_More Blessings promised to Judah and Israel.--The Nation
Victorious.--Judah and Ephraim blessed, gathered and restored, and
their enemies overcome._
The tenth chapter continues to unfold Israel's future blessings and
restoration, and in it Ephraim, the house of Israel, is especially
mentioned. The chapter begins with a contrast. In the first verse
there is a call to prayer, and the assurance of an answer given; in
the second verse the idols are mentioned which Israel worshipped and
which give no comfort.
Ask of Jehovah rain in the time of the latter rain. The former rain
and the latter rain are often spoken of in the Word. It is of course
first to be understood of the natural rain coming from the clouds
upon the land. The rain withheld and the land becomes a desert, the
rain given and the land flows again with milk and honey. I will give
you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the
latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, thy wine and thine
oil. . . . Take heed to yourselves that your heart be not deceived,
and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; and the
Lord's wrath will be kindled against you and He shut up the heavens,
that there be no rain and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest
ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.
(Deut. xi: 14-17.)
The first rain came upon the seed placed into the ground, while the
latter rain was necessary to ripen the fruit. Israel's sin, unbelief,
disobedience and apostacy have shut the heavens and keep them shut so
that there is no rain and the land is a wilderness, waste and
desolate. An abundance of rain is promised to them when Jehovah
appears again. Much of late has been said that Palestine becomes
fruitful once more. It is said that the statistics show that during
the last years the rainfall has increased by so many inches. This
statement is denied by others. Some believers make much of this
rainfall and think that it is a sign of His coming, an indication
that God's favor is being restored to the land. This is incorrect.
The abundance of rain, the latter rain, is not promised for the land
at this present time, but it will come after the great tribulation,
and is closely connected with the manifestation of the Lord from
heaven in the clouds. The fruitfulness as it is seen now in the
land--by no means general, but only in spots--is brought about mostly
by artificial means, such as irrigation. During the great tribulation
there will be no rain. (Rev. xi: 6.) Modern Zionism, in its
God-dishonoring unbelief, with its immense resources of wealth and
influence, may succeed in transforming the land of the Fathers.
Indeed this is their scheme--building railroads, channels for
irrigation, factories, mines, institutions of learning, etc. But the
great tribulation will sweep it all away once more, and disaster will
come swiftly when the plan of a Jewish Kingdom, without Him who is
the King of the Jews, seems to be realized. It is not for the
believer to look now for the promised latter rain. All this looking
for signs has a tendency to foster the idea that the church will pass
through the tribulation. If that were the case we might well look to
the signs around us and look (as some believers do) where Antichrist
is to come from.
The latter rain stands in connection with the Lord's manifestation
for Israel. Let us know, follow on to know Jehovah: like the morning
His coming is sure, and He shall come like the rain for us, like the
latter rain watering the earth. (Hosea vi: 3.) O ye children of Zion,
rejoice and be glad in Jehovah your God; He gives you the former rain
in a just measure, and sends you in showers the early and the latter
rain as in times of old. (Joel ii: 23.) It is time to seek Jehovah,
until He come to rain righteousness upon you. (Hosea x: 12.) But the
latter rain is also a type of spiritual blessings. It includes all
the blessed promises in spiritual things, and especially does it
stand for the full harvest which comes in after the heaven is opened
and that great outpouring of the Spirit takes place. (Joel ii: 28.)
It is unscriptural to expect now in this time such a latter rain,
just as it is unscriptural to expect now the rain upon the land of
Israel. How many prayers there are now in Christendom, well meant
undoubtedly; prayers for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, prayers
for a new Pentecost, even prayers for the outward manifestations; all
these prayers have no scriptural foundation, and cannot be answered
now in the dispensation in which we live. There will be the latter
rain, the outpouring of the Spirit upon all flesh; but it stands in
connection with the day of the Lord and with God's earthly people.
Truly, as the beginning of Zechariah x. has it, in the time of the
latter rain there will be prayer for it, but the prayer does not come
from the lips of church-saints, but it comes from the lips of the
Jewish remnant. The assurance is given that Jehovah will send the
showers of rain, and before they come He will create the lightning.
The lightnings stand for His wrath and judgment, which will proceed
before the showers of blessing. In His coming He will be like the
lightning falling from the clouds.
