The Rod of Joseph

By Richard Govier

One of the most interesting figures in Hebrew history is Joseph, the second youngest son of Jacob. He was pampered by his father to such a degree that it drew the ire of his brothers who plotted to kill him. But the whole purpose of the story was to show the preservation of Israel. In a prophecy given by Jacob over the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, Ephraim was given the preference over Manasseh even though he was the first-born (Genesis 48:19). So the divine blessing that rested on Joseph was prophetically passed on to Ephraim. Except for the prophets, the ten tribes that later broke away were all but forgotten. Israel (the ten tribes) actually ceased as a nation. Yet the blessing of Joseph continued on these people even after their dispersion among the nations. What happened to these "lost tribes of Israel" in light of the words of the prophets will be the object of this study.

Richard O. Govier (1928-2018) was a Protestant pastor and missionary and travelled the world in that capacity. He planted a number of churches as well as training pastors who served in Brazil, Chile, Argentina and across the United States.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Govier
• Release date: Jul 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463953983

Richard Govier

Richard O. Govier (1928-2018) was a Protestant pastor and missionary and travelled the world in that capacity. He planted a number of churches as well as training pastors who served in Brazil, Chile, Argentina and across the United States.After his marriage to his lifetime sweetheart, Christine Ann Golfis, at the Bethesda Missionary College in Portland, Oregon, he attended extension classes at Pierce College and the Portland State college. Touched by the Latter Rain revival that began in the Northwest, the call of God rested continually on their hearts and they were forever seeking means of preaching the Gospel to their generation. They bought a small trailer and began an evangelistic trek across the United States, preaching in small churches that were open to the work and moving of the Holy Spirit. They criss-crossed the United States from Los Angeles to New York and finally settled down in Los Angeles where they both got jobs and attended a church in Long Beach, California. While serving in that church their son, Jeffrey Lee, was born on November 4, 1963.God had spoken through prophetic words that they would be going to a land whose language they would not understand. Going through a dry period in their lives, Richard loaded up a small tent and made a trip to Mount Palomar, to wait on God. After a week of prayer and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke to his heart that it was time to fulfill the call to a foreign land. Richard, Christine, and Jeff, set out for Brazil. They had no financial support for this until the night they boarded the ship. God sent a local Christian businessman who committed himself to their support for two years, just enough time to attend language school.It was while attending the Brazilian language school that a missionary visited and introduced Richard to one of Brazil's most notable guitar players, who had recently converted to Christianity. Richard played with him on the banjo and the two began a ministry together that took them to Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Richard taught pastors in afternoon meetings, while accompanying his Brazilian friend in large city-wide evangelistic campaigns in the evenings.After serving for ten years in South America, Richard and Christine returned to the United States, primarily to get Jeff into an English-speaking school. Richard pastored churches in York, Pennsylvania, and later in Brooksville, New Jersey. The family eventually moved to Florida where Richard went to work for Piper Aircraft and Page Avjet.Richard loved studying the word of God and, in his retirement years, wrote over thirty books about the unfolding revelations of God in human history. His son, Jeff, published these books one year after his father passed away.

Book preview

Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions. - Ezekiel 37:16

THE ROD OF JOSEPH

The Lost Tribes of Israel

Richard O. Govier

Copyright © 2019 by Jeff Govier

Bible quotations unless otherwise identified are taken from

the King James Version with emendations by the author.

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible

Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

~~~~~~~~~~

After reading this book and finding it of value to you, please consider sending a small donation for the the costs of advertising my father's work. Send all donations either by Paypal account name [e-mail] or by mail to:

Jeff Govier, 5511 Lorraine St., Lakeland, FL 33810.

~~~~~~~~~~

Editorial note: My father gathered research material from several websites that have gone dark since the time he first consulted them. The original links are still listed in the chapter notes here. If the authors or webmasters wish to contact me, I will be happy to update those links for future editions of this book. JG [e-mail]

Contents

Introduction

The Coat of Many Colors

The Two House Theology

The Rod of Joseph

The Uniting of Judah With Israel

Decline of Parthia – The Great Migrations

The Modern Era

The Return A Second Time

About the Author

Introduction

One of the most interesting figures in Hebrew History, with the exception of Moses, is Joseph, the second youngest son of Jacob. Being the youngest son of Jacob at the time, he was pampered by his father to such a degree that it drew the ire of his brothers who plotted to kill him. But the whole purpose of the story was to show the preservation of Israel. It relates to the entire history of Israel from their bondage in the land of Egypt, to their sojourn in the wilderness, to their formation into a powerful kingdom under David and Solomon.

The breakup of the twelve tribes during the reign of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, was the beginning of the saga of Ephraim, the name adopted by the tribes of Northern Israel. It is here that the Rod of Joseph finds its origin, for the rod had to do with the uniting again of the twelve tribes of Israel at some future date.

In a prophecy given by Jacob over the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, Ephraim was given the preference over Manasseh even though he was the first-born (Genesis 48:19). So the divine blessing that rested on Joseph was prophetically passed on to Ephraim who became a leading tribe in Israel during the empire stage of Hebrew History. Ephraim inherited the rod of Joseph (Ezekiel 37:16) and became the most influential tribe in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, largely because of the prophetic blessing of Jacob and the ruling of Ephraimite kings. For this reason the Northern Kingdom was often called Ephraim in honor of its first king Jeroboam (an Ephramite) who rent the ten tribes away from the House of David. For the first time the House of Jacob was divided into two Kingdoms, Judah and Israel. this division remained until the carrying off of the ten tribes of Israel into exile by the king of Assyria. One hundred and sixty times in Old Testament literature these two kingdoms are mentioned together in a single verse, not counting the number of times Judah, the Southern Kingdom, is mentioned figuratively with its counter part Joseph, or Ephraim. These two kingdoms appear as separate kingdoms leading up to the Babylonian Captivity of Judah in 586 B.C. By this time the ten tribes of Israel had all but disappeared from history, seemingly absorbed by the tribal cultures beyond the Euphrates River.

