Until Shiloh Come

It shall soon be Christmas again. The great wonder, “God revealed in the flesh,” shall be commemorated.

The world is very busy making preparations to celebrate Christmas in its way, which is not in accordance with the Word of God. Alas! the world does not know nor desire the true Christmas. The world and the church celebrate a feast, but it is a feast devoid of the great and living King who was born in Bethlehem’s stable. Instead of being honored, He is dishonored. The great Gift of the Father is darkened by all this worldly and superficial ado.

Already many years ago one of our ministers wrote: “The world may celebrate a feast in her way, and even dedicate and adorn a chopped off fir tree with lights and presents, but a true Christmas feast she does not know. In the church as well as in the saloon we meet that outward and superficial shouting and feasting they call ‘Christmas,’ but it is not a real Christmas. When I see those so-called Christmas trees, I often think about the wreaths upon a grave. Just as they try to cover death with flowers, so is Christ obscured by the Christmas tree, Christmas lights, and Christmas happiness.”

How poor, how lamentable is the world and the professor, who cling to idolizing the dust! Their Christmas feast is only idolatry and image-service. Oh, that many eyes would be opened, and that they, as miserable and needy creatures, might come with haste to Bethlehem’s stable as the shepherds, to behold the born King in His beauty.

Oh, that the Lord’s people, be it in the midst of the rumors of war, might celebrate the true Christmas feast; that they may exclaim with holy wonder and admiration, looking by faith upon the Savior who has come, “I know that my Redeemer liveth,” and with great happiness rejoice in Jacob’s Shiloh, singing,

Our hope is on Jehovah stayed,
In Him our hearts are joyful made,
Our help and shield is He;
Our trust is in His holy Name,
Thy mercy, Lord, in faith, we claim,
As we have hoped in Thee.

“Shiloh cometh.”

These words were spoken by Jacob when he was about to leave this earth and to be taken into glory. His faithful covenant God had been with him through life’s journey and shall also fulfill the following words: “Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” Jacob had continually experienced the truth of this blessed promise: “I will not leave nor forsake thee.”

Although Jacob’s faith was often very weak on his pilgrimage, it was very strong on his deathbed. What a blessing! Through his strong faith there was no wavering or fear in his soul. It is an unspeakable mercy that, when the pilgrim must pass through the Jordan of death, he may behold the King in His beauty and by the telescope of faith may glance into the far-away land: the heavenly Canaan, his eternal habitation, the place of undisturbed rest.

Jacob is loosened from the earth and from this life. With liberty and cheerfulness he blesses and leaves his children. He commends them into the hand of his merciful and faithful covenant God, who has blessed him and delivered him out of all his distresses. In a prophetic prospect, much light is cast upon the events of many centuries for Jacob, and he discovers the coming of the promised Immanuel, his Redeemer, his Treasure, by whom poor Jacob is made eternally rich. In God’s appointed time he was able to embrace Him by faith and to exclaim: / now possess all things that I need for this time and eternity to come.

Jacob had no desire to pass through all these events with his posterity. He longed for rest, the heavenly and eternal rest: for the perfect salvation in glory above. As he was blessing his twelve sons, he expressed his strong desire in these words: “I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord!” His faithful Redeemer had delivered him continually when he cried to Him in distress, and Jacob, having enjoyed the firstfruits of salvation, now longs for a perfect deliverance and the full harvest of salvation.

Jacob is prepared for heaven; not in and through himself, but in and through Him, whose coming in the flesh he now foretells. All sovereign grace for a poor and guilty Jacob! Out of the tribe of Judah shall come forth He who shall tread upon the serpent. The exact time is stated; it is said who He shall be and what His work shall be, yes, that the nations of the earth shall obey and honor Him: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.”

It is very plain from this wonderful passage that Jacob refers here to a glorious Person. Jacob had a glorious sight of Christ in His fulness and glory as a Mediator. Those who learn to know Him thus will not be able to rest before they possess such a heavenly Treasure as their property. They will say, as did a certain poet:

Give me Thyself, the only good,
And ever with me stay;
Whose faithful mercies are renew’d
With each returning day.

Ah, guide me witha Father’s eye,
Nor from my soul depart;
But let the Day-star from on high
Illuminate my heart.

Jacob called the Savior, who was to come, “Shiloh”: the Redeemer, who shall bring great joy to every soul to whom He appears unto salvation. “Shiloh” is one of the glorious names of Christ. It is a name which also is “an ointment that is poured forth,” for a soul that cannot find rest anywhere without Christ.

If we study the original meaning of the name, “Shiloh,” we are led to consider a person who has a fulness of rest, peace, and abundance in himself. This can be no other than the Given One of the Father, full of grace and truth. How much rest, peace, and abundance was He to receive and enjoy when, after deep and bitter humiliation, He would be exalted at the right hand of the Father, that He might from there communicate rest, peace, and abundance to His dear followers who are so poor in themselves and so often disturbed and fearing on their pilgrimage here below! He says in John 10:10: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Oh, how bountifully does Jesus bestow these blessings upon them here already in this life, so that at times their voices are raised in singing:

I am filled with spiritual riches;
Oh worldly creature, I have a Pearl;
My soul is bathed in spiritual luxury,
Far above earth and worldly treasures.

The name “Shiloh,” understood as One that brings rest and peace, holds much attraction for troubled and burdened souls. Thus Jacob had learned to know his Shiloh. Already at Bethel, Jacob received a wonderful sight of Christ Jesus, who would merit and give rest. In His great love and mercy, He that was standing on the heavenly ladder brought rest, comfort, and joy into the troubled and sorrowful heart of Jacob.

