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T h e K i n g ’ s B u s i n e s s
May 1928
British-Israelism—A Fanciful Theory B y H enry F. B rown ( Vancouver, B. C .)
§ STRANGE and romantic story is being told today o f the wanderings of a Jewish Princess, accom panied by no less a person than the Prophet Jere miah, who, while assisting his royal protegee to Lfind an asylum of refuge in Ireland, far from Nebuchadnezzar’s triumphant invading armies, carried as their principal baggage, a rock of considerable dimensions, which, it is stated, the Patriarch Jacob used for a pillow when spending his first night away from home, and, after many vicissitudes, now has a place o f honor under the coronation throne o f the British sovereigns at Westminster Abbey. The grave assertion of a leading British Israel writer, in proof o f the correctness of the above legend, is that the name “ Jerry” is one common with the Irish peasantry o f today and a striking evidence o f the deep impression which the residence o f the ancient, prophet there made upon the barbaric inhabitants of the time. This and other equally interesting stories, based upon similar slender evidence and upon the similarity of words or the resemblance of certain heraldic figures to the ancient Jewish tribal symbols, form the basis of a belief which is gaining ground with remarkable rapidity, and claims for the British and American peoples, notwithstanding their evident union of many races, the line o f descent from Israel’s ten apostate tribes, scattered long ago by Shal maneser’s Assyrian hordes, and for the British sovereign, notwithstanding his German ancestry, the direct inheri tance o f the throne of David at Jerusalem. All this would be most profoundly interesting and cal culated to pull up the head and square the shoulders of every uncircumcised Anglo-Saxon could it be proven true, especially when it is also claimed that this all-pervading race are the happy favorites of Jehovah and regarded by Him as His battle-axe with which to subdue all enemies and possess their gates as conquerors. The plain fact o f the case is that, notwithstanding the volubility of British Israel theorists, not one of their important claims can find substantial and credible support from reliable evidence, and one of their leading advocates, who is a lawyer, per sonally known to the writer, admitted that in so important a matter as the evidence o f the line of descent claimed for the British King from Jewish David, he had accepted the statements of a learned leader of the cult and had never attempted to seek verification, thus illustrating the strange credulity of even those whose general practice is to sub mit all evidence produced to the searching analysis of proof. A F anciful T heory The whole testimony o f both common sense and sacred Scripture completely confutes these extraordinary claims, and those who are not moved by blind prejudice or national pride to accept a fanciful theory will do well to ponder a few facts which its most ardent exponents cannot overcome. First, with regard to the geographical location o f the tribes. A reference to Genesis 17:8 and Genesis 16:18 shows that their territory was to be the land-of Canaan,
stretching eastward to the river Euphrates, and there and only there can Israel enjoy Jehovah’s blessing (refer to Deut. 28:63-67), for Moses warned them that if they fell into apostasy they would be scattered throughout the earth, and there is not a solitary Scripture which promises them prosperity and victory anywhere but in the land given in covenant to Abraham. ■ Secondly, this blessing and favor in the ancient land is strictly conditioned upon circumcision (see Genesis 17: 11-14), and the uncircumcised person is to be cut off from his people. If this is so, how can the millions of uncir cumcised British and Americans claim to be Israelites, enjoying God’s favor and protection, not only out of the territory where blessing might alone be enjoyed but out of the covenant seal of circumcision? Thirdly, a careful study of Jeremiah 2 2 :24-30 shows that the curse o f Jehovah rests eternally upon David’s line because o f their apostasy, and, consequently, even though Britain’s King could prove a direct line o f descent, his claim would be valueless because o f this curse; thus the proudest pretension of British Israel claimants falls utterly, and if they cannot clear this important difficulty away, what is the use of arguing about a hundred less important details, such as whether the British coat-of-arms represents the Lion o f Judah, etc., or whether the tribe o f Dan wandered north and set up a symbol of occupation as “ Dan’s mark,” thus originating the land of Denmark? . D angers of T his T heory All these suggestions would be amusing if it were not for the sad and serious fact that this heresy is uniting believers and unbelievers in a God-dishonoring affiliation and taking the minds and hearts of His children from the expectancy of a rapture out o f the world ripening for judgment, to dwell upon the signs of the arising of a glorious Empire with the English-speaking races as con querors of the world and favorites of Jehovah! The truth is that the only man who has a clear and irrefutable title to David’s throne is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is heir to it by reason of a double line of descent: first, from Mary, directly descended from Nathan, David’s eldest son and therefore natural heir, and also from Solomon, from whom Joseph, His supppsed father, was descended and therefore held the legal title to the throne. The legal title alone could not give Jesus the right to sit upon the throne upon which rested the curse o f Jeconiah’s line, but by His descent from Nathan and virgin birth the disability was - marvelously overcome, and Jesus, risen from the dead and alive for evermore, is the absent King of Israel, soon to return to. claim the fulfilment of the promise made by God to His virgin mother that to Him it should be given to sit upon the throne of His father David (Luke 1 :32, 33). It would be interesting to pursue further the Scrip tural, as well as ethnic, evidences of the existence o f the lost ten tribes, and it is probably true that many represen tatives of these may be found among the British and
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