The Two Sons Parable

THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel ✦✦✦ A New Teaching Series THE PARABLES AND THE LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL Proving the Singular Mission of YAHSHUA Through Every Parable He Taught ✦✦✦ PART THIRTEEN THE TWO SONS Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 1 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The Son Who Refused and Repented — and the Son Who Professed and Failed Matthew 21:28–32 A Midweek Bible Study Rev. John Shane Vaughn First Harvest Ministries International Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 2 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel INTRODUCTION TO TONIGHT'S STUDY Beloved — tonight we take up one of the shortest parables YAHSHUA ever spoke — only five verses long — but one of the most cutting. He delivered it during Passion Week, standing in the Temple courts, face to face with the chief priests and elders of Judah. And in five short verses, He identified the entire Two-House pattern of prophetic history — the story of two sons, two responses, two destinies. •One son says "I will not" — but afterward repents and goes to work in the vineyard. •The other son says "I go, sir" — but never goes. The father in the parable asks a question: which son did the will of his father? And the priests of Judah answered — correctly — that the first son did. And in giving that answer, YAHSHUA said they had pronounced their own sentence. They named themselves the son who professed but did not do. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 3 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel This is the Two-House transfer stated in the shortest form YAHSHUA ever used — Israel refused and repented; Judah professed and failed; and the Kingdom passed from the second son to the first. Let us open our Bibles. And let us see — once again — that every parable YAHSHUA spoke was about the recovery of His scattered people. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 4 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel THE TEXT BEFORE US Matthew 21:28–29 "But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went." Matthew 21:30–31 "And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first." Matthew 21:31–32 "Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: but ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 5 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel This is the Passion-Week indictment of Judah — spoken in the Temple courts, in front of the priests, five days before the crucifixion. The Kingdom would be taken from them because they professed obedience without producing it. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 6 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel I. TWO SONS — THE TWO HOUSES The Father Had Two Sons. YAHWEH the Father had two sons — the two houses of Israel. From the days of King Rehoboam in 975 BC, the covenant nation was divided into two portions: •The younger son — the House of Israel, the ten northern tribes led by Ephraim •The elder son — the House of Judah, the two southern tribes (Judah and Benjamin) plus the Levites Both sons were commanded by the Father to "go work to day in my vineyard." The vineyard is the Kingdom of YAHWEH planted in the earth — the same vineyard we identified in the Workers, the Husbandmen, and every Two-House parable. Both sons received the same command. Both sons were called to work the same vineyard. The difference between them is not what they were asked — but what they did with the asking. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 7 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 8 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel II. THE FIRST SON — ISRAEL REFUSED *"I Will Not."* The first son heard the command and answered plainly — "I will not." This is the House of Israel. For over a thousand years, the ten northern tribes ignored the will of YAHWEH and set aside their appointment as His chosen sons. They: •Walked out of Jerusalem, the covenant headquarters •Set up a rival kingdom in Samaria under Jeroboam •Erected golden calves at Dan and Bethel •Forsook the Sabbath, the feasts, the Torah of Moses •Went into full idolatry — Baal, Ashtoreth, Molech •Refused the prophets YAHWEH sent to call them back They said, in every generation, *"I will not."* They set aside the privileges and blessings they might have enjoyed. They went out of the Kingdom into a far Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 9 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel country. And the work of the Kingdom-vineyard was neglected, waiting for their return. The first son of the parable is the House of Israel — the younger son who openly refused the Father's command and departed from the covenant to walk in the ways of the Gentile nations. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 10 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel III. BUT AFTERWARD HE REPENTED Here Is the Turning Point of the Parable. "But afterward he repented, and went." This is the story of the recovery of the ten tribes. After centuries of refusal — after the Assyrian captivity — after the long scattering into the appointed places of the earth — the first son came to himself. •He heard the gospel of the Kingdom preached in the isles where YAHWEH had planted him. •He embraced the Messiah he had once refused. •He came back to work in the vineyard he had once abandoned. •He took up the very tasks the Father had first commanded. The repentance of this son formed the turning point in world history. He is the new steward appointed to succeed the unjust steward who was discharged. He is the ten tribes — the ten servants who are to occupy until the Master returns. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 11 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The first son said "I will not" — but afterward repented and went. That is the Two-House story of scattered Israel in one sentence. Refusal, exile, awakening, return. And the Awakening Is Underway. The Reformation era. The Wesley Revival. The Bible Societies. The missionary movement. The Sabbath- recovery movements. The Two-House awakening of our own generation. All are the repentance of the first son. All are Ephraim finally saying, "I will arise and go to my Father." All are scattered Israel — long refused, long exiled — finally taking up the vineyard-work that was appointed from the beginning. FHMI is one of the voices of the first son's repentance in this hour. Every saint who has awakened to Sabbath, feasts, Torah, and the Sacred Names is part of the "afterward he repented, and went." Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 12 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 13 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel IV. THE SECOND SON — JUDAH PROFESSED *"I Go, Sir."