Recent Progress

I figured it was time for a new picture of the Hooded Sweater. This is my grab-and-go take-along project since it fits in a little bag and is nice-and-easy mindless stockinette stitch. I've managed to get some rows done while waiting in doctor offices. This is the back, the first piece, and it's about 7 inches in length so far. It's an adult medium, so still quite a way to go just to finish the back, but at least there's no rush on it, and my daughter will probably be happy to get it whenever it's finally done.

She wanted this hoodie to match the hoodie I made for her little dog. Hopefully one of these days I'll be able to get a picture of the two of them wearing their matching hoodies.

This is a better shot of the Hound Hoodie by itself.

For some reason I haven't been knitting as much as I'm used to during TV time. I have managed to get this first square (that I frogged and re-started) of the Great North American Afghan to the halfway point, so I thought I'd take a picture of it to share. So far, it's remaining true to gauge with the size 5 needles, but knitting so tightly is not very relaxing. Maybe that's why I haven't been knitting as much as usual.

Show Us the Way

(I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 02/28/2007.)

Reading: YirmeYahu (Jeremiah) 40-42

Jer 42:1 Then all the commanders of the army, and Yohanan son of Qareah, and Yezanyah son of Hoshayah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, came near
Jer 42:2 and said to Yirmeyahu the prophet, "We beg you, let our petition be acceptable to you, and pray for us to יהוה your Elohim, for all this remnant, for we are few left of many, as your eyes see us.
Jer 42:3 "And let יהוה your Elohim show us the way in which we should walk and the word we should do."

Most of Israel was taken into exile into Babylon, but the remnant that was left went to YirmeYahu and asked him to pray to YHWH for them and ask Him to "show us the way in which we should walk and the word we should do." It seems they finally got the picture that YHWH was in charge and decided to stop going their own way and now finally wanted to walk in His Way.

Presumably YirmeYahu sought YHWH right away, but the Scriptures tell us that it was 10 days before he received an answer:

Jer 42:7 And after ten days it came to be that the word of יהוה came to Yirmeyahu.

This brought to mind the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8). We need to pray like that--"crying out day and night to Him"--until He answers.

Re-Starting The Great North American Afghan

I believe I originally finished this first square (designed by Susan Levin) for The Great North American Afghan back in January. When I decided to start on the second square, I cast on the 240 stitches (arrrrrgh--that's a LOT of stitches!) with the size 7 needles the pattern stated and dived right in.

I got about 5 rounds into that second square, and as I kept looking at it and at the previously completed first square, I was not liking the way things were looking. I knitted the first square with size 8 needles (what that pattern stated), but it seemed like the difference in density of stitches between the first square and early rounds of the second square was more than could be accounted for by a difference of just one needle size.

With afghans I'm generally not all that particular about gauge because if the finished product comes out a little bigger or smaller, it's not as big a deal as it would be with clothing that definitely needs to fit properly, but of course, when making an afghan out of components like these squares, the squares do need to be as close to the same size as possible in order to get them to fit together well during joining and to have uniformity throughout the finished afghan.

Since it had been a while since I had knitted that first square, I couldn't remember for sure if I had done any gauge swatching. The patterns in this book (like most patterns) do state the usual "size ___ needles or size to obtain gauge". Since I kept having that uncomfortable feeling as I was knitting the second square, I made the decision to stop working on that second square and instead do a gauge swatch for the first square to hopefully ease my discomfort.

In the case of this square, the gauge is over the pattern's mosaic stitch, so I cast on with size 8 needles, and that first swatch was too big. I then did the same with size 6 needles--still too big--ack! Finally, size 5 needles produced the right measurements, so I must really knit loosely! Size 5 needles feel really small for worsted-weight yarn, but the measurements don't lie.

At that point I made the difficult decision to frog the first square, so I bit the bullet and did it. I then re-started it with the size 5 needles and got this far (below). So far the width is measuring right, but the mosaic stitch part has just begun, so it will be a lot more rows before I'll be able to tell if the length is staying true to gauge.

For the time being, I'm going to leave the second square on the size 7 needles where I left off. When I'm done re-knitting the first square and it hopefully turns out to be a keeper, I'll then be sure to do some swatching for the second square before continuing just in case I need to change needle size and re-start that one as well.

Since the first square is worked back and forth from bottom to top and the second square is knit in the round from the outside to the center, comparing their sizes respective to each other probably won't be possible until both are totally completed and off the needles. I sure do hope they end up close to the same size. With this afghan and the other afghans in this series, I'm going to continue to pay very close attention to gauge from now on!

