Jacob's Pillar Stone.

Jacob's dream.
Jacob's pillow stone, and his dream of the angels
ascending and descending the ladder to Heaven.

Jacob's Pillar Stone or Stone of Scone.
What does this stone represent, and does it still exist today?

The Scriptures are full of references to stones, both literal and symbolic. One such stone, is identified as the stone upon which the patriarch Jacob rested his head when he dreamed of the heavenly ladder. This stone has not received the attention it deserves from Bible scholars, because they generally assume it was left where Jacob found it.

However, this is not the case. The stone that Jacob later anointed with oil and declared to be the ETERNAL's House (Beth-El) did not remain lost in the wilderness of Luz; it continued to play an important part in the destiny of Jacob's descendants. In the past, such suggestions have been dismissed as fascinating legend and tradition, but there are pertinent historical writings and visible evidence worthy of consideration. Is Jacob's stone the House of the ETERNAL? Does it exist today? Does it bear witness to the ETERNAL's amazing plan for our planet? The questions are puzzling. The answers are startling and throw light on the Bible. The purpose of these pages are to present the cumulative evidence which reveals the fate of the Bible's most famous stone.

Overview of Jacob's Pillar Stone.

Stone of Scone.

Is Jacob's stone the House of the ETERNAL? Does it exist today? Does it bear witness to the ETERNAL's amazing plan for our planet? The questions are puzzling. The answers are startling and throw light on the Bible. The purpose of this booklet [1] is to present the cumulative evidence which reveals the fate of the Bible's most famous stone.

The Stone of Bethel.

(Genesis 28:10-22)[2] (KJV) ¹⁰And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. ¹¹And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹²And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of the ETERNAL ascending and descending on it. ¹³And, behold, the ETERNAL stood above it, and said, I am the ETERNAL CREATOR of Abraham thy father, and the CREATOR of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; ¹⁴And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. ¹⁶And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the ETERNAL is in this place; and I knew it not. ¹⁷And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of the ETERNAL, and this is the gate of heaven. ¹⁸And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. ¹⁹And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. ²⁰And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If the ETERNAL will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, ²¹So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the ETERNAL be my SOVEREIGN: ²²And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be the ETERNAL's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

The Scripture deals chiefly with that which took place between Jacob and the ETERNAL, as Jacob was making a journey from Beersheba to Padan-aram. Mention of a certain sunset and stones (plural) for pillows seem incidental, but suddenly one of those stones is brought into great distinction. The facts which brought that special stone into such prominence may be quickly read, for the Bible account of them is very short and their true symbolic importance is generally overlooked.

The veneration of sacred pillars was common in ancient Israel but no where in Scripture has an inanimate object been given such a glorious eminence, or divinely-declared purpose, as that which was bestowed on that pillow-stone upon which Jacob rested his head on that certain night. Jacob was so spiritually impressed that, to memorialize the occasion and the place, he blessed the stone on which his head had rested, sanctified it by anointing it with oil and gave it the name Bethel (the ETERNAL's House). Although Jacob gave the name Bethel to the place, or locality, where the Stone was set up, he emphatically declared:

(Genesis 28:22) (KJV) And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be the ETERNAL's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.

Twenty-two years passed, and Jacob was directed by the ETERNAL to return to Bethel. In the interim, Jacob had been blessed not only with great riches but by a knowledge that at that place (Bethel) was the ETERNAL. On his return, Jacob had a vision, and the ETERNAL again spoke to him, saying:

(Genesis 31:13) (KJV) I am the the Mighty One of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

Thus, the ETERNAL associated Himself not only with the place of the vision but with the Bethel Stone, implying that He Himself inspired both the choice of this stone and its name.

After returning to Bethel, Jacob erected an altar of stones. And again the ETERNAL appeared unto Jacob and blessed him saying:

(Genesis 35:10-12) (KJV) ¹⁰And the ETERNAL said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel (Strong's H3478 meaning: he will rule as the SOVEREIGN) shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. ¹¹And the ETERNAL said unto him, I am the Almighty CREATOR: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; ¹²And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.

While the Bible account does not state explicitly that Jacob took the Bethel Stone with him when he journeyed from Bethel, it is hard to imagine that he would have simply left a monument with such remarkable associations to lie in the fields and be lost. Rather, it is most likely that this special Stone would be kept and venerated down through the ages.

There is Biblical evidence to show that the Bethel Stone was the inheritance of Joseph, committed to the care of the House of Joseph. Jacob blessed each of his twelve sons before he died in Egypt. But, while he was making the prophecy concerning Joseph and his house (to whom he had just given the birthright) he stopped in the midst of his prophetic utterances and used the following parenthetical expression:

(Genesis 49:24) (KJV) But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

Thence, in this instance, is an adverb used as a noun, and is equivalent in value to that place, or the place to which it refers. The phrase, from thence, means out of there, out from thither, (or) out of that place. The place from whence (present form of the old word thence) the Stone came (Bethel) was part of the inheritance which fell to the House of Joseph when the land of Canaan was divided among the children of Jacob. This suggests that not only Bethel (the city or place) but also Bethel, the pillar-rock was given to the birthright family.

Approximately 215 years later, at the time of the Exodus, Jacob's descendants (or a large part of them) left Egypt under the leadership of Moses with all their possessions and much spoil besides. Jacob's anointed Stone must have gone out of Egypt with them, thereafter, accompanying them through their long forty-year trek through the wilderness.

The history and movements of Israel's wanderings in the desert-wilderness is a fascinating story. The ETERNAL continually provided food for the Israelites during these forty years and twice it is recorded the ETERNAL supernaturally provided them with water. The first incident mentioned was when the Israelites were encamped at Rephidem, where there was no water for the people to drink. Without previously selecting one special rock, the ETERNAL said unto Moses:

(Exodus 17:6) (KJV) Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.

The phrase, there in Horeb, points out the place where the rock was at the time. If the ETERNAL, when He spoke of the rock, had used the demonstrative form, and said, that rock, then we should know that He was designating which one, or a certain one not yet selected, but the fact that He said the rock, indicated to us that He was speaking of a rock with which they were already familiar. It was undoubtedly the Bethel pillar rock, the shepherd, the Stone of Israel, which had been committed to the keeping of the house of Joseph.

The second instance was when the people were without water at Kadish, a city in the border of Edom, the area belonging to the descendants of Esau. At that place, the people of Israel were very bitter against Moses and Aaron and said unto them:

(Numbers 20:4-5) (KJV) ⁴And why have ye brought up the congregation of the ETERNAL into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? ⁵And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.

