JUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT #13
by Allen (1917)
JEREMIAH'S CALL AND COMMISSION
Having settled the question concerning the perpetuity of the
covenant which God made with "David and his sons," together with
the fact that he has given, as a pledge of their everlastingness,
not only the astronomic order of producing day and night, months,
years and seasons, but the very holiness of his character as
well, we must now proceed to take up the thread of history which
pertains to that sceptre, throne, kingdom and royal seed whose
continued existence is balanced over against such weighty
considerations as the power, integrity and immutability of the
character and Word of God.
While dealing with the history of the Birthright and its
inheritors, the house of Joseph, we had, of necessity, much to
say concerning the history of the Sceptre and the royal family,
its inheritors. Especially was this true when we contrasted that
system of feudalism and continual overthrowing of dynasties which
prevailed in the kingdom of Israel as compared with the one
continuous dynasty and succession of the royal princes of the
Judo-Davidic family, as they mounted the throne of their fathers
and held the sceptre over the kingdom of Judah.
In order to have our historic thread complete we must resume
our history of the Sceptre at the call of Jeremiah the prophet,
which occurred at a period prior to the time when the Jews were
taken into the Babylonish captivity, but subsequent to the time
when Israel, the Birthright kingdom, was taken into captivity by
Shalmanesar, king of Assyria, and deported into the country of
the head-waters of the Euphrates-the country more generally known
as Medo-Persia.
It is certain that we can never understand the history of
this covenanted throne, kingdom and family, and the fact that
they have been thus far built up "unto all generations," unless
we understand the history and accept with unfaltering faith the
call and commission of Jeremiah the prophet, in relation to those
things which God has given his pledge shall endure forever. For
if to be taught the distinction between the two houses, and to
understand the difference between the kingdoms of Israel and
Judah, may be likened unto the key which unlocks the outer
sanctuary of our understanding of sacred history, then surely a
knowledge of the life and work of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah,
is the key which the Holy Spirit can use to open that inner
sanctuary, or Holy of Holies, of our understanding in these
matters upon which rest the vindication of God.
According to the Divine record, there have lived in this
world only three men who were sanctified before they were born.
The first was this same Jeremiah, who, in one of the darkest
hours in all the history of the Abrahamic nations which pertains
to them as a whole, was made the custodian of the sceptre, throne
and royal seed of David. The next was John the Baptist, the
forerunner and herald of the coming Prince of the House of David.
Then came the last and greatest of all - our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, the Son of David, that Prince of whom the angel
declared unto Mary at the time of the annunciation: "The Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of his father David." (Luke,
1:32.) When this blessed Prince takes his seat he will be the
last King to sit on that throne, or any other on this earth.
In the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah, in
the thirteenth year of his reign, while Jeremiah was still a
minor, a mere youth, only seventeen years of age, he received his
call as the "Prophet unto the nations," and was given his
commission, the details of which he himself has given in the
first chapter of his own prophecies, as follows:
"Then the word of God came unto me, saying: Before I formed thee
in the belly I knew thee - before thou camest forth out of the
womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the
nations. Then said I: Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak, for I
am a child. But the Lord said unto me: Say not, I am a child, for
thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I
shall command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their
faces; for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the
Lord said unto me: Behold, I have put my words into thy mouth.
See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the
kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to
build and to plant." (Jer.1:4-10.)
Called as the prophet of God; the words of the Lord put into
his mouth with a touch from the Divine hand; and set by the
Divine One "over the nations, and over the kingdoms." What!
Surely he was not set over all the nations, neither all the
kingdoms of the earth? No, there is nothing said about all
nations; just simply and definitely - "the nations" and "the
kingdoms." So far as the word which is translated "nations" in
the text is concerned, it is the same word that is used when the
Lord said to Abraham, "I have made the father of many nations";
and when he said to Rebekah, "Two nations are in thy womb." He
now calls Jeremiah a "Prophet unto the nations," i. e., the "two
nations," the "two kingdoms," the two houses - Israel and Judah;
the "two families," the inheritors of the Birthright and of the
Sceptre. It is to these nations, not to all the nations of the
earth, that the Lord sends Jeremiah, his prophet, with a
commission to root out, tear down, and destroy, on the one hand;
but - hear it!---he was also Divinely commissioned to "BUILD AND
PLANT"!
The fact that Jeremiah was commissioned to overthrow the
commonwealth of Judah, destroy the Davidic kingdom, as it then
existed among the Jewish people, throw down the throne of David
which was in their midst, and root out that branch of the royal
family which occupied the throne at that time - all this is so
clear, so well known, that most, if not all, of the accepted
authorities of Christendom proclaim it. But those same
authorities do not seem to know, neither do they proclaim that
which follows as a natural sequence, i. e.. that if it was the
kingdom, sceptre, throne and seed of David which were to be
overthrown, then it follows that it is those very same things
which must again be planted and builded.
Hence we affirm that, as God is still holy, and did not lie
to David, and if he did not sanctify, call, and commission
Jeremiah in vain, then that throne of David was again set up, the
seed planted, and the kingdom builded before Jeremiah died.
Mind you, we do not say that these were planted and builded
among the Jews. That was not at all necessary in order to
fulfillment. Indeed, we will show that it was not planted nor
builded in Judah. For God "gave the kingdom over Israel to David
forever, even to him and his sons by a covenant of salt." Nine-
twelfths of the seed of Israel never were members of the Jewish
kingdom.
The great wrong of which the standard authorities of
Christendom have been guilty is that, with a wideopen Bible
before them, they should be in such ignorance of the declared
purpose of God, and have such a hesitating, apologetic
faithlessness in his covenant promises, wherein he has sworn by
himself, that they are blinded even to the necessity of
accounting for the building and planting which God gave Jeremiah
to do.
The great fault with their whole teaching, so far as the
outcome of Jeremiah's work is concerned, is that they have either
suffered, implied, or actually taught that the promises of God to
David were allowed to go by default. And when an honest
questioner would arise, as of necessity there must, he at once
becomes an irresponsible, irregular, unarmored stripling, upon
whom these regulars in the army of Israel insist on putting the
armor of Saul. But the "heavy" armor of the should-be leader will
not fit the bright young head and freer limbs of the little
irregular; so he must go forth alone to slay the giant of
infidelity, whose champions have been defying the armies of the
living God. Meanwhile, these "regulars" stand on the hill of
their self-importance and ask, "Who is this youthful stripling
whom we see down in the valley picking up pebbles with which to
meet the foe whose challenge has sent dismay among us for lo!
these many days?"
..........
