Judah is the only son of Jacob whose family is not only designated as a tribe but also becomes the designation of a nation. The assignment of the inheritance of the land, by the decree of God under the leadership of Joshua, settled the tribe of Judah in the lower portion of the land of Canaan. It was here that King Saul began to reign over the nation of Israel in Bethel. Next young David reigned in Hebron and then, after the conquest over the sons of Jebus, Jerusalem, the city of David, became the capital for all the land. In the land of Judah, David assembled all the components necessary to construct the house of God and upon the ascension of his son, Solomon, to the throne, the temple was built. All enemies of the people Israel had been suppressed by David and the work of building the nation had been completed. The length and breath of the kingdom of Israel would never be greater. All that the Lord had promised to Abram, Moses and David had been fulfilled as Solomon assembled the house of the Lord in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8). After the reign of Solomon and the division of the kingdom, Judah and Benjamin remain as the southern kingdom called Judah. Her idolatrous sister to the north built a counterfeit representation of the temple in Tirzah of Samaria and established a false priesthood to prevent the people from returning to the land of Judah. This is the sin of Jeroboam.
Each king after Solomon prostituted the ten northern tribes, called Israel, to commit fornication with the kings of the world as they attempted to integrate her into the mainstream of the social-economical and political structure of the world. This was exactly what the children of Israel wanted when they told Samuel, “Now make us a king to judge us like all the other nations” (I Sam. 8:5). The nation was slowly decimated as she lost her identity as the chosen people of the Lord, “And Jehovah rejected all the seed of Israel and afflicted them and delivered them into the hand of the spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight; For He rent Israel from the house of David and they made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, king; and Jeroboam drave Israel from Jehovah and made them sin a great sin. For the children of Israel walked in all the sin of Jeroboam which he did and they departed not from them, until Jehovah removed Israel out of His sight as He had said by all his servants, the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day” (2 Kings 17:20-23). Town after town along the borders either revolted from the tyranny and extortion or was conquered by invading armies. Wars ensued and treaties of capitulations were struck as the identity of Israel was lost in the confusion of the world. They looked and acted like everyone else as God gave them over to the lusts and desires of their hearts. Alliances and confederacies are made with the Canaanites, the common clave of society of the people of the land, until the Assyrian army was sent forth by the hand of God and Israel is taken into captivity. “Hear the Word of Jehovah ye children of Israel, Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land because there is not truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break out and blood toucheth blood” (Hab. 4:1).
Judah alone remains as the nation chosen of the Lord, in type, and all the inhabitants of this kingdom become known as ‘Jews’, (2 Kings 16:6). As they followed the apostasy of Israel, their language was no longer called Hebrew, the tongue of Abram, (from afar), but was called the “Jews language” (2 Kings 18:26).Their religion, government and society was known as ‘Jahud’ in the time of the prophet Jeremiah. When they were finally carried away captive by Nebuchadnezzar, their sin and iniquity far exceeded that of her sister Israel and these people were called, ‘those taken out of Jahud’, (translated ‘jewry’ in Daniel 5:13).
All the types and patterns in the mount were ineffectual to the natural nations of Israel and Judah, for having eyes to see they saw not, neither did they perceive. All the words of the prophets fell on deaf ears. God demonstrated his longsuffering and patience in type with the natural people whom He had chosen and as they brought forth wild grapes, for they were not part of the true vine, He said, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes? And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down the wall thereof and it shall be trodden down; and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned, nor digged, but there shall come up briers and thorns: and I will command the clouds that they should not rain upon it. For the vineyard of Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, is the house of Israel and the men of Judah the plant of His pleasure: and He looked for judgment but beheld oppression; He looked for righteousness but beheld a cry” (Is. 5:4-7). 70 years of captivity were prophesied by Jeremiah and 70 years were accomplished. Upon conclusion, the heart of the evil King Cyrus’ was turned by the hand of God to give his magnanimous decree that all the Jews in exile could return to rebuild the temple under Ezra and Zechariah (Ezra 4:12). Then the walls were rebuilt by Nehemiah under the watch and protection of King Artaxerxes, by the good hand of God upon him. These were no longer the twelve sons of Jacob comprising the nation of Israel. The twelve tribes had been stripped of their identity and become one nation. This was called Judah and her people Jews, (Neh. 4:1&2).
