The Birthright and the Sceptre
A Test of Bible Truth
Let us now look at a bit of Bible truth known to but very few.
Note it carefully.
The spiritual promises, the promise of the "one seed,"
Christ,
and of salvation through him, the Bible calls "the
sceptre."
This promise as nearly everybody knows, was handed
down through the Jews.
Jesus Christ was of the tribe of Judah, and the House
of David
"Salvation," Jesus said,
"is
of the Jews" (John 4:22).
"To the Jew first," explained
Paul,
"and also to the Greek" (Romans
1:16).
This fact is confirmed in Genesis 49:10. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah."
But-and here is the astonishing
vital fact so few ever seem to have noticed
"but the birthright was Joseph's."
Yes, Joseph whom did his brothers sell down into Egypt,
where he became food administrator and Prime Minister
Joseph
who was called "a prosperous
man,"
even as his descendants were destined to become.
"For Judah prevailed above his
brethren,
and of him came the chief ruler"
(sceptre
promise);
"But, the birthright was Joseph's"
(I Chronicles 5:2).
The birthright, which Esau sold
to Jacob,
the promise of national greatness
and material wealth,
never was handed to the Jews
who are of the tribe of Judah.
So naturally we should not expect to find this promise
fulfilled in the Jews today.
And just what is a "birthright"?
It is that which comes by right of birth.
The term "grace" means undeserved, unmerited favor,
something that is not one's right, not inherited by
birth, but bestowed as free gift.
But a "birthright" is inherited,
by birth, as one's right.
Consequently, the term "birthright" includes only
the inheritance of material blessings,
passed on from father to son,
those blessings one cannot take with him, when he
dies.
And what is a "sceptre"?
It is the badge of royal power, kingly office.
The sceptre was God's promise
of a continuous dynasty of kings,
culminating in Jesus Christ
who shall be King of kings;
and therefore the sceptre included
the promise of eternal salvation through the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
So notice carefully, please!
The sceptre, which is the spiritual
promise of grace,
through which all nations may
be blessed, went to Judah,
while the birthright went to
Joseph.
And the birthright includes possession of land,
possessing the material "gate" of material enemies,
inheriting the Gentiles for a possession,
spreading and colonizing around the world!
The two phases of the promises
to Abraham now are separated into two different tribes of Israel!
The interesting story of the passing on of this birthright
from the aged Israel
to two sons of Joseph is found in the 48th chapter
of Genesis.
You should read it there, entirely.
Notice Jacob adopted these two lads,
Ephraim and Manasseh, as his own legal sons, therefore, Israel now has 13 tribes.
Notice, verse 16, he says, "let
my name be named on them."
Hence, they were to be called
"Israel."
It is they, too, who own the
name of Israel not merely the Jews."
... And let them grow into a multitude in the midst
of the earth,"
continues Jacob, administering the blessing,
Let whom grow into that promised multitude?
Notice it's-not Judah, not the
Jews-but the sons of Joseph,
Ephraim and Manasseh and their
descendants.
Together they were to grow to
a multitude.
So, continuing, speaking of
Manasseh, Jacob said,
"he also shall become a people,
and he also shall be great;
but truly his younger brother
shall be greater than he,
and his seed shall become a
multitude [or a company or Commonwealth] of Nations" (verse 19).
And so Ephraim (multitude of
peoples),
the son of Joseph became the
holder of the birthright
to be shared jointly with his
older brother Manasseh (a great people).
Who,
today, are the descendants of Ephraim and of Manasseh?
Somewhere,
Ephraim must be a group,
or
Commonwealth of Nations,
while
Manasseh must be the greatest single Nation on earth!
Either
it is so, or the Bible is not true!
David Takes the Throne
After the death of Jacob and his twelve sons in Egypt,
their children grew in some two hundred years to a
population
of about two million in that land.
Then God raised up Moses and fitted him in special
way to lead these children of Israel,
out of the bondage that had come to them in Egypt.
When they reached Mt. Sinai,
in the peninsula wilderness,
God made a covenant with them
establishing them as a nation,
his nation, among the kingdoms
of the world.
Their government was theocratic,
with the civil,
as well as the spiritual and
religious laws, given direct from God.
God himself was their king end
he ruled them by a system of Judges.
But later the Israelites demanded a man for king,
even as the Gentile nations around them.
And so God gave them Saul as their first human king.
Saul, however, was not a good king, nor was his heart
right with God.
Saul was dethroned. His dynasty faded away with his son.
Then God placed David, a man
after his own heart,
of no relationship to Saul,
upon the throne of Israel.
Because of his obedience and
sincerity and honesty of heart,
David, like Abraham, received
a most astonishing unconditional promise from God,
as little known as the birthright
promised to Abraham.
The
Davidic Covenant
If David's throne ever ceased to exist,
then God's promise has failed!
We have space to quote but briefly from the Scriptures
setting forth this amazing Davidic Covenant.
Like the covenant with Abraham,
God made the Davidic Covenant
unconditional and unbreakable.
David wanted to build a great Temple, as God's house
in Jerusalem.
The Almighty replied, when thy days be fulfilled,
and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers,
I will setup thy seed after
thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels,
and I will establish his kingdom"
(II Samuel 7:12).
This, of course, was his son Solomon, who succeeded
David to the throne.
'He," God continued,
"shall
build an house for my name,
"and it was Solomon who did
build the Temple
and I wilt establish the throne
of his kingdom for ever (verse 13).
Notice it! The throne of David,
occupied by Solomon,
was to be established forever!
If that throne ever ceased
to exist,
then God's promise has failed!
But some say the promise was conditioned upon the
obedience of Solomon
and the future line of kings or their people.
Notice the Scriptural answer to this:
"I
will be his father, and he shall be my son.
If
he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men,
and
with the stripes of the children of men but (yes,
notice this but)
my
mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul,
whom
I put away before thee" (verses 14-15). Saul's
dynasty ceased. God
promises
He will never take away this throne from David's line in this manner.
David's
dynasty shall never cease!
Continuing, next verse,
"And thine house and thy kingdom
shall be established for ever before thee:
thy throne shall be established
forever.
Through All Generations
Not only was that throne established forever,
it was to exist continuously, forever, through all
generations!
"I
have made a covenant with my chosen,
I
have sworn unto David my servant, thy seed [his dynasty] will I establish
forever,
and
build up thy throne to all generations." (Psalms 89:3-4 & 28-37).
That throne was to stand
"forever as the moon,
and
as a faithful witness in heaven" (verses 28-37).
"For
thus saith the Lord; David shall never want
a
man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel" (Jeremiah 33:17).
So far as is historically known,
the last king of David's dynasty to sit upon that
throne was King Zedekiah of Judah,
with the Jews a captive people,
with all his sons, and many nobles of Judah killed.
There
is no historical record of any continuance of that throne from that year.
Did David want for a man
to sit upon his throne,
and continue his dynasty,
from that day on?
Some
say Christ took over the throne.
But
he didn't. Instead he was crucified, resurrected,
and ascended to heaven.
He
shall come, and soon, to sit upon that throne as the King of Kings and
Lord of Lords.
But
how can Jesus Christ, when he returns again to earth,
take
over and sit upon a throne that long ago ceased to exist?
Will Christ come to a nonexistent throne?
If the throne of David ceased
with Zedekiah,
then it does not exist today.
And if it does not exist,
how shall Christ sit upon a
nonexistent throne? (See Luke 1:31-32.)
And, since it was to continue
through all generations,
how about those many generations
between Zedekiah and the birth of Jesus?
"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 David my servant,
that he should not have a son
to reign upon his throne" (Jeremiah 33, verses 19-21).
Day and night still continues.
Does David's throne?
But
what do the people say?
Considerist thou not what this people have spoken,
saying, the two families which the Lord hath chosen,
he hath even cast them off?
"Thus they have despised my
people, that they should be no more a nation before them" (verse 24).
But
what does God say?
"Thus saith the Lord," (verse
25),
"If my covenant be not with
day and night,
and if I have not appointed
the ordinances 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."
Strong words, those!
Unless
you can stop this old earth from turning on its axis,
unless
you can remove the sun and the moon and the stars from heaven,
says
the Almighty, you cannot prevent him from keeping his covenant
to
maintain continuously through all generations, forever,
from
the time of David and Solomon,
a
descendant of David in one continuous dynasty on that throne!
Not necessarily ruling over
all the House of Israel or of the Jews,
but at least some of them,
enough to form a nation.
Remember
again, the sceptre promise,
which
includes this line of kings until it culminates in Christ at his Second
Coming:
"The sceptre shall not depart
from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from between
his feet, until Shiloh [Christ] comes;
and to him shall be the obedience
of the people" (Gen. 49:10).
The
Test of Bible Truth
Has the Sceptre departed from Judah?
Has the throne ceased?
Or does it, as God so bindingly
promised, exist today,
so that Christ can take over
and sit upon a living,
going, continuous throne when
he comes?
The infallibility of the Bible
is at stake,
God's word is at stake!
Children of Israel become 2 Nations
Fact: The House of Israel is not Jewish!
Fact: Those who constitute it are not Jews, and never were!
That fact we shall now see conclusively,
beyond refute.
After David's death his son Solomon, succeeded to
the throne.
Solomon taxed the people excessively,
reigned in gorgeous splendor probably never equaled
before or since.
And because he also married Gentile wives,
sacrificed to their idols, and committed other sins,
God said, "I will surely rend
the kingdom from thee,
and give it to thy servant,
Howbeit, I will give one tribe
to thy son for David my servant's sake" (I Kings 11:11-18).
Israel Separates from David's Throne
Note it! It
is the kingdom, not part of it,
which is to be rended away.
