JUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT
by Allen (published in 1917)
JACOB'S PILLOW-PILLAR STONE
When the Abrahamic covenant promises were given to Jacob, he
was making a journey from Beersheba to Padan-aram. He had but
recently received from his father Isaac the "Blessing," which
carried with it those much desired covenants and the special
blessings and promises which pertained to them. When Isaac gave
this blessing to Jacob, he told him not to take a wife of the
daughters of Canaan, the land in which they were then living, but
to go to Laban, his mother's brother, and to take a wife from
among his daughters.
It is hardly to be supposed that Jacob was traveling
entirely alone, for that was not the Oriental custom. We learn,
from incidental remarks that are dropped elsewhere in reference
to this journey, that he had with him a tent which was pitched at
night, and that the journey was made on foot, for he walked with
a staff. The sacred record deals chiefly with that which took
place between Jacob and the Lord, with but the slightest
incidental mention of details, as concerning a certain sundown,
and stones for pillows. The first mention of stones for pillows,
with reference to this occasion, is plural; but suddenly one of
those pillow stones is brought into great distinction.
The facts which brought that special stone into such
prominence may be quickly read, for the Bible account of them is
very short; but we doubt whether many who have read the record of
those facts realize their true symbolic import. We doubt also
whether we shall be able to explain, even approximately, not only
the great distinction which has been bestowed upon that stone as
a symbol, but also the exalted place it has occupied ever since
it came into historic notice, or the supreme greatness of that
position to which prophecy declares it shall yet be raised. If we
read the prophets aright, no such glorious prominence, highly-
honored use, or divinely-declared purpose, has ever been given to
any other inanimate thing on the earth, as that which is yet in
reserve for that special pillow stone upon which Jacob rested his
head on that certain night, when he camped before Luz, while on
his way to Padan-aram.
It seems to have been the custom among Oriental travelers,
when they pitched their tents for the night, to take stones for
headpieces, or bolsters, in order to raise that part of their
bedding on which their heads rested to a comfortable position for
rest and sleep. At least, this is what Jacob did, and as he
slept, he dreamed. In his dream he saw what is called a ladder,
but which may be called a staircase, or an open way that reached
from earth to heaven, for "the top of it reached to heaven." The
angels of God were ascending and descending by this existing way,
which for the time was made visible to the inheritor of the
covenant promises; and, at the top, above all that throng of
radiant comers and goers, the Lord stood, and gave Jacob the full
text of the covenants, as formerly given to Abraham and Isaac.
Upon hearing and receiving these promises from the Lord,
Jacob awoke, startled, convicted and afraid; startled because, as
he thought, he had accidentally got into God's house, and
stumbled through the gate which led away from this world to that
pure one of which he had just caught a glimpse; afraid, just as
any man would be who had defrauded his brother, and taken
advantage of the love and confidence of a blind and aged father;
convicted! It could not have been otherwise, for he had caught a
glimpse of the holiness of God and the purity of a sinless world.
Hence, in the agony of that psychical fear, which must ever be
experienced by the wicked when brought in contact with absolute
holiness, he cried out, "How dreadful is this place! This is none
other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
That which would have been a great joy to a holy man was
only a means of torture to this sinful one, who was fleeing from
the anger of an outraged brother. But he soon began to yield
himself to God, and as he yielded there came to him that ever
accompanying desire, i. e., the desire to worship. With these
things there came also spiritual intuitions of coming events, and
of their importance to him in his relations to the divine
covenants. Then Jacob, awed by the sublime majesty of the Holy
One, deeply impressed by the greatness of the promises made to
him, stirred in the depths of his inner nature by the heavenly
vision, pressed by the weight of responsibility, yet encouraged
by the dawning gladness in his heart, and moved by the spirit of
prophecy, took the stone upon which his head had rested, and set
it up for a pillar of witness.
At the same time he anointed it with oil, called it Bethel,
used it for an altar at which to worship, and upon which to make
a vow unto the Lord God of his fathers, saying: "If God will be
with me, and keep me in this way that I go, and will give me
bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my
father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God and this
stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and
of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto
thee."
