What was the last question Yeshua’s followers asked Him before He returned to the Father? According to Acts 1:6, they asked, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Why would they ask that? Because restoration of the kingdom of Israel is the single greatest promise and prophecy in the entire Bible! From Moses John the Apostle, every prophet and nearly every book contain references to God’s promise to regather and restore all of Israel, the House of Ephraim and the House of Judah, to the Land promised to our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That is the national mission Messiah Yeshua Himself proclaimed:
But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24 NASB)
When the apostles asked Yeshua about restoring the kingdom, He did not rebuke them or deny that the restoration would happen. Rather, He said that they were not the ones who would know when it would happen. Instead, they were to receive the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the message of Messiah and His kingdom to the entire world (Acts 1:7-8).
Over the last 2,000 years, that message has become muddled. Followers of Yeshua have rightly proclaimed the salvation available through His work of redemption, but have missed the next crucial point: that identification with Messiah Yeshua means citizenship in His dominion, which is called Israel.
So what does it mean to become part of Israel? And when and how will the Son of David restore this united kingdom which has not existed for nearly three millennia? That is the topic of Give Me A Place Where I May Dwell: An Ephraimite Affirmation. This is the first book published by Al McCarn, your host at The Barking Fox. Here is what Amazon.com has to say about it:
Why should contemporary Christians take an interest in the State of Israel? For Hebrew Roots believers, or Torah-observant Christians, the fascination goes beyond the ongoing Middle East conflict or speculation about the second coming of Messiah. Hebrew Roots believers embrace the Commandments of Moses, as exemplified by Messiah Yeshua’s (Jesus Christ’s) adherence to Torah. For these dedicated believers, Israel represents God’s ultimate promise: the reunification of the ancient kingdom and a true homeland for all believers.
Give Me a Place Where I May Dwell is a meticulously researched account of the global Hebrew Roots movement among Christians. Author Albert J. McCarn examines the beliefs and goals of non-Jewish Israelites in a biblical, historical, and contemporary context.
He refers to believers as Ephraimites, or the remnants of the exiled northern kingdom of Israel. Since Ephraimites are spread throughout the world, McCarn presents a compelling case for building a collective identity among all Torah-observant followers of Yeshua—with the goal of an eventual homeland in the Holy Land.
Through McCarn’s hopeful message, Give Me a Place Where I May Dwell makes a compelling and scholarly theological case for uniting all followers of the great awakening that is the Hebrew Roots movement.
Give Me A Place Where I May Dwell is now available in paperback at CreateSpace.com, an Amazon company, and will soon be available on Kindle. To order copies, please click here.