Kingdom Parables
By: Dr. Everett Ramsey
Potter & The Clay
Jeremiah 18:1-10
Jeremiah 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Jeremiah here describes a very ordinary occurrence and gives it a direct application to the nation of Israel.
Usual Application Person Not National
This homely parable of the Old Testament is often used by modern preachers to illustrate the great change which comes to a man when his life is taken from the control of Satan and is remolded by the Spirit of God. Such an exposition is a departure from the statement of the parable, for it assumes the existence and workmanship of two potters, two wheels, and possibly two lumps of clay; the dust in the workshop of Satan, the second in the workshop of the Holy Spirit.
If a man's character is the clay, how is it removed from the evil Potter to the good? Far be it from us to be-little the supreme importance of conversion from sin to obedience. from darkness to light, from Satan to God; but, we assert, there is such an abundance of Scripture upon which the evangelical appeal may be fittingly and forcibly based that there is no need to divert from their original meaning the many passages which refer solely to the nation. By this means much confusion has been caused, making it difficult for sincere Bible readers to perceive the truth, and to assimilate the real teaching of the messages thus obscured.
God the Potter, Clay is House of Israel
In the parable there is one potter, one workshop, one lump of clay; and the passage clearly tells us that Jehovah is the potter, and the clay is the House of Israel. The parable is national not individual; and its meaning can only be found by a study of the events resulting from God's handling of His chosen nation, from Sinai to the present time.
First molding started at Sinai
When Israel was formed into a nation by Jehovah the molding of the clay began. In the Books of Moses are recorded the many commandments, statutes and Judgments by which the nation was to be brought into shape and made beautiful according to the pattern known to the Great Potter. Laws of health, diet, finance, social relationship and service, were clearly laid down; religious ordinances, forms of worship, moral standards of conduct, and detailed instruction as to their duty to God and man were most definitely given; and to enforce the great importance of all these, severe punishments, even to death, were imposed upon those who willfully disobeyed.
Jehovah was their King, ruling over Israel through the prophets and judges, and later through the Divinely-appointed kings.
Five Hundred Years First Time, Idolatry caused The Marr
For five hundred years the potter molded the nation, and at times It appeared to be taking shape, promising success; but eventually the hard, rebellious clay twisted and turned, and the vessel was marred in the hand of the potter. Israel forsook the law of the Lord, rebelled against the restraining influence of the commandments and ordinances of worship, and drifted into the sensualities of Idolatry. And then what happened? Just as the potter removed the twisted, partially- made vessel from the wheel so Jehovah ceased to mold Israel, and cast them from Him for a time.
Prophetic Message Removed From Israel Until Pentecost
Micah tells us that the prophetic vision was withdrawn from Israel when they went into Idolatry and captivity, and there is no indication in Scripture of the return of this Divine gift until at Pentecost the Holy Spirit was manifested to our Lord's disciples.
Remolding Starts After Holy Spirit Enters Her
The clay is not laid aside for long, however, for the potter, it is said, made it again another vessel, “as it seemed good to the potter to make it." He now takes the same lump of clay and remolds it, working upon it patiently and skillfully, and, this time the clay responds to his handiwork and is made into a vessel which seemeth good to the potter; so with Israel.
The same nation is reformed; the same race becomes obedient and responsive; the same Kingdom is brought up to the standard which it failed to reach in its first experience.
Israel Still The Clay
It is plain that somewhere the Israel nation is undergoing this second phase in its history, and that the result is to be gloriously successful.
Jehovah is still the potter, and the lost sheep of the House Israel are still the clay in His hand. He came to earth that He might soften the clay and render it more amenable to His touch. He put it back upon the wheel, and with His tender, bleeding hands shaped and guided it, formed and reformed it, bringing His pattern and design to it, teaching it here and there in love, until it began to appear once more a vessel which seemed good to Him.
Surely at the Redemption the great remolding act of the potter was begun; and ever since that day the vessel has been assuming its new and proper form, and will continue so to develop till it is universally recognized to be the Kingdom of God on earth.
The first vessel was Israel, marred by idolatry and sin; the second vessel must be Israel also, brought back to its normal by the redemption of our Lord and the operation of the Holy Spirit, for it is molded from the same lump of clay.
