The Greatest Mystery of All: Part 8; The Half Tribe of Manasseh that Settled Outside the Promised Land

God has shown us an amazing revelation for the church of the end times. We have seen that the map of the territories of the twelve tribes reveals what comprises the life of an individual who comes into the fullness of Christ in the end times. No other generation from the time of Adam and Eve until now has been allowed to enter here. This has been reserved for those of us alive at the return of Jesus Christ to earth.

Jesus is coming to each individual true believer to awaken the parts of them that died at the time of the fall of Adam and Eve. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). We know that everyone’s physical body dies but what we have not understood is that there is another part of us, a spiritual body and spiritual mind, which died at the time of the fall. This is part of the curse that came upon all persons and all creation. Because of the curse, every living thing dies. Because of the curse, the spiritual part of us, our spiritual body and spiritual mind, have been as though dead, not to be awakened until we die or at the return of Christ when we shall all live and be changed. When we are changed, we will no longer suffer the weaknesses of aging, sickness and death in our physical bodies. The curse will be lifted from us and the spiritual part of us will be awakened.

Jesus warned Adam and Eve that in the day they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would surely die, and yet Scripture tells us they lived to be over 900 years old. I used to explain this by quoting the 2^nd Peter verse that “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” My reasoning was, they didn’t make it to a thousand years, therefore, they died in the day they sinned. However, I didn’t understand that there was a part of them that did die the moment they ate from the forbidden tree. The part that died was their spiritual part—their spiritual body and their spiritual mind. Once those were gone, they were not able to experience paradise as they had before. This is what it meant to be cast out of the garden. They were cast out of paradise and out from the presence of God. Yes, God is everywhere and his presence was always there but they could no longer perceive his presence. And this is the way we have been. We have not been able to feel the presence of God (except perhaps for a short unusual experience), and we have not been able to hear his audible voice, etc. because we have been configured as Adam and Eve were after their sin. The spiritual part of us has been dead. (In the Hebrew and Greek languages, to be dead also means to be asleep.)

Now it is time for the return of Jesus Christ to earth. With his coming there will be two things happening simultaneously—the judgment of the wicked and the full redemption of true believers which includes the redemption of their body. In this way the kingdom of God will be coming to earth. This will be the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven as a bride adorned for her husband.

We are the bride and if we have eyes to see, we have realized there is no place safe on this earth to which we can flee. Where can we go to escape chemtrails? Where can we go where the eyes of the satellites cannot see us and Covid 19 mandates don’t exist? Where can we go that wickedness does not abound? Where can we go that the weather is such that food can be safely grown with a governmental and social infrastructure that allows for its distribution to all people? Currently famine is a threat for the entire globe. The answer is, there is no place on this earth to which we can flee. The only safe place where we can go is into the kingdom of God, and we must be changed in order to enter therein.  

The real danger is that we might be one of the five of the ten virgins who had no oil for their lamps when the bridegroom came.  What if we turned out to be one of the wicked servants who buried his talent in the ground? Or we were the guest at the wedding feast who had on no wedding garment and was cast out? Think of the many who believe they will sit down at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but who instead will find themselves cast into outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Or what about the lukewarm Christians who will be vomited out of Jesus’ mouth when we comes?

Folks, these are serious questions that need to be answered. We must seek Jesus with a fervor and consistency like never before because our lives even now depend on him. This world is falling apart and the only thing we have to hold onto is our faith in God. And this kind of faith is built up over time as we go through trials and learn that Jesus is with us and will help us if we seek him and obey him.

 We cannot enter God’s kingdom filled with love of self and love for the world. No evil can enter here. Probably the most prominent Bible verse about entering the kingdom of God is in Acts 14:22:

…It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God. (NASB)

Let’s look at this again in NLT:

…We must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. (NLT)

In our Old Testament study of Jacob’s twelve sons in their territories in the Promised Land, we have been seeing basic elements that comprise the life of a believer in Jesus Christ who enters into this Promised Land. The  tribes would not have been able to take this land without the help of their brethren who chose not to settle in Canaan but chose to stay on the east side of the Jordan river.

There are factors in our lives represented by the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh that help us enter the Promised Land of our soul in the kingdom of God. In the historical account they used weaponry such as bow and arrows, slingshots, swords, daggers, and spears to kill the wicked people in the land and take the land for their brethren. In our spiritual taking of the land of our soul in order to be in God’s kingdom, we must use spiritual weapons as we battle temptations, sickness, and sins that have taken over our lives. These things must be conquered, killed and/or cast out that we may be fully redeemed in order to live in the land of blessings, health and prosperity God has for us.

