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Is
the world's greatest nation ignored in Bible prophecy? If it is,
how could prophecy be considered valid? How could prophecy be inspired,
If the United States of America is nowhere mentioned?
Surely, if
Bible prophecy is relevant to our times, NOW, then it MUST mention
the United States! Many small, insignificant nations are mentioned: Ethiopia,
Libya, Syria, Egypt. Students of prophecy know that many middle-eastern
nations are identified; some of them by their modern names. What about
Great Britain, Canada, Australia; the Commonwealth? For that matter, what
of the nations in Europe?
by Garner Ted Armstrong
The
breathtaking rise to power and national greatness of the United States
is unparalleled in all history! The course of world history has been dramatically
altered by the rise of the United States.
Today, we are one of the
two super-powers. American astronauts have walked, driven a vehicle about
on the surface of the moon. In two world wars, Americans have lent decisive
support to their brothers in England and France, as well as other nations,
emerging victorious in global struggles which led directly to America's
super-power status.
Think of world history
for the past one hundred years! How much of an influence has America exerted?
How important has been England's contribution?
It is absurd to believe
the prophecies of the Bible could be accurate; that they could be up-to-date,
portraying events to occur in our times, NOW, if they OMIT mention
of the United States and Britain! This would be an oversight, an error
so gross as to challenge the very credulity of the Bible itself!
But the United States is
mentioned in Bible prophecy - believe it or not, more often than
any other nation!
Are Bible prophecies merely
the literature of a bygone age - fireside tales of seers and sages of yesteryear;
wrathful pronouncements of indignant prophets? Are they merely the dead,
ancient fragments of literature from a forgotten race; histories, genealogies,
myths?
Or is the ONE FULL THIRD
of the Bible which is prophecy actually relevant—meaningful to US; to our
children and grandchildren in this modern NUCLEAR AGE?
One Man's Family
In many ways, the Bible could
be called the story of "one man's family." In only a few short chapters,
one sixth of all the history of the world is covered; from creation until
the flood of Noah, a period of approximately one thousand years.
Then follows the account of the overspreading of the earth by Noah's children;
the attempt at racial amalgamation and the tower of Babel; the dividing
of the nations and confusion of their languages - all within but a few
chapters. By the twelfth chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis,
we begin reading of a man named "Abram," who was called of God for a great
mission in life. Turn to this vital twelfth chapter, and read it with your
own eyes.
"Now the Eternal had said
unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from
thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee:
"And I will make
of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee,
and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:1-3).
What a promise!
This was a promise of recognition
from God Almighty. It meant Abram would have a great name. Do
not millions strive for recognition; for "fame" as well as fortune? Do
not millions hope to make a "name for themselves"? Here was a promise of
great wealth; of fame, and of a reputation so great that
those who appreciated and "blessed" Abram would themselves be the recipient
of great blessings!
What follows is an outstanding
example of one man's obedience to God. Without argument, Abram did
exactly as he was told. He obeyed God!
Later, in scriptures throughout
the Bible, Abraham, as he will become known, is called the "father of the
faithful." He is given as an example of unquestioning OBEDIENCE to God!
Abraham came to understand that when God speaks, one instantly, without
equivocation, doubt, or argument, OBEYS! This was a quality of character
that endeared this great man to God—a quality of character almost totally
lacking in mankind today!
"And the Eternal said unto
Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and
look from the place where thou art, NORTHWARD, AND SOUTHWARD, AND
EASTWARD, AND WESTWARD: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will
I give it, and to thy seed forever.
"And I will make thy seed
[your children - your progeny to follow] as the dust of the earth
[numbering hundreds of millions]:so that if a man can number
the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered" (Genesis
13:14-16).
God is not promising that
Abram's children would become but a small, struggling nation in the Middle
East! This is not a description of "Israel" of this modern time—a nation
surrounded by hostile Arab nations, struggling for survival.
The Jews in modern Israel
hardly comprise a nation so large; a people occupying all points of the
compass who number "as the dust of the earth."
Later, God expanded on this
marvelous promise to Abram! He promised Abraham's grandson, Jacob (whose
name was changed to "Israel"), "And 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 in thee and in thy seed
shall all the families of the earth be blessed!"
Obviously, this great promise
clearly stated that Abraham's children would "spread ABROAD" from the
ancient land of Palestine; that they would ultimately be found in all
directions; north, east, south, west, from Palestine! They would
be numbered in the countless MILLIONS - "as the dust of the earth" in
number!
This promise transcended
the narrow national boundaries of ancient Palestine! This promise was GLOBAL!
Fix firmly in your mind,
and never forget, that Abraham and his children were promised multiple
millions of progeny - time and time again! There are those who attempt
to deceive and confuse, claiming the promise of the world being blessed
by Abraham's seed meant only Christ! As we shall see, there is definite
reference to "that ONE SEED," which was Christ; and it is true there is
a duality to the promise "in thy seed shall the earth be blessed."
But fix firmly in your mind how God made the promise, again and again,
of countless seed, as the "dust of the earth" to Abraham and his
son and grandson; that they were to overspread the earth in all points
of the compass!
Abraham did exactly as God
commanded. As a result, God reconfirmed His promise to Abraham many times.
He said, "...look now toward heaven, and tell [count] the stars, if you
be able to number them: and He said unto him, so shall thy seed be.
"And he believed in the
Eternal; and He counted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:5, 6).
This promise of multiple
millions of progeny occurs two chapters prior to the final "covenant" between
God and Abraham; prior to the change of name; from "Abram" to "Abraham,"
which meant, "Father of many nations."
J. H. Allen has written
perhaps one of the best-known of the many books attesting to the identity
of modern-day Britain and America in Bible prophecy. In his forward of
his well-known book, Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright, Allen
says, "Although it is not generally known, it is nevertheless true that
God made two covenants with Abraham, or, rather, that He made one with
Abram and another with that same man after his name was changed to Abraham.
This change of name was made that it might harmonize with the new character
and the new order of things as they pertain to the covenant man.
"The first, or Abram, covenant
was made when the man was ninety years old; but the second, or Abraham,
covenant was not made until this man was called upon to make the one great
sacrifice of his life."
We shall see this great
test required of Abraham a little later.
Now, notice this second,
or "Abraham" covenant God made: "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 . . . as for me,
behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be [become] a FATHER OF
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.
"And I will make thee exceeding
fruitful, and I will make nations [PLURAL! MORE THAN ONE NATION!] Of thee,
and kings [PLURAL! MANY KINGS!] shall come out of thee.
"And I will establish my
covenant between me and thee and thy seed [plural! multiple, national seed—like
the dust of the earth and the stars of heaven for number!] after thee in
their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto
thee, and to thy seed [millions of them] after thee.
"And I will give unto thee,
and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the
land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
"And God said unto Abraham,
Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in
their generations" (Genesis 17:1-9).
Does this leave any doubt
whatsoever in your mind about God's promises to Abraham of multiple MILLIONS
of progeny? How many grains of dust are there? How many stars can you see?
Scientists tell us there are something like two hundred BILLION stars just
in the milky way. Though this is obvious metaphor, and not intended
to predict a finite number, God is absolutely promising that Abraham's
seed would eventually become many nations; that whole dynasties
of kings would be among his descendants; that, eventually, MULTIPLE
MILLIONS of human beings would have descended from Abraham!
Anyone who attempts to interpret
these facts as applying only to "that one Seed," which was Christ, is wresting,
violently, the sacred Word of God! Notice carefully; let this burn deeply
into your mind, and never forget it!
(1) "Abraham," the new name
for Abram, means "The father of MANY NATIONS."
(2) God promised: "...I
will make NATIONS of thee..."
(3) God promised: "...KINGS
[plural! More than one!] shall come out of thee."
(4) God promised: "I will
establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed [plural!] after
thee in THEIR [plural!] generations!"
(5) God promised: "I will
give unto thee and thy seed [plural!] the land..."
(6) God promised: "I will
be THEIR [plural!] God!"
(7) God promised - over
and over again, that Abraham was to become the progenitor of many nations;
that whole dynasties of kings would come from him; that his progeny would
eventually become "as the dust of the earth" and as "the stars of the heavens"
in number.
Yet, as in many cases in
the Bible, especially in prophecy, there is oftentimes DUALITY in God's
Word. Later, as we shall see, the children of Jacob (whose name was changed
to Israel) were given specific, prophetic declarations: Each one of Jacob's
twelve sons (thirteen in all, for Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons
of Jacob's favorite son, Joseph) were given a specific national prophecy—an
outline of the future; showing the national characteristics; the ultimate
inheritance of each.
An Unconditional Promise
At first, God told Abraham,
"Walk thou before me, and be thou perfect, and I will be a God unto thee."
He made the promises to Abraham conditional, based upon Abraham's
obedience. But later, as we shall now see, God made those promises absolutely
unconditional.
Read Genesis, the 22nd chapter.
This is the account of how God instructed Abraham to do something which
seemed utterly unthinkable - impossible!
Though Abraham and Sarah
had been childless through all their adult life until they were very old,
God repeatedly promised Abraham would become a father - that through his
son, he would become the progenitor of many nations. "And God said unto
Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but
Sarah shall her name be.
"And I will bless her, and
give thee a son of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother
of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
"Then Abraham fell upon
his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto
him that is an hundred years old? And shall Sarah, that is ninety years
old, bear?
"And Abraham said unto God,
0 that Ishmael might live before thee! (Ishmael was Abraham's son through
his handmaid, Hagar.)
"And God said, Sarah thy
wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac:
and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant,
and with his seed after him . . . my covenant will I establish with Isaac,
which Sarah shall bear unto thee in this set time in the next year" (Genesis
17:15-21).
God repeated the promise
in Genesis 18, where you read the account of God's messenger reconfirming
the promise to Sarah and Abraham of parenthood; of Sarah laughing incredulously,
believing herself to be much too old for childbearing.
Then follows the account
of the rescue of Lot and his family from Sodom; the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah by fire (and powerful testimony as to God's attitude toward
homosexuality!).
Genesis 21 contains the
account of Isaac's birth. "And the Eternal visited Sarah as He had said,
and the Eternal did unto Sarah as He had spoken.
"For Sarah conceived, and
bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken
to him.
"And Abraham called the
name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac"
(Genesis 21:1-3).
Now Abraham knew God had
kept his promise! At last he had a son of his own loins; a son of his own
beloved wife, Sarah! More than one hundred years old at Isaac's birth,
Abraham must have been greatly delighted with the lad; saw in him the fulfillment
of God's many promises; realized that Isaac would become the progenitor
of many kings, nations, hundreds of millions!
Then came a grueling test!
Abraham must have been nearly
dumbfounded when God commanded him to sacrifice his own son - the very
son God had promised. By this time, Abraham had sent Hagar and
Ishmael away to settle family difficulty; jealousy and resentment between
Sarah and Hagar. God had saved Sarah from Abimelech, a pact was made between
them, and Abraham had the well at Beersheba dug and designated "The well
of the oath of seven," to connote the agreement between Abraham and Abimelech.
Then, as if like a bolt
out of the blue, God said to Abraham, "Take now thy son, thine only son,
Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer
him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell
thee of.''
Was this possible? Was
it even thinkable?
Here God had promised again and again Abraham
was to have a son; that, through this son, he would become the progenitor
of hundreds of millions; that lines of kings
would come from
him. Now, it seemed God was changing His mind! God now commanded
him to sacrifice Isaac! To kill the son he loved above all else
- loved more than his own life!
What follows is an example
of faith and obedience virtually unparalleled in history! Centuries later,
Paul was to write, "What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as
pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works,
he hath whereof to glory [boast]; but not before God.
"For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness"
(Romans 4:1-3).
In this chapter is one of
the best Bible descriptions of faith coupled with and exemplified by
OBEDIENCE! God said, "He staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and BEING
FULLY PERSUADED THAT, WHAT HE HAD PROMISED, HE WAS ABLE ALSO TO PERFORM!"
(Romans 4:20, 21).
God had promised Abraham
would become the father of many nations; that he would become the progenitor
of hundreds of millions; kings! Then, He gave him Isaac. Now, he commanded
Abraham to sacrifice Isaac! Then what was God now planning to do?
The carnal mind;
a mind influenced by Satan, would begin to DOUBT God at this point! It
would be filled with self-pity; with the seeming illogicality of it all!
It would be filled with resentment! "What is God doing?" The carnal
mind would think, in self-pity and doubt, "But this isn't
fair,
God gives, and then He snatches away!"
The carnal mind would think,
"Why, that would be murder! Does not God say, in His own law, 'Thou
shalt not kill?' Now, here He is, telling me to kill my own son!"
A torrent of outrage, self-pity, anger, hostility, resentment, incredulity
and doubt, would rage through the carnal mind - a mind that had never become
"fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform!"
But Abraham? What did HE
think?
We cannot know perfectly,
but here is a very logical, fair assumption! He must have thought:
(1) Then God is going to
immediately resurrect
Isaac! He will not allow His Word to fail!
He has promised, and, since He is God, and cannot lie, He will not go back
on His word. Therefore, He intends resurrecting Isaac; bringing him back
to life!
(2) Or, if not, then God
will give me another son! Perhaps two, or three, or five, or ten! But God
will surely perform His word unto me, as He has promised!
(3) Besides, what do I owe
God? I owe Him my life; all that I have. I owe Him Sarah's freedom; my
wife could have been taken away from me - I would never have seen her again
had she been made a part of Abimelech's harem! But God helped me; He spared
Sarah, who gave me Isaac. She can give me yet other sons!
Whatever Abraham's thoughts,
the Bible says, "And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled
his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and
claved the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the
place of which God had told him."
What an example of faith
and obedience! When God originally called Abraham in his own country, the
Bible simply says, "So Abraham departed." Simple. God commands. Abraham
obeys. At the very last moment, as Abraham would have sacrificed Isaac,
God called out! "Abraham! Abraham!" He answered, "Here I am."
"And he said, Lay not thine
hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that
thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son
from me.
"And Abraham lifted up his
eye, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his
horns: and Abraham went and took up the ram, and offered him up for a burnt
offering in the stead of his son" (Genesis 22:1-14).
Here is a shadowy type of
God, the Father, being willing to offer His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ,
for the sins of the world (John 3:16).
Before, God had told Abraham,
"Walk thou before me, and be thou PERFECT, and I will make thee a father
of many nations..." Now, Abraham had passed the utmost and final test!
God knew, now, that Abraham would obey Him unquestioningly! He knew Abraham
BELIEVED GOD! Today, millions "believe on" Christ. They "believe" He was
the Son of God; they "believe in Him." But they DO NOT BELIEVE HIM! They
refuse to believe WHAT HE SAID! Christ said, "Think NOT that I am come
to destroy the law..." Millions believe He DID come to destroy it! Christ
said He would be three days and three nights in the tomb (Matthew
12:40), and millions believe He was in the tomb only from Friday sunset
until Sunday morning at sunrise, two nights, and one day! He said, "If
you will enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS!" (Matthew 19:17) and millions
believe He did away with His Father's law!
Millions believe "on" Christ!
But they do not believe His gospel message; a message about the soon-coming
Kingdom of God; the world-ruling, 1,000 year reign of Christ ON THIS EARTH!
(Revelation 20:4; 2:26; 3:21).
Abraham did not merely have
a "belief," like millions of professing Christians today. He KNEW! There
is a difference!
Therefore, God said to him,
"By Myself have I sworn, saith the Eternal, 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; and in thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice!"
(Genesis 22:15-18).
Once again, note well that
Abraham's seed were to become in-numerable! They were to possess
the strategic land and sea "gates" that would ensure their prosperity,
protection from their enemies!
These fabulous promises
were reconfirmed to Isaac; and then to Jacob. Later, the birthright
promises were passed on to Jacob's sons; his two grandsons, Ephraim
and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, Jacob's favorite son, by aged Isaac,
as he lay dying.
But, as we shall see, God
said, "The sceptre
shall not depart from Judah!" Though God
allowed human nature and human reasoning to fulfill His great purpose;
allowed Rebekah and Jacob to deceive Isaac in the matter of passing on
the birthright blessing to Jacob, in-stead of Esau, He nevertheless
determined that the "sceptre"; the promise of that "one seed" which was
Christ, would not depart from JUDAH, who was yet to be born; one of the
twelve sons of Jacob, and the progenitor of the "Jews," which is merely
a "nickname" for "Judah." As we shall see, there became a necessary breakdown
in the dual covenant; one of RACE and one of GRACE. Much later in history,
after centuries had gone by; after two whole nations, embodying thirteen
tribes in all had emerged; after the northern ten tribes had been removed
from their land and disappeared from history, one of God's chosen apostles
was illustrating to disbelieving gentiles the validity of Christ's credentials
as the promised "seed" of Abraham; the GRACE promise; the fulfillment of
God's prediction that "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah!"
Many, seizing on this scripture,
attempt to set aside and negate all you have read; all the repetitious
promises of God Almighty to Abraham concerning MULTIPLE SEED; NATIONS,
KINGS, POPULATIONS AS THE DUST OF THE EARTH AND THE STARS OF HEAVEN!
Now notice! When the apostle
Paul was arguing concerning the promise of GRACE (not RACE) with the gentile
Galatians, he said, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed,
which is Christ" (Galatians 3:16).
But notice the difference
between the promises of national, racial, inheritance, and the promise
of the inheritance of grace.
"The sceptre shall not depart
from Judah..." (Genesis 49:10). God prophesied, "For Judah prevailed
above his brethren, and of him comes the chief ruler [prince]; but the
birthright is Joseph's!" (I Chronicles 5:2).
The birthright is something
which was to be Joseph's (Ephraim and Manasseh were Joseph's two sons,
upon whose heads the dying Jacob [Israel], said, "Let my name be named
upon them") BY RIGHT OF BIRTH! It had nothing to do with "grace." It was
not something to be earned, or deserved - it was the BIRTHRIGHT of Joseph.
The Word of God makes it clear that, while the lineage which was to culminate
in Christ would come through JUDAH, the promise of multiple seed; kings,
nations, millions of progeny, would be continued down through JOSEPH!
A sceptre is the official
baton, or staff, of a king. It connotes kingly office. Christ was to come
through JUDAH! Notice, "For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah;
of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood" (Hebrews
7:14).
Think, for a moment of the
dual meaning inherent in the expression, "In thee shall all nations be
blessed." As you will come to understand as you read; as you will come
to know, if you have studied recent world history, the entire world
has been mightily blessed because of the two nations of Great Britain
and the United States of America! The statement is so obvious that it needs
no magnification.
But think of the global
community of nations; of the colonizing British - of the development of
underdeveloped, backward, impoverished nations through trade and commerce.
Think of what the world might have been like if there had never been
a Britain or a United States! Hundreds of nations have been
blessed, materially, as well as spiritually, by those two
great nations!
And what is the meaning
of the word, "nation"? Usually, you think of a nation as a political entity;
a country on the map, having a name. But today, the use of the word has
changed from its original intent. Originally, the term meant a family of
people gathered together into one political entity, or country.
It comes from the same root
as "birth," or "nativity," "natal," and "native." Its meaning pertains
to birth, or family.
However, in modern times,
any number of racial strains; "families" of people having common genealogical
origins, may be incorporated inside a given national boundary. Modern-day
Belgium, for example, is one political entity referred to as a "nation."
Yet, there are two distinct racial stocks within Belgium; the Flemish and
the Walloons. As in many other nations today, those two racial strains
do not always get along. The same thing applies to Yugoslavia; to Czechoslovakia,
and to the Soviet Union, which is made up of more than a dozen different
racial stocks; Mongols, Georgians, Ukrainians, Azerbaijanis, Uzbeks, Russians,
and many more. Switzerland is made up of three distinct cultures; German,
French, and Italian.
Knowing that many modern
nations have become racially mixed does not set aside the promises of God
concerning the many "nations" that were to come out of Abraham. Even though
the political borders have become confused; even though many nations have
become of mixed racial stocks, a virtual "melting pot" of racial strains,
God's promises have not been thwarted! His word still stands!
The Birthright; Sold and Transferred
Now, let's understand the
vast difference between the birthright promises and those of the
kingly sceptre which was to be fulfilled in the coming of the Savior,
Jesus Christ.
The fascinating story of
how the birthright blessing was transferred from Joseph to his sons, Ephraim
and Manasseh, is found in Genesis 48.
"And Israel [Jacob] beheld
Joseph's sons and said, Who are these? And Joseph said unto his father,
They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring
them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
"Now the eyes of Israel
were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he [Joseph] brought them
near unto him [Israel]; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
"And Israel said unto Joseph,
I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath showed me also thy
seed.
"And Joseph brought them
out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
"And Joseph took them both,
Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his
left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.
"And Israel stretched out
his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and
his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly ["making
his hands wise"; margin]; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
"And he blessed Joseph,
and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God
which fed me all my lifelong unto this day, the Angel ["messenger"; Hebrew]
which redeemed them from all evil, bless the lad; and LET MY NAME BE NAMED
UPON THEM and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and
let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
"And when Joseph saw that
his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased
him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head
unto Manasseh's head.
"And Joseph said unto his
father, not so my father, for this is the first born; put thy right hand
upon his head.
"And his father refused,
and said, I know it, my son, I know it: 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 OF NATIONS!"
WHAT A PROMISE!
These two sons of Joseph
were to become two great peoples - the elder, Manasseh, a
single, GREAT NATION, and the younger, Ephraim, a GREAT GROUP OF NATIONS
- a "multitude of nations."
And WHO, down through history,
was to bear the name of ISRAEL? You read it plainly! Aging Israel (Jacob)
said, "LET MY NAME BE NAMED ON THEM" and he also said the names of Abraham
and Isaac would be upon them.
Millions of Americans and
Britons are blissfully unaware of their ancient roots. They have not the
faintest conception that the great community of nations called the British
Commonwealth; including Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
South Africa, comprise the peoples of Ephraim. Nor do countless
millions in the United States understand that they are the Manasseh
of
Bible history - and Bible prophecy!
Instead, millions believe,
erroneously, that the names "Israel" and "Jewish" are synonymous. This
is a gross error; a complete false assumption, yet millions are completely
ignorant of it. More on this later. But for now, let it be firmly
fixed in your mind that dying Jacob, whose name was changed to ISRAEL,
plainly said that name was to be indelibly affixed to EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH!
Now, since the name of Israel
was to be stamped upon Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph, who
does this leave out? Which of the sons of dying Jacob (Israel) were OMITTED
from carrying that name? Why, they included JUDAH, from whence come the
Jews; Simeon and Levi, the other two tribes of the ancient "House of Judah";
Zebulon, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Reuben, Dan, Benjamin, and Issachar! These
were the twelve sons of Jacob; the progenitors of the "twelve tribes of
Israel"; or the twelve families that came from Jacob!
The only two tribes of which
much of the world is aware are those of Judah and Levi. One finds many,
many names among those commonly called "Jewish," which in fact are "Levite."
In Hebrew, the name "Cohen" means "priest," or "Levite." The names Levi,
Levine, Levinson, Levy, Kahn, Kuhn, Cohan, Kohane, Cohen, Kohn, Levitz,
Lewitz, Lewis, Lewison, Liebov, Leibowitz, and many, many others are derivations
of "Levi" and "Cohen," or "priest."
And how many know, even
among the Jewish people, where the tribes of Issachar, Dan, Zebulon, Naphtali,
Reuben, and others are located? Most have not the slightest clue! Millions
believe the terms "Jewish" and "Israelite" are synonymous! What gross error!
What ignorance!
Joseph's two sons were brothers.
These two brother nations were to eventually become a great,
single nation, and a "company of nations." Where, in the world today, does
one look to find nations matching these descriptions - brothers enjoying
a long, enduring relationship (even though brothers sometimes fight, and
do not always agree) - two great peoples possessing between them much of
the wealth of the world?
You may search history;
study ethnology, geography, geopolitics - and you will find that the ONLY
peoples who suit this biblical description are the peoples of the United
States of America and the British Commonwealth!
"The Gates of Enemies"
The British colonized, developed,
expanded around the globe, finally reaching the status of EMPIRE. Study
any pre-World War II map of the world. Maps and globes of that period
usually colored the British Commonwealth red; her territories and protectorates
pink.
One could look anywhere
on earth, and find British possessions; dominance and influence.
First, one would see the
British Isles, lying like a dominating lion offshore Europe; secure behind
the famous English channel, yet guarding the gateways to Europe; the Kategat
and Skagerrak; the ports of Holland and France. The position of the British
Isles has been absolutely decisive in the course of history - has influenced
dramatically the outcome of many, many wars, including the first and second
World Wars!
Then, one thinks of the
vast territory, natural resources and physical wealth of Canada; the continent
"down under," Australia; the island nation of New Zealand. There is South
Africa, with some of the richest deposits of minerals and natural wealth
on earth.
During the last of the nineteenth
century and much of the twentieth, Britain controlled many, many other
nations, including India, Egypt; the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, as it used to
be called; many of the nations of East Africa, including those lost by
Germany following the Treaty of Versailles. Britain had possessions all
over the globe! Here are some of them:
Palestine, Trans-Jordan,
Gibraltar, Malta, Crete, the Suez Canal, The Khyber Pass, the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, Ceylon, Rhodesia, Kenya, and Tanganyika; Singapore and
the Straits of Malacca; Hong Kong, Brunei, the Gilberts and Solomons, New
Georgia and New Guinea; Santa Cruz. In the Atlantic, Britain controlled
the Hebrides, the Falklands, Bermuda, Bahamas, Barbuda, Antigua, St. Vincent,
St. Lucia, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, and British Honduras, as well
as British Guiana.
The major sea and land gates
of the world were possessed almost entirely by the British and the United
States.
For our own part, the strategic
location of the United States itself, protected from Europe's wars by the
vast Atlantic and Pacific oceans, has played a vital role in the preservation
of freedom in America. We possessed vitally important sea gates and strategic
island defenses in the Panama Canal; Guantanamo on Cuba, the Hawaiian Islands;
Midway, Guam, and Wake. We possessed the frigid island chain of the Aleutians
with Dutch Harbor. Only a cursory knowledge of history would serve to impress
upon anyone the vital, all-important strategic value of these areas.
Britain possessed Gibraltar
and Suez, thereby bottling up the Mediterranean, and with Malta, Crete
and Cyprus available as naval bases, not to mention Alexandria, in Egypt,
as well as the Bosporus Dardanelles between European Turkey and the Anatolian
Peninsula, bottling up the Black Sea, Britain stood astride the most vital
sea lanes in the world.
Add to this the huge naval
base at Singapore and the Straits of Malacca, Hong Kong on the Chinese
littoral, together with Brunei, and one gets a picture of how and why Britain
was able, together with the Dutch (who are the descendants of Zebulon,
another of the so-called "lost ten tribes") who possessed the East Indies,
to maintain a powerful naval and military presence in the Far East.
This is the fulfillment
of a prophecy uttered by the parents and brethren of Rebekah, wife of Isaac.
It is another reconfirmation of, and enlargement upon, the promises God
gave Abraham, which were passed on through Isaac and Jacob. The story of
the search for Isaac's wife is often given romantic emphasis in Bible literature;
is a favorite subject for children's classes. But the point is hardly romantic.
Let's notice it:
"And Abraham was old, and
well stricken in age: and the Eternal had blessed Abraham in all things.
"And Abraham said unto his
eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray
thee, thy hand under my thigh:
"And I will make thee swear
by the Eternal, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou
shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among
whom I dwell:
"But thou shalt go unto
my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
"And the servant said unto
him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this
land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?
"And Abraham said unto him,
Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.
"The Eternal God
of heaven which took me from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto
me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land;
he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my
son from thence.
"And if the woman will not
be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath:
only bring not my son thither again" (Genesis 24:1-8).
Abraham was seriously intent
that his servant not
allow Isaac to leave the land of Palestine;
not return to the land of Abraham's ancestors, lest it negate God's promises.
Further, he was determined Isaac would marry among his own race; from his
own kind, even among distant kin.
The story continues throughout
the 24th chapter of Genesis.
The servant arrived in Mesopotamia,
was in need of water; Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, who was Nahor's
son, who was Abraham's brother - meaning Rebekah was Isaac's third cousin,
came to the well with a pitcher on her shoulder; gave a drink to the
servant of Abraham; drew water for his camels.
The servant knew the meeting
was providential; gave her expensive gifts: possibly tokens of betrothal,
and went to lodge with her parents. In the ensuing account, he identified
himself, spoke to her parents. She agreed to go with him to become married
to Isaac. Now, notice the strange prophecy God caused her own parents to
utter!
"And they blessed Rebekah,
and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands
of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate
them" (Genesis 24:60).
Rebekah became the mother
of Jacob and Esau, and was instrumental in ensuring the birthright promise
was passed on to Jacob. Though God allowed human nature to fulfill His
purpose, and the selling of Esau's birthright for a pottage of lentils
has oft been told as an example of contemptuous disregard, on Esau's part,
for something of inestimable value, God nevertheless intended that Jacob
become the rightful heir.
Aged Isaac, deceived by
both Jacob and Rebekah, blessed Jacob, assuming it was Esau. He said, "Therefore
God give thee of the dew of heaven [rains in due season], and the fatness
of the earth [bounteous harvests] and plenty of corn and wine: let people
serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and
let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be everyone that curseth
thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee" (Genesis 27:28, 29).
Now, even though God allowed
this to occur through human subterfuge, Jacob was possessor of both
the birthright and the blessing.
The next several chapters
are concerned with Jacob's life; his work for Laban; Laban's deception,
and Jacob's wives and children. Notice how God reconfirmed the promises
He had made unconditionally to Abraham - showing Jacob was now the
rightful heir: "And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall
not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and
He called his name Israel.
"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 [plural! More than one! A dynasty of
KINGS over MANY NATIONS! This is not referring to that "one seed, which
is Christ"; not referring to the sceptre part of the two-fold promise
of race and grace; it is referring to the birthright portion; the
promise of national greatness!] shall come out of thy loins;
"And the land which I gave
Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will
I give the land" (Genesis 35: 10-12).
Jacob set up the famous
"pillar stone" there, anointed it with oil, and named the place "Bethel,"
meaning "God's house." It later became an important city in ancient Palestine.
Jacob's Pillar Stone
Isaac, following the pattern
set by his father Abraham, forbad his son, Jacob, to marry among
the Canaanites. He "...called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him,
and said unto him, thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
"Arise, go to Padan-aram,
to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from
thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.
"And God Almighty bless
thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee; that thou mayest inherit
the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave to Abraham" (Genesis
28:14).
Esau also disdained marrying
among the Canaanites, knowing it would displease his father (Genesis 28:6-9).
"And Jacob went out from
Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place,
and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the
stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that
place to sleep.
"And he dreamed, and behold
a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven:
and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
"And, behold, the Eternal
stood above it, and said, I am the Eternal God of Abraham thy father and
of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed" (Genesis 28:10-13).
There are those who attempt
forcing the interpretation that God was promising only the land of Palestine
to Jacob; that He meant "the land on which you lie - ONLY," and did
not mean to grant to Jacob the promise of seed which would overspread the
earth!
But how ridiculous! Was
God promising merely a patch of rocky ground about six feet by two and
a half feet? The "land whereon thou liest" was only the patch of
rocky ground actually touched by the body of Jacob! Such an assumption
would be sheer nonsense! Do those who quote this verse only, attempting
to negate the promises of God to Abraham, Isaac, and here reconfirmed to
Jacob, have a case of terrible "tunnel vision"? For, note carefully
the very next verse!
"And 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 in thee shall all the
families of the earth be blessed!" (Genesis 28:14).
The families of the earth
would be blessed because the seed of Jacob would ultimately be living
everywhere among them - scatteredAROUND THE EARTH!
Again, it is absolutely
proved that God promised Abraham's seed would ultimately be hundreds of
millions; that they would spread abroad FROM the land of
Palestine; that they would be found in all directions of the compass
from Palestine!
Jacob awoke from his vivid
dream and said, "Surely the Eternal is in this place, and I knew it not...How
dreadful [awesome; overwhelming, not terrible] is this place! This is none
other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
"And Jacob rose up early
in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and
set it up for a pillar [stood it on end, like a monument, or marker], and
poured oil on the top of it.
"And he called the name
of that place 'Bethel' [the house of God]: but the name of that city [which
it later became] was called Luz at first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will
give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my
father's house in peace; then shall the Eternal be my God:
"And this stone, which I
have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt
give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee!" (Genesis 28:16-22).
Like his grandfather Abraham,
who had tithed to Melchizedek, the Priest of the most high God, Jacob understood
the law of tithing. He knew God has a prior claim on the first tenth
of the income He freely gives to those who obey Him! Note well that these
references to God's law of tithing occur in the Bible LONG BEFORE
any Levitical priesthood; long before the birth of Moses; long before any
laws given at Sinai.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
OBEYED God. They did not merely think "nice thoughts" about God; they did
not offer Him lip service. Their quality of character was not merely a
"good attitude"; they PROVED their love and obedience to God BY THEIR WORKS!
James wrote, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith
without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith BY MY WORKS. Thou believest
that there is one God? [or, "that God is one"]; thou doest well: the
demons also believe, and tremble!" (James 2:17-19).
The devil is a great BELIEVER!
He KNOWS God exists, for he has SEEN GOD! His fallen angels, called "demons,"
also "believe"! Like millions of professing Christians, they "believe on"
Christ! Oh, don't doubt for a moment that the demons KNOW JESUS IS THE
CHRIST! They KNOW He died for the sins of the world; that He is the Saviour
of mankind! Was not Satan the devil personally inside of Judas Iscariot
at Christ's betrayal?
But "belief" is NOT ENOUGH!
Notice! "But wilt thou know,
O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father
justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
"Seest thou how faith wrought
with his works, and by works [deeds-action!] was faith made perfect?
"And the scripture was fulfilled
which saith Abraham BELIEVED GOD [he didn't merely "believe on" God - HE
BELIEVED GOD] and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was
called the friend of God" (James 2:17-23).
As a result of Jacob's vow
of obedience, God continued to bless him throughout his long life.
More on his famous "pillar" stone later.
Now we come to a Bible truth
so simple, and yet so profound, that it is surprising that millions
of churchgoing, professing Christians do not understand it! That has to
do with the identity of "the House of Israel," and "the House of Judah."
Few seem to understand that
not all Israelites are Jews!
Just as all Americans are
not Texans, yet all Texans (legal residents) are Americans, so it
is true that all Jews are Israelites!
But all Israelites
are not Jews!
The term "Jew" is a nickname
for the progenitor of the Jewish race, "Judah." Judah is one of the children
of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel.
With the division of the
tribes following the death of Solomon, Rehoboam, Solomon's son, controlled
the southern portion of the land with its capital, Jerusalem. Levi was
scattered throughout the other tribes and had no inheritance in the land.
The "House of Judah" included, primarily, the tribe
of Judah, with
portions of Levi and Simeon, and perhaps a small portion of Benjamin,
with
which Judah shared a common border to the north of Jerusalem.
The northern kingdom,
with its capital at Samaria, embodied the remainder of all the tribes
of Israel, numbering ten in all, under a completely separate dynasty
of kings!
Why is it that few
churchgoing professing "Christians" know and understand that
there were two separate nations, two separate capital cities,
two separate dynasties of kings, and that there are four whole
books of the Bible devoted to the separate national histories
of these peoples; that one of them was called "the House of Israel,"
and the other "the House of Judah"?
Jacob had twelve children.
The story of Jacob's two
wives, Leah and Rachel, is found in chapter 28 through chapter 31 of the
book of Genesis.
Leah was the mother of the
following children: Dinah, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
Rachel's maid, Bilhah, bore
Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali.
Zilpah, Leah's maid, bore
Gad and Asher. Finally,
Rachel, Jacob's choice for a wife and the one for whom he had labored so
long, bore Jacob two sons, Joseph, and Benjamin.
After the saga of Jacob
and Laban, his marriage to the two sisters, the births of their many children
and the expiration of many years, the Bible shows how greatly Jacob was
enlarged and blessed, materially.
In his prayer, because of
fear of his brother Esau, Jacob said, "Deliver me, I pray thee, from the
hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will
come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
"And thou said, I will surely
do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot
be numbered for multitude" (Genesis 32:11, 12).
How Jacob Became "Israel"
Then follows one of the strangest
accounts in all the Bible.
"And Jacob was left alone;
and there wrestled a man with Him until the breaking of the day.
"And when he saw that he
prevailed not against him, he touched [struck, Hebrew] the hollow
of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled
with Him.
"And he said, Let me go,
for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou
bless me.
"And he said unto him, what
is thy name? And he said, Jacob. "And he said, thy name shall be called
no more Jacob, but Israel
[he who strives, perseveres, or overcomes
with God] for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hath
prevailed.
"And Jacob asked him, and
said, tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, wherefore is it that
thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
"And Jacob called the name
of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life
is preserved.
"And as he passed Peniel
[the face of God] the sun rose upon him, and he halted [limped] upon his
thigh."
This mysterious account
shows that Jacob wrestled most of the night with a person whom he
later referred to as God.
Perhaps in some strange
way Jacob realized the challenge of this person had to do with the
birthright. To Jacob, he may have understood that if he could just persevere,
prevail, hang on and overcome in this personal test of rugged
endurance, physical strength and prowess, he would win great rewards.
To Jacob, it might have
been as if he had an opportunity to find Aladdin's lamp, possess the goose
that laid the golden egg, storm the castle wherein all the king's treasures
were stored, and gain a great prize if he prevailed and persevered
with this personality who challenged him to a contest of physical strength!