To be continued
Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright #14Jeremiah to Tear downJUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT #14
by Allen (1917)
JUDAH'S SCEPTRE
THE TEARING DOWN AND ROOTING OUT
Pursuant to the object of Jeremiah's call and work, the
first king on David's throne to be disposed of was Josiah, for it
was in the thirteenth year of his reign that the call of God came
to Jeremiah, as you may know by reading Jer.1:1,2. Jeremiah
himself gives no account of the downfall of Josiah, but it is
recorded in 2 Kings 23, and 2 Chr. thirty-fifth chapter. It took
place in the days of Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, and
Charchemish, king of Assyria.
Josiah himself was a good man and a good king; he did all
that could be done to restore the people to the worship of God.
He had all the wizards, workers with familiar spirits, images,
idols and abominations put out of the land; but the Lord would
not stay his threatened punishment of the kingdom of Judea, which
had become "worse" than Israel.
Concerning the goodness of Josiah, and also his inability to
prevent the impending calamity, it is written "And like unto him
was no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his
heart, and all his soul, and with all his might, according to all
the law of Moses; neither after him arose any like him.
Notwithstanding, the Lord turned not from the fierceness of
his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah,
because of all the provocations that Manasseh (son of Hezekiah)
had provoked him withal.
And the Lord said, I will remove Judah (the Jews) out of my
sight, as I have removed Israel (the ten tribes) (2 Kings,
23:25-27.)
Not only was Josiah the best king they ever had, and not
only did he put away those abominations, but he also kept the
greatest Passover that was ever held in Israel and Judah since
the days of Samuel the prophet. To this Passover that good king
gave thirtythree thousand and three hundred cattle and oxen, and
to this the princes and people gave willingly of their flocks and
herds, until the number was swelled to many thousand more.
The sons of Aaron made themselves ready; the people made
themselves ready; the sacrifices were killed; the blood
sprinkled; the offerings were burned upon the altar of the Lord,
and the people kept the feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
But all this availed nothing, except a personal blessing to
Josiah, that he should die in peace and not see the destruction
of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people.
No, the eternal fiat of God had gone forth, and we think
that no number of worshipers, no number of good kings, or good
men, and surely no mighty army of bad men, could stay the
downfall of that nation.
For the Lord says, "After all this," when PharaohNecho, the
king of Egypt, came up to fight against Charchemish, king of
Assyria, Josiah rashly, without provocation, made it his business
and went out to fight against the king of Egypt, who kindly tried
to restrain him, and sent ambassadors to him saying: "What have I
to do with thee, thou king of Judah? I come not against thee this
day, but against the house (Assyria) wherewith I have war; for
God commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling with
God, who is with me, that he destroy thee not." And the record
continues: "Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from
him, but disguised himself, that he might fight with him and
harkened not unto the word of Necho from the mouth of God, and
came to fight in the valley of Megiddo. And the archers shot at
King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, Have me away, for
I am sore wounded. His servants therefore took him out of that
chariot, and put him in the second chariot that he had, and
brought him to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in one of
the sepulchres of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem
mourned for Josiah. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah." (2 Chr.
35:21-25.)
So Jeremiah saw that good king pulled down, and lamented
him, together with the whole nation; and the singing men and
women made an ordinance of lamentations for Josiah, and Shallum
the son of Josiah ascended the throne. But the Lord had said, "I
swear by myself" that this house of Judah shall come to deso-
lation. So he says to this lamenting people: "Weep not for the
dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away:
for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. For thus
saith the Lord touching Shallum, the son of Josiah, which reigned
instead of Josiah, his father, which went out of this place, he
shall not return any more: but he shall die in the place whither
they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more" (Jer.
22:10-12). Thus Jeremiah records the fact of another overthrow;
and so the work goes on.
Jehoiakim, another son of Josiah, was next to take the
throne of his fathers; but hear the judgment which was pronounced
upon him: "Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Johoiakim,
the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They shall not lament for him
saying (to each other), Ah, my brother! or, my Ah, my sister!
They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah, Lord! or, Ah, his
glory! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and
cast forth beyond the gates of Jeru salem." (Jer.22:18,19.)
Another disposed of. Who next?
"As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah, the son of
Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet upon my right hand, yet
would I pluck thee thence; and I will give thee into the hand of
them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose faces
thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon, and into the hands of the Chaldeans. And I will cast
thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country,
where ye were not born, and there shall ye die. But unto the land
whereunto they desire to return thither shall they not return."
Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein
is no pleasure? Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and
are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth,
hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord: Write ye this man
childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man
of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and
ruling any more in Judah." (Jer.22:24-30.)
Thus Coniah makes the fourth king who has been disposed of
since the Lord called and commissioned Jeremiah; but there is
still another, as recorded by that prophet: "And King Zedekiah,
the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah, the son of
Jehoiakim." (Jer.37:1.)
Zedekiah, the successor to Coniah, ascended the throne about
six hundred years before Christ. His reign lasted only eleven
years, and he is the last king of the Judo-Davidic line who has
reigned over the Jewish nation from that day to this. Yet God has
said that he would build up David's throne unto all generations,
and prior to that he declared: "The Sceptre shall not depart from
Judah (his posterity), nor a law-giver from between his feet,
until Shiloh come; and unto him (Shiloh) shall the gathering of
the people be." (Gen.49:10). With these facts before us it
behooves us to look well into this history of Zedekiah, and learn
his fate and also that of his family.
During the reign of Coniah, the predecessor of Zedekiah, the
king of Babylon had come against the kingdom of Judah, subdued it
and carried away the king, his mother, his wives, and others,
into Babylon. Consequently at the time when Zedekiah ascended the
throne, the country of Judah was a province of Babylon. But the
then tolerant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took Mattaniah,
the third son of Josiah, who was of course brother to Jehoiakim,
Coniah's father, and changed his name to Zedekiah, then made him
king instead of Coniah.
We do not purpose, especially at this time, to go into
endless genealogies, as it is generally confusing to the reader.
In this Josiah family there were at least two Zedekiahs, and
Zedekiahs along the family line for centuries back. There were
also Shallums, and Shallums, and Shallums, and even Coniah's name
is spelled three different ways. We will also say, for the
benefit of the more critical student, that often a man is said to
be the son of another when in fact he is grandson or even further
removed. Christ is the "Son of David," and yet David is his
great-grandfather twenty-eight generations back. "From David
until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations,
and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen
generations." (Matt.1:17.)
This Zedekiah of whom we write is the third son of Josiah,
for we read, "And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, his
(Coniah's) father's brother, king in his stead, and changed his
name to Zedekiah."