It is the part, one tribe, which
is to remain.
That tribe, Judah, must remain
subject to the throne.
Why? "For
David's sake!" David's dynasty must not be broken.
God will not break his covenant!
When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam succeeded to David's
throne.
The people at once demanded the heavy taxes be reduced.
Their spokesman Jeroboam (Solomon's servant), pleaded
with Rehoboam:
"Thy father made our yoke grievous;
now, therefore, make thou the
grievous service of thy father,
and his heavy yoke which he
put upon us, lighter,
and we will serve thee" (I Kings
12:1-5).
"My father," came Rehoboam's
reply, "chastised you with whips,
but I will chastise you with
scorpions" (verses 8-14).
Israel rebelled. The command to the people was,
"To your tents, 0 Israel!"
The challenge to the royal house was,
"Now, see to thine own house!" (Verse 16).
"So Israel rebelled against
the house of David unto this day.
And it came to pass, when all
Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him
unto the
congregation, and made him king
over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David,
but the tribe of Judah only"
(I Kings 12:19-20).
Then "Rehoboam... assembled all
the house of Judah,
with the tribe of Benjamin"
(verse 21).
Rehoboam started to fight to subdue and bring back
the House of Israel,
but God said, "Ye
shall not... fight against your brethren the children of Israel…
for this thing is from me" (verse
24).
Israel Divided
Notice it carefully.
The House of Judah now including the tribe of Benjamin
under King Rehoboam of David's dynasty,
was about to fight against the
other ten tribes headed by Ephraim and Manasseh,
a different and separate nation.
The
term "Jew" is merely a late name for "Judah."
It
applies to the one nation, or House of Judah only,
never
to the House of Israel.
The first place in the entire Bible where the word
"Jew" is used is in II Kings 16:6.
Notice it! Ahaz began to reign as king of Judah (verse
1).
He sat on David's throne (verse 2).
At this time, a man named Pekah was king of Israel.
With King Rezin of Syria as an ally,
this king of Israel came against Jerusalem in war,
and besieged King Ahaz of Judah, but could not overcome
him (verse 5).
"At that time, Rezin, king of
Syria "the ally of Israel,
fighting with Israel, against
Judah" recovered Elath to Syria
and drove the Jews from Elath"
(verse 6).
Note it! The first place in the Bible where the word "Jew" is used,we find Israel (the 10 tribe kingdom; they were not Jews) at war against the Jews!
Israel's ally, Syria, drove the Jews out of the town
of Elath!
Certainly this proves that the
Jews are a different nation altogether
from the House of Israel.
The
Jews of today are Judah!
They
call their nation "Israel" today because they, too,
descend
from the patriarch Israel or Jacob.
But
remember that the "House of Israel",
the
ten tribes that separated from Judah does not mean Jew!
Whoever
and whereever the lost ten tribes of Israel are today,
they
are not Jews!
Wherever
you see the name "House of Israel,"
or
"Samaria,"
or
"Ephraim,"
used in prophecy,
remember
this, it never refers to the Jews,
but
to the ten tribes of the House of Israel,
who
were at war against the Jews!
The terms "Israel" alone, or
"children of Israel," may,
and sometimes does, include
the Jews,
where all twelve tribes are
included, only because real Jews are descendants of Judah, i.e. not only called Jews because they live in Judea.
Jews are Israelites, just as
Californians are Americans.
But
most Israelites are not Jews,
just as
most Americans are not Californians.
The real Jews are the House of Judah
only, they are part of the 12 tribes of Israelites.
But
when these people are spoken of as nations rather than as collective individuals,
the
term "House of Israel" never refers to the Jews. "House of Israel" never
means "Jews."
The two tribes at Jerusalem under
the Davidic king are called,
merely, the House of Judah and,
later in history, "Israel,"
but never the national name
"House
of Israel".
But of Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph,
the dying Israel had said,"Let
my name be named on them."
And
truly they now bear the name of Israel in prophecy.
From
here on, the tribe of Judah, with Benjamin and a portion of the priests
of the tribe of Levi, are called "Judah," not Israel in Old Testament history.
The
ten tribes, headed by Ephraim and Manasseh from this time on are called
"House of Israel."
They
are not Jews, and never were called Jews!
From
this time on, the children of Israel,
twelve
tribes in all, are divided into two nations!
And
now, for the first time, the birthright goes into one nation, Israel, headed
by Ephraim & Manasseh; while the sceptre remains in another nation,
called Judah.
The two phases of the promises
to Abraham now are separated into two entirely separate nations!
For many generations Israel and
Judah remained as into idolatry.
Israel was the only nation that
kept it.
Because they rejected this sign,
they were driven out between 745-721 B.C.,
and lost their identity.
(Read Ezekiel 20:10-24.)
About 135 years later, in
586 B.C., Judah, too, went into captivity largely
because of Sabbath rejecting.
(See Jeremiah 17.) &
pamphlet #535
But those Jews who returned 70
years later
under Ezra and Nehemiah had
learned their lesson.
They became legalistically strict
Sabbatarians
adding over the years so many
of their own restrictions to it
that Jesus, later, had to sweep
aside this maze of man made rules, saying
"The Sabbath was made for man,
and not man for the Sabbath."
To this day orthodox Jews have
retained the original Sabbath.
And because those Jewish people
who descend from the Ezra & Nehemiah leadership
have retained God's covenant
identifying sign,
the world today looks upon them
as Israel!
And
yet they actually are only a part of Judah.
So "the Lord removed Israel out
of his sight.
Israel was carried away out
of their own land to Assyria" (II Kings 17:23).
They left the land of Samaria, never yet, nationally,
to return!
Gentiles were placed in their homes and cities, (v.24),
and it is these Gentiles who were known as Samaritans
in the time of Christ.
A more detailed account of the captivity of Israel
is found in II Kings 18:9-12, and 17:5-18.
Now the House of Israel began
to "abide many days without a king" (Hosea 3:4).
Since
they were the people who carried the title "House of Israel,"
it
is they, not Judah, who must become lost in identity!
They
lost their language, their religion, their land.
House of Israel Never Returned
They did not return to Palestine
with the Jews in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, as some erroneously believe.
Those who returned to rebuild
the temple and restore worship in Jerusalem at that time, 70 years after
Judah's captivity, were only those of the House of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar
had carried to Babylon.
Note well these facts.
1.Btween 745 & 721 BC Israel was "carried
away out of their own land to Assyria" (II Kings 17:1-23). They were soon all
removed
completely.
There was none left but the tribe of Judah only" (II Kings 17:18). Judah,
only, remained. Then several years later‘Sennacherib,
King of Assyria,
came
up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.’ (II Kings 18:13)
..Only
Jerusalem, Judah’s capital was spared. (II Kings 19: 32-34)
2.More than 130 years later,
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon carried the Jews (Judah) who only remained in
the
Promised
Land away to Babylon. (II Kings25:1-21) So the House of Israel did not dwell in the Promised
Land at the time of this captivity
of Judah.
3.Those who returned to Palestine
to rebuild the temple and restore worship 70 years after Judah's captivity
were
all
of the House of Judah, all Jews, all of those whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried
away. They returned again
"unto
Jerusalem and Judah, every one unto his city"
(Ezra 2:1). Only those of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and
Levi (only 18 Levities, one of whom was a priest of understanding. Ezra
8:18-20 (The remainder of the priesthood was made up of Kenites, i.e. the descendants of which Jesus was speaking to in John chapter 8),
who constituted the house of Judah returned at that time (Ezra 1:5).
..."every
one unto his city" Note: none of those
cities, returned to, was in Israel, all returned ..."unto
Jerusalem and Judea.
Consequently those in Jerusalem in the time of Christ were of these three tribes, not of the House of Israel, except for those few individuals of the other tribes who joined Judah for religious reasons after the nation divided into two nations upon the death of Solomon.
The House of Israel became known as the Ten Lost Tribes!
By what name are they known today?
It is they, not the Jews, who, after the ending of their punishment in 1800 A.D. must inherit the unbreakable promises to Abraham of national greatness, resources, wealth and power.
It is Manasseh who, after A.D. 1800, was to become the world's greatest single nation, and Ephraim a great commonwealth of nations!
Who can they be, today?
JEREMIAH'S MYSTERIOUS COMMISSION
When Israel was driven out to
Assyria in 721 BCE
Judah had not yet sinned as a nation.
Through Hosea, God said,
"Though thou, Israel, play the
harlot, yet let not Judah offend" (Hosea 4:15).
But later "her treacherous sister
Judah feared not but went and played the harlot also,"
and God finally said, "The backsliding
Israel hath justified herself
more than treacherous Judah"
(Jeremiah 8:8-11).
And so, about 130 years after
Israel's captivity,
the time came when God drove
out the Jews, too,
into national captivity and
banishment.
For this purpose God raised
up a very special prophet,
whose real call and few, indeed,
understand.
This prophet was Jeremiah. He
was sanctified before he was born. (See Jeremiah 1:5.)
Jeremiah, when first given his
vital call and commission, was a young lad about 17.
Before he finally completed
it, he was an aged White haired patriarch.
The commission is recorded in Jeremiah 1:10:
"See," God says to Jeremiah,
"I have this day set thee over
the nations and over kingdoms,
to root out,
and to pull down, and to destroy,
and to throw down,
to
build, and
to
plant."
There it is!
Jeremiah was set over the nations,
more than one.
He was a Jew, of the tribe of
Levi, living in Judah.
He was set a prophet over Judah,
but not Judah alone.
Over the nations, Judah and
Israel!
He
was set over them to do two things:
to tear down something,
and then to build and to plant something.
