Patterns in Tanach
Question
I came out of Christianity several years ago and have been listening to online Jewish teachings to find truth. Because of what I have learned from rabbis, I am seeing a lot of patterns in the Tanach that I can’t unsee and I cannot quit thinking about it. I am looking for someone to consider these patterns and help me know if there is validity to it or if I’m just jumping to wild conclusions. There is so much! But I will just present the main idea of it and await your response before sending other verses that I think support my conclusion. Here goes:
Elements of Genesis 38 mirror Jeremiah 3. Basically Tamar, who represents the Northern Kingdom (in the reflection), plays the prostitute and when Judah (Southern Kingdom) sees it, then he does worse. But when confronted with it, he recognizes his sin and repents. The same thing seems to happen with David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 & 12.
There are two children born from both Judah/Tamar and David/Bathsheba (One from adultery and one for Yibbum?)
Tamar: 1) Zerah, whose line leads to the “Troubler of Israel” 1 Chron 2:7, and 2)Perez, whose line leads to the Messiah.
Bathsheba: 1) Dead baby 2) Live baby – Solomon, whose line leads to Messiah.
Since both the Northern and Southern kingdoms were likened to prostitutes (Jer 3, Eze 23), then it seems valid that the two prostitutes standing before King Solomon were a representation of the Northern & Southern Kingdom. They both have a baby. So two babies, one dead and one alive. The live baby, the true messiah, comes from the Southern Kingdom, Judah, the rightful mother. And the Northern Kingdom has been trying to push off a dead baby into the arms of Judah and claiming it is theirs. This is what Christianity has done, and Judah has examined this ‘dead messiah’ through the light of the Torah and know that it is not their baby.
I believe the Northern Kingdom is actually lost in Christianity.
Thank you for your time, I anxiously await your feedback.
Answers
How absolutely fascinating. I am not familiar with any classic commentaries that make the parallels that you have made, but I will try to look further afield to see if any of the Jewish commentators have written about your theory. If I find anything, I will, bli neder, let you know.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team
Thank you so much for your kind words. Since you did not rebuff my perspective, I would like to submit a few more thoughts about the location of the Northern Kingdom:
A. The divided fourth kingdom in Daniel 4 is portrayed as the legs/feet of a great image representing the East (Ishmael/Islam) and the West (Esav/Christianity)
The mirror image is of a divided tribe: Ephraim & Manasseh, half-tribes that were between Joseph’s knees in Genesis 48:12 (hiding behind the allegorical legs of the fourth kingdom?)
1) Manasseh’s relationship with Ishmael/Islam
a. Israel played the prostitute with the ephod that Gideon made out of crescents and earrings from the Ishmaelites. (Judges 8:27) It became a snare to Gideon’s
house
b. The plea from Abraham for HaShem to bless Ishmael seems to mirror the plea from Joseph for Jacob to bless Manasseh (Gen 17, 48 “I have heard you”, and “He
also will be great”)
c. Hunters would gather them (Islam?) Jeremiah 16:16
d. Just like Gideon tore down the idolatrous altar in the cover of night (with ten men – alluding to those from the
northern kingdom), so too it seems this is happening in Islamic countries right now – an awakening. but evidence only happening in the dark
of night
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M72tVcO92Ss
2. https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/01/18/we-stand-with-israel-banner-hung-in-iran/
2) Evidence linking Ephraim to Christianity
a. Israel was snared by the bronze serpent on the pole 2 Kings 18:4 (the cross)
b. The blessing from Jacob implies that Ephraim/Manasseh would be a teeming multitude of fish/multitude of nations (Gen 48:16,19)
c. Fishers would gather them (Fish is the symbol for Christianity) Jeremiah 16:16
d. The gamatria for serpent and for messiah is the same value. A choice? My thought is that since HaShem gives you what you fear the most (Isaiah 66:4), it looks like
the antichrist that Christianity fears is the very thing they have – a dead messiah baby born from mixing with the nations, opposed to the Torah, and that they have
chosen and try to get others to take. (This also sounds like the prostitute that gives hire Eze 16:34)
e. There is an awakening in Christianity right now. Many people are struggling to come out of the lies of the church.
I see this awakening as ‘beating swords into plowshares’. The Christian Bible (maybe the Quran also?) is referred to as a sword, beating out the lies encapsulated in the New Testament renders it a useless sword as it can no longer be used to hate on our brothers. Rather, it becomes a tool to help others see the reason we need to join to our brother Judah, as the Jews have truth.
Conversely, Joel 3:10-12 beating plowshares into swords – seems to be happening right now as well, as many people are using their scriptures to stir up hatred and anti-semitism. At any rate, these seem to be concurrent as both perspectives are in a time of judgment. Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3 Joel 3:12
According to the sages, Hezekiah could have been the messiah. “…they came to him out of Israel in abundance when they saw that God was with him” 2 Chron 15:9 This verse sounds a lot like Zechariah 8:23 “In those days, ten men will take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, they will take hold of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, “we will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
Ezekiel laid on his side representing the punishment of Judah and Israel. The Northern Kingdom’s time was 390 days for years (Eze 4:5). Since the Northern Kingdom did not repent, it was multiplied times seven (Lev 26:18) 390 x 7 =2,730. Assyrian exile was in stages but was roughly around 722BCE, 2,730-722=2008. For me, this was the exact year I started seeing things from a different perspective.
I feel so strongly and passionately that these things all point to Christianity/Islam being the lost Northern Kingdom, but desperately desire a rabbinic perspective, Do I have an overactive imagination?? I only want truth! I marked this answer as private because it seems like it could be a volatile narrative for someone who doesn’t really understand what I’m saying.
Again, thank you for your time and consideration!
Just realized my error in accounting for time in Eze 4.