Except for the prophets, these ten tribes were all but forgotten and were literally written off as no longer God's people (Hosea 1:11). Israel (the ten tribes) actually ceased as a nation but remained as a scattered people among the Sythian tribes of the North. Yet the blessing of Joseph continued on these people even after their dispersion among the nations. What happened to these lost tribes of Israel in light of the words of the prophets will be the object of this study. It has much to do with the Apostle Paul's statement, "And so all Israel shall be saved." (Romans 11:26)

CHAPTER 1

THE COAT OF MANY COLORS

A. The Coat Of Many Colors - A Prophetic Meaning

The coat of many colors that was given to Joseph by his father Jacob had a prophetic meaning showing the multi-national nature of Abraham's descendants. This multi-nationality was later demonstrated in Joseph's descendants, primarily through the ten tribes later called Ephraim. Joseph inherited the promise made to Abraham that his descendants would multiply as the stars of heaven.(Genesis 26:4) Jacob on his death-bed laid his hands on Ephraim, passing the blessing of Abraham on to his descendants. Thinking that Jacob had made a mistake (for Jacob could not see), Joseph tried to remove his father's hand and place it upon Manasseh his first-born. And his father refused, and said, 'I know my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he shall also become great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations (Genesis 48:19).

The fruitfulness of Jacob's posterity is seen in the statement found in the very first chapter of the Book of Exodus where it says: And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them (Exodus 1:7). This fruitfulness or multiplication of the human species was one of God's methods of spreading the faith of Abraham in the earth, as has been the case with some religions that care to expand their cause.

B. Joseph Served As A Prototype Of Jesus Christ

Joseph served as a prototype of Jesus Christ. He began his reign in Egypt at age 30 after being betrayed by his own brothers. His reign over a Gentile people in Egypt foreshadows the betrayal of Jesus by His own brethren the Jews and the consequent reign of Christ over His Church - mostly Gentiles. The declaration of the Apostle Paul and so all Israel shall be saved (Romans 11:26) may have found it's origin in the story of Joseph whose reconciliation with his brothers may serve as the pattern that Paul went by in his statement. If this proves to be the case in Israel's future, then there will be reconciliation with Jesus - the Savior of the Gentiles and the Messiah of the House of Israel. It is my personal belief that Israel's survival may well depend on such a reconciliation even as it happened in the first century when Israelites and Jews throughout the Parthian Empire accepted the Gospel as preached by the apostles of Christ.

The Rod of Joseph was passed on to Ephraim with a significance played out in the entire history of these people, from their separation from the House of David and their exile beyond the Euphrates to their intermarriage with other nations of the East. In this respect, they have fulfilled what has been implied in the coat if many colors. The ten lost tribes of Israel have come to represent a spectrum of many nationalities through intermarriage. The name Ephraim implies fruitfulness, and that he would become the ancestor of a multitude of tribal families (Genesis 48:8-20).

C. The Fulfillment To The Coat Of Many Colors

A writer at Jews and Joes.com says: Very few things are mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures without meaning or purpose. Even seemingly details often foretell profound prophetic realities. Joseph inherited Abraham's promise of multitudes, and Jacob passed that blessing unto his grandson Ephraim in Genesis 48:19. The Joes (from the house of Joseph) are a multitude of nations, colors, and peoples who descend from various admixtures of ancient Israelites who were largely scattered and/or deported by the Assyrian Empire (740-722 B.C.).

The marriage of Joseph to an Egyptian wife caused Joseph's children, Manasseh and Ephraim, to be of a mixed race. Jacob was certainly aware of this when he laid his hands on Joseph's children and blessed them. This shows me that race had nothing to do with the promise of God to Abraham - nor has it ever been. From the very beginning the Patriarchs had children by their concubines mixing their gene pool with non-Semitic peoples. If God were interested in a pure Semitic race, then why did he bless Ephraim with a blessing of fruitfulness?

The children of Israel multiplied while under the care of Joseph in Egypt and grew, along with their proselytes, into a culture of Jehovah. It was during their stay in Egypt that the priestly aspect of Israel's mission to the world began to emerge. The rigors of oppression that they endured in Egypt caused them to be united around the one true God, Jehovah. While Joseph was alive, the Egyptians were content to submit to his extraordinary wisdom and power. This gift of prophetic insight was with Joseph even while he was a child. His vision of his parents and brethren all bowing down to him was the cause of his being rejected by his brothers.

This vision given to Joseph had a far greater meaning than just the preservation of the tribes of Israel in Egypt. He who wears the coat of many colors will someday reign in full splendor over all the nations of the earth and every knee shall bow before Him. This will include the house of Israel - for all, alike, will bow before Him.

Joseph's brothers betrayed their own and sold Joseph into the hands of the Egyptians. This is only a figure of what has happened in the history of Jacob and his children. Jesus, in the cloak of Joseph, offered Himself to His own kindred first, but they rejected Him. He came unto his own, and his own received him not (John 1:11). Jesus therefore became ruler over a people that were not of His own household (in the flesh) and is now reigning over the Universal Church from His throne in heaven. Many of those who are of the culture of Abraham still reject Him as their King while still abiding in the land of their fathers. Clinging to the traditions of their fathers they find no rest for their souls nor does their tradition satisfy.

One of the strangest occurrences in the history of the Abrahamic clan was when they were