It is a most significant fact that the name Bethel, or God's
house, should have been given to this stone by the one who was
the father of the twelve patriarchs, who were the progenitors of
that great multitude which is also called "The House of God,"
"The Host of God" and "The Families of God." Also in the
eighty-third psalm, The House of Israel, the Hidden Ones, which,
while hidden, are to develop into many nations, are called "The
Houses of God."
We must bear in mind the fact that Jacob gave the name of
Bethel not only to the place, or locality, where the stone was
set up, but also to the stone pillar, for he emphatically
declared: "This stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be
God's house." We understand, however, that God inspired both the
choice of this stone and its name, for when he next spoke to
Jacob he said: "I am the God of Bethel." That means, I am the God
of God's house; or, in other words, the God of the Bethel stone
which is in the place called Bethel. Thus the Lord associates
himself not only with the place where he appeared to Jacob, but
also with the Bethel rock.
(I was educated in a Church of England school. The first half-
hour of each school day was devoted to the Bible. When we came to
reading this section of Genesis, I well remmeber our teacher
saying that the "Coronation Stone in the corination chair" was
the stone that Jacob anointed the night he had this dream from
God. When I finally did get to London and Westminster Abbey, in
the very literature at the Abbey, for tourists to buy, was the
tradition that the Corination Stone was Jacob's pillar-stone -
Keith Hunt)
Twenty years later Jacob returned to the land of Canaan with
great riches, and with the knowledge that his prosperity was the
result of divine favor and intervention; for the Lord had shown
him how one who is called "The Angel of God" was given power to
control the breeding of the cattle. Thus Jacob was made to know
that God had accepted and met all the conditions which he had
made to him by vow on the Bethel pillow-pillar stone.
Before Jacob reached Canaan he had confessed his
wrongdoings, and made peace with his brother; and God had taken
away from him not only the name of supplanter, but also the
inborn supplanter nature, and given him the victorious name of
Israel.
It is a well-known fact that the place called Bethel and the
city of Luz were so near each other that the two names are used
interchangeably in the Scriptures, or rather that the name Bethel
often included the little city, which was previously called Luz.
But before we can understand the true relation of both Bethel and
the Bethel rock to our general subject, we must know to whom, or
to which one of the tribes, Bethel was given as a possession.
The sacred historian, when describing the boundaries of the "lot"
in Canaan which fell to Joseph, describes one of those border
lines as follows: "And (it) goeth out from Bethel to Luz, and
passeth along unto the borders of Archi to Astaroth." (Josh.16:
2.) Also, in the description of that portion which fell to the
children of Benjamin - their portion lay between Judah and
Joseph, Judah being to the south, and Joseph to the north of
Benjamin - we have the following: "And the border went over from
thence (Beth-aven) toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is
Bethel, southward." (Josh.18:13.) From this we perceive, not only
that Benjamin's border was south of Bethel, but also that Bethel,
the place where Jacob set up the Bethel pillarstone, was on the
south side of the city proper.
Further, it is recorded that the children of Dan could not
conquer the Amorites, but that the Amorites drove them into the
mountains, and occupied those portions of Dan's inheritance which
best suited them. But it is also recorded that the house of
Joseph did conquer those Amorites, that they compelled them to
become their dependents, and that they fixed their boundary
lines. In the description of these boundaries we have the
following: "And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up
to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward." (Judges 1:36.) Some may
think that this reference to the rock refers to the rock Etam, or
Etam-rock. This is not possible, because both Etam, the city, and
the rock Etam are southwest of Jerusalem in the hill country of
Judea, and had nothing whatever to do with the borders of Joseph,
Dan or the Amorites. Hence the phrases, "from the rock and
upward," can mean only Bethel, the place of the rock, or, from
the BETHEL ROCK, and up into the mountains of Ephraim-
Samaria-Israel.
Again, concerning the house of Joseph, Bethel and Luz, we
have the following: "And the house of Joseph, they also went up
against Bethel and the Lord was with them. And the house of
Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city was Luz.)
And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said
unto him: Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and
we will Shew thee mercy. And when he shewed them the entrance
into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword;
but they let go the man and all his family. And the man went into
the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name
thereof of Luz." (Judges 1:22-26.) Thus, with the building of
that other Luz, the name of Luz not only departed forever from
Bethel, but it is never again mentioned in sacred history.
