JUDAH'S SEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT
by Allen (1917)
CHAPTER VIII.
SAMARIA-ISRAEL CAST OUT AND CAST OFF
Concerning the casting out of Israel, it is written "And it
came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah (the king of
Judah) which was the seventh year of Hosea, son of Elah, king of
Israel, that Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against
Samaria and besieged it, and at the end of three years they took
it; even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is, the ninth year
of Hosea, king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of
Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in
Halah, and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of
the Medes. Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their
God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses, the
servant of the Lord, commanded, and would not hear them, nor do
them." (2 Kings 18:9-12.) "For the children of Israel walked in
all the sins of Jeroboam which he did, they departed not from
them; until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight (literally
his fore-front regard, or fore-front favor; such as is expressed
in other places by the use of the words face and countenance), as
he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel
carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.
And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from
Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and
placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of
Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities
thereof." - (2 Kings 17:23-24.)
If, as it is herein affirmed, the king of Assyria did take
this ten-tribed kingdom out o f their own land, which land is
called Samaria, and then place another people there instead o f
the children o f Israel, then Samaria is the lawful home of those
pre-Samaritans, THE EGYPTO-ISRAELITES of the Ephraimitish or
Birthright kingdom, while those mongrel post-Samaritans, who were
gathered up from various places, were but strangers and
foreigners in that portion of the Abrahamic land grant known as
Samaria.
Following this record of the removal of Israel and the
placing of these strangers in their former home, we have the
following: "And so it was at the beginning of the dwelling there,
that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions
among them which slew some of them. Wherefore they spake to the
king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed and
placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God
of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and,
behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the
God of the land. Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying,
Carry one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let him
go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God
of the land. Then one of the priests whom they carried away from
Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should
fear the. Lord. Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and
put them in the houses of the high places which the (former)
Samaritans (Israelites) had made, every nation in their cities
wherein they dwelt; the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth (an
idol), and the men of Cuth made Nergalm (another idol), and the
men of Hamath made Ashima (still another). And the Avites made
Nibhaz and Tartak (still others), and the Sepharvites burnt their
children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of
Sepharviam. So they feared the Lord and made unto themselves of
the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed
for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the Lord,
and served their own gods, after the manner of nations
(Joseph-Ephraim-Samaria-Israel whom they, carried away from
thence. Unto this day they do after the former manners." (2 Kings
17:25-34.)
Yes: "after the former manner" of idolatrous Isreal. Yes;
after the former manner of Israel, who feared-was afraid of-the
Lord, but served their own idol-gods. Yes; after the former
manner of Israel, who built those same high places-the groves,
temples and altars-and in them worshiped the works of their own
hands. Yes; after the former manner of Israel, who rejected the
priests of the Lord, and made priests of the lowest of the
people. Yes; here is a perfect flower, produced from the pollen
of example, and grown upon the plant of "after the former
manner." Yes; here is a clear case of gathering thistles when
they should have had figs. And yet that poor priest whom they
sent back was not to blame, for he himself was one of the lowest
of his race. The blame lay behind him-Israel!
The charge against the people of Israel is, "Surely as a
wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt
treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord." (Jere.
3:20.) And the Lord cried out, "O Ephraim, thou hast committed
whoredom. Israel is defiled." (Hosea 5:3.) Hosea is also used of
the Lord to declare "Ephraim is smitten. * * My God shall cast
them away, because they did not harken unto him." Thus the Lord
declares, "I will love them no more;" but in the bitterness of
his disappointment, for this is the same Lord that wept over
Jerusalem, he cried out, "O Ephraim, how shall I give thee up?"
No! No! That loving One did not want to cast them off; but they
forsook him; they would not have him to reign over them; they
would no longer ask counsel of him after the judgment of Urim and
Thummim, for the faithful but rejected One declares, "My people
ask counsel at their stock (cattle, calves), and their staff
(support or stay) declareth unto them for the spirit of whoredom
hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under
their God." (Hosea 4:12.)
Still he cries after them, "Return, O backsliding Isreal,
return! Return unto me and I will return unto you, for I am
married unto you. I will heal your backslidings and love you
freely." But they would not. Previous to this the Lord had said
that he was a husband to Israel; but now, disappointed, he turns
his heart more to the other kingdom-that of Judah-and says:
"Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah
offend." (Hosea 4:15.) But as the story unfolds we find that
Judah offended worse than Israel, and that one hundred and thirty
years after the driving out of Israel they, too, were carried
into captivity,-the captivity in Babylon.
Since "the head of Ephraim is Samaria," (Isa.7:9) there need
be no difficulty in understanding why the Lord should declare e
that "the inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves
of Beth-aven." (Hosea 10:5.) Beth-aven is defined as "House of
Vanities"; "vain emptiness." When Jeroboam set up the two calves
for Israel to worship he set one in Bethel, which means "God's
house;" and by worshiping those idols they turned the house of
God into a house of vanity, or of vain, hollow, unsatisfactory
emptiness. "Thus provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger
(passionate suffering) by their vanities." Hence the wail of the
prophet, "They trust in vanity and speak lies."
Let us note carefully, and we will get still clearer light
concerning the calf question. "Israel hath cast off the thing
that is good (God and his care): the enemy shall pursue him
(because they had cast off the protection of God). They have set
up kings, but not by me (their own, not the Lord's, choice) they
have made princes (feudal princes, not of royal line), and I knew
(Heb, yada, appoint, recognize) it not: of their silver and their
gold have they made them (selves) idols (calves, etc.) that (as a
result) they may be cut off.
"Thy calf (the cause), O Samaria, hath cast thee off (the
result): mine anger (long-suffering passion) is kindled against
them: how long will it be ere they (Israel) attain to innocency?
( i. e., lack of guilt through the power of the calf to forgive,
or take that guilt away.)
"For from Israel was it also: The workmen made it, therefore
it is not God. But the calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces.
For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind:
it hath left no standing corn (R. V.); the bud shall yield no
meal: if so be it yield, the strangers (Post-Samaritans) shall
swallow it up. Israel is swallowed up; now shall they be among
the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure. For they are
gone up to Assyria a wild ass alone (without God) by himself:
Ephraim hath hired lovers (Marginal reading: loves, i. e., having
no loving care from the Lord, they hire some one to love them).
Yea, though they have hired (lovers) among the nations, now will
I gather them, and they shall begin to sorrow in a little while
(marginal reading) for the burden of the king of princes. Because
Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be to him a
sin. I have written to him the great things o f my laws, but they
were counted as a strange thing. They sacrifice (other) flesh for
the sacrifices of mine offerings, and eat it; but the Lord
accepteth them not: now will he remember their iniquity, and
visit their sins; they shall return to Egypt. (Figurative to them
of captivity and bondage). For Israel hath forgotten his maker."
