PaRDeS and the Two Sticks: Ezekiel 37 on All Four Levels

PaRDeS and the Two Sticks
The Two Sticks Prophecy of Ezekiel 37 on All Four Levels
Part 1 The Pashat
By
James Scott Trimm

THE PASHAT

After the time of Solomon the Kingdom of Israel split into two kingdoms known as the two Houses of Israel. The Southern Kingdom became known as the Kingdom of Judah. The Northern Kingdom became known as the Kingdom of Israel. This Northern Kingdom was also often called "Ephraim" after its most prominent tribe. 2Kings 17 tells us of how the Assyrian king Sargon II took the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom captive in 723 BCE and resettled them so that "none was left except the tribe of Judah" (17:18). These came to be known as "the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel". They were divorced by YHWH (Jer. 3:8 ) but there was yet a promise of an eventual reunion of the two houses of Israel ( Is. 11:11-12; Jer. 3:6-18; Hosea 1-3; Amos 9:8-10; Obad. 15-21; Micah 2:12-13; 5:3-15; Zech. 8:13; 9 & 10; Ezekiel 34-37 esp. 37 ).

Part of the reason that the split took place is that Ephraim would not be under the authority of Judah. As a result they rebelled and established their own authority, their own priests and their own sanctuary. They also mixed the true religion of Torah with paganism.

What became of these “Lost Ten Tribes”? The apocryphal book of 4th Ezra (2Esdras) tells us that they went to a region known as “Artzaret”, but this is of little help in actually locating them, because this is simply a contraction of the Hebrew phrase meaning “another land”:

39: And whereas you saw that he gathered another peaceable multitude unto him;
40: Those are the ten tribes, which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the time of Hoshea the king, whom Shal’man’eser the king of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so came they into another land.
41: But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt,
42: That they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land.
43: And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow places of the river.
44: For Elyon then showed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over.
45: For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is called Artzaret.
(2nd Ezra 11:39-46 (13:39-46) HRV)

(“Artzaret” in Hebrew means “another land” compare Deut. 29:27(28))

The first century Jewish writer Josephus seems to have known something of them, he says only that they were “beyond the Euphrates” and had a large population in his day:

   …the ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates until
   now, and are an immense multitude, and not to
   be estimated by numbers.
   (Josephus; Ant. 11:5:2)

According to the Midrash Rabbah the Lost Ten Tribes migrated beyond a river known as the "Sabatyon"

The ten tribes were exiled to within the region
of the river Sabatyon…
(Midrash Rabba, Sh'lach 16).

The identity of this river has remained a mystery. The primary clue to the identity of the mysterious Sabatyon river is also found in Midrash Rabbah which quotes Rabbi Akiba as saying:

   ...the river Sabatyon carries stones the whole
    week but allows them to rest on the Sabbath.
    (Genesis Rabbah 11:5)

Similarly the Talmud says:

   Let the river Sabatyon prove that the
   Seventh day is the Sabbath.
   (b.Sanh. 65b)

The prophet Ovadyah (Obadiah) speaks of the destination of the House of Israel as follows:

   And the captivity of this host of the children of Yisrael,
   that are among the Kena’anites, even unto Tzarfat, and
   the captivity of Yerushalayim, that is in Sepharad, shall
   possess the cities of the South.
   (Ovadyah 1:20)

Where is Tzarfat? Tzarfat is the Hebrew word for “France”. In fact, if you were reading a newspaper in Israel today, and it referred to France, the word used would be “Tzarfat”.

Rashi’s commentary to Ob. 1:20 says: "Tzarfat is the kingdom of France.”

Recently research has been conducted by Orthodox Jewish Israeli scholars which traces the migrations of these Lost Ten Tribes. Two of these scholars are John Hulley (Yochanan ben David) and Yair Davidy.

John Hulley recently published a paper in the Israeli journal B'Or Ha'Torah (In the light of Torah) in which he traced the migrations of these "Lost Tribes" north west, across the Bosphorus straits between the Mediterranean and the Black sea.