Once again we must view the land of Shinar in the manifestation of these events. The one river demonstrates the sons of Adam drawn about by the lusts of the flesh and the love of this world in whom are placed the seed of the serpent. The other river displays these earthen vessels, while still compassed about with the lusts and desires, washed and made clean, in whom dwell the children of grace, reserved unto God for the praise of His name.
Judah represents the natural man and his Adamic ways. When Joseph was accosted by his older brothers for arrogantly shewing them the dreams which God had given him, they wanted to kill him. They cast him into a pit as they plotted how this little upstart would meet his doom. Judah does not help Joseph but rather sees an opportunity for financial gain and says, “What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh” (Gen. 37:26). He had no love for Joseph nor was he attempting to save his skin. He saw a chance to secure filthy lucre while exonerating his brothers of any felonious deeds. He acted from greed for he coveted the gain and desired the prominence. His ten brothers were indebted to him, from this point on, for the deliverance from the dreamer who would rule over them, innocence of all wrong-doings and the concealment of this fraudulent tale. They all turned to him and bowed to him.
Judah takes a wife of a noble family in the refuge of the people whose name means wealth and opulent liberality, in the lowlands called Canaan, (Gen. 38:2). Canaan is the land of those merchants and traders that are easily subdued and subjected and here Judah grows in strength and influence as he loans and borrows, building his generative power and wealth through acquisition and usury. But this foundation is built on sand. This power fluctuates with the economy. It is a lie and a false security. His decadence and lasciviousness culminates in the death of his firstborn, for he was evil, the destruction of his second child by the judgment of God and his whoredom with Tamar his daughter-in-law. Thus are born to this man of delicious living, wealth and fame, two children by whom his breach of decency and morality are brought to light (Pharez & Zilah).
“The love of money is the root of all evil, which while some covet after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (I Tim. 6:10). Judah’s greed and avarice enabled him to have and explore all the vices of life without the discipline of the restraint. He is as deceitful and cunning in his business dealings as he is in his personal relationships and sexual appetites. Tamar knew this of her husband and of her father-in-law. Her husband, Er, like Adam and Eve, was awakened to all villainy and corruptness and was wicked in the sight of the Jehovah. He was created that way for God has created the wicked and reserved him for the Day of Judgment, (Job 21:30). Being created and fashioned this way, the wicked trusts in his wickedness and says in his heart, “No one sees me”, and his wisdom and knowledge perverts him to a confidence of superiority and sovereignty (Is. 47:10). Therefore God slew the first born of Judah.
Judah then introduces his next born to the carnal obligation of the law of God and commands him to go in, take Tamar to wife and raise up seed to his dead brother. Onan, a vigorous, strong and wealthy man, is more concerned with his ‘good’ name and inheritance than obeying the letter of the law. He is more concerned with his family and his posterity than with righteousness and truth. His older brother, Er, was wicked and since God had struck him down, no seed should be raised up to him for an inheritance. He had been judged and found guilty his name should not mentioned in the family, so, Onan refuses to obey the direction of his father or the law of God. He spills his seed on the ground and God strikes him dead. But take note that Onan had fulfilled his lust and carnal pleasure in his defiant disobedience. He was not repulsed at the idea of taking his dead brothers wife and engaging her in sexual conduct. Like any good atheistic hedonist Onan did what felt good for his pleasure and satisfaction with a depraved indifference to the righteousness of the Holy Law.
Judah then enters into an agreement with Tamar concerning his youngest son, which he conveniently forgets. He has no integrity, concern for truth or honesty. He welched on an oath and concealed it with a lie. He had instructed Onan to act honorably and with integrity yet he conducted himself with a curious absence of these noble characteristics. While on a business trip to a foreign land, where no one will know him or see his lechery, Judah seeks to satisfy his lust by looking for a ‘good time’. “When Judah saw her, he thought her a harlot because she had covered her face. And he turned unto her by the way, and said, go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee” (Gen. 38:15). He went looking for a whore and found her. He propositioned her, agreed on a price and concluded this lecherous business in the appointed town, (Timnah). It was not only an elicit sexual encounter but a violation of the Law of God in that Judah had carnal knowledge of his daughter-in-law and had discovered her nakedness.