Again, the ETERNAL appeared unto Moses, saying:

(Numbers 20:8) (KJV) Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock: before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

In both instances where the ETERNAL provided water from the rock, there is not the slightest indication that there was any selection, or indication of preference for any certain rock in the vicinity of Kadish, or that one was not already chosen, and in their midst. It is clear, also, that at the very first mention of water for the people from this rock, all that was necessary (as a preparatory measure) was for the ETERNAL to say to Moses, speak to the rock. Also, when the people were commanded to gather before the rock, they clearly understood which rock it was, so that in all the great company, no explanations were necessary. Therefore, it must have been among them before this event, and well known to them.

Artists have depicted Moses standing by a great cliff from which water was pouring, showing the people drinking from the stream. However, this conception of the artist does not picture the actual scene, as described in the Bible. The same name, the rock was used at Rephidim and at Kadesh, thus showing the same rock was smitten at each location, although they are geographically many miles apart. Certainly the Israelites did not transport a cliff with them, but they did carry the Stone.

Jacob's Stone, or rock, was a type of [the Messiah David]. For proof, let us go back to the place called Bethel. There we find that Jacob, after setting up the rock for a pillar, also anointed it with oil, which in sacred symbols is typical[ly done of kings, priests, and some prophets]. According to sacred history, this Bethel Stone is the only single stone that has ever been anointed; making it pre-eminently the Anointed One. When [King David], the great prototype, came, and was anointed [and received] the Holy Spirit (1 Samuel 16:12-13), He was pre-eminent among men, the Anointed One.

Also, concerning this rock, which accompanied Israel, the ETERNAL could say to Moses, Speak to the rock. But, on the other hand, Israel also could say, concerning that Divine presence which went with them, Let us sing unto the rock of our salvation.

[With another naming] Jacob also called the Stone, The Shepherd of Israel. And there is also a Divine One unto whom Israel prayed, saying, Give ear, 0 Shepherd of Israel. Since, with the ETERNAL, names are always characteristic, we would expect this Stone of Israel to be with Israel in all their wanderings. Hence, this Shepherd, though it be only a stone, as any other shepherd would do, must go with His flock.

In view of the ETERNAL's miraculous intervention at their deliverance from Egypt, it should not be difficult to believe that the Children of Israel were supplied with water from that literal Rock, which went with them. It was their Shepherd-rock. Otherwise, how could, Moses, in asking permission for the Israelites to pass through the land of Edom, give assurances to the king of Edom:

(Numbers 20:17) (KJV) Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's highway, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.

The land they must have traverse was several hundred miles in length and would have taken a considerable length of time. However, Israel could afford to make this proposition, for both their Shepherd-rocks were with them (the literal and the spiritual). They knew that He, who had hitherto furnished them with food and water, would continue to supply them until the end of the journey. Otherwise, Moses would never have made such a promise.

True, there was a conditional promise made, in which there was a promise to pay for any of the water of Edom which Israel might use. This was made chiefly on account of the cattle which they might not always be able to control when passing by the cool and tempting water pools. During the heat of the day, this might prove to be a difficult task for the drivers; hence, the proviso.

The Stone Of Israel.

After forty years of wanderings in the wilderness, the children of Israel entered unto the land of Canaan to establish the United Kingdom of Israel which had been founded at Sinai. A special stone or pillar plays an important part in the building of the House of the ETERNAL, known as Solomon's Temple. Masonic tradition speaks of a stone called Jacob's Pillar (Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, 1921 Vol. II pg. 37 - Waite) which was rejected by the builders. Not only was this stone in the rough but it contained a crack which, possibly, could have split the stone in two pieces at any moment. It is further prophetically intimated that early in the building of the Temple the attention of the architects had been incidentally invited to this very stone, for use in the Temple. After inspecting the stone, the builders forthwith condemned it as unfit for any such purpose. [3]

The reason the stone was not used in the Temple is because (as Mr. Capt pointed out) it is associated with the Mashiach [the anointed one], as well as the ETERNAL:

(Psalms 118:19-29) (KJV) ¹⁹Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the ETERNAL: ²⁰This gate of the ETERNAL, into which the righteous shall enter. ²¹I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. ²²The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. ²³This is the ETERNAL's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. ²⁴This is the day which the ETERNAL hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. ²⁵Save now, I beseech thee, O ETERNAL: O ETERNAL, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. ²⁶Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the ETERNAL: we have blessed you out of the house of the ETERNAL. ²⁷The ETERNAL is the SOVEREIGN, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. ²⁸Thou art my CREATOR, and I will praise thee: thou art my SOVEREIGN, I will exalt thee. ²⁹O give thanks unto the ETERNAL; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

King David, as the Messiah, is the one coming in the name of the ETERNAL vs. 26. The Stone is symbolic of him, when he becomes the Messiah at the resurrection and becomes the chief cornerstone vs. 22. How wonderful it will be when King David, as the Messiah builds the third Temple. This action will be marvelous in our eyes and is the ETERNAL's doing vs. 23-24.

King David finally acted responsibly toward Israel as their faithful Shepherd:

(2 Samuel 24:17) (NKJV) Then David spoke to the ETERNAL when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father's house.

Thus, neglected and despised by the builders, it had remained in the Tabernacle. By the close of the seven and a half years of Temple construction the stone had become practically forgotten. It seems always to have been used in Tabernacle worship for some religious purposes, but now that grander provisions had been made at Jerusalem for the ritual ceremony, it was clearly in danger of being set aside. Man had rejected the relic but the ETERNAL had provided otherwise. Just at the moment when the Tabernacle was to be taken down and packed up for the march to the Temple, silence reigning throughout the multitude, this stone appears to have given unmistakable evidence of its own peculiar and inestimable worth.

How the stone so suddenly, became of specific import, as to strike all concerned with astonishment and admiration, we do not know. We can only conjecture. Moses had been directed to speak to this very same stone (Numbers 20:7-13) and sinned by smiting it as he had at Horeb. This latter time he acted both in wrath and perhaps in pride, saying 'must we fetch you water out of this rock', when in reality, the ETERNAL alone could cause the water to flow. So, if the stone could hear, why not speak upon some particular occasion?

At any rate, to continue Masonic tradition, some remarkable incident occurred then and there at the Tabernacle. Whatever it was, it took place just before the sacred regalia started in procession to their place in the finished Temple of Solomon. The sentence was reversed, the stone could not be left behind to oblivion. Its indisputable identity and undoubted worth was made manifest to all. History is strangely silent and only scantily suggestive of these events and we may only imagine the circumstances of this occurrence and supply the shouts of those who witnessed them: Lo, this is the Pillow of Jacob, The Dream Miracle Stone! It is the Stone of Israel, and Joseph is its guardian. Let it be borne in honor to the Temple of the Mighty One!

