Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright #12
David's Throne Forever!
JUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT
by Allen (1917)
THE SCEPTRE, AND THE DAVIDIC COVENANT
PART I
There is no question, with those who have followed us thus
far, that the Birthright people have been cast out into an unknown
and far-away country, which, when they entered, was an
uninhabited and unexplored wilderness. While Israel has been
exploring, pioneering and settling this wilderness, the Lord has
so hedged up their way that they can find neither the paths by
which they came nor the place from whence they came.
Although lost, in so far as their national identity is concerned,
shall find grace, and where he has promised to speak comforting
words to their hearts - in the wilderness.
There we will leave them to fulfill their appointed destiny
of becoming a multitude of nations, while we follow the history
of the Scepter, and learn what the Word of the Lord has revealed
concerning his present and its future. For, if God has been true
to his word, and unless the faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has
become of no effect, then the Scepter, as well as the Birthright,
has not only a present existence, but a glorious future.
When God made the covenant with Abram in which he made
him (prospectively) the father of many nations, thereby changing
his name to Abraham, he gave the promise, - "Kings shall come
out of thee." Also, when the promise concerning the multiplicity
of nations was reiterated to his wife, whose former name was Sarai,
but now Sarah, or princess, it was said, "Kings of nations shall
be of her" (R.V.). Thus by the choice or election of God were
they made, not only the progenitors of a race which was to
develop into "many nations," which were to spread abroad to the
North, South, East and West, but also a royal family. This, of
course, includes a Sceptre - the emblem and sign of royalty.
These promised blessings, given by the Lord and confirmed to
Abraham by an oath, were received by him in faith, and counted
as though they were already in existence, for the simple reason
that, when a thing is promised by the Lord and received by any
one in faith, that thing must eventually materialize, because
faith is the God-given force or power which will and must
eventually bring promised things into existence. Hence both "the
Birthright" and "the Sceptre" blessing passed from Abraham to
Isaac as a real inheritance; while he in turn bestowed them upon
Jacob, who so much desired them and considered them so surely
to exist already that he was willing to strike bargains for them,
or even resort to fraudulent measures to get possession of them.
At the death of Jacob these two covenant blessings the
Birthright and the Sceptre - were separated, the Birthright
falling to one of his sons and the Sceptre to another one of
them, as we have heretofore fully explained. When Jacob, at the
time of his death, while acting under the direction of the Holy
Spirit, gave the Sceptre blessing to Judah and his lineage, the
prophecy which he gave with it was,--"The sceptre shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until
Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."
(Gen. 49:10.)
After the Abrahamic people had cried down the Divine
Theocracy, rejected the Lord as their king, and insisted on
having a human king, they chose Saul. Although Saul was not
of the royal line, but a Benjamite, he was permitted to reign, for
the Lord had determined to give the people the desire of their
hearts. But after the downfall of that haughty Benjamite, David,
a son of the royal family, was enthroned, and to him were
reiterated the promises concerning the royal family, which had
been emphasized to Judah by his dying father when he bestowed
on him the covenant blessing of royal fatherhood.
When the Sceptre covenant was confirmed to David, the Lord
gave the message through Nathan the prophet in these words:
"When thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers,
I will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy
bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house
for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit
iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men. But my mercy
shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I
put away before thee. And thy house and thy kingdom shall be
established forever before thee: Thy throne shall be established
forever." (2 Sam.7:12-16.)
David was so impressed with the magnitude of this prophecy
and with the period of time which it covered that he went in and
sat before the Lord, pondering over it, until in wonderment he
exclaimed: "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that
thou hast brought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing in thy
sight, O Lord God (i. e., the present power, glory and prestige
of David's house, throne and kingdom): but thou hast spoken also
of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the
manner of man, O Lord God?" (2 Sam.7:18,19.) No. It is not the
manner of man to prophesy concerning things "for a great while to
come." But it is the manner of God. Yes, and it is the manner of
God to make good that which he has spoken. David understood this;
so he prayed - "And now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast
spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish
it forever, and do as thou hast said."
If it be possible that there can be such power put into written
words as shall yet come from that voice which shall sound
the seven thunders, we pray that it may be put into those which
record the above facts; and thus compel our readers to see that
it is not the spiritual throne, the spiritual sceptre, the spiritual house,
nor the heavenly kingdom, which are therein spoken of, but that
it is the literal throne, the earthly kingdom, and the lineal house
of the Judo-Davidic family which are the subjects of this prophecy;
and that all these are to endure FOREVER.