(We acknowledge that Judah’s life and encounters occurred many years before the law was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai but we do not believe that Sinai was the beginning of the law. Abraham and Isaac went to Mt. Moriah to perform the sacrifice of the sin offering many years before the birth of Jacob. Adam and Eve were given the law when God commanded them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These examples demonstrate that the Law of God was present ere the world began and are not contingent upon what Moses wrote or what was passed down from generation to generation. The Word of God is His Holy Law and is as eternal and immutable as He is. “All the words of my (Wisdom) mouth are in righteousness…they are plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge…The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His ways, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the earth was” (Pro. 8).)
This fornication with Tamar produced two sons, Pharez and Zarah. Pharez had completely come forth out of the womb first but he was not the first born (Gen. 38:28). His brother, Zarah, had made the first presentation when he put forth his hand. The midwife took and bound a scarlet thread to him indicating that he was the firstborn. The attempt by Pharez to usurp the rightful position of firstborn had been thwarted by a scarlet thread.
What shall we say then? That the children, not yet being born, neither having done good nor evil, that the purpose of God might stand according to election, Pharez desired the preeminence and fraudulently attempted to possess that which was not rightfully his. He did not make a conscience effort or a choice to dethrone his brother but rather acted according to the nature within and after the course that was set before him. Nor did his brother decide to be born first yet appear second. The purpose of God identified the firstborn as being bound by a thread of scarlet (crimson) and called his name Zarah, rising or risen. Interesting that the people of the time of Ruth, while praising her said, “And let your house be as the house of Pharez (the breach), whom Tamar bore unto Judah” (Ruth 4:12).
Zarah had a son by the name of Achan. The lot assigned to him was to disobey the word from Joshua and to take the accursed thing from the accursed city, Jericho. The majesty and power of God had been openly displayed in plane sight for all to see. He commanded the priest to circle the city for six days without a sound save the blowing of the ‘shophar’, the Rams horn, (the exaltation of the mighty one). “And it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose up early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times; only on that day they compassed the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout, for Jehovah has given you the city” (Jos. 6:15f). (There is no coincidence that the only house spared the judgment of the wrath of Jehovah was one bound by a scarlet thread.) Joshua then commanded the children of Israel to utterly destroy the city and to take nothing. The city was accursed and anyone taking anything would be accursed also.
“But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan … took the accursed thing: and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the children of Israel." (Jos. 7:1). Achan lusted after three things and when that lust had conceived it brought forth sin. He saw a Babylonish garment, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels in weight. Like his father before him, the nation he embodied and the nature of man he represents, his desire was for a covering of confusion with the appearance of propriety; double the wealth and an exceeding weight of glory. (Compare these things to the woman of Revelation 17. See how she is attired and what jewels and precious stones lay about her. She is natural Israel and the epitome of the nature of sin.) For his crimes, Achan and his entire house, were stoned to death and then burned in the Valley of Achor. “And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day” (7:26), as a testimony to the righteous judgment of Jehovah and the corruption of man.
That testimony was set not only as a warning to the wicked that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God but also to the heaven born who travel this weary land. “Thus saith Jehovah, as the new wine is found in the cluster and one saith, Destroy it not for a blessing is within; so shall I do for my servants sake, that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it and my servant shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks and the Valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me.” (Is. 65:8-10). Could this be that the green pastures that Jehovah causes His flock to lie down in is the Valley of Trouble? Is this any stranger than the rod and staff which comfort His children being the one who ascends, O Assyria? (Is. 10:5)
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably to her. And I will give her, her vineyards from thence, and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she will sing there as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, saith Jehovah, thou shalt call me ‘Ishi’ and shall call me no more ‘Baali’” (Hos. 2:14-16). The ingredients of the valley of Achor with the judgment and the memorial are to remind the child of grace that the splendor of this accursed land is not theirs. It is all around and beckons to them daily but as Solomon noted, it is all vanity and a vexation to the soul. God has set His flock in this valley for the trying of the faith within which works patience and as a reminder that they are in the world but not of the world. He reminds them of the misery of the labour of this world and the bitterness of the waters of the land. They find themselves strangers and foreigners, “I was derision to all my people and their song in the day. He hath filled me with bitterness; he hath made me drunken with wormwood. …And I said, my strength and my hope is perished from Jehovah; Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope” (Lam. 3:14-20).