In the coronation of the kings of Israel we find, again, a special stone or pillar playing an important role. When Joash was brought forth and proclaimed the heir of David's Throne and was anointed King, the account states:

(2 Kings 11:13-14) (KJV) ¹³And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the ETERNAL. ¹⁴And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.

In the Revised Standard Version it is rendered, standing by THE PILLAR, as was their custom, the article the denoted a particular pillar, by, or upon, which it was the custom of Israel to crown their kings.

The Dr. Adam Clark translation reads, stood on a pillar, which he explains is The place or throne on which they were accustomed to put their kings when they proclaimed them. There is, in the Second Chronicles 23:13, a recapitulation of the circumstances concerning Joash, which gives the following:

(2 Chronicles 23:13) (KJV) And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.

Again indicating that it was a particular pillar belonging to those who were anointed King

The Companion Bible, in this instance, gives an alternate rendering as UPON THE PILLAR. It is reasonable to assume that Joash stood UPON the stone which Jacob had set up, as a pillar, when he made his covenant with the ETERNAL. Israel was familiar with the history of the Bethel Stone and knew it was the House of the ETERNAL to Jacob and that it had become the Guardian Stone of Israel. Thus, the King could have chosen no more fitting place for making his covenant to restore the law and its administration to Israel. It was a sacred stone and it had witnessed all of the many solemn compacts between the ETERNAL and His people.

The stone which was refused by the builders of Solomon's Temple did become the head of the corner as the pillar or Coronation Stone on which the kings of the House of David were crowned. [4]

The first attitude of the builders toward this stone was prophetic of the attitude and rejection of King David as the Messiah by a majority of the people of the Nation of the Jews. The nation, at that time, was composed of a remnant of the House of Judah plus other races. That was true then and is still true today. Judaism expects the Messiah to be a mortal human being that does great works. They reject the scriptures that prove without a doubt the Messiah will be the resurrected King David.

What happened to this Coronation Stone when the captivity of Israel took place starting 745 B.C.? The Bible purposely makes little mention of the Stone as such and then only in a secondary way, perhaps to guard against the tendency to make an idol of it. Also, it seems the ETERNAL intended for the identity of the Stone and the people connected with it to be hidden from the world for a time. However, it is logical to assume that the custody of the Stone would remain in the hands of some part of the people of Israel.

Between 745-721 B.C. we know the northern Ten-Tribed Kingdom of Israel (known as the House of Israel), together with a larger portion of the southern Kingdom of Judah (known as the House of Judah) were taken into Assyrian captivity (2 Kings 17:3-6). Archaeological tablets found in the excavations of the Assyrian Royal Library at Nineveh have indicated that a majority of the Israelites escaped. Some traveled around the southern end of the Black Sea into the Danube River Valley and the Carpathian Mountains; others went by way of the Dariel Pass through the Caucasus Mountains, into the Steppes of Southern Russia.

Confirmation of the escape of Israelites from Assyrian captivity is found in the writings of the Prophet Ezra (Esdras). After the ten tribes (House of Israel) refused the request of King Xerxes to return to Jerusalem to join the remnant of Judah from Babylon, Ezra (Esdras) wrote concerning their movements:

And whereas thou sawest that he gathered another peaceable multitude unto him; Those are the ten tribes, which were carried away prisoners 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 unto another land. But they took this counsel among themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into further country, where never mankind dwelt, That they might there keep their statutes, which they never kept in their own land. And they entered in to Euphrates by the narrow passages of the river. For the most High then shewed signs to 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 (2 Esdras 13:39-45), (NOTE).

This is in harmony with the following:

(Micah 2:12-13) (KJV) ¹²I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. ¹³The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the ETERNAL on the head of them.

The clause, They, have passed through the gate, and the one by Ezra, They have entered into the narrow passages, are parallel and refer to the same circumstance and place. This gate, or narrow passage, which is up among the headwaters of the Euphrates, is known today, as the Caucasian Pass, or the Pass of Dariel. Ancient writings sometimes refer to it as the Pass of Israel. It is at this time that Hosea wrote: The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a sacrifice, and WITHOUT AN IMAGE, or as the marginal reading gives it, WITHOUT A STANDING PILLAR. Young's Exhaustive Concordance, gives, among other definitions of the original Hebrew word, both Memorial stone and pillar. Other authorities give us pillar-rock and pillar-stone as the correct rendering. All this justifies our conclusion, that the pillar in question is the Bethel Pillar Stone which was used as a Coronation Stone and retained by the royal family which ruled over the remnant of Judah until the overthrow of Zedekiah.

When Jerusalem was taken by the King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the Temple destroyed, there was every probability that the Throne of David would become vacant. Zedekiah, the King of Judah had fled by night but was overtaken in the plains of Jericho where he and his sons were taken captive. Nebuchadnezzar killed all the King's sons. Then, after putting out the eyes of Zedekiah, took him in chains to Babylon where he later died in prison (Jeremiah 39:4-7). The king's DAUGHTERS were spared and there are several later references to them (Jeremiah 41:10-17 and Jeremiah 43:6).

Zedekiah's reign had lasted only about eleven years and he is considered by most Bible scholars to have been the last king of the Judo-David line to reign over any part of the Israel people. Yet the ETERNAL has said that He would build up David's Throne unto all generations:

(1 Kings 9:5) (KJV) Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

Prior to that the ETERNAL declared:

(Genesis 49:10) (KJV) The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [Shiloh] shall the gathering of the people be.

Though that Throne ceased in Palestine when Zedekiah died, as a captive in Babylon, there must of necessity be a continuation of that throne. There must be a ruler of the House of David reigning over at least a portion of the House of Israel, forever. Since Zedekiah's sons were killed there were no male heirs to the throne of Judah. However, under Hebrew law (Numbers 27:8-11) a daughter would inherit as though she were a son and the right of descent would pass to her male seed, providing she married within her own house (Num. 36). This fact was evidently unknown to Nebuchadnezzar who thought that in slaying all the male heirs to the Throne of David it had been destroyed forever. The King's daughters, in the company of Jeremiah, did escape with a remnant of Judah to the land of Egypt. Jeremiah, with the daughters, found sanctuary with the Milesian (Greek mercenaries) garrison, which according to secular records, was stationed in Tahpanhes, Egypt (Jeremiah 43:5-7).[5]

The book Jacob's Pillar then traces the stone and the King's daughters to Ireland. If interested in the details I urge to buy and read the book (see foot note for address of publisher). However, for our purposes we will now skip forward in history and take up the story again.

