"And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken." ~ Luke 18:34

The Jews, even Jesus' very disciples looked to the coming of a Messiah according to their own making and understanding of it. They looked not to a Messiah who would simply come to die for the sins of the world. They looked for a 'Deliverer' not a 'Martyr'. Thus when Jesus clearly and plainly stated what should be done unto him in Luke 18 32-33, that he would be taken by the Jews, dilivered untot he Gentiles, be mocked, spitefully entreated, spit upon, scourged and put to death in order that he ight rise again, over coming death on the third day, they understood not his saying. This simple understanding of the sacrifice of the Messiah was not preserved by the many token of sacrifice of the Law of Moses. It had been hidden from them according to their own uninspired contrivances concerning the Messiah, or as some of them had imaged, the two coming Messiahs. They did not 'know' because they had been variously taught and taught improperly concerning the true purpose and performance of the coming Messiah.

Part of this misunderstanding had begun in that there were some who had began to adhere to the concept that the coming Messiah was not one Messiah but two. They failed to understand that the Messiah would come twice. They understood not that the same Messiah would come and die, be resurrected and then come again. Though the scriptures taught this, it was 'hid' from them in their lack of inspired understanding of it. Thus in the conversations of the religious learned they were preceivably debating such topics as is set forth herein.

There would be some who would understand that there was to be but one Messiah, that he was to be descended of the house of David, and that the house of David had two lines of linage. one from Rachel and one from Leah. As said in Ruth, that Ruth had come into the house of Naomi and was to be both like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the two houses of Israel (Ruth 4:11). And that in giving birth to one son, Obed, of both houses, that one son Obed, would do worthily in Ephratah or Ephraim, and be famous in Bethlehem which were actually both associated with Rachel and Rachel's prophesied Messiah of her son Joseph, who of that city was to come (Ruth 4:11), even Bethlehem Ephratah (Micah 5:2). And also, like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah. And of 'that seed' which the LORD would give Naomi, the house of Elimelech of that one woman (Ruth 4:12). Thus Ruth, represented both of these houses and receipant of the two blessings from Rachel and Leah, which would be ascribed unto her firstborn son, Obed, he being thus descended of them both through Boaz as the performing parent, even as Judah was by way of Tamar unto his son Pharez who would have been rightfully of his kinsman's seed rightfully; and unto Mahlon by the Law of Moses, the Law of God to be considered in Israel as 'the seed of the dead', and thus of the house of Naomi, Elimelech and thus an Ephraimite of the covenant on back through to Joshua, Nun, Ephraim and Joseph of Egypt.

Now because of the Jewish 'traditions' from the very Jewiah perspective, which they had developed and belived in, the truth of these things had become hid to them. They had come to invent of themselves such considerations that the Messiah, the suffering Messiah, who would come and die, could not be the Son of God, for such a Son of God being of deity could not die. They had began to dispute among themselfs as to whether there would be one Messiah of the two houses or two Messiahs, one of Joseph and one of David, and thus Judah. Many of them had long ago dismissed any claim that Israel had in David, that is that Israel, that is Ephraim had the greater claim in David, that being the claim to David as the promised seed of Ephraim and thus Joseph according to the Law of God, the Law of Moses, which Boaz had performed in raising up seed to the dead, that is Obed was the rightful and legal son and seed of Mahlon and of the house of Elimelech which was the house of Ephraim and Joseph, NOT of Boaz and of the house of Judah. And this even though David chose Judah over Israel or Ephraim. King David could not change the order of the Law of God just by his so doing later though the Jews would claim it because he did. In fact in the preserved genealogy of Jesus in the heavens, David will be dropped out as he will not achieve the Celestial glory.

Now this was the reason that they knew them not. They had never been taught them correctly, that the Messiah would come and be killed by the cause of the Jews and raised again the third from the dead. The Jews had rejected this teaching of the prophets. And they would not preserve it in any longer in their law. And thus while Philip referenced that fact that Moses and the Prophets had written that the Messiah would be the son of Joseph of Egypt, it had not been well preserved and had become distorted in the law of the traditional Jews.