“Judah, thou art whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand in the neck of thine enemies; thy fathers children shall bow down before thee” (Gen. 49:8). When the retribution against Joseph was set forth, it was Judah who proposed an alternative and all his brothers conceded to his idea. When Jacob sent his sons to Egypt for corn during the years of famine, Reuben pled for the life of Benjamin, but gave up Simeon, whom Joseph bound before their eyes and sent to prison. But it was Judah who said, after the king’s cup was found in the sack of food and they were detained as thieves, “What shall we say unto my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants; behold we are my lord’s servants, both we, and him also with whom the cup is found” (Gen 44:16). Judah then, speaking again as the head of the household, asked for a private audience with Joseph and said, “Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord’s ear, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant, for thou art even as Pharaoh” (18). He revealed the truth about Benjamin to save his hide not knowing that Joseph would demand that they bring him to Egypt. Yet his brothers again bowed to his lead. Judah usurped the authority of the firstborn when the twelve sons of one man became a nation and these attributes never changed.
The brethren of Judah would again bow before him as David, the son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah was anointed King over all Israel. The scepter was with Judah and David, a man of war, subdued all his enemies under him. The house of Jesse and the house of Judah praised David as the great King over all as the twelve tribes became a mighty nation. Solomon continued this by his ascension to the throne. He was greater than his father, the wisest of all and the king of peace.
Judah the man grows into Judah the tribe and then Judah the nation. The characteristics of the nature of Judah the man become amplified and expanded to the point where, “Jehovah hath also a controversy with Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will He recompense him…He (Judah) is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hands; he loveth to oppress” (Hosea 12:2&7). These merchants of deceit sold the precious things of the covenant, gold, silver, precious stones and fine linens pure and white, to strangers in exchange for prominence and power and gained neither. They enter into false agreements which cannot be kept and the people of this world become rich and live sumptuously as they cast the pearl type before the swine and sit as the great whore upon many waters saying “I am a queen and am no widow” (Rev. 18:7).
The selling of these precious things of Zion, in type, are accomplished by the mixing of man’s doctrines and traditions into the law and statutes of God given by God to Moses and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai. God instructed Moses to warn the people, after they had verbally committed to do all that He had commanded, (Ex. 19:9), that they make no alliances with the people of the land; that they do not enter into agreements or confederacies and that they do not mix bloods, for when this happened, they would begin to serve the gods of this world and incorporate his ways into the worship of the true God. This mixing then would cause a confusion as to what is truth and what is the acceptable form of worship.
These traditions of man taught as doctrines, begin with the vain notion that man has the ability to act in and of himself and on his own behalf. Once this premise is arrogantly and presumptuously conceded, it grows, festering in the compost of human logic and reason, to the false sense of security and self reliance. This teaching elevates natural man from the dust of the earth onto an idealistic plain of equality with God. Man's thoughts and reasoning become the acceptable format and litmus test in evaluating and understanding God’s ways. Ultimately the wisdom of man presumes itself to be superior to the Most High and dismisses His existence completely as the fool says in his heart, ‘there is no God’, (Ps. 14:1). Man would rather attribute the course of this world to ‘mother nature’, ‘father time’ and ‘natural selection’ than concede to and acknowledge the absolute sovereignty of God. Satan was created with this vanity in his nature when God prepared him as the ‘cherub that covers’. He was complete according to God’s designs, but he was not satisfied with the station that God had set for him. He desired the utmost seat, the worship and the praise. He was not content with the lot that God had assigned to him. He wanted to be ‘like the Most High’. Therefore he desired to exalt himself and to ascend against the throne of God, (Is. 14:13&14).
Eve was deceived by this logic as the ‘father of all lies’ told her that she would not surely die, as God had said, but that she would be like God, to know good and evil. When Adam, who could not stop or dissuade his wife nor prevent the decrees of God, willfully and knowingly partook of the same, being not deceived, he and his posterity after him, became dead in trespasses and sin and servants to this same line of reasoning. Adam did not flee unto God and beg forgiveness for his transgressions. He was convinced he had the ability to resolve the matter. He then, possessing the knowledge of good and evil, surmised that he understood his predicament and could adequately resolve the problem; as if he had the mind of God and knew His eternal purpose. He concludes by logic and reason, to hide the whole affair from God, supposing himself at least equal if not superior to God. Even his discourse with God, when confronted with his guilt, he shows the impudence of this nature as he blames God and calls himself innocent.