Jeremiah was used of God as
a prophet to warn Judah of their sins,
and of the coming invasion and
captivity
at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar
of Babylon unless they repented.
He was used as a go between,
a mediator,
between the kings of Judah and
Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean king.
Yes, it is well known that Jeremiah was used in destroying
the kingdom of Judah.
But note it in your Bible!
He also was commissioned
to plant and to
build!
What was he to plant and build?
Why, naturally, that which was pulled down
and rooted out of Judah, the
throne of David.
He was set over the kingdoms,
Israel
as well as Judah.
He was used in throwing down
that throne from Judah.
Then what was Jeremiah commissioned to do in Israel?
Ah! Note it!
The second half of his strange
and little understood commission to build
and to plant!
So far as the world knows, the last king to sit on
that throne of David was Zedekiah of Judah.
He was thrown down off it, and
the throne rooted out of Judah nearly 600 years before Christ!
What, then!
Did God forget his covenant
with David?
Did the throne cease?
True, the government of Judah ceased, as had the kingdom of Israel more than 130 years before!
But see what else Jeremiah was
commissioned to do, to plant
and
to build!
To plant and rebuild among the House of Israel,
lo, these many days without a king among lost Israel,
now
supposing herself to be Gentile!
Judah Taken Captive to Babylon
If you will carefully read the
important book of Jeremiah,
you will notice the first few
chapters are devoted to his ministry in warning the Jews
of their impending invasion
and captivity unless they would repent.
But
they would not repent.
And
so, finally, the invasion came.
In
the first siege Nebuchadnezzar marched into Jerusalem, taking it captive.
However,
he did not at once drive out all the Jews.
He
did not even drive out their king, Jehoiakim,
but
made him a vassal king, the servant of Nebuchadnezzar.
As
such he continued on his throne,
as
did two more kings after him, Jehoiachin, his son, arid Zedekiah, his brother.(Read
II Kings 24).
Jeremiah's Mysterious Movements
And now the first part
of Jeremiah's strange commission is accomplished!
So far as the world could see,
or has seen since, the dynasty of David had ended!
No king remained on the throne.
Judah's last king was dead.
All his sons were dead.
All other princes who might
be possible heirs to carry on the dynasty had been killed.
No
possible heir of Zedekiah to the throne, so
the world then believed, remained alive.
But how about the
second part of Jeremiah's great commission?
Was God able to keep his covenant with David?
Was he able to plant, and rebuild that throne?
Jeremiah was among these captives
Jews.
Yet he must remain free to carry
out the second part of his mission.
So, "the captain of the guard
took Jeremiah, and said unto him...
behold, I loose thee this day
from the chains which were upon thine hand.
If it seem good to thee to come
with me into Babylon,
come; and I wilt look well unto
thee:
but if it seem ill unto thee
to come with me into Babylon, forbear;
behold all the land is before
thee:
whither it seemeth good and
convenient for thee to go, thither go ...
So the captain of the guard
gave him victuals and a reward
[expense money]
and let him go" (Jeremiah 40:1-5).
Jeremiah was left free to perform the second half of his commission.
Where
did he go?
We
come now to an amazing, fascinating, thrilling part of the book of Jeremiah,
which has been almost entirely overlooked.
"Then went Jeremiah unto Gedeliah,
to Mizpah;
and dwelt with him among the
people that were left in the land" (6th verse).
Now this Gedeliah had been made governor by the king
of Babylon
over a remnant of Jews in the land, and since Jerusalem
was destroyed,
he had made Mizpah his headquarters.
But the king of Ammon plotted with a Jew named Ishmael to assassinate Gedeliah.
The plot was executed; the governor and part of the
Jews were slain.
Jeremiah was among the survivors.
"Then Ishmael carried away captive
all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah,
even
the king's daughters,
and all the people that remained
in Mizpah,
whom Nebuzaradan the captain
of the guard [from Babylon] had committed to Gedeliah...
and carried them away captives,
and departed to go over to the Ammonites" (Jeremiah 41:10).
Ah! Did you catch it?
Read that passage again.
Among these Jews were the king's daughters!
Daughters of Zedekiah, king of Judah and of David's dynasty!
King Zedekiah had died. All his sons had been killed. All possible heirs of Zedekiah to David's throne had been killed, except the king's Daughters!
Jeremiah, with Royal Seed for Replanting, Escapes
Soon a man named Johanan replaced Ishmael as leader.
And in fear of reprisals from Nebuchadnezzar and the
Chaldean army, they appealed to the prophet,
"and said unto Jeremiah the
prophet,
Let, we beseech thee, our supplication
be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God...
that the Lord thy God may show
us the way wherein we may walk" (Jeremiah 42:2-3).
The word of the Lord came to
Jeremiah, and he told them not to fear, that he would protect and deliver
them.
But the people wanted to flee to Egypt.
This the Lord warned them not to do.
If they did,
the sword of Nebuchadnezzar,
which they feared, would overtake them there and they would die (Jeremiah
42:7-16).
But, as people usually
do, they rejected God's warning.
"Thou speakest falsely," Johanan
answered (Jeremiah 48:2-3).
And so Johanan "took all the
remnant .......
even men, and women, and children,
and the king's daughters...
and Jeremiah the prophet, and
Baruch the son of Neriah, Jeremiah's scribe, or secretary.
So they came into the land of
Egypt" (Jeremiah 48:5-7).
Baruch was Jeremiah's constant
companion and secretary.
It is important to note here
God's promise of protection to him:
"Thus saith the Lord, the God
of Israel, unto thee, o Baruch...
Behold, that which I have built
I will break down,
and that which I have planted
I will pluck up,
even this whole but thy life
will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest" (Jeremiah
45:2-5).
His
life, like Jeremiah's, was under divine protection!
On reaching Egypt, God warned these Jews again through
Jeremiah
that they would die there by the sword and famine,
and "none
shall return but such as shall escape" (Jeremiah 44:12-14).
Yes,
A few in this company are under divine protection. A divine mission is
to be performed. They shall escape!
The Lord continues: "Yet a small
number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into
the land of Judah"
(Jeremiah 44:28).
Jeremiah, Baruch, and the royal seed for replanting and rebuilding David's throne, all under divine protection, were to escape, and return to the land of Judah.
Then Jeremiah and his company were to journey to a strange land which they knew not (Jeremiah 15:11-14).
Now let Isaiah complete this
prophecy:
"For out of Jerusalem shall
go forth a remnant,
and they that escape out of
Mount Zion:
the zeal of the Lord of Hosts
shall do this.
And the remnant that escaped
of the house of Judah shall again take root downward,
and bear fruit upward" (Isaiah
37:32, 31).
A
remnant of Judah survived the Assyrian onslaught in Isaiah's day,
as
did a remnant in Jeremiah's day.
This prophecy, like many, is dual.
This remnant with Jeremiah and
at least one of the king's daughters shall take root downward!
That
is, be replanted! And then bear fruit upward!
Be built!
Has
God failed in his solemn covenant to keep alive David's throne?
Where
was this planting and building?
Can
we find it in God's Word?
THE MYSTERIOUS BREACH
Where did Jeremiah go with Baruch his secretary and one or more of the royal daughters of the king?
History stops short at this point.
Enlightened students of Bible
history have long known that the Ten Tribes called by the name "House of
Israel " have been lost, and exist today among the Gentile nations, unrecognized
by the world
Their identity, and location, is one of the things God has hidden from the world.
Yet,
in this end-time, when knowledge is to increase,
when
the "wise" are to understand
(Daniel 12:4,
10),
we
shall find the secret revealed through prophecy
which
could not be understood until now.
But first, we must now consider
a mysterious "breach"
that occurred in the days of
Judah, son of Jacob.
Judah
was the father of twin sons.
The
firstborn was royal seed, for through him the sceptre promise was to be
carried down.
It
seems the midwife knew twins were about to be born.
It
is recorded that just before birth one of the twins "put out his hand:
and
the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying 'This
came out first.'
"But
the child drew back his hand, and the other was actually born first.
The
mid-wife exclaimed, "How hast thou broken forth?
This
breach be upon thee: [margin, wherefore hast
thou made this breach against thee?]
Therefore
his name was called Pharez," meaning "Breach" (Genesis 38:27-30).
Why
should this strange occurrence be recorded in Bible history, unless
this breach was to be healed between the sons or their descendants at some
future time?
Yet it never occurred in their lifetime.
Zarah, of the scarlet thread, had five sons (I Chronicles
2:6).
Did a descendant of Zarah finally
get the throne,
in a manner healing the breach?
David, Zedekiah, Christ, all were of the Pharez branch-none
of Zarah.
Now consider:
1.The fact of the breach
calls for the transfer of the sceptre from the Pharez to the Zarah line.
2.Such transfer never
occurred before King Zedekiah of Judah, who was descended from Pharez.
3.Therefore it had to
occur after Zedekiah's death.
Since David's line (Pharez) is to remain on the throne through all generations forever, it could only occur at an overturn of the throne by a marriage between a Pharez heir to the throne and one of the Zarah line, thus healing the breach.
The descendants of Zarah according to a few scattered
traditions became wanderers,
journeying to the northwest within the confines of
the Scythian nations,
their descendants joining the Ten Tribes.
But meanwhile, the Pharez-David-Zedekiah line possessed the sceptre was high exalted. The Zarah line, feeling it rightfully should possess the sceptre, and some day would, was low, abased so far as royal power was concerned.
The Three Overturns
Now consider a much-misunderstood passage of prophecy:
This (the crown) shall not be
the same:
exalt him that is low, and abase
him that is high.
I will overturn,
overturn, and overturn it:
and it shall be no more until
he comes whose right it is: and I will give it him.
The Breach
Let us understand that clearly.
