presenting the facts in an even-handed way.

First of all, happy birthday !!!

First of all, I have historically and I remain a supporter of Brit-Am. I endeavor to work with Brit-Am based upon COMMON GROUND (to show the heart of Joseph toward Judah). For this reason, I recently made available to the Hebraic Heritage Ministries facebook page and youtube channel the content of the 10 programs that we made together in Jerusalem discussing the ten tribes who they are, where they lived and their association today with believing in Yeshua as the Messiah. I pray that the Almighty will make it possible for us to continue to work together in the future.

 

I as well as MOST non-Jews on your list... on your mailing list BELIEVE that Ephraim / Joseph settled and has historically lived among Western people including the USA. We ACCEPT this claim. It is NOT rejected. As evidence, we talked about it at great length in the interview that I did with you.

 

However, this is NOT accepted by Judah. It is JUDAH who REJECTS the claim and NOT Ephraimites. How so ? When an INDIVIDUAL comes to Judah and says, "I BELIEVE that I am an Ephraimite as our people have lived historically among Western people" then Judah says we DON'T accept this. Because Judah says that we DON'T accept this then Judah says that Ephraim needs to CONVERT. Judah requires CONVERSION of a non-Jew whether they believe that they are an Ephraimite or a Hindu or a Buddist or Islamic or secular or a pagan. So, a claim of PHYSICAL descent by Ephraimites to brotherhood MEANS absolutely NOTHING to Judah. Judah makes the ACCEPTANCE of Ephraim / Joseph as their brother a RELIGIOUS issue and a RELIGIOUS demand MORE THAN ACCEPTING the PHYSICAL claim of Ephraimites that they are an Ephraimite who is now living among Western peoples. So, even if Ephraim accepts the "academic" claims of Brit-Am (which they should) then it has no PRACTICAL value when Judah will NOT FORMALLY accept Ephraim as his PHYSICAL BROTHER without IMPOSING a religious bias to the formal acceptance.

 

Ephraim wants to BELIEVE the claims that INDIVIDUAL Ephraimites are living among Western peoples and ACT upon it (do something PRACTICAL like following Torah and living with Judah in the land of Israel) BUT Judah wants you to BELIEVE the claim of historical physical migration and other things yet NOT act upon it. Believe and NOT doing (acting upon it) is AGAINST what the Torah teaches as Abraham believed AND acted upon what he believed.

 

While there is AMPLE EVIDENCE (as we discussed when I interviewed you) that Ephraim IS living among Western people including the USA and ARE practicing Christianity then BECAUSE they believe that Yeshua is the Messiah then the ACCEPTANCE of brotherhood is REJECTED by Judah. So, THIS is the ISSUE and Judah DEMANDS that this be an issue. However, Biblical "Christianity" IS to follow the Torah as Yeshua taught His disciples and a believer in Him should do so (I John 2:6). In fact, Yeshua's "great commission" in Matthew 28:18-20 is to teach TORAH to the ENTIRE WORLD. In fact, teaching TORAH to the ENTIRE WORLD is something that Judah REJECTS doing (as they say Torah should just be taught to Jews) even though this WILL be fulfilled in the Messianic Era (Isaiah 2:3).

 

Therefore when Ephraimites DO want to ACCEPT and BELIEVE that the INDIVIDUAL really is an Ephraimite EVEN Brit-Am won't PROMOTE your fellow Ephramite brother as being an EQUAL in the family (meaning promote that Ephraim does NOT have to "convert" to be accepted by Judah as his BROTHER). So, when an INDIVIDUAL (your mailing list and teachings is meant to be heard by INDIVUDUALS) ACCEPT and BELIEVES that Ephraim is among Western peoples then EVEN Brit-Am advocates that to be FULLY ACCEPTED as a BROTHER in the family then ultimately (in the full process of things) then that individual should CONVERT (which is the Orthodox Rabbinic Jewish teaching and accepted view on the matter).

 

So what really is the end-goal ? Is it to ACCEPT Ephraim as your BROTHER BECAUSE he is your brother OR is that SECONDARY to "missionizing" Ephraim to CONVERT ? Well, Judah has stated over and over that in the end that Ephraim MUST CONVERT. This is NOT an ACCEPTANCE of PHYSICAL BROTHERHOOD. It is a RELIGIOUS requirement.