There is also in this prophecy a note of warning to David's
successor, which is given in the following:
"If he commit iniquity I will chasten him with the rod of men."
It is not at all presumable that the ruler, sitting on the
spiritual throne, and holding the sceptre over the heavenly
kingdom, would commit iniquity; hence no such a threat could
have been given with reference to him. But when it is applied to
Solomon, the immediate successor of his father David, and to
others of the royal line, it is altogether another question, for
many of them were as wicked as men ever get to be.
Further, this prophecy was to go into effect when David's
"days were fulfilled," and when the son who should be set up
after him would build a house for God. Solomon, who was "set up"
after David, did build a house to the Lord, viz., the temple at
Jerusalem. But the Messiah has never, as yet, built any such
house. Before the temple was built, and when Solomon was giving
orders to Hiram concerning the material for its construction, he
said: "Behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the
Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying, Thy
son whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room he shall build an
house unto my name." (I Kings 5:5.) Also, when the temple was
finished, Solomon, standing before the altar of the Lord, in the
presence of all the congregation of Israel, and with uplifted
hands spread toward heaven, in that wonderful prayer at the
dedication of the temple, said: "The Lord hath performed his word
that he spake; and I am risen up in the room of David my father,
and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have
built an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. There is
no God like thee, in heaven above, nor on earth beneath, who
keepest covenant and mercy with thy servant, who hast kept
with thy servant David my father that which thou promised'st him;
thou speakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with
thine hand, as it is this day. Therefore now, Lord God of Israel,
keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him,
saying: There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the
throne of Israel." (1 Kings, 8:20-25.)
By this prayer we see that Solomon understood that the throne,
the kingdom, and the lineal house of David should stand forever.
Solomon not only understood it this way, but declared it
before all the congregation of Israel, so that the entire nation
should be fully aware of the fact. This was so thoroughly known
in Israel and acknowledged by her prophets that, at the time of
the division of the race into two kingdoms in the days of
Rehoboam and Jeroboam, Abijah, in his zeal that the lineal rights
of the royal family might not be ignored, stood upon a mountain
in Ephraim and cried out: "Hear me, thou Jeroboam and all Israel.
Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom
over Israel to David forever and to his sons (not son, not one,
but many) by a covenant of salt?" (13:5.) The marginal reading
is, "a perpetual covenant."
The eighty-ninth Psalm contains much light regarding the
covenant under consideration, which the Lord made with David
and his sons, concerning the perpetuity of his throne, scepter,
kingdom, and his posterity. In it the Lord declares: "I have made
a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,
saying, Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne
to all generations." Not a few, not some, not even many, but
"ALL generations."
Continuing, he says: "My mercy will I keep for him
forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His
seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the
days of heaven. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in
my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my
commandments then will I visit their transgressions with the rod,
and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness
will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my faithfulness to
fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that has
gone out of my lips."
Surely it is not possible to break the force of these words.
The proposition could not be stated in stronger terms. The Lord
simply will not break his covenant; he will not change, nor
modify, nor in any way or for any reason alter, the thing that he
has spoken, even if the children of David do forsake his law and
break every commandment in his statute book. If they do break
his law, he will chastise and punish with "the rod" and "with
stripes," but he will not suffer his faithfulness to fail.
The covenant is unconditional.
It "shall stand fast," no matter how often they are visited
with rod and stripe for their transgressions. No matter how
severe the punishment, the fact remains that - the throne, the
sceptre, the kingdom and the seed, must endure forevermore.
The fact that in this confirmation of the Davidic covenant
the Lord uses the expressions, "his children," "they" and
"their," all in the plural form, is proof that this covenant does
not have reference to the spiritual reign of his son Jesus Christ
in the hearts of Christians. Furthermore, it could not be possible
that Jesus Christ, he of whom the prophet Isaiah wrote saying,
"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given," whose
"name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God,
The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace," - we say it is not
possible for this Prince of Peace, who is The Mighty God, to
break his own commandments, forsake his own law, or disregard
his own statutes, and then punish himself for his own wickedness.
No, these warnings do not apply to the Immortal One, but to the frail
mortal sons of David, of whom Solomon was the first, and whom the
Lord punished for his wickedness, as we may learn by referring to
the eleventh chapter of 1 Kings, where we read as follows: "And
the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned
from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not
go after other gods, but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.
Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon: Forasmuch as this is done
of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which
I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee,
and I will give unto thy servant.
Notwithstanding, in thy days I will not do it, for David thy
father's sake; but will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
Howbeit, I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give
one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake." (1 Kings
11:9-13.)
