"They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn." ~ Jeremiah 31:9

When one comes to the understanding that Jesus Christ is Ephraim in that he is the promised seed of Ephraim, that promised seed of the Firstborn, of the covenant, of the birthright; then and only then do the scriptures begin to take on vastly enhanced enlightened perspectives of understanding. When Jeremiah sets forth in Jeremiah 31 that 'He that scattered Israel will gather him', it is with the such further light of understanding that we see that it was by the hand of Jehovah who is Jesus Christ, the 'Fruitful' and 'Beloved' Son in whom salvation rests and in whom all will be redeemed, that by his hand Israel was scattered and by the power of his hand, that is by the power of that order of his priesthood, will Israel be gathered. And it will be gathered by him, He who is the Firstborn, even the Firstborn of the covenant, and one of his names is Ephraim. And though we of the descent of Ephraim do act in his name in the latter days in the gathering of Israel, it is by the hand and arm of his power that they are gathered. It is by, in and through Christ, the true Shepherd of Israel that they are gathered. We are but his agents as members of his restored gospel fulness of the latter days. In this understanding comes the reality of the humility in which we are and ought to stand before our God. We do noting of ourselves. Only in and through him and by his power is it accomplished. Indeed, He who scattered Israel is He who in all truth doth gather Israel.

Often there comes a discussion made to answer the question, 'Who is the Lord's Firstborn, Israel or Ephraim? They who make this an issue between two separate entities do not read and understand the scriptures. The name Isreal is reserved for 'He who prevails with God.' In the case of Jacob, Jacob's name was changed to 'Israel' after that time when 'Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord and prevailed' in that wrestle in obtaining the Lord's covenant blessing. Thus some define 'Israel' in a 'quick and dirty' manner as to mean 'one who wrestles with God'. That IS NOT exactly the meaning of the word.

When one explores the 'root words' meaning of the name of Israel and/or Israelite, they will come to a different interpretation. If one first begins with 'Israelite' in a personal sense, they will find it to mean in the Hebrew Lexicon under the Strong's number 03481 with the word meaning of 'God prevails' or in reverse order 'Prevails with God'. And that an Israelite is a descendant or inhabitant of the nation of Israel. But who is and was an 'inhabitat of the nation of Israel. At the very time of King David the Hebrew people had divided themselves into two nations, the nation of Judah and the nation of Israel. Those associated with the nation of Judah were those Hebrews who more closely associated themselves with such leadership of the heads of the tribe of Judah as the 'prevailing' son of Leah with Reuben and Simeon having lost their leadership due to their wickedness and dieproval of their father Jacob.

Now the 'root' of Israelite is of course Israel or Yisra'el, lexicon strong number 03478. And again the name meaning of that word agains is given to be 'God prevails'. And the word origin of that word comes in two 'root' words, strong number 08280 and 0410. That makes Israel a compound word and it does seem to give a somewhat different perspective upon the word. Since Hebrew is read right to left the first part of the word is 'el or the word meaning god, god-like one, or mighty one. That was # 0410 and it has a single root of 0352, that means 'ram' and then further correlation seems to end as a 'ram' is but a symbol with which God is associated.

The second 'root' word of Israel is # 08280, which is 'Sarah' (Yisra) which has a concept meaning string of 'contend, have power, contend with, persist, exert oneself, and persevere. All those words relate to 'prevail' and do give a slightly different perspective to the idea of what kind of a 'wrestle' Jacob's 'struggle' with the Lord was. It would seem that Jacob's wrestle or struggle was not an actual physical one but rather a inner spiritual type of mental strugle of persuation like 'persevere or persisting in a powerful persistant prayer effort, which actually makes more sense as the visual concept of an actualy physical wrestling match being carried on with God and man seem quite fanciful anyway.