This confusion by mixing (Babylon) is a part of the Adamic nature in natural things as well as in religious matters. “The prophets prophesy falsely (without the Word of God) and the priest bear rule by their means (as they see fit); and my people (Judah and Jerusalem) love to have it so” (Jer. 5:31). The people in the time of Jeremiah's prophecy were so polluted by this mixing, or the teaching of the traditions of man as the doctrines of God, that they trusted in lying words that cannot profit. They went about stealing, murdering, committing adultery, swearing falsely and burning incense unto Baal. They walked after other gods whom they did not know and “come and stood before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?” (Jer. 7:10). They, like Adam before them, attempt to call God and His eternal decrees, guilty while exonerating themselves. It was outwardly manifested as the altar, the sacrifices, the rituals and the ceremonies, became despised, corrupt and contemptible. The people brought the sick and lame, the unwanted and disfigured and called it acceptable for the Feasts of the Lord. “Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which He loved and hath married the daughter of a strange god” (Mal. 2:11). The incorporation of local feast days (holidays) and the regional traditions of the common people of the land had, by the decree of God, muddied the waters, distorted the hue, dulled the hearing and blinded their eyes, in fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah, that they should hear and understand not, (Is. 6:9f).
This is epitomized in the words of the Samaritan woman as she spoke to Jesus by the well, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain and ye (Jews) say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” She was as confused as her countrymen about the truth for there was no, ‘Thus saith the Lord’. There was a lack of knowledge because, “there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land” (Hos. 4:1). They (my people) have rejected knowledge and are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because they have rejected knowledge, God rejected them and the voice of God was silent. God had given them over to the lust and desires of the flesh and each man did that which was right in his own eyes. The types and foreshadows of the heavenly blessing became obscured and demented. Opinion and logic ruled above wisdom and justice as men called good evil and evil good. They put darkness for light and light for darkness, called bitter sweet and sweet bitter. From this digression into the leach bed of the festering compost of carnal wisdom and works grew the sect of the Pharisees with their systematic theologies and carnal attempts to keep the law and appease the righteousness of God. This is the rich dark soil of the compost heap where the modern seminary training sprouts forth and the doctors of theology are grown and nurtured. It is an unweeded garden that grows to seed things rank and gross in nature and yet it sits well in the banquet hall and on the dinner table of the pious of this evil generation as the flies of death congregate and satiate their souls.
“Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at first He lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun (dwelling) and the land of Naphtali (wrestling) and afterwards did more grievously afflict by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined” (Is. 9:1). “Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither worship in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what; we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is Spirit: and they which worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth” (John 4:20ff).
Thus, in the fullness of time, Zerubbabel came forth, carrying the headstone with shoutings, Grace, grace unto him, (Zech. 4:7), while the whole land lay in darkness. This darkness was as great as the darkness of the plague of Egypt and the confusion had engulfed the land and the people. This is how Israel, Judah and Jerusalem became, “Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abomination of the Earth”, that woman, which John saw, drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus (Rev. 17). She was arrayed in the colours of the curtains and the tapestries of the Tabernacle. She had bedecked herself with the gold, silver and precious stones, but she had no life, no truth and no holiness, for her hands were full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. She had left her husband and committed fornication with the kings of this world and with the inhabitants of the earth in alliances and confederacies, being made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Therefore is she full of ‘names of blasphemy’ against God and hatred for His anointed.
Once again we must reiterate this is not anti-semitic rhetoric. Israel stands as a representation, in demonstration, of all descendants of Adam. Adam was created without the ability to know, comprehend, seek out or obey the Holiness of Almighty God. The entirety of his seed, being created in him, is the same; fallen, dead in trespasses and sin, in him and by him, (Rom. 5). Adam from the beginning had no power in and of himself to alter, amend or enhance his state, being formed from the dust of the earth, therefore God breathed into him and made him a living soul. When he ate the fruit he died. His eyes were opened and he knew not only the difference between good and evil but that he could not hit the mark.