Don’t Spiritualize The Parable
It is useless to “spiritualize” these beautiful parables, and it is quite unnecessary. God’s plan has not changed, and modern theologians cannot change it, however much they may so desire. God’s nation is precious in His sight, for He needs it as an example to the world. When Christ comes back to it as King He will complete the shaping of the vessel; He will give it the finishing touches and the decoration it requires; it will appear a holy nation, a peculiar treasure, a pearl of great price, and with it He will not only rule the world in righteousness, He will a “make the place of His feet gloriously” and will “see of the travail of His soul and will be satisfied."
The Shattered Pot
Jeremiah 19:1-12
Jeremiah 19:1 Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;
2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,
3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;
5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury.
12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:
In this chapter the House of Judah is depicted as “a potter's earthen bottle."
Here is shown a kingdom and throne firmly established, a I abashed vessel completed and burnt hard in the fire. The House of David was established for ever, and here was something complete, a Throne which God had set up, and had brought to a state of permanence and strength.
Compared with the northern Kingdom of Israel, which had existed for two hundred and fifty years only, the Kingdom of Judah is rightly described as an earthen bottle, while Israel was still in the stage of the soft and unburnt clay.
But the forces of disruption were asserting themselves, and the fact that the permanent House of David was on the throne did not save the Kingdom from disaster. Jeremiah is told to break the bottle in the sight of the priests and the elders of the people, and to say:
“Thus saith the Lord of Hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again.”
The sequel is known to our readers
By 587 B.C. the House of Judah ceased to be a nation; the King, princes, and nearly all the people having been carried away captives by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon. Now it will be asked:
“How could Jehovah carry out this sentence and at the same time be true to his promise of permanence to the House of David? What is the real meaning of the broken bottle?”
Let us look carefully at the words used. "I will break this people and this city.”
The sentence is against the people and the city, not against the throne. The House of David was certainly separated from the House of Judah when Zedekiah ceased to be King, and there was the breaking away of the people from the Throne of David, which was at once removed to another branch of Judah, resident in another place.
There was also the breaking away of Judah from their beloved city of Jerusalem, and the destruction of Jerusalem itself. About twenty years after this prophecy was given the king of Babylon and his army wrought the terrible havoc and desecration described in much detail in the closing chapter of Jeremiah 's book. Truly the people and the city were broken.
The people upon whom the blow fell were broken forever, for when, seventy years later some 43,000 returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and the temple they were another generation, the exiled fathers having passed away.
When the people of Judea were carried away to Babylon the House of Judah was broken in pieces for ever. Some of the pieces which we know are:
1. The Royal House of David.
2. The Jews who returned to Judea.
3 The dispersion from Babylon to the ends of the earth, but not to Judea.
4. The Jutes.
5. The tribe of Benjamin, some of whom came to Britain with the Normans.
6. The descendants of the Judah people who went down to Egypt, probably the original gypsies.
These are parts of the broken bottle which can never again be reunited as one distinct nation.
Emerging from this striking parable some most important facts present themselves.
1. There will never again exist a nation composed solely of the House of Judah under the House of David. The Jews hope to produce a son of the House of David to reign over them as King in their newly formed Jewish Nation in the Holy Land. This is impossible, for some reasons which we will briefly state:
(a) The Son of David who is to reign over the Kingdom at Jerusalem is our Lord himself.
(b) The Jews cannot have the Kingdom while rejecting the rightful King.
(c) All the tribes must be represented in Palestine in the new age, one twelfth of the land only being allotted to Judah, of whom the Jews are but a small portion.
(d) The birthright land belongs to Joseph, not to Judah.
(e) Joseph is already in possession, and will not be permitted to hand over his birthright to that part of Judah which has not come back into the Kingdom through Christ, who is the door.
(f) Judaism cannot be re-established nationally, having been superseded by Christianity.
2. It is clear that the House of David was to reign over the House of Israel in the latter days, and that a new Christian Israel Kingdom, based on the redemption or our Lord and the Christian Church built by the Christian Israel disciples, would supersede the Mosaic order forever God is reuniting the two nations, divided 975 B.C., in the Christian age by the redemption and Gospel of Christ, who is to be Israel’s future king.
Judah, alone, can never be re-established as a nation. Her future King has become the Messiah and Saviour. If Judah desires to have a place in Palestine or in the new Kingdom, she must reunite with the lost sheep of the House of Israel who have become Christian, and who are now building the Kingdom of Christ on earth.
