The Promised Seed by John Norton Loughborough

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Feb 18, 1913

The Promised Seed

By John Norton Loughborough

By J. N. Loughborough

We noted in a former article, that what man lost in the fall is to be restored through Christ's sacrifice. We find, indeed, a promise of this connected with the condemnation of the serpent (that old serpent, the devil. Rev. 12:9). In the Garden of Eden, the Lord said to him, 'I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.' Gen. 3:15.

How compassionate is our Lord! 'Before they heard of the life of toil and sorrow which must be their portion, or of the decree that they must return to dust, they listened to words that could not fail to give them hope.' ('Patriarchs and Prophets,' p. 66.) How merciful on the part of the Lord, not to tell this now unhappy pair that it would be thousands of years before the state of things they had brought upon the world would be remedied.

Hope Not Deferred

It seemed to be the Lord's purpose not to let hope appear afar off. As the 'Seed of the woman' was to 'bruise the serpent's head,' it would be perfectly natural for Eve to consider her first-born son as the one by whom the restoration was to be effected. So, at the birth of Cain, she said, 'I have gotten a man from the Lord' (Gen. 4:1), that is, the one who will repair the evil we have caused.

She had another son, Abel, who, as the boys grew, was accepted of the Lord in His service. Her hope now seemed to center on him, as we conclude from her words when Seth, her third son, was born. 'For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.' Gen. 4:25.

Expecting the Promised One

When families multiplied, the people must have been in suspense as to what family should be blessed with the promised Seed—the Restorer. We come to the days of Abraham, to whom the Lord said, 'In thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' Gen. 22:18. These words related to Isaac, who was miraculously borne by Sarah. All was not to be accomplished in Isaac individually, but in the line of his posterity; for it was also said to Isaac, 'In thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' Gen. 26:4. To Isaac's son Jacob it was said, 'In thee and in thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' Gen. 28:14. Now, as Jacob had twelve sons, which is the one from whom to expect the deliverance? Near the close of Jacob's life, moved by Inspiration, he spoke of the future of his sons, and said of Judah, 'The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh [Shiloh—'rest in Messiah,' Smith's 'Bible Dictionary'] come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.' Gen. 49:10.

Thus matters stood until the days of David, about 1042 B.C., when, through Nathan the prophet of God, this message was given to David, 'I will set up thy Seed after thee. . . . Thy throne shall be established forever.' 2 Sam. 7:12, 16. David refers to this in these words, 'Thou spakest in vision to Thy holy one [Nathan the prophet], and saidst . . . I have found David My servant. . . . His Seed also will I make to endure forever, and His throne [the throne of his Seed] as the days of heaven. . . . His Seed also will I make to endure forever, . . . and His throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.' Ps. 89:19, 20, 29, 36, 37. This language could not be applied to any human ruler, for in this same psalm the Lord speaks of this Ruler as 'My First-born.' Verse 27. In Paul's writings, he declares Christ as 'the First-born among many brethren' (Rom. 8:29); and 'the First-born from the dead.' Col. 1:18. David himself, speaking of this coming Ruler, calls Him 'Lord,' 'The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.' Ps. 110:1.

The Tower of the Flock

When we come down to the days of Micah the prophet, 750 B.C., in speaking of this expected Ruler he says, 'And Thou, O Tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion.' Micah 4:8. This certainly looked forward to the work of the Seed, and the restoration of the dominion lost by Adam. That they now expected immediate deliverance, is evident from the words of Hezekiah when he was restored from death's door. He said, 'In the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave. . . . I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living. I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.' Isa. 38:10, 11. In 713 B.C., Isaiah gave this testimony, 'And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.' Isa. 11:1. And in the same chapter he speaks of the glorious state of things under this Ruler. This he treats at still greater length in the thirty-fifth chapter. In the fifty-third chapter he tells of the treatment that He should receive, and the offering of Himself for mankind.

Coming to 599 B.C., Jeremiah says, 'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper. . . . And this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.' Jer. 23:5, 6. The margin of this text is Jehovah-tsidkenu. (See also Jer. 33:16, with margin.) As yet there had been no time indicated when this true Seed should appear in the world.

A Definite Prediction

In 553 B.C. Daniel had a vision of persecuting powers, and hears a question as to the length of that warfare, and a reply, 'Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.' Dan. 8:13, 14. In the next chapter is an explanation given by the angel Gabriel, showing that seventy weeks [Hebrew, shevooim—weeks of years] are cut off on His people, and that they will begin when the command goes forth to restore and build Jerusalem, which city was then in ruins.

Sixty-nine, of those weeks of years, 483 years, would extend to Messiah the Prince. Dan. 9:24-26. That decree for restoration was passed 457 B.C., as recorded in the seventh chapter of Ezra. The 483 years from that date would extend to A.D. 26. At that time Christ was baptized by John the Baptist and anointed by the Holy Spirit resting upon Him in the form of a dove. He entered upon His ministry at the exact time predicted by the prophet Daniel, and said, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.' Mark 1:15. And 'the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel. . . . And He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.' Luke 4:18, 21.

The Apostles Recognized Him

The apostles recognized Christ as the true Seed. Peter thus spoke on the Day of Pentecost, 'David, . . . being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.' Acts 2:29-31.

Paul also, in speaking of David, said, 'Of this man's Seed hath God according to His promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.' Acts 13:23. To the Romans he said, 'His [God's] Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.' Rom. 1:3. To Timothy he wrote, 'Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.' 2 Tim. 2:8. To the Galatians he made a statement that must be final, and fully settle this question as to the Seed: 'Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ.' Christ is the promised Seed.