The second Adam became a partaker of the same flesh and blood as the first, having a body prepared for Him. In Him the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily and therefore He experienced no sin (by commission). The flesh was capable of the same weaknesses and frailties as the first Adam, since the second Adam, ‘likewise partook of the same’, and was tempted in all points like unto we are, yet, because of the power of God within, He was without sin. God had prepared a body for Him as He does for each of His children and He was flesh and blood. He ate, slept, wept, bled and died and experienced every thought and desire that the children do. But He had not died in trespasses and sin in the garden in the first Adam. He had the capacity to sin after the flesh, hence He was tempted, in the same manner as His children are and ‘touched with the feelings of our infirmities’, yet without sin. It would not be to much of a temptation if the propensity to succumb did not exist. But praise His Holy name that in accordance with the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, that precious Lamb of God was taken to the altar without spot or blemish by the power of God within, and no flesh shall ever Glory in His sight.
Judah is a dichotomous presentation. He not only represents the nature of Adam, with all his frailties and weaknesses as portrayed in all of his seed but also the nature of the child of grace in his heavenly head, Jesus Christ. Messiah was manifested in the flesh, not to do His own will, but to do the will of the Father in redeeming His people and saving them from their sin. In all He did and said, He accepted no glory or praise to Himself but rather praised the Father. “Jesus answered them and said, ‘My doctrine is not my own but His that sent me. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him’” (John 7:18). He therefore is the personification of the praise of Jehovah, as the name Judah signifies, and all His seed with Him. Not that the flesh of man could praise God in the efforts of duty or obedience but rather that, in Christ, all His seed is obedient. Because of the indwelling of the Word, written and engraven upon the heart of the sons of God, each walks according to the laws and statutes of the Heavenly Kingdom, in praise to the King.
We acknowledge full well that all of creation praises the Creator and glorifies His name. “The heavens declare the glory of the Lord; and the firmament sheweth forth His handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge” (Ps. 19:1). Even the wicked are created for His purpose and are His work, so, since, “the works of His hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, done in truth and uprightness”, (Ps. 111:7), therefore, even the children of disobedience and the spirit of the prince of the power of the air, praise His Holy name. “The wrath of man shall praise thee; the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (Ps. 76:10). These all act according to the pleasure of His will yet they have not the eternal love of the Father wherewith He no longer calls His children, servants but calls them, brethren. “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1)
The seed is eternal and born from above. It does not possess the ability to sin because it is of Him, through Him, by Him and for Him. The Anointed of God cannot deny Himself nor can there be any discord in the Godhead. Therefore, none of these living, precious stones, hewn from that Great Rock, could ever deny Him. The earthen vessels, afore prepared unto glory, have been redeemed by His precious blood and made accepted in the beloved. They are zealous of good works because of the life within. “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rms. 9:6). “For it is God that worketh in you, both to will and do His good pleasure” (Phi. 2:13), therefore, without the power of God within, the earthen vessels would remain walking, “according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph 2:2). Note what happened to the house that was cleaned and swept, having that spirit evicted; “When an unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in and dwell there; and the last of that man is worse that the first” (Luke 11:24). The Father sent His son to redeem them which were under the curse of the law and to cleanse them from all unrighteousness. He shed His precious blood and forgave their transgression and iniquity, making them accepted in the Beloved. Shall He, or how could He, after seeing the travail of His soul, and being well pleased, ever abandon one of these for whom He suffered, bled and died? The seed within is faithful being one with the Father and the vessel is obedient by the power of His will; “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal 2:20). He cannot deny Himself and He will never deny, leave nor forsake those whom the Father gave to Him.
He is the Head, the Elder brother, the Husband and the Master. He is the First, the Beginning and the End of all. He is the preeminence of all and in all. He is the Body, the Temple, the Tabernacle and the Bride. He is the first cause of every cause; when He moves, His body moves. When He stands still, His bride is obedient to be still and know that He is God. She is one with Him as He is one with the Father. She has no independent initiative or agenda of her own, for her will is His will. She lives and moves in Him. He teaches, leads and guides her every step of the way he has set before her while here in the wilderness.
At the conclusion of the building of the Tabernacle, God instructed Moses to arrange the tribes of Israel, in order, around the sanctuary. The first tribe assigned his position was to the east, the way of the rising of the sun, and it was Judah. He stood as the first to begin each day, the first to begin the ordinances of the day, the first to present the sacrifice and, when time to move by the direction of God through the sounding of the trumpet, Judah led the procession from encampment to encampment. He was first into battle as the standard bearer of the nation of the children of Israel. Praise led the way in every action as the scepter of the commander of God. When the trumpet was sounded and the cloud and the fire began to move, the people of Israel broke camp, dismantled the Tabernacle (each being assigned a specific labour), assembled and moved with exactness and precision that no military training could ever dream to imitate. Their purpose, order, timing and every movement predestined, commanded and controlled by the Hand of God to His Praise and Glory, they were made willing and empowered in the day of His power and Judah, the praise of Jehovah, is always the first order of business.