The Cedar Tree
Ezekiel 17:1-6, Ezekiel 1:1-16, 22-24
Ezekiel 17:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
Ezekiel 17:22 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:
23 In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.
Judah’s last King Zedekiah and Sons Killed in Babylon
In this passage the prophet is told to speak a parable unto the House of Israel.
The story and the interpretation are given, and will be readily understood, for they deal with the historical facts concerning the removal of the House of David, represented by King Zedekiah, from Jerusalem to Babylon.
The cedar tree is the Royal House, and the highest, or newest, branch is the reigning King and his family. The youngest or latest twigs are at the top of the tree, so there can be no mistake as to who is meant by the highest branch of the cedar. Neither does Ezekiel leave us in any doubt as to the person represented by the eagle-Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
It is interesting to note here the significance of the eagle as the symbol of the age-long dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors. It will be seen that the final syllable of the King’s name is the origin of the modern titles Caesar, Czar, and Kaiser, reigning over portions of the Babylonian Empire an peoples as represented in Italy, Russia and Germany in later days. The eagle of Babylon became the double headed eagle of the Roman Empire and later of Austria, Germany and Russia; and when the Times of the Gentiles closed in 1917 these dynasties came to an end.
From the year 604 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar came to the throne of Babylon to A.D. 1917 is exactly 2520 years, the “seven times” period allotted to the four Gentile Kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. Germany is the modern representative of Babylon, and the late Kaiser Wilhelm II was the last of the Nebuchadnezzar dynasty. The eagle has been a bird of prey ever since he came down upon Jerusalem and carried off the House of David in 587 BC. and the Russian and German eagles appear to possess the same heathen instincts as the eagle of the parable.
God Takes The Daughters of Zedekiah via Jeremiah, to Ireland
The part of the story which most interests us, however, is that contained in the three closing verses of the chapter where the interesting prophecy concerning the replanting of the tender twig is related:
“Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it,"
Babylon had taken the highest branch, but God says:
“Nebuchadnezzar shall not have it all; I will also take of the same branch, and I will set it.”
What is this? Surely it means that the Great Husbandman will take a cutting from the highest branch of the tree, will plant It In a suitable corner of his ground, and will grow a new cedar tree from the twig he has taken. Nebuchadnezzar thought he had carried away all the Royal Family from Jerusalem; he did not appear to know that some of the twigs, the King's daughters, had been rescued by Jeremiah the prophet and carried away by him to Egypt.
“I also will take of the highest branch."
A branch which has been removed from a tree will soon die, and it was probably the intention of Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the Royal House of David entirely, and thus remove every possible chance of rivalry and strife in his future control of the captive people he had carried away to Babylon.
But God decided that the whole branch should not die; He also would take a twig, and would set it. He goes on to say:
“I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it."
Note how He refers to the branch in the masculine;
“His young twigs;"
meaning surely the house of Zedekiah, the dethroned King. The twig which the Lord will take is to be a tender one, and this is the most apt phrase which could be used to represent a daughter, rather than a son, of the King.
Note also that the Lord will take it: this is in contrast to the taking by Babylon. and the only active force left in Palestine besides the invaders from Babylon was the Lord's servant, Jeremiah the prophet. It is a fair assumption that if God had an agent at work for Him in this upheaval, it would be the faithful Jeremiah, and we are told that the “tender twigs of the branch” were in the care of Jeremiah at this time. It is worthy of note that the prophet, Jeremiah of Anathoth, was not the godfather of the princesses as is often supposed. The latter was Jeremiah of Libnah, referred to in Jeremiah 52:1.
This adds importance to the event. Jeremiah was not simply saving young relatives from disaster, but was acting as a prophet of the Lord, and carrying out His great plans for the survival of the House of David by planting it in another place.
And now we are told that the Lord will plant the tender twig:
“upon a high mountain and eminent. In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and It shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar."
Although this parable is told by Ezekiel the scene is enacted with Jeremiah as the central figure; for Ezekiel wrote about the time that Jeremiah was sheltering the King's daughters in Egypt, some three years only after Zedekiah the King had been carried to Babylon.
