The Rich Man & Lazarus

THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: 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 FIFTEEN THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 1 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The Rich Man Judah — and the Beggar Lazarus at the Gate Luke 16:19–31 A Midweek Bible Study Rev. John Shane Vaughn First Harvest Ministries International Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 2 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel INTRODUCTION TO TONIGHT'S STUDY Beloved — tonight we take up the most misused parable in the entire Bible. For nearly two thousand years, this parable has been twisted into a doctrine of eternal conscious torment in a burning hell. Sermon after sermon has used the rich man's cry — "I am tormented in this flame" — to terrify sinners into a decision of the moment, promising them a lake of fire if they refuse. But that reading has nothing to do with what YAHSHUA actually said. This is not a parable about hell. This is not a parable about the afterlife. This is not a parable about individual damnation or salvation. This is a Two- House parable — the sharpest, most explicit, most explosive of the three parables YAHSHUA delivered in this trilogy. •The Rich Man is Judah — clothed in purple (the royal tribe) and fine linen (the priestly tribe of Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 3 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Levi), fed sumptuously every day on all the covenant privileges •Lazarus is Israel — the scattered ten tribes, reduced to beggary at the border of the Holy Land, in a sorry state, full of sores from idolatry and heathen practices •The dogs licking his sores — the Gentile nations ministering false and wicked doctrines to the wounded seed •The death of Lazarus — the gentilization and burial of the scattered tribes among the nations of Europe •Carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom — the restoration of Israel to the Abrahamic Covenant through the blood of Messiah •The death of the rich man — the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the breaking up of the Jewish nation •The great gulf fixed — the gulf of Messiah acceptance and rejection •Five brethren — Judah had five brothers (sons of Leah), somewhere with the House of Israel in their wandering Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 4 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •Moses and the prophets — the Hebrew scriptures Judah still holds but refuses to truly hear When you see that YAHSHUA is comparing the rich, proud Pharisees of Judah with the lost, outcast House of Israel, the story becomes clear and the mystery is solved. 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 5 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel THE TEXT BEFORE US Luke 16:19–21 "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." Luke 16:22–23 "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." Luke 16:27–29 "Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 6 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." Luke 16:30–31 "And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." This is not a parable about the afterlife of individual sinners. This is a prophetic snapshot of the state of Judah and Israel at the time of the crucifixion — and the great reversal that would follow. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 7 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel I. NOT A PARABLE ABOUT HELL Various Attempts Have Been Made — All Unreliable and Imperfect. Various attempts have been made to base theories of the future life upon statements contained in this parable. Since its true meaning has never been perceived nor taught by the "spiritualizing" teachers, such ideas of hell and torment as have been deduced from it are most unreliable and imperfect. It is foolish to suggest that all rich men are wicked and go to hell — or that all poor men are entitled to blessedness in the hereafter because of hardships they have endured in this life. It is equally foolish to teach that those who are in torment can see the blessed in Paradise and can send messages to them. There is no ground for believing that a law of compensation will operate on the other side which will bring comfort and joy to all who have suffered poverty Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 8 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel on earth, and give punishment and misery to those who enjoyed plenty of good things in this world. Men have tried to see all these things in this parable, and some have been led to criticize and complain at the Divine methods as they have imagined them illustrated here. Every one of those readings is wrong. When You See What YAHSHUA Actually Meant. When it is seen that YAHSHUA is comparing the rich, proud Pharisees of Judah with the lost, outcast House of Israel — the story becomes clear and the mystery is solved. This is a Two-House parable. It is not a doctrine of eternal torment. It is not a map of the afterlife. It is the prophetic identification of the rich, covenant- privileged Judah and the poor, scattered, Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 9 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel beggared Israel — and the great reversal that follows the crucifixion of Messiah. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 10 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel II. THE RICH MAN IS JUDAH Clothed in Purple and Fine Linen. The rich man clothed in purple and fine linen stands for the House of Judah — in which the purple represents the royal tribe of Judah, and the fine linen represents the priestly tribe of Levi, both of whom lived in Judea at that time. •Purple — the royal color, the color of kings. Judah was the royal tribe. The scepter had not departed from Judah (Genesis 49:10). •Fine linen — the priestly garment. Levi was the priestly tribe. The Levites administered the Temple and the sacrifices. These fared sumptuously every day. They had: •The scriptures — the whole Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, in their hands •The synagogue worship in every town and city •The temple sacrifices at Jerusalem •The covenant priesthood •The covenant land •The covenant name Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 11 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel All that survived of the Hebrew religion at the time of YAHSHUA was in their hands. The rich man was Judah — clothed in the outward garments of royal and priestly covenant, feasting daily on all the covenant privileges, while the scattered brother lay at the gate in a state of beggary. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 12 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel III. LAZARUS THE BEGGAR IS ISRAEL The House of Israel Reduced to Beggary. The House of Israel, however, was reduced to beggary and had nothing. Lazarus lay in a sorry state just at the border of the Holy Land — mostly in Asia Minor, at the rich man's gate. His only companions were the dogs — the heathen nations — who ministered false and wicked doctrines to him. He was full of sores — marred by idolatry and heathen practices. And he was longing for help and comfort to reach him from the land of his fathers — desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Scattered Israel was a beggar at the border of the covenant land. He could see the feast inside — he could see Judah in purple and linen — he could smell the covenant bread — but he had no place at Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 13 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel the table. He was gentilized, wounded, sore, and starving. The Dogs Are the Gentile Nations. "Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." The dogs — the surrounding heathen or Gentile nations — only ministered unto him their false and wicked doctrines. They did not heal him. They aggravated his miserable condition. They fed him the very poison that had produced his sores in the first place. The Gentile nations that took the scattered ten tribes into their territories did not restore Israel. They "licked his sores" with their pagan philosophies, their false religions, their heathen customs — and the more the dogs licked, the more the sores spread. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 14 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel IV. ISRAEL DEAD AND BURIED The Beggar Died. "And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." In due course, the House of Israel died entirely and was buried, lost, and gentilized among the nations of Europe. Ezekiel uses the same imagery in his vision of the dry bones, when he sees them buried in their graves. The gentilization of Israel is the crux of the whole question. •Wherever lost Israel is, he believes himself to be "Gentile" — or he would not be lost •As far as worldly knowledge went, the beggar was dead •He was buried among the nations, forgotten by the world, unrecognizable even to himself Israel died. Not physically, but nationally. He was buried among the nations of Europe. His name, his language, his Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 15 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel feasts, his Torah, his identity — all buried. As far as the eyes of the world could see, Lazarus the beggar was dead. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 16 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel V. THE BOSOM OF COVENANT RELATIONSHIP Carried by the Angels Into Abraham's Bosom. Then we have the significant reference to Lazarus, the House of Israel, in Abraham's bosom. By the death of Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel, the lost nation is restored to the Abrahamic Covenant — and in their new national life all its wonderful provisions are being realized and coming to fulfillment. •In the Christian age, the House of Israel — still dead to the world — enjoys the blessings promised to Abraham •In that sense, the beggar is in Abraham's bosom •Nationally invisible, but covenantally alive •Dead to the eyes of the world, but restored to the Father through the blood of the Renewed Covenant Israel died — and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. That is not Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 17 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel a description of the afterlife. That is a prophetic description of the restoration of the scattered tribes to the Abrahamic Covenant through the atoning blood of YAHSHUA. The Angels Are the Restoring Ministry of Heaven. "Lazarus was carried by the angels." It was surely the work of heaven to restore Israel to the Covenant. •Messiah and the angels came to earth together •The angels rejoice over a sinner — or sinful nation — which repents •The statement clearly indicates that the restoration and exaltation of Lazarus is a work planned and sanctioned in heaven The Father Himself sent the angels to gather scattered Israel back into the covenant embrace of Abraham. The angels did not carry Lazarus to a heavenly Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 18 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel reward for individual piety. They carried a whole scattered nation back to the Father of their fathers. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 19 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VI. JUDAH DEAD AND BURIED The Rich Man Also Died. "The rich man also died, and was buried." After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Jewish nation was broken up forever. •Those who escaped were buried among all nations •We doubt if anyone today can trace the actual descendants of those Jews who lived in Jerusalem in our Lord's time •They are truly buried The rich man of the parable did not merely die and go to hell. The rich man died as a covenant nation — Jerusalem burned, the Temple destroyed, the priesthood scattered, the covenant identity broken up and dispersed. Both sons died. Both sons were buried. But one was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom — restored to the covenant — while the other was buried Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 20 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel into the torment of exile without the covenant embrace. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 21 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VII. JUDAH IN TORMENT — HISTORICALLY, NOT ETERNALLY After the Jerusalem Disaster. After the Jerusalem disaster, the Judeans (Jews) suffered persecution, murder, and untold privations at the hands of many nations. They certainly went through hell — historically speaking — and have been tormented for centuries. It has only been in recent centuries that they have been able to regain economic and political strength. During their agonizing experiences, they have seen Lazarus — now Israel-United-Kingdom-America — in the full enjoyment of the Abrahamic blessings, and have looked to us for help and pity. "Send Lazarus." Yes — it is to the returning-Israel people they have turned for succor and for home. The "torment" of the rich man in the parable is not eternal conscious Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 22 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel punishment in a lake of fire. It is the historical torment of the scattered Judeans across nineteen centuries of persecution and displacement — while their scattered brother, whom they had ignored at the gate, rose to prominence in the appointed places. If They Could But Understand YAHSHUA's Words. If they could but understand the words of YAHSHUA, they would know: 1. Because they rejected the Messiah, their "good things" came to an end — and now they are tormented. As they will not have Messiah, they have nothing, and their persecution and calamity are the direct result of their rejection of Him. 2. Because the House of Israel has accepted the redemption, his time of beggary is over — and he is now comforted by the assurance of YAHWEH's Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 23 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel forgiveness. Moreover, he is now in plenty, and is rich with blessing because he is realizing the Covenant promises to the full. The great reversal has already begun. Judah — who had every covenant privilege — is in the torment of exile. Israel — who was buried and gentilized — has been carried into the covenant embrace. This is not eschatology. This is history. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 24 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel VIII. THE GREAT GULF OF DESTINY There Is a Great Gulf Fixed. "And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed." This is the gulf caused by the acceptance or rejection of the Messiah. •The gulf undoubtedly exists today •Every Jewish community is separate in a very real sense from the Christian •Although we mix with them in politics, in trade, and in general walks of life — the gulf of YAHSHUA the Messiah divides us and is known to all Israel (in the awakening remnant), or Lazarus, cannot truly help the rich man in his torment because of the religious gulf. •We are separated •The unrepentant Jew will not receive from us any spiritual help whatsoever because of his inherent opposition — if not hatred — to Christianity Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 25 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •That gulf can only be bridged by the Redemption and Atonement of Messiah — and only by that means can we go to them or they come to us The great gulf fixed is not the gulf between heaven and hell. It is the gulf between the Messiah accepted and the Messiah rejected. And that gulf cannot be crossed by argument, by politics, by trade, by shared culture — only by the blood of the Renewed Covenant. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 26 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel IX. JUDAH'S FIVE BRETHREN For I Have Five Brethren. "I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren." The subsequent conversation shows the rich man to be Judah — for he had five brethren, their mother being Leah, and the five brethren were somewhere with the House of Israel in their wandering or "lost" condition. Leah's sons were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun — six in all. If the rich man is Judah, his five brothers by the same mother are Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, and Zebulun — all in the House of Israel among the ten tribes. The rich man's concern is that these five brothers might also come into the same place of torment — the same exile, the same wandering, the same rejection. This detail alone identifies the rich man as Judah beyond any reasonable doubt. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 27 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Only Judah — as a son of Leah — had five brothers by the same mother among the scattered ten tribes. The parable is genealogically specific. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 28 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel X. MOSES AND THE PROPHETS They Have Moses and the Prophets. The rich man is told that they must listen to the teachings and warnings of Moses and the prophets. •It must be remembered that this advice concerns the House of Israel in the Christian age •We are to observe and hear Moses and the prophets if we would find our way into Abraham's bosom rather than to the tormented condition of the rich man It is popular today to ignore these ancient scriptures — which YAHSHUA especially recommends to us — but we will do well to mark the importance of Messiah's words. The rich man believed that if one went to them from the dead they would repent. But YAHSHUA enforces the importance of Moses and the prophets, and says that if men will not hear them, they would not be convinced if one rose from the dead. This Is a Wonderful Statement. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 29 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel In fact, Lazarus — or the House of Israel — is truly raised from the dead. And men will not believe it, because they refuse Moses and the prophets. •Unless men come to see the truth of the covenants, prophecies, promises of restoration and redemption of Israel given in the Old Testament — they will not believe the Israel nation is restored to life, although it stands before their very eyes. •Scholarship is disposed to lay aside the Old Testament as of no value. •And men do not realize the importance of YAHSHUA's warning. We are thankful that many are coming to see the value of Moses and the prophets, and their relationship to our own age and nation. The Lazarus of the parable is raised from the dead — and his presence in the world will compel men to see that Moses and the prophets are true, and that Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 30 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel YAHSHUA's teaching was a confirmation of the Kingdom prophecies contained therein. The resurrection of Lazarus was a picture, or type, of the resurrection of Israel. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 31 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel XI. TODAY'S JEWS AND THE ELDER- BROTHER PATTERN Consistent With the Previous Parable. This parable ties directly to the previous one — the Prodigal Son. The elder brother standing outside the feast is the same figure as the rich man in torment — unrepentant Judah, still holding the outward covenant garments but refusing to enter the Father's celebration of the returning Israel. •Today's Jews who reject Messiah are the Edomite- mixed, bad-fig remnant of the ancient Judah •The believing portion of Judah has already joined regathered Israel in the appointed places and are not known as Jews at all •The unrepentant remnant carries the name Jew while rejecting the Messiah — and is therefore historically identified with the rich man in the parable This is the sharp doctrinal identification FHMI does not soften. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 32 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel But Universal Reconciliation Still Applies. The rich man is in torment — historically, nationally, as a covenant identity — but he is not eternally lost. •YAHWEH has never once purposed the eternal destruction of any people •The sickle of cleansing eventually falls on every soul, including the elder brother and the rich man •The fire is corrective, not annihilating •Even the unrepentant Judah will finally be gathered when the full age of correction has run its course •The reconciliation of all things is the endpoint of history The elder brother of the Prodigal Son parable is left standing outside — but the Father goes out to entreat him. The rich man of this parable is in torment — but the torment is corrective, not eternal. In the fullness of time, even the second son will come home. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 33 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel The Universal Reconciliation of all things does not exempt anyone from the sickle. But the sickle is a refiner's sickle, not an annihilating one. We speak the sharp truth about the present hour — while praying for the final gathering of every son of Adam into the Father's house. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 34 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel XII. THE PATTERN OF THE PARABLE Let Us Draw It All Together. •The rich man — Judah, clothed in the purple of royalty and the linen of priesthood, feasting sumptuously on the covenant privileges. •Lazarus — the House of Israel, the scattered ten tribes, reduced to beggary at the covenant border, full of sores from idolatry. •The dogs — the Gentile nations that took Israel in but only ministered false and wicked doctrines to his wounds. •The death of Lazarus — the national death of Israel, buried and gentilized among the nations of Europe. •Carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom — restoration to the Abrahamic Covenant through the blood of Messiah. •The death of the rich man — the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the breaking up of the Jewish nation. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 35 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •The rich man in torment — the historical torment of the scattered Judeans across nineteen centuries. •The great gulf fixed — the gulf of Messiah acceptance and rejection. •The five brethren — the sons of Leah, Judah's brothers, among the scattered ten tribes. •Moses and the prophets — the Hebrew scriptures Judah holds but refuses to truly hear. •The rising from the dead — the resurrection of the Israel nation from the graves of the diaspora. This is not a parable about hell. This is the Two-House story of the crucifixion era projected forward across two thousand years of prophetic history — spoken by YAHSHUA before He was crucified by the very rich man He describes. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 36 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel REFLECTION QUESTIONS Four Questions for Tonight's Class: 1. If this parable is NOT about hell — how do I unlearn what I have been taught for years about the rich man's eternal torment? What other doctrines have I built on this misreading? 2. If Lazarus represents scattered Israel gentilized among the nations — how do I recognize the sores of my own scattered heritage? Where have I let the dogs of Gentile philosophy and culture lick my wounds without healing them? 3. If the great gulf fixed is the gulf of Messiah acceptance or rejection — how do I hold onto the sharpness of that identification without letting it become bitterness toward the unrepentant elder brother? Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 37 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel 4. If Lazarus is truly raised from the dead — and if the resurrected Israel nation stands before our very eyes, but men refuse to see it because they will not hear Moses and the prophets — how am I part of that resurrection? How am I proclaiming it? How am I compelling others to see Moses and the prophets confirmed in our own generation? Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 38 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel CLOSING WORD — THE TWO-HOUSE TRILOGY COMPLETED The Two Sons. The Prodigal Son. The Rich Man and Lazarus. Three parables. One story. YAHWEH had two sons — the two houses of Israel and Judah. > One son refused the covenant, went into exile, wandered the earth, came to himself in the appointed places, and is now walking home. > The other son professed the covenant, kept the outward garments, but failed to produce the fruits — and now stands outside the Father's feast, refusing to come in. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 39 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel > 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. > And the sharp reversal is this — the rich man who fared sumptuously every day is now in the torment of exile, and the beggar full of sores has been carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom, the Covenant of the fathers restored through the blood of the Renewed Covenant. Beloved — this trilogy is the story of our own family. •We are the son who refused and repented. •We are the prodigal who came to himself and returned home. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 40 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel •We are Lazarus, once dead and gentilized, now carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And when we look back at the elder brother, at the second son, at the rich man in torment — we do not gloat. We entreat. We pray. We hold the door open. We wait for the Father's mercy to finally win the whole family home. The Two-House story ends with the whole family reconciled — because the Father who ran to meet Ephraim is the same Father who still goes out to entreat the elder brother. And the God of Reconciliation will finish the story with both sons at the table, both houses joined, both Judah and Israel gathered together under one head, at the great feast of the King. That is the promise. That is the hope. That is the end of the age. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 41 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Next in the Series — Part Sixteen: The Marriage of the King's Son — and we will see how YAHSHUA continued the Two- House teaching in Matthew 22, when the original wedding guests refused the King's invitation, and the King sent His servants out into the highways to compel the scattered ones of every nation to come in and fill His feast. Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 42 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS — Part Fifteen: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel ✦✦✦ Rev. John Shane Vaughn First Harvest Ministries International The Parables and the Lost Tribes — Part Fifteen: The Rich Man and Lazarus Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 43