Finally, when Jeroboam, of the house of Joseph, was made king of
the ten tribes, and became fearful that the people would, if
allowed to go up to Jerusalem to worship, kill him, and go again
to Rehoboam, king of Judah, he, to prevent this, made two golden
calves, of which it is said: "He set the one in Bethel, and the
other put he in Dan." His right to place one in Bethel was
undisputed, because it was not only "the king's sanctuary," but
it was also in his own tribal territory. He had a sovereign's
right to place one in Dan, for all who went there to worship were
confederate with him. The Dan referred to was the city of Dan,
which was situated in the northern part of his realm.
Now, one point is settled beyond the possibility of doubt,
and that is, that Bethel was a part of the inheritance which fell
to the house of Joseph when the land of Canaan was divided among
the children of Jacob. This brings us to a vital point concerning
the subject in hand, namely:
That not only Bethel, the city, or place, but also that Bethel
the pillar-rock was given to the birthright family; and that
Israel carried that rock with them into Egypt and in their
subsequent journeyings in the wilderness.
Proof:
Jacob died in Egypt, and his posterity were in Egypt at the
time. When dying, "Jacob called unto him his sons and said,
Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall
befall you in the last days." When his sons, in response to his
call, came together, he gave a prophecy concerning that which the
posterity of each of them would be in the last days. But while he
was making the prophecy concerning Joseph and his house, to whom
he had just given the birthright, he stopped in the midst of his
prophetic utterances, and used the following parenthetical
expression: "(from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel":)
"Thence," as herein used, is an adverb used as a noun, and
is equivalent in value to that place, or the place to which it
refers. The phrase, from thence, means "out of there, out from
thither, (or) out of that place." Since the place from whence*
the stone came was the inheritance of Joseph, and since Bethel,
the place of the stone, was the inheritance of Joseph, we must
know that it came from thence, i. e., Bethel. Thus, the very fact
that Jacob, when dying in Egypt, made use of those words in
reference to that Bethel stone, carries proof on its very face
that the stone was not, at that time, in the place where it had
formerly been, but that it was with them there in Egypt, and had
previously been committed to the care of the house of Joseph.
......
* Whence, present form of the old word thence.
......
It has been estimated that the number of the Israelites
which came out of Egypt in the Exodus were two millions and a
half. All who will take time to think will soon comprehend how
impossible it would be, even for a fertile country, much less a
desert, to supply such a multitude, as well as their cattle, of
which not a hoof was left behind, with food and water unless
special arrangements were made for an extra supply. But in this
case, as a matter of course, that was not done; hence it became
necessary for God to furnish the supply of food and water for
that vast concourse of people, and also for their herds and
flocks.
It is a well-known fact that the Lord continually provided
food for Israel during these forty years of wanderings in the
desert-wilderness. But, because there are only two instances
recorded in which the Lord supernaturally provided them with
water, most people think these were the only instances in which
water was thus provided. Yet, all who will give the subject just
a little investigation will soon know that such is not the case.
The first mention of no water for the people to drink was while
the Israelites were encamped at Rephidim. Without previously
selecting one special rock, the Lord said unto Moses: "I will
stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt
smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it." The
phrase, "There in Horeb," points out the place where the rock was
at the time, and if the Lord, when he spoke of the rock, had used
the demonstrative form, and said "That rock," then we should know
that he was designating which one, or a certain one not yet
selected, but the fact that he said "The rock" is proof to us
that he was speaking of a rock with which they were already
familiar. May it not have been the Bethel pillar rock, "the
shepherd, the stone of Israel," which had been committed to the
keeping of the house of Joseph?
This possibility is more clearly manifest in the account of
the other circumstances when there was no water, which occurred
at Kadish, a city in the border of Edom, the country which
belonged to the descendants of Esau. At this place the people of
Israel were very bitter against Moses and Aaron, and said unto
them, "Why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into
this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And
wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us
into this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of
vines, or of pome-granites; neither is there any water to drink.
And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell
upon their faces, and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Take the rod, and gather
the assembly together, and speak ye unto the rock before their
eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring
forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the
congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from
before the Lord, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron
gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said
unto them: Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch water out of this
rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the
rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the
congregation drank, and their beasts also." (Num.20:5-11.)