While Jeremiah was absent from Palestine the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel instead, revealing His plan whereby the continuance of the Royal House would be secured. Jeremiah’s own words, recorded in his first chapter, verse 10, are very interesting in the light of this parable.
“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.”
The prophet knew that he was to be God's representative and workman in the great uprooting of the royal family and in the planting of another branch of that family in another land.
He was to pull down the House of Zedekiah, and to build it elsewhere.
Ezekiel tells us that the building and planting are to take place
“Upon an high mountain and eminent. In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it.”
How are we to understand these statements?
All great expositors of Old Testament Scripture agree that the prophets used the term “mountain” to mean nation or Kingdom. Many examples might be quoted. Take the well-known verse in Micah 4:1:
“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be established above the Hills."
This surely means that the Kingdom of Christ shall be established over the other nations and above the smaller nations.
Or the statement by Isaiah in chapter 41 v. 15:
“Thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chafe.”
Here Isaiah foretells the day when the heathen nations will be overcome by Israel, and will submit to the rule of Christ's Kingdom.
The Throne to be moved from Judah to Israel
This method of interpretation will reveal the hidden meaning of very many prophetic statements and show the future destiny of nations and peoples. Therefore a “high mountain and eminent” referred to an exalted nation with an important royal throne “A mountain in the height of Israel” meant “A nation where Israel was lifted up and raised into prominence.”
In the Parable of the Two Sticks we show that two branches of the Royal family of Judah came at a very early time to Ireland and that this migration included the “Zarah” section, which was entitled to the family birthright rather than Pharez.
Zedekiah's house was brought down In the year 587 B.C. and by this time the sons of Zarah-Judah had been on the throne of ancient Ireland for at least one thousand years. A nation of Israel was well established and had become important. Here was the “high mountain and eminent." It was eminent because It was ruled by the official branch of Judah, of whom Jacob said,
“The Scepter shall not depart from Judah."
Judah was the height of Israel, destined to rule until Christ came Himself to reign. The “mountain in the height of Israel” clearly means the nation established with the sons of Judah as it’s royal line, and to this nation the King's daughter came; in this mountain the tender twig was set.
Irish legend and history tell of the literal fulfillment of this prophecy. They tell of the coming of an Eastern Prophet, Ollam Fodhla, accompanied by his secretary or scribe, Simon Brug, who brought to Ulster a beautiful princess, under his personal care. The great prophet taught them of God and of the laws of Israel, he established a school of the prophets, and upon condition that they put away all heathen and idolatrous practices, returning to the worship of the true God, he permitted the marriage of the princess to the Heremon of Ireland, Eochaldh, and she became his queen.
Here the tender twig was planted, and a new cedar tree began to grow. The new tree has brought forth boughs, and it has borne fruit, for it has become the great Royal Tree of which the central branch is our own House of Windsor. It’s boughs have spread, and branches of the tree are to be found in many nations of the world, but the central branch, the birth- right line, is still here, for king George VI has descended, according to the Israel law of succession, from the union above described.
There are corroborative evidences of the truth of this fulfillment which are too important to be ignored.
Bust Of Jeremiah
A bust, or medallion, of the prophet Jeremiah existed in the famous Law Courts at Dublin for many centuries, and only disappeared recently when the building was destroyed by fire at the establishment of the Irish Free State. Thus, Jeremiah, the prophet and lawgiver, was given a prominent place as the restorer of the law of God In the “high mountain and eminent.”
The story of his coming and the beauty of the princess were sung In ancient Irish ballads, and the place of the prophet's burial is pointed out to-day.
The Stone of Jacob
There are many other surviving witnesses. The stone of Destiny, now in the coronation chair at Westminster Abbey, came to us from Scotland, but it is well known that it had been brought from Ireland to Scone. In Ireland it had been the palladium of the Irish kings from time immemorial, and it is believed to be the famous Stone of Israel, brought to Ireland by Jeremiah and Baruch the Scribe, having been rescued by them at the fall of the House of Zedekiah. In this, it can be rightly inferred we have the fulfillment of the prophecy that Jeremiah was to “pull down, and to build” for that stone is truly the corner stone of the Israel nation at the present time.
Symbols of Israel and Judah Heraldry
The heraldic signs of our Royal House contain many striking symbols which are scriptural in their origin and meaning. On our Royal Flag the unicorn of Joseph and the lion of Judah are seen supporting the various symbols of the House of David.