The second verse puts before us another picture. The apostacy of the
nation and their idolatry are now brought before us. The original
word for idols is teraphim, and these were household gods, which were
consulted by them. Spiritism (or as it is also called Spiritualism),
this awful delusion so strong in the last times, is not a new thing.
We can trace it to the remotest ages, and the nations which are still
in the darkness of heathendom still practice it. It is very powerful
in India and in China, and upheld by the father of lies from where it
springs. Israel knew it likewise, and was closely connected with its
abominations. The teraphim were little figures which in some way by
movements or mysterious noises gave an answer to questions. Men did
then go about as sorcerers, and mediums had visions and dreams.
Hearken not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your
dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak
unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the King of Babylon. They
prophesy a lie unto you. (Jer. xxvii: 9.) Let not your diviners that
are in the midst of you deceive you. . . . I have not sent them,
(Jer. xxii: 8, 9.) What an awful sin it was that Israel could thus
join themselves to idols and practice the abominable things. Soon the
punishment fell upon them and they were carried into captivity, as
the second verse states. Therefore they have wandered like a flock,
they are oppressed because there is no shepherd. Jehovah had been
rejected by them, and in this rejection is seen the rejection which
followed when they rejected the Son. Here Hosea iii: 4 is to be taken
into consideration. The children of Israel shall abide many days (the
dispersion in which they are now) without a king and without a
prince, without a sacrifice and without an image, without an ephod
and teraphim. The next verse speaks of their conversion in the latter
days. During their dispersion they will have neither the old worship
of Jehovah nor will they hold any longer to the teraphim and ask
guidance of them. How truly it has all been fulfilled, However there
is a word which the Lord spoke, which is here likewise to be
mentioned. It is one of the many misunderstood passages in the New
Testament. We find it in Matthew xii: 43-45. When the unclean spirit
is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and
findeth none. Then he saith I will return to my house from whence I
came out; and when he has come he findeth it empty, swept and
garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with himself seven other spirits
more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there, and the
last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be
unto this wicked generation. The unclean spirit of idolatry had left
the nation after the return from the captivity, but there is in that
wicked generation at last a return of the same evil spirit with seven
others worse than the spirit of idolatry, and the last of that man
(unbelieving Israel) is worse than the first. This seems to us is the
true application of this passage. Israel is rapidly nearing the time
when unclean spirits with idols will have control over them. He who
comes in his own name, the false Messiah, the devil's masterpiece
with all his delusions and lying wonders, will be worshipped by them
and the outcast demons will enter the house again. This is clearly
seen in Zech. xiii: 2. It shall be in that day (after the nation has
looked upon the pierced one), saith Jehovah of hosts, I will cut off
the names of the idols from the land, and they shall be remembered no
more; and also the prophets and the spirits of uncleanness will I
cause to pass out of the land. A return to teraphim, sorcery,
divination, etc., is already noticeable in our day. The superstitions
of talmudical Judaism are many, and the modern revival of the ancient
teraphim, in Spiritism, through mediums, tables, etc., finds not a
few followers among the Jews. What will it be when the man of sin is
in the earth? All the world will wonder after the beast.
In verses 3-5 we see once more the events which belong to Israel's
future. Mention is made first of the House of Judah. Against the
shepherds His anger is kindled, and the he-goats will be punished
(false leaders of the people and their enemies.) Then Jehovah visits
His flock, the house of Judah, and He will make them like His goodly
horse in war. Like heroes they are treading down the foes. They fight
successfully against the enemies, for Jehovah is once more with them
and the day of vengeance has come, and the riders on horses are put
to shame by them. The parables of Balaam tell us what Israel will be
at last, and how like a young lion they will spring upon the prey.
Even now in dispersion the Jew inspires terror and is feared by the
nations. This fear, which produces anti-Semitism (so strong in our
times), has a good reason, for they will soon be the head of the
nations and no longer the tail.
The words in the fourth verse, From him (Judah) the cornerstone, from
him the nail. . . have been differently interpreted. The nail is in
the oriental house a large pin, often very beautifully ornamented,
and the most costly things are hanged thereupon. And I will fasten
him as a nail in a sure place and he shall be for a glorious throne
to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of
his father's house. (Isaiah xxii: 23, 24.) The Shemeth rabbah, a
Jewish interpretation, says on this verse, this is King David; as it
is said, the stone which the builders rejected is become the chief
cornerstone. Some say it is spoken concerning the Lord, that He is
the cornerstone and the nail. It refers to Him no doubt, but what is
spoken of Him finds also a fulfillment in restored Israel. Thus
Israel is yet to be the cornerstone upon which everything rests in
the earth, and the nail upon which hangs the glory.