One sees the struggle as
if lasting for hours,
and, because the personality Jacob
referred to as "God" had manifested himself as a physical human being,
Jacob's tenacity was such that the only way this Person could
overcome him was by striking a blow not unlike that of a karate champion
which partially disabled Jacob and resulted in a pronounced limp!
In any event, it was following
this strange occurrence that God changed the name of Jacob to ISRAEL!
Later, God appeared unto Jacob,
"And God said unto him, thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called
any more Jacob, but ISRAEL shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.
"And God said unto him,
I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply; a nation [singular] and a
company of nations [multiple nations!] shall be of thee, and kings
[plural] shall come out of thy loins!
"And the land which I gave
Abraham and Isaac to thee I will give it, and to thy seed [multiple seed
- millions!] after thee will I give the land" (Genesis 35:10).
The promises which had been
made unconditional
to Abraham now passed on to Jacob, whose name
was changed to Israel! Much of the remainder of the book of Genesis
is taken up with the story of how the jealous brothers sold Joseph, Israel's
favorite son, into Egypt; how God allowed this to happen in order to provide
a place for the family to endure the searing drought which would take thousands
of lives in Palestine, and how the result was the birth of a new nation
in captivity.
Toward the end of the book
of Genesis is a fascinating chapter (chapter 49) giving strong clues as
to the modem identity of the many tribes of the "House of Israel."
In the preceding chapter
(Genesis 48) is the vitally important account of how the name of Israel
passed upon Ephraim and Manassseh, Joseph's two sons!
But the most important
verse is verse 16. Read it again!
"The angel [messenger] which
redeemed me from all evil, bless the lad; and LET MY NAME BE NAMED ON THEM,
and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth."
Which tribes, then,
according to your Bible, should wear the name of Israel? Judah?
No. Simeon or Levi? No.
The name of the House of
ISRAEL was very clearly passed down to the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim
and Manasseh, in that order!
Ephraim was prophesied to
become a company of nations, and his brother, Manasseh, a great
single nation!
These two brothers were
to possess the names of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, or ISRAEL!
They, uniquely among
the other children of Jacob, were to have the name of "ISRAEL" upon
them!
Yet millions of professing
Christians remain blissfully ignorant of these vitally important
scriptures which clearly identify the "lost ten tribes," or the "covenant
people," prophesied to inherit the national greatness promised the children
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
How Could the Jews Go to War Against Israel?
As mentioned previously,
the term "Jew" is merely a nickname for a person of the House of
Judah. The term never appears in the Bible until II Kings 16:6.
Turn to and read this important
scripture: "At that time, Rezin King of Syria recovered Elath to Syria,
and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt
there unto this day." Read the whole chapter in its correct context.
Ahaz, who was 20 when he
began to reign (verse 2), was accused of causing the southern kingdom
of the House of Judah to sin in the same way as did the kings of
Israel (verse 3), causing his own son to "pass through the fire," and
descending into idolatry.
Pekah, the son of Remaliah,
was the king of Israel.
As a result of Judah's idolatry,
God used Israel, together with its ally, Syria, to attack Judah, the
Jews.
Note verse 5, "Then Rezin
King of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to Jerusalem
to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him."
In this account. the 10-tribed
nation of Israel,
allied with the Syrians, is waging war against
the "House of Judah" under King Ahaz in Jerusalem.
Here, then, is a clear account
of war between Israel and the Jews!
This is sure biblical proof
that the term "Jew" and the term "Israelite" are absolutely not
synonymous.
Any reading of the four
historical books of I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles will convince
even a casual student of the Bible that these four books of the Old Testament
are devoted to the separate national histories of the 10-tribed
"House of Israel" to the north, and the "House of Judah" (the Jews)
to the south.
For generations this situation
prevailed.
God's Covenant With David
A vitally important thread
of the story of the national identity of the American and British peoples
is found in God's promise to David.
Why? Remember! God promised
"the sceptre shall not depart from Judah." David, as the grandfather
of Rehoboam, the first king in a long line of rulers over the southern
kingdom, was given an unconditional promise from God.
The covenant with David
had nothing to do with the birthright promise; the promise of RACE.
Instead, it concerned the sceptre promise, the promise of GRACE;
the lineage through which Christ would be born.
For a full understanding
of the covenant God made with David, turn to and read all of II Samuel
the seventh chapter.
Notice particularly verses
12 through 17: "And 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, and with the stripes of the children of men:
"But my mercy shall not
depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
"And thine house and thy
kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne
shall be established forever.
"According to all these
words, and according to this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David."
The genealogy of Jesus Christ
proves how God kept
this promise to David. Read Luke 3:23 to the
end of the chapter and you will read of Jesus' "legal" genealogy through
His foster father, Joseph, back to Adam. Verses 31 and 32 include Jesse,
David's father, and David himself.
Each year, at "Christmas"
time, little children are schooled in repeating the angelic enunciation
of the birth of Jesus Christ. Millions hear these words repeated
each year, yet none seem to understand what they mean.
The angel said to Mary,
"Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.
"And, behold, thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS.
"He shall be great, and
shall be called the son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto
Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the
House of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end"
(Luke 1:30-33).
What does this scripture
tell you?
It tells you, in incontrovertible
and plain language from the inspired Word of God, that the throne of
David will still remain as a viable throne - meaning
a position of rulership over a nation - right up until the second
coming of Christ!
Notice! "Behold the days
come, saith the Eternal, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch,
and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth.
"In His days Judah shall
be saved, and
Israel [a different nation] shall dwell safely:
and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE ETERNAL OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS"
(Jeremiah 23:5, 6).
Jeremiah's prophecy depicts
the second coming of Jesus Christ to rule for 1,000 years over the earth.
The language is unmistakably concerned with Jesus inheriting the
throne of His father David. It emphasizes the lineage
from David
until Jesus Christ, and speaks of the fulfillment of Paul's prophecies
concerning the salvation of the Jews (Romans 11), which will only occur
after the second coming of Christ!
Read Jeremiah 30, verse
7 through 11!
Here you see God promising
to "break the yoke" of Israel's captors from Israel's neck, and a prophecy
of the resurrection.
"I will break his yoke from
off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve
themselves of him:
"But they shalt serve
the Eternal their God, and David their King, whom I will raise
up unto them.
"Therefore fear thou not,
O my servant Jacob, saith the Eternal; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for,
lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity;
and Jacob [Israel] shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and
none shall make him afraid.
"For I am with thee, saith
the Eternal, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither
I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee..."
David's throne will still
be extant at the time of the second coming of Christ. David himself
will be resurrected at that time, and sit on a throne over the
12 tribes of Israel, yet under authority of the King of kings and Lord
of lords, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is prophesied
to come to "inherit the throne of His father David," proving that throne
still exists.
The Ten Tribes of Israel Removed
For generations, God pled
with stiff-necked, rebellious ten-tribed Israel. God had given them His
weekly Sabbath day as a perpetual sign between Himself and
His people (Exodus 31). He had revealed His
annual Sabbaths (Leviticus
23) to them, commencing with the solemn Passover, which was instituted
at the time Israel was constituted as a nation; brought out of Egyptian
slavery, sent into their own land.
God shows the Sabbath was
made for MAN, not "the Jews" (Mark 2:26, 27). The Sabbath was created when
God rested on the seventh day, and hallowed (sanctified, set apart for
holy use and purpose) it (Genesis 2:1-3). It was the great TEST commandment
(Exodus 16:28), revealed, enforced upon the Israelites long before the
giving of the decalogue at Sinai!
That's why God said, "REMEMBER
the Sabbath day, to KEEP it holy..." (Exodus 20:8-11). The Sabbath was
holy time. God MADE it holy when He rested upon that day; gave it
to Israel as a great blessing; a day of complete REST out of every
seven; a day of rejoicing, prayer, study, worship of God, relaxing, rejuvenation
- a day where one ceased from his workaday job; acknowledged God
as Creator!
God shows the Sabbath day
looks back at Creation, and looks forward, to the millennial
reign of Christ. It is a picture of the seven-thousand year plan of God,
wherein six thousand years are given to man, to write the lesson
in human suffering, sickness, squalor, poverty, disease and war; to etch
the indelible lesson in human blood that man is utterly incapable
of governing himself apart from his God! God will show sinning
mankind how God will rule and govern in the seventh one-thousand
year period, a type of the Sabbath rest; the millennial rule of Christ!
(Revelation 20:4).
Typically, the first thing
evil rulers did was to reject God's Sabbath; to ignore His annual holy
days - the annual Sabbaths, numbering seven in all, which portray
the great PLAN of God; the great PURPOSE He is working out here below!
When God revealed the Passover
to Israel, He did so amid great plagues upon Egypt! He broke the back of
the greatest nation on earth financially and militarily - Egypt has never
been a great nation since those days in antiquity - to demonstrate what
happens to any nation who turns to idolatry; away from God toward Satan
and his evil hosts; drifts into infant sacrifice, every form of perversion.
God's laws, if obeyed, would
guarantee His people remained free from disease; free from debt! They would
have successful businesses; good jobs, healthy, happy marriages, good crops,
rain in due season, healthy babies! They would have PEACE in their lands;
free from fear and worry about voracious neighbors; would-be attackers!
Study Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26, where the two opposites; great blessings
for
obedience to God, and great cursings for disobedience, are plainly
listed!
The history of God's new
nation is unfolded in the books of Joshua when they entered into the promised
land; Judges; the period under God's system of Judges, like a theocracy
under God, culminating in the rebellious call for a KING to rule over
them in I and II Samuel, like other nations. That king was Saul.
Under Saul, Israel found
itself heavily taxed; military conscription of young men occurred, warfare
ensued, and the people had no real peace.
The books of I and II Samuel
detail the reign of Saul; his evil character. While issuing a royal decree
that any witch was to he put to death or expelled from the land, Saul sought
to the infamous Witch of Endor in an attempt to receive a message from
Samuel, then dead. He continually tried to kill David, becoming jealous
of him because of his military prowess; his popularity.
Then comes David's accession
to the throne, and the enlargement of the kingdom. David is followed by
his son, Solomon, and the temple is built; the kingdom further expanded,
until it reached its zenith; a prosperous, wealthy, vibrant nation which
was the greatest known on earth at that time.
Under Solomon metals were
mined from far away England; Solomon's ships sailed into the Atlantic;
circumnavigated Africa. They brought strange and exotic birds, like peacocks;
strange animals from India, and from Africa. The Queen of Sheba, probably
Hatshepsut of Egypt, was overwhelmed at Jerusalem, with its terraced gardens,
fountains, magnificent temple and buildings; splendid homes, great treasuries
of gold, silver, and precious stones.
But Solomon became corrupted
in his old age; he built temples to the pagan gods of his many wives and
concubines, neglected the affairs of government, allowed other forces to
prevail. As a result, one of Solomon's servants, Jereboam, brought the
northern ten tribes to the brink of civil war with Judah, and those associated
with the Jews in and around Jerusalem, including Levi, Simeon, and portions
of Benjamin, who had contiguous borders.
The kingdom was divided;
Jereboam set up a provisional government in Samaria, to the north, and
Rehoboam, Solomon's son, continued on the throne in Jerusalem, as the king
of Judah.
Now, there were two distinct
nations; The
House of Israel, to the north, with capital city
of Samaria, under Jereboam, and the House of Judah, consisting mostly
of those of the tribe of Judah, together with many Levites and Simeonites,
with their capital city of Jerusalem. Never were those of the ten tribes
to the north called "Jews"! The "Jews" were of Judah, from which the
term "Jew" derives.
Now, notice what happened
immediately after Israel rebelled against Rehoboam's wicked reign: "And
Jereboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of
David [the lineage God promised through the sceptre
covenant; the
promise of GRACE, not race]: If this people go up to do sacrifice in the
house of the Eternal at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people
turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they
shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah" (1 Kings 12:26-27).
Jerusalem was the cultural,
financial, spiritual capital of the former nation! The temple was
there - the most magnificent structure in all the world! Hundreds of
thousands of these people counted it the trip of a lifetime; a veritable
pilgrimage, to he able to visit the temple; to offer sacrifice,
and to worship God. And, WHEN did they make such pilgrimages? ON THE ANNUAL
SABBATHS, when they could use their festival tithe (like a "second tithe"
which the people saved FOR THEMSELVES: FOR THEIR OWN FAMILIES -TEN PERCENT
OF THEIR ANNUAL INCOME WHICH THEY WERE COMMANDED TO SAVE FOR THAT SPECIFIC
PURPOSE!) (Deuteronomy 14:22-26).
Jereboam realized the spiritual,
social, cultural and economic ties of the people were in Jerusalem.
So what did he do? He purposely turned to IDOLATRY! Like a charlatan
"spiritual" leader, "...the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold;
and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: for behold
your gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
"And he set one up in Bethel,
and the other he put in Dan.
"And this thing became a
SIN: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And
he made an house of high places [these were to worship beneath the symbols
of "Astarte" and "Ishtar" (pronounced, "Easter"); phallic symbols arranged
in "groves," usually utilizing upright trunks of trees, or stone or metal
obelisks] and made priests of the LOWEST of the people, which were not
of the sons of Levi.
"And Jereboam ordained a
feast in the eighth
month" (I Kings 12:26-32).
Whatever Jereboam did, he
did for political expedience. Here was a cynical man; a man
who did not for one instant believe in or wish to obey the true God! Why?
In the beginning, Jereboam
was singled out because of Solomon's sins; told he would inherit the ten
northern tribes! Read it, in I Kings the 11th chapter. After God's prophet
rent the garment twelve ways, giving Jereboam ten pieces, he said, "...behold,
I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes
to thee: (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and
for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes
of Israel:) Because they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth
[Ishtar; Astarte - pronounced "Easter"; the pagan goddess of sexual reproduction
and fertility]...and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right
in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his
father...I will take the kingdom out of his son's [Solomon's] hand, and
will give it unto thee, even ten tribes... and it shall be, if thou wilt
hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do
that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as
David my servant did: that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house,
as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee (I Kings 11:30-38).
Here was, once again, a
conditional covenant. If Jereboam would remain true to God's laws;
setting the right example for God's chosen peoples of Israel, he would
receive God's blessings! His progeny could continue on the throne.
Instead, he resorted to politics, human reasoning. He didn't truly believe
God, as had Abraham. He thought only of power, position, money - material
things! His mind was on the SELF; on his ego and vanity!
Like all would-be despots,
he was paranoid! Fearful of placing anyone of real intelligence in positions
of potential "power" because of a possible threat to him and his office,
he set up the very least intelligent: the least qualified
in the land as his priests!
Now, the northern ten-tribed
Israel was securely in the hands of a power-mad, dishonest, egocentric
politician! Now, their leaders were "his men," specially chosen for their
banality; their brutish lack of education, character, or qualifications.
Realizing he would lose power if the people remained spiritually attached
to Jerusalem, he sought to negate any possible reason for their pilgrimages.
He set up golden calves: idols - abominations in God's sight, in both Dan
and Beersheba. But still, he was not satisfied. Reasoning that the people
were accustomed to the great Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month,
he sought to alter even this commandment of God - he set up an alternate
festival, one dedicated to "Ashteroth," not to the living God, in the eighth
month.
Shortly thereafter, God
sent a powerful witness to Jereboam of his enormous sins. He sent
his prophet to warn Jereboam, whom he found standing at his pagan altar
of incense. When the prophet spoke against Jereboam and the altar, saying,
"...O altar, altar, thus saith the Eternal; Behold, a child shall be born
unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the
priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones
shall be burnt upon thee" ('Kings 13:1-9).
Read the account in these
verses! When Jerebom imperiously stretched out his hand against the prophet,
pointing toward him, commanding his servants to arrest him, his hand
withered up like a dried stick! He shrieked in dismay! Suddenly, the
altar disintegrated; ashes flew everywhere! The altar had been supernaturally
destroyed!
Jereboam was shocked, cowed,
frightened! He pled, "Intreat now the face of the Eternal thy God, and
pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me again" (verse 6).
Like many sinners, he knew
about God! When he was in trouble from his own sins, he desperately
called out to God! He was perfectly capable of SELF pity! Notice
he did not say, "the Eternal MY God," but "thy" God, referring to the prophet.
His hand was restored. Yet,
even after the prophet was killed by a lion after the lying subterfuge
which caused him to disobey the voice of God, the Bible says, "After this
thing Jereboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest
of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated
him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. And this thing
became sin unto the house of Jereboam, even to cut it off and to
destroy it from off the face of the earth!" (1 Kings 13:19-34).
Imagine it! Though God had
allowed the near civil war to develop; had prophesied Jereboam would be
given the northern ten tribes; had cautioned him to obey God, and
walk in His commandments; though God had sent a prophet to warn him of
his perfidy - still, he refused to repent!
Now, God determined he would
be removed. Instead, God would fulfill His promise to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob! He would fulfill His promise to David! Never would there fail on
heir of King David who would be available to sit on the throne of Israel!
Jereboam's calloused politics
caused him to appoint wastrels; drifters, vagabonds; the dregs of society
to the ranks of the priesthood! Now, the people of Israel had a
wholly corrupt leadership!
Jereboam reigned twenty-two
years, and was succeeded by Nadab, his son, who continued in his idolatrous
ways. The history of Israel is replete with continual pleadings from God
to return to His laws; to keep His commandments, that it might be well
with them, and with their children. There were a few righteous
rulers along the way; Jehu destroyed the prophets of Baal, and was congratulated
for it by the Eternal, but he did not destroy the golden calves from Dan
and Beersheeba.
Time and time again, God
would have totally destroyed the sinning, stiff-necked Israelites! Why
did He not do so?
Listen! "But Hazael king
of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz.
"And the Eternal was gracious
unto them, and had compassion on them. and had respect unto them, BECAUSE
OF HIS COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB, and would not destroy them,
neither cast He them from His presence AS YET!" (II Kings 13:22).
God had made His promises
to Abraham UNCONDITIONAL! His mercy in sparing Israel from removal from
their land "as yet" was NOT because of any righteousness on their part;
it was because God would not go back on His word to Abraham!
But ultimately, God carried
out His judgments against sinning, rebellious, stiff-necked Israel - judgments
He had repeatedly pronounced to them through His prophets for literally
many generations.
God had warned, "But if
ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments [which
were given for their good]; and if ye shall despise my statutes, or if
your soul abhor my judgements, so that ye will not do all my commandments,
but that ye break my covenant:
"I will also do this unto
you; I will even appoint over you terror, [anxiety, fear, worry - a lack
of mental peace and tranquillity] consumption [diseases like pneumonia,
flues, tuberculosis, emphysema, lung cancer], and the burning ague, that
shall consume the eyes [various diseases like smallpox, chickenpox, and
especially measles, which can cause loss of eyesight], and cause
sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall
eat it.
"And I will set my face
against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate
you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
"And if ye will not yet
for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more
for your sins" (Leviticus 26:14-18). Four times, God repeated this
solemn warning - that He would punish Israel seven times for their
national crimes and sins! Read the whole chapter! The companion account,
in Deuteronomy 28, is worth-while reading, as well. God first details the
marvelous blessings He will lavish upon His people Israel if
they will but live in the ways which will reap every RIGHT RESULT; the
way of God's law, which is GOOD for them!
He promises bounteous crops;
the plowman overtaking the reaper in the fields; healthy, happy babies,
sound, loving marriages, good, successful employment; an absence of taxation
and military conscription - and PEACE; no fear from enemies, no war!
God showed His people that
His laws CAUSE all these marvelous things to happen, for they are living
laws, vital principles which,
if applied, bring about
the result of all those wondrous blessings! In a sense, they are
AUTOMATIC. Yet, God promised to intervene actively - directly bringing
about the great blessings He had promised for obedience!
What does every human being
want but success, prosperity; happiness, fulfillment, a sense of well-being;
contentment - LOVE, joy, excitement, GOOD HEALTH and a long life to enjoy
it? To Israel, God promised all these things - the things every sensible
human being REALLY WANTS.
But if Israel abandoned
God's laws; broke His Sabbaths, abandoned His commandments; set up heathen
idols, followed the abominable practices of the pagan nations around them,
then God said He would punish them seven times for their sins!
What is a "Time"?
When God sent the spies into
the promised land to search it out, prior to Israel crossing over Jordan
to possess it, they were gone, searching, for forty days.
Later, after God rejected
Moses from entering the land; deprived the complaining, murmuring, rebellious
older generation of Israelites from entering the promised land, He announced
they would be delayed in possessing their promised inheritance for
forty years!
He explained He had set
each day that the spies had wandered in the land to stand for one
year. "But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness.
"After [according to] the
number of days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, EACH DAY
FOR A YEAR, ye shall bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall
know my [opposition, alienation] breach of promise!" (Numbers 14:32-34).
Plainly, God caused them
to endure forty years of additional hardship; wandering, deprivation of
privilege - of inheritance - to teach them a bitter lesson!
Now, notice! When God told
His prophet Ezekiel to portray the coming siege against Jerusalem on a
piece of tile, He said, "Moreover take thou unto thee an iron plate, and
set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against
it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This
shall be a sign to the House of Israel!
"Lie thou also upon thy
left side, and lay the iniquity of the House of Israel upon it: according
to the number of days that thou shalt lie upon ii thou shalt bear their
iniquity.
"For I have laid upon thee
the YEARS of their iniquity, ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF THE DAYS, three
hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the House of
Israel" (Ezekiel 4:2-5).
He went on to say, concerning
Judah, "...and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the House of Judah [a separate
nation, distinct from the House of Israel!] forty days: I have appointed
thee each day for a year" (verse 6).
As a key to understanding
prophetic chronology, God tells us He reckons differently than the heathen
calendars of this world. Read Revelation 12:6, 14 and 13:5. Here,
we have three values: "A thou-sand, two hundred, and threescore days" (1,260);
a "time, times, and half a time," and "forty and two months."
These verses deal with a
span of time in ancient history of 1,260 years as well as a literal three
and one-half years which are yet future! Simple mathematics show that God
reckons prophetic time as follows:
(1) Each prophetic year
has exactly 360 days.
(2) Each prophetic month
has thirty days.
(3) Each prophetic day symbolizes
one year in fulfillment. Forty-two months, 1,260 days, and three
and one-half years are all the same length of time.
This is the key to understanding
the meaning of the "seven times" during which Israel would bear their iniquities
- being deprived of the national greatness; the bounteous inheritance God
had promised the seed of Abraham!
As we shall later see, there
have been remarkable fulfillments of those mysterious seven times national
punishments - many of them quite recently in world history!
Now, back to the REASON
God ejected Israel from the land!
One must read the entire
chapter of II Kings 17 in order to gain true perspective. I will quote
portions here: "In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah began Hoshea,
the son of Elah to reign in Samaria [the capital city of the northern ten
tribes; Israel] over Israel nine years.
"And he did that which was
evil in the sight of the Eternal, but not as the kings of Israel that were
before him.
"Against him came up Shalmaneser
king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant [they capitulated quickly,
surrendered at the overwhelming military strength of the Assyrian empire,
and became like a 'satellite state,' vassals] and gave him presents [paid
monstrous ransoms; emptied state treasuries; gave up the economic strength
of the nation!]."
During this time, Hoshea
turned to every conceivable source for help EXCEPT THE ETERNAL GOD! He
was desperate, and sought foreign alliances (as does the United States
and Britain, as a matter of course); pacts, agreements; mutual assistance
treaties; nonagression pacts, organizations of states which could somehow
stave off the terrible exploitation of Israel by Assyria!
"And the king of Assyria
found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt,
and brought no present [extortion money; tribute] to the king of Assyria,
as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria shut him up,
and bound him in prison!" (II Kings 17:1-4).
Imagine! The leader of the
nation God had said would cause five thousand to flee before but
five of them; the great nation God had promised to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob; the "House of Israel" was now reduced to but a minor power;
craven, trembling, cowardly, fearful, they prostrated themselves before
the military might of the Assyrians! Their king, after a weak attempt at
asking for the help of pagan, heathen Egyptians (not God!), was jailed!
What ignominy! What disgrace!
All this occurred in the
year of 721 B.C. For the next three years, from 721 until 718 B.C., the
Assyrian armies besieged Samaria.
In the ninth year of Hoshea's
reign (718 B.C.), after successive waves of invading Assyrian armies had
conquered increasingly larger amounts of Israel's territories; taking massive
numbers of captives, transporting them into Assyria; into the land between
the Black and Caspian seas, Samaria, capital city of the northern ten-tribed
Israel, fell.
"In the ninth year of Hoshea
the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria,
and placed them in Halah and in Havor by the river of Gozan, and in the
cities of the Medes.
"For it was so, that the
children of Israel had sinned against the Eternal their God, which had
brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh
king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, "And walked in the statutes of
the heathen, whom the Eternal cast out from before the children of Israel,
which they had made.
"And the children of Israel
did secretly those things that were not right against the Eternal their
God, and they built them high places in all their cities [places for the
worship of Asherah, phallic symbols; upright pales and obelisks, as seen
in the modern 'steeple' adorning churches today], from the tower of the
watchmen to the fenced city.
"And they set them up images
[Heb., 'groves,' meaning; groupings of upright pales; phallic symbols]
and groves [Heb., 'Asherim'; the pagan sex symbols of the nations around
them] in every high hill, and under every green tree and there burnt incense
in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Eternal carried away
before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Eternal to anger:
"For they served idols, whereof the Eternal had said unto them, Ye shall
not do this thing.
"Yet the Eternal testified
against Israel [ten-tribed Israel, to the north], and against Judah [the
nation to the south; capital city of Jerusalem: the 'Jews'], by all the
prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways [repent!],
and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which
I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
"Notwithstanding they would
not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers,
that did not believe in the Eternal their God... and they caused their
sons and their daughters to pass through the fire [infant sacrifice! An
abominable practice] and used divination [soothsaying; seances, seeking
after evil spirits, witches, demons - the use of tarot cards, water witching,
star gazing, crystal balls, palm reading; all assorted forms of necromancy
and satanic practices] and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil
in the sight of the Eternal, to provoke Him to anger.
"Therefore the Eternal was
very angry with Israel, and REMOVED THEM OUT OF HIS SIGHT: there was NONE
LEFT but the TRIBE OF JUDAH ONLY!" (I Kings 17:1-18).
How many people know this?
Believe it or not, there are thousands and thousands of "ordained ministers";
those who talk about "Jesus" and "salvation" who know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
about the identity of the United States and British Commonwealth nations;
who simply DO NOT KNOW that Israel and the "Jews" are NOT THE SAME; but
that Israel was taken into captivity - wholly removed from the land;
that Judah, the Jews, was the only tribe remaining in the land of Palestine,
back in 718 B.C.; over SEVEN HUNDRED LONG YEARS BEFORE CHRIST!
Thousands are COMPLETELY
IGNORANT of biblical history. Therefore, they are ignorant of PROPHECY!
They lack the single most important KEY to understanding Bible prophecy
- the knowledge of the identity of the greatest nation in the world; the
United States of America!
Best selling books purport
to inform the millions about, what they can expect to happen in the future;
millions have read books with titles concerning "the apocalypse" and the
"Book of Revelation" and "Armageddon" and about the "image and the mark
of the beast."
Millions believe they know
what the future will bring. Some believe the "beast" is the UNITED STATES
(a ludicrous, woeful error!). Millions believe our peoples are gentiles
of the tribe of "Gomer"!
Not one percent of the ministers
know about the
separate national histories of Israel and Judah;
about the removal of Israel into captivity; about the subsequent
loss of their identity down through history; about the seven
times which would expire while they were deprived of their national
inheritance.
Therefore, they cannot know
of the actual identity
of Britain and the United States in the Bible;
cannot know of God's repeated warnings
to our peoples.
Remaining IGNORANT of this
profoundly important knowledge - they cannot preach the truthful message
of God's Word - cannot be engaged in the work of the WATCHMAN to God's
people!
Tens of thousands preach
"about Jesus." They can preach eloquently about Christian living; various
doctrinal concepts; philosophies; about social values. They can quote wonderful
preachers of the past; inspire and electrify audiences with wonderful words.
Many become famous preachers - speaking about "success," and emphasizing
how to "think positively." Some, perhaps much, of what they say is helpful
in a day-to-day sense. But being ignorant of the most important KEY that
unlocks all of Bible PROPHECY to their understanding, they cannot WARN
our peoples about what is coming! Most do not preach what is sin; that
it is the violation of God's TEN COMMANDMENTS (I John 3:4); that the wages
of sin is DEATH for all eternity!
Somehow, God is bringing
now to your mind knowledge that has been LOST; information that
has been HIDDEN from millions! Will you listen? Will you heed? Will you
prove all things (I Thessalonians 5:21) as God commands;
searching your own Bible, coming to understanding, at last?
The 17th chapter of I Kings
is a terrible indictment against the corrupt leadership of the Israelitish
nation, as we have seen. God said they did nothing but continual evil,
"...Until the Eternal removed Israel out of His sight, as He had said
by 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" (II Kings 17:23-28).
The Assyrians practiced
massive deportation; massive resettlement, reasoning that displaced populations
could not form any cohesive guerrilla forces; could not attempt to form
a significant underground; that Assyria would not be threatened from within.
Ultimately, when one comes to understand who are the modern Assyrians,
one comes to grasp a far broader picture of recent history, and of
the future.
Now, WHY did God remove
the sinning Israelites?
He had sent His prophets
to them for literally generations!
He had pled with them to return
to His laws; His statutes and judgments; the principles of life that were
given for their GREAT GOOD!
Instead, they continually
practiced the pagan abominations of the heathen nations around them! Their
break-away nation was founded on the concept of a false priesthood,
made up from among the malcontents, wastrels, totally unqualified of
the nation! Their first king, Jerehoam, set up two golden calves (Cherubim)
as idols; changed God's annual holy days, set up a feast in the eighth
month, instead of the seventh!
They revered the SUN god;
observed the phenomena of nature; such as the winter solstice (December
25th; the birthday of Tammuz; accompanied by pagan symbols of sex and fertility,
like little trees decorated with orbs and bulbs); the vernal equinox, called
after "Ishtar" (pronounced "Easter") and accompanied by symbols of sex
and fecundity, like rabbits, and eggs, and the lily flower, which the pagans
thought looked like a sex symbol.
They abandoned God's SABBATH
day; the day which would keep them mindful of His existence; that He is
the great CREATOR. They abandoned His annual festivals, which were given
to the "church in the wilderness" (Acts 7:38); which portrayed the great
purpose and plan God is working out - would have kept them
in the knowledge of the very reason for their human life on this earth!
They embraced filthy, abominable
customs; allowed, and even fostered sodomy, homosexuality, licentiousness
of every sort. Their marriages were being destroyed; their homes dismantled.
God's laws, which would protect
the home; preserve marriages,
were abandoned! Now, they drifted into infant sacrifice!
Finally, they became so
wholly perverted; so completely evil that God removed them from the land.
Their criminal practices brought privation, hardship, poverty, squalor,
sickness and disease! God took away His blessings. He took away His protection.
Now, they were broken as
a kingdom. They were annihilated as a nation; taken into captivity - deported
as slaves.
Wandering Israel - How They Became
"Lost" to History
Decades passed, while the
lands formerly belonging to Zebulon, Dan, Gad, Naphtali, Benjamin, Asher,
Issachar, Ephraim, Reuben, and Manasseh - the northern ten-tribed HOUSE
OF ISRAEL were lying in ruins; occupied by pagan dregs, deported there
from Assyria.
But in the ancient plains
of Babylonia, a rising power was building, expanding, developing. The fertile
lands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were occupied by the peoples
of the Babylonian Empire, now in the ascendancy. Finally, the Assyrian
empire was overcome; the mixed peoples of the ten-tribed Israelites joined
with their former captors in fleeing far to the north in order to escape
the might of Babylon.
When King Omri was on the
throne in Samaria, he expanded trade with many of the northern gentile
kingdoms. His name was pronounced "Humri" and "Khumri" by many of them.
The name for "people" or "house of" Omri, was "Beth-Omri" in Hebrew, mispronounced
"Bit-Khumri" by the Assyrians.
Many began to refer to them
as the "Samarians," after their capital city of Samaria. This was corrupted
into "Simirians" and "Cimmerians."
The tribe of Dan was noted
for their custom of naming significant places; cities, mountains, rivers,
peninsulas - any important geographical place - after their progenitor,
Dan. For instance, very early in the history of Palestine, the tribe of
Dan took the northern city of "Laish"; a part of their inheritance when
Israel was first settled in the promised land. They immediately renamed
the place "Dan," and so it remained, down through history. You will recall
that Jereboam, Solomon's servant, and the first king of the northern kingdom
of Israel, set up one of his golden calves in "Dan."
The Danites left their name
wherever they went. J. H. Allen details many of them. A few are important:
The two main rivers in the region between the Black and the Caspian Seas
are the DNeister and the DNeiper, draining the vast plains of western Russia
and Poland, into the Black Sea. The major river system of Europe, flowing
eastward, emptying into the Black Sea, is called "The river of DAN," which
is what DANUBE means in Latin. There is the UDON and the DON river, as
well.
Near the northern shore
of the Sea of Azof, part of the Black Sea, is the city of DONetsk. The
peninsula of "Crimea" may well be a corruption of "Cimmeria" or "Samaria."
Not only did the Danites
name significant rivers and land features after themselves, they also left
the name of their ancient forbear, "Eber" (from which "Hebrew" derives),
and "Dan" in areas from the Mideast to Spain and Portugal, and to the British
Isles and Ireland. Half the tribe of Dan were seafarers, living along the
Palestinian coastland. In the triumphal song of Deborah and Barak after
God's deliverance, a poetic chronicle of the tribes of Israel is given.
Of Dan, they sang, "...and why did Dan abide in ships?" (Judges 5:17).
Danites were among the very
first to arrive in Ireland, which was settled by the Tuatha de Danaan
(Tribe of Dan). The river "Ebro" (the Spanish pronunciation for "Hebrew"
is "Ebreo"; phonetically, "Eh-brahy-o." "Ebro" is pronounced, "Eh-bro")
empties into the Mediterranean south of Barcelona, in Spain. The Spanish
peninsula was anciently called "Iberian;" (Once again; "Heber"; or "Eeber"
is obvious).
One of the ScanDINavian
nations today is "DANmark," meaning, "the mark of DAN." There is strong
reason to believe, notwithstanding the many "waymarks" left by the seafaring,
migrating Danites in other regions, that Dan is Ireland, today.
If so, the protracted hatred between Ireland (which, unlike England and
most of northwestern Europe nations and the United States, remained almost
100 percent Catholic) and England; past, present and future political realities
may help explain why Dan is omitted from mention of the sealing
with God's spirit of the 144,000 during the time of the Great Tribulation.
Instead, Dan's share is given to "Joseph," meaning Ephraim and Manasseh.
As the ancient Babylonian
kingdom gained the ascendancy, the wandering peoples of Assyria and the
ten-tribed captives among them were pushed ever northward, and westward.
The leading tribe of the Assyrians was called the "Halmanni." The Latins
called the land of Germany "Alemannia." Today, Mexicans and Spaniards call
Germany "Aleman." A German is "Un Aleman."
"Teuton" merely means "spear
warrior"; a name given to the Germanic peoples by the Romans. "Deutschland"
is the Germanic pronunciation of "Teuton," and has no ethnological origins,
but refers, instead, to the ancient names applied to the warlike peoples
encountered by the Romans in northern and central Europe.
Finally, the southern House
of Judah was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylonia, many,
many decades; over ONE HUNDRED YEARS after the northern ten-tribed
nation of ISRAEL had gone into captivity; after the nation taking it captive,
Assyria, had been subjugated, ceased from being a world power; after they
had all been driven out. Now, the "Jews" were to endure seventy year's
captivity! But, unlike the ten-tribed House of Israel, now LOST
from history, the Jews were prophesied to RETURN to the land of Palestine.
They did, following the decree of Cyrus, under Ezra and Nehemiah, and Zerubbabel.
Eventually, some few Israelites
must have made their way back to Palestine. Of course, people visit across
tribal lines; cross national boundaries. Further, the Babylonians may well
have captured some fragments of Israelitish families, which subsequently
could have intermingled with the captives of the House of Judah during
their seventy years in Babylon.
In any event, it is a mistake
to insist that not one single human being from the ten lost tribes EVER
returned to Palestine, for Anna was a "prophetess of Asher," and Paul clearly
claimed to be a Benjamanite. But a few exceptions are not the rule. The
vast majority of the ten tribes disappeared from history. Most remain ignorant
of their location and identity, even today.
But now, what of God's promises
to Abraham? What about the dynasty of kings God promised would not
fail? Would God go back on His word? Would Israel disappear forever?
Or would they be deprived of their prophesied national inheritances AS
GOD HAD SAID; until SEVEN TIMES passed over them? We shall see.
Jeremiah's Strange Commission
When God called Jeremiah,
He revealed to him his special calling.
"Then the word of the Eternal
came unto me, saying: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and
before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; and I ordained
thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jeremiah 1:4, 5).
God then commissioned
Jeremiah with these words: "See, I have this day set thee over the
nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull
down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to BUILD, and TO PLANT" (Jeremiah
1:10).
Like Ezekiel, God told Jeremiah
he was not to fear the persecutions against him, but remain faithful to
the message of God.
One of the most fascinating
portions of Jeremiah's personal history is found in chapters 36 through
38.
Here, Jeremiah faithfully
recorded in a scroll the prophecies of God against the nation of Judah.
Baruch, his scribe, did the writing. You read of how Jehoiakim bunted
the words of Jeremiah's prophecy, and how God inspired Baruch to write
not only the original prophecy but "many like words" (Jeremiah 36:32).
Later, Zedekiah succeeded
Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, on the throne. Jeremiah remained faithful
to his warning message and was accused (Jeremiah 37:13) of being a subversive
- "falling away to the Chaldeans."
For insisting he was a patriotic
man who was called of God to warn his nation, Jeremiah was beaten and put
in jail (Jeremiah 37:15).
Later, Zedekiah secretly
asked Jeremiah if there was any new word from the Eternal (chapter 38:17)
and as a result of his conference with the king was put "into the court
of the prison... that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of
the baker's street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Jeremiah
remained in the court of the prison" (Jeremiah 37:20, 21).
Still later, some of the
princes of the city urged the king that Jeremiah be killed. And the king,
unable to totally withstand them, compromised by allowing them to throw
Jeremiah into a dungeon (Jeremiah 38:6).
Ebedmelech, one of the king's
eunuchs, heard of the situation, prevailed upon the king, and Jeremiah
was rescued from the dungeon (Jeremiah 38:7-13).
Consequently, "Jeremiah
abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken:
and he was there when Jerusalem was taken."
True to Jeremiah's prophecies,
Zedekiah was blinded and carried into captivity to Babylon (Jeremiah 39:7).
But Jeremiah was given diplomatic
immunity (Jeremiah 40:4) and released from his captivity by the captain
of the guard of the Babylonian army.
Now it was time for the
second part of Jeremiah's commission to be fulfilled!
He had been used of God
to warn of the rooting out, pulling down and destruction of the
House of Judah.
Now, because God had promised
there would never lack of the seed of David to sit upon the never-ending
Davidic throne, it was time for Jeremiah to "build and to plant."
How did this happen?
Read Jeremiah 40 and 41. Gedeliah, the son of Ahikam, set up a provisional
government in Mizpah. Jeremiah went to be with him (Jeremiah 40:6).
It wasn't long until the
Ammonitish king plotted with Ishmael to assassinate Johanna. Gedeliah,
informed of the plot, refused to believe it.
However, a short while later
Ishmael and his cohorts assassinated a large number of persons, including
the governor, several of the Babylonians who were there, and a number of
the Jews.
Apparently Gedeliah hoped
to take these remaining refugees into Ammon as captives, thus increasing
the strength of the Ammonites.
Unbeknownst to all the participants
in these intrigues, Almighty God was allowing them to provide a
means for Jeremiah to fulfill his mysterious commission of "to build and
to plant."
Notice! "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, had committed to Gedeliah, the son
of Ahikam; and Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, carried them away captive,
and departed to go over to the Ammonite" (Jeremiah 40:10).
Notice carefully!
Almighty God had promised
David by an unconditional
promise that his progeny down through
the generations would always sit upon David's throne.
Zedekiah was now dead. Also,
the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before Zedekiah's
own startled eyes, then blinded him, and carried him to Babylon, where
he later died.
Now only the king's daughters
of the royal seed remained.
Was God's promise to David
going to fail?
Not at all! Remember, Jeremiah
had been commissioned to "build and to plant" as well as to root up and
destroy.
Now the "building and planting"
part of his commission began.
Baruch was Jeremiah's
personal scribe, companion and friend. Historical evidence suggests that
Baruch was also related to the king's daughters - possibly an uncle.
Why is the strange
prophecy of the shortest chapter in Jeremiah given? Read chapter
45! In this brief prophecy, God shows Baruch was grieving because of the
catastrophes befalling his nation and, to shore up his sagging spirits,
God promised him that his own life would be spared.
"...Behold, I will bring
evil upon all flesh, saith the Eternal: but thy life will I give
unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest" (Jeremiah
45:5).
At this point, it is important
to include a substantial quotation from J.H. Allen's book, Judah's Sceptre
and Joseph's Birthright: "Hence we find in the prophecy as it continues
the following: "Behold I shall watch over them for evil, and not for good;
and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed
by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them. Yet a small
number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of EGYPT.'
"Remember that the masses
of the house of Judah, of the Jewish people, were in captivity in Babylon,
where they were to stay for seventy years. Also remember that this remnant
which came into Egypt were only the ragged end of the nation, i.e., the
poor of the land, and a few captains of small military forces. Now, the
Lord proposes to destroy this rag-tag remnant, out of which 'a small number
shall escape.' Now, let us take our bearings.
"1. We have in this company,
which has come down into Egypt from Judah, 'the king's daughters.' Since
the plural form of speech is used there are at least two of them - history
says there were three. These are the royal seed of the house of David,
who are fleeing from the slayers of their father, Zedekiah, the last king
of the house of Judah, and the slayers of their brothers, the sons of Zedekiah
and princes of Judah.
"2. In company with these
princesses is Jeremiah, their grandfather, whom also the Lord has chosen
to do the work of building and planting. In the princesses the prophet
has royal material with which to build and plant.
"3. In company with Jeremiah
and his royal charge we have Baruch, his faithful scribe, whom expert genealogists
prove to have been uncle to the royal seed.
"4. God has promised that
the lives of this 'small number,' only five or six at most, shall
be to them a prey (reward) in all lands whither they shall go.
"5. Prior to this, at a
time when Jeremiah was greatly troubled, when in his great distress and
anguish of heart he cried unto the Lord, saying: 'Remember me, visit me,
and revenge me of my persecutors'; then the Lord said, 'Verily it shall
be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat
thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction... And I will
make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not'
(Jeremiah l5:11-14).
"Note the expression 'thy
remnant,' i.e., Jeremiah's, for it is he who must build and plant that
royal seed. Understand also that Jeremiah and his little remnant were well
acquainted with Egypt, and since it was well known to them it could not
have been their final destination. Hence, this escaping royal remnant must
journey back to Judea, and then - whither?
"'Into an unknown land!'
Why? 'For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that
escape out of Mount Zion (on which were the royal dwellings). The zeal
of the Lord of hosts will do this. And the remnant that is escaped of the
house of Judah (royal line) shall again take root downward and bear fruit
upward' (Isaiah 37:31, 32).
"Hear it! O hear it! Ye
men of earth, HEAR IT! 'Shall again take root downward' - be planted! 'and
bear fruit upward' - be builded! Where? God should tell us where in His
Word, and He does" (Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright, pages
197, 198).
History records that the
10-tribed northern kingdom of Israel, with its capital at Samaria,
was completely subjugated in successive waves of invading Assyrian armies,
and carried away into captivity.
The Assyrian Empire was
finally conquered by the Babylonian Empire. God used Nebuchadnezzar to
subjugate the nation of Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem, and,
true to the prophecies of Jeremiah, King Zedekiah's sons were murdered,
Zedekiah's eyes put out and the king was carried away into Babylon into
captivity, to languish and finally die.
But wait!
God had made an unconditional
promise to
David that one of the royal seed of his own lineage
would sit on his throne until the time of the second coming of Christ!
God provided for a "remnant"
of the royal seed to ESCAPE!
Jeremiah had been commissioned
to take a witness and a warning to King Zedekiah; God had told him
he would be used of God to oversee the pulling down of that ancient
kingdom, but that he would also be instrumental in building and planting
in a new and different land!
There is historical evidence
that a remnant of the royal seed did arrive in the British Isles,
that a wedding took place, and that children were born - thus fulfilling
God's promises to David (the scepter shall not depart from Judah) that
David would always have one of his own line sitting on the throne
God
confirmed to him.
A Breach; and a Healing
J.H. Allen, in his well-known book Judah's
Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright, devotes considerable time to the "prince
of the scarlet thread" and "the royal remnant" united (see chapters 6 and
7).
Remember that the sceptre, symbolizing
a never-ending dynasty of kings which was promised unconditionally
to JACOB (Israel) and reconfirmed to David, belongs specifically
to the Davidic line.
Allen correctly points out the distinction
between the Judeo-Davidic family and the kingdom which
bore the name of "Judah," which of course has been corrupted into the nickname
"Jew" today.
At this point in Allen's book (chapter
6 and 7), he thoroughly expounds the story of the first "overturning" of
this promised throne, explains the "riddle and the parable" of the great
eagle and the highest branch of the cedar tree, as well as the healing
of the breach between Pharez and Zarah.
First, turn to and read Ezekiel 21:22-27.
"And thou, profane, wicked prince of
Israel, whose day is come when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the
Lord Eternal: remove the diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not
be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will
overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more [overturned] until
He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him."
This prophecy, like so many others in
the Bible, is DUAL in nature.
Its first application most certainly
applied to Zedekiah, the "prince of Israel" occupying the throne during
the very day of Ezekiel's prophecy.
Obviously, God was going to "remove
the diadem," meaning take away the position of rulership from Zedekiah
(take off the crown - "this shall not be [upon] the same").
God would then "exalt him that is low,
and abase him that is high." Zedekiah, being "high," that is,
sitting on the throne over Israel, would be brought down.
God said, "I will overturn, overturn,
overturn it; and it shall be no more until He come whose right it is;
and I will give it to HIM"!
Obviously, then, the expression "it
shall be no more" implies (as Allen correctly infers) NOT that it shall
cease to exist, or it could not remain to be given to "He whose
right it is," but that it would be NO MORE OVERTURNED!
These three distinct "overturnings"
of that throne were prophesied to happen!
By removing that kingly line
from Jerusalem in Palestine to a distant land, the first overturning, or
transfer, would be accomplished.
Allen says, "Furthermore, the expression,
'this shall not be the same,' taken together with the prophecy concerning
the overturns, lead us to expect a change of dynasty, at least on the side
of the male line, and also a change in the territorial or geographical
situation. This is still more apparent when we note that there are to be
three overturns, and that, after the third overturn shall have been accomplished.
there are to be no more until another certain person comes. Also, after
the diadem has been removed from the head of the prince who wore it at
the time of the first overturn and placed upon the head of 'him that is
low,' it is to he noted that then either this man, who is the person understood
as the antecedent of the personal pronoun, 'him,' or his lineage, is to
he dethroned by the Lord in favor of that other person, who is designated
as 'He whose right it is,' to whom it shall then be given" (Judah's
Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright, pages 202 and 203).
To discover the answer to the question
"Whose RIGHT is the throne?" and "WHO is 'him that is low'?" you must turn
to Genesis 38 and read the story of how Tamar, determined not to remain
childless and, outraged by Judah's refusal to give unto her Judah's son,
Shelah, posed as a harlot and became pregnant by Judah.
The midwife, somehow (probably by divine
Providence) knew that twins
were about to be born.
Remember, God had said, "The sceptre
[symbol of a kingly line-and symbol of the promise made later to David]
shall not depart from JUDAH."
The two babies about to be horn were
of a princely line, not-withstanding human plots and subterfuge.
Allen says, "The never-to-be-forgotten
manner in which Judah was forced to acknowledge that those children were
his offspring and that their mother was more righteous than he, does most
certainly place the fact of their royal lineage beyond the possibility
of cavil."
"When the mother was in travail and
after the midwife had been summoned, there was the presentation of a hand.
Then, for some reason either human or divine, the midwife knew twins were
in the womb. So, in order that she might know and be able to testify which
was born first, she fastened a scarlet thread on the outstretched hand.
Since Judah's was the royal family in Israel, and the law of primogeniture
prevailed among them, it was essential that this distinction should
be made so that at the proper time the firstborn or eldest son might ascend
the throne.
"After the scarlet thread had been made
secure on the little hand it was drawn back and the brother was born first.
Upon seeing this the midwife exclaimed: 'How hast thy broken forth?' then,
seemingly, she was filled with the spirit of prophecy and said: 'This breach
be upon thee,' and because of this prophetic utterance he was given
the name of Pharez, i.e., 'a breach.' Afterward his brother, who had the
scarlet thread upon his hand, was born, and his name was called Zarah,
i.e., 'the seed'" (Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright, J.H.
Allen, pages 203, 204).
Looking in subsequent history, we see
that David was of the Pharez
branch of Judah's family - that Zedekiah
was also of the Pharez branch, and that biblical genealogies
list even Jesus Christ as a descendant (as reckoned through his
physical foster father, Joseph) of the Pharez line of Judah's family.
Notice that none was of Zarah.
God was going to ultimately "heal" the
breach that occurred by "abasing" him that was "high" (meaning the Pharez
line, including David and Zedekiah), and by "exalting" him that was
"low,"
meaning the Zarah line.
How was the breach to be healed?
Consider!
God had promised that the sceptre
- the kingly badge of office -would not depart from Judah.
It was now firmly in possession of the lineage that came through David,
the Pharez side of the family, and God's covenant with David
assured that David would never fail some of his seed to sit on that throne
- that it was a perpetual covenant.
The "breach" would not be healed by
taking the throne away
from Pharez (David's progeny) and giving
it to the Zarah (him that was "low"). for this would merely be perpetuating
the breach.
No, it would be healed by bringing
both sides of the family together again through marriage, making
both one, thus healing the breach.
The story of how this was accomplished
is contained in a "riddle" and a "parable" contained in Ezekiel's 17th
chapter.
Allen says, quoting Ezekiel, " 'And
the word of the Lord came unto me saying, son of man put forth a riddle,
and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; and say, Thus saith the Lord
God,' etc.
"The Hebrew word here translated riddle
is defined as 'a puzzle; hence a trick, conundrum, dark saying, hard question,'
etc. These definitions correspond to our English thought of an enigma,
or something proposed which is to be solved by conjecture, a puzzling question;
or an ambiguous proposition. A parable, on the other hand, is more like
a fable or an allegorical representation of something which is real in
its relation to human life and thought, and is represented by something
real in nature" (Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright, chapter
7, page 207).
But wait! Complete the chapter, noticing
very specifically verses 22 through 24!
Remember, you have been told you are
dealing with a "riddle," and a "parable." Now, notice the significance
attached to this riddle and parable by J.H. Allen and others.
Allen points out that the cedar of
Lebanon is a symbol of royalty. Also, he says, "It is true of twigs
that they must he set, grafted, or planted, in order that they may grow
and bear fruit..."
Read the whole chapter carefully, and
notice that it is not a prophecy to Judah, or the Jews of today
- but is a prophecy to "the house of Israel."
The first portion of the riddle is fairly
easily explained by the succeeding verses. The "great eagle" that came
to Lebanon and took away the highest branch of the cedar obviously represents
Nebuchadnezzar's siege, the destruction of Jerusalem, and Zedekiah's captivity.
Very likely, the cutting off of the
"young twigs" of the cedar and carrying them to "a land of traffic" has
to do with the carrying away into captivity of the king's sons.
But remember, Jeremiah's commission
consisted of TWO PARTS! First, he was commissioned to "throw down"; meaning
he would be God's prophet carrying a witness and a warning message to the
leader of the nation of that day, and if the prophecies went unheeded (which
they were) he would see the destruction of the nation.
The second part of Jeremiah's
commission was "to BUILD and to PLANT"! Now read the all-important last
three verses!
In different language, God says,
"I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one and
plant it upon a high mountain and eminent."
The Bible uses mountains as symbols
for nations. Smaller hills are used for smaller nation, but a "high
mountain" or "eminent" mountain certainly represents God's nation of ISRAEL!
If the "young twigs" represented Zedekiah's
sons, then the "tender one" represents a daughter or daughters!
The riddle goes on to say that this "tender one" would be PLANTED upon
this high and eminent mountain, meaning in the nation of ISRAEL!
Allen says, "Where was she planted?
'In the mountain of the height of Israel,' is the divine reply. 'What,
ISRAEL?' Yes, Israel, national Israel. Israel as a nation; but not Jewish-Israel,
that kingdom is overthrown; the people are gone into the Babylonish captivity;
the king, with his eyes put out, is doomed to die in chains in a Babylonish
prison; the princes are dead; the king's daughters have escaped out of
Jerusalem; and the topmost one of these tender twigs is planted here in
the height of the mountains of Israel, i.e., the THRONE" (Judah's Sceptre
and Joseph's Birthright, J. H. Allen, page 213).
Remember the distinction between the
"HOUSE OF ISRAEL" and the "HOUSE OF JUDAH"!
The "House of Israel" always refers
to the 10-tribed NORTHERN kingdom, which capital city at Samaria, which
was never JEWISH!
Think of it! Where, in all this world
and throughout all of history, can you find two BROTHER NATIONS; looking
much alike, speaking the same language, possessing the same general outlook
on life; having nearly identical religious, historical, sociological and
cultural beliefs, who, between them, would possess much of the WEALTH of
the whole world?
Actually, the mysterious story of the
"prince of the scarlet thread" and the "breach" that occurred is nothing
more than intriguing insight into HOW God would fulfill His great PROMISE
to BOTH Joseph (to whom went the BIRTHRIGHT) and DAVID, who was promised
that his lineage would always remain on his throne (the sceptre shall not
depart from JUDAH).
The first overturning of that
throne was in the destruction of Jerusalem, the captivity and the escape
of Zedekiah's DAUGHTERS, to he taken to a new and different land in what
the Bible describes as the "HEIGHT of ISRAEL."
In the third part of Allen's book, chapter
1, pages 228 and 229, he sets forth the following facts:
"(1) About 585 B.C. a 'notable man,'
an 'important personage,' a patriarch, a saint, an essentially important
someone, according to their various ways of putting it, came to Ulster,
the most northern province of Ireland, accompanied by a princess, the
daughter of an eastern king, and that in company with them was one Simon
Brach, Breck, Brack, Barech, Berach, as it is differently spelled; and
that this royal party brought with them many remarkable things.
Among these was the harp, an ark and the wonderful stone called Lia-fail,
or stone of destiny, of which we shall have much to say hereafter.
"(2) This eastern princess was married
to King Herremon on condition, made by this notable patriarch, that he
should abandon his former religion, and build a college for the prophets.
This Herremon did, and the name of the school was Mur-Ollam which is the
name, both in Hebrew and Irish, for school of the prophets. He also changed
the name of his capital city, Lothar - sometimes Cothair Croffin - to that
of Tara.
"(3) The name of this eastern princess
is given as Tea-Tephi, and it is a well-known fact that the royal arms
of Ireland is the harp of David, and has been for 2,500 years" (ibid.,
pages 228, 229).
It is well known that various groups
that propound the "British-Israel" theory (so-called) believe the stone
which rests beneath the seat of the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey
is, indeed, that same stone - the "Lia-fail" allegedly brought to Ulster
by this ancient patriarch, accompanied by a princess and his scribe, "Brack."
Was it Jeremiah, Tea-Tephi and Baruch?
Some say the coronation stone may well
be "Jacob's pillar stone," but believe it cannot be the fabled "Lia-fail"
- which was like an "inauguration stone" used in the ceremony of the coronation
of ancient kings, and which tradition said "screaming aloud" or "groaned"
as if with an audible voice upon the occasion of a coronation!
Dozens of ancient stone monuments -
many with obscure and entirely mysterious purposes and origins - are found
in the British Isles.
One of the most famous is, of course,
"Stonehenge." Any number of theories have been advanced as to its builders
and its purpose -read the interesting article in the Encyclopaedia Britannica,
11th edition, for further information.
The use of stone monuments both
among God's own chosen people and among the pagans is well known.
Upright stones, monoliths, obelisks,
portals, pillars, columns; edifices, balustrades, pyramids, stone altars,
discs and wheels, circular rings - are all known, and some are quite commonplace.
A little research proves the phallic
origin of many such monolithic monuments - especially Egyptian obelisks.
However. God also used stone for
its durability and hardness, as well as its strength and solidity, for
various significant purposes.
For example, the Ten Commandments were
hewn by the very finger of God in two tablets of solid stone.
In his analogy of the "foundation" of
the very Church of God, the apostle Paul uses stones as symbols
of the apostles and Christ.
"Now therefore ye are no more strangers
and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household
of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles [plural!] and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the CHIEF CORNERSTONE"! (Ephesians
2:19, 20).
There is only one mention in inspired
history of the anointing
of a stone.
Significantly, the anointing of that
stone comes at a time when God appeared, through a vivid dream of Jacob
(the supplanter), whose name was to be changed to ISRAEL (overcomer;
one who prevails with God).
Read the account, found in Genesis 28.
"And he lighted upon a certain place,
and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the
stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and laid down
in that place to sleep..."
There is evidence Jacob was not alone
- that there may well have been a group, including herdsmen to care
for his cattle. Like any other travelers of the day, they carried tents,
considerable clothing, bedding, utensils for the preparation of food, and
other physical necessities.
One should not conclude from this account
that Jacob slept on bare rock, with a certain stone for a pillow
- but, rather, that it was commonplace to select a stone for the raising
of the head, arranging robes and blankets in such a way that its elevation
above the remainder of the bedding provided a "pillow."
"And he dreamed, and behold a ladder
set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold the
angels of God ascending and descending on it.
"And, behold, the Eternal stood above
it, and said, 'I am the Eternal God of Abraham thy father, and the God
of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy
seed;
"And thy seed shall he as the dust
of the earth [innumerable!] and thou shalt spread abroad to
the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south [to all points
of the compass - all over the world!]: and in thy seed shall all the families
of the earth be blessed.
"And, behold, I am with thee, and will
keep thee in all places whither thou goeth, and will bring thee again into
this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have
spoken to thee of."
What a promise!
Just as we saw, in God's promise to
Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis l7:1-8), which was later reaffirmed
to Rebekah, who was to become Isaac's wife (Genesis 24:60), God once again
promises to Jacob, Abraham's grandson, MULTIPLE seed; the blessings of
the greatest lands on the face of the earth (at all points of the compass
away
from the Middle East), showing that His promise to Abraham of great
material, physical blessings was truly unconditional.
Now continue the account: "And Jacob
awakened out of his sleep, and he said, surely the Eternal is in this place;
and I knew it not.
"And he was afraid and said, how dreadful
is this place. This is none other but the house of God, and this
is the gate of heaven.
"And Jacob rose up early in the morning,
and took the stone that he had put for his 'pillows,' and set it up for
a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
"And he called the name of that place
Bethel [meaning 'house of God'], but the name of that city was called
Luz at the first.
"And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, if God
will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give
me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's
house in peace; then shall the Eternal be my God: "And this stone, which
I have set for a pillar [as a monument, a memorial - a specially
anointed stone], shall be GOD'S HOUSE: And of all that thou shalt give
me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."
Think through the account carefully.
Jacob was stricken with a guilty conscience!
He knew he was guilty of sin. The ruse to steal away the birthright
from his brother Esau had been cleverly concocted and expertly enacted.
Now, seeing a vision as if he were at the very place where one might depart
this physical world, and transition over into another world, a spiritual
world - stricken with the awesome vision of a mysterious "ladder" seemingly
leading right to the very heaven of God's throne - Jacob's conscience caused
him to say this was a "dreadful" place; he was afraid.
Deducing that the particular rock
upon which he had laid his head had special significance, he raised
it up on its end, poured oil all over it as a monument or a pillar,
and made a vow!
That particular stone symbolized "God's
house" to him - as if it were a "sacred" stone; one deserving of being
specially "set apart," consecrated to the miraculous dream he had experienced
and symbolic of the permanence
of God's promise, together with his
determination to be faithful to his vow!
Notice, too, Jacob's spirit of repentance.
Later, his name was changed to ISRAEL,
meaning that God acknowledged a change in his character; from a
"supplanter," conniving, avaricious, greedy - to "Israel" (meaning one
who prevailed with God - an overcomer).
In this context, one can understand
why Jacob referred to the law of tithing as a part of his vow!
Notice that Jacob's act of repentance
and promise to tithe of all of his increase is mentioned in the
Word of God a tremendous span of years BEFORE the giving of the Ten Commandments
at Sinai, or any mention of "the book of the law" to Israel as a nation!
Even as Abraham recognized his obligation
to give a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek, so Jacob, in
his awe of God, repentance of his guilty past, and vow to walk in the way
of God's laws in order to inherit the promised blessing, could not help
but let God know he would be faithful in TITHING!
I would urge the reader to read Judah's
Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright, by J.H. Allen. His chapter
on "Jacob's Pillow-pillar Stone" (page 230) is particularly interesting.
He makes a strong case for the carrying
of that same stone into Egypt which bears reading.
He said, for example: "This brings us
to a vital point concerning the subject in hand, namely: "That not only
Bethel, the city, or place, but also that Bethel the pillar-rock was given
to the birthright family; and that Israel carried that rock with them into
Egypt and in their subsequent journeyings in the wilderness.
"Proof: Jacob died in Egypt, and his
posterity were in Egypt at the time. When dying, 'Jacob called unto him
his sons and said, gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that
which shall befall you in the last days.' When his sons, in response to
this call, came together, he gave a prophecy concerning that which the
posterity of each of them would he in the last days. But while he was making
the prophecy concerning Joseph and his house, to whom he had just given
the birthright, he stopped in the midst of his prophetic utterances, and
used the following parenthetical expression: '(from thence is the Shepherd,
the stone of Israel:).'
"'Thence,' as herein used, is an adverb
used as a noun, and is equivalent in value to that place, or the
place to which it refers. The phrase, from thence, means 'out of
there, out from thither, (or) out of that place.' Thus, the very fact
that Jacob, when dying in Egypt, made use of those words in reference
to that Bethel stone, carries proof on its very face that the stone was
not, at that time, in the place where it had formerly been, but that it
was with them there in Egypt, and had previously been committed to the
care of the house of Joseph."
Allen also cites the occasions wherein
a special rock was apparently carried by Moses and the Israelites.
For example, he reminds us of the occasion when "the Eternal said unto
Moses, saying: Take the rod, and gather the assembly together, and speak
unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water,
and thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses
took the rod from beneath the Lord, as He commanded him. And Moses and
Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he
said unto them: hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch water out of this
rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the
rock twice: And the water came out abundantly, and the congregation
drank, and their beasts also.' "
Further, Allen cites several occasions
proving that later kings of the promised dynasty which was to reign stood
by a "pillar" rock in making a solemn oath; proclamation, or, even a coronation
ceremony. (Read II Kings 11:13, 14.)
Dr. Adam Clark translates the account
as follows: "And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the
people, she came to the people into the temple of the Lord. And when she
looked, behold! The king stood on a pillar." Clark goes on to explain
this was "the place or throne on which they were accustomed to put their
kings when they proclaimed them." And in a revised version it reads: "Standing
by the pillar as was their custom."
Now turn to and read II Kings 23:3:
"And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord."
The article "a" can easily he rendered "the," meaning a specific pillar-stone,
one which was commonly used in coronation ceremonies, or when the leader
of the nation made a particular proclamation, law, edict or vow.
In a later chapter, Allen delves deeply
into the story of the origin of the name of Princess "Tea-Tephi" and her
escape to Ireland.
"This little company disappeared from
Egypt, but surely they reappeared in Ireland, for, marvel of marvels! they
brought with them a pillar-stone, which has ever since been used as the
coronation stone of the kingdom.
"Later Tea (sometimes spelled Teah)
Tephi herself was crowned upon this pillar-stone, and the name of Erin's
capital was changed from Cathair Crofin to Tara, which is also another
Hebrew word. But at this juncture history comes to our help, and with unquestioned
authority declares that, from that time until the present, every king and
queen who has reigned in Ireland, Scotland or England has been crowned
upon that selfsame pillar or coronation stone. Queen Victoria herself was
twice crowned upon that stone, the first time as Queen of England, and
the second time as Empress of India.
"On the occasion of Queen Victoria's
coronation, June 28, 1837, an article appeared in the London Sun, which
gives a description of the coronation chair and the coronation stone, as
follows: 'This chair, commonly called St. Edward's chair, is an ancient
seat of solid hardwood, with back and sides of the same, variously painted,
in which the kings of Scotland were in former periods constantly crowned,
but, having been brought out of the kingdom by Edward I, in the year 1296,
after he had totally overcome John Baliol, king of Scots, it has ever since
remained in the Abbey at Westminster, and has been the chair in which the
succeeding kings and queens of this realm have been inaugurated. It is
in height six feet and seven inches; the breadth of the seat within the
sides is twenty-eight inches, and the depth eighteen inches. At nine inches
from the ground is a board, supported at the four corners by as many lions.
Between the seat and this board is enclosed a stone commonly called
Jacob's, or the fatal Marble, Stone, which is an oblong of about twenty-two
inches in length, thirteen inches broad and eleven inches deep; of a steel
color, mixed with some veins of red. History relates that it is the stone
whereupon the patriarch Jacob laid his head in the plains of Luz.' This,
as you see, was published more than sixty years ago [now more than 150!]
before it was thought possible that the Anglo-Saxons were descendants of
Joseph, the inheritor of the birthright blessing which God gave to his
fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
"This article further says that 'this
stone was conveyed into Ireland by way of Spain about seven hundred years
before Christ. From there it was taken into Scotland by King Fergus, about
370 years later; and in the year 350 B.C., it was placed in the Abbey of
Scone, by King Kenneth, who caused a prophetical verse to be engraved upon
it of which the following is a translation: "'Should fate not fail, where
ere this stone is found, the Scots shall monarch of that realm be crowned.'"
Allen points out that, prior to the
time King Kenneth had his verse engraved on the coronation stone, there
was a prophetic verse attached to it which Sir Walter Scott rendered as
follows:
Unless the fates are faithless grown,
And the prophets' voice be vain,
Where ere is found this sacred stone
The wanderers' race shall reign.
Continuing, Allen says, "Think of it!
For more than seven hundred years this stone has been in Westminster Abbey.
Dean Stanley, in his 'Memorials of Westminster Abbey,' says: 'The chief
object of attraction, to this day, to innumerable visitors to the Abbey,
is probably that ancient Irish monument of the empire known as the coronation
stone.' He calls it a 'precious relic,' and says that King Edward I
said that 'it is the one primeval monument which binds together the whole
empire.' The Dean further adds: 'The iron rings, the battered surface,
the crack which has all but rent its solid mass asunder, bear witness to
its long migrations. It is thus embedded in the heart of the English monarchy,
an element of poetic, patriarchal, heathen times...(which) carries back
our thoughts to races and customs now almost extinct, a link which unites
the throne of England with the traditions of Tara and Iona, and connects
the charm of our complex civilization with the favors of mother earth,
the stocks and stones of savage nature. Faithful or foolish, the sentiment
of the nation has, through three hundred generations of living men, made
it felt that Jacob's pillar stone was a thing worth dying for in
battle' "(Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright, pages 251-255).
Yes, indeed - think of it!
This famous stone was certainly the
first thing I wanted to see when I visited England in 1956! Each
time I have been back, if I had occasion to show first-timers around London
a bit, I would never fail to go directly to the coronation chair and show
them the stone with its famous sign.
Of course, in later years thieves absconded
with the stone and it was subsequently rediscovered by Scotland Yard and
taken back to its place. I have been given to understand that the coronation
chair and stone are kept more securely now, and do not know whether they
are in fact visible to visitors to the abbey.
I myself have seen the stone on several
occasions, of course. It is exactly as that ancient newspaper article described
it, and leads one to wonder, as you gaze at it; if it has in fact reposed
for hundreds of years beneath this one coronation chair from earliest
antiquity, how were the handles so worn?
Obviously, that stone was carried
and carried for a considerable period of time, over perhaps great distances.
There is no other way whereby the metal handle at each end of it could
become so worn.
Now, ponder some obvious questions for
yourself.
WHY should the modern queen of a space-age
nation, a nation which is the very cradle of so-called "Christian civilization,"
and which is the mother country of all the English-speaking countries of
the Western world, be coronated
as queen while sitting on an ancient
rock?
Even as ancient kings of Judah stood
upon the rock, or "stood by the pillar" when either being coronated
as king, or making a proclamation, so, today, the queen of a modern nation,
Britain, is coronated while being seated in the famous coronation chair,
beneath which rests what many believe fervently to be "Jacob's pillar-stone"!
Coincidence? Fable?
Many scorn and sneer at this - attempting
to "prove" that the type of stone is "different" from stones commonly
found in the area supposedly mentioned in the Bible.
However, they cannot know with
an absolute certainty exactly
where it was Jacob laid his
head that night so many dozens of centuries ago!
The fact is that a direct descendant
of King David sits on the British throne today!
The heir to the throne, Prince Charles,
will be crowned, probably sometime within the fairly near future, as KING
OF ENGLAND, and, you can be sure, he will be crowned as king sitting on
a stone!
In fact, God HAS fulfilled His ancient
covenant to David - there has never lacked of the seed of David's
own line to sit upon the throne, NOT of just "any nation" in the
Western world, but a modern nation of ISRAEL! That nation is EPHRAIM, Great
Britain, and in that nation is an ancient, scarred coronation chair, with
an exceedingly ancient rock beneath its seat.
It is very likely that rock is
the same one upon which Jacob laid his head so many centuries ago;
the same one carried back up out of Egypt by the children of Israel;
the same one which was struck by Moses at Horeb; the same one
which was stood upright, or was stood upon, in coronations of kings of
Judah for centuries; the same stone which was carried by Jeremiah
and his scribe Baruch, together with the king's daughter, to Ireland;
the same stone upon which kings of Scotland, and England, have
from that time been crowned -indeed, the same stone that is in Westminster
Abbey today!
Those who have carefully studied history
know that the United States of America was an insignificant, struggling,
minor power in 1800.
The great empires of the world were
in Europe and feudal Asia. Great imperialistic, colonizing powers
(the Dutch, the Spanish, the Portuguese and the French) had laid claim
to possessions from the East Indies to Africa; from Central and South America
to Macao and India; then from Southeast Asia to North America. Britain
had waged wars against France and her allies, defending herself against
Napoleon Bonaparte, who was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo
(1815). Britain had been struggling mightily to retain her freedom against
virtually all of Europe, either allied with, or occupied by, the French.
Three years earlier, the United States
had fought its second war with its mother nation, Britain, the War
of 1812, which ended for all time further British attempts at regaining
her lost colonies on the North American continent.
The fascinating history of the 19th
century showed the United States emerging from a roughshod, homespun country
of former colonists and European immigrants into, eventually, the greatest
single power the world has ever seen!
Significantly, the largest single territorial
acquisition in the history of the United States took place at the exact
end of a
prophesied "seven times" national punishment, delaying until
comparatively modern times the prophesied bequeathment of the BIRTHRIGHT
promises!
Only 10 years before the turn of the
18th century, in 1790, the total size of the United States was 888,862
square miles.
France, desperate for money in her protracted
struggle against Great Britain, offered the United States government the
sale of territories extending from the mouth of Mississippi River clear
to the Canadian border, a huge chunk of territory embodying 827,192
square miles!
This NEARLY DOUBLED the size of the
United States by 1803, bringing the total to 1,716,054 square
miles.
Remember, all Bible prophecy is dual!
Study Matthew 24, the famous "Olivet"
prophecy, and apply every word Christ spoke to the actual histories of
what happened in 70 A.D., as Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed
by the armies of Titus.
Christ did not return at that
time, though this prophecy leads directly to the second coming of Christ!
Though the Roman soldiers did prize
the very stones of the buildings and the walls surrounding the temple from
their moorings, toppling them into the valleys below, and though terrible
havoc was wreaked upon the city, with tens of thousands slain and the city
destroyed, archaeological excavations of these modern times absolutely
prove the prophecy that "not one stone would remain atop another" was
not yet fulfilled.
What happened to Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
was a forerunner; an historical "type" of a yet prophesied
FUTURE destruction of the city of Jerusalem, just prior to the second coming
of Christ! The prophecy is dual.
By the same token, in the sobering prophecy
of Leviticus 26, God says a time of TERRIBLE national calamities
and punishments was (and is, yet in the future) to befall the peoples
of Ephraim and Manasseh!
Through successive generations the great
birthright blessings promised the progeny of Jacob (Israel) were withheld
from the two nations upon whom aged Israel had pronounced the name
"ISRAEL"; Ephraim (Great Britain) and
Manasseh (the United
States).
Turn to and read the remarkable dual
prophecy of Leviticus 26!
The chapter begins with the marvelous
BLESSINGS God would bestow upon His people if they would adhere to His
laws, statutes and judgments.
IF the people chosen of God for a great
destiny on this earth were to OBEY God, then boundless blessings of great
national wealth and resources, minerals, precious metals - seemingly endless
energy supplies - together with bounteous crops, salubrious climate, healthy
children, an absence of wars, military conscription, heavy
taxation, and disease - the promises of GOOD HEALTH (something everyone
earnestly covets, and yet which no-one can BUY) - these and other phenomenal
blessings
would be the promised rewards of OBEDIENCE.
Then, swiftly, occupying the remainder
of the chapter, come the thunderous warnings of the sledgehammer blows;
the shocking punishments which would befall these peoples if they
turned their back on the one true God despised His laws and His way
of life, and descended into paganism and heathenism.
The great blessings are enumerated through
the first few verses of the chapter, showing that IF the people obeyed
God's laws - especially the great "test commandment," the Fourth Commandment,
keeping the weekly SABBATH DAY, then God would not withhold His
blessings - the bounty that would fall upon them would be so great there
would virtually be no room to receive it!
Conversely, if the Israelites
did not obey, God said, "If ye will not hearken unto me, and will
not do all these commandments...I will appoint over you terror, consumption
[consumptive disease such as TB, etc.], and the burning ague [such as influenza,
pneumonia, colds and fevers] that shalt consume the eyes [measles and
other diseases which cause blindness] and you shall sow your seed in vain,
for your enemies shall eat it. [Shockingly, though this prophecy does not
specifically
imply grain sales to great enemies - the United States
trades with its nuclear enemy, the Soviet Union, sending
millions of metric tons of wheat, corn and other vital staples to other
countries.] And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain
before your enemies: they that hate you shall rule over you..." (Leviticus
26:14-17).
The historical chapters of the Old Testament,
particularly the books of I and II Kings and I and II Chronicles, tell
the story of repeated, flagrant IDOLATRY on the part of the Israelites!
The story of the Exodus itself (Exodus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy, principally) catalog an incredible account of hostility,
resentment, rebellion and idolatry
on the part of "stiff-necked"
Israelites who continually disparaged Moses' rule over them, "murmured"
(meaning carping, criticizing, griping and condemning), and yearned to
go back into slavery, rather than OBEY GOD, and experience the marvelous
blessings He had in store for them!
Perhaps one of the bloodiest books in
all the Bible is the book of Judges - and, in reading the final
verse of this incredible history of wars, murders and rebellions, one
is given the divinely revealed REASON for all the bloodshed: "In those
days there was no king in Israel: EVERY MAN DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN
HIS OWN EYES" (Judges 21:25).
God terminated the rule of "the judges"
at the end of the reign of Samuel. The Israelitish people told Samuel:
"...Make us a KING to judge us like the nations [like the GENTILES!]" (I
Samuel 8:5).
Even though Samuel was hugely angry,
God told him: "... Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they
say unto thee: for they have NOT REJECTED THEE, but they HAVE REJECTED
ME, that I should not REIGN over them"! (I Samuel 8:7).
Samuel then warned the people
that the king who would reign over them would be despotic, dictatorial,
arrogant and completely unconcerned with the welfare of the people!
Samuel prophesied military conscription,
wars, heavy taxation and annexation of personal and private property, even
the drafting of women into auxiliary military service, but, in spite
of the warnings, the people said, "...Nay, but we will have a KING over
us; that we also may be like all the nations..." (I Samuel 8:19, 20).
Then follows the history of the reign
of Saul, his disgraceful, arrogant behavior and disqualification
as a king over Israel, and the final anointing of David as the
king over Israel.
>From the time of David's reign until
the close of the Old Testament, we read of how the nation followed the
king. As the king went, so went the nation.
If the king was righteous, even to certain
degrees (such as several who did not "cut down the high places" but nevertheless
followed basically
in the way of God), the nation was blessed accordingly.
If the king was thoroughly evil and
wicked (as in the case of evil King Manasseh), the nation suffered greatly.
Finally, by 721 through 718 B.C., the
sins of the nation of Israel (cataloged in Ezekiel 16 and Ezekiel 23) had
become SO GREAT in the eyes of God that He was determined to "remove them
out of His sight."
It is a fact of history that
the northern 10 tribes, with their capital city in Samaria, were utterly
decimated, completely overpowered, the kingdom
destroyed, and the
vast BULK of the inhabitants of the land transported into captivity!
Now, what you are about
to read you should keep in proper perspective!
Keep in mind the overview of
the identity of the United States of America and the British Commonwealth
of nations in prophecy!
It is all too easy to approach one particular
part of the story, which may in fact be merely a supportive "twig" - not
truly essential to the "TRUNK OF THE TREE" of the Bible; attempt
to twist, lop off or do away with that "twig," and then believe one has
destroyed the whole trunk of the tree!
That unshakable trunk of the tree
happens to be the unconditional promises given to ABRAHAM, reconfirmed
to Isaac, made completely unconditional to JACOB, and the transference
of the name of Jacob (ISRAEL) upon his two grandsons, EPHRAIM and MANASSEH!
In a nutshell, somewhere, somehow, on
this earth at this time, one must find a "company of nations," or
some grouping or recognizable aggregation of brother-nations, who would
appear to be the same people - thus fulfilling the divine promise
concerning EPHRAIM, who was to be "greater" than his brother!
One must also find closely tied (for
they are BROTHERS, ethnically) with this "company of nations" a nation
which would be the GREATEST SINGLE NATION the world has ever seen!
One cannot read the eloquent, magnificently
bounteous promises of the prophecy of Genesis 49 concerning JOSEPH (the
father of Ephraim and Manasseh) without understanding that these great
blessings could never have applied only to a narrow strip
of land somewhere between the Sea of Galilee and the mountains around Jerusalem!
Read that prophecy again: "Joseph
is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run
over the wall [implying spreading out to the four points of the
compass, even as God repeatedly promised the progeny of Isaac and Jacob]:
"The archers have sorely grieved him,
and shot at him, and hated him:
"But his bow abode in strength, and
the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of
Jacob; (from thence is the Shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
"Even by the God of thy father, who
shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings
of the breasts, and of the womb;
"The blessings of thy father have prevailed
above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting
hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of him
that was separate from his brethren" (Genesis 49:22-26).
Verse 26 should read, as the
Oxford margin correctly supplies, "...Joseph, and on the crown of the head
of him that was prince among his brethren."
The great blessings to the two sons
of JOSEPH are thoroughly documented
in the divine Word of God.
If God's promise is not to fail - if
you can trust the very written Word of the Eternal Creator God -
then somewhere, on this earth right NOW, you must find a great single
nation experiencing the very bounteous blessings prornised those two tribes
which were to emerge from Joseph; and another "collection" or "company"
of nations - obviously brothers, who, together with that great single
nation, SHARE much of the wealth of the world!
No amount of arguing, reasoning or attempting
to pull down "twigs" or pointing out the errors of Allen, or other writers
who have treated the subject, will suffice to chop down the TRUNK of the
tree - God's promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!
Of course, some will scoff at listing
the names including the letters DN for "Dan" and other such names - turning
to other parts of the world, where one may find a few cities or towns such
as Denver, Colo.; Danville, Ill.; etc.
But all such scoffing aside - it is
nevertheless a FACT that the ancient Danites, half of whom abode in
ships and were a seafaring people, are revealed in the sacred
Word of God to have followed the practice of naming (or renaming) important
areas after the name of their father, Dan.
In one case, there are two significant
names attached to one of the important Scandinavian countries, Denmark.
Again, the spelling "Denmark" is Anglicized; the Danes (notice the word
Dan in the name of these peoples) call their northern peninsula
by the name "Danmark." This name means nothing more than "the mark of Dan."
Anciently, however, the peninsula now
occupied by the Danes was called Jutland.
As we have already seen, the multiple
seed of Abraham were to be scattered to the four winds - spreading
out to the east, the west, the north and the south. Consider the fact that
the two great brother nations, the United States of America and Great Britain,
together having come into possession of two thirds of the WEALTH
of the world, are also kindred peoples!
Together, they comprise the tribes of
Ephraim and Manasseh, the two sons of Joseph. Remember, the two
sons of dying Jacob (Israel), in placing his hands on the heads
of his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, said, "Let my name be named
on THEM." The two brother nations who were to become (1) the greatest
single nation on the face of the earth and (2) a great company, collection,
grouping or commonwealth of nations, were to bear the name of ISRAEL!
From the "riddle and the parable," and
the puzzle of the "scarlet thread" (the famous "breach" between the Pharez
and the Zarah line), we learned that God intended cropping off a "tender
twig" of the royal tree representing the lineage of David
- and that this represented one of the king's daughters, who would
be "planted" (according to Jeremiah's commission) in a new land.
Thus, Almighty God intended healing
the breach between the two lines; fulfilling His promise to David
until the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ, until "He come
whose right it is"! (Ezekiel 21:25-27).
Also, we know that neither Simeon
nor Levi had an inheritance in the land; and that, while they
were grouped with the southern "House of Judah" with their capital City
at Jerusalem, they were dispersed throughout the other tribes.
The Jewish people have been,
uniquely among all human races, a dispersed people! Even today,
they dwell in communities all over the world - throughout the United States,
Canada, the nations of Europe; and, of course, in the Middle East.
Few realize that one of the first
major deportations of Jews occurred prior to the final collapse
of the southern kingdom - PRIOR to the removal of the Jews to Babylon!
Notice! "Now in the fourteenth year
of King Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the
fenced cities of Judah, and took them" (II Kings 18:13).
Only a few verses earlier, you learn
how Shalmaneser, the previous king of Assyria, besieged and finally
captured Samaria, "And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel [the
northern HOUSE OF 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 Eternal their God, but transgressed His covenant,
and all that Moses the servant of the Eternal commanded, and would not
hear them, nor do them" (II Kings 18:9-12).
From the ancient monuments, the details
of Sennacherib's campaign against the Phoenician cities, plus Jerusalem
itself, come clear.
Sennacherib's Assyrian armies captured
Sidon and many other Phoenician cities, while Tyre held out, though its
king, Lulia (Elulaeus), fled to Cyprus. Ashdod, Ammon, Moab and Edom submitted
to Assyria, but the king of Judah, Hezekiah, depending upon help
from the Philistines of Ashkelon and Ekron, plus believing his fortified
city of Jerusalem and Egyptian help could withstand the Assyrians,
refused to submit.
In a frantic attempt to buy off the
Assyrian invaders, Hezekiah paid Sennacherib 30 talents of gold, 800 talents
of silver, precious stones, couches and ceremonial furniture, including
thrones inlaid with ivory, many concubines and servant eunuchs, after 46
fortified towns and cities were taken by Sennacherib, and, note this
well, 200,150 Jews were carried away into captivity.
What happened to this more than
200,000 Jews who were removed from Judah SEVENTEEN YEARS after the last
Israelite from the northern 10-tribed House of Israel had been removed?
No doubt they were intermingled in
the towns and cities of Assyria, just as the refugees (slaves) from the
10-tribed House of Israel had been deported, and placed in the cities of
the Assyrians, or sold to neighboring countries to the north, as slaves.
No wonder, then, that not only do we
find the name of Dan (and, as we shall see, other Israelitish names
as well) from the area between the Black and the Caspian seas into
northern Europe, Scandinavia and the British Isles, but we
also find the "land of the Jews," or "Jutes' land" - the peninsula called
Jutland.
Ancient Explorers and Tradesmen
Few realize that, as early
as the kingdom of Solomon, active trade was carried on with nations
far beyond the "Gates of Hercules" (Straits of Gibraltar). Solomon's ships
brought to the land of Palestine peacocks, native only to India;
exotic trade flourished under Solomon which brought riches of nations
from as far away as the British Isles, where tin
was mined in Cornwall;
apes, ivories and peacocks from India, Pakistan and the East African
highlands, where it was said King Solomon had fabulous mines.
Solomon maintained a port
at Ezion-geber (the site of present-day Eilat at the northern head of the
Gulf of Akaba, north of the Red Sea) as well as his seaports on the Mediterranean,
principally at Joppa.
Remember, it was a full
860 years before Christ that Jonah went to Joppa, which was
one of the most important seaports on the Mediterranean coast (incidentally,
within the borders of Dan), and there boarded a ship going to Tarshish.
"Tarshish" was so far away Jonah thought he would literally flee from
the very presence of God!
How long had the ships of
Tarshish been trading with Palestinian seaports? Historians place the time
as early as 900 B.C.!
It is obvious that, if our
nervous prophet could easily take passage on a ship of Tarshish to go to
the isles and coastlands far beyond what he believed was the province of
the God of Israel, any number of other wayfarers of that ancient
time also took ships to faraway colonies which were important to the trade
which
sustained their nation!
Notice this important quote
from Allen's book. In Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright
(pages 267-269), Allen says there was abundant time for a royal prince
from the family of Judah "...to have preceded Israel to the isles, and
to have had a large colony even before the birthright went to Assyria,
an event which did not occur until 721 B.C. (referring to the removal of
the "birthright people" by Shalmaneser) that one of those princes did precede
Israel to the isles of the sea is evident; first, because God says he did,
and, second, because it is recorded in the Milesian records of Ireland
that the prince, Herremon, to whom Tea-Tephi was married, was a prince
of the "Tuatha de Daanans."
"Mark this! If that prince
was a prince of the tribe of D—and authentic history declares he was—then
he was a prince of the family of Judah, for there can be no prince of
Dan other than a prince of the royal family of HIS RACE, and that
family has but one fountainhead, i.e., Judah, the fourth son of
Jacob and Leah, to whom pertains the sceptre blessing.
"But this rule seems to
have worked both ways, for the family ensign of Judah is a lion, and since
one of his whelps [young lion] went to the northwest isles with Dan, as
a matter of course the ensign of his family, the royal family, went with
him. Thus it became associated with the 'Tuatha de Daanans,' the tribe
of Dan, and in time found its way into their national seal.
"The figure on the seal
(which is illustrated in an accompanying cut) is described as 'A Lion's
Whelp with a Serpent's Tail.' The largest of these represents Denmark,
and the other two Norway and Sweden, which were at the time under
the dominion of Denmark."
Strange Names
Remember, even as we read
in II Kings 18, Almighty God cast away Israel for having broken His
laws; broken His covenant;
and, especially, having descended
into idolatry, and having forsaken God's weekly and annual SABBATHS!
God had said the great identifying
sign between Him and His people (Exodus 31) was the Sabbath!
When His people lost
that sign, they finally lost their very national identity.
They adopted, in place
of the name of Almighty God, the names of Baal!
The name of "Baal" was virtually
plastered all over ancient maps of Palestine. We read in the Bible
of places named "Baal-peor," and "Baal-zephon"; and remember that even
some individuals were named after this false god, such as "Baalam"
(which merely means the plural - "many Baals").
Now, notice this incredible
list of the names of Baal found in Ireland!
"Baal-y-Bai, Baal-y-Gowan,
Baal-y-Nahinsh, Baal-y-Castle, Baaly-Moni, Baal-y-Ner, Baal-y-Garai, Baal-y-Nah,
Baal-y-Con-el, Baal-y-Hy, Baal-y-Hull-Ish, Baal-Nah-Brach, Baal-Athi, Baal-Dagon."
Howlett, a pastor in the
19th century in that region, says, "These certainly are memorials of the
Baal worship once prevailing in Ireland. In them we have
not only the name of Baal but its conjunction also with other Hebrew names.
How can this be accounted for, except as they were so called by immigrants
from Phoenicia and Palestine?"
The Celts
The ancient Celts, the bulk
of whom, history says, inhabited the central and western parts of Europe,
were in fact, Israelites
whose origins are traced from that region
in Europe through which flows the River Danube, and from the Near
East.
The Anglicized "Celt," or
"Kelt," is nothing more than the generic name of the ancient people who
inhabited Northern and Western Europe. They were regarded, by ancient writers,
as "all the fair-haired peoples dwelling north of the Alps," and the name
"Celt" comes from the Greek language, for the Greeks termed them
all "Keltoi." The Kelts were classified as falling into two loosely divided
groups, which shaded off into each other. The first was distinguished by
"a long head, a long face, a narrow aquiline nose, blue eyes, very light
hair and great stature," and these lighter-complexioned "Kelts" were usually
termed "teutonic" by early writers.
The other group was marked
by "a round head, a broad face, a nose often rather broad and heavy, hazel-gray
eyes, light chestnut hair, and were said to be thick-set and medium height."
It is fascinating that the
ancient "Teutons," whose name is generic for "Germans," appear in history
along with the Cimbri, universally held to be Celts, but coming
from the same region as the Guttones (Goths, which was a Roman
name for these peoples) by the shores of the Baltic and North Sea.
The Belgic tribes in northern
France were the Cimbri,
and had, according to history, migrated
into the region from east of the Rhine.
The dominance of the Celts
in northwestern Europe and the British Isles is well known.
Ancient writers spoke of
the Gauls, who gave their name to modern-day France, as the
"Cimbri," and identified them with the Cimmerians of an earlier date, who
are mentioned by Homer.
They are identified as migrating
through the mouth of the Danube, and early Celts are said
to have been "continually moving westward." The "Belgae" were also Cimbri
in origin. They spread across the Rhine and gave their name "to all northern
France and Belgium" (Encyclopaedia Britanica, 11th edition, Vol.
5, page 612).
Even in language the
ancient Celts were identified as having come from the Near East.
In 1831, James Pritchard
was one of the first to demonstrate the true relationship of the Celts
in his publication Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations. A famous
Bavarian historian, J.C. Zeuss (l806-I856), demonstrated conclusively the
Indo-European origin of the Celtic dialects. Rediscovering old Irish manuscripts,
he published a striking study in Celtic philology, called Grammatica
Celtic, publishing the work in 1853.
But who were these
"Cimbri," or "Khummee," who were migrating along the river valleys of the
Caucasus and the Carpathians?
Omri began to reign in 929
B.C., having been placed on the throne by the army, during the siege of
Gibbethon, a Levitical city in Dan.
The death of Elah and the
usurpation of Zimri led to the declaration by the army that their general,
Omri, was now king of Israel. His "...chief [achievement] was the foundation
of Samaria, which thenceforth became the capital city of the Kingdom of
Israel" (Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature, John Kitto, Vol. 3,
page 365).
Omri, while appearing from
biblical records to be one of the lesser kings of Israel, nevertheless
became one of the most important to the Assyrians, the Moabites,
and other kingdoms to the north and east
of Palestine.
In Hasting's Bible dictionary
under the article "Omri," the Assyrian spelling is given as "Humri or Humria"
with the comment that the equivalent of the Hebrew-Canaanite y with
the Assyrian h is illustrated by Schrader; Cot 2 i p.179.
Several other examples are
given, including the identification of "Ammi-rabi" (Amraphel) with Hammurabi,
demonstrating how some languages pronounce the h like a k while
others leave it silent.
An extensive inscription
from the Moabite stone published in Hasting's Bible dictionary (Vol. 3,
page 621) reads "Omri was King of Israel and oppressed Moab a long time
(lit. many days), for Chemosh was wroth with his land. And his son succeeded
him (i.e. Omri), and he too said 'I will oppress Moab' in my time (i.e.
of Mesha) he said thus. But I saw (my desire) on him and his house, and
Israel perish with an everlasting destruction." (This merely implies that
Ahab, who was a son of Omri, was finally compelled to relinquish his hold
on Moab and is an exaggeration.)
"So Omri obtained possesion
of the land of Mehedeba, and dwelt therein during his days and half the
days of his son, forty years..."
Hasting's says, "These dates
(following information on difficulties in the chronology of Omri's reign)
harmonize better with the results of Assyriology, with the deep impression
which Omri had produced in western Asia by his military prowess." This
impression was no fleeting one, but extended over a very long period. We
have clear indication of this in the fact that Palestine was called Bit
Humri or 'land of the house of Omri,' from the time of Shalmaneser
II (860) to that of Sargon (722-705). 'The usurper Jehu is called
on Shalmaneser's black obelisk "Ja'ua agal Humari," "Jehu, son of Omri."
And no less deep was the impression produced in Israel and Judah. 'The
reference to the "statutes of Omri" in Micah 6:16 is an indication of this,
his name being coupled with that of his son Ahab.'"
"Bit Humri" is the
equivalent of "Beth Omri" in the Hebrew, or the "House of Omri,"
which was the name applied to all Israel by the ASSYRIANS!
Thus, when Shalmaneser's
army brought hundreds of thousands of captured Israelites as slaves
into the land of Assyria, the Assyrian army and local populace only
knew them as "Bit Humri." And never referred to them as Hebrews,
Israelites, or by any other Israelitish or Jewish term!
In any number of languages,
the h is silent.
However, in other languages the h has
a hard sound, pronounced by forcing the sharp sound against the
hard palate, as in the English word "how." In some languages, such as German,
the h can be pronounced quite similarly to the English k.
Thus "Bit Humri" was pronounced
by some "Kumri" and by the Greeks "Kimri," "Cimri" or "Gymri."
These peoples are also found
in history as the "Cimmerians."
The "Bit Humri," or the
"Kumri," who were known by the Greeks as the "Kimbri," are said to be the
progenitors of the Celts!
The Encyclopaedia Britannica,
11th edition, Vol. 20, page 105, says: "The inscription of Mesha throws
welcome light upon his conquest of Moab; the position of Israel during
the reign of Omri's son Ahab bears testimony to the success of the father;
and the fact that the land continued to be known to the Assyrians down
to the time of Sargon (after Shalmaneser, who carried away the hulk
of the northern ten tribes into captivity) as 'the house of Omri' indicates
the reputation which this little-known king enjoyed."
The Cimbri are identified
as a "teutonic tribe" who first make their appearance in Roman history
in about 113 B.C., and who had been "wandering along the Danube for
some years warring..."
The Encyclopaedia Britannica
says, "The original home of the Cimbri has been much disputed. It is
recorded in the Monumentum Ancyranum that a Roman fleet sailing
eastward from the mouth of the Rhine (about 5 A.D) ...at the farthest point
reached the [region] of a people called Cimbri, who sent an embassy to
Augustus."
Several early writers agree
in saying that the Cimbri occupied a peninsula, and in the map of
Ptolemy JUTLAND appears as the Cimbric "Chersonese." Under the article
"Cimmerii," the Britannica
11th edition says they were "an ancient
people of the far north or west of Europe first spoken of by Homer."
Herodotus, the famous
historian (Herodotus iv. 11-13) regards them as the "early inhabitants
of south Russia, driven by the Scyths along by the Caucasus into
Asia Minor, where they maintained themselves for a century. This authority
also reveals that "later writers identified them with the Cimbri of Jutland,
who were probably Teutonized Celts..."
The Encyclopedia Biblica
says of Assyrian reference to Omri: "On inscriptions from the time
of Shalmaneser II (854) down to Sargon (720) we find the northern kingdom
designated as Mat Bit-Humri, 'the land of the house of Omri'; or simply
Mat Humri, 'Land Omri,' Jehu even is called 'son of Omri' (Schrader Kat
190 ff.). The use of this phrase shows great was the reputation which Omri
enjoyed abroad."
The Encyclopedia Biblica
also lends support to the very great possibility that the captured
Israelites, who had already become corrupt while they were
yet in the land, carried the names of Baal
with them in their
migrations, explaining the many names of Baal persisting in Ireland
until modern times!
It says, "The dynasty which
the [Omri] founded lasted for half a century, and was only overturned by
the hatred of the prophets to the worship of Baal" (Encyclopedia Biblica,
3500).
Scythia
The ancient Scythians were
a "nomadic" people who come from "the steppe from the Carpathians to the
Don" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 25, page 526).
The Egyptian historian and
chronologer Herodotus (iv. 1-42) deals with the Scyths, showing that their
original language came from the area of Persia, or Iran.
However, though Herodotus
records that a number of Scythian words preserved were from the area between
the Black and Caspian Sea, other words, especially the names of their deities,
found no satisfactory explanation in any Indo-European language.
It is fascinating that the
oldest inhabitants recorded by history in the area of Scythia were
the Cimmerii, which is nothing more than a slightly corrupted form (as
is common in philology) of Omri, or the ancient names for the people
of "Bit-Humri," or "the house of Omni."
"...The nature of the country
makes it probable that some of them [Scythians] were Nomads, while
others no doubt tilled some land in the river valleys and in the Crimea,
where they left their name to ferries, earthworks and the Cimmerian
Bosporus. [The narrow passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean
is called the Bosporus Dardanelles.] By the time of the seventh
century B.C., a warlike people harassing the northern frontiers of what
is today modern Iran were called the Sake (Sacae), and are considered by
some historians as being synonymous with the Scyths.
Who Were the Saxons?
Ptolemy says that about the
middle of the second century the "Saxons" (Saka, Sacae, Scythia) inhabited
the neck of the "Cimbric Peninsula" (which is Jutland, or
the peninsula occupied by the "Cimmiri" or "Cimbri"), together with three
islands lying off the western coast of what is today Denmark.
They are next heard from
in history in connection with periodical expeditions in the North Sea about
the year 286. By the beginning of the fifth century, the northern coast
of Gaul (modern-day France) and the southeast coast of Britain
were known as "Litora Saxonica." Latin for the "littoral of the Saxons,"
owing, as is obvious, to the establishment of colonies of the Saxons.
The Saxons virtually disappear
from history from the sixth century onwards, and it is assumed by historians
that the Saxons who invaded Britain, while maritime peoples, had either
voluntarily or by conquest gradually become incorporated into the Frisian
Kingdom, occupying those lands to the north and the west of Westphalia,
in northwest Germany.
To this day, one of the
states of Germany is identified as "Saxony." Early inhabitants of Britain,
the "Angli," together with the invading Saxons, gave their name
to the modern term "Anglo-Saxon" for a Briton.
"It is now a well-authenticated
fact that the word Saxon is derived from the Hebrew name of I-saac, together
with an affix which means 'sons of.' Prof. Totten says: 'In most of the
Eastern languages 'sons of' is written 'sunnia.' It is equivalent to the
Scottish 'Mac' and the English and Irish 'Fitz' - MacDonald, son of Donald;
Fitz Henry, son of Henry. So, in the distant home of our ancestors, Saac-Sunnia
means sons of Isaac. Stambul is formed of Istanbul by dropping the prefix
I, and so the Saxon is a direct descendant of our father Isaac. Dr. W.
Holt Yates accepts this derivation of the Saxon name as positive, and the
Rev. W.H. Poole, D.D., speaks of it as follows: 'It is a little curious
to glean from the ancient nations and from the stone monuments of the early
times the various forms in which this word is to be found. I will here
insert a few from a list of my own gleaned from ancient history, thus:
Sons of Isaac, Sons of Saac, SaacSunnia, Saac-Suna, Saac-Sena, Saac-pena,
Esakska, Sacae-Amyrqui, Beth-Sakal (House of Isaac), Sunnia Sakai-Suna,
Saca-Suna, Sacae-Sunnae, Sackisina, Sacka-Sacia, Saca-Cine, Saka-Suna,
Sacas-Sani, Sakas-Saeni, Saxi-Suna, Sach-Suni, Sachi, Sacha, Sa-kah, Saa-chus,
Saa-cus, Sa-cho, Saxo, Saxoi, Saxonia, Sax-ones, Saxae, Sach-sen, Sack-sen,
Saxe-sen, Saxone, Saxony, Saxon' "("Our Race, "Judah's Scepter and
Joseph's Birthright, page 294).
Many ancient historians
agree on the origins of the "Saxons" (son of Isaac): Ptolemy says the
Saxans were connected with the Scythians, and were called "Sakai,"
and that they came from the land of the Medes!
One of the most important
historians of the Saxons was Sharon Turner, who said, "The Saxons were
a Scythian nation, and were called Saca, Sachi, Sacki and
Sach-sen." Pliney says, "The Sakai were among the most distinguished
people of Scythia, who settled in Armenia, and were called Sacae-sani."
Albinas claims that "the Saxons were descended from the ancient
Sacae of Asia."
Another historian, Prideaux,
says that the Cimbrians came from between the Black and Euxine (the
Caspian) seas, and that with them came the Angli!
In the book Our Scythian
Ancestors, by Gawler
(page 6), "The word 'Saacae' is fairly
and without straining our imagination translatable as Isaacites."
Even today, the Hebrew name
"Isaac" is pronounced "Eetsaak." To force this pronunciation, insuring
that the letter i is given the sound of the English ee, one
would use a y, as do those using the English language in spelling
the name "Isaac" from the Hebrew,
rendering it "Ytsak."
These "sons of Isaac" became
the "Saakea," or the "Saka," and their names are found coupled with the
same origins as the Danites and the "Bit-Humri, "or the sons
of Omri, from the area of ancient Media, and along the river
courses, principally that of the Danube, into northwestern Europe,
and the British Isles!
These few clues to the identity
of the most ancient inhabitants of northwestern Europe, the Scandinavian
countries and the British Isles are by no mean all the evidence
available!
The fact that ancient Israelitish
explorers (not only those who circumnavigated Africa, sailing to
India and to the British Isles
in the time of Solomon, but
later Danites, as well) left their names at principal sources of
supply (such as food, fresh water, etc.) along their routes of trade and
discovery is obvious.
Remember, God utterly removed
the northern 10-tribed Israelites from the land of their original inheritance!
Because they had already
rejected the one great
sign that would continually remind them of
their Creator, keep them in remembrance of just who was their Protector,
Provider and their God, they became lost,
spiritually!
God rejected them.
Adopting the pagan names
of Baal, descending into the pagan rituals of idolatry and even
infant sacrifice, they became a stench to God's nostrils.
Through a succession of
prophets, He warned them in blistering indictments that the monumental
punishments for their individual and collective national sins would
be enormous.
Evil, perverted, twisted
and sadistic rulers refused
to heed; the pagan idols were not removed,
and God finally carried out His threatened punishments; removing massive
numbers - hundreds of thousands - 10-tribed Israelites as refugees
into the lands of their captors!
Later, at the final collapse
of the Assyrian Empire, the progeny of these early slaves, reduced to a
virtual "stone-age," barbarian, uncivilized level of living; like wandering
nomads; began to spread out in the lands between the Black and the Caspian
sea; wandering along the fertile river valleys into the foothills of the
Carpathians and the Caucasus, giving names to prominent features, rivers
and tributaries, mountains and mountain passes along the way.
Since their captors called
them "Bit-Kumria," or the "Khumri," and the Romans called them the "Cymri,"
is it any wonder we find not only these names sprinkled across Europe,
leading us to the British Isles - but the names of Dan, as well?
One thing is sure: God's
Word shall stand! God's promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were
absolutely unconditional!
Though deprived of their
national inheritance for generations, 10-tribed Israel, finally
arriving in the lands which were to become their perpetual possession,
became, as the centuries passed, the GREATEST of all nations (the British
Empire at its zenith), and the greatest single nation the world
has ever seen, the United States of America!
Seven Times Punishment
Now we come to a fascinating
part of the story; the remarkable fulfillment of God's promises - long
delayed, but nevertheless FULFILLED, to the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob.
Remember, God had warned
Israel that if they did not keep His commandments and His statutes; SEVEN
TIMES national punishment would pass over them! He would punish SEVEN TIMES
for their sins!
Seven "times," meaning seven
prophetic years consists of seven times three hundred sixty days; 2520
days - meaning a time span of two thousand, five hundred and twenty YEARS.
Israel was not removed from
the land all at once. During the reigns of several kings, God sent Assyrian
armies to punish them, hoping the leaders would recognize that it was God's
doing, as His prophets repeatedly warned; that they would turn from their
abominable pagan practices, repent, and turn to God.
Pul, king of Assyria, came
into Samaria against Menahem, king of Israel, and exacted heavy tribute,
yet did not deport slaves, nor occupy the land (II Kings 15:19). Years
later, Pekah was king over Israel and "...did that which was evil in the
sight of the Eternal: he departed not from the sins of Jereboam the son
of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
"In the days of Pekah king
of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbeth-maachah,
and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land
of Naphtali, and carried them captive to Assyria" (II Kings 15:28, 29).
Tiglath-pileser wrote "The
people of the land of Omri [which the Assyrians called 'Bit-Khumri'] I
deported to Assyria, with their property." The year given in Ussher's Chronology
for this deportation is 734 B.C. However, Usshur is off by one year because
of a miscalculation, omitting erroneously the year's duration of the Noachian
Deluge. Subtracting 734 (actually 735) from 2520, we have 1785. However,
when subtracting A.D. from B.C., we must remember there is no year "0";
that we are dealing with both "1 B.C.," and "1 A.D.," each being a year.
Our figures would not allow for the extra single digit, so we must add
one year. Exactly seven times from this major (but not the largest,
nor the final) deportation of Israelitish slaves in 735 B.C. brings us
to 1786, when delegates from five U.S. states asked the Congress to call
a special convention in Philadelphia to write a practical Constitution
for the thirteen states! Only two years earlier, Britain had signed
a peace treaty with the United States.
Obviously, this event; the
signal to write the Constitution, would be a major signpost in the establishment
of some of the peoples of Israel in their own lands. However, the exact
year Tiglath-Pileser conquered major parts of northern Israel is much in
dispute. Kitto says, "Much uncertainty has arisen about the date of his
accession, because he states that he took tribute from Menahem in his eighth
year, which would make it [his accession] B.C. 767 or 768 [received chronology],
whereas it is more likely that it was connected in some way with the change
of events in Babylon that gave rise to the era of Nabonassar, or 747.
"However, as LXX [the Septuagint]
give thereign of Manasseh thirty-five years instead of fifty-five, this
diminution of twenty years would exactly rectify the discrepancy, or else
it is possible that in the said inscription Menahem may be by mistake for
Pekah, since he is joined with Rezin, whom scripture always couples with
Pekah" (A Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, John Kitto, Vol. 1,
p.248, 249).
No matter the precise dates,
and some of them can be determined with precision, the successive waves
of invading Assyrian armies came into northern Israel over a period of
decades; transcended the reigns of several Assyrian kings, and several
Israelitish kings.
Haberman wrote, "The real
captivity of Beth-Sak, the Phoenician name for the 'House of Israel' [Haberman
pointing out correctly that the heathen neighbors of Israel did not use
the names of inspired scripture; but names of their own derivation, such
as those like the "Habiru," "Habiri," or "Abiri" that appear on the Tel-el-Armarna
tablets, obvious corruptions of "Hebrew" and that "Beth-Sak" means "House
of Isaac," even as the term "Saxons," as it eventually came to be used,
connoted "Sons of Saac," or "sons of Isaac."] began in 745 when Tiglath-pileser
came and took large portions of the tribes of Asher, Zebulon, Issachar
and Gad into Assyria, as recorded in II Kings 15:29."
Others subscribe to this
date as well. Using our prophetic figure of 2,520 years, and subtracting
745 from it, remembering to add one year because of 1 B.C. and 1 A.D.,
we have 1776! Is there any American who wonders what happened of any significance
during that year? However, as a caution, let us note that it was not Manasseh
which was included in the captivity imposed by Tiglath-pileser, but
other members of other tribes, albeit a significant number.
A great deal of research
would be required to link key events among various northwestern nations
to the captivity under Tiglath-pileser, 2,520 long years before. However,
remember it is primarily Ephraim and Manasseh; Britain and America, with
whom we are concerned, for dying Jacob (Israel) said, "Let my name be named
on them." The peoples called "The House of Israel" in those specific
biblical prophecies concerning the last days; the time just before and
during the Great Tribulation (called the time of "Jacob's trouble"), are
the peoples of Ephraim and Manasseh!
Haberman also quotes Davidson's
"The Great Pyramid's Prophecy concerning the British Empire and America,"
asserting that, the great pyramid "...has shown that [its] chronology fixed
the 10th of January, 1776 as an epoch-making date in the history of Israel
in America. It was on the 10th of January, 1776, that Thomas Paine published
his pamphlet Common Sense, in which he called upon the people of
the colonies to rebel against the mother land" (Tracing Our White Ancestors,
Haberman, p.176).
I want to make it clear
that I do not believe in pyramidology. I reject the "pyramid inch" as being
an artificially contrived, in-accurate unit of measurement from which to
derive prophetic truth. While I believe there may be some significance
to the pyramid beyond that of an Egyptian tomb; believe its place on the
great seal of the United States may have some significance; that it may
be a border marker for a millennial redisposition of national borders,
I leave all of this to the future, believing it is highly suspect to assign
major events to measurements obtained
long after the events have occurred.
This is not prophecy; it is interpretive archaeology and history. It
is not necessary to grasp at straws to support the facts that America and
Britain are, indeed, the latter-day descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim.
Make no mistake! There were
hundreds of events spanning dozens of years that resulted in the colonizing,
eventual independence, and gradual expansion of the United States. It is
not necessary to fix exact dates, for the entire period during which
such independence and expansion occurred fits very neatly into the
entire
period of the conquering and deportation of the ten tribes of northern
Israel 2,520 long years before.
Let it be plain that many
"interesting sidelights" to the central theme of this book may be presented.
Those interesting points merely elaborate upon, and may give interest,
color, or some slight credence to the overall truth presented. But the
main trunk of the tree is God's irrefutable promise to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob; that Jacob's grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, would eventually
become a "company of nations," and a great single nation; that between
them they would possess the choicest places of earth; possess the gates
of their enemies; that they would multiply as the "stars of heaven" and
the "sand of the seashore."
Now, notice a date which
bears no refutation - a date about which there can be no controversy!
The largest number of Israelites
were removed by Assyrian forces in 718 B.C. This represented the largest
loss of
territory, citizens, and plunder in the successive waves of Assyrian
invasion against the northern ten-tribed House of Israel. It included all
of Ephraim and Manasseh! Exactly seven times, or 2,520 years from 718 B.C.
(adding one year to account for both 1 A.D. and I B.C.) brings us to 1803.
And what occurred of any
significance in 1803?
In 1803, the emperor of
France, Napoleon, in return for bonds, and a cancellation of $3,750,000
in claims of U.S citizens against France, sold all of Louisiana, plus French-held
territories as far north as the Canadian border to the fledgling
nation of the United States of America!
The famous "Louisiana Purchase"
more than doubled the size and territories of the United States!
By the stroke of a pen, the U.S. more than doubled! Strikingly,
this occurred exactly 2,520 years from the time Israel lost the major share
of her national territories!
From the late 1700s
into the early 1800s, as any tyro of history knows, the United States realized
independence; adopted a Constitution and Bill of Rights, successfully concluded
a war of independence from Britain, emerged as a sovereign nation. The
year following the Louisiana Purchase, President Jefferson ordered Lewis
and Clark to explore the entire region from St. Louis to the Pacific northwestern
coast - thus opening the way for the flow of trappers, hunters, traders;
the famous mountain men, who were followed by settlers, miners; a never-ending
flood of emigrants who poured into the vast, unsettled lands of the American
west over the next 100 years.
The Louisiana Purchase and
the Lewis and Clark expedition were catalytic to the exploration and settlement
of the west; absolutely pivotal events which eventually led to the union
of the contiguous 48 states and the emergence of the United States as a
world power.
There may be dozens of isolated
events which led to significant fulfillment of prophecy; events which have
been lost to history. The plain facts are that the northern ten tribes
were dispossessed of their national inheritance in the land of Palestine
over a period of many years, from about 767 B.C. to 718 B.C. They became
intermingled with the fleeing Assyrians as the Babylonian empire forced
them northward. God told Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that their seed would
spread abroad; to all points of the compass, from the land of Palestine!
Wherever one looks, from
the far north to the far south, and in all directions east and west, one
finds the progeny of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The "Northmen" (Norsemen)
of Norway and other Scandinavian countries may well represent Dan, Issachar,
and Naphtali. France, at least the northern portions, appear to represent
Reuben. Incontrovertible evidence links Holland with Zebulon (see
bibliography). "Berith" in Hebrew means "covenant." "Ish" was the name
for Adam in Hebrew. It means, simply, "man.'' Eve was called "Ishshah,"
which means "of man." "Berith-ish," or covenant man, becomes "British";
the people of "Brit" or "Berith."
Haberman says, "The race
that came to Britain was the race of the Angles; not the Anglo-Saxons,
a term only introduced from the continent after the Norman Conquest. The
name given to the country was England, i.e., Angle-land. The church was
Anglican. There were subdivisions named East Saxons, West Saxons, etc.,
but these were merely territorial designations brought by the Angles from
their German localities. 'An inhabitant of Wessex would call himself indifferently
either a West Saxon or an Angle; but none of the Angle kingdom called himself
a Saxon,' writes Major B. de Weldon in his Origin of the English.
"There are very few names
in England connected with the Saxon name; most of the Saxons remained in
Germany, northern France, Switzerland, and Scandinavia, where their descendants
still are. The term of Saxon belongs to the whole house of Israel, for,
'in Isaac shall thy seed be called [named],' Scripture tells us in Genesis
21:12 and Romans 9:7. They were to be called the 'sons of Isaac,' and have
been so through the centuries, the Beth-Sak, Saki, Sacae, Sakasani, Saxones,
Sachsen, and Saxons. All the Angles were Saxons and so were the Danites,
Catti, Getai or Goths, and even the Brits; but it was the Angles who gave
England her name, in the same way that the covenant race, the Barats or
Brits previously gave Britain her name (Tracing Our White Ancestors,
Frederick Haberman, 1934, p.143).
The British Isles, Norway,
Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland - all represent
major portions of the tribes of Dan, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Zebulon,
Issachar and Ephraim, with those of Simeon, Levi and Judah interspersed
among them.
As an aside, it might be
interesting to determine the origin of the word "Angle." As I have pointed
out, the northern kingdom of Israel began under the worship of golden
calves; idols symbolizing cherubim; the calf of an ox. Exactly as did
Aaron during Moses' absence to receive the law, Jereboam set up idols approximating
the familiar representations of the "host of heaven."
The calf of an ox was familiar
to the Israelites, being the "god" of many surrounding heathen nations.
This blatant idolatry led God to send His prophets repeatedly with condemnations
of Israel's idolatry, Sabbath-breaking, and ignoring of His annual Sabbaths.
Hosea said, "Thy calf, 0 Samaria [the capital of northern Israel;
the ten tribes] hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them:
how long will it be ere they attain to innocency? For from Israel was it
also: the workman made it; therefore it is not God; but the calf of Samaria
shall be broken in pieces" (Hosea 8:5,6).
The Hebrew word for calf
is "Egle" or "Engel." Professor Waddell in his book Aryan Origin says
that in the Gothic Runes the letter "A" is pronounced asa or ace,
meaning "the one," or "the first one," which may explain why the "Ace"
is the first in a pack of playing cards. Our English letter "A" is derived
from the Phoenician letter aleph, which means bull. Originally,
it lay on its side, representing the horns of a bull; referring to the
fall equinox in Taurus the Bull, at which time Creation took place.
Is there any significance
to the reference to Britain as "John Bull," or that they became world renowned
as breeders of the finest of cattle; that Moses prophesied of Ephraim,
"His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like
the horns of unicorns: 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 33:17).
Often, the heathen neighbors
of various nations referred to them according to their gods, or religion.
Thus, the worshipers of the "Agels" or "Angle" became the "Angles," pronounced
and spelled variously, according to the tongue extant among those tribes
in the vast, mountainous areas through which the ever-westward wandering
covenant people went.
Over a period of centuries,
God guided the peoples of His promises unerringly to their ultimate possessions,
prophesied to be at the four points of the compass; all the corners of
the earth.
To the far South, one finds
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the many possessions of Britain
for which she fought so hard - as recently as the Falkland Islands war!
The most recently-settled part of the earth was the American West. And
so, exactly as God had promised, Israelitish tribes were finally settled
around the world to the North, and the South, and the East, and
the West. God had destroyed the original inheritors of the promised land
for their horrible national and personal sins; Sabbath-breaking and idolatry
prominent among them.
Seven biblical times passed
over their wandering descendants.
Finally, God's time had
come to fulfill His promise to Abraham, for his seed to inherit lands in
all points of the compass; to become "as the sand of the seashore" and
as "the stars of heaven." They were to "inherit the gates of those that
hate them," and "possess the gates of their enemies."
Into the 19th and 20th centuries,
Britain and America became the greatest powers the world had ever seen.
Between them, they possessed ALL the strategic land and sea gates that
controlled world trade; that proved strategically decisive in two global
wars!
Israel was removed by successive
waves of invading Assyrian armies over a span of many years involving the
reigns of several different kings. God continually sent His prophetic warnings
concerning their abominable national and personal sins; all to no avail.
One king after another persisted in the same sins of Jereboam: the worship
of Asherah, which were symbols of the "host of heaven," including cherubim,
and abandoning God's feast days for a substitute feast in the eighth month.
As a mirror image, Israel
inherited her national blessings over a span of a number of years, in many
significant instances achieving large-scale conquests or receiving massive
increments of land exactly seven biblical times from being dispossessed
thus fulfilling the unconditional promises to Abraham.
Who Were the Original Europeans?
Curiously enough, when one
studies the origins of the peoples of Belgium, France, the Netherlands,
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany and England, one continually comes across
the same peoples as having been among the earliest known inhabitants
of all these countries.
For centuries, there was
no political distinction, no specific geographic distribution of the peoples
who inhabited the river valleys and plains of Europe and the British Isles.
They were merely the "Keltoi" (Celts), or "Teutons," or "Gauls," or "Saxons,"
or "Gimri," or "Cimmerians." As the centuries passed, languages changed
significantly. New dialects arose and faded from use; whole new tongues
gradually developed.
By studying both the history
of the peoples and their languages, as well as their art forms and especially
their religions, one can come to a better understanding of the commonality
of the origins of most northwestern Europeans.
The most ancient records
extant speak of the peoples inhabiting northwestern Europe and the British
Isles as the "Celts."
Who were the "Celts"?
The Encyclopedia Britannica
replies, "CELT, or KELT, the generic name of an ancient people, the
bulk of whom inhabited the central and western parts of Europe... the
ancient writers regarded as homogeneous all the fair-haired peoples
dwelling north of the Alps, the Greeks terming them all Keltoi.
Physically they fall into two loosely-divided groups, which shade off
into each other. The first of these is restricted to northwestern
Europe, having its chief seat in Scandinavia... Those are the peoples usually
termed Teutonic by modem writers. The other group [of "Celtic" peoples]
is marked by a round head, a broad face, a nose often rather broad and
heavy, hazel-grey eyes, light chestnut hair; they are thick-set and of
medium height. This race is often termed "Celtic" or "Alpine" from the
fact of its occurrence all along the great mountain chain from southwest
France, in Savoy, in Switzerland... [and] is commonly supposed to be Mongoloid
in origin and to have come from Asia, the home of the round-skulled
races" (Ibid. vol. V. p.611, 612).
Notice carefully that the
so-called "Celtic" peoples came from Asia, and that it is admitted
they were not of just one tribal origin. Remember that the Babylonian empire
drove out the Assyrians (whose main tribal group were the "Halmanni," from
whence comes "Aleman," which is the Latin root for "German.") along with
their former captives, ten-tribed Israel! These mixed peoples spread out
into Europe from the region of the steppes of Russia; the Crimean (Gimrian,
or "Khumrian," from "Bit-Khumri") Peninsula, and along the Danube valley
("River of Dan") into Europe.
The ancient historians regarded
the peoples occupying the river valleys of the Danube; the mountains of
Switzerland and Bavaria; the broad plains of northern Germany and the coastlands
of the northwest as "Ke1toi"; as "homogeneous," meaning - the same peoples!
Remember the ancient Assyrians
called the captive peoples of ten-tribed Israel after their famous king,
"Omri," making it
"Khumri," in their own tongue. These peoples are found
throughout the region from the Black and Caspian sea; the Crimean (Khimbrian)
peninsula; central Europe along the Don, Udon and Danube rivers, to northwestern
Europe and the British Isles! The "K" sound became silent, or the harsh
"H" sound, in some cases. Today, we find the "Humber" estuary on the East
coast of England; draining two important rivers. "Northumberland" is merely
the land of the north "Humbers," or "Khumbris." One finds similar clues
in place-names all over Britain, including "Cambria" and "Cambridge."
The "Gauls" gave their name
to much of France, and even to far away "Galatia," in Asia Minor, a region
to which the apostle Paul directed one of his letters; to the churches
of Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Even today, France is sometimes called "Gaul,"
and who does not remember its famous post-war President, Charles deGaul,
or Charles, of Gaul? The westward migrations of the ten-tribed Israelites
did not necessarily continue incessantly westward over the centuries, for
there were regional wars, conquests, long periods of time when some of
these peoples pushed back southward and eastward, coming into contact with
the Romans in northern Italy; with the Greeks and Macedonians.
Notice the admission of
history, "Ancient writers spoke of all these Gauls as Cimbri [Khumbri,
Gimry, Cimmeria, Cimmerians, etc.], and identified them with the Cimmerians
of earlier date, who in Homeric times dwelt on the ocean next to the Laestrygones,
in a region of wintry gloom, but where the sun set not in summer" (Ibid.
vol. V. P. 612). In other words, to the far north, where the days
were very long in summer, and the winters very dark.
The same source says, "They
passed eastward to the Danube mouth and into southern Russia, as far as
the Sea of Azov, mingling with the Scythians, as is proved by the name
Celtosyths... the Celts had continuallymoved westward also. The
Belgae, who were Cimbric in origin, had spread across the Rhine
and given their name to all northern France and Belgium. Many of these
tribes sent colonies over into southeastern Britain, where they
had been masters for some two centuries [as long as the United States
has been a nation] when Caesar invaded the island" (Ibid. vol. v. p. 612,
emphasis mine).
There are other clues as
to the origin of the peoples who settled the northwestern European nations
and Scandinavia, not the least of which is philological. Julius Caesar
observed there was little difference between the speech of the Gauls and
the Britons in his day. Jerome says the speech of the Galatians in Asia
Minor bore a strong resemblance to the speech he heard in the neighborhood
of Trier.
Trier is one of the most ancient cities in Europe, in
Germany. It was the favorite residence of Constantine, and derived its
name from the most powerful peoples among the "Belgae," who have been proved
to be the "Celts," or those mixed peoples who inhabited Europe from several
centuries before Christ. Julius Caesar conquered the "Treviri," a tribe
of the "Belgae" in 54 B.C. Some have attempted to show that these "Belgae"
were of Germanic origin, but the Encyclopedia Britannica says, "...although
they were doubtless subject to German influences, they spoke a Celtic
language" (Ibid. vol. 27, p.268, emphasis mine). As the most important
city in Germany for a long time, Trier became the capital of "Belga Prima"
during the reign of emperor Diocletian, who also named it the seat of the
Diocese of "all of Gaul," which later included "Gaul" (France and part
of Germany), England, and Spain.
The foremost authorities
on the origin of European languages admit to a commonality among them;
especially the tongues of the northwestern European river valleys. The
earliest Roman writers found a number of tribes west and south of the Rhine
who "...belonged to a non-Germanic race, and who, closely related to the
Belgian tribes (the Belgae, Goths and Visigoths), spoke a language belonging
to the Celtic group... we do not know anything about their being mixed
with or subdued by the intruding German tribes. We can only guess it" (Encyclopedia
Britannica, vol. 8, p.717, article "Dutch language").
Like most European nations,
true written histories do not commence until about the 8th or 9th centuries.
Beyond that, one is left with the writings of the earliest travelers to
those regions, such as Pliny, Strabo, Herodotus, Julius Caesar, and others.
Of Danish history, it is admitted Pliny is the most ancient contributor.
"Our earliest knowledge of Denmark is derived from Pliny, who speaks of
three islands named 'Skandiai,' a name which is also applied to Sweden.
He says nothing about the inhabitants of these islands, but tells us more
about the Jutish peninsula [named after the 'Jutes,' or Jewish emigrants
following their captivity under Sennacherib [II Kings 18:13], or Cimbric
Cheronese as he calls it. He places the Saxons on the neck [of the
Jutish peninsula]" (Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 8, p.28, article
"Denmark").
Notice again the name "Cimbric,"
derived from the ancient Assyrian "Bit-Khumri" for "House of Omri." Time
and time again,
the ancient writers tell
us of mingled peoples called "Jutes" (Jews), "Cimbri" (from Omri, a king
of ten-tribed Israel), "Saxons" (from "Sons of Saac," or Isaac), and the
"Teutons" (from the Roman word for 'spear man"), who inhabited northwestern
Europe. Remember the practice of the Danites, half of whom lived "in ships,"
of naming lands, rivers, significant topographical and geographical sites
after their progenitor? Listen to what the Encyclopedia Britannica (11th
edition) says about the origin of the name for "Denmark" (spelled and pronounced
"Danmark" by the Danes): "Jutland was acquired by Dan, the eponymous
ancestor of the Danes!" (Ibid. p.28, emphasis mine).
Many myths have been perpetrated
concerning the earliest Scandinavians. It is commonly believed the "vikings"
were a race of warriors who were the inhabitants of much of the western
Scandinavian area, and who settled Iceland and Greenland. But the term
"viking" was not an ethnic term at all. "During the saga age (900-1050),
in the beginning of Norse literature, vikingr
is not as a rule used
to designate any class of men" (Encyclopedia Britannica,
vol. 28,
p.62).
The vikings were so-called
because of raids carried out by pirates against the "Christian" countries
of England, Scotland and Ireland during the Frankish empire. "The word
'viking' in the sense in which it is used today, is derived from the Icelandic
(Old Norse) vikingr, signifying simply a sea-rover or pirate...
the reason for using 'viking' in a more generic sense than is warranted
by the actual employment of the word in Old Norse literature rests on the
fact that we have no other word by which to designate the early Scandinavian
pirates of the 9th and beginning of the 10th century" (Ibid. p. 62-63).
The peoples of Scandinavia
are most likely the peoples of Issachar, Dan, and Naphtali.
Now, what of the Islands
called "Britannia"? Of the name it is admitted, "The Greek and Roman forms
[of Britain, Britannia, etc.,] are doubtless attempts to reproduce a Celtic
original, the exact form of which is still a matter of dispute. Brittany
[Fr. Bretagne] in western France derived its name from Britain owing
to migrations in the 5th and 6th century A. D. The personification of Britannia
as a female figure may be traced back as far as the coins of Hadrian..."
(Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 4 p.583).
It has been suggested by
enthusiastic supporters of the "AngloIsraelitish theory'' as some call
it, that ''British" is really nothing more than "Berith-ish," "Berith"
meaning "covenant" in Hebrew, and "ish" meaning man; hence, "covenant-man."
This is difficult to prove beyond reasonable doubt, and remains an open
question. It is not necessary to grasp at straws to demonstrate the veracity
of God's promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, nor is it difficult to
establish beyond the shadow of a doubt that the peoples who were among
the earliest known inhabitants of northwestern Europe and the British Isles
bore the names, even if somewhat altered by enemies, neighbors, and linguistic
changes, of ancient ten-tribed Israel and its forebears. Actually, the
authorities admit they do not know the actual origin of the term "Brithon"
for the earliest peoples who inhabited England, so the matter remains conjecture.
As to pre-Roman Britain,
the same source admits, "Geologists are not yet agreed when and by whom
Britain was first peopled" (Ibid., p. 5S3).
It is admitted that the
first real evidence of Britain's earliest in-habitants begin with the two
Celtic invasions; with the arrival of the Belgae and the "Brythons." These
peoples lived under a tribal system, governed by royal princes; they
gathered in walled cities, made of earth or stone, with forts built atop
the hills. This was the custom in ancient Palestine.
Their religion was Druidic,
which was a mystical, magical order of "priests" who practiced barbarous
rites, including human sacrifice. Who were the Druids? From when
did they come? What is the origin of their religion? Can we derive any
tangible clues as to the ancient origins of the earliest inhabitants of
Britain from their religion?
The Druids-Magicians and Astrologers
The Druids were a caste of
erudite, learned men who were regarded as the most gifted and powerful
teachers, physicians, astrologers, judges, soothsayers and magicians among
the peoples of pre-Christian Europe and England.
It is admitted they were
"Celtic" in origin. They worshipped in groves of oak trees; erected
stone monuments; altars and/or astronomical observatories (as Stonehenge
is alleged to be, although it is admitted Stonehenge may have been built
by pre-Druidic peoples), claimed to possess magical powers, and practiced
human sacrifice.
>From the time of Pliny
the elder, the term "Druid" was said to have been etymologically derived
from the Greek word for "oak." Huge groves of oak trees figured prominently
in their worship. They resorted to such groves for magical rites and prayers,
and regarded them as sacred places.
Another etymological derivation
of the name suggests it came from ancient Gaulish and Irish, and meant
"very knowing," or "wise." It is used in the Irish annals as "Magi."
Though the information contained
in the following lengthy quotation from Julius Caesar is considered but
recent in Druidic history, for they are said to have been in Gaul and Britain
for as long as several hundred years before Christ, it is nevertheless
significant, and is quoted by all histories and encyclopedias as a primary
source:
Caesar wrote, "They attend
to divine worship, perform public and private sacrifices, and expound matters
of religion. A great number of youths are gathered round them for the sake
of education and they enjoy the highest honor in that nation, for nearly
all public and private quarrels come under their jurisdiction, and when
any crime has been committed, when a murder has been perpetrated, when
a controversy arises about a legacy or about landmarks, they are the judges,
too. They fix rewards and punishments; and should anyone, a private individual
or a public man, disobey their decrees, then they exclude him from the
sacrifices. This is with them the severest punishment. The persons who
are thus laid under interdict are regarded as impious and wicked people...
All these Druids have one chief, who enjoys the highest authority among
them...The Druids take no part in warfare; nor do they pay taxes like the
rest of the people; they are exempt from military service and from all
public burdens..." (Julius Caesar approx. A.D. 54).
Where did the Druids learn
of this concept of a priesthood; a powerful class of leaders who were arbiters
in disputes, and who practiced augury, soothsaying, magic arts, claimed
the gift of prophecy, and had the power to excommunicate anyone who disobeyed
their decrees? We shall see.
"Besides being priests and
teachers of religion the Druids appear also to have been adept astrologers
and magicians, and were versed in the mysterious powers of animals and
plants; the oak tree, the mistletoe when growing on the oak... their mysterious
rites were usually performed in the depths of oak forests..." (Encyclopedia
Americana, vol. 9, p.350-351).
Not so surprisingly, the
Druids are linked to the "Magus" or the "Magi" of ancient history. Notice,
"The Irish Druids seem to have had a peculiar tonsure. The word drui
is always used to render the Latin magus, and in one passage
St. Columba speaks of Christ as his Druid" (Encyclopedia Britannica,
vol. 8. p.598, some emphasis mine).
The Catholic Encyclopedia
says, "The etymology of this word [Druid] from the Greek 'oak' has
been a favorite one since the time of Pliny the Elder; according
to this the Druids would be the priests of the god or gods identified with
the oak" (vol. V. p.162).
Why the oak? What is significant
about priests worshipping beneath groves of oak trees? And what about the
claim of being "wise men," or "magi," meaning, "magicians"? The same source
says, "...it is clear that there were the most striking resemblances between
the Druids of Ireland and those of Gaul [France]. In both lands they appear
as magicians, diviners, physicians, and teachers, and not as the representatives
of a certain religion... in the earliest Christian literature of Ireland
the Druids are represented as the bitterest opponents of Christianity,
but even the Christians of the time seem to have believed in their supernatural
power of prophecy and magic" (Ibid. vol. 5, p. 164).
Speaking of the Celts of
England, the Encyclopedia Britannica says, "In religion, the chief
feature was the priesthood of the Druids, who here, as in Gaul, practised
magical arts and barbarous rites of human sacrifice, taught a secret lore,
wielded great influence..." (vol. 4, p. 583).
How did these peoples -
the mixed peoples of ancient Israelitish and Assyrian parentage who gradually
occupied western and northwestern Europe, Scandinavia and the British Isles,
come to have a "priesthood" who worshipped in groves of oaks; who practiced
magic and soothsaying, divining and prophecy, and who were exempt from
taxes and military service?
Though referred to as a
"priestly caste," they were not born to the office, but aspired to it because
of its obvious benefits; power over the people, and money. "...Caesar's
account is as follows: On those who refused to submit to their decisions
[they were the judges of their societies] they had the power of inflicting
severe penalties.. .as they were not an hereditary caste and enjoyed
exemption from service in the field [military] as well as from payment
of taxes, admission in the order was eagerly sought after by the
youth of Gaul" (Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 8, p.597).
As we have seen, when Jereboam
revolted against Solomon's son, Rehoboam, he turned to idolatry, changed
God's annual Feast of Tabernacles into a different feast, held in the eighth
month, in order to keep the northern ten-tribed Israel from making annual
pilgrimages to the temple in Jerusalem. Calf worship was a natural for
them, for it was commonplace among their neighbors, who worshipped some
of the "host of heaven." The first idol Israel set up was a golden image
of the calf of an ox, or representation of a Cherub, under Aaron.
At the giving of the law at Sinai, God had said, "Take ye therefore good
heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that
the Eternal spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: lest
ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any
figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that
is on the earth...and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and
when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host
of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them,... take
heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Eternal your God,
which He made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of
any thing, which the Eternal thy God hath forbidden thee" (Deuteronomy
4:14-24).
God's Word shows there are
innumerable "hosts" in the spirit world, also referred to as the "host
of heaven"; they include the twenty-four "elders" seen about God's throne,
the cherubim and seraphim, or the "living creatures," seen by Ezekiel (Ezekiel
I and 10) as well as countless angels. Only three archangels are
mentioned by name in the Bible: Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. Lucifer
was one of the original exalted archangels who became corrupted, rebelled
against God, taking his one-third of the angels with him in his rebellion
(Revelation 12:4-9; Luke 10:18; Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28). He was originally
called "the anointed cherub that covereth" (Ezekiel 28:14).
As we learn in Ezekiel 1
and elsewhere, each cherub had four distinct visages; each appeared as
if four separate creatures. They appeared as a man, a lion, an eagle, and
an ox. Everywhere in ancient mythology; in the altars, religious inscriptions,
statuary and icons, and in the writings of the pagan nations of the near
and middle east, one finds the worship of these four faces of the cherubim.
How did it all start?
Remember, God placed two
cherubim to protect the way into the garden of Eden after Adam and
Eve were expelled. For approximately one-sixth of all human history, those
creatures guarded the way to the garden, frightening any who would venture
too close. When the Israelites were told to decorate the tapestries of
the ancient tabernacle with "cherubim," Moses was given no instructions
whatsoever concerning their visage. He already knew what they looked
like. How many times, over a period of one thousand long years, generation
after generation from the time of Adam, had sojourners, wayfarers, wanderers,
attempted to enter the region where the garden of Eden was being preserved?
After all, we are told God did not destroy it when Adam was expelled, but
preserved it, guarded it with cherubim! It would not have been destroyed
until the Noachian deluge!
An important principle to
remember is that as tribal groups became scattered, more widely dispersed,
knowledge suffered! The arts, sciences, literature, knowledge; these
are found only among large concentrations of peoples in civilized groups.
Some ancient mythology no doubt began as true stories, told innumerable
times around the evening fires of scattered peoples. How many tales are
there about dragons, huge beasts, giants and the like, who guard castles
on remote precipices which are filled with inestimable treasures? What
about Jack and the Beanstalk; Jack and the Giant Killer, St. George and
the Dragon, and so many more? Are not these but modern versions of ancient
myths - some of which may have originated with the tales of sojourners
who had been turned away from the entrance to Eden by a roaring cherub,
which may have appeared as a many-visaged beast, or a fire-breathing dragon?
The characterizations of
these creatures are found everywhere in ancient mythology. The Sphinx of
Egypt is a man-headed lion. The winged bulls on Sargon's palace walls;
at the gates of ancient Assyrian and Babylonian temples and public buildings,
feature the head of an Assyrian king, the body of a huge bull, the wings
of an eagle, and the claws of a lion. Sometimes, the entire bull is featured,
and sometimes the lion, or the eagle, or the man. Man is supreme among
all creatures on earth. The lion is called the "king of beasts" and has
no natural enemies save man. The eagle is the absolute king of the skies.
The ox is the largest, most useful of all domesticated cattle.
Ancient Egyptian monuments
show many characterizations of mythological creatures which contain two
or more features of the cherubim. When Aaron made a golden calf for the
Israelites to worship, he did so because he was completely familiar with
the calf-worship of the Egyptians; the worship of one of the four faces
of the cherubim, the ox. Even today, the worship of domestic cattle
is extant in one of the most populous nations on earth, India.
When Jereboam revolted,
he "...said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the House of
David: if this people go up to do sacrifice in the House of the
Eternal in Jerusalem then shall the heart of this people turn again unto
their lord, even Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go
again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
"Whereupon the king took
counsel, and made
two calves of gold [Oxen! A representation of
cherubim!], and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem:
behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And he set the one in Bethel [House of God], and the other put he in Dan
[renamed by the Danites from Laish]. And this thing became a sin: for
the people went to worship... and he made an house of high places, and
made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons
of Levi" (I Kings 12:26-31).
Jereboam's "priests" were
volunteers.
"After this thing Jereboam returned not from his evil
way, but made again the lowest of the peopIe priests of the high
places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests
of the high places" (I Kings 13:33).
One of the most enduring
of all sociological phenomena is religion! Languages may change, customs,
habits; people may emigrate from one place to another, but religion
has a habit of enduring. Look at the ancient histories of Japan, China,
India! See how their religions have endured for thousands of years.
It is not in the least surprising
that the ancient writers found a caste of priests holding power and influence
over the earliest, pre-Christian inhabitants of northwestern Europe and
the British Isles who were volunteers,
and not of any specific ethnic
or tribal origin; who worshipped the symbols of the bull
(Taurus);
whose chieftains wore the horns of a bull (many archaeological finds substantiate
this - the "vikings" used such, and it was common among ancient Celts);
who worshipped in "groves" (asherah); who practiced the mysterious rites
of the ancient Babylonish mystery religion!
"It is therefore not surprising
that the people of Odin, the Asa, or Angles, should in their homeland in
Ariana, in Asaland and also in North Germany, wear the horns of a bull
as their headdress, either brazen helmets having the ears and horns of
an ox or else actually wear the horns of one, as shown on pictures of Odin
and his Asa or Angli" (Tracing our White Ancestors, Haberman, p.135).
Now, what were the "high
places"?
When God sent the twelve
tribes of Israel into the promised land, He knew they would encounter many
pagan groups, including Perizzites, Jebusites, Hivites, Hittites, Phoenicians
(Philistines) and Canaanites, among others. These peoples traditionally
worshipped the signs of the seasons, astrological phenomena, animals and
birds, symbols of the "host of heaven," such as cherubim, and especially
phallic symbols, and other symbols of sex, fertility, and reproduction.
The Hittites burnt children to "Chemosh," and "Baal" worship was prevalent
among the Canaanites.
God warned Israel, "Ye shall
utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess
served their gods, upon the high mountains, [an "high place"] and upon
the hills, and under every green tree [it was their custom to gather
amidst "groves" of trees]: and ye shall overthrow their altars, and break
their pillars [upright columns of stone, or wood; sometimes, the trunks
of trees left rooted in the ground, stripped of branches, and carved, representing
phallic symbols], and burn their groves [they worshipped in oak
groves!] with fire; and ye shall hew down [as in cutting down a tree trunk!]
the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that
place" (Deuteronomy 12:2, 3).
Jereboam built "high places."
Throughout the idolatrous reigns of many kings of Israel, the issue of
the "high places" was continually brought before them by God's prophets,
who condemned this idolatrous practice, and, with it, the practice of worshipping
in groves of trees, called "asherim." A single upright pale, or tree, was
an "asherah," coming from "ashtoreth," which was "astarte" (silent "te"
on the end of the word), among the Babylonians. The trappings of sex, fecundity
and fertility were rife among the ancient middle-eastern peoples, and featured
the symbols of the original goddess of the Babylonish mystery religion,
Simiramus (Semurammut), the mother-wife of Nimrod, founder of ancient Babylonian
cities. She was "Ishtar" (astarte, ashtoreth), pronounced "Easter," to
the peoples of the entire region. The origin of the yule log is wrapped
up in the pagan mythology of Nimrod's death and "resurrection" characterized
by a fallen tree trunk, from which, according to pagan tradition, sprang
up, overnight, a little green tree - an evergreen, which symbolized the
risen Nimrod. Symbols of the egg (as in the orbs, bulbs, egg-shaped ornaments
on "Christmas trees") were worshipped as symbols of life. The lily was
seen as a picture of the act of copulation, and revered by the pagans as
a sign of reproduction.
Speaking of the many "high
places" and "groves" in ancient Israel, Kitto says, "The system set up
by Jereboam was partly an imitation of the national religion, partly of
the idolatry of Egypt and Canaan. From this time we find the high places
yet remained in use, the people still sacrificing and burning incense at
them. It is said of Asa that he took away the high places [2 Chron. xiv.
5], but it appears that this reform was not successfully accomplished,
at least in Israel [xv 17; I Kings vx. 14], of which he held cities [2
Chron. xv. 8; xvii. 2]. Jehosaphat, again, is said to have taken away 'the
high places and the grove out of Judah' [ver. 6, comp. xix. 3]; but it
seems that he was not fully successful, for we read in a later place that
'the high places were not taken away' [I Kings xxii. 43] (Cyclopedia
of Biblical Literature, Kitto, vol. II p 301, 302).
And what were the "groves"?
The word in Hebrew is "asherah." Kitto says, "The word asherah and its
plural [asherim] [is] rendered in the A.V. [and is] constantly mentioned
with high places. At first sight the common LXX [Septuagint] rendering,
followed by our version, seems to carry conviction with it, from the connection
of high places with worship under the trees, and the prevelance of nature-worship
in Palestine; but a closer examination shows something of the character
of an image must be intended" (Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, Kitto,
vol. 11, p. 302).
Kitto also says, "It must
be remembered that the grove is constantly connected with Baal" (Ibid.
p.302).
The authorities connect
"ashtoreth" with the "asherah," or groves of the ancient Israelites. Solomon,
when he became an old man, left the worship of the true God and worshipped
the gods of his many concubines and wives. God said, "For it came to pass,
when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other
gods; and his heart was not perfect with the Eternal his God, as was the
heart of David, his father.
"For Solomon went after
Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination
of the Ammonites...then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh,
the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem and for Molech,
the abomination of the children of Ammon" (I Kings 11:4-7). And who would
have been on the scene - perhaps instrumental in carrying out the instructions
to the builders, the artificers, stone masons, craftsmen, and casters of
metals and hewers of wood? Jereboam! Jereboam was Solomon's most loyal
and trusted servant; the one to whom the northern ten tribes were given!
Was it any wonder Jereboam set up high places; groves, asherah, and a low-level
caste of priests who adopted the idolatrous rites of the pagans around
them?
The ancient priests of the
Babylonian mysteries were astrologers, as were the "Magi," like,
Simon, the Magus, who tried to purchase an apostleship from Peter (Acts,
8th chapter). Ashtoreth was the "queen of heaven" mentioned in Jeremiah
7:18! Notice, "Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in
the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle
the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen
of heaven [Simiramus, Isis], and to pour out drink offerings unto other
gods, that they may provoke me to anger."
The cakes they made contained
a symbol of the sun, formed by an X, like the solar wheel worshipped by
Constantine. Among the Teutons of medieval times, these cakes were called
after the symbol of "Taurus" the bull, and were called "bous," or "boun,"
for "bull." The word "boun" is the origin of our English word for "bun,"
and is seen today in "hot-cross buns," baked and eaten on the day of "Ishtar"
(pronounced "Easter" today, as then), in honor of the queen of heaven,
whose symbols were fecundity and sexuality, like rabbits, eggs, and the
lily. Since the Druids believed in the immortality of the soul, it was
an easy transition from Druidism to so-called "Christianity," especially
when the newly-arriving "Christians" in Britain and northern France observed
the days of the pagan Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, such as
the winter solstice (the "Brumalia" of the Romans, and "Saturnalia" of
the Greeks, on December 25th), with their traditional trees, commemorating
Nimrod's "resurrection," yule logs, orbs and bulbs symbolizing eggs, and
sexual reproduction, and especially the mistletoe,
which was such
an important feature of Druidism; that they also worshipped on "Ishtar,"
at the Vernal Equinox, as a symbol of new life springing forth; baked cakes
to the queen of heaven, used eggs, decorated with serpents, symbols of
Taurus the bull, and in all cases observed customs familiar to the pagan
Druids.
For centuries, the peoples
of the lost ten tribes had retained the pagan religion of their forbears,
complete with "volunteer" priesthood, worship in groves of trees and on
high places; human sacrifice, astrological and magical rites, and the annual
festivals associated with the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians.
The Druids were worshipping
Ashtoreth, just as their forbears had done! Kitto says, "Ashtoreth
is the name of a goddess of the Sidonians (I Kings xi. 5, 33), and also
of the Philistines (1 Sam. xxxi. 10), whose worship was introduced among
the Israelites during the period of the judges (Judges ii. 13; I Sam. vii.
4), was celebrated by Solomon himself (I Kings xi; 5), and was finally
put down by Josiah (2 Kings xxiii. 13). [A king of Judah, long after the
northern ten-tribed Israelitish nation had gone into captivity.] She is
frequently mentioned in connection with Baal, as the corresponding female
divinity (Judges ii. 13); and, from the addition of the words, 'and all
the host of heaven,' in 2 Kings xxiii. 4 (although Asherah occurs there,
and not Ashtoreth)... it is probably that she represented one of the celestial
bodies. There is also reason to believe that she is meant by the 'queen
of heaven,' in Jer. vii. 18; xliv. 17; whose worship is there said to have
been solemnized by burning incense, pouring libations, and offering cakes"
(Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, vol. 1, p.242, 243, article
"Ashtoreth").
Speaking of the worship
of reproduction in connection with this pagan goddess, Kitto says, "As
for the power of nature, which was worshipped under the name of Ashtoreth,
Creuzer and Munter assert that it was the principle of conception and parturition
- that subordinate power which is fecunded by a superior influence, but
which is the agent of all births throughout the universe...Ashtoreth was
worshipped as the moon, and the transition from that to the planet
Venus (which we will immediately notice) was unquestionably an innovation
of a later date. It is evident that the moon alone cannot be properly called
the queen of heaven; as also that the dependent relation of the moon to
the sun makes it a more appropriate symbol of that sex, whose function
as female and mother, throughout the whole extent of animated nature, were
embodied in Ashtoreth [BAAL].
"The rites of her worship...
in part agree with the few indications in the Old Test., in part complete
the brief notices there into an accordant picture. The cakes mentioned
in Jer. vii. 18, which are called in Hebrew Kavvanim, were also
known to the Greeks... and were made by them in the shape of a sickle,
[to this day, one of the most popular French breads is the 'croissant,'
or 'crescent,' keeping alive this ancient practice] in reference to the
new moon... The most prominent part of her worship... consisted of those
libidinous orgies, which Augustine, who was an eye witness of their horrors
in Carthage, describes with such indignation... In Canaan she was probably
represented as a cow. In Phoenicia she had the head of a cow or
a bull, as is seen on coins. Sanchoniathon states that 'Astarte adopted
the head of a bull as a symbol of her sovereignty'; he also accounts for
the star (Cyclopedia of Biblical literature, Kitto, vol.
1, p.242).
Not so strangely, the Druids
of Britain retained some of the practices of the ancient Levitical priesthood.
For example, they constructed altars (these are found in great abundance
all over Britain, Ireland, and northwestern Europe) of unhewn stone,
because according to Druidic law, no axe could touch a stone intended
for an altar of sacrifice. Why? Where did this prohibition originate?
Notice, "If thou wilt make
me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou
lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go
up by steps unto mine altar..." (Exodus 20:25, 26).
The best-remembered practice
of the Levites was the ritual of sacrificing animals as a picture of the
need for the shedding of blood to atone for sin. The Druids practiced the
same thing! Remember, the ancient Passover included animal sacrifice, as
well as a feast featuring bread and wine. Is it so strange that the Druids
of ancient Gaul (France) and England practiced nearly identical
rituals?
Study the histories of the
northwestern European nations, and you will find again and again an admission
of ignorance on the part of the foremost authorities as to the actual origin
of the earliest waves of settlers who were called "Teutonic," or "Brythonic,"
or the "Belgae," the "Gauls" and the "Celts."
Notice! "As to the origins
of this stock [the earliest inhabitants of France] we are again in complete
ignorance and it would be idle to linger upon the many conjectures of migrations
of an 'Aryan race'" Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 11, p.718).
However, again and again
the admission is made of a commonality of religion! "The inhabitants
of Gaul had in common from the earliest times a national character and
a religion..." (Ibid. p.718).
This same authority says,
of the dogmas of the Druids of ancient France, "Among these dogmas...[was]
the necessity for sacrifice, and, presumably, a universal God... a sacrament
of bread and wine distinguished this cult, and a ritual holiness
attached to certain objects and shrines, as the mistletoe among vegetables
and the Grotto of Chartres among places" (Ibid. p.718, emphasis mine).
Please remember that any
one due as to the identity of the nations of northwestern Europe,
the British Isles and the Commonwealth, and the United States of America,
when isolated and studied by itself could hardly be said to be conclusive.
Remember, the real trunk of the tree is God's infallible promises
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the promise He made to David that of his
seed there would not fail one to sit upon the throne that is to be Christ's
at His coming. However, when dozens of historical facts; facts from philology,
ethnology, archaeology, history, and from religious history as well, form
a positive picture which lead unerringly to the same conclusions, then
those facts deserve careful study, not contemptuous dismissal.
The Druids wore priestly
garments; the high priest wore a breastplate, exactly as did the ancient
Levitical priests. After all, Jereboam's selected and volunteer priesthood
was merely a counterfeit, standing in place of the Levites.
And what of the Levites
who were so dispossessed? It is perfectly logical that any number of them
would have striven to attain to the new, counterfeit priesthood. Jereboam
wished to interdict those Levites who would insist upon the worship of
the true God, Yahweh, Yaveh, or Jehovah, as His name may have been pronounced,
and who would insist on worshipping on His prescribed festivals, where
He had placed His name, in Jerusalem. Any of the Levites who abandoned
these tenets, and who joined the ranks of the volunteers for the priesthood
would have been admitted, without a doubt.
British historians have
been struck by the amazing similarity between Druidism and the rituals
of the Levitical priesthood of ancient Israel. "Many other authorities
have noted the resemblance between the Druidic religion and that of the
Old Testament. To quote Charles Hulbert, a noted British scholar: 'So near
is the resemblance between the Druidic religion of Britain and the patriarchial
religion of the Hebrews, that we hesitate not to pronounce their origin
the same'" (Stonehenge and Druidism, E. Raymond Capt., p.75).
Is it so strange, then,
that we find nearly identical practices and beliefs among the most ancient
Britons and Irish as were instituted by Jereboam, and continued by nearly
all the kings of ten-tribed Israel, which resulted in their expulsion from
their land? And is it any wonder that later additions and refinements of
the pagan worship of the northwestern Europeans bear strong resemblance
to the worship of the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians; that they worshipped
before the "winged bulls" (cherubim), and in "groves" of oak trees, revering
the same pagan "gods" as Israel's neighbors?
Remember, Israel and Assyria
were driven out together.
No wonder, then, the close affinity between
the "Teutonic" races of northwestern Europe; the affinity between the "Dutch"
(a philological derivation of "Teutch," from "Teuton"), and the Germans.
Britain in the "Dark Ages"
Any student of history is
familiar with the "dark ages." The reason they are called "dark" is simply
because there is such a paucity of information available, especially written
information, such as histories, annals, chronicles, epics or sagas which
would detail the life and customs of the peoples of northwestern Europe
and the British Isles in those centuries prior to the Roman conquest.
For example, "Geologists
are not yet agreed when and by whom Britain was first peopled" (Encyclopedia
Britannica, vol. 4, p.583, article "Britain").
The authorities agree that
the "Brythons" and "Belgae" were among the earliest known inhabitants,
and that they "brought Celtic civilizations and dialects. It is uncertain
how far they were themselves Celtic in blood and how far they were numerous
enough to absorb or obliterate the races which they found in Britain. But
it is not unreasonable to think that they were no mere conquering caste,
and that they were of the same race as the Celtic-speaking peoples of the
western continent" (Ibid. vol. 4, p.583).
Concerning the origin of
the word "Britain," this foremost authority admits the word is an "anglicized
form of the classical name of England, Wales and Scotland, sometimes extended
to the British Isles as a whole (Britannicae Insulae). The Greek
and Roman forms are doubtless attempts to reproduce a Celtic
original, the exact form of which is still in dispute" (Ibid.
p.583).
As was mentioned earlier,
there are those who have insisted the term derived from "berith," which
is Hebrew for "covenant," and "ish," for "man." If this is supposedly fanciful,
let us re-read the above, and remember that the earliest Romans who came
into contact with the "Celtic-speaking" peoples of pre-Christian Britain
attempted to write, in their own tongue, an approximation of the
name by which the early Britons called THEMSELVES! One may argue
this way or that, and the matter will still be unresolved. However, there
is equally as much reason to suspect those peoples may have retained such
an expression as "covenant people." Remember, the names of "Khumbri" and
"Cimmerian" have been amply proved to be foreign corruptions of both "Omri"
and, if not the same term, "Samarians." In each case, these were names
applied by others, and not the name these peoples applied to themselves;
As an example, there is no such city in the world as "Florence." This is
an anglicized word, and the phonetic sounds produced by Englishmen and
Americans in pronouncing it bear only passing resemblance to "Firenze,"
pronounced "Pheer-ERN-tsay" by the Italians. An American asking an Italian
about "Florence" would be stared at in puzzlement - the Italian simply
would not recognize the name.
Is there any significance
to place-names? Of course there is! Men have always named cities, rivers,
significant promontories and mountains, bays, estuaries, river valleys
and other geographical locations after themselves or their progenitors.
"Heber" was the progenitor
of the Hebrews. In many languages, the "H" was silent, and the "e" was
given the long sound, hence, the "iber" (ee-ber) in the various Latin tongues.
It is not strange that the earliest inhabitants of France and Spain were
called "Iberians." Even today, the peninsula of Spain and Portugal is called
"Iberian." It is the name of the Spanish national airlines. One of the
most important rivers in Spain is the "Ebro" (notice the similarity to
"Hebrew"). In the Arabic (Moorish) tongue, a "wadi" is a river, or dry
rivercourse. The "Wadi-al-kebir" or river of the Hebrews became "Quadalquivir,"
which is one of the main rivers of Spain. The seafaring Danites passed
through Spain; explored its rivers, and left place-names.
We have already mentioned
place-names like the major river systems of eastern Europe; the Don, Udon,
Dniester, Dnieper, the Danube. Allen catalogues many, many place-names
in England and Scandinavia which include the "dun," "don," "din" and "dan"
sounds, some of which may be purely conjectural. Those who object to such
comparisons strive to find similar sounds in other nations, of course,
and to do so is not terribly difficult. However, the preponderance of evidence
leans heavily toward the place-names of northwestern Europe and England
as relating to the ancient Israelites, as they were known by others - and
not necessarily, in every case, as they called themselves.
The very large area of ancient
eastern England called "Northumbria" is unmistakably from the "Khumbri,"
"Kimri" and etc., as the Assyrian captors corrupted the "House of Omri."
An important estuary on this coast is the "Humber." "Wessex, Sussex and
Essex" are merely West, South, and East "Saxons."
It is futile to scoff at
place-names, for historians admit to their importance. "Our earliest information
about the land and its people is derived from geological, ethnological
and archaeological studies, from the remains in British barrows and caves,
Roman roads, walls and villas, coins, place-names
and inscriptions.
The writings of Caesar and Tacitus, and a few scattered notices in other
Roman authors, supplement this evidence" (Encyclopedia Britannica, vol.
9, p.583, article, English History, emphasis mine).
Attempting to trace the
earliest known roots of the English language, one finds the following admission:
"The Angles, Saxons, and their allies came of the Teutonic stock, and spoke
a tongue belonging to the Teutonic or Germanic branch of the Indo-Germanic
(Indo-European) family, the same race and form of speech being represented
in modern times by the people and languages of Holland, Germany, Denmark,
the Scandinavian peninsula and Iceland, as well as those of England and
her colonies. Of the original home of the so-called primitive Aryan
race, whose language was the parent Indo-European, nothing is certainly
known..." (Ibid. p.588, emphasis mine).
Time and time again, one
finds the strongest indication that the birthplace of the peoples of northwestern
Europe and the British Isles was in "Asia," including the "Crimea" (from
Gimri, Kimbri, Cimmerian, etc.) and the steppes of southern Russia; the
region between the Black and Caspian seas - the precise region into which
the ancient Assyrians and captive Ten-tribed Israelites were driven by
the Babylonian empire.
The Anglo-Saxons; Who Were They?
The disintegration of the
idolatrous northern kingdom of Israel was not accomplished in a matter
of days or weeks; not even in the course of several years - but over decades.
As early as the reigns of
evil king Ahab and Jehu, many of Manasseh and Reuben, as well as those
of Gad, were driven from their lands; others slaughtered. In comparatively
recent times, archaeologists have confirmed the biblical accounts of the
successive removal of ten-tribed Israel from their lands. Annals of Assyrian
kings have been found and deciphered in which the names of ten of
the Israelitish kings occur. They include Omri (called "Khumri" in the
Assyrian tongue), Ahab, Jehu, Menahem, Pekab, Hoshea, Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah
and Manasseh.
One of the important finds
was the "black obelisk of Shalmanezer," which I have seen, and which is
in the British museum. It is a block of very dense, hard black stone, completely
covered with writing and pictorial scenes. In the second line from the
top on one of its four sides is a figure kneeling before the Assyrian king
and the inscription, "The tribute of Jehu, son [successor is implied by
the Assyrian expression] of Omri [Khumri], silver, gold, bowls of gold,
chalices of gold, cups of gold, vases of gold, lead, sceptre for the king,
and spear-shafts, I have received."
One of the very earliest
removals of Israelites occurred before 800 B.C. Notice, "In those days
the Eternal began to cut Israel short: and Hazael [king of Syria] smote
them in all the coasts of Israel; from Jordan eastward, all the land of
Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer,
which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan" (II Kings 10:32, 33).
This was prior to 800 B.C.,
yet, the bulk of the ten-tribed kingdom was not finally removed until 720-718
B.C., about 100 years later, another two to three generations. What became
of these tens of thousands who were removed from sinning Israel so early?
Remember, God had said,
"In Isaac shall thy seed be called." Amos wrote, "Now therefore
hear thou the word of the Eternal: Thou sayest, prophesy not against Israel,
and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac." The Syro-Phoenician
name for these peoples was "Beth-Sak."
Remember, the captive peoples
were in no position to collect in centers of learning; to establish a highly-developed
civilization, promote language, literature, the arts and sciences. Refugees
do not concern themselves with erudition. The traces we find of the many
tens of thousands of displaced ten-tribed Israelites are necessarily among
the literature (which is exceedingly fragmentary) of their conquerors;
of those peoples through whom they passed in their ever-westward and northward
migrations. Bristowe, in his The Oldest Letters in the World, page
32, refers to the Tel-el-Armarna tablets, and their references to peoples
who conquered Palestine under Joshua as the "Habiru," "Habiri," or "Abiri,"
also calling them "the Saga" or "Saka." The obvious corruption from "Hebrew"
and "saak" or "Isaac," is seen.
One of the most massive
deportations of the "Beth-Sak" or the "Sacae," as they were called, came
when Tiglath Pileser attacked Israel in about 745 B.C. "In the days of
Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon,
and Abelbeth-maachah, [Able's house at Maachah] and Janoah [Noah's God]
and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee [these included areas inhabited
by Gadites, Reubenites, and Manassites] all the land of Naphtali, and carried
them captive to Assyria" (II Kings 15:29).
Amos said, "Behold, the
eyes of the Lord Eternal are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy
it from off the face of the earth [Heb. ehrets, meaning land, partitively
or commonly, not the whole world]; saving that I will not utterly destroy
the House of Jacob, saith the Eternal.
"For, lo, I will command,
and I will 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 9:8, 9).
Wandering Israel became
intermingled with Syro-Phoenicians, with Assyrians, with peoples who were
to later bear names given them by Romans, Greeks, and many others. For
centuries, these peoples were in fact "sifted among the nations" as they
wandered along the river valleys of eastern and central Europe until they
came to the coastlands of northern Europe and the British Isles.
To some, it seems incredible
that the United States could be "Manasseh," for they point out that the
citizens of the United States are a "melting pot" of many races. It is
true, especially in the last half of the 20th century, that massive influxes
of foreign refugees have come into the United States. Koreans, Vietnamese,
Cambodians, Laotians, El Salvadorans, Cubans, Nicaraugans, Mexicans, Costa
Ricans; those of dozens of races and nationalities have sought America
as their asylum. But the original inheritors of the land during the establishment
of the colonies and the subsequent massive migrations under such as William
Penn were primarily from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Secondarily,
they were from the Lowlands, Scandinavia, and from Germany. How many millions
of Americans claim "Scotch, Irish and Dutch" ancestry? How many millions
more claim British progenitors?
The point is, God was able
to "sift through" the peoples of Ephraim to England and the commonwealth
countries; to see to it, even as He promised, that "...not the least grain
[shall] fall upon the earth." That Americans have Teutonic, French, Dutch,
English and Irish names, among many others, is not strange at all. The
late General Dwight Eisenhower carried a German name; but he was not "German"
either in his genealogical roots, nor his racial temperament. Millions
of those of Judah, who are Jews carried German names; names
like "Weiz," and "Weitzman" and "Lieverman" and "Lieberman" and "Loeb"
and "Gelt" and "Birnbaurn," and "Bauer" and so many, many others. Yet,
they were of the House of Judah, and were never "German" except
in a political, nationalistic sense. Racially, they did not stem from ancient
Assyrians, as do the core of the German peoples of central Europe.
No, Manasseh was contained
in "holding areas" scattered throughout other races; intermingled just
as God said they would be with their brethren of Gad, Asher, Zebulon, Reuben,
Issachar, Simeon and Levi, and Ephraim. Furthermore, they were intermingled
with their former Assyrian captors, the "Halmanni," who because
of their warlike nature, were called "spearmen" ("Teut-ons") by the Romans.
This later became "Teutonic."
By 721, when Shalmanezer
had carried away the final remnants of all of the ten-tribed House of Israel,
there were tens of thousands of their brethren from various tribes (but
all were "sons of Isaac," since Isaac was Jacob's [Israel's] father) who
had already been intermingled with the peoples of eastern and northwestern
Europe, some nearly one hundred years earlier.
Of the final conquest of
the remaining Israelites, Sargon II, who was Shalmanezer's successor, had
inscribed on his palace walls, "In the beginning of my reign I besieged,
I took by the help of the god Shamash...the city of Samaria. Twenty-seven
thousand two hundred and eighty of its inhabitants I carried away ...I
took them to Assyria and put into places people whom my hands had conquered.
I set my officers and governors over them, and laid on them a tribute as
on the Assyrians."
As the Bible affirms. "And
the king of Assyria did carry away Israel into Assyria. and put them in
Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes"
(II Kings 17:5, 6; 18:11).
The river Gozan has been
identified as the Uzen river which flows northward from ancient Media into
the Caspian Sea. Israel was banished into one of the hintermost portions
of ancient Assyria. It is likely that "Habor" was an Assyrian corruption
of "Heber" just like "Habiri," and "Iber," and was nothing so much as a
vast refugee camp which was given its name by the arrival of the wretched
prisoners, rather than an established city of Media.
>From Sargon's own admission,
they were not assimilated into the mainstream of Assyrian life, but sent
into an outlying border area; more than 400 miles from Nineveh, capital
of Assyria. There, they were expected to till the land, raise cattle, ply
their various crafts and trades, and pay annual tribute to Nineveh. This
was Assyrian custom. Conquered peoples were invariably deported to "labor
camps" in outlying territories.
As you will recall, the
rising power of Babylon finally subjugated Assyria, which faded into history.
For centuries, the peoples of Israel and Assyria were intermingled in their
migrations ever northwesterly. Of this period Haherman writes, "It was
at this period, 700-600 B.C., that the Runic characters developed from
the Phoenician script, which characters we find engraved in that region
as far east as Lake Aral, where the Massagetai lived, and all across Russia
to northern Germany, Scandinavia, England, and Iceland. In those Runic
characters the sagas of the Saghs ['Saacs'] and Goths were written, the
Gathas of Zoroaster and the Eddas of the Norsemen, which again are derived
from the earlier Vedas of the Indo-Aryans. All of these ancient sagas,
though considered today only as fictitious literature, contain the legendary
lore of the heroes of ancient times, who were the forefathers of the Goths
and Scythians, the Getai or Guti of Tyrkland or Turkestan, and the Saks
of Sakland, south of the Caucasus. There in that region south of the Caspian
Sea was the cradle of the so-called Nordic races, and there also the cemetery
of ancient Israel. Where Israel disappeared from the pages of history the
Anglo-Saxons and the Goths were born."
The Encyclopedia Britannica,
eleventh edition, admits, "The origin of this title [Anglo-Saxon] is
not quite clear."
Yet. the article, "Anglo-Saxon"
in the eleventh edition goes on to say. "It is generally believed to have
arisen from the final union of the various kingdoms under Alfred in 886.
Bede (Hist. Eccl. i. 15) states that the people of the more northern
kingdoms (East Anglia, Mercia. Northumbria, etc.) belonged to the Angli,
while those of Essex, Sussex and Wessex were sprung from the Saxons (q.v.)
and those of Kent and southern Hampshire from the Jutes" (Encyclopedia
Britannica, 11th edition, vol. 2, p.38).
The term "Jutes" is from
"Judah," and is found not only among the pre-Christian peoples in the British
Isles, but is found in the "Jutland Peninsula," the name for "Danmark"
on many maps, even today.
Of the Saxons, the same
source says, "...a Teutonic people mentioned for the first time by Ptolemy
about the middle of the 2nd century. At that time they are said to have
inhabited the neck of the Cimbric [note the name; from "Khumri,"" Gimry,"
"Gimiri" and "Cimiri," as well as "Cimmerian"] peninsula, by which we have
to probably understand the modern province of Schleswig, together with
the three islands lying off its western coast" (Ibid. vol. 24, p. 264).
Admitting the connection
with the "Angli," the same source says, "it is doubtful how far the Saxons
who invaded Britain were really distinct from the Angli, for all their
affinities both in language and custom are with the latter and not with
the Saxons (old Saxons) of the continent" (Ibid. vil. 24, p.265).
Wales and the Welsh
Throughout the British Isles,
philological origins bear testimony to the fact that the ancient people
who began their migrations from between the Black and the Caspian Sea;
i.e., the steppes of southern Russia and the area presently inhabited by
Ukrainians, Afghans and Iranians, finally arrived in extreme northwestern
Europe, the Scandinavian nations and the British Isles!
One half of the tribe of
Dan was wandering along these same routes with the others of the dispossessed
Israelites, including members of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh
(who bear the name "Israel" more than any others), Zebulun,
Naphtali, Issachar, Reuben, Gad, Benjamin, Simeon, and many from
Levi, who, while considered "Jews," were dispersed throughout all
tribal lands.
Also, remember the more
than 200,000 Jews departed from northern Judah into the same
lands as captives prior to the final capitulation of Judah!
Philology is a fascinating
study! The origin of words and languages can be very cloudy and obscure;
taking strange twists according to the customs of the peoples. While
most Americans are familiar with "the 'Apache' Indians," this was merely
the name applied by other Indian tribes to a warlike group of Indians
in the southwestern desert regions, and the term "Apache" merely meant,
in the Indian tongues, "enemy."
Actually, the word "Welsh,"
from which the area of Wales in England is derived, merely meant
"strangers." It is a teutonic term applied to the people
of Kymry, who were the last remnants of the "Kimmerioi" spoken
of by Homer and of the Cimbri (Kymry) from northern Germany.
Saville says: "This name
Kymri, or Cymry, as it is more commonly written, is in reality the plural
of Kymro, meaning a Welshman, and the country of the Kymry is called
by themselves Khymru, which has been Latinized into the well-known
Cambria.
"The letter V in
the Welsh language has two powers, and both these powers are active in
the word Kymry. This letter 'V'
sounds as 'U,' except
when it stands in the last syllable of the word, and then it has
the sound of the Italian 'i' or the English 'ee'! Hence, the
correct pronunciation of the country of Wales, or the land of the Cymry,
in its ancient tongue would be as near as possible to the names Kumree,
Khumree or Kumri."
Who Were the Goths?
What traveler to Europe is
not familiar with the pointed arches, soaring spires and baroque decorations
of ancient cathedrals, castles, mansions and public buildings which are
said to be "Gothic"? Yet, history tells us the term is a misnomer, which
came to be applied to all architecture featuring a "pointed arch" rather
than a rounded one, not unlike those of ancient Egypt, Assyria, and the
Mideast.
History tells us the Goths
were a people who allegedly came from ancient Sweden, poured into the central
regions of Europe north of the Danube, finally came against the northern
frontiers of Rome, and eventually reached as far as Asia Minor and Greece;
conquered and sacked Rome, and had one of their kings sitting on the Roman
throne. There is no doubt the peoples called "Goths" by others were in
and around Sweden, but the assertion they originated there before spreading
southward throughout Europe as far as northern Macedonia is much disputed.
The island of "Gotland" off Denmark bears their name. At the height of
their power, the Goths ruled over vast regions of Europe; one of their
kings occupied the throne of the Caesars, and another sat on the throne
of Spain, the richest part of Gaul at that time.
Yet, in but another 250
years from this time, when the Goths were the most powerful people in Europe,
they disappear from history. What happened to them? Who were they?
A foremost authority says
the Goths were "...a Teutonic people who in the 1st century of the Christian
era appear to have inhabited the middle part of the basin of the Vistula..."
(Encyclopedia Bnitannica, 11th edition, vol. 12, p.272).
The word "Teuton" was the
Roman word for "spearman," and was applied to those barbaric and warlike
peoples with whom they came in contact north of their famous "limes" or
lines of defense, along their northern borders, roughly following the alpine
regions of central Europe. In later times, historians invariably refer
to any peoples, irrespective of tribal distinctions, as "Teutonic," if
they come from the region occupied, at various times, by literally dozens
of different tribal groups, or, contemporaneously, by many of them at the
sane time; central and northwestern Europe. The word was corrupted into
"toitch," with the "t" giving way to a "d" sound, or "doitch," "deutch"
and so-on. The ancient "Teutons" with whom the Romans came in conflict
are called those of "Deutschland," or the "land of the Teutons" today.
The origin of the word "Dutch" is obviously similar.
Some refer to the Goths
as barbarians. Yet, they had a well-developed language, and their degree
of civilization was remarkable. The Goths were probably not "barbarians,"
except in their descriptions by others. Tradition says they came from ancient
Scandinavia, and it is pointed out "Gotland" may have been named by them.
In this is a peculiar item of interest. Of the name, "Goth" there is little
etymology. The previous source says, "Gotones, later 'Goths' " in reference
to the name.
But notice the origin of
our English word for "God." The Germanic word is "Gott," and the old Gothic
word was "Guth," pronounced "Goeth," as with an umlaut. The "Goths" were
a people who worshipped their concepts of "God," or "Guth." That they were
pagan, rather than Christian, is well established. But remember that the
Israelites under Jereboam worshipped golden calves. Jereboam, borrowing
a line from Aaron at Sinai, said, "These be the gods, 0 Israel, which brought
thee up out of the land of Egypt." The "gods" were the calves of an ox,
or a representation of one of the four aspects of a cherub. Satan
was one of the cherubs that "covered" the throne of God, originally (Ezekial
28:14), and the Israelites were
worshipping the "host of the heavens,"
rather than the true God.
The New English Dictionary
traces the roots of the English word "God" back to two Aryan roots,
both of the form "gueu," one of which means "to invoke," and the other
"to pour."
The Encyclopedia Britannica says, of this word
origin, "It has been also suggested that the word might mean "a molten
image" from the sense of "to pour." (Ibid. vol. 12, p.169, article "God").
Was the word "Guth," then,
an obvious origin of the "Goths," or the peoples who worshipped their concept
of "Guth," or "Gott," which concept was contained in calf or bull-worship?
The likelihood is impossible to ignore. For example, Alexander the Great
pushed the peoples called the "Getae" (pronounced "Ghetay") out of northern
Macedonia, across the Danube (the river of Dan) and toward the Baltic Sea.
Pytheas of Marseilles called them "Gutones," but they called themselves
"Guita-thiuda," meaning, "The people of the Guths," or Goths. In other
words, the people who worshipped before the sign of the bull, or the cherub;
the ox, who is found as "Taurus" among the Nordics. The horns of the bull
are common among the peoples of northwestern Europe, particularly the Scandinavians
and the Vikings.
The Gothic peoples were
divided into many sub-tribes, not necessarily all distinct, but named,
usually, by their neighbors or enemies. Some of them were the Gretungi,
Teruingi, Austrogothi (Ostrogoths, meaning "Eastern Goths"), and the Taifali
(Ibid. vol. 12. p.272). The Goths were heralded by all the other Teutonic
races, and recorded in their annals and traditions. The literature from
the Anglo-Saxons (Engle-Saaks, of the bull-worshipping "Saaks" or sons
of Isaac) claims the supremacy of the Goths reached as far west as Holstein,
one of the provinces of Germany just below the Jutland peninsula, and Danmark.
Researching all known literature
concerning the origin of the Goths, one invariably comes across the earliest
known mention of them, found in the memoirs of a traveler from the Greek
colony of Marseilles. His name was Pythias, and he wrote about 300 B.C.
about a people called the "Guttones" (the people of "Goot," or "Gute").
The single most important
piece of literature coming down to us from the most ancient old English
and Germanic language is the famous "Beowulf," preserved in a single manuscript
(now in the British Museum), written about A.D. 1,000. The epic poem is
about the exploits of Beowulf, who is the son of Ecgtheow, and nephew
of Hygelac, king of the Geatas (Goths). Of the etymological origin
of the term, the Encyclopedia Britannica says, "Geatas, i.e., the
peopIe, called in Scandinavian records Gautar, from whom a part of southern
Sweden has received its present name Gotland" (Vol. 3, p. 758,
article "Beowulf").
The epic poem is a mixture
of profane history and mythology, and includes many particulars of the
"...history of the royal houses, not only of the Gautar [Goths] and the
Danes [Danites], but also of the Swedes, the Angles, the Ostrogoths [eastern
Goths], the Frisians and the Heathobeards..." (Ibid. p.759).
Who, then, were the Goths?
They were a people of many tribes, occupying, over vast periods of history,
lands from as far east as the area between the Black and Caspean seas;
the Crimea and northern Greece; as far west as Spain and Normandy; and
as far north as Sweden, Danmark and the Baltic shores, and all of central
and western Europe! Did these people simply disappear? Far from it. Over
the centuries, their language, which is one of the ancient tongues which
gave rise to all the Teutonic languages, and English itself, gradually
changed, as did old German, old English, and Gaelic, as well as others,
falling into disuse.
Speaking of the origin of
the Teutonic languages, the Encyclopedia Britannica says, .... a
comprehensive term for a number of languages, most of which are still spoken
at the present time, namely English, Frisian, Dutch, Flemish, German (both
High and Low) and the various Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Danish,
Icelandic and the Norwegian dialects). The course of time has tended very
largely to obscure the affinities between these languages, and in several
cases they have been mutually unintelligible for many centuries. In their
earliest known forms, however, they betray the most unmistakable traces
of a common origin. To the languages enumerated above we have to add
the now extinct Gothic, which in the 5th and 6th centuries was spoken
over a large part of Europe" (Ibid. vol. 26, p.673).
And who were the Teutons?
They were "...a tribe of northern Europe, who became known to the Romans
in the year 103 B.C., when, according to the Epitome of Livy, together
with the Ambrones they reinforced the Cimbri [Gimiri, Gymri, Khumri, Bit-Humri,
or house of Omri!] after their repulse from Spain by the Celtiberi."
(Notice the name: "Celt-iberi" where the Celts and the "Haberi," or
"Hebrew" are commingled in the identification of these peoples by the Romans.)
"... Their name is Celtic in form, and many writers suppose that the Teutoni
[merely a name applied by the Romans, meaning "spear-men," not the name
they applied to themselves] were really a Celtic tribe, it is possible
that their name may have been preserved in that of the district called
until recently Thyland or Thythsyssel in the extreme northwest of Jutland
[Denmark]. (En-cyclopedia Britannica, vol. 26, p.673).
There is no doubt many Israelites
were at one time called "Teutons" by the Romans, even as they were
known by many, many other names. After all, there were millions of them;
tens of thousands representing ten different tribes, all to eventually
inherit lands according to the ancient prophecies of God revealed in Genesis
49.
The "people of Saak," or
sons of Isaac came to be known by many different names over the centuries
of their gradual migrations from their original land of captivity in the
forbidding wastelands of northern Assyria; the region between the Black
and Caspean seas. Notice the admissions of various authorities concerning
the history of the "Scytbians."
The Egyptian historian,
Herodotus, (iv. 142) wrote about the country over which the "Scythae" were
lords as being the steppe from the Carpathians to the Don River, a part
of Europe along which the migrating Israelites traveled, and a river which
still bears the name of one of their tribes, "Dan."
There are at least three
different theories as to the identity and origin of the Scyths. In each
case, they are linked with the "Cimmerians"; either because they drove
the Cimmerians out of their lands, or because they were driven into the
land of the Cimmerians. Herodotus said the Scyths ruled over the land of
Media. Remember, it was into the land of the Medes, along
the major rivers, over 400 miles northeast of Nineveh, that the captive
Israelites were taken.
The Encyclopedia Britannica
says, "The Assyrian evidence [concerning the Scyths] is in the main
a confirmation of Herodotus, though most writers think that the Scythians
who troubled Asia were Sacae from the east of the Caspean sea" (Ibid. vol.
24, p.527).
The Scythians were said
to have been driven over the river "Araxes" (Gk., "Oxus," referring to
"the ox") by a people called the "Massagetae." The term merely means "the
people of Massa." Remember, one of the largest tribes removed from Israel,
possessing a double portion of land, split east and west by the Jordan
river, was Manasseh! And who were the "Massagetae"? Herodotus says they
were an ancient warlike people dwelling beyond the river of the Ox. "Probably
the name [Massagetae] denoted no ethnic unity, but included all the barbarous
northeastern neighbors of the Persians [meaning the peoples between
the Black and Caspean seas]" (Ibid. vol. 17. p.864, article, "Massagetae").
Interestingly enough, the
peoples known as "Scythians" by Herodotus had a tribal division he called
the "Royal Scyths," and who claimed dominion over the others! Historians
divide the Scyths into various sub-tribes according to their way of life.
The Britannica says, "Herodotus expressly divides the Scythians
into the Agriculturalists, Callipidae, Alazones, Aroteres and Georgi in
the western part of the country, and the Nomads with the 'Royal Scyths'
to the east. The latter claimed dominion over all the rest." Then, it is
admitted, "The question arises whether we have to do with the various
tribes of one race in different states of civilization, or with a mixed
population called by foreigners after the ruling tribe" (En-cyclopedia
Britannica, vol. 24, p.526, emphasis mine).
The point is that the people
inhabiting much of Europe of whom later historians wrote are always said
to have come from the "IndoAryan" regions of ancient Persia; the
region of ancient Assyria and Babylonia! No matter the many names applied
to them by Greeks, Egyptians, Romans and others, these were the peoples
of Assyria, together with the peoples of ten-tribed Israel, whose identity
gradually became lost, confused in history; peoples whose language
underwent the same gradual changes as did the tongues of all other peoples
over the course of time; peoples who were named by their enemies, neighbors,
or by historians of other nations; peoples who worshipped the ox,
and whose names contained clues linking them with the "Bit-Khumri" (House
of Omri) as they were called by their captors; with "Dan," one of their
progenitors; with "Isaac" (Saka, Sacae, Saki, Saaks, Saxons, Saxones),
and with other names (such as "Sarmatians," a corruption of "Samarians").
Haberman writes, "The Hebrew-Phoenician
inscriptions found in the Crimea and vicinity indicate that the Saki, who
left those inscriptions there, were not a heathen people and were conscious
of their Israelitish descent, while on the other hand the mythology of
the Goths shows that they were pagans. The enigma thus presented can only
be explained by the fact that most of the Gothic sagas center around Odin,
who, although made a deity in later years, was nevertheless a man and leader
of the Aesir, Asen, Asa, or Asia men, whose capital was at Asgard in Asaheim,
where his castle, the Valhalla, was 'located" (Tracing Our White Ancestors,
Haberman, p.133).
Haberman proposes that the
term "Asia," which ultimately became attached to the entire continental
mass from the Urals to the Japanese Islands, came from the bull-worshipping
Israelites who dwelt, anciently, along the Black and Caspean seas. He points
out that the first letter of the Phoenician alphabet (Hebraic in origin)
is Aleph, and is depicted as the symbol of a bull. The people
of the man Odin, who later became worshipped in Nordic mythology, were
called the "Mighty Asa," or the "Primary Ones," or the "First Ones." The
Gothic runes contain the letter "A," which was pronounced "Asa," or "Ace."
It is likely that is the reason our modern playing cards contain a card
called the "Ace," which is the principal, or first, card.
Because the Hebrew "Egle"
or "Engle" (ox) is linked to the symbol of "Aleph" (which was a bull),
Haberman sees a connection to the pagan practices of the ancient ten-tribed
Israelites, who worshipped the sign of the "Taurus," or bull. He wrote,
"It is therefore not surprising that the people of Odin, the Asa, or Angles,
should in their homeland in Ariana, in Asaland and also in north Germany,
wear the horns of a bull as their headdress, either brazen helmets having
the ears and horns of an ox or else actually wear the horns of one, as
shown on pictures of Odin and his Asa or Angli" (Ibid. p.135).
Who Are The Germans?
Who are the Germans? Can the modern German
peoples, regardless as to the temporary divisions between East and West,
be located in the pages of your Bible?
The identity of the Germanic peoples
must, of necessity, deal with a question of race, not merely nationality.
Many nations are composed of two or
more races; they do not necessarily encompass only one race of peoples.
The principal races in Yugoslavia, for
example, are the Serbs and Croats; in Belgium, Flemish and Walloons; in
Switzerland, those of Germanic, French and Italian descent; and in Germany,
Thuringians, Hessians, Swabians, Bavarians, Austrians, and many others.
In order to identify modern peoples
we must first establish the names under which they were known by
ancient historians, and, even more anciently, the names applied to these
same peoples in biblical histories and prophecies.
A passing acquaintance with some foreign
languages is helpful. For example, there is no such word in the Latin tongues
(Spanish, French, Italian, etc.) for "Germany" or "German." To the Spaniards,
Germany is "Alemania," and a German is "un Aleman." Actually, the
word "German" was a name applied to the warlike tribes migrating from the
region between the Black and Caspian seas into central Europe and meant
"warlike" or "men of war." Some of the other important tribal names applied
to the Germanic peoples by the Romans were, ''Hatti," ''Alemani,'' (Halmanni)
and ''Saubi,'' the ''Casuari," the "Quadi," etc. (See Encyclopedia Britannica,
11th Edition, article "Germany.")
Surprising claims are made in ancient
German histories. The oldest city in Germany is Trier, allegedly
founded more than twenty centuries before Christ. In a German
textbook Indeutschen Landen, author Josef K. L. Bihl says, "The
inhabitants of Trier maintain that their city is the oldest in all Europe."
He says, "Trier was founded by Trebeta, a son of the famous Assyrian
King Ninus. Ninus stood for Nimrod, the founder of NINEVEH,
capital of ancient Assyria. In fact, one finds... in Trier the inscription
reading, 'Trier existed for thirteen hundred years before Rome was rebuilt.'
" Surprising?
But why? Remember, the footprints
of mankind lead away from the Middle East! The spade of the archeologist
always confirms and corroborates the biblical histories and divine
record - never refutes it!
Every great modern nation represents
sometimes multi-racial tribal groups who are descendants of the three sons
of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
The "tables of nations" are found in
the tenth chapter of Genesis. There, you will read of the children of each
of the three sons of Noah; basically, you are reading tribal names which
in many cases still remain indelibly stamped upon modern peoples!
You will notice that one of the sons
of Ham was Cush (Genesis 10:6). Now, reading verse 8, "And Cush
begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty hunter before [in place
of] the Eternal: Wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter
before the Eternal. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech,
and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar" (the land of "Shinar" is
nothing else than the land occupied by the ancient Assyrians between
the Black and the Caspian seas!).
The next verse is a little confusing
in the King James English, but the marginal comment in the Oxford King
James Bible clears it up, as do other translations. It should read,
"Out of that land he [Ninus, or Nimrod!] went forth into Asshur [Assyria]
and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah" (Genesis 10:6-11).
Nimrod, known in history as "King
Ninus" was the founder of both Babylon and Nineveh! It is
significant that German historians claim their most ancient city (pre-dating
Roman times!) was founded by the son of the Assyrian king "Ninus"!
The ancient Assyrians had some outstanding
racial characteristics. First, they believed themselves the "master race,"
and believed that there was nothing more glorious than conquest by war.
Assyrian kings and heroes were invariably shown in war chariots, astride
horses, with the enemies over whom they had gained victory being trampled
under-foot. Kings were shown accomplishing feats such as the subjugation
of whole armies, single-handedly killing lions and other beasts, etc.
The Assyrians were the first builders
of major, paved roads, not merely for commercial purposes, but with
the specific purpose of logistical support of armies in mind! A
network of paved roads led outward in various directions from the ancient
Assyrian capital, Nineveh!
The Assyrians revered women, and
were apparently the very
first to use iron in their chariots
(mechanized vehicles of war).
The Roman historian Pliny claimed
the "Assyriani" (the Assyrians) inhabited the region north of the Black
Sea (Natural History, IV, paragraph 12, p.183).
German historians are united in their
description of an hostile, warlike people inhabiting central Europe who
came into confrontation with the expanding Roman Empire, causing the Romans
to build their famous "limes" (defensive positions and walls) and station
legions along their northern borders to stop the advancing warlike hordes.
Histories of Germany are unfailingly
unanimous in their description of these tribes.
Bear in mind that one of the most important
names of the wandering lost ten tribes of Israel was "bit-khumri"
(which derived from "Beth-Omri," meaning "the house of Omri") or other
derivations of that name such as "Humri," "Gymri," "Cimmiri," "Gymbri,"
and "Cimbri."
Please bear further in mind that you
are reading these various descriptions in the English language,
which finds its roots in the central European tongues of these very
same peoples, including the Franks, Celts, Angles, Saxons, and others.
Actually, "High and Low German," Dutch, Old English and modern English
all stem from the same basic origin - that of the Indo/European tongues
of the aforementioned tribes.
Bear in mind, too, that we tend to identify
various racial and tribal groups by the names attached to them by the most
literate of the ancient civilizations with whom they came in contact.
Thus, it is to the Roman historian,
Tacitus, as well as to others, that we are indebted for a description of
some of these wandering tribes.
It is obvious that the dispossessed
Assyrians, removed out of their lands between the Black and the Caspian
Sea by the invading armies of the expanding Babylonian Empire, freely intermingled,
during their wanderings and successive expansions northwestward, with the
hundreds of thousands of their own former slaves.
Thus, it is no wonder that the Romans
spoke of the invading tribes in central Europe as being two distinct
groups of peoples, both the "Cimbri" and the "Teutons."
Sabine Baring-Gould, in his book, Germany,
(page 1) says, "These invaders called themselves the Cimbri and Teutons."
Later, speaking of the modern Swiss
peoples, Sabine Baring-Gould explains, concerning the bilingual and biracial
character of Switzerland, "This is because two distinct races live together
in Switzerland now, as they did one hundred and thirteen years before Christ.
The French-speaking people represent the Cimbri and the German-speaking
people represent the Teutons" (Ibid., p.2). Interestingly enough, even
the name "Germany" and "Germans" derives from a name attached to these
warlike tribes by the Romans. Baring-Gould says, "The Germans were
so-called from the spears they carried - the name means 'spear-men'
"; (emphasis mine). The Romans, whose unaccustomed ears tried to translate
into their own tongue the names of these fierce "Germanic" peoples, rendered
the "Deutschen" as "Teutons."
Actually, the "t" in their tongue could
be pronounced very similarly to the "d" in English.
The Encyclopedia Americana, under
the article, "Germany," says, "In 113 B.C., when the first Germanic tribes,
the Cimbri
and the Teutons, attempted to break into the Roman
Empire, the Germanic frontier became a major problem for maintaining the
security of the Roman world." It is quite logical that the displaced Assyrians,
driven from their vast plains between the Black and Caspian seas, would
be found wandering along the major river valleys, together with
remnants of the "lost ten tribes" of Israel. King Omri of Israel
became one of the most famous of all Israelitish kings among the
Gentile nations. In Hebrew, the "people of Omri" or "Israelites" were called
"Beth Omri" (House of Omri). It was but a short step to reduce the "Beth"
(pronouncing it with the lisping sound of the "the" clearly) to "Bet" or
"Bit" as did the Assyrians.
In later years, many of the peoples
migrating throughout some of the major river valleys of Europe were known
as the "Humri," the "Kimbri," or the "Cimiri."
But for all their wanderings and tendency
to settle in areas where they were either adjacent to, or intermingled
with each other, as the decades and the centuries passed, the linguistic,
cultural, religious, social, racial, economic and philosophical differences
of these peoples tended to cause them to settle separately according
to their original old tribal patterns, and to avoid those of other racial
stocks.
Of the mingled peoples migrating ever
westward, the Americana
states, "...Germanic tribes...with the exceptions
of the Scandinavian tribes, settled for some time in the lands between
the Rhine and Vistula but moved on to the west or south. The Anglo-Saxons
(sons of 'Saac,' or 'Isaac's sons') went to England, the Goths, and Vandals
into Mediterranean countries, the Lombards into northern Italy, the Burgundians
into the Rhone region, the Franks into Gaul (France)" (Encyclopedia
Americana, article, "Germany").
One of the chief distinctions between
these wandering Assyrians, called "Teutons" by the Romans was their warlike
character. In 98 AD., only 67 years after the death, burial and resurrection
of Christ, Publius Cornelius Tacitus published his "Germania," reporting
them to be a "warlike people," and stating that, "war was their chief industry."
In battle, he said, "It was considered to be a disgrace to have survived
the death of one's chief, and to have returned alive from the field. The
height of loyalty, on the other hand, was to have defended, protected and
supported the chief, and to have ascribed one's own brave deeds to the
leader, so that the tribal aspirations and goals were seen to be channeled
into the will of one man, the chieftain. Even if one of the tribes
sank into prolonged peace," Tacitus said, "Its young men would seek service
under some other chief who was engaged in war" (emphasis mine).
Tacitus also mentioned martial music
among the German tribes, relating how "noisy warrior's choruses" were utilized
before and after battles.
The Americana says, "It is safe
to assume that most of the German tribal songs were sung by pagan priests,
and that they were chiefly choruses designed to inflame the martial spirits
of the warriors."
We know the Assyrians were great builders.
Their magnificently-fortified cities, palaces and monuments and great statuary
are among the finest of antiquity. That they were superb warriors; that
they used the most advanced techniques of engineering and technology of
their day in both their domestic industry and in waging war is also documented.
>From such monumental achievements in
building came Rawlinson's conclusion that, "...the Assyrians had made considerable
advances in mechanical knowledge and were in fact acquainted with most
of the contrivances whereby heavy weights (as massive columns, building
blocks and stones set in place with pulleys, etc.) have commonly been moved
and raised among the civilized nations of Europe. (They possessed)... skill
in the mechanical processes of shaping pottery and glass, of casting and
embossing metals, and of cutting intaglios upon hard stones... the secrets
of metallurgy, of dyeing, enamelling, inlaying, glass-blowing, as well
as most of the ordinary manufacturing processes, were known to them" (The
Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, chap. VI, p.240,
241, Rawlinson).
The same author states that the Assyrians
followed "... the practice of borrowing skilled workmen from the conquered
states..." (Ibid. chap. IX, p.507).
The conclusion that the modern Germans
are, in large part, descendants of the ancient Assyrians is not an hysterical
indictment. It is not to say that the German people of today "glory in
war," or that they are waiting, poised, to hear the rantings of another
Hitler to march off, lemming-like, soaking Europe in blood, to another
horrible holocaust.
God's Word says of Assyria, "Howbeit
he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so..." concerning
conscious plans of conquest. However, in the same prophecy, "...but it
is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few" (Isaiah 10:7).
There may be no such thing as the remotest
dream, in the mind of a living German, that a reunited Germany, at the
head of a future United States of Europe, could ever conquer the United
States of America. But, even as many Germans understand, the current world
situation is not the last chapter, either in European history, or
in American history. The future will too soon be upon us.
Once you know the identity of modern
nations in biblical language, it is comparatively simple to understand
what Bible prophecy says will happen to them in the future.
Has America's Pride Been Broken?
God said our people would experience
a terrible weakening of, WILL; of the PRIDE of our power! Notice, "And
I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies:
they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth
you. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish
you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your
power..." (Leviticus 26:17-19).
That prophecy has already begun to
be fulfilled!
We don't know why we are. America has
no great cause. There is not great goal toward which we unitedly press.
There is no great single unifying bond, no common spiritual dedication,
no deep, transcendental purpose for which we strive.
During World War II, we had the goal
of putting an end, once and for all, to oppressive dictatorships and attempts
by madmen to rule the world. Our goal was not only to "make the world safe
for democracy, " but to fight the war to "end all wars."
We won the war - but we lost the peace.
There were progressive stages through
which America's pride was broken!
The Cold War; the Berlin Wall; the arms
race; Korea; Gary Powers and the U2 incident; the Pueblo; Vietnam;
Watergate; the Iranian hostage crisis, Nicaragua, and the "Contra" hearings,
all played their part.
Following the return of the hostages
from Iran, national attention was brought to focus by the media on the
bitterness of tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans. Their sad homecoming
from the most unpopular war in history to an indifferent public left wounds
of the spirit perhaps as ugly as those of the flesh of patients in VA hospitals.
Vietnam veterans decorated with the
medals of heroism, consigned to spend their lives in wheelchairs as helpless
paraplegics, do not lightly return their medals as one last defiant act
against government policies they could never understand.
Where went our patriotism? Did something
kill it? Did it just gradually die? Patriotism is, after all, a deep, prideful
love of one's father country, a thankful appreciation for the freedoms
and liberties bought at such a dear cost by the tens of thousands who paid
the most horrible of prices. Patriotism is love of country. But, like the
love within a tight-knit family, a completely patriotic American
can become very, very angry at trends within his country. Parents, who
dearly love their children, become angry when they witness the child making
a decision they know will harm him.
Patriotism can never be blind flag waving,
a flag-shrouded refusal to admit family difficulties, a blind determination
to remain studiously ignorant of deep family sicknesses.
Most Americans have forgotten how to
sacrifice.
We're sick. Our greatest sickness is
our stubborn refusal to acknowledge our own moral and spiritual
poverty. To diagnose our many illnesses is to invite sneers from a
rising number of superpatriots whose stock-in-trade is the big-business,
chamber-of-commerce attitude of "let's talk about what's right about America."
Fine. Let us do so. We are the greatest
single power the world has ever known. We have risen to dizzying heights
of technological development and scientific achievement. American footprints
dot the moon. Our language, our culture, our products have girdled the
globe. We have been blessed with the most fabulously rich piece of real
estate on the good earth. Our standard of living has risen to opulent heights
never imagined in the science fiction of yesteryear.
But where did we get our wealth?
Let Abraham Lincoln answer:
"We have been the recipients of the
choicest bounties 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 has ever 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..." (Presidential Proclamation, April 1863).
Those words are truer today than they
ever were before!
That famous president recognized that
our fantastic wealth was given to us directly by the Creator God. It came
because of Abraham's obedience!
The fabulous lands of our peoples, our
mineral resources, our stands of timber, our sprawling grazing and farmlands,
our coastlines, our strategic sea gates, our favorable climate - all were
given to us by the God we - in this generation - have forgotten.
To understand what's been happening
to us, you need to look back as far as 1950, and Korea. We lost
in Korea. Since then, we have lived through the Gary Powers incident, the
Bay of Pigs, the Hungarian Revolution, the Pueblo, the years and
years of the Berlin Wall, and a decade of horror abroad and frenzied protest
at home over the futility of war in Vietnam, and the hostages in Iran.
Remember the days when leaders were
applauded? It was just barely before Korea, you'll recall. Remember the
times when Americans remembered their own history with pride?
You'll recall it was just before Korea.
Since Korea, America has not had a victory,
except for a few isolated instances, like Grenada, and the attack on Libya.
Our sons have fought in far corners of the world in undeclared wars for
limited political objectives, led by civilians. The one bright moment in
a tiresome series of humiliating defeats, stalemates and docile subservience
to piracy was the Cuban missile crisis.
But even this was short-lived.
We wound up with a stalemate in Korea.
We lost in Vietnam.
The Korean Lesson
America wrote history in Korea - in the
blood of her sons, husbands and fathers. But we failed to read that lesson.
After a major war had sapped American military and economic strength, the
world had learned only one significant lesson: that the United States'
WILL could be challenged, that the PRIDE in her power was flagging, that
fourth-rate countries with vastly inferior industrial, economic and military
strength could test America's will, time and time again, and find
that will weakened, unsure.
It was in 1949, remember, that the Russians
exploded an atomic bomb.
And, from that time to this, there has always loomed the specter of a nuclear-armed
Soviet Russia to haunt the minds of American leadership. Each incident,
no matter how seemingly trivial, in no matter how seemingly insignificant
corner of the world, was viewed from the perspective of the Soviets and
the Bomb.
In Korea, for the first time, America
tried to fight a "conventional war" for limited political purposes, for
limited military objectives, with "conditioned response" and piecemeal
contribution of military hardware and personnel.
But American soldiers had never been
foreign legionaires. They had never been asked to die for limited political
objectives. They had never been ordered up frozen hills to die, only to
"demonstrate" a point to an imperturbable, tough, patient enemy. Wars of
attrition, they thought, died in the trenches of France. To fight to make
the world safe for democracy was one thing. But to fight to demonstrate
U.S. policy of "containment" of communism in a far-off, foreign land was
quite another.
So, in Korea, America ignored the lessons
of history, and wrote yet another bloody lesson which, when viewed in retrospect,
made the grisly agony of Vietnam ever more ghastly.
Gen. StilIwell and others knew Americans
could not fight great tank battles in the jungle. A Patton, or a Mark Clark,
would be totally out of place there. They knew more about the stoical peasant
mind of Asians than leaders of a later time.
And they knew the basic truth that,
in battle, when troops go to the ground, each individual soldier becomes
personally isolated. They knew his view of the battle is only what he sees
through thick trees and brush, that the big picture, the colored maps,
tactical plans and logistics of massive troop movements are lost on him.
They knew Asian jungles had to be the world's worst place to fight a war.
They knew the Asian people's fantastic
capacity for living on the barest diet, a mere handful of rice daily, traveling
prodigious distances on foot, and seldom falling victim to the always prevalent
endemic diseases of the jungle.
They knew an Asian could drink water
from the same streams as an American - the Asian soldier would go on to
fight, and the American would develop serious, and sometimes fatal, dysentery.
The hard-earned lessons of World War
II were not heeded prior to Korea.
The doubly hard-earned lessons of Korea
were somehow ignored prior to Vietnam.
All the knowledge of former Asian jungle
fighters, including the bitter lessons learned by the French at Dien Bien
Phu, were somehow unirnportant in the high-level political objectives of
demonstrating to the world America would say: "No communism allowed here."
Make no mistake. Korea was a turning
point of history. It was the first big blow to the PRIDE of America's power.
The cruelest thing one human can inflict
upon another is to take away his confidence - his pride. To strip the manhood,
the moral courage from another is to subject him to the cruelest sort of
torment. It kills his spirit.
The unsatisfactory conclusion to the
Korean war was a cruel blow to the manhood of America. Millions would never
understand. A little time had been bought, at enormous cost. Perhaps it
is good few Americans realized, in 1952, how terribly soon another useless
conflict, for the same limited objectives, with the same inevitable outcome,
would be joined - and perhaps it is good that, in 1952, Americans could
know nothing of the stifling futility which awaited them in the 1960s.
To have known, in the early '50s, that the same agonizing task was to be
attempted all over again might have been even more disastrous to American
will and resolve than the actual occurrence of the war in Vietnam.
"Limited objective" became the byword.
With it came confused aims.
President Truman succinctly stated U.S.
goals in Korea for Gen. Douglas MacArthur in his wire of Jan. 13, 1951.
Goals in Korea
He said, "...This present
telegram is not to be taken in any sense as a directive. Its purpose is
to give you something of what is in our minds regarding the political factors.
"1. A successful resistance in Korea would serve the following important
purposes:
"(a) To demonstrate that
aggression will not be accepted by us or by the United Nations and to provide
a rallying point around which the spirits and energies of the free world
can be mobilized to meet the worldwide threat which the Soviet Union now
poses.
"(b) To deflate the dangerously
exaggerated political and military prestige of communist China which now
threatens to undermine the resistance of noncommunist Asia and to consolidate
the hold of communism on China itself.
"(c) To afford more time
for and to give direct assistance to the organization of non-communist
resistance in Asia, both outside and inside China.
"(d) To carry out our commitments
of honor to the South Koreans and to demonstrate to the world that the
friendship of the United States is of inestimable value in time of adversity.
"(e) To make possible a
far more satisfactory peace settlement for Japan and to contribute greatly
to the post-treaty security position of Japan in relation to the continent.
"(f) To lend resolution
to many countries not only in Asia but also in Europe and the Middle East
who are now living within the shadow of communist power and to let them
know that they need not now rush to come to terms with communism on whatever
terms they can get, meaning complete submission.
"(g) To inspire those who
may be called upon to fight against great odds if subjected to a sudden
onslaught by the Soviet Union or by communist China.
"(h) To lend point and urgency
to the rapid build-up of the defenses of the Western world.
"(i) To bring the United
Nations through its first great effort on collective security and to produce
a free-world coalition of incalculable value to the national security interests
of the United States.
"(j) To alert the peoples
behind the Iron Curtain that their masters are bent upon wars of aggression
and that this crime will be resisted by the free world.
"2. Our course of action
at this time should be such as to consolidate the great majority of the
United Nations. This majority is not merely part of the organization but
is also the nations whom we would desperately need to count on as allies
in the event the Soviet Union moves against us. Further, pending the build-up
of our national strength, we must act with great prudence in so far as
extending the area of hostilities is concerned. Steps which might in themselves
be fully justified and which might lend some assistance to the campaign
in Korea would not be beneficial if they thereby involved Japan or Western
Europe in large-scale hostilities."
What Wasn't Accomplished
Viewed in the light of circumstances
in 1951, those words seem sound, pragmatic, expedient, even promising.
But, viewed in the light
of the Vietnam, they appear tragic.
Shockingly, the same basic
goals could be stated for the Vietnam conflict.
Review that all-important
telegram, and analyze it carefully.
We did achieve, at
terrible cost, a "successful resistance" in Korea. But it hardly demonstrated
that "aggression will not be accepted by us or by the United Nations..."
America had proved she is quite capable of accepting aggression in fairly
sizable amounts. Aggression in degrees, and in isolated areas, piecemeal,
is aggression nevertheless. Today, we accept it in Nicaragua, Honduras,
Panama.
The Hungarian Revolution
was "acceptable." So was the scrapping of the Monroe Doctrine, and the
Bay of Pigs fiasco. So was the Pueblo piracy, the Gary Powers imprisonment,
the brutalization of Czechoslovakia, and so are daily incidents along the
same ugly, barren cease-fire line in Korea after all these years.
Far from deflating "the
dangerously exaggerated political and military prestige of communist China,"
the Korean war enormously enhanced it. Today, Red China and its growing
nuclear arsenal present cogent cause for caution in the thinking of American
policymakers. Even Soviet Russia looks nervously over her shoulder at the
growing political and military prestige of Red China.
The Korean War, when seriously
considering stated aims, was "Mission Unaccomplished."
Certainly, Korea did "afford
more time" for organizing resistance to communist expansionist aims. Yet
that time did not
prevent, or even seriously impede, the
gradual spreading of communism into Southeast Asia, or even into the Western
Hemisphere, 90 miles from the United States, in Cuba, and increasingly
in Nicaragua. In aftermath of our ignominious tragedy in Vietnam, Korea
has been almost totally forgotten.
Under subparagraph (j),
President Truman said he hoped the struggle being waged by MacAurthur's
forces in Korea would alert the poor peasant folk of North Korea and China
that their masters were "bent upon wars of aggression."
It did nothing of the sort.
It succeeded in accomplishing the exact opposite. Communist peoples behind
the Iron Curtain believe in their hearts that the United States of America
is a war-loving, violence-embracing, expansionist, imperialistic power.
We know we're not. We know
we could never be.
Americans looked with righteous
indignation at the "Chinese hordes" swarming over the borders of North
Korea, to enter the battle against the United States. We scoffed at the
"trumped-up" term "People's Volunteers."
But, to the peasant boys
from China, it seemed far more logical for them to enter battle with "foreign
devils" on an adjacent peninsula on behalf of people who looked much the
same than to see tall Americans fighting on that same peninsula thousands
of miles from home. The same parallels may be drawn, for the sake of understanding
the Southeast Asian equivalent of barbershop philosophy, in Vietnam.
Americans grew sick of Korea.
They wanted out - and they finally succeeded in getting out. But they left
behind a part of America's manhood, America's pride.
Most Americans would never
understand painful, prolonged struggle over worthless real estate for limited,
political objectives. They could understand fighting for home, and for
country. They could understand fighting against the forces of evil, and
to make the world safe for democracy. But they would never understand fighting
for limited goals, to "demonstrate" to an enemy, or to "inspire" others.
Talks Begin
Then came the confusing talks
at Panmunjom. A great blow to the American fighting spirit was dealt during
these so-called "peace talks."
Half as many men were killed
and wounded during the long peace talks at Panmunjom as were lost during
the violent war that surged up and down the peninsula earlier. The line
had stagnated along the same area, roughly, as the contested "parallel"
(38 degrees north) of 1950. This time, however, the line was determined
by the choice of steep hills and valleys, and military considerations.
The most well-remembered names to come out of the Korean War were labels
for the bloody battles of "Pork Chop Hill," or "Bunker Hill," or "Heartbreak
Hill" and "Bloody Ridge."
These infamous names came
from that deadly game of "King of the Mountain" played between U.N. forces
and the North Koreans and communist Chinese all along the line stretching
completely across the Korean Peninsula during
the "peace talks"
at Panmunjom.
Once the talks began, it
was lost on none of the troops that the war just might be over at any moment.
There was always that hope. Born of that hope were the myriad rumors flowing
up and down along the line of the imminency of peace and a trip back home,
and to sanity, away from the body-strewn, hideous, stinking mountains and
paddies of that forsaken land.
Disastrous New Tactics
Commanders began to experience
something new in the American fighting spirit.
Once the talks began, every
common soldier knew in his heart his commanders, all the way up to the
highest diplomatic levels, did not want victory - they did not want North
Korea - they wanted truce. Each fighting man knew in his heart he would
never see the Yalu - that he would never drive the enemy from North Korea.
He learned that the enemy
seemed perfectly willing to fight to the death for a small piece of ground,
seemingly forever. Tiny knobs and hills assumed enormous propaganda value
out of all proportion to their military worth. Massive struggles over utterly
worthless territory assumed huge importance.
Whoever lost a hill lost
face.
At Heartbreak Hill, during
those moments of initial jockeying for position. and proving to the enemy
that at he must come to the "peace table" (a policy pursued in Vietnam
in spite of hideous lessons learned), the 23rd Infantry assaulted various
ridges and knobs for a total of 23 days. A whole new pattern of battle
emerged during the struggles for Heartbreak. On the contested territory,
which could be very small in itself, the battle would be utterly cataclysmic.
A rain of artillery fire such as had never been experienced was massed
against single hills, day after day. Because the objectives were limited,
troops were frequently committed piecemeal, in limited increments. They
were quickly shot to pieces, to be replaced by an equal number of troops.
While a vicious battle raged
in one point of the line, men within one mile lay quietly, looking over
the murky, brooding hills before them, knowing a tough, tenacious enemy
lay waiting there, but totally uninvolved in the fighting they could easily
hear only hundreds of yards distant. This made no military sense. It might
as well have been France in 1916. The North Korean People's Army lost 35,000
men atop Heartbreak in the bizarre game of "King of the Mountain." And
to prove they could take a hill, and "lean on the enemy" in a move to convince
him he must talk, 5,600 men of the U.S. Seventh Division lay dead or maimed
on Heartbreak Hill. It was aptly named.
But perhaps the real
heartbreak was in the knowledge among the survivors that nothing -
nothing whatever - had been accomplished by it at all. That battle and
many like it helped break the heart of America's soldiers.
Talks But No Peace
An American officer, summing
up his assessment of the battle, said, "The heart to fight, though not
gone, was not the bright light it had once been."
Once the talks began, the
public back home could not understand the continuing numbers of telegrams
beginning with those horrible words, "We sincerely regret to inform you..."
Peace talks were under way
Battlefield casualties became Un-acceptable. No one wanted to be the very
last man to die. No one wanted to die, no matter in what chronological
order.
Gen. Matthew Ridgeway was
informed in Tokyo that the public could accept the end of the war in sight
- it could accept the truce in place of victory, but it could NOT accept
continuing casualties.
American field commanders
agonized over orders which, to them, were tantamount to being an order
to "fight the war, but don't get anyone killed!" No such
orders were actually issued, but everyone tacitly understood them.
Americans had proved they
are willing to die to make men free. They are willing to fight, and if
need be die for their own homeland, or for the preservation of their own
way of life, their freedoms and liberties, their loved ones, and their
sons and daughters.
But Americans were becoming
unwilling, in Korea, to die for a piece of real estate 10,000 miles from
home when they KNEW their government would eventually SURRENDER that same
piece of real estate to the enemy. Battlefield commanders knew it was suicide
to commit troops piecemeal into battle. They recognized victory would be
accomplished only if sufficient forces to achieve a victory were employed.
Yet practically every time-honored
and hard-earned military lesson was ignored at one time or another during
the long, protracted "peace talks" at Panmunjom.
Time and again, the weird
game of "King of the Mountain" was played. The communist Chinese or the
North Korean People's Army attacked with sufficient strength to throw U.N.
forces off particular hilltop. The U.N. forces, mostly American, committed
sufficient men to launch an attack against the hill. If heavy fire-fighting
developed, and a number of the men were wiped out, a sufficient number
to replace them were hurriedly placed in the front lines.
Gradually, in this weird
testing of wills, the lines stabilized.
The American Fighting Spirit
Something was happening,
too, to the minds of American soldiers. They could fight, tenaciously,
ferociously, and they could win - they proved that. They could fight like
no other soldiers when it was for
victory - when it was to conquer,
to enforce a SURRENDER upon a hated foe.
They could fight for girl
friends, and Mom and Dad. They could fight to stay free; to protect their
country. But could they fight with the same spirit for limited political
objectives in a strange country to carry out their part as functionaries
of geopolitics?
Could young Americans become
legionnaires? Legionnaires are professional soldiers who fight because
they are told to. They were the Romans, who fought to keep a vast empire
together, and their mercenaries, who fought for the love of fighting. The
famous French Foreign Legion was always known to be a sanctuary for criminals,
sadists and men whose only satisfaction in life came from fighting. They
were paid to fight - so they fought.
But American young men are
not of the stuff of legions. They proved, in World War II, again in Korea,
and in Vietnam, that they are superb warriors. They proved they can win.
But they also proved in
Korea, and Vietnam, that they need to fight for a CAUSE more than an order,
for a VICTORY more than stalemate, for TERRITORY rather than for attrition.
How to Destroy a Nation's Pride
The ensuing months and years
which began the peace talks at Kaesong and Panmunjom were no doubt the
most frustrating years for the American people in their history, but nowhere
near so frustrating and debilitating as for the American Army. The continued
failure to achieve either tangible political results or definitive military
victory at huge expense and terrible sacrifice wore thin on civilians and
the military alike.
Not only were men in uniform
being killed - a people
was having its will, its resolve,
its imperturbable belief in the right slowly killed.
To destroy a nation you
must first break its spirit. Then give its people too much. Make
their purposes only selfish, personal ones. Make life and peace and the
materialistic goals of an affluent society more urgently important to them
than sacrifice for transcendental cause.
You must have them greedy,
sick with lust, insatiable. You must continually wear down their national
pride, their God-given purpose, their deep loyalty to the whole family
living within one concept of government, one blessed land they call home.
Beginning with Korea, not
only young sons and fathers were being killed - a people was being prepared
for death. Vietnam was nearly a mortal blow.
Once America was deeply
committed in Korea, and once America illustrated she was willing to negotiate
at the conference table and committed to a policy of "conditioned response"
in battle, she was no longer innovating. She was scrambling for temporary
solutions to problems already set in motion through earlier lack of innovation.
Washington fretted over public reaction to such a costly and unvictorious
war, and attempted to react accordingly.
But on the battlefields,
American commanders knew that vigorous action wins victories - that seizing
the initiative, invading an enemy's territory, cutting off his supply lines,
and denying him his rearward bases; were the elements for decisive victory.
History had proved to the
armies of all nations that he who hesitates on the battlefield is lost.
Yet, somehow, the United
States in the early 1950s decided that battlefields were no longer the
domain of military men alone. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, relieved of
his duties as Supreme Allied Commander in Tokyo, was brought home as a
direct result of his insistence upon using America's nuclear arms to achieve
victory, and doing so by attacking communist bases in Manchuria. The United
States government was forced to seek some acceptable substitute for MacArthur's
proposed victory - and this resulted in a gradual buildup of armed strength
at huge cost, and the forcing of millions of young Americans into long,
hard and painful service. Generals were replaced by politicians in conducting
the war.
A Change of Administration
It should have been instructive
to American leadership that Americans changed governments in the midst
of the Korean War. It should have been even more clearly instructive that,
following a landslide victory based upon promises of new, quick solutions
to protracted struggle, the Republican administration of the mid-'50s
found itself inevitably forced into accepting practically every policy
of the preceding Democratic administration, including "containment" of
communism, and painful, pragmatic maneuverings and peace parlays instead
of quick, decisive victory.
Just as the conduct of the
Korean War was one of the major campaign issues that swept Dwight Eisenhower
and his vice president, Richard Nixon, into the White House in 1952,
so the conduct of the Vietnam War was one of the major campaign issues
that again caused the American public to shift from a Democratic to a Republican
administration in the midst of a futile land war in Asia, and sweep Mr.
Richard Nixon into the presidency in 1968.
Ironically, those who hoped
for quick, easy solutions to the war in Vietnam were once again to be bitterly
disappointed by the march of history. Mr. Nixon, resolving not to repeat
the mistakes that brought an end to the Johnson administration, hoped for
an "honorable" solution in Vietnam - or at least a partial face-saving.
However, like the Republican administration of 1952, he found, before his
term was more than a few months old, that he was forced to rule out a military
solution to Vietnam, and that only compromise with the enemy in Vietnam,
and gradual defusing of tensions in the world, could keep the specter of
Armageddon from becoming unimaginable reality.
Suddenly, it was "Nixon's
war," a rather unfair label hung quickly by those whose overview of history
is conspicuously absent.
Again, Americans didn't
understand.
Once again, more of our
manhood was being slowly eroded -gradually drained away.
Vietnam
Viewing the Korean War in
retrospect makes Vietnam, and the protracted struggle of nearly a decade,
all the more incomprehensible.
The American government
clearly failed to understand that communists negotiate fairly only when
it is in their interest to do so, or when unbearable pressure is
placed upon them. America not only failed to win a decisive victory in
Korea, but she failed to achieve a decisive peace.
Within months after the
final "peace talks," and the signing of the truce, practically every point
so painstakingly hammered out had been broken.
As was the case in Vietnam,
one of the major political footballs of the 1950s was the question of POWs.
The United States government was deeply split over the Korean War, just
as it became deeply split over the Vietnam War. During the 1950s there
were those in American leadership who wanted peace at any price. There
were also those who wanted victory at any price.
Search your history books,
and you will find a dramatic shift in American leadership right in the
midst of the Korean War, just as you saw a dramatic shift in American leadership
during the Vietnamese War. A Republican attack based upon past mistakes
of the existing administration successfully brought Dwight Eisenhower to
the presidency in 1952. During that early administration, such solutions
as "massive retaliation," and "more bang for a buck," were proposed. However,
painfully, that same administration eventually adopted the policy of containment
- and somehow convinced the American middle class that communism must
be lived with, even if it is opposed. After only a year or two, then, the
new Republican administration found itself forced into adopting virtually
every foreign policy of the Truman administration.
From that time to this,
each new American leader has discovered that, despite the call for new
looks, new programs, new solutions, the same tired old stony face of communism
always loomed on the horizon. New solutions, however appealing, remained
to be viewed only in the light of the continuously awesome specter of Soviet
nuclear power. America found herself virtually "asking the communists for
permission" in adopting new foreign policy.
A new feeling of futility
gradually crept into the American mind as a result of the terrible stalemate
of Korea and the shameful defeat in Vietnam. This was the beginning
of the breaking of the pride of our power. It was that moment in history
when we floundered, indecisive, lacking clear-cut purpose, and proved our
will could be tested by tiny, fourth-rate powers with vastly inferior equipment
in the hands of ignorant peasant boys.
While nothing can be said
which in any way could take away from the fighting spirit of the American
men in Korea or Vietnam, nor any serious criticism offered of the job most
of those men performed in that war, that subtle weakening of the American
will was nevertheless a real product of our lack of victory.
Living With War
It is not to blame one political
party or the other - or to label one leader or the other. The point is
that, in Korea, just as in Vietnam, both a Democratic and a Republican
administration lived with the war "on their hands" and both learned that
there were no easy solutions.
Pragmatic solutions were
attempted - and the policy of containment is definitely pragmatic. The
pragmatists did not carve out the vastness of a beautiful young America
in the western wilderness. Pragmatists did not assault the beaches at Normandy,
or roll across the French countryside in the tanks of Patton's Seventh
Army.
And, while Americans had
begun to hear of "limited war" with "limited objectives," the American
servicemen could scathingly note that there is no such thing as a "limited
bullet" and that once you're in the front lines a battle is a battle and
you can be killed, regardless as to how "limited" it may be labeled by
a politician.
We didn't learn our lesson
in Korea. We made the same mistakes again in Vietnam. We are making the
same mistakes today in Central America.
The "Parallel" Wars
In Korea, as in Vietnam,
Americans were fighting side by side with oriental peoples who were, in
turn, fighting against their own kind. To Americans in Korea, "all Koreans
looked alike."
In Vietnam, they were all
"Gooks," the ARVNs and VC alike.
In each case, we were fighting
in a narrow country, divided north and south by a purely imaginary political
line. That is, it was a line drawn on a map by politicians. It followed
no particular chain of mountains. It followed no particular river or valley.
It respected no particular roads, canals, bridges or villages. It was,
in short, utterly devoid of any essential military characteristics. It
was, then, completely impractical from a military point of view - since
it ignored militarily defensible territory or strategic topographical features.
In each case, we fought
against an enemy granted safe sanctuary. In Korea, it was the Yalu River
and Manchuria. In Vietnam, it was Cambodia and Haiphong Harbor. There were
multicolored maps illustrating "off limits'' to pilots.
Only when President Nixon's
withdrawl timetable was threatened by a massive North Vietnamese offensive
in May of 1972 were vital port and rail facilities fair game. Yet the enemy
fought on unflaggingly as the war become "Vietnamized" by U.S. ground troop
withdrawals. Cambodia, Laos and China were still safe sanctuaries.
In Korea, Air Force and
Navy pilots flew missions against bridges, roads, tunnels, trains, ox carts,
trucks, columns of troops and hamlets.
They were not allowed to
carry the war to the enemy by bombing his airfields, or his rear
supply bases, since these were carefully hoarded in Manchuria.
For the rnajority of the
war in Vietnam, pilots flew missions against carefully specified targets
chosen, as often as not, by officers thousands of miles from the battles.
A pilot of an American fighter bomber based in Cambodia might fly a typical
mission like this one:
Flying the "Thuds"
Weather, briefing and a careful
description of the target for the morning mission were given the pilot
after his quick visit to the mess for breakfast and coffee, probably at
4 a.m. He would fly his "Thunderchief" (labeled "Thuds" by the men who
flew them), heavily laden with bombs and rockets, along a carefully prescribed
route, which included political considerations. (A sweep over Hanoi could
lead, if a pilot made a turn too wide, to intrusion over one of the many
"restricted" areas, and bring about a worldwide political and diplomatic
crisis - so the Thud pilots were not merely asked to bomb military targets;
they were asked to be students of delicate geopolitics as well.)
Takeoff was always a chancy
thing - with the frequent violent rain squalls and puddles of water on
the strip. The heavy, stubby-winged fighter bombers would roar into the
murky skies to climb on course for his refueling tanker, orbiting in a
predetermined area high over the eastern border area of Cambodia. The Thud
didn't have enough fuel to make it all the way to North Vietnam and back
to base - so he had to accomplish the demanding task of in-air refueling
going each way.
The refueling was done one
at a time. So was much of the bombing, and many missions. The Thud pilots
went singly, in pairs, or in threes or larger groups.
After filling up, the pilot
pointed his flying arsenal along the long, winding mountains labeled "Thud
Ridge" by those who came to know it so well (it gave title to the book
written by an American Thud pilot who came home to tell about it).
Bombing and Air Defenses
Sometimes, weather might
prevent anything more than snooping for holes in the clouds for up to four
or more days at a time. All this was not lost on the enemy. It gave him
sufficient time to dismantle and cart off the target, or, failing this,
to quickly set up portable SAM sites around it, and reinforce the target
with every conceivable type of anti-aircraft weapon.
Few Americans realized that
the air defenses around Hanoi were far more intensified and far more sophisticated
than any of those around the big industrial cities of Germany during World
War II!
Finally, when weather permitted,
the target was attacked. That meant using the capability of the Thud (including
anti-SAM radar, which could detect the rocket as it fired preparatory to
launch) to the full, taxing the pilot to the limit of his ability. He had
to keep an eye out for the hated SAMs flying at him, for bursts of flak,
being careful not to overfly one of the many restricted areas, and trying
to place his bombs and rockets squarely on target. He knew, too, that the
North Vietnamese would deliberately park military equipment in hospital
compounds, and in and among civilian populated areas. His job was an almost
impossible one - but not quite.
He usually did get
his "impossible" job done. But not always without sacrifice (as the guests
at the "Hanoi Hilton" [American prisoners of war in Hanoi] can testify).
So the tortuous, seemingly
impossible missions continued to be carried out, month after month, year
after year.
At best, the bombing was
an exercise in attrition, and an attempt at interdiction of supply routes.
At no time did it succeed in halting enemy military activity, but only
in keeping the enemy flow of man power and supplies within certain limits.
During any cessation of bombing over the North, former targets commonly
became more heavily fortified, meaning that once bombing began it would
be much more difficult and dangerous.
The parallels between the
air war over Korea and North Vietnam are inescapable. In each case the
enemy enjoyed safe sanctuary. He could pick and choose when he wished to
send up his MIG fighters to contest Americans in the air. He could carefully
pick and choose where and when to place his air defenses. And he could
learn where his military supplies were safest on the ground.
All this led to an understandably
unhealthy attitude among American military personnel.
In spite of this, most of
them continued to do their impossible job - many of them died.
On the ground, the parallels
were slightly different.
In Korea, U.S. soldiers
had a front. They knew the enemy was "up there," in the North, and that
the PX, a cold beer, letters from home and maybe a chance USO show, were
all "back there." If battle lines can ever be said to be "tidy," then the
war in Korea allowed "tidy" lines where possible.
But in Vietnam there never
was a front. The enemy was everywhere. On all sides, in the jungle, in
the rice paddies, selling you a beer in the bar that noon, and donning
his guerrilla uniform and equipment to attempt to kill you that night.
The enemy could be that beautiful Vietnamese girl inviting you to buy her
a drink (so she could inform her friends in the Viet Cong of all you said),
or that little boy herding the water buffalo along (which were used at
night to carry arms and ammunition to secret Viet Cong hideouts).
A map of South Vietnam,
showing enemy strongholds, appeared leprous. The enemy was everywhere,
and nowhere.
In Korea, there was a front
and a rear.
In Vietnam, there never
was a front, a rear, or even a home front.
There are many other parallels
between Korea and Vietnam.
In Korea, the U.S. maintained
complete naval superiority - but the sea lanes were equally open to vessels
of friendly countries, members of the United Nations, who trafficked then,
as now, with the enemy. Only in May, 1972, was this shipping curtailed
by the mining of strategic ports and waterways in Vietnam.
As in Korea, Russian submarines
or aircraft could freely shadow the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
In Vietnam, as in Korea,
Americans spawned a vicious amount of anti-American hatred from their general
demeanor among their oriental allies.
The parallels are endless
- from the overall policy of American leadership to the tiresome, unacceptable,
but inevitable, outcome.
In all this is a part of
the destruction of the American spirit, the breaking of the PRIDE of
our power!
The Cost of Vietnam
By December, 1970, American
battle dead in Vietnam had exceeded 44,000 young men, more than half of
them Americans who were too young to vote. incredibly, about half of all
these battle deaths occurred since the "peace talks" began in May, 1968!
Whatever had been learned
from Korea was somehow forgotten.
The wounded surpassed 303,000
by the end of 1975, making total U.S. casualties 360,851.
When considering those who
have died in crashes, from dysentery and other illnesses, self-inflicted
wounds, or who have been killed by their own men (sometimes deliberately,
as bizarre stories of enlisted men killing their officers filtered out
of Vietnam), 57,000 Americans died from all causes.
Meanwhile, South Vietnamese
dead surpassed 150,000 and 385,000 wounded. Officials estimated the Viet
Cong and North Vietnamese deaths exceeded 860,000.
By December, 1970, U.S.
casualties in Vietnam had surpassed the total casualties during all of
World War I.
Most people view the cost
of battle dead in the two world wars as worth the price since the price
was the prospect of slavery and a new dark age.
But what did the grisly
toll of battle deaths in Vietnam accomplish? Americans aren't sure. Many
are confused. Only a few years ago, about 80 percent of the population
thought the war in Vietnam was necessary to demonstrate, again, that communism
would not be tolerated if it was to be forced upon a free people irrespective
of their own free choice.
To put up another costly
"no trespassing" sign in Southeast Asia seemed worth it to a majority,
then. But today, hardly anyone believes this.
Perhaps, if the price were
being paid for clear victory, Americans would understand. But for an eventual
pullout, which means nothing accomplished save the purchase of time,
Americans cannot understand.
The war in Vietnam was the
second costliest war in American history. American taxpayers provided over
$125 BILLION for the futile struggle.
Add to that figure the future
costs to the nation in veteran's benefits (another $50 billion), and interest
payments on federal debts attributable to the war, and the final cost may
approach the same as for all of World War II.
By the end of 1970 cost
more than doubled that of World War I. At the war peak it cost Americans
$150,000 to kill one enemy in Vietnam. And, make no mistake about it, the
war was one of attrition, where killing the enemy was the main point.
At that rate, with enemy
deaths as costly to achieve as building two fine new homes, at the rate
of $75,000 each, one gains a fair perspective of the "guns versus butter"
issue of history.
In 1969, the United States
poured $2.4 billion a month into Vietnam, or $550 million per week,
$78 million per day, $3.3 million every hour of every day, or $55,000
per minute.
With such fantastic outlays
in life and money, only final defeat and ignominious withdrawl lay ahead.
And the further breaking of America's pride.
Never have so many spent
so much to buy so little.
It has been said, "You get
what you pay for." But in Vietnam only a little time was bought. The enemy
is still there.
Something more than a communist
government was left behind. Also remaining was the most prodigious collection
of roads, bridges, barracks, supply dumps, airfields, channels, docks,
permanent installations, heavy equipment, and war supplies that could be
lavished upon a small people by the most fantastically wealthy country
in the earth's history.
The United States created
in South Vietnam a prize of enchanting economic proportions. Its deep-water
harbors (man-made, mostly), dock facilities and transportation equipment
will be cherished by the victorious communists for decades.
Also, the ecological balance
of the country may have been destroyed forever.
No piece of real estate
in the world has received more careful attention from the combined destructive
forces of modern technology. It costs millions to blast rice paddies and
defoliate or burn mangrove swamps. But blasted, defoliated and burned they
have been.
North Vietnam, too, felt
the stinging lash of the most modern and destructive warfare of all history.
From February, 1965, until October, l968 (when the bombing in the North
was halted), the United States dropped two million nine hundred fifty-five
thousand tons of bombs on North Vietnam alone. All this cost about $6 BILLION,
or more than the U.S. spent on education, space research, highways or agriculture
in the calendar year of 1968.
Believe it or not, this
represents more than double the total bomb tonnage dropped on Europe during
World War II!
North Vietnam received (if
that is the word to use) about 50 tons of bombs for every square mile of
its territory, making it the most heavily bombed area of comparable size
in the history of man's useless wars.
Over seven thousand four
hundred American aircraft, including helicopters, were lost, costing about
$7 billion.
No one will ever know how
much of the $8 billion the U.S. spent to bolster the sagging South Vietnamese
economy went into private pockets, or hidden bank accounts.
Estimates range from 5 percent
to 50 percent, meaning that anywhere from $400 million to $4 billion may
have been siphoned off from economic aid to become private loot.
Corruption was a stench
in Vietnam. From smashed bodies and rotting mangroves to graft, vice and
a flourishing black market, corruption was an apt description for a whole
new way of things.
Billions of dollar's worth
of U.S. military goods were stolen. They disappeared from the waterfronts,
while being unloaded from ships, or from warehouses. They were stolen by
black marketeers, both without and within the military.
In fiscal 1969 the U.S.
government spent $28.8 billion in Vietnam. By comparison, in fiscal
1968 we spent only a total of $330 million on air pollution, the Peace
Corps and the Head Start program combined - less than one eightieth the
money spent on Vietnam!
The U.S. government allocated
$1.8 billion for Food for Freedom in fiscal 1968, and $1.8 billion for
the Office for Economic Opportunity (the "poverty program") - less than
one ninth the money spent in Vietnam.
The federal government spent
$4.4 billion on highway construction in the United States - less than one
sixth the money poured into Vietnam in that same year. In Vietnam, government
contracts resulted in the construction of six deep-water ports, eight shallow-draft
ports, eight big jet air bases with twelve 10,000-foot runways and more
than 80 auxiliary airfields. Hundreds of miles of new roads, hundreds of
bridges, oil pipelines, tanks, storage and maintenance areas, docks, barracks,
buildings, hospitals, etc., were built. Who controls them now?
According to one calculation,
at the peak of the build-up in Vietnam the U.S. was laying asphalt in Vietnam
at a rate which would have built a New Jersey Turnpike every 30 days, pouring
enough concrete to build a Washington, D.C., Beltway every two months,
and digging enough earth to excavate a Suez Canal every 18 months.
Viewing this incomprehensible
expenditure in effort, gigantic sums of money, and heartbreaking loss of
human life, what was truly gained?
Americans have been taught
to avoid war like diphtheria. But, once it is forced upon them, they have
been schooled by experience to with swift, total force. They knew it took
total commitment, and that victory was the only goal worthy of costly warfare.
They had grown accustomed
to winning.
But Korea, Vietnam, and
all the tiresome minor defeats in between, like the Iranian hostage crisis,
bewildered the American people.
Americans cannot accept
war as a part of politics. War is utterly distasteful to Americans, notwithstanding
their penchant for petty violence, western movies and gangster novels.
They can fight "holy wars" with a will - fight them and win - so long as
they are fighting against an enemy who is regarded as the embodiment of
evil.
The American spirit cannot
accept the vision of empire, nor of the need for professional legions.
Still, in a world filled with real and potential enemies, a country so
richly endowed as the United States makes a potentially fatal omission
if she fails to choose between two alternatives:
She must either trust
in her God, or trust in her armies. To do neither is SUICIDAL.
But, since a liberal, pragmatic
society cannot stomach the kind of armies which comprise legions; since
American families cannot bear to see their sons become cold, professional
killers, America remains distrustful of legions.
She could never submit to
a purely military government, and remains distrustful of each restrictive
measure which seems to indicate more of a "police state" in the offing.
A Broken Spirit
In short, America is unwilling
to maintain either the determination of spirit, or the kind of a battle-toughened,
professional military organization, that can survive more protracted tests
of her willpower in far-off, insignificant lands. Witness the demonstrations
when the Reagan administration sent 3,000 troops into Honduras as a show
of force.
Is America seeing the world
pass her by? Does she belong, perhaps, to a different era?
The pride in our power is
gone.
Our spirit has been
broken.
Korea started it. Vietnam,
Watergate and the hostages in Iran have continued it. The mood of the American
Congress has, in expressing the will of the American people, made it virtually
"illegal" for the president to further involve American foot soldiers in
yet another tiresome, undeclared war, in Asia or elsewhere.
Thus, the United States
has finally, in futility and hopelessness, rejected the course of action
it so cautiously pursued through the agonies of Korea, all of Vietnam,
and every minor skirmish in between.
We seem to have decided,
now, that both wars were a terrible mistake.
We have ceased to innovate.
We are not leading.
Why? What caused it all?
We forgot the God
who gave us our liberties. We forsook the Creator who blessed and enriched
us above all peoples who have ever walked the earth.
Our laymen plunged into
materialism with greedy delight, and our churchmen gave them all their
blessing, calling the breaking of God's Ten Commandments a "new morality."
We have forgotten God!
We do NOT keep His laws.
And that God says to us,
"...And if you will not yet for all this listen to Me, then I will punish
you seven times more for your sins.
"AND I WILL BREAK THE PRIDE
OF YOUR POWER."
It's been broken. We don't
keep the Ten Commandments. Can you, in good sense, deny the connection?
"And I will make your heaven
as iron, and your earth as brass, and your strength shall be spent in
vain..." (Leviticus 26:18-20).
We have spent our strength
- oh, how we've spent it. We have wasted our energies, our vast wealth,
our young, strong men - we have spent enormously, vastly, prodigiously.
And we have done it all
in vain.
We have spent our homes
and families, our farms and produce, our factories and their products.
We have spent our time and our concern. We have spent dearly.
In vain.
Something terrible has happened
to America. What is being destroyed is the keystone of a healthy,
viable people. Some leaders have recognized what made America great.
Prosperity and Decay
President Eisenhower said,
in his State of the Union message, Jan. 7, 1960: "America did not become
great through softness and self-indulgence. Her miraculous progress and
achievement flow from other qualities far more worthy and substantial:
adherence to principles and methods consonant with our religious philosophy;
a satisfaction in hard work; the readiness to sacrifice for worthwhile
causes; the courage to meet every challenge to her progress: the intellectual
honesty and capacity to recognize the true path of her own best interest."
It was only a few days previous
to this outstanding speech, which seems in retrospect prophetic, that the
late economist, Roger Babson, said: "The test of a nation is the growth
of its people -physically, intellectually, and spiritually. Money and so-called
'prosperity' are of very little account...
"Babylon, Persia, Greece,
Rome, Spain and France all had their turn in being the richest in the world.
Instead of saving them, their so-called prosperity ruined them.
"Our nation is now rated
the richest, but it could easily become a second-class nation and head
downward: Money will not save us. Crops will not save us. Stock exchanges
and banks will not save us. Already our gold at Fort Knox is diminishing.
Only a sane spiritual revival which changes the desires of our people
will save us. We must be filled with a desire to render service, to
seek strength rather than security, to put character ahead of profits.
Even the democracy for which our fathers fought and bled could result in
our downfall."
It was only two weeks previous
to these prophetic statements that another famous American, historian George
Kennan, said before a Washington audience: "If you ask me - as an historian
- whether a country in the state in which this country finds itself today,
with no highly developed sense of national purpose, with the overwhelming
accent of life on personal comfort and amusement, with a dearth of public
services and a surfeit of privately sold gadgetry - with a chaotic transportation
system... with insufficient social discipline even to keep its major industries
functioning without grievous interruptions - has over the long run good
chances of competing with a purposeful, serious and disciplined society
such as that of the Soviet Union, I must say that the answer is 'no.'"
Coming at the beginning
of the 1960s, such words now seem prophetic.
Change in American Spirit
The American spirit took
a nose-dive in the 1950s. Somehow a gradual disintegration of pride
in American power, a gradual flagging of patriotism, and a gradual willingness
to do business with one's enemies crept into America. We are still at it
today - in Central America.
It's not too late for America
- not too late, yet, for inspired leader-ship, clarity of goals, unanimity
of purpose, dedication to great cause, and collective sacrifice to push
the world's greatest single power into broad avenues of peace, into a bright
new tomorrow, into a utopian era of the realization of man's fondest dreams.
It's not too late for America to see the vastness of her wealth. It is
not too late for a spiritual answer to our deepest problems of the
spirit.
But it's much, much later
than you think!
The measure of a nation's
greatness is not its industrial capacity, not its natural resources, not
its GNP. It is the quality of the character
of its people.
America is losing character.
Is there any willpower left?
Any spirit of sacrifice? Any dedication to great cause?
Have we forgotten how to
repent"
Needed-National Repentance
Can you envision government
leaders dropping to their knees in real heartfelt REPENTANCE before God,
crying out to Him to deliver us from our awesome national problem?
"Ridiculous!" some would
say.
And, because such a picture
of national repentance is so "ridiculous" to even imagine, our peoples
are headed for perhaps the greatest national punishment that ever came
on any nation.
Notice this striking prophecy
from the biblical book of Ezekiel:
"The iniquity of the House
of Israel [our modern English-speaking peoples] and Judah is exceeding
great and the land is full of blood [America leads the world in crime]
and the city full of perverseness [our cities have become asphalt jungles
of crime, immorality, drug addiction and sensuous pleasure-seeking],
for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and, the Lord seeth not"
(Ezekiel 9:9).
And isn't that exactly what
millions say today: "God doesn't exist," "He's gone way off somewhere,"
"He's gone into retirement"?
But God is not in
retirement. He really does exist. And He does say in His Word - the Bible
- that He punishes people who are constantly breaking laws and bringing
all the awesome problems we see everywhere around us today upon themselves.
It does matter to Him how we live!
He says, "I... will judge
thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations
[our national crimes and sins] and mine eye shall not spare thee, neither
will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee" (Ezekiel 7:3,
4).
Does this sound a little
vague - perhaps a little archaic - a little too much like some "Old Testament
fire and brimstone"?
Don't delude yourself! God
is going to punish our peoples severely for our national and individual
crimes and sins - unless we really repent - and turn to Him.
Our Own Ways
So far, God is not yet
directly punishing our peoples. He is merely letting us begin to kill
ourselves. He is letting us suffer the automatic consequences of our
own ways. We abuse the earth He gave us: polluting our rivers and streams
with pesticides and chemicals; killing the nutrients in the soil, striving
by our own humanly devised mechanical means to produce crops.
God says, "Thine own
wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee..."
(Jeremiah 2:19), and "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself but in Me
is thine help" (Hosea 13:9).
Our Creator says, "It's
not too late for America yet." We could still repent - and He would help
us.
Notice the conditions:
"Thus saith the LORD of
hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I
will cause you to dwell in this place... For if you thoroughly amend your
ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and
his neighbor; if ye oppress not the stranger [minority groups], the fatherless,
and the widow, and shed not innocent blood [brutal murders are commonplace
in America today], neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will
I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your Fathers,
for ever and ever" (Jeremiah 7:3-7).
Otherwise a national captivity
and scattering of our peoples to the four winds is foretold in the book
of Ezekiel, chapter 5, verses 11 and 12.
God says He's willing if
we are. He wants us to repent. He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked
(Ezekiel 33:11).
Prayer and Fasting
Can this nation follow the
example of Abraham Lincoln? Continue with his presidential proclamation
quoted earlier in this booklet: "...Intoxicated with unbroken success,
we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and
preserving grace [apparently Abraham Lincoln understood the real
meaning of grace], too proud to pray to the God who made us.
"It behooves us, then, to
humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national
sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness:
"Now, therefore, in compliance
with the request, and fully concurring in the views, of the Senate, I do
by this proclamation designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of
April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer... All
this being done in sincerity and truth, let us then rest humbly in the
hope authorized by the divine teachings, that the united cry of the
nation will be heard on high, and answered with blessings no less than
the pardon of our national sins, and the restoration of our now divided
and suffering country to its former happy condition of unity and peace."
I wonder if a president
today could get away with calling a national day of humiliation, prayer,
and fasting?
There Is a Way of Escape
But, even if the nation stubbornly
continues on its present course - does not repent - there is a way out
for you personally. You as an individual can repent and escape the direct
future punishments of God Almighty.
Yes, there is a way of escape
for you - even in this modern age - if you're willing to heed - if you're
willing to seek your God.
Read the 33rd chapter of
Ezekiel. Read how God says any who will really heed the voice of His watchman
will be protected from these perilous times ahead! Read His promises in
Psalm 91.
True to the prophecies -
the pride in our power has been broken. Unless we repent, it is
only a matter of time until our nation will be broken, our cities destroyed,
our peoples taken captive by powerful enemies we do not presently suspect.
The Time of Jacob's Trouble
Irrefutable evidence absolutely
proves that Britain and the United States are a part of the so-called "lost
ten tribes" of Israel! Most of the peoples of Scandinavia and Northwestern
Europe make up the remainder of ten-tribed Israel.
Utterly ignorant of our
identity, most students of Bible prophecy are left with nothing more than
wild speculations about the scenario for the future - blissfully unaware
that the prophecies of Christ Himself concerning the coming GREAT TRIBULATION
are directed PRIMARILY against the United States and Britain, then against
Northwestern Europe, and the Jewish state in modern-day Palestine, called
"Israel."
The Great Tribulation is
described as a time of terrible national calamities brought on by a myriad
of causes - drought, famine, disease, crime, pollution, overpopulation,
wars - a time when the military might of Britain and America will not
save us from the most unthinkable disasters!
Millions of Israelites
were slaughtered during World War II; Many Israelitish nations were
subjected to enemy occupation, deportation, slave labor, unthinkable privation.
Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France - all fell before
the Nazi armies, just as ancient Israel succumbed before waves of invading
Assyrians seven hundred years before Christ. Finland was bled in a war
with Russia. Britain suffered horribly from 1939 until the end of the "Battle
of Britain," and continued to lose men and equipment, was wounded so deeply,
financially, that she would never completely recover, as a result of World
War II. Following that great war, Britain began a slide downward. The once-proud
British Empire was dismantled, and Britain became known as the economic
"sick man" of Europe; finally joined the Common Market as an economic necessity.
The Commonwealth countries;
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, though unoccupied and
unattacked, except for the Japanese bombing of Darwin, and occupation of
part of New Guinea, left tens of thousands of their sons and fathers to
rot in foreign lands, or beneath the seas.
The United States suffered
407,316 deaths in the military; 670,846 non-lethal wounded, from Dec. 7,
1941 until Dec. 31, 1946. The cost to the economy was $360 BILLION!
At the end of World War
II, the United States was at its zenith. She had 8,266,373 men in the Army,
3,380,817 in the Navy, 2,372,292 in the Air Force, for a total of FOURTEEN
MILLION, one hundred ninety-four thousand, four hundred eighty-two in all
services combined!
Yet, by 1946 the Air Force
had shrunk to but 455,515; the Navy to 381,538 by 1950; the
Army down to 67,784 by the same year.
Anciently, God said
He would BREAK THE PRIDE OF OUR POWER if we did not observe His
laws. Now, think, as you review what has happened to the once-mighty
military power that was the United States by the end of the second world
war - think about how Korea, and then Vietnam, drained away a nation's
courage, its strong conviction in the right, its national PRIDE. See WHETHER
God's prophecies are coming to pass!
Bible Prophecy - A Warning!
One third of the Bible is
prophecy. Jesus Christ was the greatest Prophet of all time. His famous
"Olivet Prophecy" is the CORNERSTONE of all prophecy for the time of the
end - the time of the GREAT TRIBULATION, the Day of the Lord, and the Second
Coming of Christ to RULE all nations!
Armed with the knowledge
of the identity of the modern nations of the United States and Europe,
you can come to UNDERSTAND, at last, the overall picture of future events.
As we shall see, the prophesied
GREAT TRIBULATION is to come primarily on JACOB! It is the "time of Jacob's
trouble," meaning the time of great national trauma for England, Canada,
Australia, South Africa, and the United States, as well as others of ten-tribed
Israel. Remember, EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH were the recipients of the NAME
OF ISRAEL! Dying Jacob (Israel) had said, "Let MY NAME be named ON THEM!"
Now, let's notice the prophecies
of Christ Himself.
The Prophecies of Christ
A partial understanding
of Bible prophecy is possible without the knowledge of the identity
of the Lost Ten Tribes. For example, a careful study of Daniel 2, 4, 7;
together with Revelation 13, 17, 18 and Christ's Olivet Prophecy gives
an overview of world events in the immediate future, but only if one
is armed with knowledge of the true meaning of the beast, the image of
the beast, and the identity of the false prophet and the anti-Christ! Even
then, one remains ignorant of how those prophecies will affect the
United States of America if one is missing the most important KEY to prophecy;
the identity of the United States and Britain!
The proofs concerning the
identity of the world-ruling empires depicted by the fabled image of Nebudchadnezzar
(Daniel 2) are too numerous to mention. Most Bible commentaries
include ample references to historical sources correctly identifying the
kingdoms of Babylon (the head of gold), Persia (the chest of silver), Graeco-
Macedonia (the belly and thighs of brass), and Rome (the feet and toes
of miry clay and iron). That Daniel could have successfully predicted the
rise and fall of all these kingdoms, including the successive resurrections
of the same system (the Roman Empire) down through the centuries, is one
of the great testimonies to the inspiration of Scriptures; the accuracy
of God's Word.
Today, millions of amateur
theologians muse about the "beast," leap to incredible, fantastic conclusions
based on whimsical theories. Some think the beast is the United States.
Some claim it is the Catholic Church. Some think it is a group of Jewish
money-lenders involved in a vast conspiracy. Opinions and theories are
rife, as Christ predicted they would be. "Many shall come in My Name, saying
I am Christ [not necessarily that they are Christ, but that HE is
Christ! "Preaching Christ!''] and shall deceive many!"
But the identity of the
beast has never changed. The culmination of the ancient kingdoms was Rome.
Its many revivals down through history are documented. A weak revival of
the "Holy Roman Empire," embodying the same races of the heartland of Europe
as the days of the Hapsburgs and Otto the Great, occurred during World
War II, under Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini, who declared the central
European alliance the "Holy Roman Empire."
The second beast
of Revelation 13 is "lamblike," that is, masquerades as a Christ-like
organization, yet "spoken as a dragon," that is, like Satan!
Bullinger's Companion Bible
includes a comparison between Christ's Olivet Prophecy and the seven seals
of Revelation. It can be proved conclusively that the "four horsemen of
the apocalypse" represent the progressively worsening human condition predicted
by Christ in Matthew 24. The white horse indicates false christs, false
prophets; the rise of the final "False Prophet" (11 Thess. 2) who will
have the power to perform miracles; sit in the "temple of God, shewing
that he is god," and cause millions to "worship the beast and his image."
In other words, the white horse of the 1st seal means the unveiling of
the False Prophet and anti-Christ, at the head of the "Image of the Beast"
(the Babylonish mystery religion) in the time just prior to the Great Tribulation.
The red horse is synonymous
with Christ's predictions of "wars and rumors of wars," of the Olivet Prophecy.
Bullinger correctly shows the exact parallels between the two prophecies;
that the grey horse depicts famine, and the black horse death.
Christ looked beyond His
time into ours; foretold the future, the time in which we live;
the times just ahead of us! Even if one did not know the identify
of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, one can be sure we are living in the
biblically-prophesied "time of the end," like the "day of Noah," when all
mankind pursues the passions of flesh; heedless, unknowing, uncaring, concerning
the catastrophes that lie ahead.
The difference is, those
who know the identity of Israel know how their own people are
going to be involved; they recognize the horrifying national punishments
soon to come, and they are equipped to have a part in the work commissioned
to give powerful WITNESS and WARNING to God's people before it is too late!
Yes, millions know about
the prophesied "Great Tribulation!" But those same millions do not know
the tribulation is prophesied to fall upon the peoples of the HOUSE OF
ISRAEL FIRST!
Let's see the proof!
Christ said, "For then shall
be GREAT TRIBULATION [a time of terrible trouble], such as was not since
the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matt.
24:21). An unprecedented time, absolutely unique in the horrors it shall
bring, without parallel in all history! That means the Great Tribulation
is a time of human suffering that happens ONLY ONCE! There are not TWO
such times! Only ONE! Notice what that means!
At the conclusion of the
longest prophecy in the Bible, Daniel 11, the archangel Gabriel said to
Daniel, "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which
standeth for the children of thy people [Israel!]: and there shall be a
time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation
even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered,
every one that shall be found written in the book" (Dan. 12:1, 2).
Obviously, this great time
of trouble is the SAME as the Great Tribulation predicted by Christ. There
cannot be TWO such times, one canceling out the other - the description
of the greatest time of trouble IN ALL HISTORY means the UNIQUE time of
the Great Tribulation!
Now, notice! "Thus speaketh
the Eternal God of Israel, saying, 'Write thee all the words that I have
spoken unto thee in a book.
"For, lo, the days come,
saith the Eternal, that I will bring again the captivity [bring back the
captives; return them from captivity] of my people Israel AND JUDAH..."
Notice! TWO DIFFERENT GROUPS
OF PEOPLE! Israel, meaning ten-tribed Israel; the "House of Israel," and
"Judah," the Jews!
But remember, Israel DISAPPEARED
from history! They were NEVER brought back from the land of their captivity
between the Black and Caspean Seas, but wandered across Europe, became
lost to history in the centuries that passed. Today, the Jewish people
have their own nation, "Israel." As we shall see, as horrifying as it is
to contemplate, a future captivity for the Jews is prophesied in
your Bible!
Now, back to our scripture,
"...and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers,
and they shall possess it.
"And these are the words
that the Eternal spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
"For thus saith the Eternal;
we have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
"Ask ye now, and see whether
a man doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands
on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces turned into paleness?"
Here, Jeremiah sees in vision people so shocked, so terror-stricken, that
they are doubled over in pain because of the horrors their disbelieving
eyes behold!
"Alas! for that day is GREAT,
So THAT NONE IS LIKE IT..." Note that well! Once again, we read of the
SAME TIME; the "Great Tribulation" prophesied by Christ; the SAME
TIME described by Daniel; a time of trouble SO GREAT that it is absolutely
unparalleled in all the earth's history! And UPON WHOM IS THAT GREAT
TIME OF NATIONAL TRIBULATION TO COME?
It is even the time of JACOB'S
TROUBLE..." (Jer. 30:1-7).
Ah! The time of JACOB'S
trouble! And who was Jacob? His name was changed to ISRAEL! As be lay
dying, be crossed his hands, as you have read, blessing Ephraim over Manasseh,
said, "Let MY NAME BE NAMED ON THEM!" Among all the tribes of Israel, only
Ephraim (Great Britain) and Manasseh (The United States) have the right
to be called "Jacob," or the "House of Israel!"
So the Great Tribulation
spoken of by Christ; the horrifying time of Satan's WRATH on the earth,
is to come PRIMARILY AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES,
and incidentally against the remainder of the lost ten tribes of Israel!
Now, notice the remainder of this remarkable 30th chapter of Jeremiah:
"...but he shall be saved
OUT of it [meaning Jacob; the U.S. and Britain, shall have to go through
it, but shall not be completely destroyed; shall be saved 'out' of
it!]. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Eternal of hosts,
that I will break HIS YOKE from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds,
and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him..." (Jer. 30:7, 8).
And what is the time
setting of this prophecy about impending national captivity for the
House of Jacob; of Israel? "But they shall serve the Eternal their God,
and David their King, whom I will raise up unto them!" (Jer. 30:8,
9).
Are the U.S. and Britain
serving God, today?
Is the nation of "Israel," in Palestine, "serving
God?" NO! The time setting of this prophecy is the SAME as that of Matthew
24, Revelation 6, and Daniel 12. It is just before the Second
Corning of Christ; just before the time of the resurrection, when
God will raise David, together with all His righteous saints and patriarchs
who have died, to be caught up to meet Christ (I Thess. 4:17) when He returns
to this earth (Rev. 1:7; Acts 1:11; Rev. 19) to stand, in that same day,
on the mount of Olives in Jerusalem (Zech. 14:4).
Now, whose yoke will
be laid upon our peoples?
The Woman Who Rode the Beast
John saw, in vision, a great
harlot astride a many-heeded beast. Christ's prophecies, together with
those of Daniel and Revelation, leave no doubt as to the identity of this
church-state system. Notice, "And there came one of the seven angels which
had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I
will shew unto thee the judgement of the GREAT WHORE that sitteth upon
many waters:
"With whom the kings of
the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth
have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
"So he carried me away in
the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured
beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
"And the woman was arrayed
in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones
and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness
of her fornication:
"And upon her forehead was
a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Rev. 17:1-5).
The woman is a great, universal,
false church! She "sits on" a "beast," meaning she holds sway and influence
over the ten-nation union in central Europe. She CONTROLS the beast!
Clearly, the ten nations
exist at the very last days of man's governments on this earth, just PRIOR
to the Second Coming of Christ! Notice, "And the ten horns which thou sawest
are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but received power
as kings one hour with the beast.
"These have one mind, and
shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
"These shall make war with
the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and
King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful"
(Rev. 17:12-14).
This is an exact parallel
of Daniel 2:44, and preceding verses, where God says the symbolic STONE
(Christ) that is seen coming down from heaven like a meteor, smashes the
ten toes of the great image. The image represents all the Gentile world-ruling
kingdoms from the time of ancient Babylon down to the time of our modern
age, the ten toes representing the ten kings (nations) of Revelation 17.
That great false church
which has concourse with national governments is identified again in Isaiah
47. Notice it, "Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter
of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
"I was wroth with my people,
I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou
didst shew them no mercy; UPON THE ANCIENT HAST THOU VERY HEAVILY LAID
THY YOKE.
"And thou saidst, I shall
be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart,
neither didst remember the latter end of it.
"Therefore hear now this,
thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest
in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow,
neither shall I know the loss of children:
"But these two things shall
come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood:
they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy
sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
"For thou hast trusted in
thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge,
it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and
none else beside me.
"Therefore shall evil come
upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall
fall upon thee; thou shalt not he able to put it off: and desolation shall
come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know" (Isaiah 47:5-11).
Notice that it is the great
false church, under the FALSE PROPHET, who is the anti-Christ, that CONTROLS
the ten-nation combine that is to PUNISH our peoples!
And the principal nation
that will be one of the ten? Read Isaiah l0! Notice what is says about
the nature of the modern-day Assyrians! "And it shall come to pass in that
day, that the REMNANT [There will be only about TEN PERCENT LEFT ALIVE
(Isaiah 6:13)] of Israel, and such as are escaped of the House of
Jacob [Ephraim and Manasseh], shall no more again stay upon him that smote
them; but shall stay upon the Eternal, the Holy One of Israel, in truth!"
(Isaiah 10:20). This is describing their deliverance at the time of the
Second Coming of Christ!
Notice further, "And it
shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from
off thy shoulder, and HIS YOKE
FROM OFF THY NECK, and the
YOKE shall be destroyed because of the anointing!" (Isaiah 10:27).
Notice, then, that the YOKE,
symbolizing SLAVERY, captivity, is laid upon our peoples by both the universal
church AND ASSYRIA, and that YOKE is in place until the Second Coming of
Christ; until our peoples begin to "stay upon the Eternal," and until "the
anointing"!
Notice the following proofs
concerning the CONDITION OF OUR PEOPLE at the time of Christ's coming:
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand
again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall
be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush,
and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of
the sea.
"And he shall set up an
ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and
gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
"The envy also of Ephraim
shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim
shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim" (Isaiah 11:11-13).
"And 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 dryshod.
"And there shall be an highway
for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like
as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt"
(Isaiah 11:15, 16)
"Behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a
King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in
the earth.
"In his days Judah shall
be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby
he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
"Therefore, behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth,
which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
"But, The Lord liveth, which
brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north
country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall
dwell in their own land" (Jeremiah 23:5-8).
Notice that the coming exodus
from the NORTH countries will pale into insignificance the ancient exodus
under Moses! Now, see the time setting of Jeremiah 3:17, and succeeding
verses: "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Eternal;
and all the nations shall be gathered unto it [compare with Zech.
14:16-21], to the name of the Eternal, to Jerusalem: neither shall they
walk any more after imagination of their evil heart.
"In those days the House
of Judah shall walk with the House of Israel [NOTICE! TWO SEPARATE 'HOUSES';
TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLES!], and they shall come together out of the land of
the north [this never happened in history! Ten-tribed Israel had disappeared,
in the main, long before the Babylonian Empire sacked Judah!] to the land
that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers."
Finally, notice this prophecy:
"...And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall
be blown [see I Cor. l5:50-52], and they shall come which were ready to
perish in the LAND OF ASSYRIA and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, AND
SHALL WORSHIP THE ETERNAL IN THE HOLY MOUNT AT JERUSALEM" (Isaiah 27:13).
Every time you encounter
prophecies concerning ISRAEL and the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, Israelis
found to be in a state of CAPTIVITY, horrible slavery, privation, suffering,
starvation! The time setting is OBVIOUS, impossible to ignore!
Not only is the modern nation
of Israel in the land of Palestine to suffer YET ANOTHER TERRIBLE HOLOCAUST
- SO SHALL THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND BRITAIN UNLESS WE REPENT,
AND TURN TO OUR GOD!
God commands, "Seek ye the
Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: "Let the
wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him
return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God,
for he will abundantly pardon.
"For my thoughts are not
your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 55:6-8).
Jesus Christ commanded,
"REPENT, and believe the Gospel!" On the Day of Pentecost, Peter cried
out, "REPENT, and be baptized, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit!"
To those who heed God's
commands; who accept the invitation of Jesus Christ, God says, "Because
thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee from the
HOUR OF TRIAL [GREAT TRIBULATION], which shall come upon all the world,
to try them that dwell upon the earth" (Revelation 3:10).
David cried out, "He that
dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my
fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from
the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover
thee with his feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth
shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror
by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence
that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at
noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right
hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord,
which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no
evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For
He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways"
(Psalm 91:1-11).
What about you? Have
you settled the BIGGEST question of your life - what will happen to you
in the future? Are you safe and secure in the arms of God; under His Divine
PROTECTION? Make no mistake! What you have read in this book is truth!
Read the many, many books in the bibliography! Study the voluminous amount
of literature available which PROVES beyond the shadow of a doubt, our
national identities! But remember, whether you believe the truth about
our identity or NOT, the Great Tribulation is SURELY COMING!
The next world war will
mean the use of NUCLEAR weapons; biochemical weapons like botulinis toxin,
nerve gas, horrifying, unimaginable weapons! TENS OF MILLIONS will die!
It is not a matter of WHETHER a terrible war will rock the world - threaten
human annihilation - it is a matter of WHEN!
Thanks be to God for His TRUTH; for an understanding of prophecy: for His
calling to be a PART OF THE WORK OF HIS WATCHMEN, preaching witness and
WARNING to a sin-sick, dying world! May God give you the personal
conviction to act on what you know.
-End-
PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE
WITHOUT MAKING ANY CHANGES and WITHOUT CHARGE TO ANYONE
This publication is intended to be used as a personal study tool. Please know it is not wise to take any man's word for anything, including ours, so prove all things for yourself from the pages of your own Bible. Because your salvation is between you and God, it is through such personal verification that you will gain confidence and come to know for yourself what is truth.
For additional related knowledge and
understanding,
may we suggest the following titles:
Christmas...The Untold Story
Why Should You Repent
Who, What Is the Beast of Revelation?
The Mark of the Beast What is it?
Can You Understand Bible Prophecy?
Satan's Greatest Deception
The Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic
Association
P.O. Box 747
Flint, TX 75762
Phone: (903) 561-7070 • Fax: (903)
561-4141
E-Mail: info@gtaea.org
More FREE literature is available at our Internet Web Site:
http://www.gtaea.org
The activities of the Garner Ted Armstrong
Evangelistic Association are paid for by tithes, offerings and donations
freely given by Christians and co-workers
who are dedicated to preaching the gospel according to Jesus Christ.
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