The coins of the realm also contain many similar references, amongst which are:
(1) De-i Gratia, indicating that our king reigns by the grace of God, being in the Divinely-appointed line.
(2) Fides Defensor, Defender of the Faith, showing the King to be the Head of the Church.
(3) Britannia, the woman Israel.
(4) The crowned Lion, or the House of David, representing the special family in Judah which God made royal.
(5) The Harp of David, which has come down to us from ancient-Irish-Times.
(6) St. George and the Dragon, indicating the victory of Christ over the devil, and the deliverance of Israel from her bondage at the coming of our Lord.
A confirmation of this prophecy may be found In Micah, chapter 4 v. 8-10. The prophet has been writing of the restoration of the Kingdom of God In Jerusalem, and then says:
“And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee it shall come, even the first dominion; the Kingdom shall come to the daughters of Jerusalem. Now why dost thou cry out loud? Is there no King in thee? is thy counselor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be In pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail; for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.”
The daughter of Zion is the Royal House of David, and the power and stronghold are the descendants of David on the throne at that time. A paraphrase of the passage would be:
“O royal house, to thee shall be given the dominion in the restored Kingdom. But why art thou distressed? Does this appear to be impossible now that the line of David is broken, and Zedekiah is carried away? Be not dismayed, O daughter of Zion, for far away from Jerusalem thou shalt bring forth another branch of the royal line. Another dynasty shall succeed, and along that line It shall be that a King of the House of David shall have dominion and reign.”
This striking prophecy sees the new royal line established which shall carry on the responsibilities and duties of the House of David in another place, far away from Jerusalem, and confirms the words of Ezekiel and Jeremiah.
How comforting it is to see the various prophets working together thus, all controlled by the same Spirit, all foretelling the same great events of history, and all describing in detail the future destiny and greatness of God's Kingdom on earth.
One verse remains to be expounded
“And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to nourish; I the Lord have spoken and have done it.”
The high tree and the green tree represent the Pharez line of Judah; the low tree and the dry tree indicate the Zarah line which had wandered away no one knew whether, and had become insignificant in the eyes of its brethren. But the time had come when Jehovah would readjust these things, and bring into prominence the section of the royal tribe He intended should have power.
By the marriage of the princess, Tea Tephi, to Eochaldh of Zarah-Judah, the Pharez section is united to the Zarah section.
The succession to the throne of David vested in the princess and has been passed down by her to our own time.
The tender twig was well planted, and the new cedar tree has grown to be a “goodly cedar." The remainder of the prophecy is remarkably true:
“Under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell."
The branches of this great Judah Dynasty, combined with the House of David, have embraced the Royal families of nearly every civilized nation, have protected heathen and uncivilized races, and have sheltered and supported the oppressed and helpless in every age.
The similarity between this statement and that of our Lord in His parable of the Mustard Tree will be at once apparent. Both parables refer to the same Kingdom and the same throne; and both describe the great blessing that Kingdom will afford to other nations.
All the trees of the field are aware of the importance of the tree which the Lord has planted and exalted and they shall yet come to know that this is the Lord's doing, and It will be marvelous in their eyes.
Valley of Dry Bones
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
Vision Explained
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.
The prophet Ezekiel had seen the House of Israel and the House of Judah carried away into captivity, and had told them in burning words the causes of their severe punishment.
He saw the Holy Land emptied of its people, and understood the Divine plan concerning both Israel and Palestine. He received distinct revelation as to the manner of their punishment, its duration, and the ultimate restoration of the Kingdom to the land of their fathers. He knew the circumstances under which Israel was sent into punishment, and under Divine inspiration he could visualize them as wanderers and strangers amongst the Gentiles. He tells us in another chapter about their liberation from Assyrian task masters, and he evidently understood that they would lose their Israel identity and be spoken of as Gentiles before many centuries had passel. They would become a scattered people in strange lands, and under the figure of this parable, Ezekiel saw them buried in the graves of many foreign nations.
He saw the removal of the House of David from Jerusalem to another place which he calls “the mountain (or nation)" in the height of Israel, and he writes in certain terms of the latter days, when a new Israel will become a mighty nation fully restored to Divine favor. He is chiefly concerned, however, with Israel's restoration and return to Jehovah. He lived at the commencement of the term of punishment, but is granted a vision of the end, and the sight of Israel’s recovery gave him unusual joy.
