Jacob’s Pillar
Stone of Destiny
Lia Fail
By Liaf
Until recently, a curious stone was housed under St. Edward’s Chair (the Coronation Chair) that weighs about 336 pounds and measures about 10 ½ inches x 16 inches x 26 inches. The British monarchs were crowned on this stone as were the Scottish kings and Irish kings before them. This stone was known as "Jacob’s Pillar", "Stone of Destiny", "Lia Fail" (Gaelic for ‘Stone of Fate’) amongst other names. Legend had it that this stone was the rock that the Patriarch Jacob used as his pillow when he had that famous dream of angels ascending and descending we all heard in Sunday school class at one time or another. It was there that God made great promises to Jacob.
In Genesis 28:10-22 we read: And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
Notice that Jacob took several stones and propped up one of them (i.e. "the stone") as his pillow. In his dream, God made great promises to him (the content of them were discussed in the other messages) that impressed Jacob so much that he considered the place the "House of God" (i.e. Bethel) and "Gate of Heaven". He set the stone upright (no doubt from a reclined position as held by the other stones) and anointed it with oil. Although the Bible does not say that he took the stone with him, it would be hard to imagine that he would haphazardly forget about it as the years passed on, especially since this place made such a supernatural impression on him.
In Genesis 31:13, God associated himself with the place of Bethel and the stone that Jacob anointed. I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. As a matter of fact, it is not difficult to find oodles of scripture where God compares himself (as does Christ) to a stone or rock. The anointing of the stone of Bethel has Holy Spirit connotations. In Genesis 35 we read: And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went…… And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother……And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
We see from this scripture that Jacob returned to Bethel and built an altar amongst other things. Again God reiterated some of the great promises (the birthright promises) that applied to his future physical descendents. Since Jacob returned there, he could have very well been in the position to take the stone with his company (we shall look at scripture that Paul quoted about this soon). This is especially plausible in light of the fact that he erected other monuments when he returned.
When Jacob gave his deathbed blessings to each of his twelve sons (to become the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel), we see that his son Joseph was associated with a "stone" blessing. Thus we read, Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel).
The mention of "the" stone shows an actual rock representing the shepherd. This passage is where the stone of Jacob is placed in the guardianship of the tribe of Joseph which we know is the son (tribe) that inherited the birthright. Needless to say, every Christian knows whom the "shepherd" ultimately represents. If this shepherd was a forerunner of Christ, then it would stand to reason that future kings over the sons of Jacob would also have associations with the stone. After all, Christ came from the ruling lineage of Judah. Kings foreshadowed the ultimate King Christ. "If the tribe of Joseph has guardianship over the stone, then why would kings of Judah (of a different tribe) have associations with it?" you may ask. Judah was the ruling tribe over the sons of Jacob. In other words, stone represents a shepherd that in turn is illustrated by kings of Judah. However, for that stone to be under the guardianship of Joseph, the implication is that there would be a constant connection between Judah and Joseph, at least under a united kingdom or at a later time when kings of Judah ruled over the people of Joseph. I must be careful when I say "constant connection", because I am not saying that the stone was always in the possession of the sons of Joseph. The Bible actually says this was not the case due to Israel’s exile---- more on that soon.
Further indications that this stone was in the company of the Israelites are found in Exodus 17 and again in Numbers 20. While they were traveling to the Promised Land, we read in these passages, And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. God supplied water to the thirsty, grumbling Israelites when Moses was told to smite "the" rock. And again in Numbers we read, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. This time Moses was instructed to speak to the rock, but he smote it instead. Most Bible commentators have the insight to see that the first time the rock was smitten which represented Christ being smitten for us. The second time Moses was supposed to speak to the rock but he struck it instead. Once Christ died on the cross, he was resurrected and we have a risen, victorious Lord enabling us to speak with God through Christ. To strike Christ a second time is akin to the thought in Hebrews 6:1-6. I don’t think anybody seriously denies the association of the rock with Christ. But notice that the definite article "the" was used. God did not say "a rock" or "that rock over there" or "any rock". Indeed, the definite article "the" shows us that this was a specific rock that the Israelites were already familiar with, not some random cliff that Moses struck (as paintings would have us believe). Knowing the nature of people (including Israelites), whenever some instruction is unclear, people make their interpretations and follow what they think is being said. So if this was any rock, Israelites would be as hard-headed as most of us and some would go here to one rock, others over there to another rock, others arguing which rock God meant, etc. However, the usage of the word "the" left all of them without any question. In addition, the apostle Paul clearly associated the rock with Christ. In I Corinthians 10:4 we read, And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. Not only did Paul connect the rock with Christ, but he claimed (and no theologian will deny there was such a legend) the rock followed them. The Greek word indicates the idea "to accompany". The only way I know that a rock would accompany them is if it was carried with them. I suppose that God could have caused a miracle and had it float along side of them, but either way there would still be a physical rock that accompanied them.
So if we review the scriptures thus far regarding Jacob and Moses, we see that there is this rock, or pillar (the Bible used it interchangeably) which God associated himself with at Bethel. We see that this rock was entrusted to Joseph. And we see that there was this rock that accompanied the Israelites through their journeys that Paul distinctly associated with Christ just as God associated himself with the rock (or pillar) at Bethel. There is only one God, and one Christ and thus one rock. The Bethel pillar was anointed as Christ was anointed and filled with the Holy Spirit. The connections are too overwhelming to deny that this had to be the same rock.
There are other curious, albeit passing references to a pillar stone throughout scriptures that are easily overlooked. However, I will point out a custom that these Israelites had involving the pillar when their kings underwent coronation ceremonies. Such a passage is found in II Kings 11:14, And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets:…… And the Chronicles version says, And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise.