Yair Davidy has written three books under the Rabbinic approbation of Orthodox Israeli Rabbi Abraham Feld. These are The Tribes; Ephraim and Lost Israelite Identity. Yair Davidy's thoroughly documented research has shown that the Lost Ten Tribes, which had been transplanted to the outskirts of Assyria came to be known as the Sakeans (they were previously known as Yitzakheans or in Aramaic Isakeans). These Sakeans are known to have migrated northwest and made their way into Europe to become the Scythians (S'kitheans) and Saxons (Saksons). Davidy's research has shown that other tribal groups of the Lost Ten Tribes also emerged in Europe under names similar to those of the Tribe of Israel, such as: Galics (Galileans); Danes (Dans); Cimereans (Simeons); Goths/Gots (Gads "Gad" is pronounced in Hebrew as "God").

In the Pashat level the two sticks represent the reunion of the Two Houses of Israel. As the text itself reveals:

21 And say unto them, Thus says the Adonai YHWH: Behold, I will take the children of
Yisra’el from among the nations where they are gone, and will gather them on every side,
and bring them into their own land.
22 And I will make them one nation, in the land; upon the mountains of Yisra’el, and
one king shall be king to them all. And they shall be no more two nations, neither shall
they be divided into two kingdoms, any more, at all.
(Ezekiel 37:21-22 HRV)

(To be Continued in Part 2)

PaRDeS and the Two Sticks

An Examination of the Two Sticks Prophecy of Ezekiel 37 on All Four Levels

Part 2 The Remez

James Scott Trimm

In Judaism it is understood that there are four levels of understanding of a passage, which correspond to the four Hebrew letters that spell the Hebrew word PaRDeS (Paradise) The word PRDS is also an acronym (called in Judaism "notarikon") for:

[P]ashat (Heb. "simple") The plain, simple, literal level of understanding.
[R]emez (Heb. "hint") The implied level of understanding.
[D]rash (Heb. "search") The allegorical, typological or homiletically level of understanding.
[S]od (Heb. "hidden") The hidden, secret or mystical level of understanding.

In this four part study I will relate the understanding of the prophecy of Ezekiel 37 on each of the four levels.

Ezekiel 37 reads:

15 And the word of YHWH came unto me, saying:
16 And you, son of man, take you one stick, and write upon it: For Y’hudah, and for the
children of Yisra’el his companions. Then take another stick, and write upon it: For
Yosef, the stick of Efrayim, and of all the House of Yisra’el, his companions.
17 And join them for you, one to another into one stick, that they may become one, in
your hand.
18 And when the children of your people shall speak unto you, saying, Will you not tell
us what you mean by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus says the Adonai YHWH: Behold, I will take the stick of Yosef,
which is in the hand of Efrayim, and the tribes of Yisra’el his companions, and, I will put
them unto him, together with the stick of Y’hudah: and make them one stick … and they
shall be one, in My hand.
20 And the sticks whereon you write, shall be in your hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus says the Adonai YHWH: Behold, I will take the children of
Yisra’el from among the nations where they are gone, and will gather them on every side,
and bring them into their own land.
22 And I will make them one nation, in the land; upon the mountains of Yisra’el, and
one king shall be king to them all. And they shall be no more two nations, neither shall
they be divided into two kingdoms, any more, at all.
(Ezekiel 37:15-22 HRV)

THE REMEZ

Note that verse 19 reads:

19 Say unto them, Thus says the Adonai YHWH: Behold, I will take the stick of Yosef,
which is in the hand of Efrayim, and the tribes of Yisra’el his companions, and, I will put
them unto him, together with the stick of Y’hudah: and make them one stick … and they
shall be one, in My hand.

What is implied in these words “, I will take the stick of Yosef, … and, I will put them unto him, together with the stick of Y’hudah”?

Jeremiah tells us that the House of Israel was divorced by YHWH (Jer. 3:8 ) while Judah yet rules of YHWH (Hosea 11:12). The hope of the House of Israel is the reunion of the two houses. This is not accomplished, as some have taught, by merging these two houses on equal terms, and it is not accomplished by an Ephraim that persists in doing its own independent thing apart from Judah since that was Ephraim's fatal error in the first place.