The modern part of the story from Westminster back to Ireland, rests on a succession of well authenticated Irish, Scottish and English historical documents which may be regarded as practically undisputed. Writers on the subject, quoting from such works as The Chronicles of En, The Annals of the Four Masters, The Annals of Clonmacnoise, etc., locate the Stone originally at Tara, County of Meath, Ireland. Naturally, such early records as these are uncertain as to dates, but from the MS Cambrensis Eversus (by Dr. Lynch), published in Latin in 1662 and translated in 1848, the year circa 584 B.C. may be taken as the Tara starting date.

Scota was one of the earliest names of Ireland - so named, it was said, from Scota, the daughter of the Pharaoh one of the ancient female ancestors of the Milesians. These people were commonly called Scotti or Scots, both terms being frequently used by early Latin historians and poets.

The Chronicles of Scotland by Hector Boece (translated into Scottish by John Bellenden, 1531), tell us the story of Gathelus, recording that he left Egypt with his wife (Scota), his friends and a company of Greeks and Egyptians rather that to abyde ye manifest vengeance of 'goddis' (reference to the ETERNAL's judgment on the remnant that had fled to Egypt to escape Nebuchadnezzar) and, traveling by sea (Mediterranean), after, lang tyme he landit in ane part of Spayne callit Lusitan (later called Portingall). After peace having been secured, Gathelus sittand in his chayr of merbel within his citie.

This chair of marble had such fortune and omen that wherever it was found in any land the same land shall become the native land of the Scots: The Scots shall brook that realm as native ground if words fail not, where'er this chair is found.

It should be noted that The Students English Dictionary defines marble as any species of calcareous stone susceptible of a good polish. It is reasonable to assume the marble chair referred to was the Coronation Stone or the Bethel Stone, still in the hands of the sons (descendants) of Jacob when in the care of Gathelus and his Queen Scota.

Many of the ancient Irish records, when making reference to an eastern king's daughter, also mention an old man; a patriarch, a saint, a prophet, called Ollam Fodhla and his scribe-companion called Simon Brug, Brach, Breack, Barech, Berach, as it is variously spelled. Reportedly, they carried with them many ancient relics. Among these were a harp, an ark or chest, and a stone called, in Gaelic, Lia-Fail (pronounced Leeah-Fail), meaning Stone of Fate or Hoary of Destiny.

Tradition asserts that Ollam Fodhla was none other than Jeremiah, the prophet; that the king's daughter was the heir of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. Simon Brug (Baruch) was Jeremiah's scribe who figures prominently in Biblical history, and the harp was the one belonging to King David. The ark or chest was the Ark of the Convenant. Finally, that the stone, Lia Fail was the stone that Jacob anointed with oil at Bethel.

There are many other variations of the story of the Stone being brought from Egypt to Ireland, which when added together present us with a rather confused story. This is understandable when it is realized that the Irish records are compilations at a late date of very early tribal histories. Each of these, written in a tongue difficult to translate, gives its own aspect of the one great story. However, they all agree in the following: The Stone, known as the Stone of Destiny, came from Spain, and before that, from Egypt, It came in the company of an aged guardian, who was called Ollam Folla (Hebrew words that mean revealer, or prophet). Eochaidh (Eremhon) with his Queen Tea Tephi was crowned King of Ireland upon the Stone which remained at the Palace of Team-hair Breagh. It was the Coronation Stone of every Ard-Righ (High King) of Eireann for a period of about 1040 years.

There is manifestly a mystery surrounding the burial of Tea Tephi. The great Mergech, the name given the tomb of Tephi was once thought to be Celtic, but is now known to be Hebrew and significant. It designates a place of deposit for treasures, secrets, mysteries, etc. Considering the treasures: Ark of the Covenant, Title Deeds to Palestine and various other relics or Hebrew marks of identity that Jeremiah could have had in his custody, the explicitness with which this tomb of Tephi is described is noticeable. (Jeremiah 32:13-44) records evidences which the ETERNAL directs Jeremiah and Baruch to bury.

The actual burial site of Tea Tephi is unknown today. However, the author has seen a stone at Tara with significant markings which suggests that it marks the grave-vault of Ireland's first Queen of the Davidic line. Perhaps, in due time, the grave will be opened and the royal harp along with other relics will provide the evidence to convince all that the ETERNAL kept His Covenant with David. (2 Samuel 7:13).

Tradition has it that the Harp of David was brought to Ireland by Jeremiah and is buried with Tea Tephi at Tara. It is a significant fact that the royal arms of Ireland is a representation of the Harp of David, and has been such for 2500 years. This first mention of the Harp is found in the Dinn Leanches, by Mac Awalgain (B.C. 574).[6]

Modern records trace the Stone to Scotland and then to England where the Coronation Chair was built around it. All the Kings of Ireland, Scotland, and England have been crowned while sitting or standing upon it.

Footnotes:

[1] Jacob's Pillar A Biblical Historical Study by E. Raymond Capt, Artisan Sales/Hoffman Printing, P.O. Box 1529, Muskogee, OK 74402, summary of pages 1-32.

[2] [a] All scriptural links point to the Bible Gateway, A Searchable Online Bible In Over 100 Versions And 50 Languages, located at "BibleGateway.Com", a vast biblical resource containing all the major texts and reference materials useful for in-depth bible studies. Most scriptual quotations are from the (KJV) of the Bible, however versions noted in (parentheses) should also be consulted. [b]All Strong's scriptural references point to the Blue Letter Bible Lexicon, located at "BlueLetterBible.Org", another vast biblical resource which has over 4,000,000 links available, pointing to more than 165,000 pages of concordances, lexicons, dictionaries, commentaries, images, and several Bible versions.

[3] ibid. p 11.

[4] ibid. p 13.

[5] ibid. p 16.

[6] ibid. p 32.

endsection.

A replica of the Stone of Scone at Scone Palace.

More on Jacob's Pillar Stone.

The Coronation Stone that reposes in St. Edward's Chapel in Britain's sacred Abbey of Westminster [it has now been given back to Scotland] has stirred men's imaginations for centuries. In light of Bible history no other inanimate object on earth has been given such honored use and glorious purpose as that given to this block of sandstone known as the Stone of Destiny. What is its origin? What enshrines it with an importance far beyond its intrinsic value?

In his essay on Certain Monuments of Antiquity, Weaver says (p. 118):

It appears that the Irish kings, from very ancient times until A.D. 513, were crowned upon a particular sacred stone called 'Liath Fail', 'the Stone of Destiny', that, so also, were the Scottish kings until the year 1296, when Edward I of England brought it here. And it is a curious fact that this stone has not only remained in England unto now, and is existing still under the coronation chair of our British sovereigns in Westminster Abbey, but that all our kings, from James I, have been crowned in that chair. This being a fact so curious, we shall quote its particulars in a note taken from Toland, in his History of the Druids (pp. 137-9).

