Gathering To Shiloh

The English word "Shiloh" is a transliteration (transliteration is the rendering of the alphabetic sound of a word from one language into another language; translation is the rendering of the meaning of a word from one language into another language) from the Hebrew word of the Holy Scriptures pronounced shee-lo. "Shiloh" was a town in the land of Israel, first mentioned (as a place) in the time of Joshua when the Israelites entered their physical promised land (see also Milk and Honey):

"^18:1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there [see also Why Did They Face East?]. And the land was subdued before them." (Joshua 18:1 KJV)

The Ark of the Covenant (see The First Christian Church) remained at Shiloh for many years after Joshua, through the period of The Judges, until it was captured by the Philistines (who were soon thereafter very eager to return it - see Raiders Of The Lost Ark to understand how and why no one could take the Ark) because of Israelite (all of the tribes of Israel, then together) corruption in the time of Eli.

"^4:4 So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims [see Christ's Mercy Seat]: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God." (1 Samuel 4:4 KJV)

"^4:10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. ^4:11 And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain." (1 Samuel 4:10-11 KJV)

Shiloh, the town, thereafter became a ruin because of the people's unfaithfulness to the LORD. Centuries later, in the time of Jeremiah, when the people of Judah in Jerusalem (see The Southern Kingdom) again became corrupt (just as The Northern Kingdom of Israel had done a little over a century before that), the fall of Shiloh was referred to in relation to the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, for the same old reason - "see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel."

"^7:11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. ^7:12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel." (Jeremiah 7:11-12 KJV)

"Until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be"

There is a much earlier prophetic reference to "Shiloh" however - not about a town, which was named after the symbolism that it held for the coming Messiah, but about Christ:

"^49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. ^49:9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?

^49:10 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. ^49:11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt [see The Messiah's Triumphal Entry Into The Temple] unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes" (Genesis 49:8-11 KJV)

The people of Judah were designated as the "chosen people," not because they have ever been more "holy" than any other people, but because it was from them that The Messiah of all people would be born (see When Do Jews Become Christians?). "Christ" literally means anointed one or chosen one.

The meaning of the Hebrew word "Shiloh" is derived from a Hebrew root word, pronounced, shaw-law, which means to have peace - something that the world has never truly known, and will never know, "until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be" (Genesis 49:10 KJV). That's what and who "Zionism" is truly about (see Anti-Zion Is Anti-Christ). Notice how Genesis 49:10-11 is fulfilled by what is described in Micah 4:1-4:

"^4:1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. ^4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem [see Christ the Conqueror For Peace].

^4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off [see Moriah: Separating The Wheat From The Chaff]; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. ^4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it." (Micah 4:1-4 KJV)

Fact Finder: Is "Shiloh" also known as "Immanuel"? Why?
See Immanuel

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This Day In History, September 9

337: Constantine's three sons, already Caesars, each took the title of Augustus. Constantine II and Constans divided the western empire while Constantius II took control of the eastern empire.

1087: King William I of England died at age 60. Known as William the Conqueror, he was one of the greatest British kings and was much involved in European history - events of long ago that make the political world in which we find ourselves living today. A future British king, the oldest son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, will be King William V.

1513: Forces of James IV of Scotland battled English troops in Flodden near Branxton, in the English county of Northumberland.

1543: Mary, Queen of Scots, was coronated.

1585: Pope Sixtus V blocked Henry of Navarre's rights to the French crown.

1754: William Bligh was born. As the 35 year-old captain of the Bounty in 1789, his crew made their famous mutiny. Bligh and 18 loyal members of his crew were set adrift in a small lifeboat, which they amazingly managed to sail about 6,500 kilometers (4,000 miles) to Timor. Some of the mutineers settled on Pitcairn Island after burning the ship just offshore.

1867: Adolphus abdicated as duke of Nassau and was granted 8.5 million thalers (the German word from which "dollar" originated) and a few castles as compensation.

1948: After the withdrawal of Soviet forces from North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed with Pyongyang as its capital.

1976: Mao Zedong, Chinese communist leader died. He proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949 in Beijing.