than his left on Ephraim and blessed him, and Ephraim took the place of
Reuben (Genesis 48 : 5 , 11 , and following). For this reason during Moses’
blessing of the children of Israel, Ephraim and his brother Manasseh
were exalted above all the rest as part of Moses’ blessing of their father,
Joseph (Deuteronomy 33 : 1 – 17 ).
[ 2 ] The Prophets, especially Hosea, also describe as “Ephraim”
what the church is like when it has lost its understanding of the Word.
For example,
Israel and Ephraim will collapse. Ephraim will be desolate. Ephraim
will be oppressed and broken in judgment. (Hosea 5 : 5 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 )What will I do to you, Ephraim, since your holiness has gone away like
a cloud at sunrise and like the dew that falls in the morning? (Hosea 6 : 4 )They will not live on Jehovah’s land. Ephraim will go back to Egypt
and will eat what is unclean in Assyria. (Hosea 9 : 3 )“Jehovah’s land” is the church; “Egypt” is scholarly study on the part of our
earthly self; “Assyria” is reasoning based on that study. The latter two things
together falsify our deeper understanding of the Word. This is why it says
that Ephraim will go back to Egypt and eat what is unclean in Assyria.
[ 3 ] Ephraim is feeding on the wind and pursuing the east wind. Every
day he increases lying and devastation. He is making a pact with
Assyria and oil is being carried down to Egypt. (Hosea 12 : 1 )“Feeding on the wind,” “pursuing the east wind,” and “increasing lying and
devastation” means falsifying truths and thereby destroying the church.
Ephraim’s whoring means the same thing, in that “whoring” in the
following passages means falsifying an understanding of the Word and its
genuine truth:
I know that Ephraim has whored in every way and Israel has become
defiled. (Hosea 5 : 3 )In the house of Israel, I have seen a foul thing. Ephraim has whored
there and Israel has become defiled. (Hosea 6 : 10 )“Israel” is the church itself; “Ephraim” is the understanding of the Word
on which the church depends and is based. This is why it says that
Ephraim whored and Israel became defiled.
§247 sacred scripture 315