We have discussed the stauros pendiculum, the stauros being the stake fixed in the ground, and the pendiculum the cross beam which would make the tree in the shape of the Paleo Hebrew Tav, and the Greek Tau.  And in looking into the prophecy of Yekhezq’el 37, we discover that the two sticks that are to be joined are actually two trees, and the Hebrew word there is etz.

The question that immediately arises is: who are these two trees?  Yekhezq’el answers some of this in the passage in question.

Yechezq’el (Ezekiel) 37:16-17

Moreover, you son of man, take you one stick (etz), and write upon it, For Yahudah, and for the children of Yisra’el his companions: then take another stick (etz), and write upon it, For Yoceph, the stick of Ephrayim, and for all the house of Yisra’el his companions: 17 And join them one to another into one stick (etz); and they shall become one in your hand.

The two trees which are to become one tree are identified in this passage as the house of Yahudah, and the house of Yoceph and the son who holds the birthright of Avraham, Yitschaq and Ya’aqov, namely Ephrayim.

At one time, when the house of Yisra’el left the land of Mitsrayim, all of the tribes were united, and eventually came under the tenure of David in the Davidian kingdom, only to be divided following the death of Shalomah.

Here is Yermiyahu’s declaration.

Yermiyahu (Jeremiah) 11:16-17

YAHUAH called your name, A green olive tree (ra’anan zayith), fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he has kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. 17 For YAHUAH TSE-VA’OT, that planted you, has pronounced evil against you, for the evil of the house of Yisra’el and of the house of Yahudah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Ba`al.

Here, the green olive tree is defined as both the house of Yisra’el and the house of Yahudah. Are there other witnesses?

Zakar'yahu (Zechariah) 4:1-14

And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, 2 And said unto me, What do you see? And I said, I have looked, and behold a menorah all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4 So I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spoke unto me, saying, This is the Word of YAHUAH unto Zerubbavel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my RUACH, says YAHUAH TSEVA’OT. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbavel you shall become a plain: and he shall bring forth את eth-the head-stone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8 Moreover the Word of YAHUAH came unto me, saying, 9 The hands of Zerubbavel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know that YAHUAH TSEVA’OT has sent me unto you. 10 For who has despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see את eth-the plummet in the hand of Zerubbavel with those seven; they are the eyes of YAHUAH, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

            11 Then answered I, and said unto him: What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the menorah and upon the left side thereof? 12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 13 And he answered me and said, Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the ADONAI of the whole earth.

Sha’ul also goes on to discuss this understanding, again referring to two olive trees: one wild olive tree and one good olive tree.

Romayim (Romans) 11:17-27

And if some of the branches be broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if you boast, you bear not the root, but the root you. 19 You will say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 For if YAH spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not you. 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of YAH: on them which fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness: otherwise you also shall be cut off. 23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for YAH is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Yisra’el, until the fulness of the other people come in. 26 And so all Yisra’el shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Tsiyon the Deliverer, and shall turn away wickedness from Ya`aqov: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

So, Yekhezq’el tells us that there are two trees – one in the hands of the house of Yahudah, and one of the house of Yoceph in the hands of Ephrayim, which will be joined together as one.  Yermiyahu tells us that at one time, the united houses of Yahudah and Yisra’el were a green olive tree.  Zakaryahu tells us that there are two olive trees, the two anointed ones which stand before ADONAI of the whole earth, and Sha’ul goes on to declare one tree to be a wild olive tree and the other a good olive tree.  Yet MASHIACH is the one who joined the pendiculum to the stauros with his body being nailed to both, his blood shed on both, and his atoning grace coming upon the whole earth. 

However, the two trees appear once more as a final witness:

Chizayon (Revelation) 11:3-4

And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees, and the two menorahs standing before the ELOHIYM of the earth.

Let us not, then, bring animosity between Ephrayim and Yahudah, and between Yahudah and Ephrayim, for we shall both testify to the truth.  Amein.