It seems here that kings stood by a pillar (or as Chronicles says his pillar) for coronation ceremonies where they would make a vow to God and the people would rejoice. The phrase "as the manner was" indicates that this was an ongoing custom where the pillar was utilized for this purpose even though there is no mention of it in the Bible beforehand.
This explains the enigmatic text in Hosea 3:4 that says, For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim:……
The words "memorial stone" or "pillar" are amongst other definitions of the original Hebrew word (see Young’s Exhaustive Concordance). Other authorities on the language give the definition "pillar-rock" or "pillar-stone". In fact, although the tribe of Joseph had guardianship of the stone, this passage of Scripture states that it would not be in their presence for awhile. Indeed, the Northern house of Israel voluntarily separated itself from Judah (and the house of David) and because of their exile, there was no Davidic king with them and certainly not Jacob’s pillar stone since they were separated for a time. However, as our other two messages said (The ‘Eternal Throne of David’ and ‘The Three Overturns of the Throne of David’), God would plant that ‘tender twig’ in the mountain of the height of Israel. This is that "place" promised to King David that the "Lost Tribes" would migrate to and claim as their new homeland. Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell. In doing so, the Davidic king would once again reign over the house of Israel (where the tribe of Joseph was) and the stone would once again be in their possession once their wanderings took them to the appointed place.
We have the biblical background and references to this rock. What became of this rock (and the Davidic Throne)? We already dealt with the eternal nature of the Davidic Throne. It would stand to reason that amongst the scripture and history that proclaimed Jeremiah’s calling and role, that the stone naturally would be involved somehow. Indeed, that is just what we find in many of the ancient Irish records. The old man "Ollam Fadhla" (Jeremiah) and his company carried with them some strange furnishings. Amongst them was a harp, a chest (the Ark of the Covenant), and a stone. If Jeremiah transplanted the Throne of David, he most assuredly would have taken the coronation stone that the Bible made reference to. My personal belief is that if we can accept the transference of the throne, it would not be difficult to believe that the stone went with that office of the throne. I would even say that the stone accompanying the king’s daughter would be a "given", something that could safely be assumed. However, the historical records assure us here that yes, indeed a stone was seen with this old man. When we look at a picture of the removed stone (from the coronation chair), we see a groove and well worn rings that could not be from transporting this stone from Ireland, Scotland, and Britain alone if the stone was native to the area. That stone must have been subject to excessive carrying around for years to show that much wear and tear. Undoubtedly, a pole was inserted through the rings and carried by some men in front and in back of the stone. There may have been yokes attached to the pole so that several men could be positioned on each side of the stone. I’ll let the reader figure out how many men it would take to transport 336 pounds comfortably.
From this point onward, the rest is history. Some may think that the stone "Lia Fail" is a more recent legend. However, this is not true in light of the fact that this stone was known as Jacob’s Pillar as far back as history of the isles go. Much like the transference of the Davidic Throne, the real key is the link of Palestine with Ireland. We know the general history from that point onward. As I have said in the message about the three overturns, there are somewhat sketchy or foggy accounts of the arrival of Jeremiah and his company (along with the stone). But one thing that is agreed on is King Eochaidh and his Queen Tea Tephi (King Zedekiah’s daughter brought to Ireland by Jeremiah) were crowned King of Ireland upon this stone.
All through history, the Irish kings, Scottish kings, and the British kings were crowned on this stone as the throne overturned. Is this all coincidence? I want to conclude this message with the lyrics of a song from the album "Stone of Destiny" by Steve McDonald. This is a secular Celtic music album that tells of the important events in their history in songs. I will insert my comments in brackets within the lyrics, but I feel this song wraps up the history of the stone quite nicely.
In the curragh and off we go
O’er to Scotland’s shore we row
And build a chapel there,
For the stone.
Story tells of long ago
Jacob slept upon the stone
And dreamed of angels telling him of the future.
Brought to Ireland’s Tara Hill
Where it was named Lia-Fail [first overturn]
Then on to Iona, by MacEarca. [second overturn]
[Chorus] Then the Scotland kings will reign
where ever the stone remains. Then, the coronations will enthrone
And through all who come and go
Let none take the power of the stone.
So the telling tale unfolds
Of kings and queens
And days of old
And those who would make claim,
By aggression.
Then the tyrant army came
And took the stone away again
They never knew the promise
Of succession.
[third overturn by King Edward "Longshanks" who
took the stone. The overturn was realized when James VI
of Scotland became James I of Britain]
Leaves are falling
Seasons calling
Time will wait
For the stone
If we want to call all this a "legend", then so be it. However, we can see by the lyrics in this song (and one can get the album anywhere Celtic music is sold) that the idea of David’s Throne and the associated stone is well-ingrained in Celtic legend and history. This is not some fringe idea from an obscure cult somewhere. This is well known. The issue is whether or not we really believe all this. As I have said, even rumors have basis in fact. I believe these stories are more than rumors and groundless legends. What we must do is sort out the fact from the fiction. This message is meant to be an overview of the subject of Lia Fail. However, when we compare biblical passages, accepted history, and the legends, I can’t help but to believe that there is something to this stone.
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This is the coronation stone Lia-Fail when it was removed from under St. Edward's coronation chair. It weighs 336 pounds. One can see the wear of the stone near its rings implying the great distance over the years this stone was carried. It's dimensions are about 10.5 x 16 x 26 inches and would be about the right size for use as Jacob's pillow. |