Benjamin Netanyahu

Personally Ezekiel 37 speaks about the resurrection of the dead. Paul connects the resurrection of the dead with the Jewish acceptance of Jesus (Rom 11:15). "One people" means God makes Jews (tribe of Judah) and Gentiles (tribe of Ephraim) new creation in Christ. Apostle Paul wrote of this: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." The key verse to it is Ezekiel 37:23 where the Lord says: "Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God." Compare it to 2 Corinthians 6:16.

The Saul/Tribe of Benjamin parallel is still pretty interesting to me, even if Netanyahu is from the Tribe of Judah since his name is Benjamin. That said, he could very well be from the Tribe of Benjamin, too, given that Benjamin was part of the Southern Kingdom. The Apostle Paul was from the Tribe of Benjamin, btw.

Saul was rejected by the Law but Paul was accepted by Grace. He is the 12th apostle of the Lamb and the Lord's replacement of Judas. Benjamin was also the 12th son of Jacob.

As for Netanyahu I expect someone from Jews to be AC. Many look for the Antichrist among Turks, French, Russians or Catholics, but Jesus calls a specific group of people “the synagogue of Satan”. When Apostle John speaks about coming of the Antichrist and many other antichrists he says: “They went out from us, but they were not of us…” (1 John 2:19) Here John clearly points out from whom the Antichrist is coming…

Yes, Matthias was the replacement for Judas, however there were several more apostles added, including Luke and Barnabas, and lastly, Paul.

So many things have been said in this thread.

In my understanding, Ezekiel 37 (the part about the 2 sticks) very clearly speaks primarily about the FUTURE reconciling of the tribe of Judah and its hangers-on (Benjamin, part of Levi, and evidently a few straggly remnants from other tribes, including Asher at the time of Christ), and the tribe of Ephraim (chief among the 10 northern tribes) and all the other northern tribes, which have been lost to history, but are still out there in the world somewhere (quite possibly spread out all over the entire world). This comes in context right after the earlier portion of Ez. 37 where we have the valley of dry bones, which is a multiple fulfillment prophecy primarily showing the return of Israel (all of the 13 tribes) into the land of Israel, followed by their quickening by the Spirit, which will be accomplished during and/or at the end of the Tribulation period. The 2-sticks portion I take to be taking place in the same context as the dry bones, either concurrently, immediately before, or immediately after.

Now, just because I believe these to be the primary meanings of these passages, does not necessitate that there are no additional, secondary meanings or applications to the passages, either symbolically, spiritually, etc.-- I am sure there are several additional meanings to deduce from them as well. But Ephraim /= Gentiles. Ephraim = the northern 10 tribes, or simply the 1 tribe of Ephraim itself. Symbolically, it could mean other things, but we need to be careful assigning a symbolic value to it without giving some really good reasons.

Your main point about Benjamin Netanyahu is a very good point, and I think you hit on something. I think I, or another member, may have picked up on this already in the earlier thread "Typologoy as prophecy, David and Goliath, I Samuel 17". I believe we tentatively already connected BBN to King Saul symbolically.

The tribe of Benjamin is a very special tribe, with a physical/symbolic narrative that weaves its way throughout Scripture in its own special way. Benjamin was the 12 son of Jacob, and as such he occupied the "hot-seat" position of 12th man, which I need to write a thread about. The 12th of any list always has some special characteristics, one being that it is in danger of not being included in the list--if it is an actual man, he is actually in danger of dying, as Benjamin's life was seen to be in jeopardy in Genesis. As a tribe, Benjamin was nearly eradicated in Judges. The 12th man, Judas, was the one who fell and betrayed the Lord, and killed himself. The 12th one is associated with a curse, as the tribe of Benjamin was cursed in Judges. Benjamin was cursed by his mother, Rachel when he was born (she named him Benomi), but Jacob came to his rescue and named him Benjamin instead. The 12th is usually included last of all, as if late, far later than the others-- Benjamin was born much later than his brethren. The 12th is associated with loss, or near loss. Esther is the 12th book of the history books of the OT, and the entire book is about near loss. In fact, there was a fight whether to include Esther in the cannon of the Scripture, and it was nearly not included, nearly discarded. Note that Esther and Mordecai were from the tribe of-------- Benjamin. Malachai was the 12th of the minor prophets, and written much later than the other minors. The last word in Malachai is "curse." Judas, the 12th, was cursed. There's a lot more I could write about this.

Hi whatif! The eleven chose Matthias the old covenant fleshly way by casting lots. The Lord had different plan on the other hand.  
Yes there are many other apostles but the 12 apostles of the Lamb have a special standing in the city of New Jerusalem. Their names are written on the 12 foundations of the city. Apostle Paul said: "According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation..." Paul (Saul) is from the tribe of Benjamin according to the flesh but he said himself that it doesn't really matter (Phil 3:8). I believe that he represents the tribe of Ephraim in the New Jerusalem. Paul was an apostle to Gentiles and as I mentioned earlier Ephraim is the fullness of Gentiles according to the Jacob's prophecy.

Here from my WordStudy dictionary:

H4390 mālē’: A verb meaning to fill, to be full, to be complete, to fulfill, to finish, to satisfy. This word occurs 251 times in the Old Testament and functions both in a spatial and temporal sense. Spatially, the term pictures the act of making that which was empty of a particular content no longer so. It can also express that state of being in which a certain container is holding to capacity a particular object or objects. God commanded the water creatures to fill the seas (Gen 1:22); and humanity to fill the earth (Gen 1:28). Theologically, the glory of the Lord filled the Temple (1Ki 8:10-11; cf. Isa 6:1); and Jeremiah declared that God fills heaven and earth (Jer 23:24). Temporally, the term refers to the completion of a specified segment of time. According to the Law, a woman who had given birth to a boy could not enter the sanctuary until the thirty-three days of her blood purification were completed (Lev 12:4). The Lord promised to establish King David's kingdom after his days were fulfilled (i.e., he died: 2Sa 7:12; cf. Lam 4:18).

According to this definition Young's translation is the closest to the original.