Isaiah fully explains the expression, "They shall begin to
sorrow in a little while, for the burden of the King of Princes,"
in the following: "O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the
staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against
a hypocritical nation and against the people of my wrath will I
give him a charge, to take the spoil and to take the prey and to
tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth
not so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not
a few. For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?" (Isa.
10:5-8.) This last expression was an Assyrian boast. The Assyrian
king really expected to destroy Israel and cut them off, but the
Word of God has gone forth that they shall never be destroyed.
In order to punish them he allowed the Assyrian to "tread them
down like mire of the streets." And further on he refers to the
Egyptian bondage, and says that the Assyrian shall smite them
with a rod and lift up his staff against them, "after the manner
of Egypt."
It is high time for us, who live in the realm of faith, to
throw off our lethargy, arouse ourselves from our God-dishonoring
stupidity and ignorance and understand that the name Samaria has
a prophetic significance, as well as a historic one. Yes, and
that not only Samaria, but that the names of Ephraim, Joseph,
Rachel, Judah, Jacob, Israel and many others have the same
signification in the prophecies of the Bible that they have in
its historic portions. That is, if the names Israel, Samaria,
Ephraim, etc., are used in the history to designate the
ten-tribed Egypto-Israelitish Birthright kingdom; then, when
those names are used prophetically, surely the prophecy involved
must refer to the same people. This is also true of the terms
Judah and the Jews. True, the name Israel often includes the
Jews, for, racially speaking, it is their national name; but it
is used again and again and again when it has no reference
whatever to the Jewish people.
In the thirty-first chapter of Jeremiah the Lord has made an
unconditional promise to the Birthright nation. This promise is
given in clear, definite and unmistakable language, which he
declares they shall consider in the last days; and in which he
uses the names of Jacob, Ephraim, Israel, and Samaria, together
with the name of Rachel, the mother of the birthright family. It
is in this prophecy that the Lord makes use of the expression, "I
am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born," in
connection with which he says, "He that scattered Israel will
gather him," and commands that this be told in the land where
Ephraim is living in the last days. He also says to them, in this
same promise, "Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of
Samaria," and to this he further adds: "A great company shall
return thither."
"Return thither." "Where?"
To the place from which they came--SAMARIA ! "Who?"
Jacob-Rachel-Joseph-Ephraim-Samaria-Israel ! ! !
It is a well-known fact that the Jews went into the
Babylonish captivity; but it is much more fully known that they
returned from that captivity and dwelt, for a short season, in
Judea, or Jewry. But, aside from that one priest who was brought
back from among the captives of Israel, and who dwelt in Bethel,
that he might teach those mongrel post-Samaritans the manner of
the God of the land, there is not one word of history, sacred or
profane, to show that any tribe, tribes, or remnants of tribes,
of those pre-Samaritans, the children of Israel, who composed the
northern kingdom, have ever returned to and dwelt in their former
home. That is, that portion of the land which the Lord God of
heaven and earth promised to their fathers, and which is known in
Biblical history as "Samaria," and "All Israel," in
contradistinction from that which is known as "All Judea" and
"Jewry," which was the home of the Jews.
In another chapter we have given the details of the
Babylonian captivity of the Jews, but just at present we desire
to call your attention to the fact that their captivity occurred
in 588 B. C. (Usher's Chronology, which is not correct by more
than eight years, but is sufficiently correct for our present
purpose), and the first prophecy uttered concerning that
captivity was 623 B.C. and the last one twenty-three years later,
i. e., 600 B.C. But the prophet Amos had prophesied concerning
the captivity and return from captivity of the ten-tribed kingdom
one hundred and sixty-four years prior to the first intimation
that the Jews would ever go into captivity, and one hundred and
ninetynine years before they were carried away into captivity.
In writing concerning the captivity of the ten tribes the names
which Amos used to designate them are, "Samaria," used four
times; "Joseph," used three times; "Isaac," used twice; "Bethel,"
used five times, and "Israel," used seventeen times.
Amos is the only one of the prophets who applied the name of
Isaac to either one of, the two kingdoms. But there can be no
possible doubt that Amos gives the name of Isaac to the
ten-tribed kingdom. The first verse in the book of Amos reads:
"The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he
saw concerning Israel, in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and
in the days of Jeroboam (this is Jeroboam the second) son of
Joash, king of Israel. He uses the title of Isaac as follows:
"And the high places (groves for worship) of Isaac shall be
desolate, and the sanctuaries (Bethel and Dan) of Israel shall be
laid waste, and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam
(king of ten-tribed Israel) with the sword. Then Amaziah, the
priest of Bethel (the place where they went to worship the calf),
sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired
against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not
able to bear all his words. For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall
die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out
of their own land. Also Amaziah saith unto Amos, O thou seer, go
flee away into the land of Judah (Jewry) and there eat bread, and
prophesy there; but prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it
is the king's chapel." (Amos 7:9-15.)
In the days of Joshua, when the land of Canaan was divided
by lot, Bethel fell to the house of Joseph. Thus we find it in
possession of the; Birthright kingdom and used as the chapel of
this idolatrous king, for Jeroboam the first had polluted it with
one of the calves.
While it is true that this people were taken to Assyria, and
were given a promise that they shall eventually return, there is
something else which must first occur; for the Lord has said of
them that after they were cast out he would "sift the house of
Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet
shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." (Amos 9:9.)
Then, after giving this prophecy concerning the sifting of
the house of Israel among all nations, Amos prophesies concerning
their return, as follows: "And I will bring again the captivity
of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities,
and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the
wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of
them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no
more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them,
saith the Lord thy God." (Amos 9:14,15.)
But, in spite of the fact that this prophecy was written two
centuries before the Jews were sent into captivity, while they
were yet counted among the faithful saints, it having no
application to them whatever, and that, when fulfilled, the
people to whom it refers SHALL NO MORE BE PULLED UP out of their
land - there are theory-bound men who are so determined that
everything Israelitish shall be Jewish that they have the
audacity to tell us that this prophecy was fulfilled when the
Jews returned from the Babylonish captivity.
....................
To be continued
Joseph's Birthright #9Jews in Babylon and ReturnJUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT
by Allen (1917)
CHAPTER IX.
THE JEWS GO TO BABYLON AND RETURN
The twenty-third chapter of Ezekiel contains a short story
which seems somewhat veiled, but a knowledge of the two houses
and their respective capitals lifts the veil and quickly sweeps
it aside. It is of interest to us, or should be, and begins as
follows: "There were two women, daughters of one mother, who
committed adultery in their youth in Egypt, the names of whom
were Aholah, the elder, and Aholibah, her sister, and they were
mine, saith the Lord, and they bare sons and daughters." "Thus
were their names; SAMARIA is Aholah (Israel), and JERUSALEM
Aholibah (Judah)." Ezekiel 23:4. Then the story continues and
tells how Aholah, the elder, played the harlot, and was followed
into that sin by her sister Aholibah, who was more corrupt than
Aholah had been. So God judged them "as women that break
wedlock." Before the story is ended the history of Israel's
captivity to the Assyrians is told, together with prophecies
concerning the captivity of Judah in Babylon.