"Zedekiah was twenty-and-one years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's
name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah." (2 Kings
24:I7-19.) Thus we find Jeremiah making the following record
concerning Coniah's successor: "And King Zedekiah, the son of
Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, whom
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, made king in the land of Judah."
(Jer.37:1.) Hence this young king, the fifth to occupy the throne
of David, since Jeremiah had received his commission, was his own
grandson.
The work of rooting out and tearing down has been well done
so far, and we may rest assured that, although the prophet's own
flesh and blood are on the throne and dwelling in the palace, the
God-assigned work will not stop. But if there should be any very
young or helpless members of that family survive the wreck which
must come during the tearing down and rooting out period, who
would have a greater claim as their natural protector than one so
closely allied by the ties of blood as this very man whom God has
chosen for the work of building and planting, as well as of
tearing down and rooting out?
Jeremiah records the downfall of Zedekiah and his sons, the
royal princes, as follows: "In the ninth year of Zedekiah, king
of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Babylon, and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged
it. And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month,
and the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up. And all
the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle
gate, even Nergal-sharezar, SamgarNebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris,
Rabmag, with all the residue of the princes of the king of
Babylon. And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah, the king of
Judah, saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went
forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden,
by the gate betwixt the two walls, and he went out the way of the
plain. But the Chaldeans' army pursued after them, and overtook
Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and when they had taken him,
they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to
Riblah, in the land of Hamath, where he gave judgment upon him.
Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah
before his eyes; also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of
Judah. Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him in
chains, to carry him to Babylon. And the Chaldeans burned the
king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake
down the walls of Jerusalem. (Jer.39:1-8.)
In the fifty-second chapter of Jeremiah there is a statement
of these events, to which, after recording the fact concerning
the king's being carried to Babylon in chains, there is added the
following: "And the king of Babylon * * * put him in prison till
the day of his death." (Jer.52:11.)
Thus ends the history of the last prince of the house of
David who has ever reigned over the Jewish people from that time
until the present; and we know that they are not now, as a
nation, being ruled over by any prince of their royal family; for
they are scattered among all the nations of the earth, and are
now fulfilling, not the prophecies concerning their ultimate and
most glorious destiny, but a class of prophecies which pertain to
this period, or time, of being scattered, which are those of
becoming "a hiss and a byword," "crying for sorrow of heart and
vexation of spirit," and leaving "their name for a curse." When
those events occurred which resulted in the overthrow of the
Zedekiah branch of the royal house, a climax was reached, not
only in the history of all those things which were involved in
the Davidic covenant, but also in that predestined work, for the
accomplishment of which God sanctified and sent Jeremiah into
this world.
By this climax, the first part of his mission, in all its
phases, was now most thoroughly accomplished - namely, the
plucking up, throwing down, afflicting. Indeed, it was so well
done, that the heretofore accepted authorities in theologic,
historic and ethnologic matters have taught that the sceptre,
throne and kingdom of David were wiped out of existence, together
with the house of David, excepting only another branch of the
family of Josiah, who were carried away into the Babylonish
captivity, of whom came Christ, the son of David, who, according
to the Scripture, must yet sit upon the throne of his father
David. We will give but one example of that class of sophistical
reasoning which has led the mind of the Christian world into this
gross error.
Take, for instance, the well-known and much-used Polyglot
Bible, published by Samuel Bagster & Sons, of London. The
compilers of this work (whoever they are we know not) give what
is called "A summary view of the principal events of the period
from the close of the sacred canon of the Old Testament until the
times of the New Testament." According to the system of
chronology which this work adopts, the overthrow of Zedekiah
occurred in the year 589 B.C. This proposed summary begins after
the return of the Jewish people from the Babylonish captivity,
but while they were yet under the dominion of the Kingdom of
Persia; and when Artaxerxes Longimanus was the reigning king, who
in his twentieth year commissioned Nehemiah to rebuild the walls
of Jerusalem, an event which happened, according to the
chronology used, in 446 B.C.
Then follows a brief record of the death and successions of
kings, the rise and fall of dynasties, and the overthrow of
kingdoms, powers, dominions and empires. But it is always shown
conclusively that these ruling powers, whatever might be their
nationality, were dominating the Jewish people.
The summary shows that Alexander the Great marched into
Judea to punish the people for certain grievances which, in his
mind, they had practiced against him as commander of the Grecian
forces, and that God thwarted him in that purpose. It shows that
when Alexander died the Grecian empire was divided among his four
generals; that Palestine was given to Loamedon, one of those
generals, and that it was soon taken away from him by Ptolemy,
the king of Egypt, that they "rejoiced to submit to this new
master," and what the consequences were. It shows what they
suffered under Antiochus Epiphanes, especially after a false
rumor had been spread concerning his death, which they believed
and rejoiced in, and that in consequence of this rejoicing "he
slew 40,000 persons, sold as many more for slaves, plundered the
temple of gold and furniture to the amount of 80 talents of gold,
entered the Holy of Holies, and sacrificed a sow upon the altar
of burnt offerings, and caused the broth of it to be sprinkled
all over the temple." No greater indignity than this could have
been put upon that people. The summary continues, a truthful
record of suffering after suffering, trouble after trouble, and
indignity after indignity, heaped upon that conquered people, who
during all those centuries were reigned over by their enemies,
the Gentile nations; but not once does the record show - no not
for even one generationthat - they were ruled by a prince of
their own royal house.
Finally, the summary ends as follows: "At length Antipater,
a noble but crafty Idumaean, by favor of Julius Caesar, was made
procurator of Judea, and Hyrcanus continued in the priesthood.
After Antipater's death, his son, Herod the Great, by the
assistance of Antony, the Roman triumvir, and through much
barbarity and bloodshed assumed the regal dignity; which
authority was at length confirmed by Augustus Caesar. He
maintained his dignity with great ability, but with the utmost
cruelty, in his own family as well as among others, till the
birth of Christ. In the interval he built many cities, and, to
ingratiate himself with the Jews, almost rebuilt the temple.
His cruel attempt to murder the infant Saviour is recorded by the
evangelist; and soon afterward he died most miserably. After some
years, during which the dominions of Herod were governed by his
sons, Judea became a Roman province, and the sceptre departed
from Judah, for Shiloh was come (the italics are their own); and
after having been under the government of Roman procurators for
some years, the whole Jewish state was at length subverted by
Titus, the son of Vespasian."
The sophistry in the use of those italicised words, as
employed by the compilers of that summary, is that they destroy
the evident meaning of that prophecy to which they refer, by the
substitution of various sceptres - held by various kings, of
various Gentile nations, that have consecutively held dominion
over the Jewish people - for one particular Sceptre, which the
Lord promised should be held, only by some member of Judah's
family line, and which should not cease to be held by those of
his posterity until Shiloh should come.
