The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1891-10-06


be. Gen. KILN. 10.
just before the decease OF Israel he
told his twelve sons what should be-
fall them lin the last days" These
sons were the heads OF twelve tribes;
and 1sraep5 predictions had special
reference to the history of those tribes
rather than that OF the twelve SONS.
The language of the text quoted above
Is portion of Israel's address to Ju-
dab. In verse % OF the same chapter
we are told that these are the twelve
tribes OF Israeli hence, by Judah, tho
tribe Of Judah is meant.
THE spectre shall not depart from
Judah" 1t is generally held that
sceptre Is the symbol of kingly author
ity. But the tribe OF Judah did not
have Kingdom OF Its own at any
time. From the days Of Saul and UNI
til the days of Rehoboam it was a part
of the great kidgdom of Israel, which
comprised all the tribes. After the
disruption Of the great kingdom, Judah
and Benjamin, together with Levi.
comprised kingdom called the king.
dom OF Judah" But that kingdom
came to an end in B. Q. COG. Up to
that date Shiloh had not come.
For ''sceptren the Hebrew Scriptures
have "shebet.p Shebet occurs in the
Old Testament Hebrew Isl times. The
word primarily signaiies rod, or staff.
In the common English version of the
Scriptures IL is translated rod" 81
times; II is translated "staif" twice;
.'pen," once; dart" once; and "tribe,d
1856 times. In Jer. X, 10 and Ii. 49, Is
rael is termed the rod OF Gods inheri-
lance.
David declared that Gods rod and
Of "a. AT t..
10 it is written, 'And Dan shall Judge
his people as one of the tribes OF Is
rael." Elsewhere wo find repeatedly
the expressions the twelve tribes"
the tribe of Levi" the tribe of Ben
Jamin, the tribe OF JUDAH etc., and
In all these cases. for rod" tribe"
and tribes" the Hebrew has shebet.
1t Is evident that the shebet or rod
is an emblem of authority which each
OF the twelve tribes possessed. Each
tribe had Its rulers See Ex., XVIII. z5
26 and Deut., /, Is. From the forego-
ing circumstances it is clearly evident
that Israel declared that the tribe of
Judah would retaini its tribal authority
until the coming of Shiloh.
again, lsluel said that "lawgiver"
should mot depart from between" the
feet OF Judah, until Shiloh come.
The idea OF the passage is that Judge
or ruler should not depart. etc. The
passage might be rendered, '"The rod
shall not depart from Judah, nor a ru-
Ter from between his feet. until Shiloh
come"
The Oldest targum on the Pentateuch
is the Targum Onkelos. II interprets
the passage under consideration thus;
There shall not pass away those who
exercise rule over the house of Judah,
nor scribe from his children's children
forever, until that Messiah comes,
whose is the kingdom
Who isShiloh? Not only does the Tar
gum Onkelos declare that Shiloh is the
Messiah, but also host OF Jewish and
Christian writers, both ancient and
modern. declare the same thing. Shi-
lob is Hebrew word. 1t occurs in our
Bible 81 times; and In every instance
but the one in our text, IL refers to
person, and that person Is the Messiah.
The word Shiloh signifies rest, peace.
III the tribal authority and the rule
have departed from Judah, then Shiloh
has come already. If the tribe of
Judah Is still Intact, having Jews for
Its rulers and scribes, then Shiloh has
not come. But what are the facts in
the case? After the return from Baby
lonian captivity, Judah had governors,
scrlhes, temple and priesthood. In
the times OF the Maccabees and until
the destruction OF Jerusalem by Titus
they had the Sanhedrln and minor
councils and high-prlests, chief.priests,
elders and scribes.
In b. G. 81 the power OF the Sanhed-
rim was great enough to summon
Herod the Great, who had been ap.
pointed procurator by Julius Caesar.
and charge him with usurplng their
authority in putting Jews to death. At
the time Jesus was born, Augustus
Caesar was registering all the resi-
dents OF his great empire in order to
tax them for the support Roman
state. This was the lightning OF the
end.of the authority and rule fJudah.
When Jesus WIS twelve years oldAu-
gnstus made Caponius procurator of
Judea. The taxes were then collected
and paid directly to the Roman govern
ment. Forty years before Jerusalem
was destroyed the Romans made it
unlawful for the Sanhedrin to put any
one to DEATH hence when Jesus was
put to death, Roman soldiers cruciiied
him, and Roman soldiers guarded him
While he WIS iii Joseph'S new tomb.
At the time OF the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Romans, vast null
tftude of Jews had assembled at Jeru-
salem To celebrate the great feasts.
More than a million Jews persisted
during tho siege OF Jerusalem. Event
ually the city WAS taken and destroy
ed, and for many centuries Judah has
been without rulers or scribes or TEN
pie service. From the days of Herod
the Great, there was a succession of
twenty-seyen high priests. the last one
officiating but little while before the
Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem.
For more than eighteen hundred
years Judah had neither ruler nor law
glver. The Shiloh, the Messiah. was
to come before the tribe OF Judah lost
Its .sceptren and "lawgiver.' They
are lost, therefore Messiah has come.
None other than Jesus, who was of the
tribe of Judah and of the house of
David, and who was born in Bethle-
hem OF Judea. can be the Shiloh pre-
dieted by Israel.
The seventy years OF the Babyloni- |
an captivity ended, according to the
commonly received chronology in b. |
Z. $50. According to the prophet Dan |
lei decree was to be issued for the |
rebuilding of Jerusalem. The prophet |
Isaiah declared that Cyrus would is
sue the decree. Cyrus did so when no |
took Babylon. Jerusalem had then |
Teen In subsection to the king of Baby |
lon seventy years. Daniel and many |
other Jews had been in captivity that |
length of time.
Daniel was told by the angel that |
from the going forth of the com |
mandment to restore and to build |
again Jerusalem unto the Messiah the |
prince should be seven seyens of years |
and threo-scoie and two sevens OF |
years. The first series of sevens of
yelrS leuan with tho decrpe pf cVrua