The Lord further says to the Jews: "And thine elder sister
is Samaria (Israel), she and her daughters that dwell at thy left
hand; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is
Sodom and her daughters. Yet hast thou not walked after their
ways, nor done after their abominations; but, as if it were a
very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy
ways. * * * Neither hath Samaria (Israel) committed half of thy
sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they
and hast justified (by comparison) thy sisters in all thine
abominations which thou hast done. Thou also, which hast judged
thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast
committed more abominable than they." (Ezekiel 16:46-52.)
This is in harmony with the record of Judah, as given by
Jeremiah in the following: "And I saw, when for all the causes
whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away,
and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah
feared not but went and played the harlot also.
And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath
justified herself more than treacherous Judah." (Jeremiah 3:8,
11.)
"And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my
sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city
Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My
name shall be there" (2 Kings 23:27). So Jeremiah was commanded
to stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim the word of
the Lord unto all the men of Judah, and among other things say
unto them: "But go ye now unto my place, which is Shiloh (one of
the cities of Joseph), where I set my name at first, and see what
I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now,
because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake
unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I
called you, but ye answered not. Therefore will I do unto this
house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the
place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to
Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out
all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim." (Jeremiah 7:
12-15.)
The above is the prophecy; the following is a part of the
historic record of the fact after its fulfillment. "Thus Judah
was carried away captive out of his own land. This is the people
whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive in the seventh year (of
his reign) three thousand Jews and three-and-twenty. In the
eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he carried away captive from
Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-and-two persons. In the
three-and-twentieth year of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuzar-adan, the
captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven
hundred forty-and-five persons. All the persons were four
thousand and six hundred." (Jeremiah 52:27-30.)
Thus doth Jeremiah teach, that it was the Jews, or the
people composing the kingdom of Judah, who were carried into
Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar; and in order to show that it was the
Jewish people, and they only, who returned from that captivity,
we cite the following: "Now these are the children of the
province (Judea had been a province to Babylon twenty years
before Nebuchadnezzar robbed and burned the temple, destroyed
Jerusalem, and took the Jews to Babylon) that went up out of the
captivity of those which had been carried away, whom
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away into
Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem, and Judah every one to
his city." (Ezra 2:1.)
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are the only books of the
Bible which deal with the history of that return. Jeremiah had
prophesied that the Jews should remain captives in the Chaldean
Empire (Babylon was the capital of that empire) for seventy
years. Just as the seventy years came to an end the empire was
taken by the Medes and Persians, and it became known in history
as the Medo-Persian empire.
Ezra begins his record as follows: "Now in the first year of
Cyrus, King of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of
Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of
Cyrus, King of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all
his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 'Thus said Cyrus
King of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the
kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an
house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of
all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to
Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God
of Israel (he is the God) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever
remaineth in any place (throughout the kingdom) where he
sojourneth, let the men of his place keep him with silver and
with gold and with goods and with beasts, besides the free will
offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.' Then rose up
the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests,
and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God hath raised, to
go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem."
(Ezra 1:1-5.)
Do you notice that it is only the men of the tribes of
Judah, Benjamin, and Levi who are mentioned as responding to this
call? Also you will remember that those three tribes are the
three which compose the kingdom of Judah which went into the
Babylonish captivity, the ten tribes having been carried away
into the Assyrian captivity one hundred and thirty years prior to
that.
Also notice that it was not all the fathers nor all of
Judah, Benjamin, and Levi that rose up to this call, but the
chief of the fathers, and all of the people in those tribes
mentioned whose spirit the Lord had made willing. So these
willing ones went to work, gathering together their silver, gold,
goods, and other precious things. And Cyrus, the king, brought
out of the house of one of the idols, where Nebuchadnezzar had
put them, all of the vessels belonging to the house of the Lord,
and through his treasurer "numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the
prince of Judah. And this is the number of them: Thirty charges
of silver, nine and thirty knives. Thirty basins of gold, silver
of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a
thousand. All the vessels of gold and silver were five thousand
and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with him of
the captivity that were brought up from Babylon to Jerusalem."
(Ezra 1:8-11.) Please notice that among these things mentioned as
belonging to the house of God there is no mention of the Ark of
the Covenant. The reason is that the Ark was with the Birthright
people.
Some presume to teach that the house of Israel returned to
Palestine with the Jews when they came from Babylon. When we get
to that phase of our subject we will prove by both the Old and
New Testaments that they did not. But just here we need to say
that in the books which deal with the history of this return
there is not the slightest mention, direct or indirect, by
inference or reference, of the other kingdom, or house, of
Israel.
There is a mention of the army of Samaria by Nehemiah, but
you will find that they belonged to the Post-Samaritans, who with
others opposed and hindered the Jews in their work, until finally
they forced them to cease work on the temple. Here is the record:
"But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded
the wall he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the
Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria,
and said, What do these feeble Jews?"(Neh.4:1,2.) Again: "Now
when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the
children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of
Israel." (Ezra 4:1.)
Following these statements is the account of a prolonged
persecution of the Jews by those mongrel nations of
Post-Samaritans. They hired counselors, wrote letters of protest,
resorted to trickery and hypocrisy. A letter of protest was
written to Artaxerxes, king of Persia, which was signed by many,
together with "the rest of the nations whom the noble Asnapar
brought over and set in the cities of Samaria." This had the
effect of stopping the work on the temple, and it did not begin
again until during the second year of Darius, at which time these
imported Samaritans again tried to hinder. The account of this is
given by Josephus, as follows: "When the Samaritans, who were
still enemies to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, heard the
sound of trumpets, they came running together, and desired to
know what was the occasion of the tumult; and when they perceived
that it was the Jews who had been carried captive to Babylon and
were rebuilding the temple, they came to Zorobabel, and to
Jeshua, and to the heads of the families, and desired that they
would give them leave to build the temple with them, and to be
partners with them in building it; for they said, "We worship
your God, and especially pray to him, and are desirous of your
religious settlement, and this ever since Shalmaneser, the king
of Assyria, transplanted us out of Cuthah and Medea to this
place." When they thus said, Zorobabel and Jeshua, the high
priest, and the heads of the families of the Israelites, replied
to them that, "it was impossible for them to permit them to be
their partners, while they only had been appointed to build that
temple at first by Cyrus, and now by Darius, although it was
lawful for them to come and worship there if they pleased, and
that they could allow them nothing but that in common with them,
which was common to them with all other men, to come to their
temple, and worship there. When the Cutheans heard this, for the
Samaritans have that appellation, they had indignation at it, and
persuaded the nations of Syria to desire the governors, in the
same manner as they had done formerly in the days of Cyrus, and
again in the days of Cambysses afterwards, to put a stop to the
building of the temple, and to endeavor to delay and distract the
Jews in their zeal about it."