Except for being in one place only, which the Jews would distort to mean something else, it had been lost. When one considers that it was Moses who first wrote the first five books of the Bible Old Testament, then one must be careful in its reading whether a cerain passage is being quote from another by Moses, is being qouted by Moses with inserted commentary of Moses, or whether any such additional editing or commentary is of another later compiler and 'editor' of the word.

Such is the case of the blessing of Jacob upon his son Joseph. One states that nowhere in the Bible is it shown that the Messiah was to be of the house of Rachel, Joseph and Ephraim. Of course there is the preservation in the 'traditions' of the Jews, that Joseph had a third more revealing dream of that Messiah of Joseph and that Rachel did so prophesy of him to come of Joseph. But they say it is NOT scriptural. But that depends on how one reads the scriptures. If Philip stated that Moses, as well as 'the prophets' had written that the Messiah was to come of Joseph, to be Joseph's son, then ought not one look for that in the scriptures?

"(from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)" ~ Genesis 49:24

Now Moses does qoute or present from the mouth of Jacob the blessing upon his son Joseph in Genesis 49:22-26. In the midst of 'Joseph's Blessing', in my reading of it, Moses inserts the above statement. Is this not perhaps one place in the scriptures of which Philip did refer, were Moses had written that the Messiah would be the Son of Joseph? Not the Jews and others will tell you that this 'insert' had reference to Jacob and not Joseph. So why was it inserted into the midst of Joseph's patriarchal blessing? I would suggest that Moses himself put it there to so set forth that the 'One Shepherd', the 'One Stone or Rock of Israel' was to be 'from' Joseph, just as Joseph's dream including the missing one and Rachel's prophecy had so also presented.

But because the Jews removed the other references to the Messiah being of Joseph except this one after the days of Jesus as so referenced by Philip, it did not remain and at that time is was a much debated topic among the Jews. In this the Jews do give themselves away, in that they do maintain the concept of Messiah ben Joseph and attribute much of the Messiah scriptures to him, though they have blotted from there Torah and Scriptures anyother such references, at least as are before public eyes of this day and age.

So thus was Jesus so distorted and hidden in the Jewish Law. The disciples did not understand Jesus when he told them plainly of his pending death and mission. They preferrably looked to their traditions over the 'living Word' before them to a 'Deliver' physically from bondage of Rome rather than that of sin. They did looked to one who would preserve them as Joseph of Egypt had done who would be his progenitor. They looked for one who would deliver them as Moses in whose likeness he was to be. They looked for a warrior to lead them as Joshua of old whose name was the same as his, and who did triump in battle over Israel's foes and and who would deliver them from the Roman rule, freeing them and establishing them as a Jewish people under their own King David to come. They looked to him to be as one of the prophets of old upon whom was laid much power to deliver Israel.

And a number of those Jews who had preseved the concept of the Messiah of Joseph had divided in their consideration at least the two events, and even while some still had an understanding that he was one in the same as Messiah ben David, due to his dual ancestry; others had began to imagine unto themselves a division of the Messiah into two separate persons, one for each advent.

They imagined one for Joseph, who many such Jews made the Suffering Messiah and distorted his death as being in actual military battle in saving temporal Jerusalem rather than that greater battle being fought for the souls of men against sin. That was that same great battle which has persisted since the days of the its beginning in that war was first fought in heaven between Lucifer as Satan and Jehovah as Jehoshua amid the spirit sons and daughters of God there (Zechariah 3). And of course the death of the Suffering Messiah was to the end of victory of saving Jerusalem and all people unto heaven by way of the atonement, and not a mere temporal victory as they imagined. It was an eternal and infinite victory unto life everlasting, immortality unto all men.

