In November 1996, to the sound of bagpipes, at a special ceremony attended by some 800 guests, Prince Andrew, officially representing the Queen, handed over an ancient Stone relic to the Scottish Secretary of State, Michael Forsyth.
At last it was back in Scotland, at the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle, to be returned to London only when required.
Why this elaborate ceremony? What was so special about a block of sandstone, weighing close to 336 pounds, measuring 26 inches deep, 16 inches wide and 11 inches high, greyish–yellow in color, with two iron rings fastened on each end?
But this was no ordinary chunk of rock.
In his book Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey, Dean Arthur Penrhyn Stanley wrote that the Coronation Stone was “the primeval monument which binds together the whole [British] Empire.”
In 1921, according to the archaeologist E. Raymond Capt, the Canadian geologist Edward Odlum requested a tiny bit of the Stone so he could compare it to a sample he found in Bethel.
In response, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Thomas Davidson told Odlum it would require a special act of Parliament from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, signed by the King. And, he said, if you get that, “I won’t give you permission.”
When the Germans bombed London in World War II, contingency safety plans were drawn up to protect the Stone. Not until the 1950s was it disclosed that Canadian Prime Minister John Mackenzie–King, together with no more than 10 of the caretakers of Westminster Abbey, knew where the Stone was buried on Abbey grounds. No similar plan was prepared to secure the British crown jewels.
For the past 700 years, it was kept in Westminster Abbey, guarded by the Vergers or caretakers of the Abbey. When available for public viewing, the Vergers would direct large groups of visitors to the Stone nestled in a recess beneath the Coronation Chair. Placed underneath with the Stone are the words: “Here we have Jacob’s Pillow.”
Inscribed on the arch surrounding the Coronation Chair, where the Stone is placed underneath, are the words: “This is God’s House”!
The astonishing story behind the origin of the Stone and the special significance attached to it are recorded in the Book of Genesis.
Fleeing from the vengeance and wrath of his brother Esau, Jacob was headed for refuge in Haran. Exhausted, he stopped for the night and took one of the stones to serve as his pillow.
In a dream, Jacob saw a ladder above which the Lord stood. And God, speaking to Jacob in his dream, re–affirmed the same promise He had made to Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 28:13–15).
The following morning, Jacob took the Pillow Stone and anointed it with oil. This set it apart as a witness to prove which is God’s house—the royal family chosen by God (verse 18, 22).
Scripture says it became the Pillar Stone upon which the rulers of the house of David were coronated (2 Kings 11:12–14; 2 Chr. 23:13). The Pillar Stone identifying God’s royal house.
How then did this Stone eventually find its way from the town of Bethel in Palestine to the British Isles?
When you put all of the evidence together, a white–haired elderly man, the Ollam Fodhla (Hebrew for revealer or prophet), arrived in the coastal town of present–day Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland. He was accompanied by his secretary and a beautiful eastern princess. They brought with them a “large, ROUGH STONE . . . which they guarded jealously.” (King David’s Everlasting Dynasty by Raymond McNair, p. 25)
Religious scholars believe that this was the prophet Jeremiah, his scribe Baruch and Tamar the daughter of Zedekiah, king of Judah. Having received a special commission by God to re–establish the throne of David (Jer. 1:9–10), Jeremiah must have taken Jacob’s Pillar Stone with him.
The marriage of Zedekiah’s daughter Tamar (Tea–Tephi in Irish poetry) to the son of the Irish king re–united the house of Israel; thus confirming the promise God made to David of an enduring, permanent dynasty (2 Sam. 7:16). Both were crowned over this very Stone at Tara.
This Stone was the Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny over which all of the Irish monarchs were crowned. A descendant named Fergus the First was anointed king over it, moved the kingdom to Iona where the kingdom of the Scots was established. The kings of Scotland were crowned there until Kenneth the First moved it to Scone.
In 1296, victorious against the Scots, the English king Edward I removed the Stone from Scone and took it to Westminster Abbey. Edward had a Coronation Chair specially constructed with a compartment to hold the Stone underneath.
In April 2010, Britain’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport provided Westminster Abbey with a £150,000 grant for extensive conservation work on the Coronation Chair.
Every British monarch—including the reigning Queen Elizabeth II in 1953—was crowned on that throne, with the exception of Edward V, Mary Tudor and Edward VIII.
There have been efforts to discredit the authenticity of the Stone as well as its origin. But the findings of reputable geologists have confirmed that the Stone in Edinburgh Castle bears identical properties with sandstone found in the area of Bethel.
The world chooses to ignore and deny the true facts of history. However, the straightforward truth, the evidence directly from God’s Word, is that Queen Elizabeth II, a descendant of King Zedekiah’s daughter Tamar, is indeed ruler over Ephraim, one of the 12 tribes of Israel.
She sits upon the throne of David!
Despite repeated, concerted efforts to abolish the British monarchy, it will endure.
How can we be certain?
Because God’s unerring word says it will happen, and this prophecy in Luke is sure and certain: “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:31–33).
This will be fulfilled.
Jesus Christ will not come to a non–existent throne. He will occupy the same throne Queen Elizabeth II sits on today.
At His triumphant return, with majesty and glory, with supreme power and authority, as King of kings and Lord of lords, He will establish the Kingdom of God right here on this earth forever!