tell us and Great Britain now possesses that. Reasoning from this, Great Britain (Israel) holds "the gate of the enemies.” In this text, as with many others, Anglo-Israelism takes the glory that belongs to Jesus Christ and ascribes it to Great Britain and its king. Paul in commenting on Genesis 22:17 tells who the Seed is that God mentions: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Gal. 3 :1 6 ). Christ then is the one to whom reference is made and not the British nation. In Christ all the nations of the earth will be blessed, and when He reigns He shall possess "the gate of the enemies” — all of His former enemies •—■ for He shall be King of kings and Lord of lords and ". . . his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth” (Zech. 9 :1 0 ). Another instance of misinterpretation is found in their misuse of Genesis 17:4-6: "As for me, behold, my cove nant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.” G reat stress is laid upon the statement that Abraham was to be a father of many nations. These proph ecies refer to the millennial age when nations shall be brought to the Lord— the sheep nations of Matthew 25. Israel shall be the instrument in the hands of God in their conversion. But Anglo-Israelism applies this prophecy to the company of nations which comprise the British Empire. Other texts the Anglo-Israelites misapply are Isaiah 27:6 and 3 5 :1 ,2 : "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.” "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.” Commenting on these verses, Anglo-Israelism says: "Israel had to colonize barren land, establish the earth, thereby causing the desert to blossom like the rose. This is the achievement which the Anglo-Saxons have accomplished with signal success.” The Anglo-Israelite commentator, like the rest of this cult, twists the statement from its context, which clearly shows that the prophecy will be fulfilled "in that day,” referring to the millennial glory. At this time verse 12 of Isaiah 27 will also be fulfilled: " . . . and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.” The Anglo-Israel commentator makes no comment con cerning this verse because he knows that it does not apply to the British nation, for when were they ever gathered one by one? This will be true of Israel only, as the Scripture makes clear. Two other verses wrenched from the context and applied to the Anglo-Saxon race are Deuteronomy 8:18 and 28:12: "But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this
ANGLO-ISRAELISM continued Esdras 15:40-43. When a cult is obliged to refer to the Apocrypha for proof of its position, it must be hard pressed for source material on which to prove its claims. The Roman Catholic Church appeals to the Apocrypha for the support of the doctrine of purgatory, and in her trail the Anglo- Israelites follow. The apocryphal books are wholly un reliable and they do not claim inspiration. The Jews have never accepted them as a part of the Jewish canon. Jesus Christ never quoted from them, but Anglo-Israelites use them for they find some fanciful proof of their fantastic tales. The following reference, Second Esdras 15:40-45, is used: "Those are the ten tribes, which were carried away pris oners out of their own land in the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanasar the King of Assyria led away captive, and he carried them over the waters, and so came they into another land. But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt. That there they might keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. And they entered into Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river. For the Most High then shewed signs for them, and held still the flood, till they were passed over. For through that country there was a great way to go, namely, of a year and a half: and the same region is called Arsareth.” T hese theorists continue their statements by reason ing that the former King of England, Edward V III, was the descendant of David, the heir to David’s throne. They enlarged upon the fact that one of his names was David, ignoring the other names, Edward, Albert, Christian, George, Andrew and Patrick. The name David was given him, they inform us, because the Marchioness of Waterford prophesied that he would be "David 'your prince,” and that Ezekiel 37:25 and 34:23 would be ful filled in him. Before the death of King George V, the Anglo-Israelites were positive that when the Prince of Wales came to the throne, he really would be David II and with him would come the British millennium. However, in the first place, he took the name of King Edward V III which ruined one of their theories. Then he abdicated his throne for the love of a twice-divorced woman, Wallis Simpson. However, like the Russellites who prophesied that the times of the Gentiles would end in 1914, failure of their prophecies seems to bring them no embarrassment. Now before I show you how Scripture refutes this whole system, I want to point out the way in which the Anglo- Israelites misinterpret and pervert the Word of God and how closely some of their statements approach blasphemy. A favorite proof text used by this system is Genesis 22:17 : "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.” This is supposed to be a prophetic picture of the British people and the people of the United States controlling Gibraltar, Malta, Heligoland, Aden and Singapore. These seaports are "the gate of the enemies” the Anglo-Israelites
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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