The Birthright was a special blessing given to the firstborn son of each family. It awarded him 1/2 of the father’s possessions and the position of rulership over the family. We turn to 1 Chronicles 5:2 for a passage regarding the Birthright. As stated before, the Scepter was the eternal possession of the Tribe of Judah, “… but the Birthright is Joseph’s.” In Genesis 48:16-19 the dying Jacob bestowed Joseph’s Birthright on his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, noting that henceforth they would carry the name “Israel.” In this passage he also prophesied that Ephraim would be a colonizing tribe that would eventually be composed of many subservient nations. At that time Jacob/Israel prophesied that Massasseh would become the world’s greatest single nation. The promise of great wealth and powerful influence over the Gentiles was bestowed on the boys together because of Abraham’s obedience to the Lord. Between Ephraim and Manasseh they would exercise dominance throughout the world while gaining great wealth from the production of Gentile nations. What the boys’ descendants failed to remember was that, though their wealth and power was a gift, their retention of those Birthright blessings would depend on their obedience to the Bestower of those gifts–the God of the Holy Scriptures. The Almighty laid out His requirements in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. These simple commands are must reads for all who desire to spend eternity with the Almighty in that they apply to all men throughout this age regardless of their race, social standing, etc. For those who reject the Old Testament, recall that the Old Testament was recorded as instructions of the New Testament Church so that we would not lose sight of God’s requirements relative to eternal life, and that the church was founded on the teachings of the prophets and apostles (Eph. 2:20/ 1 Cor. 10:11).

When David ascended to the kingship over the House of Israel he pulled the disparate tribes together into one cohesive unit. The people came together under his rulership to form the most powerful and successful nation on earth to that point. Under his leadership Israel dominated the part of the world in which she existed. But that was not enough for the king. David wanted to build his God a Temple in which to live. But David was a man of war, a man of blood. Therefore the Lord told him that he would not build the temple, but that his son Solomon would. One of the first things Solomon did upon ascending to the throne was to commission the building of the most striking structure on the earth at that time–the Temple of God in Jerusalem. David’s throne would sit inside the temple and would be established forever. The temple and the throne are written about in 2 Samuel 7:12,13 where God told David that when his days were over He would establish his throne forever. L.J.