Beloved

(I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 02/28/2007.)

Reading: Shir HaShirim/Song of Songs 1-2

When I was in high school, I took a class called "The Bible as Literature", and I chose to do my class project on this book because it is one of my favorites. What a beautiful love story it is!

My project was embroidery on fabric with clusters of grapes and other things mentioned in the narrative, all surrounding this statement that still stirs my heart:

Son 2:16a My beloved is mine, and I am his.

I wonder sometimes if women have an advantage in being able to exult in this kind of love for our Savior (Bridegroom) since it comes so naturally to imagine ourselves a beloved bride. This imagery is such a precious blessing.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers reading this--remember how special and precious you are!

I hope all the mothers in my life know how much I love them--my mother, mother-in-law, sister, sisters-in-law, daughters, daughter-in-law, aunts, nieces, cousins and all of my friends.

This flower and hand-painted flowerpot were made and given to me by my 8 year old this morning along with the card he made. I have to work today, but it's wonderful being able to look at my new little flowerpot here on my desk and think not only of my precious little boy who made it for me, but also of all the sweet gifts and love all of my children have given me through the years.

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." –Elizabeth Stone

We had our Mother's Day celebration last night when Husband took us out to eat. We went to a buffet and 'ate ourselves silly'. Everything was delicious! We had a lot of fun together not only during the meal but on the drive there and back. It was wonderful, and I loved every minute of it.

Flag Kippah Design

Husband wants a kippah with a design around the border of the American flag alternating with the Israeli flag, so he gave me the job of designing it. The main color is black, so it's difficult to work with and difficult to photograph, but I think it will show off the colors of the flags very nicely when (if?) I finally get to that point.

The top picture above is of my first attempt, which was with a size B hook and size 10 cotton crochet thread. With the black thread and small hook, it was just too hard on my eyes and hands.
Age has finally caught up with me. One of my favorite things used to be crocheting with tatting thread (size 70) and a size 14 steel hook! At least it was usually white or ecru thread, though, but still, I can't even imagine being able to do that now with my eyes so bad.

If you are still young, be sure to do all the tiny thread crocheting you can while you still can!

I ended up frogging that first attempt. Not only was it painful to work on, but I didn't like the way the increases were turning out. I then tried using an E hook and then a D hook, but each time, after several rounds, it was too loose and not dense enough for my taste, so I went to a C hook, which was surprisingly much better to work with than the B, even though it's only one size up, and it gave a good density to the stitches. This density thing is easier to see in the overexposed picture below. The picture above shows the black color better, though.

The white thread is marking the first stitch of the round since I'm crocheting this in continuous rounds without any joins.

So far, the formula I've developed for the increases is working out well after some trial and error. I've learned my lesson about designing and pattern writing--designing being the fun part and pattern writing being the drudge work and really difficult to do after finishing the design--so I am making sure to write down each round as I do it this time so as to make writing the final draft of the pattern easier.

With my knitted afghan square designs, I was so excited to knit up what was in my head, I would just go at it, and then afterward try to write the pattern from memory and by examining the finished item and counting the stitches, etc. After having to reconstruct the last pattern that way, I knew that with my next design, I needed to take detailed notes all along the way so I could write up the pattern more easily once the design was finished.

I'm planning to make this kippah in a style that is a flat circle on top with the sides going straight down. I've seen this type called a servant's cap or a Buchari (Bukhari?) style. I found this pattern for a knitted one (the button below links to the pdf file) , which I will probably try knitting up one of these days as well since Husband wants to collect all kinds.


I measured him, and he needs a 7-inch diameter hat, and I managed to get the circle to 3-1/2 inches in diameter before my hands started hurting, so I'm pretty happy with that progress so far.

Emor (Say!)

(Today's Torah portion is Emor. I wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 05/06/2007.)

TORAH: Vayikra (Leviticus) 21:1-24:23
HAFTARAH: Yehezqel (Ezekiel) 44:15-31
KETUVIM NETZARIM: Luke 14:12-24; Kefa Alef (1 Peter) 2:4-10

Lev 21:1 And יהוה said to Mosheh, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aharon, and say to them: 'No one is to be defiled for the dead among his people,
Lev 21:2 except for his relatives who are nearest to him: for his mother, and for his father, and for his son, and for his daughter, and for his brother;
Lev 21:3 and for his maiden sister who is near to him, who has had no husband – for her he is defiled.

