August 1924
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
486
The Necessity of theVirgin Birth Dr. I. R. Dean, Toronto, Canada
This timely address was given by Dr. Dean before the Premillennial Association of Southern California,— an orgnaization with which is affiliated over one hundred and fifty evangelical ministers in Southern California. We are glad to pass it on to our readers, furnishing— as it does— an unanswerable argument for the Virgin Birth. TJios Sperma
He must be born of a virgin, then, to fulfill these two great prophecies. But it is equally necessary for Him to be born of a virgin to escape the bar raised by Jeremiah. II. He Must Be Born of a Virgin That He May Be Entitled To the Throne of David: Against Jeconiah (the last King in the royal succession that ever sat on the Throne of David,) Jeremiah pronounced these words: “Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for none of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” (Jer. 2 2 :28 -30 ). This does not mean that Jeconiah would not have chil dren, for we are* distinctly told that he did have children. (1 Chron. 3:17, Matt. 1 :1 2 ). But it means that none of his descendants would ever sit on the throne of David. Now Matthew’s genealogy shows that the title to the throne of David must descend through this very line of Jeconiah and no other. Christ, then, must establish His legal right through this line or He could have no right to that throne. He must be the Uios (son) of David through this male line of succession, but He must not be the Sperma (seed) of Jeconiah. Remember the title to the throne of David always descends through the father not the mother. The genealogy was preserved with the greatest care, although the legal heirs were barred by Jeremiah’s pro phecy. Thus Matthew says, “ After they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begat Salathiel, and Salathiel begat Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel begat Abiud” , etc. This genealogy goes right on to Jacob who begat Joseph. Each one of these princes were legally entitled to the throne because they were the natural descendants of King Jeconiah. They were both the Uios (son) and Sperma (seed) of this despised king. It-must be remembered that each of these words are used of descendants, however remote. Notice the peculiar wording of Matthew 1:16. “ Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” Then follows the explanation how Jesus was begotten of the Holy Ghost before the mar riage of His mother, and how His mother was married by divine direction before His birth. This made Him the Uios (son) of Joseph, without being the Sperma (seed) of Joseph, and therefore the seed of Jeconiah. Joseph was the only living heir to the throne of David when Christ was born. There are never two proper heirs to the throne at the same time. Luke says of Joseph “He was of the house and lineage of David.” (Luke 2 :4 ). This means that Joseph was heir to the throne, notwithstanding he was barred from reigning by Jeremiah’s prophecy. It was only by Christ being born of a virgin that He would get over the bar set up by Jeremiah. If He were the natural seed of Joseph, He could not be the seed of a woman, (Gen. 3 :1 5 ). If He were the natural seed of Joseph, He would not have been born of a virgin, according to the promise of Isaiah 7:14. If He were the seed of Joseph, He would then also be the seed of Jeconiah
HE Virgin Birth of Christ was a necessity, for three reasons, first, to fulfill prophecy; second, to give Him a title to the throne of David; and third, that He might be a Saviour. I. To Fulfill Prophecy. Look at the two Greek words above. The word at the left is pronounced “whyos” and is translated “ son.” The word at the right is translated “ seed.” The whole story of Christ’s meeting all the demands of prophecy and escaping all the bars of prophecy and thus securing an unmistakable title to the throne of David, is told in the discriminating use of these two words. It would be absolutely impossible for Him to claim a title to that throne if he had not been born of a virgin. Now Uios (son) may express natural, blood relationship, and is often used in this sense. But it may express merely legal relationship, when there is no kinship by blood at all. This usage is common in all lan guages. Saul called David “ my son” because David was married to Saul’s daughter. (1 Sam. 24 :16 ). One may be a legal son, or son-in-law, without being a real son by blood. On the other hand Sperma (seed) always expresses blood relationship, and never merely legal relationship. Many homes in this land have sons that are in no wise related by blood to their foster parents. This word Sperma (seed), as used in the Bible of human beings, with one remarkable exception, always refers to the father and not to the mother. The only exception is that of a prophecy about Christ. He has the unique distinction of being the only person born in the human race who was “ the seed of a woman.” It is evident that if Christ was the seed of David and at the same time born of a virgin, he must have gotten this relationship through his mother, since he had no human father. This difficulty is met in the very first promise about the Messiah. “The Lord God said unto the Serpent, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall brnise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”— Gen. 3:15. This prophecy has always been interpreted to refer to Christ, who would in the end overcome Satan and set up His Kingdom on this earth. If it were not for this prophecy it would be impossible for us to claim that Christ was the seed of David, and at the same time born of a virgin, without a human father. But according to this promise, there was to be one unique person that was to be the seed of a woman. This he could not be if he was the natural seed of Joseph. He would then be the seed of a man. Christ was the only person ever born that could fulfill this prophecy. The virgin Mary was a direct descendant by blood from David; therefore to be the seed of this woman was to be the seed of David. This harmonizes with the great prophecy of Isaiah. “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shalt call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7 :14. This prophecy, according to Matthew, was fulfilled at the birth of Jesus Christ. (Matt. 1 :2 2 ). Be is Immanuel, which means God with us. So both His Deity and humanity are declared in this prophecy.
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