Toland's statement is this:

The Fatal Stone (Liag Fail) so called, was the stone on which the supreme kings of Ireland used to be inaugurated, in time of heathenism on the hill of Tarah; it was superstitiously sent to confirm the Irish colony in the north of Great Britain, where it was continued as the coronation seat of the Scottish kings ever since Christianity; till in the year 1300 (1296 A.D.). Edward I, of England brought it from Scone, placing it under the coronation chair at Westminster, and there it still continues. I had almost forgot to tell you that it is now called by the vulgar, Jacob's stone, as if this had been Jacob's pillow at Bethel!.

Dean Stanley, one-time custodian of the Stone, in his book Memorials of Westminster Abbey, sums up its historical importance in these words; 'It is the one primeval monument which binds together the whole Empire. The iron rings, the battered surface, the crack which has all but rent its solid mass asunder, bear witness of the English monarchy, an element of poetic, patriarchal, heathen times, which, like Araunah's rocky threshing floor in the midst of the Temple of Solomon, carries back our thoughts to races and customs now almost extinct; a link which unites the Throne of England to the traditions of Tara and Iona' (2nd Edit. pg. 66).

In appearance the rugged surface of the Stone of Destiny is of a steely dull-purplish color, varying somewhat, and with some reddish veins. It is composed of calcareous sandstone and imbedded in it are a few pebbles; one of quartz and two others of a dark material (porhyrite or andesite?). Its shape is roughly pillow-like being about 26 in length; 16 in. width, and 10 1/2 in depth. Across its surface runs a crack and some chisel-marks are still visible on one or two sides. It appears to have been in the process of being prepared for building purposes, but was discarded before being finished. There are two large iron rings (of some rust resistant alloy), one at each end of the Stone which hang loosely from eyes, made of similar metal let into the Stone.[1]

A description of the chisel-marks is, The Stone has only one inscription, best described as a Latin cross, which gives no clue to the Stones heritage.[2]

The rings in the ends of the Stone would indicate that porter poles were once used to transport the Stone. At first, it would appear as if two poles were used, one of them passed through the ring at each end, so that four persons would be required to carry it. However, when turned up, these rings protrude above the top of the stone, enabling one pole to be passed through both rings across the top of the Stone, theoretically allowing it to be carried by only two persons.

In preparation for King George V's coronation, the Stone was temporarily removed from the Coronation Chair, and a photograph was taken of it. This photograph disclosed that a groove runs right across the stone from ring to ring. From its appearance this groove was not cut, but was clearly the result of friction from a single pole being passed across from ring to ring. Such an indentation and wearing away of material indicates the enormous amount of carrying that the Stone was subjected to. If, as it appears, a single pole was used, because of the weight of the Stone (about 336 pounds) it is probable that more than two persons actually carried the Stone. Yoke-like cross beams could have been attached to both ends of the pole for the convenience of two or more persons at each end of the pole.

British, Scotch and Irish records of the Stone of Destiny locate it at Tara, Ireland (some five centuries before Christ), from where it was transported to Scotland in circa A.D. 498 by Fergus the Great. From there it was taken to Iona circa A.D. 563; then to Dunstaffnage from where it was removed to Scone, near Perth, Scotland. Finally it was moved, by Edward I, to Westminster Abbey, London in A.D. 1296. Thus, from Tara to Westminster, covering over 1800 years of history, it was never carried to any appreciable extent. The mere removal from these places could not account for the wearing away of the Stone that was evidently caused by the friction of a pole used in constant carrying. This must have been the result of many months of continuous carrying, prior to its arrival in Tara. The story of its journeying from Bethel, in the time of Jacob, and its accompanying the children of Israel in the Wilderness, would account for its present condition.

One of the most significant facts about the Coronation Stone is that no similar rock formation exists in the British Isles. Professor Totten, the eminent professor of Science at Yale University, after making a thorough examination of the Stone made the following statement: The analysis of the stone shows that there are absolutely no quarries in Scone or Iona where-from a block so constituted could possibly have come, nor yet from Tara. Professor Odlum, a geologist (and Professor of Theology at an Ontario University), also made microscopic examinations of the Coronation Stone, comparing it to similar stone from Scotland (including Iona and the quarries of Ireland) and found them dissimilar.

Professor Odlum became tremendously interested in the Stone. He was intrigued with the idea that perhaps its source could be found in Palestine, as suggested by the ancient records of Ireland. Determined to make the search, and after several weeks of unsuccessful exploration, Odlum discovered a stratum of sandstone near the Red Sea at Bethel, geologically the same as the Coronation Stone. Relating the circumstances of the discovery to a friend upon his return to Britain, the Professor stated:

I put on my old mackintosh, I stuck my geologist's hammer in my pocket, and I went out for one last look. It was pouring rain. I walked along the same places I had walked over and over again, looking for stone. Suddenly, while I was walking along a certain pathway, with a rocky cliff on either side, the sun shone on the rain-streaked piece of rock, and I noticed a peculiar sort of glitter that I thought I recognized. I climbed up, and I found that wet rock, as far as I could see with the magnifying glass I had, was of the identical texture I had been looking for. I chipped off a piece from the living rock. I took it back to the hotel and examined it as well as I could. I was sure I had got what I wanted.

Although a microscopic test of the sample Bethel stone matched perfectly with the same test made of the Coronation Stone, the Professor wanted to make chemical tests of both stones. to dispel all doubts as to the source of Britain's treasured relic. To save time, Odium cabled a geologist friend in England and said:

Will you do all you possibly can to get a piece of the Coronation Stone no bigger than a pea, in order that we may submit it to a chemical test. The geologist friend made application to the Dean of Westminster Abbey to be allowed to take a piece, no bigger than a pea, from the Coronation Stone. The Dean said: I daren't let you have permission. The only way you can get permission would be from the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Application was made to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and this was the reply of the Archbishop: To take a piece from that stone no bigger than a pea would require a special Act of Parliament to be passed by the House of Commons, endorsed by the House of Lords and signed by the King; and if you get that, said the Archbishop, I won't give you permission.[3]

Footnotes:

[1] Jacob's Pillar A Biblical Historical Study by E. Raymond Capt, Artisan Sales/Hoffman Printing, P.O. Box 1529, Muskogee, OK 74402, summary of pages 57-58.

[2] From the Web page at (http://www.highlanderweb.co.uk/wallace/destiny.htm ). It has been stated that if our CREATOR allowed the stone to be defaced it must not be the stone that was the House of the ETERNAL anointed at Bethel. But consider that the ETERNAL allowed the Temple that Solomon built to be completely destroyed, even though His Shakan Glory had been there.