So Jacob struggled with the Lord in some type of mental and soul searching manner, even perhaps in a struggle of gaining a reconciliation with the Lord and likely a repentance twist of prevailing in bring one's own life into alignment with just what it was that Jacob was to do to obtain the Lord's blessings. The one scriptural story that come to mind that just might be a great parrallel with Jacob's struggle is that which Enos, the son of Jacob in the Book of Mormon went through when he prayed and struggled with the Lord in prayer all night long before 'prevailing' or being 'reconciled' with God over the state of his life and bring it into line with the mind and will of the Lord. Thus this is the 'new' meaning that I will here put upon the concept of being of Israel. 'It is the process of becoming reconciled to God in mind and spirit and successfully prevailing with God in that process and becoming as it were one with God in one's religious life with God in obtaining God's covenant blessings preservered for those who are God's people. And that would bring the meaning of those who are of Israel into line with being God's people not only in name only but in life style and living by God's word as well. This certainly give a more understandable perspective as to what was really happening in Jacob's all night struggle with the Lord in the process of obtaining his 'covenant blessings' and new from from the Lord of being now of 'Israel'. And then one can put that deeper meaning and reality to just who are those of Israel in the sight of the Lord. It is kind of a parallel with being a 'saint' in God's 'church' today as to be called one of being Israel in and with the Lord God, being one of his people. And it preservers the word to an elevated level of righteousness of being one of God's chosen people when the name is so directly applied to a person such as in the case of Jacob being named Israel and then later when Jacob put that name on Ephraim and Manasseh with Ephraim gaining the greater blessing of the covenant from that blessing via Jacob of the Lord.

Now as to Judah and such as the name 'assignment' of being a 'prevailing soul in God' we ought to consider Judah's life and life style. The Bible scriptural record will disclose that Judah was counted as one of those brothers who were a part with the sons of Jacob who first sought to bring about Jacob's son Joseph's death. And it was not until Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob protested and would not agree to the killing of the boy, that Judah came up with an alternative solution of how to rid the family of Joseph by selling him into slavery to a journeying caravan of Ishmaelites who were on their way with such slaves down to sell them in Egypt. And thus before Reuben could return back later after his turn with the flocks to effect his plan to release Joseph from the cistern into which the conspiring brothers had cast Joseph into, Joseph had been sold by the Judah inspired brother into slavery and was gone. It had been Reuben's plan and intent to return the lad back to his father Jacob. But it was Judah's leadership that had effected the plan of elimination of Joseph into slavery in Egypt. And with it having been completed before Reuben could effect his plan, Joseph was gone. Even at that time Judah's intent in ridding the family of Joseph was clear. Judah was the next potentially 'righteous' son in line of Jacob's 'birthright' and family leadership, since Reuben had defiled his father's bed with one of Jacob's concubines, and Simeon and Levi had desgraced the family name and Jacob in the murders of the men of that nation of he who had assulted the daughter of Jacob and sister to the brothers. Thus those first three sons of Jacob were deamed unworthy, leaving Judah next in line age wise and being the fourth son of Leah, Jacob's first wife through the trickery of Laban.

But Jacob had been found to have favored Joseph of all the sons of Israel and the envy and the word was that Jacob had selected Joseph to be his 'birthright' son, having given Joseph the rainbow coat, the rainbow symbol of the covenant from the time of Noah. And the rest of Jacob's sons, with the exception of Benjamin, had been stirred up to a feverish pitch that they were determined that, 'They would not have their younger brother to rule over them as the family head and 'covenant firstborn son' selection of Jacob or Israel. And it would seem that after the reported death of Joseph, the family had settled down into the understanding that Judah was to be looked to as the heir of Jacob and he who was to receive the 'covenant birthright blessing.'

It would be later when Jacob came to find out that Joseph was still alive and livig in Egypt, that Jacob would determine, under the direction and guidance of the Lord' to made it fully official and undisputable just who would be and become Jacob's heir in the position of being the son of the 'firstborn covenant of the family patriarchal order, the covenant of the firstborn and the empowered priesthood head of the family when he designated the son of the covenant to be the two sons of Joseph with Ephraim being responsibly head of the family of Israel.