"Remove the diadem, and take
off the crown."
King Zedekiah, of David's dynasty,
had the crown.
This says it is to be removed.
It was removed.
He died in Babylon; his sons
and all the nobles of Judah were killed.
"This shall not be the same."
The diadem is not to cease,
but a change is to take place,
the throne is to be overturned,
another is to wear the crown.
God's promise to David is
not to go by default!
"Exhalt him that is low, and
abase him that is high."
Who is "high"?
King Zedekiah of Judah. Now he is to be abased.
He is to lose that crown.
Judah has been "high," while
Israel has been "low,"
these many years without a king
(Hosea. 8:4).
The Pharez line has been "high" the Zarah line has
been "low."
"I will overturn, overturn,
overturn, it:
and it shall be no more until
he come whose right it is."
What was to be overturned?
The diadem and the throne.
Not once, it is to be debased
and overturned three times.
Overturned by abasing Zedekiah,
the House of Judah, the Pharez line, and exalting,
now, the House of Israel, and
one of the Zarah line!
The first of the three overturns
was accomplished as the first half of Jeremiah's commission.
"And it shall be no more."
Does this mean the throne
the crown is to cease to exist?
Not at all!
How
could it be overturned three times, that is,
transferred
from one to another, if it ceased to exist?
How,
after these three transfers of the crown,
could
it be given to him, Christ, whose right it is, at his Second Coming,
if
it ceased altogether to exist?
How could the crown now exalt him, who was "low", if that crown was to be no more?
No, the meaning is, it shall be no more overturned until the Second Coming of Christ!
And then it shall be once again
overturned, and given to him!
God will not break his unalterable promise made
to David!
Through every generation
David shall have a descendant
wearing that crown!
The second half of Jeremiah's
commission must now be performed.
That throne must be transplanted,
and again built.
The crown must be overturned, transferred to another!
A "Riddle" and a "Parable" tells!
The
strange truth of the planting and the rebuilding of David's throne is revealed
in a "riddle and a parable,"
couched
in symbolic language never understood until this latter day.
Yet
it stands, today, so clearly explained a little child could understand!
It
fills the 17th chapter of Ezekiel's prophecy.
The
whole chapter should be carefully read.
Notice, first,
this prophetic message is addressed, not to Judah, the Jews,
but to the House of Israel.
It
is a Message to give light to the lost ten tribed House of Israel in these
latter days!
First, Ezekiel is told to speak a riddle, and then a parable.
The riddle is found in verses
3 to 10.
Then, beginning verse 11, the
Eternal explains its meaning.
"Say now to the rebellious house,"
God says the "rebellious house"
being ten tribed Israel (Ezek. 12:9),
to whom Ezekiel is set a prophet
(Ezek. 2:3; 3:1. etc.),
"Know ye not what these things
mean?
Tell them... "And then
the riddle is clearly explained.
A great eagle came to
Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar.
This is explained to
represent King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,
who came to Jerusalem,
and took captive the king of Judah.
The cropping off of the
cedar's young twigs and carrying them to a land of traffic
is explained to picture
the captivity of the king's sons.
"He
took also of the seed of the land," means Nebuchadnezzar took also
of the people, and the mighty of the land of Judah. "He
set it as a willow tree.
And
it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature,"
means the Jews were given
a covenant whereby, although they were ruled over by the Chaldeans, they
might live in peace and grow.
The
other "great eagle" is explained to represent Pharaoh of Egypt.
Thus the riddle covers the first half of Jeremiah's commission.
Now
notice what is revealed concerning the second part, the planting of David's
throne!
It comes in the parable, verses 22-24.
"Thus saith the Lord God;
I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar."
From
God's own explanation we have learned that the cedar tree represents the
nation of Judah; its highest branch is Judah's king.
The riddle told us Nebuchadnezzar
took the highest branch, the king.
The
parable now tells us God, not Nebuchadnezzar, but God, will take of the
highest branch.
Not the branch, but of
the branch of Zedekiah's children.
But
Nebuchadnezzar took, and killed, all his sons.
God, through his prophet Jeremiah,
is now going to take of this highest branch, and "set it" (verse 22).
"I
will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one,
and
will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent," continues the Almighty!
Ah!
"A tender young twig!"
The twigs of this
highest branch represent the children of King Zedekiah.
Certainly
a tender young twig, then, represents a daughter! ..... And will plant
it."
Could
symbolic language say plainer this young Jewish princess is to become the
royal seed for planting again of David's throne?
Where?
..... Upon a high mountain and eminent," says the Eternal!
A
"mountain" in symbol always represents a nation.
But
which nation?
"In
the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it," answers the
Eternal!
David's throne now is to
be planted in Israel,
after being thrown down from
Judah! Could language be plainer? .....
And it [the tender
young twig, the king's daughter] shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit,
and be a goodly cedar:"
Did David's throne cease with
Zedekiah of Judah?
Did God forget his covenant?
No!
Compare this language
with the passage in Isaiah 37:31-32:
"the
remnant that escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward
be
planted and bear fruit upward."
It was planted in Israel, who removed
from Judah.
After
this Hebrew princess is "planted" on the throne, now in Israel, lost from
view, that throne is to bear fruit.
She
is to marry, have children, and her sons are to continue David's dynasty!
And
under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing;
in
the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell" (verse 23).
"Lost" Israel, now having
acquired the throne and become again a self-ruling nation,
shall, in time, spread
around the earth gaining dominance and power.
They shall inherit the
unconditional promises of the birthright, according to God's covenant with
Abraham!
"And
all the trees of the field…" (verse 24).
A
"tree" in this riddle and parable is likened to a nation. In other words,
"All the nations of the Earth..."
"..... Shall know that I, the
Lord, have brought down the high tree."
Judah, the high tree, having
the throne 130 years after the House of Israel had been taken captive,
now is brought down to the low stature of slavery.
"…… have exalted the low tree."
For 130 years the House
of Israel had been a "low tree".
Now the House of Israel
is exalted, becomes again a nation with a king.
"..... have dried up the green
tree" Judah, "and have made the dry tree to flourish."
The House of Israel,
headed by the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who possessed the birthright,
now shall flourish, become prosperous in due time.
"I
the Lord have spoken and have done it."
Yes, that birthright is in Israel.
Though
lost, though supposed to be a Gentile
nation,
they
are the people who were to grow into the promised multitude, the great
nation,
and
the company of nations, possessing the gates of their enemy nations, becoming
a colonizing people spreading around the world, being blessed with national
resources and wealth. And, when they become thus powerful and nationally
dominant, remember David's throne will be found transplanted among them!
But where did Jeremiah, with
his royal seed for the transplanting, go to
find the lost House of Israel?
Where
are they today?
How was the 'breach"
healed, and how did a son of Zarah ascend the throne?
Can we tell?
We can!
ISRAEL'S NEW LAND
We are ready, now, to search out the actual location
of the lost tribes of the outcast House of Israel.
We know they exist today as a Nation, and a Company
of Nations powerful, looked upon as Gentiles.
And when we find them we shall find a ruler, still today occupying the throne of David!
Many passages of prophecy tell of these people in these
latter days.
Prophecies not to be understood until this "time of
the end."
Prophecies
containing a Message to be carried to these people by those to whom God
reveals it!
First it is necessary to fix in mind these facts:
The prophet Amos wrote, in the days of the 18th of
the 19 kings of the House of Israel, (Amos 1:1):
"Behold the eyes of the Lord
are upon the sinful kingdom [House of Israel,
Judah had not yet sinned],
and I will destroy it [the
kingdom, or government, not the people] from
off the face of the earth.
For, lo, I will command, and
I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like corn is sifted
in a sieve,
yet shall not the least grain
fall upon the earth" (Amos 9:8-9).
This
prophecy usually is applied
to the scattered condition of the Jews.
But
it has nothing to do with the Jews, or House of Judah,
but
refers to the ten tribed House of Israel driven to Assyrian captivity,
then migrating from there and scattering among other nations.
This
prophecy says that Israel
(not Judah) was
to be sifted among other nations,
these
Israelites losing their identity, yet God has protected and kept them
"not the least grain
shall fall upon the earth."
It was during this time
that the children of the House of Israel were to
"abide many days without a king" (Hosea 3:4).
That these people did
sift through the nations is clear.
Many
New Testament passages indicate this.
Although many of them still were scattered among various nations in the first century A.D., a portion of them had become established in a definite location of their own by Jeremiah's time, 140 years after their original captivity.
But these Israelites who possessed the birthright eventually were to come to a new land of their own.
The Eternal says, in II Samuel 7:10 and I Chronicles
17:9:
"Moreover, I will appoint a
place for my people Israel,
and will plant them [Jeremiah
was commissioned to do the planting of the throne among them]
that they may dwelt in a place
of their own and move no more."
The context of the whole passage shows this refers, not to the Promised Land of Canaan, but a different land where these scattered Israelites were to gather, after being removed from the promised land of Palestine, and while that land was lying idle and in possession of the Gentiles.
Notice carefully! After
being removed from their land, being sifted among all nations, abiding
many days without a king, losing their identity, they are to be "planted"
in far away strange land, now to become their own.
And,
note it-after reaching this place, they are to move no more!
That is, of course, during this present age.
While other prophecies indicate these birthright holders were to become a colonizing people, spreading around the world, it is plain that the spreading out must be from this appointed place, which must remain the "home" seat of government for David's throne.
Mark this clearly! Once
this "place of their own" was reached, and the throne of David planted
there, they were to move no more.
Therefore,
the location of this people today is the place where Jeremiah planted David's
throne more than 2,500 years ago!