[3] ibid. Jacob's Pillar A Biblical Historical Study

endsection.

The Modern History Of The Stone Of Scone.
LIA-PHAIL, The Stone Of Destiny.

(Genesis 28:13-15 (KJV) ¹³And, behold, the ETERNAL stood above it, and said, I am the mighty one of Abraham thy father, and the Mighty One of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; ¹⁴And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

Genesis 28:18) And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

Jacob's Dream.

With respect to the Stone of Destiny[1], it is in the Legend itself, attached to it, that we have the highest evidence of a priestly presence in the inaugurator of the Stone; and, herein, of the official and providential inauguration of the Seed of David on the Throne of Israel, to wield the Sceptre under the Standard of Judah, according to the intimation in the last words of the tenth verse of the first chapter of the book of Jeremiah; - for he had to build and to plant, a kingdom.

The Stone came from the East;- Wherever it be, a Sceptre is to be with it;- And it is to return to the East, whence it came.

But what is this Stone, to which this important Legend is attached?

It is that Eastern, Hebraish, MATERIAL FACT, already spoken of, and which is the first, there enumerated, of the Signs of Judah in England.

Where is it?

This Stone is in the Coronation Throne - Seat of the Kings of England. [JML: Now returned to Scotland]. It is called by some, THE STONE or, DESTINY; in Irish, LIA-FAIL; and by the English, JACOB'S PILLOW.

Why is it where it is?

In his Essay on Certain Monuments of Antiquity, Mr. Weaver says, p. 118, It appears that the Irish kings, from very ancient times until A.D. 513, were crowned upon a particular sacred stone, called 'Liath Fail', 'the Stone of Destiny;' that so, also, were the Scottish kings until the year 1296; when Edward I. of England brought it here: and it is a curious fact, that this stone has not only remained in England until now, and is existing still under the Coronation-Chair of our British Sovereigns in Westminster Abbey, but that all our Kings, from James I., have been crowned in that Chair.

This being a fact so curious, we shall quote its particulars in a note, as taken from Toland, in his History of the Druids (pp. 137-9), and from Mr. Edward O'Reilly, author of the Irish Dictionary, in his letter to Sir William Betham, and inserted in his Irish Antiquarian Researches.

Toland's statement is this: 'The Fatal Stone (Liag fail), so called, was the stone on which the supreme kings of Ireland used to be inaugurated, in times of heathenism, on the hill of Tarah; it was superstitiously sent to confirm the Irish colony in the North of Great Britain, where it continued as the Coronation-Seat of the Scottish Kings ever since Christianity; till, in the year 1300, Edward 1. of England brought it from Scone, placing it under the Coronation-Chair at Westminster, and there it still continues. I had almost forgot to tell you, that it is now called by the vulgar, Jacob's Stone, as if this had been Jacob's Pillow at Bethel'.

So far Toland. Now we extract O'Reilly's account. Speaking of 'Leath Fail' he says:

'All our Irish historical writers, ancient and modern, tell us that it was a large stone of extraordinary virtue brought into Ireland; that the monarchs of Ireland, from A.M. 2764 [see later for correction of this date] to A.D. 513, were all inaugurated on the Lia Fail, which, until that period, was kept at Tara in Meath, the chief seat of the Irish monarchs. At this last-mentioned period, Muisceortagh (Murkertagh) reigned; Fergus, his brother, having established for himself a kingdom in Alba, or, as it has been since called, Scotland, procured from his brother the Lia Fail, that on it he might, with the greater solemnity, be inaugurated king over his new possession. The Stone was never returned to Ireland, but remained in Scotland; and each succeeding king of Scotland was crowned thereon until Edward I. of England invaded that country, A.D. 1296, and carried off into his own country the Scottish regalia, among which was the Lia Fail. From that period to the present day it has remained in England; and ever since the reign of James I. has continued to serve the purpose for which it was so long used in Ireland and Scotland; the kings of England from his time down to the present sovereign having been crowned on it'.

With respect to the Stone, we have seen that the date assigned for the presence of Lia Fail in Ireland, viz. advent of the Ollam Fola is B.C. 600. Jerusalem was destroyed and the great fact of the Captivity took place, B.C. 602.

If then the Stone which we have, be Jacob's Pillow, it must have been conveyed to Ireland, certainly not before the time of Jeremiah; but most probably by him, and for some purpose. We set about now.

First, to prove; that he might have taken it;

Second, we ask what his object would have been in taking it out of the East at all?

Thirdly, we have to show, that, whoever took it, it was set up under such attendant circumstances at Tara, as fit none but a man whose pretensions and authority were such as were those pertaining to Jeremiah;

Fourthly, accompanied, as he might have been, by some member of the Family of David. A series of evidence which seems only to want the confirmation, the direct assertion furnished by tradition, that he was, personally, in Ireland, to establish firmly the fact that, Jeremiah having been himself in Ireland, be did, therefore, take with him the Stone, and set it up as a Pillar of Witness, as had been done by it aforetime, and pronounce a blessing upon it. The substance of this has been handed down to posterity, in the very terms of the legend.

If Jeremiah took the Stone, all the marvels about Tara, its Eastern Princess, its Judge, and Mysterious Priest, and the Law, are not only solved, but are necessary events. If it be Jacob's Pillow, and set up by Jeremiah, there is sense in the legend; otherwise, it is an absurdity, and something worse.

1. The Prophet might have taken the Stone.

In the year 602 B.C. Jerusalem was taken by king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and, so considerable a portion of the people was carried away, that, after the raid, made upon the remnant left behind, by Ishmael the son of Nethaniah (Jeremiah 41), and the subsequent migration of the remains of the remnant, the place was (Jeremiah 43:7) almost entirely deserted. (Jeremiah 41:10, Jeremiah 43:4-7)

On the departure of the main body for Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah was allowed the option, by the monarch, to go to Babylon (Jeremiah 40:4), or to remain behind (Jeremiah 39:12, Jeremiah 40:4). For reasons best known to himself (Jeremiah 40:6), he decided to remain at Jerusalem, i.e., at Mizpah; and he made use of this licence to secure those invaluable endowments of the first temple, which, if lost, could never be replaced. Accordingly, we read in (2 Maccabees 2:4-7) (NOTE), It was also contained in the same writing, that the prophet, being warned of the ETERNAL, commanded the Tabernacle and the Ark to go with him, as he went forth into the mountain, where Moses climbed up, and saw the heritage of the ETERNAL. And when Jeremiah came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door. And some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it. Which, when Jeremiah perceived, he blamed them, saying, As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that the ETERNAL gather His people again together, and receive them unto mercy.