Northern Kingdom rebelled against the rightful king, High Priest and Temple. They established their own non-Davidic King, their own High Priest and their own Temple at a new location in the Northern Kingdom. They were unwilling to submit to the rulership of the House of Judah. They, in effect, started their own new religion. An Ephaimite religion, under Ephraimite authority.

In Jeremiah Chapter 3 the two houses of Israel are discussed. Notice that Israel and Judah are allegorical sisters in this prophecy (Jer. 3:6-7) In Jer. 3:8 YHWH says:

And I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Yisra'el
had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her
a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Yehudah did not fear, but went and committed whoring too.
(Jer. 3:8 - The Scriptures Version)

However YHWH did not divorce Judah as well, as that would have left no remnant. Instead the Prophet Hosea compares the two Houses of Israel this way:

"Ephrayim has surrounded Me with lying,
and the house of Yisra'el with deceit.
But Yehudah is still wandering with El,
and is true to the Set-apart One."
(Hosea 11:12 - The Scriptures Version)

While the House of Israel abandoned the one true faith, a remnant of the House of Judah remained faithful to the one true faith. Since the one true faith had now become the faith of only the House of Judah, it had come to be called "Judaism".

No one knows just when the one true faith came to be known as "Judaism". The earliest known usage of the term "Judaism" in written literature is 2Maccabees 2:21 where it is said that the Maccabees, fighting the Greeks are described as "those who strove zealously on behalf of Judaism". The term Judaism was in common use well before the first century being commonly used by writers such as Josephus and Philo.

Paul himself uses the term "Judaism" in Galatians 1:13 to describe his own faith (see Acts 23:6 for proof that this passage was comparing Paul's former life in Judaism with his current life in Judaism).

In the first two chapters of Isaiah we see a prophetic rebuke of each of the Two Houses of Israel. Isaiah 1:1-23 contains a prophetic rebuke "concerning Judah and Jerusalem" (1:1) while Isaiah 2:5-22 contains a prophetic rebuke directed at the "House of Jacob" (2:5).

The House of Judah ("Judah and Jerusalem") is observing Torah in some way... they are offering sacrifices and incense and observing new moons and sabbaths and the calling of assemblies (1:13). But note that Isaiah 1 calls them "YOUR new moons" and "YOUR appointed feasts" but the Torah calls them "My appointed feasts" etc..

This is why YHWH's nefesh (soul) HATES their appointed feasts (1:14). The House of Judah is observing Torah, but in an empty way (because they have violated Deut. 18:15-18 in rejecting Messiah). Their Torah observance is empty and meaningless because it has lost the Soul of the Torah the Messiah himself.

The House of Israel (also called the "House of Jacob") is rebuked for having turned from the "light of YHWH" (2:5) (i.e, the Torah see Isaiah 8:20); forsaking "your people" (2:6) and turning to idolatry (2:7).

But in Isaiah 1:9 there is a key passage:

Except YHWH of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

Note that this verse takes place in YHWH's rebuke of the House of Judah. While the House of Jacob abandons the Torah and their own people (the House of Judah) and turn to idolatry, and most of the House of Judah observes Torah in an empty way (having rejected the Messiah) there is a remnant of the House of Judah which has not rejected Torah or the Messiah.

In a footnote to Isaiah 1:9 the Ryrie Study Bible has the following comment:

"Quoted in Rom. 9:29 with reference to Christian Jews."

Now I do not always agree with Ryrie's comments and I certainly do not agree with the usage of the term "Jewish Christians", what Ryrie would call "Jewish Christians" we would identify as "Nazarene Jews"

However it is very important that Romans 9:29 does quote Isaiah 1:9 with reference to Nazarene Jews. The "remnant" of the House of Judah in Isaiah 1:9 does in fact refer to Nazarene Judaism.

