Finding Ephraim: We Are Israel

In recent years I have come to realize that we Americans live in a bubble, caught in a web of social laws that we are so tangled up in that we just can't see ourselves or each other objectively. In television, on the radio, the internet, in the school systems are unspoken yet solid invisible bricks that are handed out to all of us; the building blocks for social segregation.

I never really quite realized this as a child, but as I entered adulthood it became blatantly obvious that I had a social place and that there were consequences for stepping out of that place. Not just African Americans, Hispanics, or Native Americans but Caucasians as well; all of us. I am using these terms as we understand them in America.

After many years of studying the scriptures and learning about languages and peoples, stepping back from looking at the world from the narrow view of "man made theology" and looking at the scriptures through the Creators instructions for living found in the "Old Testament," (also know as the TaNaK or Hebrew scriptures.) I learned about one particular nation, this nation was scattered into the nations of the world. They were assimilated into the cultures of the world, seemingly disappearing forever, with the exception of a remnant that was sent back to their homeland, those who today we know as Jews.

Now, over 2000 years later people are beginning to separate themselves out from the nations, and call themselves the children of Israel. How is this possible? All over the Americas a people are cropping up from all different ethnicity, religions and walks of life. These people are learning to walk the way of Torah and the Hebrew language. This prompts my initial question: Who are we? Because we're not who we thought we were. Other questions have popped up based on America's Pro-Israel History on the world stage throughout the years.

A report published in 2006 by the Pew Research Center, by Jodie T. Allen and Alec Tyson states the following:

"A Pew Global Attitudes survey taken in March through May of this year, before the outbreak of the current violence, found that in the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, Americans were the most sympathetic towards Israel of 15 nations surveyed. Among the U.S. public, a 48%-plurality sympathized with Israel. Only 13% of Americans sympathized with the Palestinians, while 4% said both sides and 14% said neither side."

For the full article see The U.S. Public's Pro-Israel History

Since Israel became a state in 1948 the American public has shown a consistent attitude of support for this fledgling nation. Even at the chagrin of other major world powers, and in spite of Islamic radicals "Shaking of the Fist." I don't want to get into the political details that have been so vehemently voiced from writers about Islam, Jews, and Palestinians. I want to focus on this issue of "who we are" from a human condition point of view, the human nature of being at odds with ourselves.

The nations of the world remind me of ourselves as teenagers, self deluded and full of hormones, confused about who we are, and about what is right and wrong, fighting for territory and jockeying for position. It's literally like the High School social world. Everybody is fighting to fit in, to make a mark, to be acknowledged. Everybody thinks their way is right and wants it confirmed by others who would agree, but it's all wrong. Over the past thirty years, In the midst of all of the self delusion, all over the world a people have been coming out of these nations, languages, and ethnicity and identifying themselves, not just with Israel, but AS Israel.

As each day goes by an increasing amount of people around the world and especially in America, are becoming interested in there family history and genealogy, and are finding out the most unexpected things. People who have identified themselves with a particular group of people their whole lives, here in the Bubble that is America, have found that they are more closely related to a completely different people. For example many so called "Caucasian" people are finding out that they are Spaniards, and many African Americans are finding out that they have Irish ancestors; "Hispanics" might be Middle Eastern or East Indian, not just Spaniard or Portuguese. These realizations change everything we think we know about ourselves and the world.

An interesting program that began through the passion of Henry Louis Gates Jr. called Faces of America broadcast on PBS is an interesting look into this idea that we aren't who we think we are, as developed socially in America. Henry "an African American man by appearance" discovered through investigating his DNA that his ancestry is predominantly Caucasian.

In conclusion, Throughout the history of mankind this idea of ethnic difference is more fluid than currently believed, as is language. I believe that it is important for people who are discovering their Hebraic roots to keep this in mind as you begin to realize how big the Israelite Phenomenon really is; especially in the Americas. Many discoveries are being made in the genetic world concerning peoples and origins, and these discoveries are only going to prove to be more substantive as time goes on. However. Even without the genealogical support the "Israel Phenomenon" is the Creator of Heaven and Earth causing His people to return to His ways; they are hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd that is leading to all truth, and as people return to His Torah they inevitably become His people, and this is who we are.