One of the less known sources about the Temple Vessels is the Sefer HaHashmonaim. There it is written explicitly that the prophet Yirmiyahu hid the First Temple Vessels, the Ark, and the Altar on the mountain that Moshe Rabeinu saw. This definition has been the subject of investigation for hundreds of years, since Moshe Rabeinu, who saw the mountain, did not write or hint it in the Torah. from Prof. James Tabor

At this time Jacob's Pillow was an object of hardly less veneration, in Jerusalem, than the miraculous furniture in the Temple: and, as we find that in the subsequent capture of Jerusalem by the Caliph Omar, in his veneration for the stone shown to him by the patriarch as Jacob's Pillow, he immediately ordered a mosque to be built over it, in honour of it (and which we know to have been a fictitious pillow, - for we have the true one) we have herein pointed out to us, with sufficient certainty, the place where the ante-captivity Jews had set up this National Stone; the sacred memento of the promises of national greatness, made to their father Jacob, when he dreamed his dream at Bethel.

We learn from Hosea that the temple of Bethel had come to be changed, in the language of prophetical denunciation, from Beth-el to the contemptuous name of Beth-aven, The house of nought; which would hardly have been the case, had the Pillar of Witness been the foundation of its altar.

Was, then, Jeremiah the man, - it having been shown that he did care for one set of Holy Things, - to disregard the existence, or be careless, of this other Holy Thing? For it was a consecrated thing; and it lay deep, so to speak, in the fundamental traditions of the Empire.

The Stone, then, being a conspicuous object among the holy things belonging to the holy city, we may be sure that the prophet no more neglected to take care of and for it, than he did for the things which be set in the cave. In some such cave, therefore, or in some other safe place, he doubtless secreted it; possibly in the same in which Baruch had secreted by burying in an earthen vessel, The Evidences of his purchase (Jeremiah 32:14). In such case, therefore, be would be able to lay his hands upon it readily, when he returned to the Land of Judah, with the small number that escaped the sword in Egypt (Jeremiah 44:28). And when subsequently, on his arrival, be considered the duty that lay upon him, according to the injunctions of his first commission over the nations, to plant and to build, (Jeremiah 1:10) coupled with the impossibility of his doing so within the land of Judea, which was to be in bondage for seventy years, (Jeremiah 25:12) - and he himself was now fifty-six years old, [by computation] - and therefore felt the necessity of going thence, and that he had authority to do so; the absence of all the Jews of influence, and the fact of the authority he had with the Babylonish Lieutenant (Jeremiah 39:12), would make the removal of the cherished Stone to him a matter of no difficulty: whereas the Jews with him, and also the Babylonish officer, would have absolutely forbid its being removed by any other person but Jeremiah.

2. But what reason could the prophet Jeremiah have for desiring to remove this stone?

In proportion as was the veneration of the nation for this Stone, as a National Emblem, - one representing the destiny of the nation, - so might a man who had the intention, and felt the duty weighing upon him, to re-establish the Sceptre of Judah, towards the reunion of the Two Families of Israel, very well feel the necessity of being accompanied by such a National Muniment; and, as his determination was to make flight by sea, for the hypothesis is that he came to an island, - to some distant land, there would be no hindrance to his carrying with him that, which would be an almost unbearable burden by land. The present form of the Stone indicates its having been reduced from its original shape (The stone is 26 inches long, 16.75 broad, and 10.5 thick; and a little broader at one end than at the other); possibly to make it manageable for its journey from Jerusalem to the sea-shore, under circumstances of difficulty.

3. The Stone being found at Tara, in Ireland, and at the time that it was bound, as it were, to disappear from Judea, and the Legend attaching to it being what we know it to be, none but Jeremiah could have been the declarer of such a Legend.

Not alone because of the foregoing; but because no other person could have pronounced the legend concerning perpetuity and promise of return. For who could have been authorized to say such things, of any Stone? If any body but he had said any thing like this, at that time, it would have been nonsense if he did not believe what he said, or, blasphemy if he did: i.e., to prophesy without authority. But if Jeremiah said such words, they were not only the evidence of his perfect faith in his mission and pregnant with meaning, but strictly what he was well authorized to do. For his commission was, to plant and to build. What? Trees and Houses? No, but an Empire, on a foundation which should last, until Shiloh, to whom the gathering of the people should be, should appear. To the Jews the prophet had been sent as the minister of the ETERNAL's judgment to root out, to pluck up, and to destroy their Polity for their multiplied iniquities; but he was, in the same decree, named as the messenger to the nations to proclaim the Power of the ETERNAL, and to make it manifest among, them by the re-establisbing of the Sceptre of Judah (Jeremiah 1:10), and to confirm it with a blessing and a promise.

Furthermore, it must be asserted that if the prophet Jeremiah pronounced the Legend, having the authority to do so, we may be sure that the terms of it will be fulfilled. And hitherto, are they not fulfilled?

(Isaiah 44:24-28) (KJV) ²⁴Thus saith the ETERNAL, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the CREATOR that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens ALONE; that spreadeth abroad the earth by MYSELF; ²⁵That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; ²⁶That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: ²⁷That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: ²⁸That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

If then the Legend be sound, which may be assumed, as having been spoken by one who had authority, which could be no other but Jeremiah; and the facts of the case, hitherto, are not inconsistent with its being so;- and if the fulfillment of the Legend be intended - and who will venture to say that it be not? - then the Stone must be the throne of the blood royal of Judah. That is to say:-

4. The Prophet must have been accompanied by some member of the Family of David, in order to have made the prediction of possible realization.

For to a sceptre of what Stock could a Hebrew prophet promise continuance, until a return to the East, but to the sceptre of Judah? .. to a sceptre, of which Stock, to appear in the East in the promised SHILOH, as the Hebrew would very well know, uninterrupted dominion was promised. And how could a throne of David be re-established, but in the presence of those by whom a perpetuation of the race would be possible? Therefore, a man of the seed royal, or woman, must have been present, to make the promise, possible and reasonable.

But the kings and princes of the royal house had been all cut off; consequently none of them were there. The king's daughters had not been cut off. They were manifestly in the Prophet's company on his two forced journeys from Jerusalem; first (Jeremiah 41:10), with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, towards Ammon; and last (Jeremiah 43:6), with Johanan the son of Kareah, to Taphnis in Egypt. When there against his will, the Prophet was commanded to escape from it, and promised safety in flight (Jeremiah 44:12-14), to return to Judea; and safety, consequently, to those with him, who should, in so escaping, obey the voice of the ETERNAL (Jeremiah 1:19; Jeremiah 15:20; Jeremiah 20:13; Jeremiah 44:28).

The king's daughters, therefore, would, for their own sakes, take care to be with him on his return to Judea. When there (Jeremiah 5:14), he had the opportunity of transporting thence, whithersoever he would, the Stone of Israel, the grand national relic, the ancient Pillar of Witness (Genesis 28:13-15, Genesis 28:18, Genesis 28:22), even to whatever place he would be moved to proceed to plant and to build (Jeremiah 1:10) that kingdom, - i.e., to reestablish that kingdom of Israel (Jeremiah 33:24), whose restoration he had been commanded to foretell.

In Judea, it was not possible for Jeremiah to set up this resuscitated kingdom. It was to lie waste for seventy years; and the prophet was now, as we have seen, fifty-six years old. In Babylon it could not be. Neither in, nor under the protection of, Egypt could it be. Whither then was he to set about to plant and to build that which he had been ordained to help to pluck up and destroy? and set up again that Pillar of Witness, by which the Patriarch of old had handed down to the generations to come, the assurance of his Faith in the promises of the ETERNAL? Did the Isles of the Sea suggest themselves as a likely place for sanctuary to that righteous man in the East? or were they suggested to him?

However that may be, the fact is very remarkable, that this Stone, this Pillar of Witness to the Truth of the ETERNAL's Promise, and for the safety of which, it was the duty of the earnest prophet to provide, is found, later, in great repute and preservation, in the utmost ends of the earth, away in the Islands of the Sea, - the name by which our Islands are, to this day, known by the dispersed of Judah; - and is, even yet, after 2400 years, still used for the same purpose for which it was then first set up in Ireland, just about the time that it disappeared in the East: and it is, to this day, guarded as the Nation's greatest Treasure, by the nation which has charge of it, by the Constable of the National Fortress in the Heart of the Empire. And the Legend pertaining to it is as fresh as it was the day on which it was declared; namely, that it came from the East; that the blessing of the ETERNAL is with it, even to the guaranteeing to its possessor, a Sceptre, and to his Dynasty an abiding continuance, until the time shall arrive when it is to go back to the East from whence it came. And the Token of the Utterer has not been yet frustrated!

Is then this Stone a Talisman? or are men to be taught to consider it such?

There is no doubt, but that, as well in Scotland as in Ireland, and even later, in England, this Stone has been held, superstitiously, to be the Palladium of the Empire. But when Jacob took the Stone on which he slept, did the Patriarch consider there was any particular virtue in the Stone which he set up as a Pillar of Witness? So neither do we believe that there is any particular virtue in the Coronation Stone. The Stone may or may not be Jacob's Stone. I believe it is. It is more likely to be than not. But there is no necessity that it should be the identical Stone. What the ETERNAL wants is not a Stone, but faith. Faith in the Homage of the Seed Royal to the Shiloh in the East, is more than the Identity of a Stone; and he who entertains that faith will bear all the brazen blasts of the infidel deniers of Providence, unscathed. Judah will be restored to Jerusalem [JML: written 1861 A.D.]; and to that fact future, the Legend of the English Stone is a perpetual witness. That belief is the palladium, not only of our Empire of this world, but the guarantee of every Christian's, in that which is to come! [1A]

Overview.

Jacob used a stone for a pillow the night he wrestled with the ETERNAL. After the ETERNAL changed his name to Israel, he then used it as a pillar to mark the covenant he made with the ETERNAL. Tradition has it that the Stone was taken to Egypt, and later to the Promised Land when the Israelites came out of Egypt. Jacob's Pillar Stone was to play a vital roll in the three overturnings of the throne of David.

The Stone remained in Jerusalem until after 586 B.C. when Jerusalem was destroyed, and it was taken by Jeremiah to Ireland with the daughter of Zedekiah. After this time, the Kings of Ireland would be crowned while seated upon the Pillar Stone of Jacob.

coronation throne coronation throne small
The Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey.

When the throne of David was overturned a second time, the Stone was taken to Scotland by the first Scottish king, Fergus, in the ninth century, and placed at the ancient capital of Scone (pronounced Skoon). The Scottish kings were also crowned while seated upon it. The Stone of Jacob was seized by King Edward I in 1296, and has been used in the coronation of every English monarch since. Queen Elizabeth II was crowned while sitting on the Coronation Chair containing the Stone.

Until recently, the Stone of Jacob (Israel) sat under the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey, in silent testimony to the dual promises made by the Almighty, to the descendants of Abraham. After 700 years at Westminster Abbey, the stone was recently returned to Scotland and is on display at Edinburgh Castle. It has remained with the descendants of Israel since the time of Jacob, and the Royal Seed of David have always been crowned upon it.

Symbol of sovereignty back in Scotland after 700 years.

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) [2] - With prayers, pipers and some political nuance, the legendary Stone of Scone was placed in its new home in Scotland on Saturday, seven centuries after it was stolen by an English king. It's back where it belongs in Scotland',' said Jean Livingstone, who stood with her 7-year-old granddaughter in the crowd along Edinburgh's Royal Mile as the stone rolled past on an army Land Rover.

Prince Andrew represented his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at the ceremonies on the feast day of St. Andrew, Scotland's patron saint.

The rough-hewn block of gray sandstone, weighing 458 pounds, was the coronation seat of Scottish kings until it was carried away as war booty by King Edward I in 1296. The Stone of Scone (pronounced skoon'') was placed under the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey, where it has been involved in all coronations since.

The stone will be placed on public view in Edinburgh Castle. Legend says that the stone originated in the Holy Land, and that the Biblical patriarch Jacob rested his head on it when he had his dream of a ladder reaching to heaven. Today is like recovering a valued item that has been missing for a long time, like getting back a lost wedding ring',' said the Right. Rev John McIndoe, moderator of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, who preached at a service in St. Giles Cathedral.

The government has said little about why it decided to return the stone, though Prime Minister John Major noted in his announcement in July that this was the 700th anniversary of the stone's removal. Many Scots suspect the gesture was intended to shore up the governing Conservative Party's dwindling support in Scotland.

Basically people are glad to see the Stone returning', said Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party, which wants independence for Scotland. The main opposition Labor party says that it if wins the next election, it will create a regional parliament for Scotland, but not grant it full independence.

endsection.

Footnotes:

[1]-[1A] From: England, the Remnant of Judah, and the Israel of Ephraim, written by F.R.A. Glover, M.A., Chaplain to the Consulate at Cologne. Published by Rivingtons, London, 1861. Based on research commenced in 1844.

[2] Lubbock Avalanche-Journal 1996