This brings us to the encounter between Yeshua and an Ephraimite woman (a Samaritan). There is no doubt that this Samaritan woman is to be counted as an Ephraimite because she refers to "our father Jacob" (Jn. 4:12) and Yeshua makes no attempt to correct her on this point. (Note she mentions the two different places of worship on different mountains in 4:20). Then Yeshua tells her her religion is false and that the Jewish religion is the one true faith saying:

"You worship what you do not know.
We worship what we know,
because the deliverance is of the Yehudim.
"But the hour is coming, and now is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth,
for the Father also does seek such to worship Him.
(Jn. 4:22-23 - The Scriptures Version)

Yeshua makes it clear that the "true worshipers" are the Jews who practice
Judaism "in spirit and truth" as opposed to an Ephraimite religion. ("in
spirit and truth" - a reference to the Torah - see Ps. 119:142, 151; Ezek. 36:27).

Moreover Paul writes:

"...what is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the profit of
circumcision? Much in everything!..."
(Rom. 3:1-2)

Now the question is: What is the prophetic hope of the House of Israel? Is there to be a last days restoration of a distinct and separate House of Israel (as opposed to the House of Judah) or is the hope of divorced Ephraim to be joined to the House of Judah?

One of the most beautiful prophecies of the reunion of the two houses of Israel is the "two sticks" prophecy in Ezekiel 37:15-20. In this prophecy each of the two houses of Israel are symbolized by two "sticks" which are brought together and made as one (Ezek. 37:15-18) the text goes on to specify that YHWH will:

...take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim,
and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him,
even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick,...
(Ezek. 37:19)

Now lets look at another prophecy in Zech. 8:23:

Thus said YHWH of hosts, 'In those days ten men
from all languages of the nations take hold,
yea, they shall take hold of the edge of the garment of a man,
a Yehudite, saying, "Let us go with you,
for we have heard that Elohim is with you .

Now lest anyone think that the "Jew" (Yehudite) in this passage is a certain Jew, such as the Messiah, I must point out that in the Hebrew the word "you" in "let us go with "you" and "Elohim is with you" is PLURAL and therefore refers not to an individual Jew, but to the House of Judah. No doubt the number "ten" here implies the lost ten tribes of Ephraim. Note that Ephraim says to Judah:

"let us [Ephraim] go with you [Judah]
for we [Ephraim] have heard that YHWH is with you [Judah]."

Finally let us look at the olive tree prophecy of Romans 11. This prophecy parallels the two "sticks" prophecy of Ezekiel 37 (note that the word STICK in Ezek. 37 is ETZ which also means "tree").

Rom. 9 begins the contrast of the "Jews" and "Gentiles" by quoting Hosea 2:25(23); 2:1 (1:10) in Rom. 9:25-26. But if we look up the context of the people "which were not my people" which he calls "my people" in Hosea we find that they are the "children of Israel" (Hosea 2:1 (1:10)) as opposed to "the children of Judah" (Hosea 2:2 (1:11)) So if Paul is quoting Hosea in context and contrasting Jews and Gentiles (Rom. 9:24) using Hosea 2:1-2 (1:10-11) then the "Jews" of Rom. 9:24 are the "Childern of Judah" of Hosea 2:2 (1:11) and the "Gentiles" of Rom. 9:24 are the "children of Israel" of Hosea 2:1 (1:10). If this is true then as this contrasting pair advances into Rom. Chapter 11 the two trees are the two Houses.

Now the uncultivated olive tree in Romans 11 is clearly therefore Ephraim and the cultivated olive tree is clearly that of Judah. This prophecy tells us that branches from the tree/stick of Ephraim will be broken off and grafted into the tree/stick of Judah, are to be fed by the root of the tree/stick of Judah and are not to boast against the natural branches (Jews)."

The House of Judah is the cultivated olive tree that Ephraimite branches are being grafted into.

Judaism is the one true faith that was once and for all time given. Messiah did not come to create a new religion whether Christian or a new Ephraimite religion. Messiah came to be the Messiah of Judaism.

Many of those of Ephraim and the Gentiles being drawn to Torah truth and taking hold of Judah are being troubled by those wishing to discourage them from being grafted into Judah. These would have Ephraim return to the initial Ephraimite error of creating an Ephraimite faith apart from Judah and Judaism.

(to be continued in Part 3)

PaRDeS and the Two Sticks
An Examination of the Two Sticks Prophecy of Ezekiel 37 on All Four Levels
Part 3 The Drash
By
James Scott Trimm

http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/he-says-concerning-himself-...)