If the view, as put forth in the closing sentence of that
summary, is the true one, then the entire prophecy must, for
several reasons, go by default.
(1) A sceptre did not depart from over the Jews when Christ came.
Forty years after Christ had come and gone finds them still under
the power of Rome. Shortly afterward they were dispersed and have
since been scattered among all nations, where they remain unto
this day, and are still being ruled over.
(Remember now when Allen is writing - 1917 - Keith Hunt)
(2) If the first coming of Christ was his Shiloh-coming, then
Shiloh failed; for the people did not gather unto him.
(3) The Lord declares: "Judah is my law giver." According to this
summary and other accepted evidence, Judah as Lawgiver departed
from the Jews 588 years before Shiloh came. Hence that unbridged
chasm of nearly six hundred years stands like a gaping wound in
the side of the Church of Jesus Christ, whenever she is compelled
to show herself in naked honesty. The entire trend of this
summary with its subtle reference to the prophecy in question
seems to be that so long as the Jewish nation was ruled over, no
matter by whom, and held together as a province or state, this
prophecy was vindicated: whereas such vindication, conception,
or use of those words, is only an attempt to hold together, by
daubing with untempered mortar, an edifice which is tottering and
tumbling.
The most charitable construction which can be put upon such
accommodating, mollifying, weak and abortive efforts to vindicate
the truth of God, is that the persons are ignorant of just some
such vital point as the fact that Jeremiah was called and
commissioned of God to build and plant anew the plucked-up
kingdom of David.
All who claim that Christ has come as Shiloh are compelled
to resort to just such distortions of the Divine Word as the one
under consideration, in order to fill up that gaping hiatus of
588 years, from the overthrow of Zedekiah until Christ.
Furthermore, after they have plastered over that gap to
their own (questionable) satisfaction, they are still confronted
with the fact that the Lord God did not give unto Christ the
throne of his father David, nor cause him to reign over the house
of Jacob - no, not even spiritually - for the Jews are a part of
the house of Jacob: as these men themselves are compelled to
admit. Also the Jews are enemies to the gospel of grace which
Jesus Christ came to bring, "but as touching the election (of
race), they are beloved for the fathers' sake."
Meanwhile, the great question which confronts us is this:
Has God suffered his faithfulness to fail, or allowed any of his
promises to go by default, or permitted his covenant either with
Judah, David or Christ to suffer lapse? The very thought that
such could possibly be the case causes us to feel the first
chilling blight of skepticism to fall heavily upon our hitherto
believing and happy hearts.
The next link in the chain of this divine history is of such
deep import that it is impossible for us to overestimate its
value, as it is the connecting link between sacred history and
prophecy; for you will notice in the first clause of the
following text we find a record of events which have become
history, but before the sentence is finished we are carried out
into the field of prophecy. "It shall come to pass that like as I
have watched over them; to pluck up, and to break down, and to
throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict," so will I watch over
them, TO BUILD and TO PLANT, saith the Lord. (Jer.31:28.)
The Lord here uses the already accomplished facts of history
as a basis upon which to rest his promise concerning the
accomplishment of those which are yet future. Hence, upon events
which once were prophetic, but which have now become history, he
predicts the fulfillment of others which are still in the future.
But these events must follow as a sequence to those which have
gone before, since both these which are past and those which are
yet to come were originally couched in the same prophecy, in the
same commission, and were to be accomplished by the same prophet,
Jeremiah of Libnah.
The Lord has said that David should never lack a man of his seed
to sit upon that throne. Query - Where was the seed with which
Jeremiah must "build and plant"?
..........
To be continued
Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright #15Vindication of Promise to JeremiahJUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT #15
by Allen (1917)
VINDICATION OF THE PERSONAL PROMISES TO JEREMIAH
Before we can gather up even the first link in the chain of
history as regards the "building and planting" which Jeremiah
must accomplish, we must take a glance at some of the facts
concerning the prophet's own history.
We have already noticed that when the Lord was instructing
Jeremiah in the work which he was to do, he said to him,
regarding those that should oppose or fight against him, "Be not
afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee."
But Jeremiah seems not to have met with any special opposition
until during the reign of Jehoiakim. This was at a time when the
Lord commanded him to go into the court of the temple and speak
to the people as they gathered from all the cities of Judah to
worship; at the same time he told him to speak all the words
which he, the Lord, had commanded him, and to "diminish not a
word."
He was true to God, and faithfully delivered the Divine
message. The message itself was full of mercy, and accompanied
with a proviso that if every man would turn from his evil way
then the Lord would avert the impending calamities which hung
over the nation as judgments in consequence of their numerous and
manifold sins. But it only resulted in the prophets, the priests,
and the people gathering themselves into an excited, surging and
howling mob, which made a prisoner of Jeremiah, saying unto him,
"Thou shalt surely die."
Later, when the princes of Judah heard these things, they
came up to the temple, and in order that they might hear and
judge for themselves, Jeremiah was permitted to speak again. This
he did, still faithfully giving the unwelcome message of the
Lord. In conclusion, he said: "The Lord sent me to prophesy
against this house (the temple) and against this city all the
words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and
doings and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will
repent him of all the evil that he hath pronounced against you.
As for me, behold, I am in your hand; do with me as seemeth good
unto you. But know ye for a certain, that if ye put me to death,
ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon
this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof; for of a truth, the
Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your
ears." The princes were evidently touched somewhat by this
appeal, and the people with them; for after this, both princes
and people stood against the prophets and the priests, and said,
"This man is not worthy to die." So a division arose among them,
which resulted in Jeremiah's being spared for the time and set at
liberty. But he continued his earnest expostulations with the
people because of their sins, and continued just as before his
startling annunciations concerning the impending ruin of temple,
city and nation,
These truths were so unwelcome and painful for the people to
hear, that other prophets soon began to appear who uttered
contrary predictions, no doubt for the sake of the popularity
which they should acquire among the people by prophesying the
return of peace and prosperity. Hananiah was the name of one of
these false prophets. On one occasion he broke a small wooden
yoke which Jeremiah wore upon his neck, which had been put there
as an object lesson by Divine direction. When this false prophet
broke that yoke, he told the people that the Lord said that the
yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, which was not only upon the neck of
Judah, but upon all nations, should be broken within two years.
But the Lord spoke to Hananiah, through his true prophet,
Jeremiah, and told him that, because he had made the people trust
in a lie, he should die that same year. And the record reads, "So
Hananiah, the prophet, died the same year in the seventh month."