The priests are to be set apart from the people in certain ways because they are responsible for the temple service and need to be ritually pure to perform their duties. Because touching the dead made one ritually unclean--

Num 19:11 'He who touches the dead of any human being is unclean for seven days.

--a priest could not take that time away from his valuable service except for the death of a close blood relative--a parent, sibling or child.

A priest was to keep himself pure, and YHWH gives other specific instructions about this, such as not shaving the hair of his head or beard and not cutting his flesh. He also could only marry a virgin or the widow of a priest.

Even the daughter of a priest had to set herself apart:

Lev 21:9 'And when the daughter of any priest profanes herself by whoring, she profanes her father. She is burned with fire.

The high priest was to be even more set apart than the rest of the priesthood and could not even grieve for his loved ones who may die during his time of service, much less become unclean by preparing them for burial:

Lev 21:10 'And the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is ordained to wear the garments, does not unbind his head nor tear his garments,
Lev 21:11 nor come near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother,
Lev 21:12 nor go out of the set-apart place, nor profane the set-apart place of his Elohim, for the sign of dedication of the anointing oil of his Elohim is upon him. I am יהוה.

He was also set apart from the rest of the priesthood in that he could only marry a virgin.
Those of the sons of Aharon who had defects were limited in their service and could not approach the altar or serve in the holy place.

Lev 21:21 'No man among the offspring of Aharon the priest, who has a defect, is to come near to bring the offerings made by fire to יהוה – he has a defect, he does not come near to bring the bread of his Elohim.
Lev 21:22 'He does eat the bread of his Elohim, both the most set-apart and the set-apart,
Lev 21:23 only, he does not go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he profanes My set-apart places. For I am יהוה, who sets them apart.' "

This is not any kind of judgment on those with defects. It is merely a representation in the visible physical world of what YHWH wants us to learn about purity in the spiritual realm--like the priests and the sacrificial animals, we are to be without spot or blemish, without defect, so that we can draw near to our Elohim. We are to follow in the footsteps of Yeshua Messiah who was faultless and pure.

Chapter 22 of Vayikra speaks of how the priests are to remain ritually clean during their service of bringing the offerings before YHWH, who in the households of the priests may eat the set-apart offerings and how the animals brought for offering are to be free of defect.

In chapter 23, YHWH instructs us about His appointed times:

• The weekly 7th-day Sabbath--A day of rest. No work on this day. A time for a set-apart gathering.
• Passover, 14th day of the first month.
• Unleavened Bread, 15th day to 21st day of the first month--Eat unleavened bread each of these 7 days (eat nothing with leaven in it). The first and seventh days of the feast are rest days in which no work is done and there are set-apart gatherings.
• Day of Firstfruits, the day after the weekly 7th-day Sabbath that occurs during the 7 days of Unleavened Bread--The first sheaf of grain (barley) harvested is offered on this day, and no grain can be eaten and nothing more can be harvested until after this is done.
• Shavuot (Weeks), 50th day after the weekly 7th-day Sabbath during the 7 days of Unleavened Bread--This is also a time for a grain offering of firstfruits, this time of the wheat harvest. No work on this day. A time for a set-apart gathering.
• Day of Trumpets, 1st day of the seventh month--A day of rest; no work. Remembrance of blowing of trumpets. A time for a set-apart gathering.
• Day of Atonement, 10th day of the seventh month--A day of rest; no work on this day. It is a time for fasting from food and drink (afflicting our beings). It is a time for a set-apart gathering.
• Tabernacles, or Booths, 15th to 21st day of the seventh month--The first day of this appointed time is a day of rest, a time for a set-apart gathering, and no work is done on this day. These seven days are set apart for living in booths (temporary residences) as a remembrance of the time when the Israelites lived in booths in the wilderness after being brought out of slavery in Egypt.
• Eighth Day Assembly, 22nd day of the seventh month--This is a closing day for the festival, a day of rest, a time for a set-apart gathering, and no work is done on this day.

More than once, YHWH says "a law forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings".

Also significant is that He states that these are His appointed times:

Lev 23:2 "Speak to the children of Yisra'el, and say to them, 'The appointed times of יהוה, which you are to proclaim as set-apart gatherings, My appointed times, are these

These are the times He has established for meeting with His people, "forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings". Why would we ever want to miss these appointments?

Chapter 24 of Vayikra gives instructions for the maintenance of the golden lampstand (menorah) in the temple and the 12 loaves of bread to be placed on the table in the holy place every Sabbath.