This actually recalls an account in the Torah concerning the life of Joseph. When his brothers cast Joseph into the pit we read:

20 Come now therefore and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits. And we
will say, An evil beast has devoured him. And we shall see what will become of his dreams.
(Gen. 37:20 HRV)

There is great Messianic significance to this account. Joseph’s life was a type of the first coming of Messiah which parallels the Rabbinical Messiah ben Yoseph. The Suffering Messiah is called Messiah ben Yoseph because his brothers were redeemed by his suffering.

Like Joseph the Patriarch, Yeshua was betrayed by his own for a few pieces of silver (Gen. 37:28) he was cast into “the pit” (death) and raised back up so that he might redeem his brothers, Like Joseph, Yeshua’s teaching and revelation angered his brothers, who sought to put his claims to the test by casting him into the pit (of death).

Would there be two Messiahs or one Messiah? A tradition found in Midrash Rabbah may provide the answer:

Another exposition of the text, ' My beloved is like a gazelle ‘: Israel, explained R. Isaac, said to the Holy One, blessed be He: ' Sovereign of the Universe! Thou hast told us that Thou wilt come to us first.’ ' My beloved is like a gazelle ‘; as the gazelle appears and then disappears, so the first redeemer appeared and then disappeared. R. Berekiah in the name of R. Levi said: Like the first redeemer so will the final redeemer be. The first redeemer was Moses, who appeared to them and then disappeared. For how long did he disappear from their sight? R. Tanhuma said: Three months1; accordingly it is written, And they met Moses and Aaron, etc. (ib. V, 20).2 The final redeemer will also appear to them and then disappear.
(Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar 11:2)

Clearly here the two redeemers are Moses and the prophet like Moses, the Messiah (See my recent article “A Prophet Like Moses” http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/a-prophet-like-moses )

The redemption under Moses can be seen in the Torah as follows:

13 And Moshe said unto the people, Fear you not. Stand still, and see the salvation of YHWH, which He will work for you today! For whereas you have seen the Egyptians today, you shall see them again, no more, forever.
14 YHWH will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
(Ex. 14:13-14 HRV)

(For more on the two parallel redemptions see my recent article The Crossing of the Red Sea A Picture of the Process of Salvation http://nazarenespace.com/profiles/blogs/the-crossing-of-the-red-sea... )

This Midrash preserves a tradition which tells us that the Messiah would, like Moses, be revealed, then disappeared and then revealed again. The coming of Messiah would be like Moses, who was revealed to Israel. Then he disappeared when he ascended to commune with Elohim on Mt. Sinai. While he was gone there was a great apostasy, and many believed he would never return (Ex. 32:1). When he returned he separated and judged the people and condemned those who had not repented (Ex. 32:26-28). The Midrash is telling us that the coming of Messiah would parallel these events.

Thus on a Drash level the two sticks prophecy of Ezekiel 37 may also be seen as teaching us that the two roles of Messiah as Messiah ben Yosef and as Messiah ben David are actually one Messiah who comes twice.

(To be continued in Part 4)

PaRDeS and the Two Sticks
An Examination of the Two Sticks Prophecy of Ezekiel 37 on All Four Levels
Part 4 The Sod
By
James Scott Trimm

As we stated in part 1, in Judaism it is understood that there are four levels of understanding of a passage, which correspond to the four Hebrew letters that spell the Hebrew word PaRDeS (Paradise) The word PRDS is also an acronym (called in Judaism "notarikon") for:

[P]ashat (Heb. "simple") The plain, simple, literal level of understanding.
[R]emez (Heb. "hint") The implied level of understanding.
[D]rash (Heb. "search") The allegorical, typological or homiletically level of understanding.
[S]od (Heb. "hidden") The hidden, secret or mystical level of understanding.

In this four part study I will relate the understanding of the prophecy of Ezekiel 37 on each of the four levels.