Therefore prophecies pertaining to this day, or to the location of this people just prior to Christ's return, will tell us the location of Jeremiah's planting.
The House of Israel is yet to return, at Christ's coming
to Palestine,
yet to plant grapes in Samaria their original country.
Lost Israel Located
Without further suspense,
let us see where prophecy locates these birthright holders,
now possessing the throne
of David and earth's richest national blessings.
Remember
they are distinguished from Judah, the Jews by various names,
"Ephraim,"
"Joseph," "Jacob," "Rachel" (the mother of Joseph), Samaria (the former
capital).
According to Hosea 12:1,
Ephraim must have gone west from Assyria.
When the Eternal swore to David to perpetuate his throne,
He said: "I will set his hand
[sceptre] in the sea" (Psalms 89:25).
The
throne is to be "set," planted, "in the sea."
Through Jeremiah the Eternal said: "Backsliding
Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah.
Go and proclaim these words
toward the north and say,
Return thou backsliding Israel,
saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 3:11-12).
Note: Israel
is clearly distinguished from Judah.
And
in these last days messengers are to go "toward the north" (of Jerusalem)
in
order to locate lost Israel and proclaim this warning.
So the location, we now find, is toward the north, also west, and in the sea.
The 18th verse, same chapter, says:
"In those days the House of
Judah shall walk with the House of Israel
[margin, to the House of Israel],
and they shall come together out of the land of the north
to the land that I have given
for an inheritance unto your fathers."
At the future Exodus, at Christ's coming, they are to return to the Holy Land out of the land of the north!
After saying, "How shall I give
thee up, Ephraim?"
the Eternal, speaking through
Hosea, says: "...
then the children shall tremble
from the west" (Hosea 11:8, 10).
Again, "Behold, I will bring
them from the North Country,
and gather them from the coasts
of the earth" (Jeremiah 31:8).
This prophecy is for consideration
in the "latter days" (Jeremiah 30:24; 31:1),
and is addressed to "Israel"
(verses 2, 4, 9,) to "Ephraim" (verses 6,
9,) and "Samaria"
(verse 5).
Here is added another
hint
"the
coasts of the earth",
evidently they are dominant
at sea.
Referring to the House of Israel
(not Judah) in Isaiah 49:3, 6, God
says:
"Behold these shall come from
far:
and lo, these from the north
and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim" (Isaiah 49:12).
In the Hebrew, the language in
which this was originally inspired, there is no word for "northwest," but
the phrase, "the north and the west" designate this term. It
means, literally, the northwest!
The Vulgate renders "Sinim" as Australi" meaning the
south.
So we now have the location northwest of Jerusalem,
as well as southern lands.
Hence, Israel of today, Israel of the day of Jeremiah's "planting" of David's throne, is located specifically northwest of Jerusalem, and in the sea!
Let us locate this land more specifically!
In Jeremiah 31:7, the message
to be declared "In the isles afar off" (verse 10)
is to be shouted in "the chief
of the nations."
So, finally, today, as in Jeremiah's day, the House
of Israel is in the isles, which are "in the sea"
the chief of the nations, northwest
of Jerusalem!
A Coast-dwelling, and therefore
sea dominant people.
Certainly
there can be no mistaking that identity!
Take a map of Europe.
Lay a line due northwest of
Jerusalem across the continent of Europe, until you come to the sea, and
then to the islands in the sea!
This line takes you direct to
the British Isles!
Britain's Hebrew Names
A most interesting coincidence is the Hebrew meaning
of the phonetic sounds of the names of the British people.
The House of Israel is the "covenant
people."
The Hebrew word for "covenant"
is (pronounced in current Hebrew) "brit".
After Gideon's death, Israel followed the false pagan
god Baal.
In Judges 8:83 and 9:4, the
word "covenant" is used as a proper name coupled with the name "Baal."
This is quoted in the English
text, Authorized Version, without being translated,
as "Baalberith," meaning (margin)
"idol of the covenant."
The word for "covenant man,"
or "covenant people," would therefore sound,
in English word order, "Brit-ish"
(the word ish means "man" in Hebrew,
and it is also an English suffix
on nouns and adjectives).
And so, is it mere coincidence
that the true covenant people today are called the "British"?
And they reside in the "British
Isles"!
To Abraham, God also said, "In
Isaac shall thy seed be called,"
and this name is repeated in
Romans 9:7 and He-brews 11:18.
In Amos 7:16 the Israelites
are called "the house of Isaac."
The name "Isaac" is the English
form of the Hebrew word more exactly transliterated Yishaq.
Note how different the Hebrew
spelling and pronunciation is from the English.
Even stable consonants have
dropped out, how much easier for the unstable,
semi-vowel y to drop, leaving
Shaq or Saac.
Dan Migrates by Sea and Land
The tribe of Dan originally occupied a strip of coast
country on the Mediterranean, west of Jerusalem.
"And the coast of the children
of Dan," we read in Joshua 19:47, "went out too little for them:
therefore the children of Dan
went up to fight against Leshem, and took it... and called Leshem,
Dan, after the name of Dan their
father."
In Judges 18:11-12, it is recorded
that Danites took Kirjath-jearim,
and "called
that place Mahaneh-dan unto this day."
A little later the same company of 600 armed Danites
came to Laish, captured it,
and "they called the name of
the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father" (verse 29).
The tribe of Dan occupied two
different districts, or provinces, in the Holy Land before the Assyrian
captivity.
One colony lived on the seacoast.
They were principally seamen,
and it is recorded Dan abode in ships (Judges. 5:17).
When Assyria captured Israel,
these Danites struck out in their ships
and sailed west through the
Mediterranean and, as we shall now note, north to Ireland.
Just before his death, Moses prophesied of Dan:
"Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall
leap from Bashan" (Deut. 83:22).
Some historians see a connection
between those Danites and the Danoi in Greece
and the Thatha De and Thathe
De Danaan of Ireland. Tuatha De means the
"people of God."
The name Dunn in the Irish language,
for example, means the same as Dan in the Hebrew: judge.
Now briefly let us consider what is found in the ancient annals, legends, and history of Ireland, and we shall have the scene of Jeremiah's "planting" and the present location of "lost" Israel.
The real ancient history of Ireland is very extensive,
though colored with some legend.
But with the facts of biblical history and prophecy
in mind,
one can sift out the legend from the true history
in studying ancient Irish annals.
Throwing out that which is obviously legendary,
we glean from various histories of Ireland the following:
Long
prior to 700 B.C. a colony of mixed ancestry called "Tuatha De Danaan',
arrived
in ships, drove out other tribes, and settled there.
Later, in the days of David, a colony of Milesians,
apparently of the line of Zarah,
arrived in Ireland from the Near East.
Later still, an elderly, white-haired patriarch sometimes referred to as a "saint" came to Ireland.
With him was the princess daughter
of an eastern king and a companion called "Simon Brach,"
spelled in different histories
as Breck, Berech, Brach, or Berach.
The princess was named Tephi
or Tea-Tephi.
Modern literature of those who recognize the national
identity of the Anglo-Saxons
has confused this daughter of Zedekiah, with an earlier
Tea,
a daughter of Ith, who lived in the days of David.
This royal party included the
son of the king of Ireland who had been in Jerusalem at the time of the
siege.
There he had become acquainted
with Tea-Tephi. He married her shortly after the city fell.
Their young son, now in his
late teens accompanied them to Ireland.
A descendant of the ancient King Herremon, this young
man has usually been confused
with his much earlier ancestor Gede the Herremon-who
married his uncle Ith's daughter Tea.
The son of this later young king and the Hebrew princess continued on the throne of Ireland and this same dynasty continued unbroken through all the kings of Ireland; was overturned and transplanted again in Scotland; again overturned and moved to London, England, where this same dynasty continues today in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
The crown worn by the kings of the line of Herremon and the other sovereigns of ancient Ire land had twelve points!
Besides the royal family, the prophet is thought by some to have brought with them certain remarkable things, including a harp, and a wonderful stone called "lia-fail," or "stone of destiny."
A peculiar coincidence (?) is
that Hebrew reads from right to left, while English reads from left to
right.
Read this name either way, and
it still is "lia-fail."
Another strange coincidence or
is it just coincidence (?) is that many kings in the history of Ireland,
Scotland, and England have been coronated sitting over a remarkable stone,
including the present queen.
The stone, until lately, rested
in Westminster Abbey in London, and the coronation chair was built over
and around it. A sign once labeled it "Jacob's pillow stone" (Genesis
28:18).
In view of the linking together of biblical history, prophecy, and Irish history, can anyone deny that this Hebrew princess was the daughter of King Zedekiah of Judah and therefore heir to the throne of David?
That the aged patriarch was in fact Jeremiah, and his companion was Jeremiah's scribe, or secretary, Baruch?
That King Herremon was a descendant of Zarah, here married to the daughter of Pharez, healing the ancient breach?
Three overturns just as prophesied! in the 27th verse of the 21st chapter of Ezekiel.I will overturn, overturn, and overturn it: ...
When Christ returns to earth to sit on the throne, he shall take over a live, existing throne, not a nonexistent one (Luke 1:82).
And the British Commonwealth of Nations is the only company of nations in all earth's history.
Could we so exactly fulfill the specifications of the birthright, and not be the birthright people?
The
United States expanded rapidly in national resources and wealth after 1800,
but
reached world dominance among nations later than the British Commonwealth.
It
became a giant world power by the end of World War I.
The United States Is Manasseh
There are some claiming that
the United States is Ephraim
and the British Empire is actually
the one people Manasseh.
They want you to forget the
last 300 years of world history.
They want you to forget that
the United Kingdom was a commonwealth of over 50 nations and colonies,
plus numerous possessions.