Shemeniah was another of those lying prophets who was dealt with
in a manner which condemned him and exonerated Jeremiah. But
still Jeremiah's enemies, the priests, false prophets, and
certain elders, were not at rest, but continued their
persecutions until the result was that Jeremiah was thrown into
prison. With his liberty thus restricted he could not publicly
deliver his messages, so he called Baruch, the scribe, to his
assistance, and he wrote as Jeremiah dictated. This matter was
inscribed upon a roll of parchment, with the view of having it
read to the people in some public and frequented part of the
city.
The favorable opportunity occurred on the occasion of a
great festival, which was a feasting day, and which brought the
inhabitants of the land from all parts of Judea together at
Jerusalem. On the day of the festival Baruch took the roll and
stationed himself at the entry of the new gate of the temple,
and, calling upon the people to hear him, began to read. A great
concourse of people soon gathered around him who listened,
apparently with honest attention.
But one of the by-standers, Michaiah, went down into the
city to the king's palace, and reported to the king's scribes and
princes, who were assembled in the council chamber, that Baruch
had gathered the people together in one of the courts of the
temple, and that he was reading to them a discourse on prophecy
which had been written by Jeremiah. He also told them all he
himself had heard, as Baruch read the book in the hearing of the
people.
This aroused such an interest and anxiety among them that
they immediately sent Jehudi, an attendant at the palace, to tell
Baruch to come to them and bring the roll with him. As soon as he
arrived, they asked him to read what he had written. He did so,
and they were evidently much impressed, for the Scripture
statement is, "When they had heard all the words they were
afraid, both one and the other."
Their fear must have been great, because they felt a
conviction that these words were from the Lord, and that these
predictions would surely come to pass. This very fear created in
them a tender regard for both Baruch and Jeremiah, for they told
him that they would be obliged to report the matter to the king;
but they advised Baruch, saying: "Go hide thee; thou and
Jeremiah, and let no man know where ye be."
When the matter was reported to the king, the subject matter
of the book so angered him that when he had read only three or
four leaves, he took out his pen-knife and cut the entire roll to
pieces and threw it in the fire, and then ordered his officers to
"take Baruch, the scribe, and Jeremiah, the prophet; but the Lord
hid them." (Jer.36:26.)
Strange, isn't it, that they should have Jeremiah in prison,
and yet, when they come to look for him he cannot be found? But
then, we believe that when the Lord does a thing it is well done.
One thing we do know about this, that the Lord took him out of
prison to hide him, and that when he again appeared among men,
they did not imprison him on the old charge, for the Scripture
saith: "Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for
they had not put him in prison."
Meanwhile, King Jehoiakim had received his promised burial,
that of "an ass, drawn and cast outside the gates of Jerusalem,"
"and his dead body," as Jeremiah says, was "cast out in the day
to the heat, and in the night to the frost."
The next time in which we find Jeremiah a prisoner is during
the reign of Zedekiah, who, as we have before mentioned, was the
prophet's own grandson. At this time Jeremiah's enemies
represented to the King that the predictions which were uttered
by the prophet were so gloomy and terrible that they depressed
and discouraged the hearts of the people to such an extent that
they were weakened in their power to resist, and that accordingly
he must be regarded as a public enemy. So persistently were these
claims urged that finally the King gave Jeremiah into the hands
of his enemies and told them that they might do with him as they
pleased.
There was a dungeon in the prison, to which there was no
access except from above. The bottom was wet and miry and covered
with filth and slime. It was the custom to let prisoners down
into its gloomy depths and leave them there to starve. Into this
filthy dungeon Jeremiah was cast and was left to die of misery
and hunger. But God brought Jeremiah into this world to
accomplish a work, for the accomplishment of which he himself had
pledged his reputation as God; consequently he could not afford
to let that man die then and there.
So the Lord began to trouble Zedekiah. His heart smote him,
his fears confronted him, and he trembled with misgivings lest he
had delivered a true prophet of God into the hands of those who,
he knew, would surely put him to death. So he inquired what had
been done with the prisoner, and learned that he had been
practically buried alive. Then, with fear-tortured haste, he
commanded an officer to take thirty men and get Jeremiah out of
that horrible pit "before he die."
When they went to the dungeon and opened the mouth of it
they found that he had sunk deep into the mire. They threw down
some old clothes, which he was to fold and place under his arms
and about those parts of his body where the ropes were to pass,
and where the greatest weight would come in pulling him out of
the mire and up out of that dismal pit.
After that Jeremiah had the freedom of the court of the
prison, and the King secretly sought him and begged him to reveal
the truth concerning his own fate and that of the kingdom of
Judah. Jeremiah did this faithfully, and the King found out all
that he sought to know; which proved to be much more than he
cared to learn, especially concerning his own fate.
While Jeremiah was shut up in the court of that prison the
word of the Lord came to him for the last time concerning the
destruction of the city. At the same time the promise concerning
the preservation of his own life was given, and was as follows:
"But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord, and thou
shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art
afraid. For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall
by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey (booty or prize)
upon thee." (Jer.39:17,18.)
Jeremiah remained shut up in that prison until the
Babylonish forces captured the city, broke down the walls, burned
the Royal palaces and the houses of the people, thus making the
inside of those prison walls the only place of safety in all that
city.
Now, it is a remarkable fact, one well worthy of God and
certainly one most worthy of note, that the Lord had promised not
only that the prophet should be delivered from his enemies among
his own people, but also that the enemies of his people should
treat him well, and that amidst it all his life should be spared.
It is also a remarkable fact that, in view of all this, we read:
"Now Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, gave charge concerning
Jeremiah to Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, saying, "Take
him and look well to him, but do him no harm, but do unto him
even as he shall say unto thee." (Jer.39:11,12,)
The effect of this command from the conquering king was so
wonderful in its results, and the result was so absolutely
essential in order that Jeremiah might be free to finish his
Divinely-appointed task, that we are moved to give this result
just as it is recorded in the Word of God:
"And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said unto him ...
Behold I loose thee this day from the chains that were upon thy
hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into Babylon,
come and I will look well unto thee; but if it seem ill unto thee
to come with me into Babylon, forbear; behold all the land is
before thee; whither it seemeth good and convenient for thee to
go, thither go. * * * So the captain of the guard gave him
victuals and a reward (money) and let him go."
Query: Where did he go and why?
..........
To be continued
Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright #16The Royal Remnant that EscapesJUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT #16
by J.H.Allen (published in 1917)
A ROYAL REMNANT THAT ESCAPES
When Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the Chaldean guard, gave
Jeremiah privilege to go where he pleased, and provided him with
all that was needful for the journey, the record further
declares: "Then went Jeremiah unto Gedeliah, the son of Ahikam,
to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people that were left in
the land." (Jer.40:6.) The next verse of the same chapter states
that the people who were still in the land were "the poor of the
land, of them that were not carried away captive to Babylon."