Ezekiel 37 reads:

15 And the word of YHWH came unto me, saying:
16 And you, son of man, take you one stick, and write upon it: For Y’hudah, and for the children of Yisra’el his companions. Then take another stick, and write upon it: For Yosef, the stick of Efrayim, and of all the House of Yisra’el, his companions.
17 And join them for you, one to another into one stick, that they may become one, in your hand.
18 And when the children of your people shall speak unto you, saying, Will you not tell us what you mean by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus says the Adonai YHWH: Behold, I will take the stick of Yosef, which is in the hand of Efrayim, and the tribes of Yisra’el his companions, and, I will put them unto him, together with the stick of Y’hudah: and make them one stick … and they shall be one, in My hand.
20 And the sticks whereon you write, shall be in your hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus says the Adonai YHWH: Behold, I will take the children of Yisra’el from among the nations where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land.
22 And I will make them one nation, in the land; upon the mountains of Yisra’el, and one king shall be king to them all. And they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms, any more, at all.
(Ezekiel 37:15-22 HRV)

THE SOD

In Part 3 we showed the connection between Gen. 49:10 and Ezekiel 37 and we showed that the Zohar says of Gen. 49:10:

…”the scepter” referring to the Messiah of the House of Judah,
and “the staff” to the Messiah of the House of Joseph.
“Until Shiloh comes”, this is Moses, the gematria of Shiloh
and Moses being the same [358].
(Zohar 1:25)

The Zohar says further of this passage:

The word Shiloh, here, is spelt with both a yod and a he,
to allude to the holy supernal name, Yah,
by which the Shekinah shall rise…
(Zohar 1:237)

In the Zohar the letters Yod (Y) and He (H) in the name YHWH are understood to represent the Father and the Mother:

AND GOD SAID, LET THERE BE LIGHT; AND THERE WAS LIGHT. ...The word Yehi (let there be) indicates that the union of the Father and Mother symbolised by the letters Yod He became now a starting-point (symbolised by the second Yod) for further extension.
(Zohar 1:16b)

AND THE LORD GOD BUILT THE SIDE. Here is an allusion to the law of the deceased husband's brother, in regard to whom the Sages said, “If he refuses to build once, he shall not build any more”, as it is written, “thus shall be done to the man who shall not build his brother's house” (Deut. XXV, 9). But of God it is written, “And the Lord God built”, i.e. the Father and the Mother built the son, as it is written, “God buildeth Jerusalem”, i.e. Vau, which is the son, is built by Yod He, which are the Father and Mother. Hence it says, “And the Lord God built the side which he had taken from the man”, viz. the Central Column, “and brought it to the man”, i.e. he brought to the side which he had taken from He its maiden, and of her it is said, “And I shall be to her, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about” (Zech. II, 9).
(Zohar 1:28a)

We were created in the image of Elohim (Gen. 1:26-27; 1Cor. 11:7). This Image of Elohim is an invisible image of attributes, which make up the godhead (Col. 1:15; Rom. 1:27).

"What may be known of Elohim is manifest in them [mankind] his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead..."
(Rom. 1:19)

Then in Rom. 1:26-28 we are told that those who fail to perceive these things may fall into the errors of Homosexuality and Lesbianism. So when in creation were Elohim's invisible attributes manifested in man and made clearly seen. The answer is in the Torah, in Gen. 1:26, 27 where we read:

Then Elohim said, "Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness...
So Elohim created man in His own image;
in the image of Elohim He created him;
male and female He created them.

Now following the parallelism of the passage, "Our image", "Our likeness" and "male and female" appear to be parallel terms.

These feminine and masculine attributes are represented in the Tanak by the Father (Jer. 31:9; Mal. 1:9; Is. 63:16; 64:8), the Mother (Is. 66:13 ) and the Son (Prov. 30:4; Ps. 2:2, 7, 12).

The female aspect of the three pillars of the Godhead is called "mother". This is YHWH expressed to man, not in his aspect of “Father” but in the aspect of “Mother”. as we also read in the Tanak:

As one whom his mother comforts, so will I [YHWH] comfort you…
(Is. 66:13)

YHWH as a “comforter” is also known as the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) as we read in Yochanan:

…I will ask my Father and he will give you another comforter that will be with you forever, The Spirit of Truth …
(Jn. 14:16-17)

…the comforter, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom my Father will send in my name,…
(Jn. 14:27)

…when the comforter comes. Whom I will send you from my Father, the Spirit of Truth who has proceeded from my Father…
(Jn. 15:26)

…I will send the comforter to you.
(Jn. 16:7)

The combination of the Yod (Father) and He (Mother) is "YAH" and is understood as being represented by the letter Vau (W) thus the three letters which make up the name YHWH are understood as representing the Three Pillars of the Godhead.