We have quoted this account in full, from the beginning of
the complaint by the people until the water was given, that our
readers may see that, although the phrase "the rock" is used four
times, there is not the slightest indication that there was any
selection, or indication of preference for any certain rock in
the vicinity of Kadish, or that one was not already chosen, and
in their midst. It was to show also that at the very first
mention of water for the people from "this rock," all that was
necessary, as a preparatory measure, was for the Lord to say to
Moses, "Speak to the rock"; and also that when the people were
commanded to "gather before "the rock," they understood so well
which rock it was that, in all that vast company of two and a
half millions, no explanations were necessary. Hence, it must
have been among them before this, and well known. Let us also
bear in mind that this name, "The Rock," was used in the same
relation at Rephidim, and yet the children of Israel had removed,
journeyed and pitched their tents twenty-one* times after leaving
Rephidim, and here at Kadish there is with them that which is
still familiarly known as "THE ROCK."
We all know that stones are rocks, and that rocks are
stones, so that a rock or stone is only one rock or stone, and
the appellation "The Rock," and "The Stone," must refer to some
special or particular stone or rock. As we have seen, Israel must
have been in
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*See Numbers, 33d chapter.
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possession of just such a special rock, i. e., the Bethel stone,
and that Jacob set it up and called it a "Pillar." Later, in the
days of Athaliah, after she tried to destroy all the males of
"the seed royal," but did not succeed, for the reason that an
infant son of Ahaziah, whom Athaliah succeeded to the throne, was
stolen from those whom she had ordered slain and hidden. The
stealing and hiding of this infant was so cleverly done that it
was not missed by the court slayer. This infant, whose name was
Joash was kept hidden from the wicked queen for six years.
During this time she reigned, not knowing that there was a male
heir to the throne who could dethrone her. But in the seventh
year the secret was revealed to the "rulers over hundreds," and
to "the captains of the guards," and quiet arrangements made to
proclaim the seven-year-old prince as their king. The plans were
successful, and Athaliah knew nothing of it until she heard the
people in the temple shouting "God save the king!"
Thus it is recorded: "And when Athaliah heard the noise of
the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the
temple of the Lord. And when she looked, behold! the king stood
by a pillar, as the manner was." (2 Kings 11:13-14.) Concerning
this pillar, Dr. Adam Clark's translation reads, "Stood on a
pillar," which he explains is "The place or throne on which they
were accustomed to put their kings when they proclaimed them."
But in the revised version it is rendered, "Standing by the
pillar, as was their custom," the article denoting that
particular pillar by, or upon, which it was the custom of Israel
to crown their kings.
Again, when the good king Josiah made a covenant before the
Lord, in the presence of all the people, that he would destroy
idolatry out of the land, it is written, "And the king stood by a
(or the) pillar and made a covenant before the Lord." (2 Kings
23:3.) There is, in the Second Chronicles, a recapitulation of
this circumstance concerning Josiah, which gives the following,
"And the king stood in his place." His place, we are told, was by
the pillar, which might properly be translated pillar-stone, upon
which all the kings of Israel were crowned, made covenants, took
oaths, or made vows, as did Jacob when he first set it up for a
pillar and made it God's house.
This stone is not only called "The Pillar," "The Rock,"
"Bethel," and "The Stone of Israel," but, wonderful to tell, it
is also called "The Shepherd." And since it is really the stone
of Israel we should expect it to be with them to whom it
belonged, but since it is also the Shepherd of Israel, its very
name and character, - for with God names are always
characteristic - demand that it should be with Israel in all
their wanderings. Hence, this SHEPHERD--though it is only a stone
- as any other shepherd would do, must go with His flock.
We have said that this stone of Israel, was a type, or
symbol. For proof, let us go back to the place called Bethel.
There we shall find that Jacob, after setting up "The Rock" for a
pillar, also anointed it with oil, which in sacred symbols is
typical of the Holy Ghost. And, according to sacred history, this
Bethel stone is the only single, individual stone that has ever
been anointed; hence, among stones it is pre-eminently "the
Anointed One." When Christ, the great prototype, came, and was
anointed with the Holy Ghost, he was pre-eminently, among men,
"the Anointed One."
Also, concerning "The rock" which accompanied Israel, the
Lord could say to Israel's leader, "Speak to THE ROCK." But, on
the other hand, Israel also could say, concerning that divine
presence which went with them, "Let us sing unto THE Rock of our
salvation."
Again, this stone is called "The Shepherd o f Israel." But
there is also a divine one unto whom Israel prayed, saying, "Give
ear, 0 Shepherd of Israel." Later, when this same Shepherd was
manifest in the flesh, he said, "I am the Good Shepherd," and his
apostles spoke of him as "The Great Shepherd" and "The Chief
Shepherd." Hence, the oft-repeated metaphor of "sheep" and
"flock," in both the Old and the New Testaments.
Further, Israel had a pillar-rock, which went with them as
their shepherd in all their journeyings in the wilderness; but it
is also written that "The Lord went before them by day in A
PILLAR of a cloud, to lead them in the way; and by night in A
PILLAR of fire, to give them light!"
Still further, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled,
Israel's divine Shepherd-rock was smitten, for it is written,
"Smite the Shepherd." So, too, Israel's literal Shepherd-rock was
smitten. The Lord knew that he must be smitten for the sins of
the people, and, that the type and prototype might agree, he gave
command, "Smite the rock." Oh, the pain of it all!--especially
to him; but he shall yet see the desire of his heart, i. e., his
emotional nature, his soul, and be satisfied. It is also said of
Israel that they "Did all drink the same spiritual drink, for
they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them, and that
Rock was Christ." It is also true that they did all drink from
the same refreshing stream which flowed from that literal Rock
which also went with them, for it was their Shepherd-rock. No
doubt Israel was supplied with water from this rock in the
wilderness, as well as at Rephidim and Kadish, for the country
between these two places is much more desert than these cities.
At Kadish Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom, asking
permission for the Lord's host to pass through his country, and
told them to say, "Thus saith thy brother Israel, Let us pass, I
pray thee, through thy country we will not pass through the
fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the
water of the wells; we will go by the king's highway; we will not
turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy
borders. * * * If I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will
pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through
on my feet."
Just imagine a company of two and one-half million traveling
on foot through a country which is several hundred miles in
length, giving assurance to its ruler that they would keep to the
highway, and not turn to the right and left, for any reason, nor
drink water out of the wells (i. e., pits, fountains, springs, or
wells; literally their water supply) of that country. Israel
could afford to make this proposition, for both their
Shepherd-rocks were with them, i. e., the literal and
the spiritual rock, and they knew that he, who had hitherto
furnished them with food and water, would still continue to
supply them until the end of the journey. Otherwise Moses would
never have made such a promise.
True, there was a conditional promise made, in which there
is a promise to pay for any of the water of Edom which might be
used. But this, as you see, was made chiefly, if not altogether,
on account of the cattle, which they might not be able to control
and keep to the dusty highways, while passing by the cool and
tempting pools and springs of water. This might prove to be a
difficult task for the drovers, especially in the heat of the
day; hence this proviso. They were not supposed to get water from
the rock until they had completed their day's journey and pitched
their tents.
Thus we have seen that among the Israelites there were two
rocks, two houses, two kingdoms, two nations, or a Sceptre and a
Birthright company. Of these two great divisions, Judah and
Joseph are the representatives. By divine appointment one of
these rocks was given to the Birthright family, and the other to
the Sceptre family. The Bethel-Pillar-Shepherd-Stone of Israel
was given to Joseph, but to Judah was given the Spiritual Rock,
for it is written that "Our LORD sprang out of Judah." BOTH OF
THESE ROCKS, each in a different way, HAVE BEEN REJECTED, but
EACH OF THEM SHALL YET BECOME THE HEAD OF THE CORNER.
....................
NOTE:
YES, IT IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED THAT THE TWO MILLION, PLUS
(AND IT MAY WELL HAVE BEEN MORE THAN 3 MILLION PLUS,
WITH THE STRANGERS ALSO THAT WENT UP OUT OF EGYPT WITH
THE ISRAELITES) CATTLE, OF ISRAELITES, WOULD NEED A HUGE
AMOUNT OF WATER EACH DAY. IT IS STRETCHING THINGS TO
THINK THE WILDERNESS WANDERINGS HAD THE NATURAL AMOUNT OF
WATER FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE PLUS THEIR CATTLE. SO THE
MIRACLE OF WATER FROM "THE ROCK" MAKES COMPLETE SENSE.
Keith Hunt
To be continued
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