In our humanity we need trials and suffering to get us to turn loose of our self-sufficiency and pride and develop a relationship with Jesus. Most of us are unaware of our weaknesses and sinfulness until we enter a time of suffering. We don’t know our own heart. Until Jesus reveals it to us, we don’t know what’s there, and it is in these times of suffering we begin to see what is really in our heart.

The Half Tribe of Manasseh

The half tribe of Manasseh that chose to live on the east side of the Jordan River rather than in Canaan represents the part of our natural body that does not remain in the Promised Land of the kingdom of God. This half tribe of Manasseh represents the part of our body that is under the curse of sin and death and as a result grows old and infirm and eventually dies.

The other half tribe of Manasseh that remained in Canaan west of the Jordan River is the part of our natural body that will live through the millennium free from sin, sickness, aging and death. If we are old, we will become younger until we reach the optimum age for us determined by God. Sickness will no longer be able to impact our bodies in any way. All our diseases will have been healed. We will not die.

So how does the part of Manasseh that chose to live east of the Jordan River who represents the curse of sin and death in our body help us enter our Promised Land?

There is nothing like pain to get our attention. Also the threat of death. If or when we encounter these kinds of suffering and if medical science cannot help us, most of us who believe in God begin to seek him with an earnestness we have not had before. Someone who is diagnosed with cancer may not know whether they are going to live or die. They may face pain and sickness induced by chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation therapy. At times like this, we learn whether or not we have faith in God. Some of us may start thinking about God for the first time in our lives. Those who know God and make godly responses, will deepen their faith and become more like him.

Some people are afflicted with the constant pain of arthritis. There is no cure for this. They can change their diet, take pain medications, and follow any prescribed protocol, but pain is a factor of life that they cannot escape. Those who have faith in Jesus Christ, learn that he can help them bear the pain and even help them find relief in some ways. Pain is humbling. Pain gets our attention off the things of this world and onto the only one who can help us and that is, of course, God.

Pain prepares us to enter the kingdom of God if we respond to it biblically by seeking God and allowing him to work humility and faith into our lives.

A woman who has based her identity on being beautiful faces the certainty of aging with all its wrinkles, bags and sags. If she is wise, she will be aware of having this false identity that lasts only a few years and then fades away forever, and she will begin to seek God to let him show her the inner beauty she can have that will last forever if she will allow God to work in her life.

The suffering of others calls forth the Christ in us as we seek to help them and give of ourselves in service to them. It is God “who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (1 Corinthians 1:4)  Sometimes their suffering is a warning to us to seek God even for ourselves. This was the case in my life.

I grew up in a Christian home where I knew I was loved and protected. I thought life was really great until I was around 22 years old and faced the fact that both of my parents had terminal cancers at the same time. I would literally take my mother to one hospital for her cancer treatment and then take her to Johns Hopkins Hospital to visit our dad who was being treated for a malignant brain tumor.  Daddy was in a coma for about four months before he died. Mother was sick all that time and then got the worst case of shingles ever seen by the doctors at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. The slow healing from shingles left her with permanent pain that nothing could touch.

Their suffering was heartbreaking for me and I cried out to God for understanding. At the same time I was suffering nausea caused by my first pregnancy and I knew my Marine husband would soon be going to Vietnam to war. The understanding God gave me was this:

For the first time in my life, I realized life can be extremely difficult. I could see that my parents, although they were faithful, loving, wonderful people, did not have the faith in God they needed to help them through these incredible trials. The impact of all this was so strong in me that I vowed I would seek God for the rest of my life because faith in him was the only thing one could hold onto and trust in through the trials of life. Although my parents died, I believe their suffering helped prepare them for their eternity with Jesus.

These are just a few examples to help us understand that without suffering we cannot enter the kingdom of God, and the weaknesses that we all face from living in physical bodies that suffer from accidents, sickness, frailty of aging and death can serve a purpose. If we respond by turning to Jesus, these physical weaknesses will lead us into deeper faith in Christ. This is how Manasseh in the spiritual sense helps us gain our place in the kingdom of God free of the love of self and love of the world but filled with agape love for our Lord Jesus Christ. Once that has been achieved in our lives in these end times, Jesus will come and remove all the elements of the curse put upon humanity at the time of the fall, and he will lead us into his kingdom. This part of Manasseh residing in our natural body will have been removed and will not be allowed to settle in the kingdom of God. Sickness and suffering will have no place in our Promised Land.