quote:
Since you posted this Bracy, I assume you believe the "watchmen" are the Messianic Jews?
I’m not going
that far.
The
root of the word is
natzar, but the word used here is plural.
The word is
notzrim, and the root is
natzar. In Hebrew, the words means to “safe keep” — to keep till a later time, to hide it in a way that will be revealed later.
Let me put it another way: imagine you have a hand grenade. The hand grenade has a pin. The pin in Hebrew is called
nitzray. That’s with the same root. That’s what’s keeping it together. If you open it, it pops out.
So, with this understanding, let’s go back to Jeremiah 31:
quote:
Jeremiah 31:6-7: For there shall be a day, [that] the watchmen [Notzrim,] in Hebrew]upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God. For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
The early believers in Yeshua were called
notzrim. It came from the word “Nazareth” and meant “Nazarenes.” There is no other root in Hebrew that the word comes from. At that time, obviously, it was just a name. The meaning wasn’t revealed. But looking back at it now, we can see what is the root of this word.
The same root,
natzar can be found in Isaiah 49:6:
quote:
Isaiah 49:6: And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: (Hebrew: notzri ) I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
The “Preserved” of Israel in this particular case, is the same Hebrew root. The ones that were safe-kept for the time to come. So you can see we are talking about Israel, the Kingdom of Israel, that is being really safe-kept for the future time to come.
Now going back to the word
notzrim, as I stated previously, it came from the same source – from Nazareth. But now take into consideration that the Book of Jeremiah, of course, was written before there was Christianity. You look for a clue as to how it came about that Jeremiah used a word that was seldom used before at all (the only other place I’ve found it is in 2 Kings 17:9, which speaks of how the people of the Northern Kingdom turned to idolatry), and it is the word used for “Christians” today. And it is translated “preserved of Israel” in English. Elsewhere it is translated as “watchmen”. Why watchmen?
Looking at the regathering of Judea and Israel, we can maybe begin to understand what was the purpose of all this. There is a big portion of the Israel people that is being kept -- being
safe-kept, for the future to come. And what is happening now is that this whole thing is coming about.
One more sentence very significant that uses the same root is Isaiah 11:1:
quote:
Isaiah 11:1: And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem [Hebrew: [geza, a cut down trunk or stump of a tree, above ground. A wild growth, a staff, comes out of it] of Jesse, and a Branch [Hebrew: netzer, a “shoot”] shall grow out of his roots:
Here we have two situations: (1) above ground stem - like a stump of a tree, and (2) the root which is underground. Suddenly, a branch (a “shoot”) is coming out the root. How can you explain the reason for that? In other words, the stump has already been there, then the branch comes from the stump of the tree. Those roots were there all the time. Suddenly a shoot is coming out of it. So again you see you are dealing with something that was hidden — under ground. This word “branch” is
netzer. It comes from the roots. So this is very interesting.
This gives us an understanding of where the Christian people are. There are two kingdoms that got separated 2700 years ago. One of them is completely assimilated. It was taken out of Judaism and lost completely its roots. But here comes Isaiah and he says, “Look! - The roots are there; it’s under the ground, but when the time comes it’s going to pop out.”
This gives us a distinct hope and an understanding of what was Christianity. We can view how Christianity came about and how is it to become a part of Israel. It’s been hidden underground. It was a shoot that comes from the root. The tree is there; it has a root, it has a trunk. That’s the first part, the first part of Israel’s descendants. Then a staff will emerge from the stump of Jesse.
I’ll put it another way: If you have a tree, and you want to cut off a big branch from it, what do you do? In order for it not to grow, you put some tar or something on it. So then when you look at it, on the trunk of the tree is some sort of big hole and nothing is coming out of it. It’s sealed. There’s a place on the tree’s trunk, but it is sealed.
Then you look at it a couple years later and suddenly, a staff (a shoot) is coming out of it –
totally unexpected. You didn’t expect it ever, because you had sealed it. But there it is; out of that black spot, you see something is sprouting out. This is exactly the word mentioned here – it is something not expected. The tree is there, and something is coming out of it that was cut off before and it’s coming back.
The purpose that the kingdom was cut off was because of the sins of King Solomon. King Solomon who was given everything by God, betrayed God at the end of his days. In respect to his father, who was David, God said He wouldn’t divide the kingdom during Solomon’s days but his son, Rehoboam, would pay for it in his time. One of his helpers, one of his assistants, Jeroboam, took a whole group of tribes, a whole kingdom, out of Judah.
The capital was Jerusalem where David and Solomon reigned. The Temple was in Jerusalem. Then suddenly Jeroboam comes and declares, “Hey, look we don’t have a part in Judah; we don’t need the House of David. We’re going to Samaria, to
Shomron, and we’re going to establish our own kingdom, our own capital and our own temple.” But the temple was a pagan temple. They went completely out from God.
As I mentioned earlier, the only other place where I have found
notzrim is 2 Kings 17:9 which talks about this:
quote:
2 Kings 17:9-12: And the children of Israel did secretly [those] things that [were] not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen [Hebrew: notzrim] to the fenced city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as [did] the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
In 2 Chronicles 10, the last verse says: “And Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.” And so it has continued to
this day — to the day that we are in now, the year 2006 AD.
Then, in Chapter 11:
quote:
2 Chronicles 11:1: And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he gathered of the house of Judah and Benjamin an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen [men], which were warriors, to fight against Israel, that he might bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam.
It was not a time to fight, to force a rule against God’s Word, but Rehoboam tried to bring back the whole Kingdom to Judah. Then what happens?
quote:
2 Chronicles 11:2-4: But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel in Judah and Benjamin, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going against Jeroboam.