This delayed matters for some time, but finally Darius
ordered a search among the royal records, which resulted in the
finding of the record of Cyrus concerning the restoration of the
Jews, the building of the temple, and what the Lord commanded him
in reference to them. The contents of this proclamation is given
by Josephus, as follows:
"Cyrus, the king, in the first year of his reign, commanded that
the temple should be built in Jerusalem; and the altar in height
should be three-score cubits, and its breadth of the same, with
three edifices of polished stone, and one edifice of stone of
their own country: and he ordained that the expenses of it should
be paid out of the king's revenue. He also commanded that the
vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had pillaged out of the temple and
carried to Babylon should be restored to the people of Jerusalem,
and that the care of these things should belong to Sanadassar,
the governor and president of Syria and Phoenicia, and to his
associates, that they may not meddle with that place, but may
permit the servants of God, the Jews and their rulers, to build
the temple. He also ordained that they should assist him in the
work; and that they should pay to the Jews, out of the tribute of
the country where they were governors, on account of the
sacrifices, bulls and rams, and lambs and kids of goats, and fine
flour, and oil, and wine, and all other things that the priests
should suggest to them; and that they should pray for the
preservation of the king, and of the Persians, and for such as
had transgressed any of these orders thus sent to them, he
commanded that they should be caught, and hung upon a cross, and
their substance confiscated to the king's use. He also prayed to
God against them, that if any one attempted to hinder the
building of the temple, God would strike him dead, and thereby
restrain his wickedness."
Josephus also relates another trick of these Cuthean
Samaritans, as follows: "When Shalmanesar, the king of Assyria,
had it told him, that Hoshea, the king of Israel, had sent
privately to So, the king of Egypt, desiring his assistance
against him, he was very angry, and made an expedition against
Samaria, in the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea; but when he
was not admitted into the city by the king, he besieged Samaria
three years, and took it by force in the ninth year of the reign
of Hoshea, and in the seventh year of Hezekiah, king of
Jerusalem, and quite demolished the government of the Israelites,
and transplanted all the people into Medea and Persia, among whom
he took King Hoshea alive; and when he had removed these people
out of this their land, he transplanted other nations out of
Cutha, a place so called, (for there is still a river of that
name in Persia,) into Samaria, and into the country of the
Israelites. So the ten tribes of the Israelites were removed,
etc. But now the Cutheans who removed into Samaria, (for that is
the name they have been called by to this time, because they were
brought out of the country called Cutha, which is a country of
Persia, and there is a river of the same name in it,) and are
called in the Hebrew tongue Cutheans, but in the Greek tongue
Samaritans. And when they see the Jews in prosperity they pretend
that they are changed, and allied to them, and call them kinsmen,
as though they were derived from Joseph."
Our object in inserting these quotations is threefold.
First:
to show that not only the sacred writers, but also the secular
historian, and the rulers, both friendly and unfriendly, who had
to do with those Israelites who went into and came out of the
Babylonish captivity, called them Jews.
Second:
to show how the bitter feeling was engendered among the Jews
against those Cuthea-Samaritans, whom they called "Dogs," whom
they never forgave, and with whom they never had any dealings.
When Christ spoke to the woman of Samaria at the well, she was so
surprised that her first words were, "How is it that thou, being
a Jew, askest drink of me, a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have
no dealings with the Samaritans."
Third:
to show that neither Josephus, who writes on the "Antiquities of
the Jews," nor their enemies, the Cuthea-Samaritans, ever
confounds the ten-tribed Israelites with the Jewish Israelites.
Oh, how we do thank God that he made Josephus write concerning
those imported nations in Samaria, who, because they were living
in that land which had been the home of the Birthright kingdom,
when they were seeking that which would be advantageous to them,
would sidle up to the Jews, and claim kinship. "AS THOUGH THEY
WERE DERIVED FROM JOSEPH." What impudence. Think of the audacity
of these imported mongrels claiming to be a portion of the
Abrahamic birthright-holders. Is it much marvel that the Jews
should dub such a race of fawners by the appropriate name of
Dogs?
Both Ezra and Nehemiah, the Biblical historians of the
return of the Jews from Babylon to Judea, give the genealogy of
all who returned, a list of all the men who worked on the wall, a
special list of all the priests who had married strange wives,
and the exact number of individuals who returned. The aggregate
of these is summed up as follows: "The whole congregation
together was forty-and-two thousand three hundred and
three-score, besides their servants and their maids, of whom
there were seven thousand, three hundred thirty-seven." Ezra
states that there were among these servants two hundred singing
men and women, but Nehemiah puts the number of singers at two
hundred and forty-five. This could easily have been the case by
the time he got there, for the going up which was led by him was
the second one, and did not take place until fourteen years and a
half after that which was led by Ezra. And yet in the
genealogical records of this "whole congregation" of forty-nine
thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven Jews, there is not a
tribal name mentioned except those of Judah, Benjamin and Levi
Please remember that it is the people of these three tribes who
compose the mass of the kingdom of Judah, and who only are called
Jews.
Josephus tells us of an epistle which was written by Xerxes,
the son of Darius, at the time when the Jews were getting ready
to leave Babylon, and sent to Esdras (Ezra,) which was the cause
of great rejoicing among them. He speaks of the effect it had
upon them, as follows: "So he read the epistle at Babylon to
those Jews that went there, but he kept the epistle itself, and
sent a copy of it to all those of his own nation that were in
Medea. And when these Jews had understood what piety the king had
toward God, and what kindness he had for Esdras, they were all
greatly pleased; nay, many of them took their effects with them,
and came to Babylon, as very desirous of going down to Jerusalem;
but then THE ENTIRE BODY of THE PEOPLE of ISRAEL remained in that
country, wherefore there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe
subject to the Romans, while THE TEN TRIBES are beyond the
Euphrates till now (A.D.95), and are an immense multitude, and
not to be estimated by numbers."
We note that First and Second Kings, the Chronicles,
Josephus, Ezra and Nehemiah, all speak of the kingdom of Judah at
times, as "Judah and Benjamin." This is why Josephus says that
there were only two tribes under the power of the Romans.
The reason for this is supposed to be the fact that the
Levites were priests who served in the temple, and did not count
for anything when it came to the political and fighting strength
of the Jewish people, for the Levites were undoubtedly with Judah
and Benjamin, as a part of the Kingdom of Judah.