In the parable of the dry bones his thought is projected to the days when the House of Israel is to be restored. The prophet is in spirit in the midst of the lost Israel nation at the end of the present era, just at the time of its great national awakening.
Both Houses of Israel dead and buried in the Nations
In his vision he foresees that the world considers the House of Israel to have passed out of existence, to be dead and forgotten, and never again to be a power in the earth. This is exactly what our critics tell us, and Ezekiel might have heard and read some modern “Anti-Anglo-Israel" publications. His statements so accurately fit the modern position, and answer their objections. The prophet then takes the place of the servants of God who are used by Him to awaken the dead or sleeping nation.
When the Gospel of the Kingdom Goes Out (Christ)
He prophesies to the dry bones, and this is exactly what we are doing. This is the work and this is the time of which a Ezekiel wrote.
As he prophesied, the bones came together, and we believe that this correctly described the great movement which took place in from Pentecost until mid 1900 in the United States and Europe.
Pentecost
Then he called upon the Spirit of God, the wind and breath come into them, and they lived, standing upon their feet, a great army.
We shall do the same, we must; we shall continue to preach, or prophesy, to the sleeping nation; but we shall also call to the Spirit, and He will come in power as foretold by the prophet Joel; the nation will then be fully awakened, filled with the breath of God, to welcome her glorious King.
This is no fantastic interpretation, for in verse 11 the prophet tells us clearly that the dry bones are the whole House of Israel. The valley of dry bones must be the place where the unconscious Israel people dwell at the time of their awakening, and the prophet represents those who are calling the nation to life at the present time. May they prove to be prophets indeed, chosen to perform the task Ezekiel saw in his vision.
This Parable does not simply refer to individual salvation, though that can be read into it. It is a nation’s parable, and refers to “the whole House of Israel” – the whole house as one nation and entity, and we know: therefore, that this awakening must come to the Whole nation, Christian and non-Christian alike, for they both need it.
It is a Kingdom parable, and belongs to our day, just as much as those spoken by our Lord and recorded in the Gospels. The story is one, and the vision is one. The prophets of old saw the lost nation enter into its redemption, and emerge from its captivity just before the coming of Christ to reign.
The Two Sticks
Ezekiel 37:15-28
Ezekiel 37:15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
Ezekiel has no doubts about the separate existence of the two Houses of Israel and Judah In the latter days.
In this parable he writes not only of their survival as distinct sections, but gives definite indications as to their reunion under one King, whom he calls “David my servant."
The prophet takes two sticks, and names them. One represents Judah and his companions Levi and Benjamin. The other represents Joseph and his companions, comprising Ephraim and Manasseh, with “all the House of Israel.” Here be it noted that the House of Israel is with the tribes of Joseph, and not with Judah. Nothing could be more distinctly stated.
The prophet then joined the sticks into one, and they became one in his hand. By these symbols the interest of a the people was aroused, and they were prepared for the important announcement which followed, viz, that just as the two sticks had been made into one, so the Lord would unite the two Houses of Israel and Judah and they should become one nation, like a stick in the hand of God.
The parable then goes into detail, and we are told that before the reunion can take place God will gather the children of Israel “from among the heathen, whither they be gone.” The union of the two Houses, therefore, is to take place after the dispersion and the redemption: it could not have been accomplished, as some critics suppose, on the return of the Jews to Palestine under Ezra and Nehemiah.
This is most important, and shows clearly that Israel and Judah are to be dispersed “among the heathen, on every side” before they are made again into one nation. While they were still dispersed at the time of Christ, it is recorded that Judaites, Levites and Benjamites believed in Christ and they began preaching to the Gentilized dispersed House of Israel and they, too, began believing. In fact, Acts 15 records the conference held in Jerusalem to discuss this very subject. It was concluded that God was indeed beginning to put back together the nation by combining the House of Judah with the House of Israel and the tabernacle of David.
Verses 22 and 23 tell us that the union is to take place in a land which is upon the mountains (or nations) of Israel; and that, when it is completed, they will be cleansed from all their national sins, and become truly the people of God. This has been going on now for over two thousand years in Europe and moving with concentration to the United Kingdom and eventually to the North American Continent and other island nations. These nations are the “mountains of Israel”.