(It is significant that the letter Vau in the Paleo Hebrew is a pictograph of a nail.)

The Vau (W) in the Sacred name of YHWH in the Zohar represents the Middle Pillar of the Godhead which the Zohar identifies as "The Son of Yah". The Zohar describes the three pillars of the Godhead as follows:

Then Elohim said, “Let thee be light; and there was light.
And Elohim saw that the light was good...
Why, it may be asked, was it necessary to repeat the word “light” in this verse? The answer is that the first “light” refers to the primordial light which is of the Right Hand, and it is destined for the “end of days”; while the second “light” refers to the Left Hand, which issues from the Right.
The next words, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Gen. 1:4), refer to the
pillar which, standing midway between them, unites both sides, and therefore when the unity of the three, right, left, and middle, was complete, “it was good”, since there could be no completion until the third had appeared to remove the strife between Right and Left, as it is written, “And God separated between the light and between the darkness."...
This is the Middle Pillar: Ki Tov (that it was good) threw light above and below and on all other sides, in virtue of YHWH, the name which embraces all sides.
(Zohar 1:16b)

The right and left pillars are assigned as Mother and Father, the middle pillar, which balances the feminine and masculine characteristics from the male and female sides, is identified in the Zohar as "the Son of Yah". The Zohar says:

Better is a neighbor that is near, than a brother far off.
This neighbor is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead, which is the Son of Yah.
(Zohar 2:115)

In another Passage the Zohar has:

We may also translate, “he who withholds blessings from the Son”, whom the Father and Mother have crowned and blessed with many blessings, and concerning whom they
commanded, “Kiss the son lest he be angry” (Ps. II, 12), since he is invested both
with judgement (gevurah) and with mercy (chesed).
(Zohar 3:191b)

And elsewhere the Zohar says of the Son:

The Holy One, blessed be He, has a son, whose glory (tifret) shines from one end of
the world to another. He is a great and mighty tree, whose head reaches heaven, and whose roots are set in the holy ground, and his name is “Mispar” and his place is in the uppermost heaven… as it is written, “The heavens declare (me-SaPRim) the glory (tifret) of God” (Ps. 19:1). Were it not for this “Mispar” there would be neither hosts nor offspring in any of the worlds.
(Zohar 2:105a)

Likewise Philo writes:

...the Divine Word (Logos)...fills all things and becomes a mediator and arbitrator for the two sides....from the Divine Word (Logos), as from a spring, there divide and break forth two powers. One is the creative through which the Artificer placed and ordered all things. This is named "God". And the royal, since through it the Creator rules over created things. This is called "Lord" And from these two powers have grown the others. For by the side of the creative power there grows the propitious of which is named "beneficial" while (besides) the royal the legislative, of which is aptly named "punitive". And below these and beside them is the ark."
(Philo on Q&A on Exodus, II.68)

Furthermore Philo tells us that “The Word” (Logos) and the Messiah are one and the same:

"The head of all things is the eternal Word (Logos) of the eternal God, under which, as if it were his feet or other limbs, is placed the whole world, over which He passes and firmly stands. Now it is not because Messiah is Lord that He passes and sits over the whole world, for His seat with His Father and God but because for its perfect fullness the world is in need of the care and superintendence of the best ordered dispensation, and for its own complete piety, of the Divine Word (Logos), just as living creatures (need) a head, without which it is impossible to live."
(Q&A on Exodus, II, 117)

Thus on a Sod level we may understand the two sticks of Ezekiel 34 as paralleling the scepter and rod of Gen. 49:10 which represent the letters Yod and He in the Sacred Name of YHWH which unite in the Sacred Name Yah and in the Hebrew letter Vau in the Sacred Name which represents the Middle Pillar of the Godhead, the Son of Yah, the incarnate Word of YHWH who is the Messiah.

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