Furthermore, aside from the mention of the tribal name of
Ashur, as the name of the tribe to which Anna, the prophetess
belonged, there is not a tribal name used in any historic portion
of the new Testament, except the three tribal names of the Jewish
people, i. e., Judah, Levi, and Benjamin. The ancestors of Anna
could easily have belonged to one of those scattered families who
returned out of Israel unto the kingdom of Judah, because they
would not serve Jeroboam's calves.
....................
To be continued
NOTE:
Some have argued with the phrase "and all Israel in their cities"
-- Ezra 2:70. To say all 13 tribes of Israel returned and came
back to the Holy Land, except some who decided not to, and hence
were the scattered "Jews" of Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. But
from that phrase they argue there was never any "lost" tribes of
Israel. As we have seen Josephus the Jewish historian of the
first century A.D. does not agree with such an argument, and I'm
sure he had read the book of Ezra.
The answer is as the example of Luke 2:1. "....that ALL THE WOLRD
should be taxed" (enrolled margin of KJV).
Obviously the people of Chian, India, North and South America,
Japan, Australia and etc.. did not come to be taxed or enrolled.
So such phrases have a CONTEXT!!!
The phrase in Ezra "all Israel in their cities" has a CONTEXT of
THOSE WHO RETURNED, which in the context of the return of the
Jews from Babylon, was not even ALL the Jews returned, as Acts 2
points out. And Jews are Israelites, but not all Israelites are Jews.
Hence Josephus was quite CORRECT, just as the relatively modern
Jewish Christian scholar Elersheim also agrees with Josephus -
the 10 Tribes of Israel (except for individuals) NEVER EVER
returned to the Holy Land.
Oh the silly arguments of men, who it seems never read all the
Bible, or they read it with tunnel vision, some verses like Luke
2:1 go right over their heads, and they so go on their their
theological blindness and ignorance.
Keith Hunt
Joseph's Birthright #10Joseph-Israel Lost #1JUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT
by Allen (1917)
CHAPTER X.
JOSEPH-ISRAEL LOST
In spite of all the facts to the contrary, there is a class
of teachers who without one word of historic proof insist upon
teaching that the Egypto-Israelites returned with the Jews. Here
is the argument of a commentator who has written two commentaries
on "The Revelation." He is a good man and has a pure heart; but
in so far as this subject is concerned, he certainly has not
informed himself. He first asks the question: "Were not the ten
tribes lost after the deportation of Shalmanezar, as none but
Judah and Benjamin returned in the Exodus of Nehemiah?" And
answers it thus: "There is a general misapprehension and delusion
on that subject. As the ten tribes were carried into captivity a
hundred and thirty-four years before Judah and Benjamin; yet
doubtless many of the ten tribes returned with them to Palestine.
So the ten tribes were not lost, but they simply lost their
tribehood, as they did not return in their organized tribes, but
as individuals. Hence all of this hue and cry about the lost
tribes, ransacking all the world to find them, and writing vast
volumes, is a piece of twaddle and nonsense."
Thus with one presumptive wave of the hand he attempts to
sweep from before our eyes the most important subject, so far as
the vindication of the Word of God is concerned, that has ever
made an appeal to a Bible-loving people for an honest hearing.
This same commentator speaks of "The Exodus of Nehemiah," and of
the number that returned "under Nehemiah," as though there were
but one Exodus from Babylon. Whereas there were two, the first
and largest being under Ezra, while that of Nehemiah was fourteen
years later, and was composed of those Jews "which were left" of
the Babylonish captivity, who did not go up with the first or
Ezra exodus.
He further says: "The ten tribes had been in the Chaldean
Empire two hundred years at the time of the Exodus." But it is
written "that Israel was taken into Assyria, and placed in the
regions of the rivers Hilah and Habor," a region of country more
than five hun dred miles from Babylon. To us it seems an insult
to the integrity of God for any man to presume that the ten
tribes ever saw Babylon.
This commentator still further says: "Of course they were
but a fraction of Judah and Benjamin" which returned. But God
says: "All the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered themselves
together unto Jerusa lem, and EVERY ONE unto his city." Is there
any question here as to which we shall believe? None whatever;
but, since our brother says that only a fraction of Judah and
Benjamin returned, we would ask: Where are the remaining
fractions from which that fraction was taken? And since he tells
us that doubtless many of the ten tribes returned with that
fraction, we would ask: Where is the whole number from which the
"many" came? And, without waiting for an answer, we will hasten
to say that when this man was driven to use the "doubtless"
argument, he had evidently lost something, and that the people in
question are lost, at least to him.
When the Lord had determined to give Israel a bill of
divorce, he called Hosea to prophesy against her, and, in order
to have a perfect type of her adulterous condition, made him take
a wife of whoredoms and bear children of whoredoms because the
people of "the land had committed great whoredoms, departing from
the Lord."
As the wife of the prophet bore children, the Lord took the
privilege of naming them, and in each name uttered a prophecy.
When the first daughter was born, "God said unto him, Call her
name Lo-ruhamah (which means, not having obtained mercy), for I
will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will
utterly take them away. But I will have mercy upon the house of
Judah." (Hosea 1:6,7.)
"Now when she (the prophet's wife) had weaned Lo-ruhamah,
she conceived and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name
Lo-ammi (which means, not my people), for ye are not my people,
and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of
Israel shall be as the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured
nor numbered-and it shall come to pass that in the place where it
was said unto them Ye are not my people, there it shall be said
unto them, Ye are the sons of the Living God." (Hosea 1:8-10.)
Beloved, do you catch the wonderful meaning to all this? Look!
The name of the newborn son is Lo-ammi, for God refuses any
longer to be the God of that people among whom the child is born;
he casts them off and forsakes them.
"Yet" - O do you see the immutability of the promise of the
covenant-making and covenant-keeping Jehovah, who after making an
unconditional promise must keep it, even if some conditions do
change? God has said it. He cannot lie; with him there is "no
variableness nor shadow of turning." He has promised Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, that their seed shall become "many nations."
"I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven." "I
will make thee fruitful and multiply thee." "Thy seed shall be
as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the
west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south." And
then he told Joseph that all these promises should be fulfilled
in his sons, at that same time malting Ephraim his first-born.
Then in due time he separated the Sceptre and the Birthright,
causing all the tribes to gather under the one or the other,
making two kingdoms of the entire Abrahamic posterity, saying,
"This thing is of me."