We are also told about a man who blasphemed the name of YHWH and was put to death for it:

Lev 24:16 'And he who blasphemes the Name of יהוה shall certainly be put to death, and all the congregation certainly stone him, the stranger as well as the native. When he blasphemes the Name, he is put to death.

Today, people routinely use the Names and titles of YHWH and Yeshua Messiah as curse words. It is rare to see a movie or television show without this type of blasphemy. We should be vigilant to guard our tongues and not be indifferent to such a serious violation committed against YHWH Elohim.

In the Haftarah portion, the instructions for how the priests are to be set apart are given again for the sons of Tsadoq, who are to serve in the future temple, and the reason for these requirements for priests is given:

Eze 44:23 "And they are to teach My people the difference between the set-apart and the profane, and make them know what is unclean and clean.

The priests are a visible reminder to us to differentiate between set-apart and profane, clean and unclean.

The reading in Luke is the parable about a great feast, where those invited gave excuse after excuse for not coming, so that the master sent his servant out into the city to bring in those in the streets, but there was still room, so he sent him outside of the city to bring in more until his house was filled. Once it was filled, there was no longer any room for those who refused the initial invitation:

Luk 14:24 'For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.' "

The passage in Kefa Alef (1 Peter) shows how we are to be set apart so that our spiritual offerings will be acceptable:

1Pe 2:4 Drawing near to Him, a living Stone – rejected indeed by men, but chosen by Elohim and precious –
1Pe 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up, a spiritual house, a set-apart priesthood, to offer up spiritual slaughter offerings acceptable to Elohim through Yeshua Messiah.

Are we the ones who decide what is acceptable to Elohim? Or is He?

1Pe 2:7 This preciousness, then, is for you who believe; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner-stone,"
1Pe 2:8 and "A stone of stumbling and a rock that makes for falling," who stumble because they are disobedient to the Word, to which they also were appointed.

By this it is apparent that what sets apart those who believe is their obedience. To the obedient believers, Yeshua Messiah is the chief corner-stone and precious, but to the disobedient He is a stone that causes them to stumble and fall because they are not walking as He walked--in His Torah:

1Jo 2:6 The one who says he stays in Him ought himself also to walk, even as He walked.

If we let YHWH order our steps, we will not fall.

Ravelry CAL Afghan 7

This is the first afghan I've caught up on this month with all 10 squares finished--2 for each month so far.

This one is for my fourth oldest daughter, another one with pink for her favorite color. She actually was with me when I was getting the yarn, and she chose the colors she wanted.
I really like this color combination. It is all Red Heart Super Saver yarn, and the colors are Pink Camo (the multicolor one), Petal Pink, Frosty Green and Cafe.
The overall color scheme, especially the blending of the colors in the Pink Camo, reminds me of a pink rose.
I'm crocheting all of the squares for all of these CAL afghans with a size I hook, and this has been pretty consistent as far as density of the stitches goes.
I've had to modify some squares which didn't turn out large enough, but most of the sizes are close enough that I'm sure any slight differences will be taken care of in the joining.
The new square for May is called Flower Burst (bottom 2 pics), and it is a nice easy pattern that turns out really pretty. I didn't have to make any modifications--love that!

Since this yarn is supposed to be 'no dye lot' and since the colors are going to be so interspersed throughout each of the afghans, I've felt pretty safe getting only a couple of skeins at a time.

The first four skeins (one of each of the four colors) very nearly made all 10 squares so far, but not quite. Excruciatingly, I ran out of the Pink Camo with only one round to go on the second Flower Burst square (very bottom pic), so I had to get another skein of that in order to complete the 10th square.
The solids are lasting longer because they're 6-oz skeins. Since the multis come in 5-oz. skeins, it makes sense that the Pink Camo ran out first.
Since I was caught up on this afghan, I then spent some time working on the Flag Kippah design Husband wants. I'm pretty happy with the progress I've made, and I'll be writing a separate post about it.
Last night I worked on the border of the Pineapple Square Afghan. I got round 1 and part of round 2 (out of a total of 3 rounds needed) done while watching TV, even though my hands tend to hold still when my eyes and ears are glued on Lost. Turns out there are a lot of Lost Knitters (and crocheters) with that problem. As usual, last night's episode left me with more questions than answers.

Yom HaAtzma'ut (Israel Independence Day)

(Today is Israel's Independence Day. I originally wrote and posted this to my previous blog on 04/24/2007.)