They want you to forget the
United States was once part of that federation.
They apply their own or fringe
definitions to words.
They put their own interpretation
on prophecy.
We believe this is wrong and is distorting God's word and will.
Twisting biblical and historical
evidence, such as saying only a pair of each kind of animal went into Noah's
ark,
when in fact the "clean" animals
entered in sevens (Genesis 7:2),
that the last battle is Armageddon,
when in fact it is just a staging area
with the real combat taking
place in the Valley of Megiddon (Zechariah 12:11)
and that the antichrist is the
beast, although the beast is against Christ,
1 JOHN 2:18, 2:22 & 4:3
and 2 JOHN 1:7 (the only times the word "antichrist" appears in the KJV
bible)
describes, in layman's terms,
who he really is.
It is this kind of language that makes scoffers of God's word.
From the prophet blessings passed
on by the dying Jacob,
it is apparent that Ephraim
and Manasseh were in a large measure to inherit the birthright jointly;
to remain together for a long time, finally separating.
In Genesis 48 Jacob first passed
the birthright on to the two sons of Joseph jointly, speaking of them both
together.
Then, finally, he spoke of them separately.
Manasseh was to become great;
Ephraim, greater still, the company of nations.
And in his prophecy for these latter days Jacob said,
"Joseph is a fruitful bough,
even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall" (Gen.
49:22).
In other words, Joseph (Ephraim
and Manasseh) jointly and together
was to be a colonizing people
in this latter day, their colonies branching out from the British Isles
around the earth.
Our people have fulfilled this
prophecy.
Together Ephraim and Manasseh
grew into a multitude,
and then separated, according
to Jacob's prophetic blessing of Genesis 48.
It should be noted that certain regions of Britain
contributed more heavily
to the migration of those who became permanent settlers
of the colonies,
which later became the United States.
For example, a large percentage of Americans of English
ancestry
when the United States began were from families originating
in Norfolk and Suffolk in East Anglia.
Evidently the people of this region were somewhat
culturally distinct
and were more driven to establish their own separate
nation across the Atlantic Ocean.
Manasseh was separating from
Ephraim!
But how can we be Manasseh when
large parts of our people have come from many nations besides England?
The answer is this: A large part of Manasseh remained with Ephraim until the separation of the thirteen colonies. But our forefathers were to be sifted through many nations, as corn through a sieve, yet not a grain to fall to the earth or be lost (Amos 9:9). Our people did filter through many nations.
Ephraim and much of Manasseh finally immigrated to England together, but many others of Manasseh who had filtered into and through other nations did not leave them until they came, as immigrants, to the United States after the colonies had become a separate nation.
During the Scottish English troubles of the 1600's
and the early 1700's many thousands of Scots
moved by clan groups to European regions from whence
came great numbers of colonists to America.
This does not mean that all foreigners who have immigrated into this country are of the stock of Manasseh, but undoubtedly many are.
Israel, however, always did absorb
Gentiles,
who became Israelites through
living in Israel's land, adopting its customs and sometimes inter-marrying.
Thus we have become known as
the "melting pot" of the world.
Instead of rebuking the United
States' Manassehite ancestry, this fact actually confirms it. The proof
that we are Manasseh is overwhelming.
Manasseh was to separate from
Ephraim and become the greatest, wealthiest single nation of earth's history.
The United States alone has fulfilled this prophecy. Manasseh was in fact
a thirteenth tribe.
There were twelve original tribes. Joseph was one of
these twelve.
But when Joseph divided into two tribes and Manasseh
separated into an independent nation,
it became a thirteenth tribe.
Could
it be mere coincidence that THE UNITED STATES started, as a nation, with
thirteen colonies?
But what about the other tribes of the so-called "Lost Ten Tribes"?
While the birthright was Joseph's, and its blessings
have come to the British Commonwealth of Nations
and the United States of America,
yet the other eight tribes of Israel were also God's
chosen people.
They too, have been blessed with a good measure of
material prosperity,
but not the dominance of the birthright.
Such
northwestern European nations as Holland, Belgium, Denmark. We lack space
for a detailed explanation of the specific identity of all of these other
tribes in the nations of our twentieth century. Suffice it to say here
that there is evidence that these other eight tribes, along with elements
of the tribe of Benjamin, which were swept up in the Assyrian conquest
of most of the biblical land of Israel, have descended into, Iceland, northern
France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Birthright Withheld 2,520 Years
The most remarkable fulfillment of biblical prophecy in modern times was the sudden sprouting forth of the two mightiest world powers, one, a commonwealth of nations forming the greatest world empire of all time; the other, the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth today.
These birthright peoples came, with incredible suddenness, into possession of more than two thirds, nearly three quarters, of the cultivated wealth and resources of the whole world!
This sensational spurt from virtual obscurity in so short a time gives incontrovertible proof of divine inspiration.
Never, in all history, did anything like it occur.
But why did this unprecedented national wealth and power come to our birthright inheritors beginning about A.D.1800?
Why did not this national dominance come to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh ages ago in the days of Moses, or Joshua, or David, or Elijah?
A "Nation" and a Commonwealth of Nations"
Remember now the birthright promise was given to the
two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh,
not to the other tribes or their descendants.
These two birthright tribes
were part of the northern Nation of Israel.
Notice again the original promise: "A
nation and company of nations shall be of thee" (Genesis 35:11).
Remember, in passing on the birthright promise the dying Jacob (Israel) said of Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph, "...let my name be named on them" (Genesis 48:16).Hence it is they, the descendants of Ephraim (the British) and Manasseh ( the Americans) who are primarily referred to in prophecy under the names of Jacob or Israel.
Continuing, Jacob added, ..... and
let them grow into a multitude." Then, speaking of Manasseh and
his descendants alone, Jacob said prophetically:
..... he also shall become a people [nation], and he also shall be great:
but truly his younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he,
and his seed shall become a
multitude [a company, or commonwealth] of nations" (Genesis 48:19).
In A.D. 1800 the United Kingdom
consisted of the British Isles,
a small part of India and of
Canada and numerous little islands.
The United States consisted of the original 13 colonies and three added states plus wilderness territory.
Neither possessed great wealth or power, by comparison with later standards.
But
beginning in 1800 these two little nations began to sprout
and
to grow into vast national riches and power such as no people ever possessed.
Soon Britain's empire spread around the world, until the sun never set upon her possessions.
Canada, Australia, South Africa
were given dominion status, made free and independent nations,
ruling themselves independent
of England, a company, or commonwealth, of nations joined together,
solely by the throne of David!
But why was that tremendous birthright, which was promised unconditionally to Abraham, repromised to Isaac and Jacob, never bestowed for millennia of time, until after A.D. 1800?
The answer is amazing exciting!
The Pivotal Prophecy
In this central prophecy, God reaffirmed the birthright promise but with conditions for the people of Moses' day!
The birthright tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh were
then with the other tribes, as one nation.
Obedience to God's laws would bring the vast national
wealth and blessings of the birthright
not only to Ephraim and Manasseh,
but the whole nation would automatically have shared
them at that time.
Notice carefully that two of the Ten Commandments are mentioned for emphasis.
These were the main test commandments!
They were the test of obedience, and of faith in and
loyalty to God.
God said: "Ye
shall make you no idols nor graven image... to
bow down unto it:
for I am the Lord your God.
Ye
shall keep my Sabbaths..." (verses 1-2).
There was a condition, a great big "if", to their receiving actual fulfillment of this stupendous birthright promise in their time!
God said: "If
ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments,
and do them;
then I will give you rain in
due season, and the land shall yield her increase..." (verses 3-4).
Remember: All wealth comes out of the ground.
They would enjoy bumper crops the year round, one harvest
on the heels of another.
Verse 6: "And
I will give peace in the land... and none shall make you afraid...
neither shall the sword [of
war] go through your land."
What a blessing!
Which nation, today, enjoys continuous peace, without fear of invasion?
Of course, in this world, every nation has enemies.
What if enemy nations attacked?
IF!
But here comes the alternative,
I also will do this unto you;
They would be invaded, conquered, become once again slaves, as they had been in Egypt before God freed them.
Withheld 40 Years
In the second year after leaving Egypt,
God had moved the Israelites to a new camp in the
wilderness of Paran (Numbers 10:11-12).
Moses sent twelve men, one leader
or ruler from each tribe,
to spy out the Promised Land
and bring back a report on the land and its inhabitants (Numbers 13:1-2).
These men were gone 40 days.
On their return, all but two, Joshua and Caleb,
misrepresented what they had seen, giving an evil report.
When Joshua and Caleb reported
the truth, the people tried to stone them.
They accepted the evil report,
complained against God, doubted, rebelled, and disobeyed.
Have you ever wondered why these Israelites were 40 years in the desolate, barren, desert and mountain wilderness getting to the Promised Land?
It was not because it required 40 years of travel.
These men sent to report on it journeyed to it, walked all over it from one end to the other and returned, round trip, in 40 days.
But the people griped, disbelieved God, disobeyed, and refused to go forthwith to possess it instead of deciding to march ahead and possess this great prize God wanted to give them, they despised it, lacked faith to go in and possess it, refused to march forward.
This Promised Land is a type of the glorious Kingdom of God, which the living Savior, Jesus Christ, offers us.
But today we, the descendants
of those Israelites, despise it,
prefer the slavery of sin,
fail to exercise the faith to go on and possess God's Kingdom. We, too,
rebel, disbelieve, and disobey. And those who thus despise it shall not
enter that glorious Kingdom with eternal life in happiness and accomplishment.
To this rebellious population,
God said: "Your carcasses shall
fall in this wilderness... ye shall not come into the land... save .......
and Joshua...