But now "Ephraim-Israel is joined to his idols." "They are
not my people," "I will not be their God," "I cast them out"; and
"yet," in spite of this, and although driven from home by their
enemies, "yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as
the sands of the sea, which cannot be numbered." This language
proves that, although cast off, they must still increase and
fulfill their God-appointed destiny by growing into a multitude
of people in the midst of the earth, and in due time become a
great nation or a company of nations. Also, the words which
immediately follow these show that, while in that cast-out
condition, and while developing into their destiny as regards
multiplicity, they will become lost, so lost that they themselves
will not know who they are. For it shall come to pass that, in
the place where they go, they will be told that they are not the
people of God, that they are not Jacob's seed, that they are not
Israel, as at the time of the casting off they knew themselves to
be. And when they are told that they are not the people of God
they shall have so forgotten their origin, that they will believe
it. This being the case, they certainly will be LOST, at least
to themselves, and will need some one to prove to them that they
are the descendants of God's chosen people. So, when the time
comes, the Lord has said that those persons shall be there, and
shall say unto them: "Ye are the sons of the Living God."
While Israel was true to the Lord, she was likened to a
delicate and comely woman, and the Lord called her his wife; but
when she became an idolatrous nation, she was called a harlot,
and the Lord treated her as a woman who had broken wedlock, by
giving her a bill of divorce. After the Lord has "cast her out of
his sight," and allowed her to be carried away into the Assyrian
captivity, she is spoken of in prophecy as "forsaken," a woman in
"widowhood," "a wife of youth," "refused," "barren" and
"desolate."
But the Lord made a promise of redemption to that same
desolate one, saying: "Thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth
and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
For thy Maker is thy husband (once more), the Lord of Hosts is
his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the
whole earth shall be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a
woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when
thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I
forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee." (Isa.
54:4-7-)
You will also find by consulting this same chapter that,
while barren, forsaken, and desolate, this same woman was to
become the mother of more children than while married, on in
other words, Israel was to increase while cast out more than
before. This is exactly what the prophet Hosea has declared in
the prophecy which we have been considering.
The Lord further uses Hosea to teach that Israel would
become lost after being cast out in the following: "For she said:
I will go after my lovers ('Israel is swallowed up: now shall
they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure,
for they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself:
Ephraim hath hired lovers'), that give me my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. Therefore, behold, I
will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that SHE
SHALL NOT FIND HER PATHS." (Hosea 8:8,9; 2:5,6.)
To show that the Scriptures, which we have just quoted,
refer to Israel, aside from the Jews, we call your attention to
the opening words of the chapter in which the non-parenthetical,
or enclosing text appears, which is as follows; "Say ye unto your
brethren Ammi, and to your sisters, Ruhamah. Plead with your
mother, plead! for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband."
When God gave to Israel the name of Lo-ammi, or not my people, it
was because he had cast them off, and they were no longer his
people. For when the Lord gives a name to a person, or a nation,
he names them in harmony with their character or condition. But
while it is true that Israel was not at that time the people of
God, it is true that Judah was then ruling with him, and was
counted among the faithful; hence, they were Ammi, or the people
of God.
Also when God gave to Israel the name of Lo-rubamah, the
meaning of which is, not having obtained mercy, he did so because
that name was characteristic of his attitude toward them, at that
time, for he declared that he would no longer have mercy upon
them, but would cast them out. But at that same time he said, "I
will have mercy upon the house of Judah." So, if Israel was
Lo-ruhamah, the one not having obtained mercy, then Judah was
Ruhamah, the one which obtained mercy. For that word "Lo" is the
Hebrew negative, and, in the Scriptures under consideration, the
words Ammi, Lo-ammi, Ruhamah, and Lo-ruhamah are Hebrew words
which are transferred, but not translated.
These things being true, it is clear that the brethren Ammi,
and their sisters Ruhamah, who are exhorted to plead, are the
Jews and Jewesses of the kingdom of Judah. It is they who are
exhorted to plead with their mother, i. e., to plead with that
out from which they came, namely: THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL.
Destroy them? No, but "consume thy, filthiness out o f
thee." (Ezek.22:15.) After this, the Lord declares this
dispersion to have been accomplished, saying: "I scattered them
among the heathen and they were dispersed through the countries:
* * * and when they entered into the heathen, whither they went,
they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the
people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land. But I had
pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned
among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the
house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your
sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye
have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will
sanctify my great name, * * * and the heathen shall know that I
am the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their
eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you
out o f all countries, and bring you into your own land."
(Ezek. 36: 19-24.)
The Jews were taken into Babylon and returned from thence;
but the house of Israel, as herein stated, was scattered
throughout all countries. But for the vindication of his holy
name, he declared that he should yet be sanctified in the eyes of
all nations, by saving Israel and bringing them back to their own
land. When this takes place, Israel shall come out from all
countries.
In two of these quotations they are called, "The dispersed."
This will enable us to understand Zeph.3:10 - "From beyond the
rivers of Ethiopia, my suppliants, even the daughter o f my
dispersed, shall bring mine offering."
Since we understand that "the dispersed" are the ten tribes,
which composed the Birthright kingdom, we comprehend the grave
import of the question asked by the chief man of Judah in the
following: "When the Pharisees heard that the people murmured
such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief
priests sent officers to take him. Then Jesus said unto them, Yet
a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent
me. Ye shall seek me and shall not find me: and where I am,
thither ye cannot come. Then said the Jews among themselves,
Whither will he go that we cannot find him? "Will he go unto the
dispersed among the Gentiles?" (John 7:32-35.)
This very question reveals the fact that the Jews knew that
the ten tribes were dispersed among the nations, and that they
did not know where they were; hence, that they could not go to
them. They also comprehended the fact that, if this man called
Christ should prove to be the long-expected Messiah, he did know
where the lost people were, and could go to them. It is also an
admission, from the chief men of Judah, that a portion of the
race were lost.
Isaac Leeser, an eminent Jewish scholar, who translated the
Hebrew Scriptures for the English speaking Jews, says in his
great work, "The Jewish Religion," Vol. I, page 256: "Let us
observe that by this return of the captives (from Babylon) the
Israelitish nation was not restored; since the ten tribes, who
had formerly composed the kingdom of Israel, were yet left in
banishment; and to this day the researches of travelers and wise
men have not been able to trace their fate." Micah, also, falls
into exact line with the rest of the prophets, for through him
the Lord declares: "I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of
thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them
together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of
their fold, they shall make great noise by reason of the
multitude of men. The breaker is come up before them: they have
broken up, and passed through the gate, and are gone out by it;
and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head
of them." (Micah 2:12,13.)
The reason the Lord says that he will assemble and put them
together is, that, prior to the time when Shalmaneser took the
main body of the kingdom of Israel into Assyria, it seems that a
former king (Tiglath-Pileser) had taken the Reubenites, the
Gadites, a portion of Naphtali, and one of the half tribes of
Manasseh, "And brought them unto Halah, and Habor and Hara, and
to the river Gozan." Later, the rest of the ten tribes were
brought to this same region.