This Gedeliah, the son of Ahikam, was the man whom the King of
Babylon had made governor of what little there was left in Judea;
for he had taken the masses of the people into captivity to
Babylon and made servants of them.
It seems that, since the capital city of Judea was now
destroyed, Gedeliah had been compelled to set up a provincial
government in some other city and had chosen Mizpah. Also, when
the refugees from among the Jews who had fled into Moab, Ammon
and Edom heard that the King of Babylon had left a remnant in
Judea and had set a governor over them, then they returned and
put themselves under him. So also did the several captains of
small outlying forces until, all told, there was quite a goodly
number in this remnant, as it was called.
But the little province did not prosper long, for the King
of Ammon entered into a plot with Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah,
to assassinate its new governor. Johanan, the son of Kareah,
discovered this plot and told Gedeliah. At the same time he
offered to slay secretly this Ishmael, the would-be assassin; but
Gedeliah would not permit it, would not believe Johanan's story,
and accused him of speaking falsely concerning Ishmael.
However, it was only a short time until the plot was
successfully carried out; for Ishmael and nine of his
confederates slew not only the governor, but all the Chaldeans,
all the men of war, and all the Jews that were with him. His
object in all this was that he might easily make captives of the
rest of the people, who were unarmed, and carry them away into
Ammon to increase and strengthen the kingdom of the Ammonites.
To show that this was the object, we quote the full text of
the tenth verse of the forty-first chapter of Jeremiah. Still it
is not of any very special interest to us to know that such was
his object, but there is something in that text which is of the
greatest possible interest to us. The reason for Jeremiah's going
to Mizpah is there. The key to the possible fulfillment of
Jehovah's promise to David is there. The possibilities of the
success of Jeremiah's commission are there. The Divine support to
our faith and an opening door for the complete vindication of God
are there.
"Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people
that were in Mizpah, even the King's Daughters, and all the
people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan, the captain of
the guard, had committed to Gedeliah, the son of Ahikam; and
Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, carried them away captive and
departed to go over to the Ammonites."
What "The King's daughters?" we hear you exclaim.
Yes; but wait until we shall gather into one focus a few
other points, and then we can see the way perfectly clear for
Jeremiah to finish completely his God-given task.
When Johanan and the other captains of the fighting forces
heard what Ishmael had done they gathered themselves together,
started in pursuit and overtook him at Gibeon. At this juncture
the Scripture says: "Now it came to pass that when all the people
which were with Ishmael saw Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all
the captains of the forces that were with him, then they were
glad. So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive
from Mizpah cast about and returned, and went unto Johanan, the
son of Kareah. But Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, escaped from
Johanan with eight men and went unto the Ammonites." (Jer.41:13,
15.)
After Johanan had retaken this captive company, and Ishmael,
the traitor, had escaped, then he became afraid of the Chaldeans,
and feared that the King of the Chaldean Empire, Nebuchadnezzar,
who had placed Gedeliah over them, would, upon hearing what
Ishmael had done, send his army and destroy them. So, under the
distress and despair of the hour, Johanan, who was now their
recognized leader, with all the captains and the people, from the
least unto the greatest, made an appeal unto the prophet of God,
"and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our
supplication be accepted before thee, and now pray for us unto
the Lord thy God, even for all this remnant (for we are left but
a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us); that the Lord thy God
may show us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we
may do."
In reply to this appeal Jeremiah told them that he would
pray for them and inquire of the Lord for them, but that they
must obey the Lord; for he would tell them just what the Lord
said, whether it was good or bad, and that he would keep nothing
back. To which they replied: "Whether it be good, or whether it
be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we
send thee; that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of
the Lord our God." Then Jeremiah besought the Lord, and the Lord
heard and gave instructions. Among other things the Lord told him
to say to them, "Be not afraid of the King of Babylon, of whom ye
are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord; for I am with
you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand." He also told
them not to go down to Egypt, as was their intention, thinking
they would be safe if they placed themselves under the protection
of the King of Egypt.
Furthermore, he told them that if they did go to Egypt the
very thing which they feared would come upon them, and they
should be destroyed, saying: "If ye wholly set your faces to
enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there, then it shall come to
pass that the sword which ye feared shall overtake you there in
the land of Egypt, and the famine whereof ye were afraid shall
follow close after you there in Egypt, and there shall ye die."
The Lord also told Jeremiah that these people were
dissembling in their hearts, when they sent him to pray for them
and to make their request. So we are not surprised that it is
recorded that Johanan said unto Jeremiah: "Thou speakest falsely:
the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to
sojourn there: But Baruch, the son of Neriah, setteth thee
against us, for to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans,
that they might put us to death, and carry us away captive into
Babylon."
Neither are we surprised to read the result, which is
recorded as follows: "But Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the
captains of the forces took all the remnant of Judah that were
returned from all the nations whither they had been driven, to
dwell in the land of Judah; even men, women and children, and the
KING'S DAUGHTERS, and every person that Nebuzaradan, the captain,
had left with Gedeliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan,
and JEREMIAH, the prophet, and Baruch, the son of Neriah. So they
came into the land of Egypt; for they obeyed not the voice of the
Lord. Thus came they even to Tahpanhes." (Jer.43:5-8.)
Baruch, the scribe, was the companion of Jeremiah in prison,
when the Lord took them out and hid them. He was also his
companion in persecution and affliction and accusation. Now,
since we find his name mentioned as one of this company which
Johanan compelled to go to Egypt against the direct command of
God, there is just one prophecy concerning him which we need to
mention before we proceed further. It is as follows: "Thus saith
the Lord, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch: Behold, that
which I have built will I break down, and that which I have
planted I will pluck up, even this whole land, * * * but thy life
will I give unto thee for a prey (booty or reward) in all places
whither thou goest." (Jer.45:2,4,5.)
Furthermore, when that company had reached Egypt and were at
Tahpanhes, the Lord again used Jeremiah to prophesy concerning
their destruction, and also concerning the King of Babylon and
his coming against Pharaoh-Hophra, the King of Egypt, and many
other matters; but we will only give a small portion - that which
pertains to the destiny of the people whose history we are
following.
The prophecy opens with these words: "The word that came to
Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of
Egypt." Note carefully the following: "I will take the remnant of
Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to
sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the
land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by
the famine; they shall die, from the least even unto the
greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be an
execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach."
(Jer.44:12.)
