We have in the facts of the great seal a series of coincidents that connect this country with the Tribe of Manasseh. When the Tribes marched, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh went together on the West side of the ark, for their homes were Westward. On their battalion banner was the figure of a youth, denoting activity, with the motto, “The cloud of Jehovah rest on them, even when they go forth out of the camp.” Here we have the origin of the cloud on the seal. And when we remember that Manasseh was brought up at the foot of the Pyramid, and could see it from his palace home at Memphis, then we get a cue to the figure of the Pyramid on the seal. [23]
PYRAMID.
The Pyramid is a wonderful witness for God and His people. This building in Egypt has stood for 4,000 years; finished and complete, it stood for about 3,000 before anybody ventured to find a way into it. Then, at a great cost of men, money, and time, a way was forced in by an Arab chief. There surely is something remarkable that the only thing found in it should be a stone trough, and more singular to my mind, that the Ark of the Covenant and this stone trough should be of equal capacity; and the laver in which the priest washed his feet in the temple was exactly of the same size. And Solomon’s molten sea contained just as much water as would fill the King’s Chamber in which this trough was found. Can any man know these things and believe them to be accidental? Verily not. They do most assuredly pledge a God and Providence.
EPHRAIM.
This word is not only the name of Joseph’s son and the Tribe, but it is used quite frequently in a generic sense, and stands for the Ten Tribes and Manasseh. To Reuben by birthright was the lead politically, but it was taken from him and given to Joseph, and so to Ephraim. From Judah came the Chief Ruler—that is, Christ; but the birthright was Joseph’s (1 Chron. v. 1).
THRONE OF DAVID.
To this throne God pledged under oath a perpetuity. Also He pledged that some one of David’s seed should always be on it. The throne and seed are pledged an unconditional existence. This being so, it follows that they must be now in existence, and that finally all thrones will be swallowed up by this one. Queen Victoria is of David, and the English throne is David’s. Hence all the promises and prophecies referring to David’s throne may be found on this line. For prophecy not being of private interpretation such facts may be proven.
GENTILES.
The word Gentile generally embraces all those nations and people outside of the Twelve Tribes. Keeping these few distinctions in mind, you will be enabled to read the Bible interestingly and with the proper understanding. Prophetic evidence is a strong kind of proof. Study the Word on this line and you will find Providence and history lending glorious confirmation to the same.
ISRAEL AND THE GATES.
Discourse II.
ISRAEL—HOW THE GATES OF HIS ENEMIES ARE TO BE GIVEN HIM—BY THIS SIGN LOST ISRAEL MAY BE KNOWN—THE GIVING WILL CORRESPOND TO THE MULTIPLYING—THE PROMISE, IN THIS DAY, IS RAPIDLY FULFILLING—ENGLAND, DISRAELI AND “TANCRED,” AND RUSSIA.
“That in blessing I will bless thee; and in multiplying, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.”—Gen. xxii. 17.
Under a Divine oath was this prophetic promise made to Abraham. At the time it was given Abraham had, by command, offered his only son Isaac, which offering, to all human appearance, would leave the old patriarch again childless; but his faith staggered not, for human incompetence does not circumscribe the bounds of Divine sufficience. The God who commanded Abraham to offer, recalled the command at a certain stage of the fulfilment, counting the faith of Abraham for righteousness. In Abraham’s faith Isaac was really sacrificed; hence the Divine approval: “By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord; for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.” An oath with men in this day does not mean much in the way of confirmation, but not so with God’s oath. An oath ought to be sacred, and should be the end of doubt and strife. God made a promise to Abraham, and because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself. And Abraham lived to see the promise begin to fulfil, and to-day the heirs of Abraham may look and see the same promise fulfilling, for, as Paul says in Heb. vi. 17: “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath.”
Who are the heirs of promise? For to them belong many and precious promises, both spiritual and temporal. Spiritually, they are to lead and be responsible for the evangelisation of the world. Temporally, they are to be a numerous seed, a powerful people. They are to occupy the ends of the earth, the uttermost parts of the earth, the coasts of the earth, the waste and the desolate places of the earth, the isles of the sea, the heathen, as an inheritance. They are to inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited; they are to be the chief of nations; they are to be a company of nations; they are to be a great people; they are to possess the gates of their enemies. Surely such a people should be found, for all these things make it impossible for them to be hid in a corner. One cannot help saying with the Psalmist: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.”
In the English Court of Chancery are vast sums of money, large fortunes waiting for heirs. The court frequently advertises for them, and many in every land respond and are eager to prove their claims; they are anxious to be known and accepted as the descendants and lawful heirs of certain testators. It is oftentimes difficult to establish their claims and prove satisfactorily their identity. The court demands that the evidences of heirship be very definite. In this they are right. But we venture to say that even the English Court of Chancery would not turn away a claimant who had all the distinct marks and abounding evidence of identity that mark and characterise the children of Abraham, especially so in the latter day, for then these characteristics are to be clearer and fuller.
The Jews are known; they have been known all down the centuries; they have not been able to hide themselves. In keeping with the Word of God they have fulfilled up to the present time the prophecies attaching to them. In all the world they are estimated to number some nine millions. The Jews include the children of Judah and Levi; these Two Tribes only. The Jews themselves consent to this statement, and allow that the descendants of Reuben, Simeon, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin, are lost, but not extinct. They are in the world, for God has not cast