A TRAIL OF MESSIANIC ISSUES, CONT.

THE PROBLEM OF MESSIANIC JUDAISM

PART 27

A TRAIL OF MESSIANIC ISSUES, CONT.

9. Tribal Identity and Boundary Restoration

The last objection to regenerative understanding of the Restoration I will address pertains to Ezekiel’s identifying of the restored tribal identities and Promised Land boundaries (Ezk. 47-48). For Messianics, the specificity of the tribal allotments and boundaries outlined in these chapters is evidence that the Promised Land will indeed be re-inherited by natural Israel, and thus that modern Israel is today entitled to claim the Promised Land by right of inheritance.

In the first treatise, using multiple dimensions of scriptural witness—apostolic, prophetic and historic—we thoroughly demonstrated the impossibility in which a future gathering of Israel by human birth can inherit ⁸⁷ the Promised Land, showing instead that the right of inheritance has been transferred to Eternal Israel.

Since then, we have repeatedly demonstrated how the restoration prophecies, understood regeneratively, also affirm this greater witness to covenantal transfer of right; and that reconstructive interpretation of the prophecies intended to reinforce natural right fail on evidence to overturn that witness.

The same will be demonstrated here. Ezekiel’s identifying of Israel tribally, complete with renewed description of the Land bounds, while to be taken literally, does not overturn the massive scriptural witness against a reconstructive right of inheritance. Rather, this vision too is proven entirely reconcilable to the witness of regenerative covenantal inheritance transfer, while the reconstructionist vision fails.

- Tribal Identity Issue (What’s In a Name?)

As we saw in the last point, in the Restoration, a Levite is prophetically defined as anyone who wants to “join himself” to the Lord (Isa. 56:6). This is of great significance, for the name Levi means “joined to!”

The regenerative bestowing of Levi’s name to anyone regardless of human birth opens us to the truth regarding the assigning of names in the Restoration. In the age to come, names are not assigned by lineage, but by character of spirit nature and ordination of divine purpose. In the example at hand, restoration age Levites are called Levites, not because they are physically descended from Levi, but because their Spirit-reborn function and character conforms to the meaning of the name Levi, which means “joined to” the Lord.

What is restorationally true about Levi must necessarily be true about all references to Israel’s tribal names. The physical DNA of Israel’s tribes will not provide the basis of tribal identification for any of the tribes. In the regenerative era, tribal identity is applied by spiritual attribute.

So, for example, when the restoration prophecies speak about “Judah,” they are not necessarily speaking about anyone physically descended from the tribe of Judah (though remnant survivors of the original tribe will live in Israel.) They are speaking about those who, without respect to human origin, are characterized by their praise to God. For Judah means “praise.” 88

Once again, Old Testament prophecy and the Book of Revelation connect on this point. Like Ezekiel, Revelation lists the names of the twelve tribes (7:4-8). Yet their appearance is clearly cast in a regenerative setting that far overreaches derivation from Jewish origin (14:1-5). Revelation also applies the tribal names to the heavenly city of New Jerusalem (21:12)—a city of redeemed immortals without racial identity—again, showing the regenerative meaning and use of the tribal names.

Revelation particularly notes how a “new name” is promised to spiritual overcomers. Throughout scripture, God freely renames people according to the development and changes of spiritual reality in their lives. This is how naming of people, cities and even nations will be based in the Restoration.⁸⁹ And it will be true of the twelve tribes. Overcomers from all past human origins will receive their new name in accord with the regenerative tribal stream to which they will belong.

In total then, when we read of the restored twelve tribes, we are reading about twelve streams of spiritually reborn saints, each marked by spiritual characteristics or functions found in the meaning of those names. Restoration tribal identities will correspond to the functions assigned now to the church through its various offices, giftings and anointings wherein to some are given one power, to others another, all for edifying the whole body [nation] of Eternal Israel.⁹⁰

The composite meaning of the tribal names in the entire regenerated trans-national body is designed to offer a full display of the nature of God, providing the complete array of spiritual color within the meaning of the name Israel, which broadly translated means “striving, prevailing, prince with God.” The twelve tribes of Eternal Israel’s overcomers are really the twelve courses of the worshipping king-priesthood.