The complete destruction of that company is foretold in
those words; yet the Lord has in that company a few persons whose
lives he has promised shall be spared. So, before the prophecy
continues much further the following proviso is given: "None
shall return but such as shall escape." (Verse 14.)
And before the prophecy is ended abundant provision is made
for the very few whom God has promised shall live. Hence we find
in the prophecy as it continues the following: "Behold I shall
watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of
Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the
sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. Yet a
small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land
of Egypt."
Remember that the masses of the house of Judah, of the
Jewish people, were in captivity in Babylon, where they were to
stay for seventy years. Also remember that this remnant which
came into Egypt were only the ragged end of the nation, i. e.,
the poor of the land, and a few captains of small military
forces. Now, the Lord proposes to destroy this rag-tag remnant,
out of which "a small number shall escape." Now, let us take our
bearings.
1. We have in this company, which has come down into Egypt from
Judea, "the King's daughters." Since the plural form of speech is
used there are at least two of them - history says there were
three. These are the royal seed of the house of David, who are
fleeing from the slayers of their father, Zedekiah, the last King
of the house of Judah, and the slayers of their brothers, the
sons of Zedekiah and princes of Judah.
2. In company with these princesses is Jeremiah, their
grandfather, whom also the Lord has chosen to do the work of
building and planting. In the princesses the prophet has royal
material with which to build and plant.
3. In company with Jeremiah and his royal charge we have Baruch,
his faithful scribe, whom expert genealogists prove to have been
uncle to the royal seed.
4. God has promised that the lives of this "small number," only
five or six at most, shall be to them a prey (reward) in all
lands whither they shall go.
5. Prior to this, at a time when Jeremiah was greatly troubled,
when in his great distress and anguish of heart he cried unto the
Lord, saying: "Remember me, visit me, and revenge me of my
persecutors"; then the Lord said, "Verily it shall be well with
thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well
in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. And I will
make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou
knowest not." (Jer.15:11-14.)
Note the expression "thy remnant," i. e., Jeremiah's, for it
is he who must build and plant that royal seed. Understand also
that Jeremiah and his little remnant were well acquainted with
Egypt, and since it was well known to them it could not have been
their final destination. Hence, this escaping royal remnant must
journey back to Judea, and then - whither?
"Into an unknown land!" Why? "For out of Jerusalem shall go
forth a remnant, and they that escape out of Mount Zion (on which
were the royal dwellings). The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do
this. And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah
(royal line) shall again take root downward and bear fruit
upward." (Isa.37:32-31.)
Hear it! O hear it! Ye men of earth, HEAR IT! "Shall again
take root downward" - be planted! "and bear fruit upward" - be
builded! Where? God should tell us where in His Word, and he
does.
..........
To be continued
NOTE:
WHAT A STORY! WHAT A WORKING FROM THE LORD! HE WILL BE TRUE TO
HIS WORD, TO HIS PROMISE TO DAVID.
ARE YOU BEGINNING TO SEE HOW THE ETERNAL IS GOING TO KEEP DAVID'S
THRONE ALIVE ON THIS EARTH?
Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright #17The Prince of the Scarlet ThreadJUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT #17
by J.H. Allen (1917)
THE PRINCE OF THE SCARLET THREAD
While we leave our little royal "remnant" to make their
escape, let us look about and out into the fields of revelation
and history, to see if we can find some royal prince to whom
shall be wedded one of these princesses who are fleeing into that
"unknown land," where the Lord has promised that those who
compose this remnant shall again take root and grow.
While we are making this search it will be well to remember
that "God gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever," and
that "Israel" is not the name of the Jewish nation, but that it
is the name of the ten-tribed kingdom, which had been driven into
"an unknown land" about one hundred and thirty-nine years prior
to the flight of this remnant.
Let us also remember that the Sceptre, with all that belongs
to it, was promised distinctively to the Judo-Davidic family, and
not to the kingdom which bore the name of Judah, a name which,
together with its corrupted form, Jews, is the Biblical historic
name of the Jewish nation.
Judah, as we will remember, was the representative name of
that nation which was composed of the smaller portion of Israel's
seed, because it was to Judah's blessing and standard that the
people gathered who afterward became separated from the rest of
Israel, and were known as the Jews. They are the descendants of
these people who are still known as Jews.
On the other hand, according to a prophecy which shall be
cited in due time, the descendants of the ten-tribed kingdom,
which had been cast out into an unknown land, were to be called
by another name.
The fact that they were not to be known by the name of
Israel cannot annul the prophecy which was uttered by Abijah, as
he stood upon a certain mount in Ephraim and said: "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, even to
him and to his sons, by a covenant of salt?"
Do you ask, "Is it possible that this little royal remnant
shall have gone to that same unknown land to which they of the
ten tribes had previously gone? Was it among that people that
this remnant was planted, and over whom the preserved sceptre
held its sway?" Let us examine the Scriptural evidence.
Ezekiel is believed to have lived contemporaneously with
Jeremiah. By taking the testimony of chronology, together with
the concurrence of many historic events, all may know that this
is true.
Jeremiah states historic events and utters prophecies which
relate chiefly to Judah, but gives only a little of that which
pertains to Israel; while Ezekiel does the reverse of this,
saying much that concerns Israel and but little that pertains to
Judah.
Still, what he does say concerning the destroyed
commonwealth of Judah, the plucked-up Sceptre and the overturned
throne of that royal family whose history we are studying, does
most undoubtedly furnish evidence which connects the remnant seed
and their monarchical belongings with the exiled house of Israel,
which has taken root, and whose people are gathering strength in
a country the location and geographical character of which are
described by the prophets, and which, at a time prior to the
prophecies, was an unknown and an uninhabited wilderness.
Jeremiah tells us that "Zedekiah was one and twenty years old
when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in
Jerusalem."
At a period which synchronizes with the time when Zedekiah
had reigned for six years, Ezekiel declares that the word of the
Lord came to him saying that he should prophesy against Judah and
Jerusalem, concerning the King of Babylon, who would come up
against them with the sword, and that at that time he should set
battering rams against the gates of the city, cast up a mount and
build a fort. The result of this would be that the city would be
taken.
At the same time the message from the Lord, which was
delivered by the prophet Ezekiel to Zedekiah, was "And thou,
profane, wicked Prince of Israel, whose day is come, when (your)
iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God: Remove the
diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not be (upon) the
same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will
overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more
(overturned) until he come whose right it is; and I will give it
to him." - Ezek.21:22-27.
