One in His Hand

"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." (Ezekiel 37:19)

Most believers were taught that "Israel" and "the Jews" are the same thing. Scripture tells a larger story. After Solomon, the kingdom split in two. Judah kept Jerusalem and the temple. The ten northern tribes, the house of Israel, followed Jeroboam into idolatry, were carried off by Assyria, and scattered among the nations until they lost their name. The prophets called them two sisters. And the prophets promised that one day God would gather the scattered and join the two houses back together in His hand.

One in His Hand tells that story from beginning to end. It starts with the promise to Abraham and Jacob's new name, then follows Israel to Sinai, where the covenant was offered like a marriage, and to the golden calf, where it was breached. It traces David's scepter, Solomon's turn, the division of the kingdom, the sin of Jeroboam, and the scattering of Ephraim among the nations.

The later chapters follow the promise forward: the Book of the Covenant and the Book of the Law, the two sticks, Shiloh who has come, the lost sheep Jesus came to seek, Paul's mystery of Israel, the one new man, and the New Jerusalem with twelve gates bearing the names of the twelve tribes.

This book is for anyone who feels like a misfit in modern religion and has sensed there is more to the story. You may be one of the scattered sheep, now being gathered.