In contrast to the above, the reconstructionist insistence on restored fleshly tribal identification is highly unworkable. We’ve already seen that God’s open invitation for anyone to become a Levite strips the tribe of any natural lineage-based identity. If so, then it must be so for all the tribes.⁹¹

The flesh-based lineage understanding is also undermined by the conflicting aspects of the Restoration lists as found between Ezekiel and Revelation. For whatever reason, Dan is missing from the tribes listed in Revelation 7. If this list refers to Israelites of human heritage, then it is to admit that the tribe of Dan has no inheritance among the overcomers in Israel! No matter how Dan’s absence is explained, just the divergence of these lists witnesses against a reconstructive restoration of the twelve tribes.

All in all then, there is no mandate to perceive natural lineage in Ezekiel’s listing of the restored tribes, yet every reason to perceive their regenerative assignment. Based on the prophetic evidence (especially the absence of Dan from the twelve tribes in Revelation 7), the reconstructive idea of natural tribal identification in the Restoration again fails.

- Tribal Boundaries (Ezekiel 47)

Along with Ezekiel’s listing of the twelve tribes, Ezekiel’s boundary description of the restored Promised Land, being similar to that in Numbers 34, is used to prove that Israel will be restored as a fleshly nation under the Mosaic system. But again, closer examination shows this description cannot possibly be a reconstruction of Israel’s inheritance under Moses.

The insightful note on Ezekiel 48:1 from the Berkeley version distills Ezekiel’s description of the allotments this way:

“The twelve tribes of Israel are all settled on the west side of the Jordan; seven tribes north of the Temple Area, and five south. They are assigned strips of land running from east to west. Levi is not included.”

While the outside bounds generally conform to those in Numbers 34, the interior tribal bounds do not at all conform to those awarded under Moses and settled under Joshua. In Ezekiel’s description, tribes will possess land that the fleshly tribes did not occupy under Moses, and they will not possess land that the fleshly tribes did occupy under Moses.

This description—far from reinforcing the reconstructionist vision of restoration—totally removes all tribal right of claim to the Promised Land based in legal inheritance! There will simply be no correspondence between what tribes possessed in the past with what they will possess in the future. Thus there is no basis for a legal continuity of tribal claim. And if not for the tribes, how then for the nation the tribes comprise? In actuality, Ezekiel forcefully undermines the reconstructionist basis for a naturally-based Land claim either now or in the future.

How then are we to regeneratively understand Ezekiel’s land description? Simply, the new Land description conforms to the prophetic description of tribal restoration. What is true of the tribal identities applies to the tribal boundaries. Ezekiel is prophesying that when Eternal Israel inherits the Promised Land, the Land will be apportioned into tribal districts in which those who specialize in a given spiritual tribal anointing, gift, power and calling will dwell together in community across the breadth of the district, and that these districts are adjoined in a certain order for prophetic purposes and functions not yet revealed.92

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[Summary Comments to Points 4 Through 9]

The key to answering Messianic objections based in the restoration prophecies is to realize that the prophecies predict a regeneratively transformed order that fulfills in the realm of spiritual physicality everything merely foreshadowed by the Mosaic order under the dispensation of natural pattern and since done away by the present dispensation of spiritual unclothing.

This regenerative transformation is in view everywhere the prophets speak of Israel’s restoration in terms borrowed from the Mosaic order including the Law, the feast and Sabbath observances, the temple, the sacrifices and the Levitical priesthood.

The entirety of the discussion in points 4 through 9 fully harmonizes with my main thesis regarding the transcendent identity and purpose of Eternal Israel. Eternal Israel with its twelve tribes is to be the glorified manifestation of the spiritual Israel that has been in progress of development through both the ages of natural pattern (natural Israel) and spiritual unclothing (the supranational church).

NEXT – PART 28: THE NAME “PALESTINE”

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Reuben – the seeing son	Dan – judge	Ephraim – double fruit
Simeon – one who hears	Asher – happy	Joseph – let him add (adding qualities to one’s salvations)
Levi – joined to	Naphtali – my wrestling	Gad – attacking troop, distributor or riches
Judah – praise	Manasseh – causing to forget (“forgetting those things which are behind”)	Zebulon – habitation (enclosed dweller)
Isaachar – one who brings a reward	Benjamin – son of the right hand