A careful study of the historical events of the Christian, age will show that the prophecy is in course of fulfillment and that the two Houses are, at the present time, in the process of being reunited under one King; King Jesus who will return and physically reign on this earth. Please understand that the pseudo-Israeli nation now in the Middles East is not and will not be a part of this regathered Israel.
The parable undoubtedly teaches that the House of David in Jesus Christ will be found at the head of the combined nation: the inference is, therefore, that this Royal House will come into the union with one of the sections, and here is an important clue to the method of fulfillment.
The House of David reigned over Judah, but Jeremiah 33:17 sees a day when a descendant of David will reign over the House of Israel.
Now, it is fairly well established that the Royal House of Britain is the long-lost House of David, and as the English people contain the children of Ephraim, with most of the ten tribes of the House of Israel, there are evidences that Jeremiah’s prophecy is coming true, and that the House of David is being prepared for the final reunion of the two nations. The land of Palestine came into the hands of Great Britain in 1917.
But how did the Royal House of David come to England? It came when James VI of Scotland became James I of England, and here we reach a most important point in this wonderful story. Students of the history and wanderings of the sons of Judah and their descendants assure us that the tribe of Judah as described in Bible story consisted of the children of Pharez-Judah only. This son received the family inheritance, and the Judah tribe of early Scripture contained only his posterity. To this section of Judah the House of David belonged.
There were. however, two other sons of Judah, Shelah and Zarah, and Biblical genealogy gives us some clues as to the subsequent history and development of their peoples.
In I Chronicles 4:21-23 we read that Shelah had six sons. and some important facts concerning them are stated.
(1) One son was named Er. We trace these Judah people to ancient Ulster, and here we find the origin of Erin, the name of ancient Ireland.
(2) They were workers in fine linen. The writer has examined in the Belfast Library important documents on the origin of the Irish linen industry, and has found recorded therein the statement that this industry was brought to Ulster in the remotest times by settlers who came from the East.
In support of this belief we remind our readers that Shelah is one of the common Irish names today. We find surnames Shell and Shells based upon it, and the Christian names Shelah, Shella, and even Shelagh, are in common use.
There is no doubt early Ireland contained descendants of Shelah-Judah.
(3) They had “dominion in Moab.” From this it is clear that this section of the family of Judah went out from the homeland to seek fame and fortune elsewhere. At the time of the record they were the prominent people in Moab, but this, of course, is no evidence that they remained there.
Now turn to Zarah-Judah.
In Kings 4:31, a wise man named Darda is referred to and in I Chronicles 2:6, this man is shown to be a descendant of Zarah-Judah. Now, it is known that this was the name of one of the old Trojan heroes, a name perpetuated in the Dardanelles of today.
Homer sang of the Trojans, and told of their brethren who did exploits on the banks of the Jordan.
The Trojans were Israelites who had trekked, and were most probably descendants of Shelah and Zarah-ludah.
We know that some Trojan peoples migrated to Spain and built a city which they named Zaragossa, after Zarah-Judah They called the land the Iberian, or Hebrew, Peninsula, and named the river which bowed through their new city the Ebro, or Hebrew. We know also that about the year 1100 B.C. a Trojan leader, named Brut, or Brutus, came to Britain and laid the foundations of London, naming it “Troja Nova," or New Troy.
This was in the time of King David of old, and these facts throw interesting light upon the origin and character of the early British inhabitants of these Islands. One step further. Some of the Ulster folk eventually migrated to Scotland, discovered and named the Hebrides, or Hebrew Islands, and formed the bases of the old Scottish race.
One modern ethnologist informs the writer that some of the pioneers who first migrated from Ulster to Scotland were known as the Shelanites, and we find both Zarah and Shelah to be well-known Scottish names at the present time.
Calcol, another descendant of Zarah-Judah, was the first of the ancient dynasty of Irish kings whose descendants are traced in an unbroken line, through the kings of Scotland, to our James 1, and to our present House of Windsor. There was a Judah royal house in these Islands 500 years at least before David, of Pharez-Judah, was King in Palestine The ancient Celts, Picts. Scots and Britons contained a large proportion of Judah from Shelah and Zarah, and these were centuries later Joined by a large section of Dan. “The Tuatha de Danaan," the coming of whom is well known to history.