Readings:

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 7:12-8:18; 11:8-21
YeshuaYahu (Isaiah) 10:32-12:6
MattithYahu (Matthew) 24:29-44

Today is Israel's Independence Day.

In the first reading from Debarim, Mosheh is giving the Israelites instructions from YHWH for when they enter the Promised Land.

Deu 8:1 "Guard to do every command which I command you today, that you might live, and shall increase, and go in, and shall possess the land of which יהוה swore to your fathers.
Deu 8:2 "And you shall remember that יהוה your Elohim led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, prove you, to know what is in your heart, whether you guard His commands or not.
Deu 8:3 "And He humbled you, and let you suffer hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, to make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of יהוה.
Deu 8:4 "Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.
Deu 8:5 "Thus you shall know in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so יהוה your Elohim disciplines you,
Deu 8:6 therefore you shall guard the commands of יהוה your Elohim, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

This is a touching reminder of how YHWH took care of His people. He fed them, and their clothing never wore out!

There is much for us to learn from this. Just as with the ancient Israelites, YHWH will lead us, humble us and prove us to show what is in our hearts and whether we will obey Him or not.

He also gave specific instructions regarding what to do with anything related to false worship:

Deu 7:25 "The carved images of their mighty ones you are to burn with fire. Do not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it, for it is an abomination to יהוה your Elohim.
Deu 7:26 "And do not bring an abomination into your house, lest you be accursed like it. Utterly loathe it and utterly hate it, for it is accursed.

Many modern-day holiday traditions involve objects and customs associated with heathen worship. YHWH wants us to utterly loathe and hate such abominations because He doesn't want us to be snared by them.

The other reading in Debarim is one of the places where we find these instructions to keep YHWH's Words in our hearts and to surround ourselves with them as we teach them to our children throughout our waking hours:

Deu 11:18 'And you shall lay up these Words of Mine in your heart and in your being, and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deu 11:19 'And you shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up,
Deu 11:20 and shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
Deu 11:21 so that your days and the days of your children are increased on the soil of which יהוה swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens on the earth.

It is amazing what a blessing and positive influence it is to obey this commandment and to actually post His Words on all the doorposts and gates in the home! I recently finished making a handbinding so I could also bind His Words on my hand.

It may be tempting to spiritualize such instructions/commandments away in order to avoid actually physically doing them, but I believe that YHWH says what He means and means what He says. He knows that we are carnal beings and constantly need reminders of Him and His Words so that we will not go astray from Him.

1Co 15:46 The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.

The physical things help us with the spiritual things.

All of YHWH's words were to help Israel to become a strong nation under Him in the Promised Land, but sadly, as the years passed, Israel failed to diligently follow His instructions and fell into heathen worship and abominations until eventually they were dispersed to the four corners of the earth--first the Northern Kingdom of Israel (also known as Ephrayim), then the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

But an amazing thing happened in 1948--a nation was born in a day as had been prophesied:

Isa 66:8 "Who has heard the like of this? Who has seen the like of these? Is a land brought forth in one day? Is a nation born at once? For as soon as Tsiyon laboured, she gave birth to her children.

After nearly 1900 years of exile, Yehudah returned to the Promised Land, and the nation of Yisra'el was born again. The first part of the prophecy in Yehezqel has come to pass:

Eze 37:16 "And you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it, 'For Yehudah and for the children of Yisra'el, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Yoseph, the stick of Ephrayim, and for all the house of Yisra'el, his companions.'

The stick of Yehudah is already in place. It is now up to Ephrayim to form ourselves into a nation so that the rest of the prophecy will be fulfilled:

Eze 37:19 say to them, 'Thus said the Master יהוה, "See, I am taking the stick of Yoseph, which is in the hand of Ephrayim, and the tribes of Yisra'el, his companions. And I shall give them unto him, with the stick of Yehudah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand." '
Eze 37:20 "And the sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes.
Eze 37:21 "And speak to them, 'Thus said the Master יהוה, "See, I am taking the children of Yisra'el from among the gentiles, wherever they have gone, and shall gather them from all around, and I shall bring them into their land.
Eze 37:22 "And I shall make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Yisra'el. And one sovereign shall be sovereign over them all, and let them no longer be two nations, and let them no longer be divided into two reigns.
Eze 37:23 "And they shall no longer defile themselves with their idols, nor with their disgusting matters, nor with any of their transgressions. And I shall save them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and I shall cleanse them. And they shall be My people, and I be their Elohim,
Eze 37:24 while Dawid My servant is sovereign over them. And they shall all have one shepherd and walk in My right-rulings and guard My laws, and shall do them.