As we have already noted, the last that Josephus knew
concerning the ten tribes, is that they were beyond the river
Euphrates. This river rises at the foot of Mount Ararat, up in
the Caucasian Pass, between the Black and Caspian seas. Israel,
making a great noise because of the multitude, went out through
this pass, or gate, or entrance.
What is meant by the king passing on before them is
explained later.
....................
To be continued
Joseph's Birthright #11Joseph-Israel Lost #2JUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT
by Allen (1917)
CHAPTER XI.
JOSEPH-ISRAEL LOST--(CONTINUED)
If it could be proved that Israel returned with Judah from
the Babylonish captivity, it would only prove that her prophetic
history was not fulfilled, and that those prophets which both
Jews and Christians have reecived as the true prophets of God,
are but lying prophets. For Jeremiah also has given utterance to
prophetic sayings which are in full accord with those of the
prophets already quoted, and which cover the same ground, but
give additional facts. As in the following
"Therefore will I cast you out of this land, into a land
that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers, and there shall ye
serve other gods day and night; where I will not show you favor.
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall
no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, that
brought the children of Israel from the land of the north, and
from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring
them again unto their land that I gave unto their fathers.
"Behold I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they
shall fish for them; and after I will send many hunters, and they
shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and
from out of the holes of the rocks. For mine eyes are upon all
their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their
iniquity hid from mine eyes. And first I will recompense their
iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land,
they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their
detestable and abominable things. O Lord, my strength and my
fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles
shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say,
Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things
wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself,
and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause
them to know. I will cause them to know mine hand and my might;
and they shall know that thy name is the Lord." (Jer.16:13-21.)
We have given the above quotation in full and at length,
because, as a prophecy, it contains the facts of the casting out
and return of Israel, together with a brief epitome of their
history while thus cast out. Let us notice them:
(1) "I will cast you out of this land." We know that they were
taken into Assyria.
(2) "Into a land that ye know not." They were not to remain in
Assyria.
(3) "Neither ye nor your fathers." A land unknown to the entire
race, and as they were among the most, if not the most, civilized
nations on the earth, we are safe in saying that it was to be a
long way from their home; that they were to move on through the
nations until they came into unknown regions, into the
uninhabited, unexplored wilderness beyond the pales of
civilization.
(4) "And there shall ye serve other gods day and night." They
can then and there get their fill of idolatry.
(5) "I will not show you favor," i. e., not ease their
punishment, until, as he says, he has first recornpensed "their
iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land,
they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their
detestable and abominable things," i. e., Jeroboam's calves,
Ahab's image of Baal, Moloch, etc.
(6) When he says that he will not show them favor, the context
proves that he means for a certain season or period. For he says,
I will bring them again into their land, i. e., the Samaritan
portion of Palestine.
(7) "I will send for many (Hebrew, rab-abundant, enough,
plenteous, a multitude) fishers." Jesus said to his disciples, "I
will make you fishers of men." He came to his own tribal house,
Judah, but his own received him not, and then he said unto them:
"Your house is left unto you desolate." But he said to his
fishers, "Go to the lost sheep of the HOUSE of Israel." Six
hundred and thirty years prior to this, one hundred and twenty
years after Israel had been cast out, and before the house of
Judah were taken to Babylon, God had said through the mouth of
Jeremiah, "My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds (their
priests, who were of the lowest type of the people) have caused
them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains;
they have gone from mountain to hill (wandering), they have
forgotten their resting place," i. e., their home.
(8) "And they shall fish them." These gospel fishers of men
are successful. Lost Israel takes the bait and is fished.
Hallelujah!
All this is in harmony with the prophetic history of Israel,
as read by the other prophets. For when Hosea is being used to
prophesy concerning Israel being hedged in with walls and thorns,
and losing her paths, the Lord further adds, "Behold I will
allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak
comfortably (marginal reading: speak friendly to her heart) unto
her. And it shall be in that day saith the Lord that thou shalt
call me Ishi (my husband) and shall call me no more Baali (my
master). For I will take the names of Baalim (plural of Baal) out
of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their
names." (Hosea 2:14,16,17.) Is it any wonder that this same
prophet declares, "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more
with idols?" (Hosea 14:8.) Concerning this fact of Israel's
receiving the gospel while cast out: "Thus saith the Lord, The
people which were left of the sword found grace in the
wilderness; even Israel." (Jer.31: 2.) The law came by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Hence the lost sheep of the
house of Israel receive the gospel blessings because of the
fishers which are sent to them.
(9) "And after (that) I will send for many hunters, and they
shall hunt them." The violent protest of our brother, from whose
commentary we quoted on a former occasion, is prima-facie
evidence that this prophecy concerning the hunting for them has
been, and is being, fulfilled; it is as follows: "Hence, all of
this hue and cry about the lost tribes, ransacking all the world
to find them, and writing vast volumes, is a piece of twaddle and
nonsense." Thousands of people are now studying (Glory to God!)
great books (Thank God for them!) which claim to identify the
'lost tribes.' Amen! and amen! For God says: "They shall hunt for
them."
Another of those who object to so much hunting, Rawlinson,
has unwittingly proved this prophecy to have been fulfilled, for
he says: "They (the ten tribes) have been found a hundred times
in a hundred different localities." This proves that the Lord, in
order that his word of truth might be fulfilled, has, to say the
least, raised up one hundred hunters. Had Prof. Rawlinson said,
"They were supposed to have been found a hundred times in a
hundred different localities," we could not doubt that his
statement was true. For it is true that thousands are studying,
and writing, and ransacking the world, to find the lost tribes of
Israel; and the prophecy concerning the hunters and the hunted,
stands vindicated, albeit many have hunted in vain.
Otherwise, we are forced to the conclusion that one of the
holy men who was moved by the Holy Ghost to write the Bible was
jesting, when he wrote concerning a corps of men who should
become hunters of that which was not lost. And since God has
furnished the hunters,-for it is by reading his Word that they
become inspired to hunt,-we would be forced to conclude that he
would play, or juggle, with the credulity of the human race.
(10) It is evident from the declaration, "They are not hid from
my face," that the people in question were hid from others. Else,
why should the Lord say that they were not hid from him?
"If they were not hid from the Lord, who were they hid from?"
We answer-THE HUNTERS.
(11) The nineteenth verse relates to Gentiles who shall come unto
the Lord, from the ends of the earth. The Hebrew word (Goy) which
is here translated Gentiles, is often translated, nations,
people, tribes, and, far away people. God had told Israel that he
would cast them afar off, and in Jer.1:10 this same Hebrew word
is translated nations. In Jer.31:9, while speaking to
Joseph-Ephraim-Samaria-Israel, the Lord says: "I am a father to
Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. Hear the word of the Lord,
O ye nations (Goy), and declare it in the isles afar off, and
say, He that scattered Israel will gather him."