About the year 580 B.C. the daughter of Zedekiah, of the House of David, was brought to Ireland by Jeremiah the prophet, and was married to the chief Irish king Ecchaidh, who was descended from Calcol, of Zarah-Judah, as we have shown above. In this manner the House of David was transferred from Pharez-Judah to Zarah-Judah in preparation for the great developments which were to follow later.
By this record two important facts also emerge.
(1) The Scottish nation to which the House of David came from Ireland, contained the descendants of Zarah, who ought to have received the family birthright instead of Pharez.
Scotland therefore was the official Judah nation containing the Throne of David at the time or the Union of Scotland, and England under James 1.
(2) By this Union the two Houses of Israel and Judah came together under the House of David and the first stage was reached in the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy of the two sticks.
The House of David came into the Union with the Scottish or Judah section, as might be expected.
The real name of James I was Jacob, and the flag of the Union became known as the Union of Jacobus, or Union Jack, and we therefore, nationally celebrate the union of the two Houses of Jacob, though we have not understood the real meaning of the event.
From this study it will be gathered:
(1) That the tribe of Judah was only one-third of the family of Judah.
(2) That a large proportion of the Ulster and Scottish people arc of pure Judah stock.
(3) That most of Judah are not Jews
(4) That the sceptre has always been in the hand of Judah.
(5) That the breach which took place at the birth of Zarah and Pharez was remedied when the House of David came to Ireland.
(6) That it was quite in harmony with God’s plan for the House of David to move from Ireland to Scotland, thence to England.
(7) That the Throne of David never went into captivity to Babylon, but came direct to the appointed place where the re-union of the Israel tribes was to take place.
(8) That the union of official Judah under the House of David could not take place with the House of Israel until the Angles, Danes, Saxons, Jutes and Normans had been welded into a nation in the isles.
(9) That God, therefore, first assembled the ten tribes and reformed them into a nation before He could reunite them with Judah and the House of David. But this is only a step in the great fulfillment. The joining of the two sticks has begun, but is far from its completion.
A large portion of Benjamin came to Britain with the Normans in 1066, but probably some of this tribe remain in Scandinavia and other portions of Western Europe.
Of Judah much remains to be stated. It is well known to ethnologists that of the millions of so-called Jews in the world to-day few of this number are genuine, racial Hebrews and descended from Judah, the greater portion being the descendants of heathen peoples whose ancestors accepted the Jewish Talmudic religion and eventually came known as Jews. Wherever the true children of Judah are they will ever find an I open way back to the Kingdom through Jesus Christ who is the door and not the Zionist Israeli of false religion.
It will be seen that there is no House of Judah intact at the present time. Benjamin came out long ago, and has mostly rejoined the House of Israel to which he really belonged, for he was only lent to Judah.
Large sections of the stick of Joseph also remain outside the Union.
In the U.S.A., their are some hundred million, mostly of European stock, who belong to the Joseph portion, some of them probably of Manasseh, and as we write we are cheered by the glad news that there are distinct signs of an awakening to the fact of our Israel origin.
Many of the other portions of the Houses of Judah and Israel are being pressed out of their far away lands into the main body of the United Kingdom and the North American homelands. South Africa, Asia and other nations where the heathen are in uprise against the House of God, God’s people are fleeing to the main fold. I believe this is in preparation for the return of the King.
Now read what Isaiah says in chapter 11 verse 11:
“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,”
Surely here is the climax, here the completion of the story of the sticks.
The foundations of the great Kingdom are truly laid, the two Houses and their brethren allies have formed the NATO and have worked and fought together. Soon they shall all be ruled by their King, King Jesus.
When the Great King, the Son of David, shall come He will cleanse them from their iniquities, He will restore them under the New Covenant, He
“will set His sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore, He will be their God, and they shall be His people."
This is one of the great parables of the Kingdom, and is in perfect harmony with those related by our Lord and recorded in the Gospels.
The story is one, and the inspired writing of the prophets are up-to-date in their scope and vision. In this and the two following chapters Ezekiel is writing of the events of our own day, for he concludes this section of his book by a clear account of the rise of the God and Magog powers in Russia, China and the Muslim nations. They are filled with hate and they are circling their armies around the camp of the Saints. Revelation 20:8-9.