* The second son heard the command and gave the polite, religious answer — "I go, sir." This is the House of Judah. Judah did not walk out of Jerusalem. Judah kept the outward covenant. Judah kept the scriptures, the synagogue, the temple, the priesthood. Judah said, in every generation, "I go, sir." •They professed to be the true stewards of the Kingdom •They professed to keep the Torah •They professed to await the Messiah •They professed to be the sons of Abraham Their profession was loud. Their profession was constant. Their profession was public. But YAHSHUA said something else about them. "He answered and said, I go, sir: and went not." Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 14 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The profession did not become performance. The words did not become work. The covenant identity was worn as a garment, but the covenant work was not done. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 15 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel V. AND WENT NOT The Sharpest Word in the Parable. "And went not." Three words. And they contain the entire indictment of Judah's stewardship of the Kingdom. •They said "we are Abraham's seed" — and went not. •They said "we have the Law" — and went not. •They said "we sit in Moses' seat" — and went not. •They said "we await the Messiah" — and slew Him when He came. Matthew 23:13 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of Heaven against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." They shut up the Kingdom. They did not enter it. They did not let others enter. They were the son who said "I go, sir" — and went not. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 16 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The second son of the parable is the House of Judah — the elder son who professed obedience but failed to produce the fruits of the Kingdom. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 17 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VI. WHETHER OF THEM TWAIN? The Father's Question. "Whether of them twain did the will of his father?" YAHSHUA asked the priests of Judah — standing in front of Him in the Temple — to render the verdict themselves. And they gave the correct answer: "The first." In answering correctly, they pronounced their own sentence. They identified themselves as the second son. They named themselves the ones who said "I go, sir" and went not. They confessed with their own mouths that the Kingdom belonged to the son who did the work — not the son who merely spoke about it. This is the moment YAHSHUA trapped Judah in the Temple with their own words. He did not need to accuse them. They accused themselves. And He Sealed the Verdict. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 18 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel "Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." Publicans and harlots. The despised of Judah. The outcasts. The ones the priests would not touch. They believed John the Baptist. They repented. They entered the Kingdom before the priests could. And the priests? "Ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him." The Kingdom went first to the publicans and harlots of Judah's day — and to the scattered ten tribes in every generation since. It did not go to the professional religious class that said "I go, sir" without ever going. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 19 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VII. THE WIDER APPLICATION — SALVATION IS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL The Parable Reaches Beyond the Two Sons in the Story. The two sons in this parable are, most immediately, the ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah. But the wider application is even more sweeping. The House of Israel — the regathered ten tribes — is the new steward of the Kingdom. He has repented. He has come to work. He has taken up the tasks of the vineyard. He is being used: •To guard the Kingdom itself •To extend its boundaries into every nation •To cultivate the field for the harvest •To build the sanctuary where the true worship of YAHWEH goes forth to the world He has been appointed the steward of the vineyard, and all the interests of the estate are entrusted to him. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 20 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The House of Judah — the professional religious son — was dismissed. All the treasures of the Kingdom were left in his hands for a time, until the Father took them from him. As a steward, he failed to do his work loyally and justly, and was discharged, exactly as YAHSHUA said in the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen. Salvation is not of the Jew today, but of the House of Israel who has come in to take his place as the steward of the Kingdom. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 21 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VIII. TODAY'S JEWS — THE EDOMITE- MIXED JUDAH But Wait — Are Today's Jews the Same as the Judah of YAHSHUA's Day? Here is the sharpest doctrinal point of this teaching, and one FHMI does not soften. The House of Judah of YAHSHUA's time is largely not the same as those who call themselves Jews today. •The believing portion of Judah accepted Messiah, joined Israel in the new place of gathering, and are no longer even known as Jews at all. •The Judeans of YAHSHUA's day were already a mixed multitude — Judah, Benjamin, Levi, and heavy admixture of Edomites who had been forcibly converted under John Hyrcanus (~125 BC). •After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Jewish nation was broken up forever. The actual descendants of the Jews who lived in Jerusalem in Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 22 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel our Lord's time are scattered so thoroughly that no one today can reliably trace them. Those who now stand under the name "Jew" and reject Messiah are, in significant part, the "bad figs" of Judah — the Edomite-mixed, the proselyte- descended, the mixed and unregenerate remnant of the ancient elder-brother stewardship. Jeremiah 24:2, 8–10 "One basket had very good figs... and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad... so will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem... and I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt." The good figs went with the exile and were gathered up with Israel in the long dispersion. The bad figs remained — and their descendants have carried the name Jew while rejecting Messiah down to this present hour. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 23 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Today's Jews who reject Messiah are the elder brother of the parable — standing outside the Father's feast, refusing to come in, grumbling at the reception of the returning Israel-son. But YAHWEH's Purpose Is Not Destruction — It Is Reconciliation. Do not misread this as a doctrine of hate. YAHWEH has never once purposed the eternal destruction of any people. The elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son is left standing outside the feast — but the Father goes out to entreat him. The invitation remains open. YAHWEH is the God of reconciliation. Even the elder brother — even the bad-fig Judah — will one day be gathered in, refined, purified, and reconciled. The judgment upon them is corrective, not annihilating. But in the present hour, Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 24 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel they stand outside, and salvation is of the House of Israel. The Universal Reconciliation of all things does not exempt anyone from the sickle of cleansing. Everyone passes through the fire. But the fire is a refiner's fire, not an eternal punishment. Even the second son — the professing but non-performing Judah — will finally be gathered when the King completes His work. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 25 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel IX. THE PATTERN OF THE PARABLE Let Us Draw It All Together. •The Father — YAHWEH, the Owner of the vineyard, the Author of the covenant. •The vineyard — the Kingdom of YAHWEH planted in the earth, the covenant work of the two houses. •The command — "Son, go work to day in my vineyard." The same command given to both sons. •The first son — the House of Israel, the ten tribes, who refused, went into exile, but afterward repented and returned to work. •The second son — the House of Judah, the elder brother, who professed obedience but failed to produce it. •The verdict — pronounced by the priests themselves: the first son did the will of the Father. •The transfer — the Kingdom passes from the professing-but-not-performing son to the refused- but-repenting son. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 26 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •The publicans and harlots — the outcasts of every age who believe and enter before the religious. This is the Passion-Week indictment of Judah — and the Passion-Week vindication of Israel — spoken by YAHSHUA five days before He was crucified by the very son who said "I go, sir" and went not. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 27 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel X. THE APPLICATION TO OUR HOUR FHMI Lives Inside the First Son's Repentance. Every saint who has awakened to Torah, Sabbath, the feasts, the Sacred Names, and the Two-House gospel is part of the "afterward he repented, and went." •We are the descendants of the son who once said "I will not." •We are the descendants of the son who went into a far country and lived as a Gentile. •We are the descendants of the son who forgot his covenant identity. •And we are now the son who is coming back to work in the vineyard. We are not the second son. We are not the professing-but-not-performing Judah. We are the first son — Ephraim awakening, Ephraim returning, Ephraim taking up the vineyard-work that was appointed from the beginning. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 28 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel But Beware — We Can Still Become the Second Son. If we, having received the awakening, then merely profess it without producing the fruits — we become the very thing YAHSHUA condemned in Judah. •If we say "I keep Sabbath" but do not sanctify it in truth — we are the second son. •If we say "I keep feasts" but do not walk in the Spirit of the feasts — we are the second son. •If we say "I speak the Sacred Names" but do not walk in covenant obedience — we are the second son. Profession without performance is Judah's error. Do not repeat it. The first son said "I will not" — but did. The second son said "I will" — but did not. The Kingdom belongs to the son who does. Awakening without obedience is worse than refusal, because it names the covenant with the mouth while denying it with the life. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 29 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 30 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel REFLECTION QUESTIONS Three Questions for Tonight's Class: 1. If the first son represents the ten tribes who refused, went into exile, and afterward repented — where am I in that story? Am I still saying "I will not," or have I said "I will," or have I actually gone to work? 2. If the second son represents Judah who professed obedience without producing the fruits — where in my own walk am I saying "I go, sir" without actually going? What have I professed but never performed? 3. If today's unrepentant Judah is the elder brother standing outside the feast — how do I hold both the sharpness of the doctrinal identification AND the pastoral hope of Universal Reconciliation? Can I speak the truth about the second son's failure while still praying for his eventual gathering? Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 31 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 32 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel CLOSING WORD The Two Sons is the Two-House transfer in five verses. The son who refused and repented is regathered Israel — awakening in this hour, coming back to work in the vineyard of the Father. > The son who professed and failed is unrepentant Judah — the elder brother still standing outside the feast, still grumbling at the reception of his returning brother. > The Kingdom has passed from the second son to the first — not because YAHWEH loved one and hated the other, but because the first did the will of the Father and the second did not. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 33 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Beloved — we are the first son. We have come to work. Let us make sure we actually do the work — that we do not become the second son by professing without performing. •Take up the Sabbath. •Take up the feasts. •Take up the Sacred Names. •Take up the Torah. •Take up the Two-House gospel. •Take up the vineyard-work of the Kingdom. And when the Master returns to inspect His vineyard, may He find the first son laboring — not the second son still standing at the gate saying "I go, sir" without ever having gone. The Kingdom is at hand. The vineyard is waiting. The first son has come back. Now let him work. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 34 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Next in the Series — Part Fourteen: The Prodigal Son — and we will see how YAHSHUA expanded this same Two-House story into the fullest and most beloved of all His parables. The younger son who demanded his portion, went into a far country, wasted his substance, came to himself, and returned home — is Ephraim-Israel across three thousand years of history. And the elder brother who refused to come in to the feast is Judah still grumbling at the door. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 35 THE TWO SONS — Part Thirteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel ✦✦✦ Rev. John Shane Vaughn First Harvest Ministries International The Parables and the Lost Tribes — Part Thirteen: The Two Sons Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 36