(12) And in this prophecy which we are considering, we are told
that these nations shall yet come "from the ends of the earth,"
and say: "Surely our fathers have inherited lies."
How so?
Do not forget, Hosea has prophesied concerning the same
people, saying that in the place where it shall be said unto
them, "Ye are Lo-ammi, or not the people of God," there it shall
be said unto them "Ammi," or "Ye are the sons of the living God."
These people shall return to their home and to their Lord, who
will be there about the time they get there. And they shall
say: "We have inherited lies, for we have been told that we were
not the seed of Abraham, but now we know that we, too, have
Abraham as our father."
(13) Then, saith the Lord, "I will cause them to know mine hand,
and my might; and they shall know that my name is the Lord,
i. e., Jehovah.
So we find that while Israel was taken into Assyria they
were not to stay there, but were to wander into an unknown
country, called the wilderness; and that eventually, when they
have fulfilled their destiny by becoming "many nations," the head
of the nations is in the isles of the sea, and that the Lord is
to gather them from there. So it is evident that the school of
teachers, who say that Israel returned with Judah from Babylon,
do not know where the Birthright kingdom is, thus making it quite
clear that they are lost even to those who say that there is no
lost Israel.
The above facts are in harmony with still other authentic
history as contained in the apocryphal book of Ezra, i. e.,
Esdras. Mind you, we do not assert that this book is inspired,
although there are thousands who, with ourselves, believe it is.
But we give it simply as corroborative history. Esdras had seen a
vision in which there were two companies, one a warlike and the
other a peaceful company. The declared explanation of the
peaceful company is as follows: "Whereas thou sawest that he
gathered another peaceful company, those are the ten tribes,
which were carried away prisoners out of their own land in the
time of Hosea, the king whom Shalmanesar, the king of Assyria,
led away captive; and he carried them away so they came into
another land. But they took counsel among themselves, that they
would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a
further country, where never mankind dwelt, that they might keep
their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. And they
entered into Euphrates by the narrow passage (the gate) of the
river. For the Most High then showed signs for them, and held
still the flood till they were passed over, for through that
country there was a great way to go, namely, a year and a half.
And the same region is called Asaareth (Margin: Ararath, same as
Ararat or Armenia, which are only different forms of the same
word). Then they dwelt there until the latter time; and now when
they shall begin to come, the Highest shall stay the springs of
the streams again, that they may go through: therefore sawest
thou the multitude with peace."(2 Esdras 13:39-47.)
Every statement made in this extract is corroborated by
unquestioned canonical writings, as we have shown, except one;
and Isaiah settles that one as follows: "The Lord shall utterly
destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind
shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the
seven streams, and make men go over dry shod. And there shall be
an highway for the remnant of his people which shall be left from
Assyria, like as it was in the day that he came up out of the
land of Egypt." (Isa.11:15,16.)
Mind you, he does not say that they shall come from Assyria;
he is speaking of the remnant of his people which are left from
Assyria, i. e., the Assyrian captivity. The tongue of the
Egyptian sea is not en route from either Babylon or Assyria. The
tongue of the Egyptian sea is a tongue of the Red Sea, and the
river with seven streams, mouths, or delta, is the river Nile,
which waters Egypt; and these are in a direction from Palestine
which is diametrically opposite to that of Assyria and Babylon.
After all, it is not so much a question of the lost ten tribes,
for some out of all the tribes returned to the kingdom of Judah,
in the days of Rehoboam, the first king of Judah. This is no
doubt the reason that the Jews, upon their return from Babylon,
offered the twelve bullocks for all Israel, as a burnt offering
unto the Lord. But it is a question of the lost house of Joseph,
that is, THE LOST BIRTHRIGHT. The Jews, although denationalized
and scattered everywhere, have never been lost; but, as foretold,
they have always been so "well known" that they have become a
"by-word"; consequently, they have never been hunted for. But
there is a prophecy in the Psalms concerning a people by the name
of Israel, who are spoken of as the hidden people of the Lord,
and whom he is called upon to defend from their enemies. Of these
it is declared: "They have taken crafty counsel against thy
people and consulted against THY HIDDEN ONES. They have said,
come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name
ISRAEL may be no more in remembrance." (Psa. 83:3,4.)
Hence, there is a people who bear the name of Israel, which,
as we have learned, is the name of the birthright nation, which
if it is not now hid, has in the past been hid from all except
the Omnipotent One.
....................
NOTE:
The prophecy in Isaiah 11 has a double meaning, it is a prophecy
for when Jesus the Messiah returns, and Israel will come from the
modern Assyrian nation - the German nation - and so from the end
time Holy Roman Empire - the 7th and last resurrection of the
Holy Roman Empire, now rising in Europe. Isaiah 11 is very much a
prophecy for the end time, when the Messiah returns to establish
the Kingdom of God on earth for the 1,000 years as given in
Revelation chapter 20.
All the Bible prophets for today I have expounded on this
website.
Keith Hunt
To be continued
Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright #12David's Throne Forever!JUDAH'S SCEPTRE AND JOSEPH'S BIRTHRIGHT
by Allen (1917)
THE SCEPTRE, AND THE DAVIDIC COVENANT
CHAPTER 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, they are in the place where the Lord has said they
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 characterfor 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.
THE PROMISES GOD GAVE TO PEOPLE WAY WAY BACK EVEN IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS; PROMISES THAT HAVE COME TO PASS IN THE LAST 300 YEARS OR SO, TRULY BLOWS THE MIND! WHO BUT AN ETERNAL GOD COULD TELL JACOB THAT FROM HIM, FROM HIS SON JOSEPH AND HIS TWO SONS WOULD COME IN THE LAST END TIMES OF THIS AGE, A MIGHT NATION AND A COMPANY OF NATIONS--- THE BRITISH CELTIC-ANGLO-SAXON NATIONS AND THE GREATEST SINGLE NATION EVER TO EXIST ON THIS EARTH. BROTHER PEOPLES IN POWER AND PHYSICAL WEATH AS NO OTHER NATION OR
EMPIRE HAS EVER COME CLOSE TO HAVING. SURELY IT IS
SILLY AND DAFT TO THINK ALL THIS IS JUST A COINCIDENCE [ACCIDENT, CHANCE, TWIST OF FATE]. AND ADD ALSO THAT WITHIN THE COMPANY OF BROTHER NATIONS THERE IS A THRONE THAT IS THE WORLD'S GREATEST AND MOST FAMOUS THRONE OF ALL TIME. THE WONDERFUL AND ABSORBING STUDY OF THAT THRONE IS YET TO BE PRESENTED BY MR. ALLAN.
SO STAY TUNED! Keith Hunt
To be continued
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