The rest of the chapter speaks of restoration of the house of Judah
and the house of Israel. The house of Judah will be strengthened, and
the house of Joseph (the ten tribes) will be saved. Ephraim, standing
likewise for the house of Israel, shall become like a hero, and their
heart shall rejoice, and their sons shall see and rejoice, their
heart shall exult in Jehovah. I will hiss to them and will gather
them, for I have redeemed them, and they shall increase as they did
increase. And I will sow them among many peoples, and in far
countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall
live and return. (Verses 7-9.) Their bringing back will be from the
land of Egypt and from Assyria. With it is the judgment of the
nations; they will be cast down and the restored people shall walk in
His name.
The prophecy brings before us the old question concerning the ten
tribes or the house of Israel. These tribes are generally called the
"lost tribes," and as such they have been found perhaps a hundred
times by as many different persons. The North American Indians, the
Afghans, the Nestorians, tribes in the interior of Africa as well as
in China, and even the Hottentots of South Africa, have been declared
to be the lost tribes. We believe that this looking for the lost
tribes and to locate them is something against which the Holy Spirit
warns when He declares, But avoid foolish questions and genealogies
and contentions and striving about the law, for they are unprofitable
and vain. (Titus iii: 9.) Neither give heed to fables and endless
genealogies, which minister questions rather than godly edyfing which
is in faith. (1 Tim: 1-4.) We think it wrong to go into such
speculations on matters which the Lord purposely has hid in His Word.
We would have nothing else to say on this topic were it not for a
very strange teaching which has fascinated many minds and which has
become very popular both in England and in America. We have reference
to the so-called Anglo-Israel theory. According to this theory the
lost tribes have been found in the Anglo-Saxon race, and that God has
kept His promises made to the house of Israel and fulfilled them and
fulfills them now in the two nations, America and England. It is a
theory, and the Word of God is used to prove it. This may be done
with any theory, and scripture twisted out of its place can be made
to prove almost anything. Anglo-Israel is a delusion, and it is
strange that so many believers have become infatuated with it and
suffer consequently from it. The theory is based upon a very serious
mistake in the exposition of the prophetic Word. All through prophecy
we find promises which belong to the house of Israel (and to Judah
likewise), the conflicts, the victories over their enemies, temporal
blessings, etc. These promises are to be realized in the latter days.
The phrase "latter days," however, is misunderstood, and believed to
be the days in which we live; while in fact the latter days are still
future and have not yet been reached. Prophecies which are spoken
concerning the future are looked upon as already fulfilled.
In this way the ninth verse in our chapter is misunderstood, And I
will sow them among the peoples, and in far countries they shall
remember me, and with their children they shall live and return. This
passage is often quoted in Anglo-Israel literature, and is always put
down as being fulfilled in the Anglo-Saxon race. We claim that it has
not yet been fulfilled, but will be fulfilled when the house of Judah
has been restored, and they as well as the house of Israel are in the
land and form one people, God's earthly kingdom people. This is true
of all the promises which Anglo-Israelism claims to have found a
fulfillment.
It is true they are now scattered among the nations and the Lord
knows them and He knows where they are and in due time He will send
hunters to hunt them out and fishers to fish them in (Jer. xvi: 16);
and they will be brought back to the land upon horses and in
chariots, etc. (Isaiah lxvi: 20.) After that they will be sown among
the peoples. They are then in the far countries and increase as they
did before and are a blessing to the nations and not a curse. Their
seed shall be known among the Gentiles and their offspring among the
people, all that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the
seed which the Lord has blessed. (Isaiah lxi: 9.) Judah's return will
be from all directions, but according to the tenth verse Ephraim will
be brought back from Egypt and Assyria. Anglo-Israel is a very poor
Ishmael attempt to help God to keep His promises.
When all this takes place the Lord will pass through the sea and
there will be affliction. The Nile is mentioned, and in Assyria the
pride will be brought down, no sceptre any longer in Egypt. Only then
after this manifestation will they walk (Judah and Israel) in His
name, and not before.