More especially at Peniel, Jacob learned to know Him as his Rest-Giver. At that place he wrestled with the Angel and prevailed, and could say, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Oh, this blessed and bountiful rest and peace, which was given to Jacob by his Shiloh at Peniel, drove away all restlessness and distress and caused him to go forth without any fear to meet his brother, Esau; yes, death and eternity also! Christ Himself was his Rest, his Peace. And this Christ, this Shiloh, belonged to Jacob by faith.

Jacob was privileged to meet his Shiloh continually upon his journey heavenward… and, was this not necessary? Usually the sheep of the Good Shepherd are so filled with fear and anxiety (Ps. 30), but then Christ will appear as the Shiloh. He quiets the storm and brings rest into the wretched and troubled heart (Ps. 107). Enjoying some sweet rest in the midst of the turbulent waters of this life, they can then travel forward again with new courage.

Jacob now lies upon his deathbed, but his Shiloh is with him; what can disturb him and make him fear? Very sweetly his Redeemer serves him with a foretaste of the heavenly rest and peace. Blessedly he may rest by faith in Him who is “Rest” Himself. He beholds his Shiloh come forth out of Judah according to the flesh. He foresees His appearance in the fulness of time as One that merits rest and gives rest in free grace. It is as if he hears Him say to poor and needy souls: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” From his deathbed he calls to the whole church of the Old Testament, to encourage her in all concerns and conflicts, in all her desires and expectations—Shiloh cometh!

After very many years had passed, in God’s time Shiloh came and appeared in the flesh. The Sun of Righteousness appeared with healing in His wings. He came, and was found in Bethlehem’s stable. The shepherds from Bethlehem’s fields, the old grey-haired Simeon who was filled with heavenly desires, the widow, Anna, who wished to be a messenger of good tidings, and later many others, were jubilant over the coming of the Messiah: He is come! Jacob’s Shiloh has come!

After Jacob had spoken these words, he soon mounted the heavenly ladder by faith, and his Shiloh gave him the eternal rest and peace of heaven. Unworthy Jacob, the struggling Israel, a child of God’s eternal pleasure, now in glory wearing the crown of victory! Saved by sovereign grace! A great sinner saved by a great Savior!

Oh, glorious undisturbed rest, often so attractive for the wrestling, sighing child of God in the midst of all miseries here below! Soul enemies give no rest by day or night at times. More than once we have stood at the grave, where the sweet rest for the body in the earthly bed and the comfortable rest for the soul in heaven has made the soul active in holy longings and desires.

Shiloh cometh!

He comes to every unconverted person in the hour of death, but not as One that gives rest. All natural, false, and imaginary rest He shall then take away. All those who never came to Him laboring and heavy laden (Matt. 11:28), shall go into that place of eternal distress and woe. The rich man (Luke 16) had rest and abundance upon the earth, but it was only for a very short period. He was soon in eternal pain. Who shall be able to rest therein? Then the words shall be fulfilled: “Ye shall lie down in sorrow.” Oh, may God grant that sinners, so filled with this world and false rest, and those that are at ease in Zion (Amos 6:1), may be alarmed and purged by “the Spirit of judgment, and by the Spirit of burning,” to the end that they may be prepared for that rest that remains for the people of God.

Shiloh cometh!

It is indeed a word of encouragement and comfort for convicted, discovered, and stripped souls, who can find no rest in anything without Christ, and must supplicate at times:

With my burden of transgression
Heavy laden, overborne,
Humbled low I make confession
For my folly now I mourn.

Weak and wounded, I implore Thee;
Lord, to me Thy mercy show;
All my prayer is now before Thee,
All my trouble Thou dost know.

Shiloh calls unto you in this encouraging gospel word, saying: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Oh, what a blessed rest for and in the soul through Christ, after so much restlessness, so many struggles and conflicts! Oh, blessed rest through Christ in God, being reconciled with Him; rest in the Fatherly heart so full of love, favor, and life, for the soul that can truly say:

As pants the heart for streams of living water,
So longs my soul, O living God, for Thee.
Shiloh cometh!

He has come to you who have been established by faith in Christ and His finished work. When He came, He freely and abundantly provided everything your poor soul needed and longed for, wiping your tears, and filling you with joy and gratitude. As the faithful Jehovah and Jesus He came at the right time, and not too late. No, He did not let you perish in eternal woe with your heavy burden. How glorious and precious was His rest and peace, which He has merited in His bitter suffering and death upon Calvary! May you be further blessed on your journey, through the howling wilderness of this world, to rest by faith in your Shiloh, because the true soul rest is a rest of faith (Heb. 3 and 4).

Shiloh cometh! “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Rev. 1:7). John says: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

Shiloh cometh! May all those who are true seekers be given to look upon Jacob’s Shiloh in all their conflicts and wrestlings, in all their pain and sorrow, in all their concerns, restlessness and distress, in all their dark nights and storms. “Ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us.” After a ten-day tribulation and many storms upon the turbulent waters of this world, He shall give your soul rest in the heavenly Haven. Blessed and eternal rest in the heavenly Canaan! “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord [their Shiloh] from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14). “Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20).

Rev. J Van Zweden (1888–1979), former editorof The Banner of Truth, served the Clifton, New Jersey and Rock Valley, Iowa Netherlands Reformed congregations.

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen