F.R.A. Glover, 1861. "England, the Remnant of Judah, and the Israel of Ephraim"
"Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The Two Families which The Lord hath chosen, He hath even cast them off?
Thus saith the Lord; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." Jer. 33:24-26.
"We see not our signs" Psa. 74:9
The intent of these pages is to prove [JML: from the perspective of 1861],
First, that as, England is, in God's providence, in possession of a Certain Stone, called JACOB'S PILLOW, which is the seat of the Coronation Throne of the Empire, cherished and protected by her, in a very special manner, as her Chiefest National Muniment; so also, if it be the case that the Stone be Jacob's Pillow, [JML: This stone has been returned to Scotland]
Secondly, there must have been THE SEED ROYAL OF JUDAH to set upon it, as certainly, if not as
Thirdly, manifestly, she has THE STANDARD OF JUDAH to wave above it: and, herein, that she is entitled to be considered "The Remnant of Judah." [JML: now identified with the modern nation of Israel]
And again, to show that the THREE are, at the appointed time, - when Judah and Israel are to return to "their own land," - also to return together to that place from which they, together, came, now some 2400 years, since, under the care, and leading of the Prophet JEREMIAH, who established them in Ireland; his mission being a FOURTH point to be proved: inasmuch as the mission of that illustrious Prophet was, at that time, to do the will of the Lord in "planting and building" in another land (Jer. 15:11), that, which he had been equally commissioned to "pluck up," "root out," and "destroy," in his own: viz. the Throne, the Seed, and the Polity of Judah (Jer. 1:10; 34:17, 22; 37:8-10).
Considering the extraordinary elevation to which the nation has raised this Relic of Antiquity - this so-called Jacob's Pillow upon which so grand an Edifice is thus apparently to be raised, - and the singular manner in which we guard it and provide for its safety; and that it is hardly creditable to us as Men, or as a Nation, not to be able to give some rational and credible account of it; it is held to be no less pious than reasonable to search out what there is, that is connected with this religious monument of so remote antiquity, that may throw light on its history, and such its very curious position.
The proposition and allegations based upon it, and connected with it, are, it may be, at first sight, somewhat startling:-
1. A Stone from Judea, consecrated to God 3600 years since by the patriarch Jacob;-
2. The Race of Judah to use it as a Throne; over which, a Prophet of Judah having inaugurated the one, and re-established the other, planted above them,
3. The Standard of the tribe of Judah;-
and, these three, all to be with us in honour, and flourishing in positive reality and fullest prosperity, in England at THE PRESENT TIME! ... and all in full exercise of their respective functions, without our knowing aught of the last things, and being in entire disbelief, altogether, of the pretensions of the first: and yet, upon the truth and reality of which pretensions to be what it professes to be, the proof of the reality of the other two things may be thought to depend:- all this is indeed strange!
Strange, however, as it is, it may be, notwithstanding, not more strange than true: for, it is to be particularly remembered, in the outset, that there is no physical hindrance, to the FULL POSSIBILITY of all that is here supposed to Constitute the facts of the case. Accordingly we hope to prove, that the conspicuous importance we consent to give to this Ancient Stone ought to be satisfactory to the common sense of all who are reasonable men as well as earnest Christians.
At present, we seem, as Keepers of this Stone, to be merely gratifying our pride as the holders of an old curiosity; not to give our conduct in this respect a worse name. A state of custody not creditable to us personally as men of sense: nor, nationally, as a practical people; satisfied to hold what may be the most important sign of the dealings of God with Israel, past and future, as a "curious fact" (see quotation later). For such appears to be about the best account our antiquarians and historians can, at present, give of this Stone to ourselves and to foreigners! So little, truly, do the people who fail to "look to the rock whence they were hewed, and to the hole of the pit whence they were digged," "see their signs" (Isa. 51:1, Ps. 74:9)
A fact, however, it is, - this 'curious fact" and its belongings, - little as most men know of it, and still less that those, who do know of it, regard it, - which lies at the bottom of the greatest and most important National Act, executed from time to time, in our greatest and most important National Assembly. Not in the great WITENAGEMOT [JML: supreme council of England in Anglo-Saxon times] of King, Clergy, and Lords; neither in that other important assembly, the MYKEL GEMOTE, the Commons of England, by Representatives assembled: but, in that, which combines the fact of the ancient Wittena Gemote with the principle and fact of the Mykel Gemote; both convened in common assembly, in Common-Hall, so to speak, - the Wittena Gemote and the Mykel Gemote together, - at the Coronation of the Monarch of the Empire: ... that great event, which, those who understand the matter best, have declared, and well declared, to be, the Safeguard of our Liberties. Why is this? Because, then, THE NATION assembles in its great Temple, - namely, the Temple of GOD, Westminster Abbey, at the beginning of each Reign, - Clergy, Lords, and Representatives of the Commons, - to exact from the Monarch, whom, seated upon that Stone, they are about to elect for coronation, the Oath, that he will preserve and maintain, whole and inviolate, the rights and privileges and liberties of all orders and degrees of men and classes of the community of our great and imperishable nation.
Imperishable! Why Imperishable?
This Stone, into whose history, past and prospective, we propose to inquire, will show us why.
For much as all this is, much more remains behind. It is only half of the subject. It concerns JUDAH; and, in one sense, Judah only. But "The Stone" is "The Stone of Israel" (Gen. 49:24) and, that which concerns Judah alone is no more the whole subject, than the executive of an empire is the administrative; though the executive be, the manifestation of the other, in itself. "The Everlasting Covenant" (Jer. 32) is with "the Two Families" in one band (Isa. 11:12), under one Head (Hos. 1:10). "The remnant of Judah," (Jer. 44:14; 55:11, Zeph. 3:10) that important element in the world's future, is indeed there; the Ordinance Head, it may be, and is, of that Illustrious Power. The Throne is there; the Seed Royal is there; and the Ensign of the Perpetual Sceptre withal!
But the Strength of Israel, where is that? - that has not yet appeared on the stage! Nevertheless, it is there; all there. For as it is in Joseph, and by Joseph, that "the Shepherd," "the Stone of Israel," is to appear (Gen. 49:24), in the clearing up of what has been termed, not unaptly, "the great Asian mystery;" so does the investigation of this Stone's history, and what the Stone imports, bring upon the stage, England, as the full development of that important element of Israel's greatness, viz. "the multitude of nations of Ephraim;" as the Descendants and Representatives of him upon whom the Patriarch Jacob named his name, 'his own imparted name (Gen. 48:5, 16), ... the name of ISRAEL, The PRINCE of GOD. And so, England, i.e., Israel, in the sense of "the multitude of nations" of Ephraim (Gen. 48:19), now, is the representative of him who had power with God and Man, and prevailed. (Gen. 32:28)
And England, as ruled over by a descendant of the house of Judah, is herself, in that Head, the Representative and Executive of The Two Families whose captivity is to return when the promises of God to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are to be fulfilled in the land which "their seed are to have for an everlasting possession:" (Gen. 48:4) .. even at the time when "men are to buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin and in the cities of Judah, (Jer. 32:44) and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valleys and of the south;" and when the title-deeds of Jeremiah to his possessions in Anathoth, sunk (Jer. 32:14), as the evidence of his faith in a faithful Creator, shall be placed, side by side, with the Stone of Israel returned from Britain to Jerusalem, in pursuance of the promise of these words:
"And now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning, this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the band of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: and I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: and I will make an EVERLASTING COVENANT with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
"Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. For thus saith the Lord;
"Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them. And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, 'It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans:' for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord." (Jer. 32:36-44)
In order to the better understanding of the subject, the importance of which few will be disposed to underrate, it will be best to subdivide it into two parts, viz.: the SIGNS Of JUDAH, and the SIGNS of EPHRAIM.
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From: "England, the Remnant of Judah, and the Israel of Ephraim", written by F.R.A. Glover, M.A., Chaplain to the Consulate at Cologne. Published by Rivingtons, London, 1861. Based on research commenced in 1844.