But your little ones, which
ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in,
and they shall know the land
which ye have despised" (Numbers 14:29-31).
"And," continued God, "your
children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms,
until your carcasses be wasted
in the wilderness" (Numbers 14:33-34).
And now comes the "day-for-a-year principle":
The Seven Prophetic Times
From Leviticus 26: "And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins" (verse 18).
It is important to understand
this! "Seven
times"
is an English expression translated
from the Hebrew word sheva', simply meaning the number seven.
Usually this word is used as
an adjective, for example, "seven cows" or "seven days."
However, in Leviticus 26:18,
the word sheva' (seven) stands alone-as an adverb-and modifies the verb
"punish."
Now, when "seven" stands alone
as an adverb,
it may have either one (or both)
of two separate and independent meanings.
The word sheva' can convey the sense of increasing intensity in the action.
But sheva' can also refer to the duration, continuance or especially repetition of the action over a period of time.
Read Psalm 119:164 "Seven times
a day do I praise thee"
and Proverbs 24:16 "For a just
man falleth seven times, and riseth up again."
The Hebrew for "seven times"
in both verses is simply sheva',
exactly the same word, used
in exactly the same way (as an adverb), as it is in Leviticus 26!
Now, let's understand the "seven
times" of Leviticus 26.
The context is corrective punishment-punishment for
a purpose.
Has
God ever used the prescription of seven times for the corrective punishment
of a person or nation in a place other than Leviticus 26?
Yes!
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the greatest world
ruler at his time, was punished seven times,
literally seven years, for exalting himself above
God (Dan. 4:32).
The
seven times punishment represents seven years of punishment in Leviticus
26 just as in Daniel 4!
But there is a difference.
Whereas
Daniel
4 tells of seven literal years of punishment,
which
befell a certain individual,
Leviticus
26 tells of seven prophetic years, which
befell the nation of Israel.
Now understand the "seven times" or seven prophetic "times." For this is a prophecy.
In
prophecy, as we will later demonstrate, a "time is a prophetic 360-day
year.
And,
during Israel's punishment, each day represented a year being fulfilled.
This "day-for-a-year" principle is explained in two other passages dealing with the duration of Israel's punishment.
One of these we have already covered.
God punished that generation
of Israelites Moses had led out of Egypt,
by withholding from them entry
into the promised land forty years.
That promised land was a beginning part of the birthright.
God punished them on the principle of a year for every
day,
forty years duration of punishment for the 40 days
of transgression (Ezekiel 4:6; Numbers 14:34).
Now we come to the expression "then I will punish you seven times more for your sins" in Leviticus 26.
It is evident both by its manner of wording in the sentence and by the fact of actual fulfillment that it was speaking of a duration of seven prophetic "times," or years-seven 360-day years-a total of 2,520 days.
And when each day is a year of
punishment in this case, as in Numbers 14:34, a
withholding of a promised blessing,
the
punishment becomes the withdrawing and withholding of the promised blessings,
on the "day-for-a-year"
principle,
for
2,520 years!
For that is precisely what did happen!
Stick with us.
We'll explain!
What Is a "Time"?
But now did you notice we said that a prophetic "time" is a 360 day year?
Why not a year of 365¼ days?
Why not a solar year?
In ancient biblical times, a solar year was figured on basis of twelve 30-day months.
Notice Genesis 7:11: "In the
six hundredth year of Noah's life,
in the second month, the seventeenth
day of the month,
the same day were all the fountains
of the great deep broken up,
and the windows of heaven were
opened."
Now verse 24: "And the waters
prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days."
Next, Genesis 8:3-4: "And the
waters returned from off the earth continually:
and after the end of the hundred
and fifty days the waters were abated.
And the ark rested in the seventh
month,
on the seventeenth day of the
month, upon the mountains of Ararat."
So
notice-the Flood started on the 17th day of the second month.
At
the end of 150 days, the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat,
on
the 17th day of the 7th month.
That
was five months to the day.
Five
30-day months are 150 days.
We find it definitely figured this way in both Daniel and Revelation.
In Revelation 13:5 a period of
1,260 days being
fulfilled in 1,260 solar years
(A.D. 554-1814) is spoken of as "forty and two months."
Now 42 calendar months,
according to the calendar now
in use, would not be 1,260 days,
but 1,277 days-or, if no leap
year occurred,
1,276. Or, if the extra half-year
happened to be the last half of the year,
it would be 1,278,1,279 or 1,280
days.
So the 42 months were 30-day
months.
In Revelation 12:6, a prophecy
of an event which in actual history
did last 1,260 solar years (A.D.
325-1585)
is spoken of as "a thousand
two hundred and threescore days."
So here, again, we see that a prophetic day was a year in fulfillment.
The 42 months mentioned in Revelation
13:5
is the same amount of time (referring
to a different event but the same amount of time)
as the 1,260 days mentioned
in Revelation 12:6.
The same amount of days is spoken
of in still different language in Revelation 12:14.
Here
it is described as "a time, and times, and half a time."
By comparing Daniel 9:27 and
12:7 with this verse,
we learn that
a "time" is one
prophetic year;
the "times,"
two more prophetic years; and the whole expression
is 3½ prophetic "times,"
which is a literal 1,260
days-or 3½ years of thirty day months. Seven
of these "times" then would be 2,520 days-and on a day-for-a-year basis,
2,520 years!
These
"seven times" bring us to the year A.D. 1800.
What
happened in AD.1800!
Read on! We'll explain! in pamphlet #7066
The Birthright Wealth
Read again the prophetic promises of Genesis 22:17', and 24:60.
Since the birthright pertains
to nations,
the "gate" of other people would
be such passes as Gibraltar, Suez, Singapore, Panama Canal, etc.
Britain and America came into
possession of every such major "gate" in this world!
So we must be modern Israel?
World War II hinged on these "gates."
They became not only strategic passes, but also the
world's greatest fortifications.
Notice Genesis 39:3-23: "The
Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous .... .
The Lord was with him, and that
which he did the Lord made to prosper."
And God has continued to be
with, and to prosper Joseph.
Consider now Moses' dying prophetic
blessing,
foretelling what would happen
to each of the tribes in these latter days.
"And of Joseph he said, Blessed
of the Lord be his land,
for the precious things of heaven,
for the dew,
and for the deep that croucheth
beneath,
and for the precious fruits
brought forth by the sun,
and for the precious things
put forth by the moon,
and for the chief things of
the ancient mountains,
and for the precious things
of the lasting hills,
and for the precious things
of the earth and the fullness thereof...
let the blessings come upon
the head of Joseph [Ephraim and Manasseh both] ...
His glory is like the firstling
[firstborn-birthright holder] of the bullock,
and his horns are like the horns
of Unicorns [Great Britain's national seal today]:
with them he shall push the
people together to the ends of the earth:
and they are the ten thousands
of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of
Manasseh" (Deuteronomy 33:13-17).
Whoever
is Ephraim and Manasseh today
must
be in possession of the earth's choicest agricultural, mineral, and other
wealth-the great gold and silver mines;
iron,
oil, and coal, timber and other resources.
Which nations fulfill these prophecies?
Why,
only Great Britain and America!
At one time more than half of
all tillable,
cultivatable temperate zone
lands of this earth were in the possession of these two great powers alone!
The rich agricultural lands
of the Mississippi Valley;
the vast wheat and grain fields
of the Northwest, of Canada and Australia;
the great forest lands of the
Pacific Northwest and many other parts of the world;
the gold fields of South Africa,
Australia, Alaska and the United States;
the great coal mines of the
United States and British Isles;
the natural waterfalls and means
of power and motivation,
and consequent prosperous industrial
and manufacturing districts
of England and the eastern United
States;
the choicest fruit lands of
the Pacific Coast and Florida.
Which other nations combined ever possessed such material wealth? And nearly all this incredible wealth has come since AD.1800!
Abrahamic Covenants Fulfilled
Just to what extent has Almighty
God fulfilled his promises to the descendants of Joseph
in these latter years since
1800 A.D. promises of
"the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, ...
the chief things of the ancient
mountains, ...
and the precious things of the
earth"?
Said Charles M. Schwab, steel magnate, before the Massachusetts
Bankers Association, :
"Our United States has been
endowed by God with everything
to make it and keep it the foremost
industrial and commercial nation of the world."
Although
the birthright has come to the British Commonwealth and the United States,
yet
the other tribes share in the blessings.
Next in order in per capita income were Switzerland,
Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
Most Gentile nations have from one tenth to one fiftieth the income!
Now how did they come into
possession of all this vast wealth of the earth?
Did
they acquire it through their own human wisdom, foresight, energy, ability
and power?
Let United States President Abraham Lincoln answer:
"We find ourselves," he said,
"in the peaceful possession of the fairest portion of the earth, as regards
fertility of soil, extent of territory, and salubrity of climate...
We ... find ourselves the
legal inheritors of these fundamental blessings.
We toiled not in the acquirement
or the establishment of them."
Again, in his proclamation
of April 30, 1863, for a Nation-wide day of fasting and prayer, this great
president said:
"It is the duty of nations,
as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of
God... and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures
and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God
is the Lord.
We
have been the recipients of the choicest blessings of heaven.
We
have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity.
We
have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation ever has grown;
but we have forgotten God!
We
have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied
and enriched and strengthened us;
and
We
have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these
blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own."
Abraham Lincoln knew these great
material blessings had not been earned,
but had been given to the people
by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel.
And
the nations should face the facts today and know that the United States
and the British peoples have been given all this vast unprecedented material
wealth because God promised it, unconditionally, to Abraham. And he promised
it to Abraham because Abraham obeyed God, kept God's laws and commandments.
The birthright blessing was denied
the forefathers after Moses' day
because they refused to live
by the laws of Almighty God.
And today God warns Britain and the United States, through many prophecies in the books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Micah, and numerous others whose writings are preserved in the Bible that unless the people of this generation repent of sins, and turn to him with fasting, and with weeping, and earnest prayer, he 'will destroy their cities, all their fortresses, by the hand of the foreign sword; that he will punish them at the hand of a cruel one; that the people shall be invaded, defeated, reduced to slaves!
God help these nations to heed that warning and wake up in time!
You Can Escape This Punishment!
The punishment now soon to come
upon the American,
the British and other peoples
will be the most frightfully intense PUNISHMENT,
and time of TROUBLE, ever suffered
by any people!
Yet you need not suffer in it.
This terrifyingly severe PUNISHMENT is simply the
CORRECTION
people have made necessary to bring them to the ways
of living
that cause desired blessings, instead of terrible
curses.
It is CORRECTION for the peoples'
good!
As God lives, this punishment
is soon to strike!
We have given the WARNING
from Almighty God and his Word!
Will the U.S. and British nations HEED?
They could yet avert this colossal
national tragedy,
IF they would heed the warning!
Those in the true Body of Christ
shall be taken out of danger until this great tribulation
be over (Rev. 12:14; Isaiah
26:20).
But you must make your own decision
and to NEGLECT doing so is to have made the WRONG decision! Most people,
we know only too well, will take this vitally SERIOUS WARNING lightly,
put it out of mind, turn to
other immediate interests of no importance by comparison!
That is why a loving, just, all-wise, all POWERFUL
GOD
is going to take away from them these unimportant
counter interests,
and apply such intensified CORRECTION that they shall,
finally, come to their senses,
and turn to him and his WAY,
the way that will bring them eternal happiness and
abundant blessings!
The decision is now YOURS!
As Israel left the Caucasus Mountains
and migrated into Europe,
and to North America,
they became known as Caucasians.
If you are a Caucasian you are also an Israelite,
according to Noah Webster and the Holy Bible.
The Webster
Encyclopedia of Dictionaries
(Copyright 1958, Literary Press, p.64) says
"Caucasian" pertains to the
white race
originating from the Caucasus
Mountains near the Black Sea.
The Holy Bible states that the
House of Israel
would be scattered north of
the river Euphrates (I Kings 14:15).
This promise was fulfilled when,
from 745-721 B.C., all ten tribes
of The House of Israel and all but a remnant of The House of Judah were
taken captive
and driven by the Assyrians
into the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas
(II Kings 17:6 ; 18:9-11). Hosea 2:6 says, "...I will hedge up they way with thorns, and make a wall that she shall not find her paths." In this verse God was making it clear that the Israelites were not to return to Palestine.
The United States in Prophecy
Are the people of the United
States, the British Nations,
and Northwestern European nations
mentioned in Bible prophecies?
These nations became, in the past two centuries,
the wealthiest nations, and potentially at least,
the most powerful.
They possessed, at their height of power,
almost three fourths of all the wealth and resources
of the world.
All other nations, combined, had little more than a fourth divided among them.
And they acquired nearly all of it since AD 1800.
Never has there been anything
like it in history.
Never did a people spread out
and grow so rapidly to wealth and power.
Never were a people so rich.
Why?
Could Prophecy Ignore Them?
Consider also, these people have printed and distributed
the Bible
by unbelievable millions of copies in the languages
of all peoples.
We know Bible prophecies definitely refer to Russia, Italy, Ethiopia, Libya and Egypt, of today.
Could they then ignore modern nations like Britain and America?
Is it reasonable?
Assuredly it is not.
The fact is, these people are
mentioned more often than any other race.
Yet their prophetic identity
has remained hidden to the many.
Modern nations are not spoken of in the Bible in their modern names, except in few cases. Usually they are referred to by the names of the ancient ancestor from which they sprang. Thus the Arabs are spoken of as Ishmael, the Russians are Magog.
The Bible story of the ancestry and the modern prophetic identity of the British peoples, other Northwest Europeans and of the United States is the most amazing, yes astounding, the most fascinating and interesting story ever told.
It is really the story thread
of the Bible itself, from Genesis to Revelation.
The Almighty promised centuries ago,
this same wealth and power and national greatness
to Abraham.
Yet few have ever noticed this astonishing fact of Scripture.
The promise of the Messiah,
and of salvation through him
is well known by the most superficial Bible student.
But God made also another, entirely different, most amazing promise to Abraham.
Notice how God called Abraham, and the two-fold nature of his promise:
The Abrahamic Covenants
Notice the two-fold nature of the promises:
1) The birthrights promise that his flesh born children should become a great nation.
2) The spiritual promise of grace:
"In thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed;" or, as the same promise is repeated in Genesis
22:18, in thy seed shall all the nations of earth be blessed."
This promise refers to grace, through Christ, the "one seed," as clearly explained in Galatians 3:8, 16. And Jesus of Nazareth was a son of Abraham.
But that the "great nation' promise refers alone to race, not to the one seed, Christ, but to the plural, multiple seed of natural fleshly birth is made certain by God's repetition of his promise in greater detail later.
"And when Abram was ninety years
old and nine,
the Lord appeared to Abram,
and said unto him,
I am the Almighty God;
walk before me, and
be thou perfect,
and I will make my covenant
between me and thee,
and will multiply thee exceedingly...
thou shalt be a father of many
nations.
Neither shall thy name any more
be called Abram,
but thy name shall be Abraham;
for a father of many nations
have I made thee "(Genesis 17:1-5).
Notice the promise is now conditional upon Abraham's obedience.
Notice, the "great nation" now
becomes many nations, more than one nation.
This cannot refer to the "one seed," Christ.
The following verses prove that.
"And I will make thee exceeding
fruitful,
and I will make nations of thee,
and kings [more
than one] shall come out of thee" (verse 6).
Notice, these nations and kings
shall come out of Abraham-physical generation-multiple seed, not just one
descendant through who converted individuals may become Abraham's children,
by spiritual begettal through Christ (Galatians 3:29). These
scattered individual Christians do not form nations.
This
is speaking of race, not grace.
"And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations" (verse 7). The "seed" is plural" in their generations".
"And I will give unto thee, and
to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger,
all the land of Canaan [later
known as Palestine] for an everlasting possession; and I will be their
God" (verse 8).
Notice, the land material possession
is promised to the plural seed,
of whom He
is their, not his, God.
The plural pronoun "their"
is used again in the 9th verse "and thy seed after thee in their
generations."
The land material possession
is promised to the plural seed,
of whom He
is their, not his, God.
The plural pronoun "their"
is used again in the 9th verse "and thy seed after thee in their
generations."
Again, note carefully, the
Jews have never been more than one nation.
They are not and never have
been many nations and until recently,
never lived in Israel but
in a country called Judah.
So here is an amazing prophecy, a solemn promise from Almighty God that could not be fulfilled in Christ, in Christians, nor in the Jews.
We must look for a number of nations apart from either the Christians or the Jews.
Amazing as it is, we must do it or deny God's promise!
God put Abraham to the test, and Abraham, through faith,
obeyed,
even to being willing to sacrifice his only son, if
need be.
And
after that the covenant no longer was conditional.
Now
it became unconditional.
"By myself have I sworn, saith
the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying
I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which
is upon the sea shore;
and thy seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies [so
far the material, national promises of race];
and in thy seed (Christ) shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed; [this promise is spiritual,
of grace], because thou hast obeyed my voice" Genesis
22:18-18).
The
promise now is unconditional.
God has sworn to make it good.
Abraham already has performed
his part of the agreement.
Now God must perform his part,
without fail.
Notice an additional detail of
the promises,
the
nations who are Abraham's racial descendants are to
"possess
the gate of his enemies."
A gate is a narrow passage of entrance or exit.
When
speaking nationally, a "gate" would be such a pass as the Panama Canal,
the
Suez Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar.
This promise is repeated in Genesis 24:60.
A Nation and a Company of Nations
These tremendous promises were re-promised to Isaac and to Jacob.
Abraham's other sons were rejected
from this birthright.
Esau, Isaac's son and Jacob's
twin brother sold it and was rejected.
The promise, as confirmed to
Isaac is recorded in Genesis 28:1-5;
to Jacob in Genesis 27:26-29,
where material blessing of wealth
in the things of the ground
is added with the prophecy
that heathen nations shall be
ruled by the birthright nations of Israel.
Again recorded in Genesis 28:13-14, where the added
detail that these nations of Israel,
shall eventually spread around the world.
Still later, God appeared unto
Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel,
still further defining the make
up of these "many nations" thus:
"And God said unto him, I am
God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply;
a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee,
and kings shall come out of thy loins" (Genesis 35:9-12).
So the 'many nations' are eventually to take shape as a nation, one great, wealthy, powerful nation; and another company of nations, a group or Commonwealth of Nations allied.
This promise never has been
fulfilled in the Jews.
It could not pertain to the
Church, for there is but one true Church acknowledged in the Bible, and
it (the church)
is not a nation, or a group of nations,
but
a collection of called out individuals scattered throughout the nations.
Yet this amazing promise must
stand fulfilled,
unless we
are to deny the Bible and God's sacred Word!
The promise is fulfilled in Great Britain and America
Please read pamphlet #535
The
Stone Kingdom
#6098
Lesson
1
#6099
Lesson
2
#6100
Lesson
3
#6101
Lesson
4
#7012 More
thoughts about "God's Stone Kingdom"
745BC
to 1776AD = 2520 years - Check it out!
Live link to- Pamphlet #1825
Coincidence? Not a chance!
God's
plan and His timetable are perfect.