In other words what happened is that God made the decision that the kingdom is going to be split because of the sins of Solomon. Though Rehoboam tried to make the change, He sent him the prophet and who said, “Don’t do that. It is God’s plan to separate that kingdom. So don’t touch it.”
Back to this root, that word
netzor, so we can understand that it is something being kept like in a safe. Nobody really knows about it. In other words it goes and develops its own life very much separated from the main – even Judah. Very much separated in its own different doctrine, different in everything. In fact, not only that, but unfortunately there was a big problem between Christianity and Judaism throughout the duration of the last 2,000 years. Because of this misunderstanding, doctrines developed into a show of righteousness, which as you know, brought all kinds of anti-Semitism, holocausts, pogroms and everything else which was a result of that.
Why else do you suppose that Jeremiah 31 is speaking of
Ephraim?quote:
Jeremiah 31:18: I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself [thus]; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed [to the yoke]: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou [art] the LORD my God.
Why is this verse referring to Ephraim? Why not Judah? Or Reuben? Or Dan?
Jeremiah here is talking almost exclusively about the love of God to the House of Ephraim which is an outcast at this point and not a part of Judaism. Let’s start with Jeremiah 31:1 and paint the picture:
quote:
Jeremiah 31:1: At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
Now we see here that Israel is not just the family of Judah. Israel is a whole series of families that is going to gather together – and that’s when God is going to talk to us.
quote:
Jeremiah 31:8-9: Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company (Hebrew: qahal, “congregation,” which Christians translate as “church”) shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim [is] my firstborn.
What does God mean by “Ephraim is my firstborn?” To understand, we have to go all the way back to Genesis where God promised to make Ephraim’s seed a
melo ha goyim, a “fullness of gentiles.”
In Genesis 48:19 Jacob gives Ephraim his grandson the
mishpat bachor or firstborn blessing, after bypassing Reuben and Joseph. With that inheritance Ephraim rightfully should have received the authority of headship or kingly rule over the family of Jacob/Israel. The right to the
mishpat bachor included total leadership powers, including spiritual leadership, decision-making, ruling authority, financial power, military guardianship, and the role of family judge. He would be expected to execute justice, right ruling, and equity in the family. The position carried with it full control of all family affairs. However, as seen later in Genesis 49:10, Jacob knowingly divides this birthright by bestowing the authority of the rule over Jacob’s house upon Judah his son, leaving Ephraim being just the promised vessel of physical multiplicity, in order to fill the earth with Israel’s seed.
With Judah receiving the ruling power and authority to rule in the family of Israel, Ephraim is left with a blessing and a paper title and not much else. He found himself in a position much like the Queen of England today, who has the glamour of a palatial dwelling and a title, while the real power in Great Britain resides at 10 Downing Street. Here we see the beginning of the jealousy of those who would later come to be known as Ephraimites (the 10 tribes). They are the rightful heirs to rule over Jacob’s family but have been left holding the bag for 4,700 years. The true authority to lead Israel in society, and in all matters, fell to the seed or line of Judah. Judah received the spiritual and ruling authority normally belonging to the firstborn, without being the firstborn, as Ephraim is left strictly and solely with the biological promise of physical multiplicity. This split in Israel’s family, though guided by the Ruach HaKodesh, are the early seeds of what later would play out in the natural, as Israel’s family would be divided in two houses, culminating with the fall of Samaria in 721 BCE.
Ephraim (the Northern Kingdom) became
Lo Ammi – Not A People and was swallowed up among all nations after being conquered by Assyria. Judah (the Southern Kingdom) was conquered by the Chaldeans and taken into captivity in Babylon. But they were later allowed to return to their homeland by King Cyrus of Persia. The Northern Kingdom, however, remained “swallowed up.”
quote:
Jeremiah 31:10-11: Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare [it] in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd [doth] his flock. For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of [him that was] stronger than he.
Now, we are coming to the peak of this chapter.
quote:
Jeremiah 31:15: Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, [and] bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they [were] not.
Why did Jeremiah think of Rachel weeping?
Rachel was the mother of Joseph and Benjamin. Benjamin was a tribe that always went with Judah, and did so when the kingdom was split. Benjamin was always with Judah because the State of Benjamin was right around Jerusalem. The rest of the 10 tribes separated. Rachel being the mother of both Benjamin and Joseph, out of which the tribes of Ephraim and Manessah came, was crying. And “
She refuses to be consoled for her children for they are not.”
In other words, she is looking from heaven and says “Hey, where are they? Where is Ephraim? Where is Manessah? Where is Joseph? I don’t see them. They’re not around. I can’t see them; they are so assimilated; they’re so scattered.” They are so preserved inside that Rachel herself cannot see them,
for they are not shown as a part of Israel.quote:
Jeremiah 31:16: Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
They will come from where?
From the land of the enemy. He’s now talking about Ephraim, again.
quote:
Jeremiah 31:17: And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
There is a hope for the future:
the Word of HaShem and the children will return to their border. God says, “I have indeed heard Ephraim moaning.” Ephraim is moaning; Ephraim is an outcast; is somebody who has no roots; someone who has no connection. And what does Ephraim say? “
You have chastised me like an unclean cloth. Bring me back to you and I shall return, for you are HaShem, my God, You are the Lord my God.”
And then God says, “
Is Ephraim my delightful child that whenever I speak of him, I remember him more and more.” Here we have the Father who knows who his son is. He is under the blanket. Under the ground and He wants him to come back, but the time is not come yet. And says, “
He’s my delightful child; whenever I speak of him, I remember him more and more; therefore, my inner self yearns for him. I will surely take pity on him – the Word of HaShem.”
And that’s where we are today. As God says: “To everything there is a time.” The time has not yet come.