The stick of Yoseph is in the hand of Ephrayim, so it is up to Ephrayim (believers in Yeshua Messiah) to stop defiling ourselves with idols and disgusting matters and to faithfully guard and do His commandments so that we, too, will become one stick and can be rejoined with our brother Yehudah.

Isa 11:12 And He shall raise a banner for the nations, and gather the outcasts of Yisra'el, and assemble the dispersed of Yehudah from the four corners of the earth.
Isa 11:13 And the envy of Ephrayim shall turn aside, and the adversaries of Yehudah be cut off. Ephrayim shall not envy Yehudah, and Yehudah not trouble Ephrayim.

When the two kingdoms are one again, Yehudah will know their Messiah:

Zec 12:10 "And I shall pour on the house of Dawid and on the inhabitants of Yerushalayim a spirit of favour and prayers. And they shall look on Me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son. And they shall be in bitterness over Him as a bitterness over the first-born.

And so all Yisra'el will be saved:

Rom 11:25 For I do not wish you to be ignorant of this secret, brothers, lest you should be wise in your own estimation, that hardening in part has come over Yisra'el, until the completeness of the gentiles has come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Yisra'el shall be saved, as it has been written, "The Deliverer shall come out of Tsiyon, and He shall turn away wickedness from Ya?aqob,
Rom 11:27 and this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins."

It is a real eye-opener is to read the story of The Prodigal Son with the understanding that the elder brother is Yehudah and the younger brother is Ephrayim:

Luk 15:11 And He said, "A certain man had two sons,
Luk 15:12 and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods falling to me.' And he divided his livelihood between them.
Luk 15:13 "And not many days after, the younger son, having gathered all together, went away to a distant country, and there wasted his goods with loose living.
Luk 15:14 "And when he had spent all, there arose a severe scarcity of food throughout that land, and he began to be in need.
Luk 15:15 "And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him to his fields to feed pigs.
Luk 15:16 "And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods which the pigs were eating, and no one gave to him.
Luk 15:17 "But having come to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I am perishing with hunger!
Luk 15:18 'Having risen, I shall go to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against the heaven, and before you,
Luk 15:19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." '
Luk 15:20 "And having risen, he went to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against the heaven, and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
Luk 15:22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.
Luk 15:23 'And bring the fattened calf here and slaughter it, and let us eat and rejoice,
Luk 15:24 because this son of mine was dead and is alive again, and he was lost and is found.' And they began to rejoice.
Luk 15:25 "And his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
Luk 15:26 "And having called one of the servants he asked what this meant.
Luk 15:27 "And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he received him back in health.'
Luk 15:28 "And he was wroth and would not go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.
Luk 15:29 "And answering, he said to his father, 'See, these many years I have been serving you, and I have never transgressed a command of yours, but to me you have never given a young goat, so I could rejoice with my friends.
Luk 15:30 'But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with whores, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.'
Luk 15:31 "Then he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all I have is yours.
Luk 15:32 'And we had to rejoice and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive, and was lost and is found.' "

Throughout the centuries Yehudah has been entrusted with the Words of Elohim--the Torah--the Rock upon which all of the other Scriptures stand:

Rom 3:1 What then is the advantage of the Yehudite, or what is the value of the circumcision?
Rom 3:2 Much in every way! Because firstly indeed, that they were entrusted with the Words of Elohim.

Ephrayim, on the other hand, went far away from the Torah, and some still teach that it has been done away with, despite what Yeshua Messiah said:

Mat 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Torah or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to complete.
Mat 5:18 "For truly, I say to you, till the heaven and the earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall by no means pass from the Torah till all be done.

Heaven and earth have not yet passed away, and obviously all has not yet been done. Just from the above prophecies alone we can see that there is still much more to come. Ephrayim needs to leave the pigpen and go back to the Father so that Yeshua Messiah's prayer will finally be answered:

Joh 17:20 "And I do not pray for these alone, but also for those believing in Me through their word,
Joh 17:21 so that they all might be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, so that they too might be one in Us, so that the world might believe that You have sent Me.
Joh 17:22 "And the esteem which You gave Me I have given them, so that they might be one as We are one,
Joh 17:23 "I in them, and You in Me, so that they might be perfected into one, so that the world knows that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

May His will be done.