This stands as the type of the church of the firstborn in all matters. The sounding of the trumpet is the trump of God sounded by the angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, (Rev. 14:6). The tabernacle is the oath of His covenant which He fulfilled for His people. The nation of Israel is His chosen people, delivered from the house of the strong man, that house of darkness and bondage as they wander through this foreign land as strangers and sojourners. They are covered and protected from the scalding scorching heat of the sun, by His cloud by day. They are illuminated by night by the Light of the World that shines forth out of the darkness. Their clothes do not grow old or fade for they are the garments provided by the Father, the garments of righteousness. Their feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel and are not soiled by the dust of the earth. Without uttering a word they proclaim the glory of God and praise His name, for their walls are salvation and the gates are praise (Is. 60:18).
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him the gathering of the people” (Gen. 49:10). The expanse of beauty of these phrases is too great for the space that is afforded us at this time but and if the Spirit enable us at a later time, we shall endeavor to give that which is given to us. There is much speculation and divergence of opinion today concerning the numerous prophecies of the scriptures and their fulfillment. We do not wish to address anyone in particular nor take up a personal cause against any who agree with them. The scripture is of no private interpretation. They contain the doctrines of Jesus Christ and as the threads of a beautiful tapestry, are in complete agreement.
God made a promise to David and since He cannot lie, that promise must be true and must come to pass as He set it forth. Any deviation from or derivation of the promise would alter it and therefore nullify it. God said, “For I am Jehovah, I do not change; therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6). His immutability is the foundation for truth, His word, His oath, His covenant and the deliverance of His people.
“Howbeit , Jehovah of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever; for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel; and of all my sons, (for the Lord hath given me many sons), he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him my son and I will be his father. Moreover, I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be strong to do my commandments and my judgments as at this day” (1 Chr. 28:4-7). It does not take any great research to see that not only did Solomon not follow after the commandments of the Lord, (1 Kings 11:1), but that the throne of David, the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah did not continue forever. Many have tried to fabricate translations, traditions and hypotheses’ to try to shew how the nation of Israel has continued on in perpetuity leaving the land of Palestine in 70 AD, traveling northward through the European areas and the warring tribes of Germania, into the isles of Britannia and eventually coming to the ‘new world’ as the lost tribes of the house of Israel. This has greatly influenced the economy and politics of this land for over 200 years and is widely accepted as the dogma of the ‘true church’. This ‘Zionism’ predicts that one day the throne of David, existing in exile all these years shall be manifested in a rebuilt Jerusalem and the Son of David shall come again to sit on that throne and rule the world.
We mean no insult or disrespect in our comments and hope that the readers shall consider them according to the scriptures. If these views be true, then the scepter has not departed from the house of Judah nor the lawgiver from between his feet. There has not failed David a man in the sight of God to sit on the throne of Israel since he ordered it over 3000 years ago and it is so even today. Is this true? Or was the type set forth in the person of David and Solomon awaiting the fulfillment or antitype in the Anointed of God? If these Zionist views be correct why would the Spirit of God inspire Isaiah to write that there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots a child who shall have the government upon his shoulders? God’s promise was that there should not fail to be one like this upon the throne of Israel yet the Spirit is saying that there shall be one to come. The two views do not agree. “The increase of government and peace there shall have no end, upon the throne of David and upon His kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this” (Is. 9:7). If this has not been fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ then the law has not been fulfilled and His children are still under the curse of the Law and wandering dead in trespasses and sin. And we are of all men most miserable for we have no hope.
