Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 14
October 18, 1962
NUMBER 24, PAGE 3,11b

An Early Prophecy Concerning Israel

Gordon Wilson

The plan of God for Israel began to be dimly disclosed long before the nation as such had been established. The first such disclosure is included in the comprehensive prophecy of Genesis 925-27, concerning the sons of Noah:

"And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."

There are, as is readily seen, three main parts to this prediction: First, that Canaan, the son of Ham, should be a servant to both Shem and Japheth; Second, that in some peculiar sense Jehovah should be the God of Shem. Third, that Japheth should partake of the blessings of Shem.

The first part of this prophecy was fulfilled when the Canaanites were conquered by the Hebrews in the years following their exodus from Egypt (B.C. 1446, or 1290, depending on the chronology which you accept.) Thus they became the servants of the descendants of Shem. They became the servants of Japheth when Carthage, which had been settled by Canaanites, was conquered by Rome in 202 B.C.

The last two parts of the prophecy were fulfilled in the blessings of salvation which came by way of the Jewish people, but whose greatest beneficiaries have been the Japhetic Gentiles. In every gift of the grace of God to the whole world we find an example of Japheth dwelling in the tent of Shem.

(1) The Monotheistic faith. It is a singular fact that the descendants of Shem, the Semitic races, have best preserved the ideal of one God, supreme and sufficient, in the midst of societies fundamentally heathen. This was true in ancient times not only among Jews but among the Semitic people as a whole. True, some of them became idolatrous, including the nation of Israel, but withal they remained the best example of religion free from the corruptions of false deities. Their influence upon the nations with whom they came in contact through war and commerce was very strong indeed, and served as a preparation for greater things to come.

(2) Divine revelation. "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much in every way; chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God." (Rom. 3:1) It was for Israel to write and preserve, as well as to circulate, the sacred writings of God. That the world has been blessed abundantly, religiously, and socially, through these writings no one would deny. These blessings came to the Gentiles by the Jews. It is a case of Japheth dwelling in the tent of Shem.

(3) The coining of Christ. "Salvation is of the Jews." (John 4:22) The genealogy as given by Matthew traces the lineage of Jesus back through David to Abraham, the father of the chosen people. Luke's record extends this line on back through Shem all the way to Adam. In His human descent Jesus touches all mankind, but He was a Jew, of the tribe of Judah. All spiritual blessings are in Christ, (Eph. 1:3), and when we are joined to Him as members of His body, Japheth is enlarged indeed.

Important lessons are suggested by this prophecy. First of all, it teaches us the truth that God's purposes for Israel are, and always were, bound up in the plan of redemption through His blessed Son. God has no plans for Israel as a non-Christian nation. Whatever political success may accompany attempts to organize and maintain a Jewish political state does not spring from any peculiar blessing of God in fulfillment of revealed promises.

Another thing to remember is this: the fulfillment of prophecy is always effective in sustaining the claims of the Bible to be a Divine revelation. A proper application of this first prophecy concerning Israel should be of utility in confirming our conviction that "the word of the Lord is sure. The skeptic cannot answer the argument of fulfilled prophecy if we press the point. So let us press it.

— 210 Barstow, Clovis, California