Please notice how perfectly the facts agree, in every detail,
with the declared purpose of God. Solomon, the seed of
David, who was set up after him, who sat on the throne in the
room of his father, who built and dedicated the house of the
Lord, did forsake his God and refuse to obey his commandments.
If God is true to his word, he must punish any of the children of
David who thus forsake his law. So, as a punishment to Solomon,
he purposes to take the greatness and power of the kingdom away
from that son, who, as Solomon hopes, shall inherit the throne,
crown, sceptre and kingdom, in all its glory. But no; the Lord
purposes to take away the greater part of the national strength
and power of the kingdom and give it to one of the servants of
Solomon instead of the royal heir.
But while the Lord is declaring unto Solomon the punishment
which he purposes to visit upon him for his disobedience, he is
careful to say: "Howbeit, I will not rend away all the kingdom;
but will give one tribe to thy son."
Why not "rend away all the kingdom?"
The Divine reply is, "For David my servant's sake." Why for
David's sake?
Because the Lord gave the "kingdom over Israel to David and
his sons forever."
Ah, he dare not take away the entire kingdom from that royal
line! Yes, we can say "dare not," and emphasize it, too. And we
may also add, must not cannot, or any and all such expressions as
will voice our protest or express the impossibility of such a thing.
Indeed, the Lord himself has uttered a stronger protest than ours
could ever be. We say this because the Lord, in this Psalm which
we have under consideration, after saying, "My covenant will I not
break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips," has, in the
very next statement, made use of words which forever shut the door
of retreat; for he not only took an oath, in which he pledged his
own holy character, but he brought the physical universe into the
contract, or at least that portion of it which involves the continued
existence of the present arrangement of our solar system.
His declarations are: "Once have I sworn, by my holiness,
that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his
throne as the sun before me. It shall be establshed forever as the
moon, and as a faithful witness in the heaven." (Psa.89:35-37.)
Also, in the twenty-ninth verse of that same Psalm is the following:
"His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the
days of heaven."
If we are willing to give these words their full and natural
meaning, then surely we must see clearly that it is the intention
of the Lord that we shall understand that, so long as the sun,
the "great light" which he created for a light by day, and the
moon the "lesser light," which he created to rule the night,
shall keep their appointed places in the heavens, traveling their
orbits, continuing to make their proper changes, passing through
their ecliptics, or completing their lunations, -- just so long
must they rise over, shine down upon, and set beyond, the limits
of, a kingdom on this earth over which some member of the
Judo-Davidic family is holding the sceptre. Just so long will
they continue to say, by their very presence in the heavens,
"We are witnesses unto men throughout all generations, that
the Lord God of Israel has not lied into his servant David."
Furthermore, it is certain that the expressions, "days of
heaven," and "a faithful witness in heaven," as used in these
Scriptures, are purely astronomic, and refer to the stellar and
atmospheric heavens. Hence the throne, kingdom, sceptre and
family of David must endure, "as the days of heaven," i. e., so
long as the earth continues to revolve on its own axis, thus
giving to itself that diurnal motion which causes day and night
to succeed each other, and which enables the sun and moon to
perform their functions of lighting the day and night.
"But," says one, "do not these sayings apply to the kingdom
and throne in heaven, where Christ, the seed of David, is now
sitting at the right hand of God? And is not the New Jerusalem,
which is above, and is the mother of us all, the celestial
capital of that kingdom?" To this we are compelled to give a
negative answer; for that celestial city has "no need of the sun,
neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did
lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." (Rev.21:23.)
"But," questions another persistent spiritualizer, "do not
the seed and throne mentioned in these Scriptures refer to
Christ, who is the 'Son of David,' in his spiritual kingdom,
which is set up in the hearts of men?" Again we are compelled
to reply in the negative, for the Holy Ghost is the divine
illuminator of that kingdom; the sun and the moon having never
been heavenly lights, only in an astronomic sense.
Furthermore, a mere glance at the context will reveal the
fact that the Lord is dealing with a very earthly seed and
kingdom; for, intermingled with the promises of an everlasting
seed, throne and kingdom, the declaration is made concerning the
children of David that, if they do not walk in his judgments and
keep his commandments, but forsake his law, and break his
statutes, then he will visit their transgressions with the rod
and their iniquity with stripes. But still, no matter how wicked
the ruler on the throne or the subject in the realm, he will not
suffer his faithfulness to fail, his covenant with David must
stand forevermore.
The only conditions to the covenant are such as are entirely
beyond the power of man either to control or to break, viz., the
faithfulness of God in keeping and fulfilling his word, the
holiness of his character for he cannot lie - and the omnipotence
of his power to keep the sun, moon and the earth rolling onward
in their present cycles and order until, by the good pleasure of
his will, he shall change those ordinances and bring into
existence the new heavens and the new earth. Hence, the Holy
Ghost has inspired Jeremiah to write: "Thus saith the Lord: If ye
can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night,
and that there should not be day and night in their season; then
may also my covenant be broken with my servant, that he should
not have a son to reign upon his throne." (Jer. 33:20,21.)
Previously, in this same chapter, and in the seventeenth
verse, the Lord has said: "David shall never want a man to sit
upon the throne of the house of Israel." Then he adds the
following: "If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I
have not appointed the ordinance of heaven and earth, then will I
cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will
not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob." This, too, after saying: As the host of heaven
cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will
I multiply the seed of David my servant." (Jer. 33:22,25,26.)
In the statement, "David shall never want a man to sit upon
the throne," the word man is translated from the Hebrew "ish"
(iysh), which is defined as meaning "a man, a person, a certain
one, any one."
In the declaration that David should always "have a son to
reign upon his throne," the Hebrew word from which "son" is taken
is "Ben," which means "son, man, or a builder of the family
name." In the other expression, "take any of his seed to be rulers," etc.,
the word "seed" is taken from the Hebrew "Zara"--"a man, a person,
a child, a nephew, a grandchild, or relative."
This being the case - together with the fact that when duration
of time is being considered, there are no stronger words in the
Hebrew language than those which are translated "forever,"
"evermore," and "everlasting," then these following propositions
must stand:
(1) The Lord God of Israel made a covenant with David concerning
the perpetuity of his seed, throne, and kingdom, regardless of
the good or evil conduct of his descendants.
(2) The subjects of this Davidic kingdom must belong to the
lineage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
(3) Some person of the lineage of King David must be on that
throne (seat of power) who holds the sceptre, and reigns over
that kingdom.
(4) National afflictions will come upon them, as punishment for
their unrighteousness; but they will not be utterly destroyed;
for the kingdom must endure so long as there be day and night,
and the subjects must continue to increase until they become
innumerable.
(5) So long as the sun, moon and earth continue rolling onward in
their appointed orbits, just so long must the seed, throne, and
Israelitish kingdom of David be in existence, or we have no
longer a holy God ruling in the heavens and watching over Israel.
(6) In order to prove that God has become unholy, i. e., lied -
some man must yet find a fulcrum on which to rest his lever with
which he can stop the rotation of the earth, and then find some
way by which he can drive those witnessing lights from the sky;
or in some way break up the appointed ordinances of heaven and
earth, so that there cannot be day and night in their season.
Otherwise, the holiness and omnipotence of God must not be
questioned. This is the reason that David so triumphantly says to
him: "Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." (Psa.
138:2.)
(7) The fact that God has thus magnified his word above his name
would, in case of a failure on his part to perpetuate that which
he swears shall be in existence forever, give us authority to
impeach his testimony on every line, for it would undeify him.
..........
NOTE:
And the angel said to Mary the son she would have by the Holy
Spirit, was to be the Son of God - Immanuel - "God with us" - and
to Him would be given the Throne of David.
I submit it is against all natural logic to presume Jesus the
Christ would somehow be given a throne that has not existed for
thousands of years (it has alread been at least 2 and 1/2
thousand years if the throne of David came to an end when Judah
was finally deported to Babylon in 586 B.C. with the fall of
Jerusalem)....such a thought and promise is silly and illogical
to the extreme, for anyone to take a throne that has not existed
for thousands of years.
God cannot be counted a liar to David, the ideas of men may make
God a liar, and not able to perform His work, but the words given
by the Eternal to David about his throne enduring forever, are so
powerfully strong, those with simple childlike faith, will know
and believe that David's throne will exist on earth today; that
someone is now today, sitting on that throne ruling at least some
of the children of Abraham. And so it will be a throne that even in
the space-age world of the 21st century, will still exist, and still be
regarded with favor and respect and honor, by tens of millions of
people.
Is there such a throne today? A throne that is the most famous
throne in the entire world; a throne that defies the modern age
of modern enlightened technology; does such a throne exist today?
YES INDEED, and it should not take the reader very much thought
or time to figure which throne in the world is the greatest throne
that has ever been in the history of mankind.
Keith Hunt
To be continued
No comments:
Post a Comment