This statement was made is a RELIGIOUSLY BIASED way. When you are saying "their own doctrine" you are emphasizing RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES and setting aside the issue of PHYSICALLY being your BROTHER. So while you SAY that there is no acceptance by Ephraim of physical descent among Western peoples (which is NOT true) and that THIS is the issue which should be emphasized the REAL issue is a RELIGIOUS issue and it ultimately boils down to REJECTION by JUDAH of the BROTHERHOOD of Ephraim BECAUSE of disagreement about Yeshua being the Messiah.

 

This PRINCIPLE is taught in the Torah as the deeds of the forefathers foreshadow what will happen to their descendents. The BROTHERS of JOSEPH REJECTED him as being a family leader and even his claims of brotherhood. Instead JUDAH along with his brothers wanted to SELL JOSEPH (disregard him, treat him disrespectfully, claim to be superior in position etc). We read and study Torah but can't apply what we study and read to the REAL world. We study but we don't learn from our studying. Our study becomes an "academic" exercise more than PRACTICAL REAL LIFE application.

 

Then, I made an observation which was meant to help you in your understanding of your target audience (Ephraimites who believe that Yeshua is the Messiah) given that your ultimate desire is to work to see the reunification of all 12 tribes of Israel (Joseph and Judah). To a traditional Christian (Baptist, Evangelical Christian etc), they don't see their belief in the God of Israel and being part of His family (the house of Jacob) based upon physical descent. For the God of Israel wants the WORLD to belong to His family and follow His Torah as we see from Isaiah 2:3.

 

In fact the argument is made that this is what the TORAH teaches. The children of Israel were NOT redeemed out of Egypt JUST BECAUSE they were physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In fact, in the Midrash, the Rabbis say that only about 20% of the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob actually did put the blood of the Lamb upon the doorpost. I don't know the exact percentage but it was less than 100%. So, being a physical descendent of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob was not THE qualification to be redeemed out of Egypt. What was THE requirement ? Regardless of whether you were a physical descendent of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob or a native born Egyptian, what was REQUIRED to be redeemed out of Egypt was to BELIEVE the PROMISE made by the God of Israel through Moses and put the blood of the Lamb on the doorpost. The native born Egyptians who DID do this did NOT go through a "Rabbinic Jewish conversion" to be a member of the family of Jacob. Obviously, Rabbinic Judaism did NOT exist when the children of Israel were living in Egypt. So, this is not an Ephraimite "belief in their own doctrine" (as your say) but this is a TORAH FACT. So, when an Ephraimite chooses to BELIEVE the Torah why does Judah make it a RELIGIOUS ISSUE and say that this is "your own doctrine" ? How does this help reunification ?

 

If you want to END the exile then Judah should say, "Ephraim MY BROTHER" sees some things religiously different from Judah and we will NOT cause our RELIGIOUS difference to interfere with our PHYSICAL BROTHERHOOD.

 

KJV Isaiah 11:13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the
adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy
Judah, and JDUAH shall not VEX EPHRAIM.

 

Knowing that this is the case, why does JUDAH INSIST upon VEXING EPHRAIM ? Does Judah LOVE being in exile or does JUDAH want to be reunited with his brother and END the exile by expressing a desire to show MUTUAL RESPECT to Ephraim ? THAT is the real issue because Ephraim ACCEPTS that he has lived and is living among Western peoples including the USA.

 

Since you used my name in this article (and you gave a NEGATIVE IMPRESSION to the mind of your audience toward Ephraim's attitude toward accepting that Ephraim has historically lived among Western people AND you left out (ignored) mentioning the CONTEXT and MAJOR points of the context what I wrote to you in a previous note and thus gave a NEGATIVE IMPRESSION to your audience about the issue), I would appreciate if you would share the FULL CONTEXT of what I am now trying to say and clarify this to your mailing list. Namely that Ephraimites on an individual basis ACCEPTS that Ephraim has lived and is living among Western people but that the REAL ISSUE is a RELIGIOUS disagreement and Judah failing to FULLY and FORMALLY accept Ephraim as his PHYSICAL BROTHER because Ephraim believes that Yeshua is the Messiah as Judah still has a BASELESS HATRED and negative attitude toward Yeshua and those who believe on Him as the Messiah of Israel and the world.

 

Yours for the reunification of Ephraim and Judah,

 

Eddie Chumney