We have no disposition to make an attempt to give words a
meaning which they will not bear, nor to attach any signification
to them which the context does not clearly indicate; but these
words do most certainly give us to understand that there is a
person, a male heir of the royal line, who is to be the immediate
successor of Zedekiah to the Davidic throne. Also, these words
teach that the crown is to be taken from off the head of
Zedekiah, upon whom it rested at the time when this prophecy was
given, and placed upon the head of this person whom the
Scriptures designate as "him that is low."
These words further teach that when the royal diadem, the
emblem of kingly power and exaltation, is taken from the one and
placed upon the head of that other person, that then the one who
was previously high is abased and brought low, but that the one
who hitherto was low is then exalted and made high. This is
essentially so, because the two men shall have then exchanged
places.
Furthermore, the expression, "This shall not be the same,"
taken together with the prophecy concerning the overturns, leads
us to expect a change of dynasty, at least on the side of the
male line, and also a change in the territorial or geographical
situation. This is still more apparent when we note that there
are to be three overturns, and that after the third overturn
shall have been accomplished, there are to be no more until
another certain person comes. Also, after the diadem has been
removed from the head of the prince who wore it at the time of
the first overturn and placed upon the head of "him that is low,"
it is to be noted that then either this man, who is the person
understood as the antecedent of the personal pronoun, "Him," or
his lineage, is to be dethroned by the Lord in favor of that
other person, who is designated as "he whose right it is," to
whom it shall then be given.
The next question for us to settle is, Who is this legally
possible person, that is to be the successor of Zedekiah, who is
spoken of as "him that is low"? for he is spoken of as "low" only
in the sense of nonruling.
By consulting the thirty-eighth chapter of Genesis we will
find a record of the conception and birth of twin boys, whose
conception and birth were both accompanied by such extraordinary
circumstances that the question of their parentage is forever
settled; for Tamar, the mother, did willingly stoop in order that
she might conquer Judah, the father, and compel him to do justice
by her.
The never-to-be-forgotten manner in which Judah was forced
to acknowledge that those children were his offspring and that
their mother was more righteous than he, does most certainly
place the fact of their royal lineage beyond the possibility of
cavil.
When the mother was in travail and after the midwife had
been summoned, there was the presentation of a hand. Then, for
some reason either human or Divine, the midwife knew that twins
were in the womb. So, in order that she might know and be able to
testify which was born first, she fastened a scarlet thread on
the outstretched hand. Since Judah's was the royal family in
Israel, and the law of primogeniture prevailed among them, it was
essential that this distinction should be made so that at the
proper time the first born or eldest son might ascend the throne.
After the scarlet thread had been made secure on the little
hand it was drawn back and the brother was born first. Upon
seeing this the midwife exclaimed: "How hast thou broken forth?"
Then, seemingly, she was filled with the spirit of prophecy and
said: "This breach be upon thee," and because of this prophetic
utterance he was given the name of Pharez, i. e., "A Breach."
Afterward his brother, who had the scarlet thread upon his hand,
was born, and his name was called Zarah, i. e., "The seed."
The very fact that Pharez was really born first would exalt him,
and it eventually did exalt his heirs, to the throne of Israel,
for King David was a son of Judah through the line of Pharez. But
just so surely as this son of Judah and father of David, who was
the first one of the line to sit upon that throne, was given the
name of Pharez, just so surely must we expect - with that little
hand of the scarlet thread waving prophetically before them -
that a breach should occur somewhere along that family line.
That breach did occur. We are now considering its history
and are well into its transition period, which began when the
Lord God sanctified Jeremiah, sent him into the world, and gave
him his commission to pull down and pluck up the exalted Pharez
line, and afterward to build and plant anew the sceptre, throne
and kingdom; while at about the same time the word of the Lord
came to Ezekiel and moved him to predict the removal of the crown
from the head of the one who is high, a proceeding which not only
involves the transfer of the royal diadem to another head, but
also an overturning; and when both the transfer and the
overturning shall have been accomplished, then the one who was
low will have been exalted and the exalted one will have been
brought low.
The immediate posterity of this "Prince of the Scarlet
Thread" is given as follows: "And the sons of Zarah; Zimri and
Ethan and Heman and Calcol and Dara, five of them in all." (1
Chron.2:6.) Thus the direct posterity of Zarah was five, while
that of Pharez was only two.
For the reason that our Lord sprang out of Judah, through
the line of Pharez, the unbroken genealogy of that family is
given in the sacred records; but the genealogy of the Zarah
family is given only intermittently. One thing is made quite
clear in the Bible concerning the sons of Zarah, and that is,
that they were famous for their intelligence and wisdom, for it
was only the great God-given wisdom of Solomon which is declared
to have risen above theirs, as is seen by the following: And God
gave Solomon wisdom and understanding * * * and Solomon's wisdom
excelled the wisdom of all the children of the East, for he was
wiser than all men - than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and
Calcol, and Dara. (1 Kings 4:29,3I.)
Furthermore, we find that two of them, Ethan and Heman, were
also noted singers, as we find by consulting the fifteenth
chapter of First Kings and the nineteenth verse. By noting the
titles of the eighty-eighth and eighty-ninth Psalms we also see
that one of them was composed by "Heman the Ezrahite," and that
the other was the song of "Ethan the Ezrahite."
It is not at all unlikely and would be but natural that
the Zimri who overthrew Baasha, the third King of Israel (not
Judah), belonged to the posterity of Zimri, the first-born son of
Zarah, son of Judah and twin brother of Pharez. For, as we have
shown, the seed of Jacob were at that time divided into two
kingdoms, with the posterity of Pharez on the throne ruling over
the kingdom of Judah. How natural it would be for the then living
members of that family to think, and to say: "This is the long
foretold breach for which we have been taught to look. This is
the time to assert our royal prerogatives, take the throne, and
rule over this the house of Israel."
It would be but natural for another reason, namely, there
has always been an attempt to fulfill, in the natural, every
promise that the Lord God has made to his chosen people. He
promised Abraham and Sarah that they should have a son. In order
that they might accomplish this end Sarah gave and Abraham took,
Hagar her handmaid, and the result was Ishmael.
Before Jacob and Esau were born the Birthright was promised
to the younger. Jacob, the younger, undertook to accomplish this
in the natural by taking unjust advantage of his brother and
deceiving his father.
So with Joseph: after God had promised the Birthright to him
he undertook in the natural to take advantage of the blindness of
Jacob.
Nevertheless, God in his own good time gave Sarah strength
to conceive; settled with repentant, wrestling Jacob, and
outwitted manceuvering Joseph.
So now, in his own good time, he has also made the predicted
breach, which shall result in the bringing down of the line of
Pharez, "the high," and which shall exalt the prosperity of
Zarah, "the low."
....................
To be continued
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