When Christ was teaching He said, “Ye have heard it said”, concerning the Law of Moses with regards to moral conduct, but then He said, “But I say unto you…” What right did He have to be a lawgiver? Was that not completed by God through Moses in the pattern given in the mount? Does anyone have the right to presume to explain and amplify upon what God had given to Moses and the children in the wilderness? No one has that right or ability save ‘he unto whom it belongs’, Shiloh. God’s law is exact in all matters down to the jot and tittle. No one was permitted to add, subtract or amend in any way. Nor was anyone permitted to copy or duplicate even the beaten powders of the sweet incense or the anointing oils. So exact in every detail is the law that it does not need any help. But the lawgiver said, “rend your hearts not your garments" (Joel 2:13), indicating that the obedience to the law was not an outward demonstration but an inward reality. Shiloh gave the same word to the prophet Samuel when he confronted King Saul and said, ”Hath Jehovah delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams” (1 Sam. 15:22). And again unto the people that called themselves by His name, he said, “this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:22).
He is the lawgiver and every word that proceeds from the Word of God is His, for He is that Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us, (John 1:14). He created all things and there does not exist nor shall ever exist anything that He did not create for Himself, by Himself and through Himself for His honour and glory. He is the one unto whom it ALL belongs and when He became incarnate, born of a virgin in the fullness of time, He said, “Father glorify thy name; Then came a voice from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified and will glorify again’. The people therefore, that stood by and heard, said, that it thundered (just like the voice of God at Mt. Sinai), others said an angel spake unto him. Jesus answered and said, ‘This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world, (not two or three thousand years from now): now shall the prince of this world be cast out, (Rev. 12:9-13). And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me’. This he said signifying what death he should die.” (John 12:28-33).
All His brethren had turned unto Him. His hand was upon the neck of all His enemies as He made them His footstool. "He unto whom it belongs had come’ and said, “And now, O Father, glorify me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were and thou gavest them me and they have kept thy word”, “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given unto me, that they may be one as we. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition that the scriptures might be fulfilled” (John 17:5-6, 11-12). And finally, as He was lifted up to die upon the cross, like the brazen serpent in the wilderness, He has drawn all men unto Himself and the gathering of the people is unto Him. The scepter no longer is in the hand of the man, the tribe or the nation of Judah the son of Jacob but is in the hand of the King of Kings whose kingdom shall have no end.
Jesus Christ is the praise of Jehovah in all things whatsoever is or comes to pass. He is the Mighty One of Jacob and the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He is the King, the Provider and the Protector of His people. The Praise which they bring begins in Him, flows from Him and returns unto Him. Yet He is represented as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. All the works of God were completed from before the drawing of the blue prints err the first words of creation were spoken. Thus the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world, stood slain from the foundation of the world, (Rev. 5:6). The implications of this are unfathomable and unspeakable for the carnal man cannot receive it. The children, the Holy seed chosen in Him, upon whom He has placed His eternal love, had atonement for the sinful flesh they would become partakers of before it had been created in Adam. Before they had committed a single trespass in Adam or fallen short of the standard of God’s Holiness, the Lamb stood, signifying He had been raised again, and therefore they had been justified. He was, “delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification. Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rms. 4:25 - 5:1). Before Adam fell in the garden and ushered sin into the world, by which death fell upon all, for all have sinned, God had prepared these earthen vessels unto glory by the washing of the precious blood of the Lamb. God did not react to man’s disobedience for He is not a respecter of persons or actions. Rather, He foreordained everything and spoke prophetically as He told Adam, “In the day that you eatest thereof ye shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Yes indeed that means that the sin was also foreordained and neither Adam, Eve nor the serpent could have altered the purpose or cause of the event one iota. Nor could they alter the act of God who prepared clothes for them when they were naked and guilty.
This should be of great peace to the soul of the child who groans within awaiting the adoption, the redemption of our body, because it means that they can never be lost or forsaken by their Lord, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). The events of time are a manifestation of the mighty works, sovereignty and love of the Father as He draws His children through the time of their habitation, with all the limitations thereof, to be conformed to the image of His dear Son. Brethren, we have borne the image of the earthly and when He shall appear we know we shall bear the image of the heavenly and we shall be like Him.
“Praise Jehovah! Praise Jehovah from the heavens; praise Him in the heights. Praise Him all His angels; praise Him all His hosts. Praise Him sun and moon; praise Him all you stars of light. Praise Him O heavens of heavens and O waters that are above the heavens. Let them praise the name of Jehovah for He commanded and they were created and He established them forever and ever” (Ps. 148:1-6).
In hope of glory, your servant in Christ.
(Elder) Chet Dirkes
May 21, 2009
Banner of Hope
Volume 3, No. 2
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