And they imagined one for David, who they made to be solely of Judah, who was to be that great and glorious Messiah of the final end of days. Yet even then many of them would not consider of any Messiah to be a Son of God, born into this earthly habitation. And they called it blasphemy for any to so claim to be a Son of God even while their scriptures did teach that all were sons of God and were his children. Still others did maintain that he would be of a divine source.

And thus they did bicker amongst themselves and still do. And thus the Jews and even the Apostles understood not the words of the living Christ, neither did they 'know' of it. They understood not Jesus' clear statements made concerning his death and resurrection, supposing him to be another kind of a Messiah unto them that their traditions had created, which they supposed to be according to their Law.

And herein is the more evidence, that some of the Jews did have some understanding of Messiah ben Joseph and Messiah ben David, though incorrect and distorted as it was. And those who had the clearer perspective of there being but one Messiah were those more likely to become converted Christians and to be swallowed up in Christianity and the martyrs thereof. While the more hardened Jews would be those who would suffer their next destruction at the hands of Roman and be scattered. And even yet they would preserve unto themselves their distortions of a Messiah ben Joseph, though they had by then more fully separated him from being also Messiah ben David, and One and the same Messiah, the Shepherd and King of Israel who he was and who the Son of Man was more particularly so set forth by Ezekiel to be but one of and both of Judah and Joseph in Ezekiel chapter 37 (this is more fully discussed in another topic).

What the Jews had preserved unto themselves concerning the Son of Joseph, was that he would 'first come' as the suffering Messiah. and he did. Also that he would be descended through Ephraim the Firstborn of Israel, the son of Joseph of Egypt. While they have removed from the 'cannon' such mentionings as alluded to by Philip (John 1:45), their traditions have preserved much concerning this Messiah ben Joseph. Yet they have distorted him in scope, time and mission. Making him to come at the end of days rather than in that day of the Lord Jesus and to limit the mission of his death of being in actual temporal warfare for Judah rather than that eternal and infinite sacrifice, which all the oridnances of sacrifice of the Temple had ever foreshadowed, even from the beginning with Adam, Noah and Abraham, as well as of that night wherein the life of the firstborn of Israel were preserved while the first born of Pharaoh and Egypt were taken in death. And thus that they had lost the true perspective while still retaining some semblances of it according to their traditions and own interpretations becomes quite obvious.

Thus the Jews understood very little of the things which were taught them directly by Jesus as their preceptions had been warped. They did not see in Jesus the fulfilling of the Law and Performances of Sacrifice. They had not been properly taught concerning the true nature of the Messiah and this at the hand of their 'teachers', for their teachers had all become corrupt but for such as John the Baptist who taught by the spirit. Therefore the Messiah of which they taught and believed was often that of a misconceived Messiah. They had mistaken him for that other type of Messiah, which either was according to those types who had come before or according to their concept of that later Messiah ben Joseph and/or even Messiah ben David who was yet to be. They Missed the Mark of correct understanding though Jesus stood in their midst to teach them.

Even to the last, the twelve did not fully comprehend, except perhaps for a few. They had done as most of us seem to do, rather than listening to the 'Living Prophet' before their very eyes, they adhered to the words of false traditions and what was the supposed and taught meanings of the dead prophets of the Law, so interpreted and explained by their own false ministers and blind guides of the faith. They mistakenly had always measured their Lord and Savior by that which was so presented to them by the corruptors of their religion, supposing it to be even as the true Law unto them. They understood not Jesus when he taught them that 'He was the Law' unto them. And thus they were caught unpreparred and were surprised as to the nature and circumstance of Jesus' death. It was not according to the vain personal preferences of men, as they had imaged it and for which they had traditionally been prepared to accept and understand. Not until after it had occurred and the Messiah was resurrected had came unto to them after his death did they finally fully begin to understand his true nature and that He was the Law, even our God, the Son of God and that he would come again to the fulfilling of the remainder of the prophecies of the Messiah and that the scriptures so taught of his two comings, which they had not previously understood.