I woke up this am wanting to write about the two sticks in Ezekiel’s hands; Judah and the sons of Israel that are being joined by Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions. The sons of Israel are the dead bones who are being raised up and then have life breathed in them in a single day all over the earth.

And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord YHVH, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of YHVH! Thus says the Lord YHVH to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am YHVH.” ‘ ” (Eze 37:3-6)

Again the word of YHVH came to me, saying, “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ (Eze 37:15-16)

‘Thus says the Lord YHVH: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ‘ (Eze 37:19)

The sons of Israel are the “man-child” of Revelation 12 and “the nation that is born in a day” of Isaiah 66.

“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her sons (בני). (Isa 66:7-8)

The day that these dead bones have the life breathed into them is Passover; but before Passover was called Passover it was called the “Time of Life.” I capitalize this because it is a “moed,” an appointed time.

A true Passover or “Time of Life” is more than a mere rehearsal of the deliverance of the sons of Israel from Egypt; it is the redemption of the repentant faithful from the kingdoms of darkness into the kingdom of YHVH, which is True Israel (Abraham’s sons). I make a distinction between the STATE OF ISRAEL, those who follow the laws of that man-made government with ITS statutes, judgments and ordinances which are created by those who trust in its Military Intelligence, tanks, ground to air missiles, planes, etc, etc, etc and True Israel, those who have repented and are diligently learning, doing and teaching our heavenly Father’s statutes, judgments and ordinances. True Israel trusts in YHVH God exclusively for all their provisions and safety.

A true Passover is a not a corporate redemption, like Yom Kippurim (the Day of Coverings), but rather an individual and deeply personal one; for the cross of Yeshua is rooted in Passover. That fact may seem obvious to some but I believe we, in ignorance or pride or both, have set aside YHVH’s instructions concerning Passover which he said should be kept throughout all our generations (see Exodus 12:14,17, 24 and 42). Ezekiel 45 indicates that Passover will still be kept in the Millennium Kingdom; and since YHVH does not change this only makes perfect sense to me.

The Hebrew word “ezrach” (Strong’s H249) is the man who is born twice. Once by water into some kingdom of the earth and once by the spirit (through his participation in the true Passover) into the land of Israel; he is the man who is born again.

In order for a man to take part in the true Passover, he must first be one who has repented and committed himself to keeping all of YHVH’s ways from the heart. This man is, in Hebrew, called a “ger” (H1616) and is often called in  English the “stranger” and can come from any nation; he becomes a ger and citizen of True Israel through repentance and then baptism.

Once the ger is circumcised in his heart, he must be circumcised in the flesh before he may partake of the Passover lamb and become an ezrach, as one Born in the Land (or one “born again” into the kingdom of YHVH).

The ger becomes a new creäture once he partakes of the Passover lamb.

All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. And when a “ger” (stranger) dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be an “ezrach” (as one who is native-born). For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. One law shall be for the native-born (ezrach) and for the stranger (ger) who dwells among you.” (Exodus 12:47-49)

Genesis chapter 18 follows 17! That may sound obvious to some, but these chapters are very closely linked. The casual reader will miss what is there. I did not see it until I read the same account in the book of Jasher. Here is what it said.

Jasher 18:1-4 (1) And Abraham rose and did all that God had ordered him, and he took the men of his household and those bought with his money, and he circumcised them as YHVH had commanded him. (2) And there was not one left whom he did not circumcise, and Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin; thirteen years old was Ishmael when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. (3) And in the third day Abraham went out of his tent and sat at the door to enjoy the heat of the sun, during the pain of his flesh. (4) And YHVH appeared to him in the plain of Mamre, and sent three of his ministering angels to visit him, and he was sitting at the door of the tent, and he lifted his eyes and saw, and lo three men were coming from a distance, and he rose up and ran to meet them, and he bowed down to them and brought them into his house.

Gen 18:1 Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.

Genesis chapter 18 recounts the visit of YHVH to Abraham while he was sitting at the door of his tent on a very warm day, and the visit of 3 men. These men are messengers or angels of YHVH and tell Abraham and Sarah that she will have a son when YHVH returns to Abraham and Sarah at the “moed” (appointed time – H4150) according to the “Time of Life” the following year. Therefore, YHVH is visiting Abraham now at the appointed time and He will return at the same time next year also.

Think about it; this is amazing! Isaac was not only born in the flesh at the Time of Life but he was also born in the spirit on that day also. This was the day that YHVH gave Abraham a ram in place of Isaac on Mount Moriah; the same place and day that Yeshua, YHVH’s lamb, died for all of Abraham’s sons.

And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. (Gen 22:8)

When studying this phrase, “the Time of Life,” I was tempted to write it off as the time of spring; but I could not, as it also mentioned the moed and followed so closely to the circumcision of Abraham. I have long felt that this chapter and the next (chapter 19) which talks about the visit of the two messengers or angels to Lot and the subsequent destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah where closely connected to the Passover for three reasons. The first is that Lot would not let these men stay in the town square for the night. No one stays outside on Passover night.

And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. (Exo 12:22)

And he [Lot] said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. [Why? The righteous are indoor on the night of the Passover!] Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. (Gen 19:2-3)

Secondly, Lot served the messengers “unleavened bread” the very night that the mob in Sodom came for the messengers/angels. Who serves their guests unleavened bread? “Hey, come on over, I just finished making unleavened bread.” NOT!

And finally, I found a verse in Revelations that seemed to equate the destruction of Sodom, the destruction of Egypt, and the day Yeshua was crucified, all to the Passover.

And their dead bodies [speaking of the two witnesses] will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom [destroyed after Passover] and Egypt [brought to their knees after Passover], where also our Lord was crucified [died on Passover]. (Rev 11:8)

In Genesis chapters 17 and 18 Abram was circumcised, and then celebrated the Passover, a “Time of Life” or “new life”and then became Born in the Land.

It appears to me that Judah and the sons of Israel (the man-child and the nation born in a day) can only be distinguished from Ephraim and all the house of Israel (the woman) by only one factor; what they do during the Time of Life. These ideas are greatly expanded in my “Born Again” series which I am give live on Skype each month from November through March. Here is a link to that class.

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