What Jeremiah Accomplished in Ireland

After languishing in prison while Jerusalem was being razed, Jeremiah was unexpectedly and miraculously liberated by the Babylonian invaders. Considering what God had planned to do with him for his entire life, perhaps such mercy shouldn’t have come as a great surprise.

Jeremiah reunited with the remnant of Jews that the Babylonians had left behind. The leaders of the group sought his counsel, then ignored it. Dismissing his warnings, they took the whole remnant—including Jeremiah; his scribe, Baruch; and Zedekiah’s daughters—to the Egyptian city of Tahpanhes (Jeremiah 43:6-7).

The Bible does not follow Jeremiah’s journey after his arrival in Egypt, but Irish history does.

A 10th-century poem written by Chief Ollav Cináed ua hArtacáin describes a princess named Tephi who sailed from Egypt to Ireland with her husband, Camson, along with a “patron saint” and a companion named Berach. In The United States and Britain in Prophecy, Mr. Armstrong stated that this princess was the daughter of Zedekiah, her husband was the crown prince of Ireland, the saint was the Prophet Jeremiah, and the companion was Jeremiah’s faithful scribe, Baruch.

“Then, in 569 b.c. (date of Jeremiah’s transplanting), an elderly, white-haired patriarch, sometimes referred to as a ‘saint,’ came to Ireland,” he wrote. “With him was the princess daughter of an eastern king and a companion called ‘Simon Brach,’ spelled in different histories as Breck, Berech, Brach, or Berach. The princess had a Hebrew name Tephi—a pet name—her full name being Tea-Tephi.” Tephi had married an Irish prince who was visiting Jerusalem. The two then had a son. Two dynasties had come together. They traveled to Ireland with Jeremiah and Baruch.

Granted, there is no “Camson” in the ancient Irish king’s lists. But to return to the history we covered at the end of Chapter 1: At the time that the Babylonians invaded and destroyed Jerusalem, King Sirna the Long-Lived, a descendant of King Gede the Herremon, was ruling in Ireland. So the “Camson” in hArtacáin’s poem can only be Sirna’s son Ailill the Herremon. “The royal husband of the Hebrew princess Tea was given the title Herremon upon ascending the throne of his father,” Mr. Armstrong wrote. Ailill was crowned in 569 b.c.—the date of Jeremiah’s arrival.

Mr. Armstrong further noted, “Besides the royal family, Jeremiah brought with them some remarkable things, including a harp, an ark, and a wonderful stone called ‘lia-fail,’ or ‘stone of destiny.’” The harp shows that Jeremiah was transporting the music and culture of Judah; some suggest this was actually the literal harp of King David. (Many believe that the harp and the ark that Jeremiah brought were stored in a grave called the Great Mergech that King Gede and Queen Tea had built centuries earlier.)

The “stone of destiny” was the stone the patriarch Jacob had used as a symbol of the scepter promise and which came to represent the throne of David (Genesis 49:24; Joshua 24:26-27). Surely this stone served as a “witness” to the royal marriage between this daughter of Zedekiah and a prince of Ireland. Now in Ireland, it was used as a coronation stone, as it had in Israel for generations (e.g. Judges 9:6; 2 Chronicles 23:11-13).

After Ailill’s reign, his son Gíallchad became king. As a descendant of both Pharez and Zarah, King Gíallchad healed the ancient breach and, with Jeremiah’s help, continued the Davidic dynasty in the British Isles.

David’s throne had been planted there. The historical and genealogical records show that the royal line continued from this Irish king and Hebrew princess through dozens of kings of Ireland, then was transplanted to Scotland, and later to England, down to the royal family seated in London in modern times.

This is exactly what God prophesied in Ezekiel 21:27 would happen—a total of three “overturns” before that throne would be “no more.” (I explain this prophecy in The New Throne of David. You can read about these transitions in the present book in Appendix C: “Overturned, Overturned.”)

This history is not trivial. This is crucial proof that God has kept His promise to King David and that His Word is reliable and sure! This is the only provable explanation for how God preserved the integrity of David’s throne.

Beyond that, this history is also foundational for understanding the modern identity of the “lost” tribes of Israel. It unlocks the meaning of all the Bible’s end-time prophecies concerning the nations of Israel. Again, Mr. Armstrong called it “the strongest proof of the inspiration and authority of the Holy Bible! It is, at the same time, the strongest proof of the very active existence of the living God!” (emphasis mine). Yes—it shows God’s powerful presence in history and in current events to ensure that His every word is fulfilled!

We now turn our attention to Jeremiah’s activities during his time in Ireland. History provides us enough clues to piece together a truly inspiring picture!

The ‘Patron Saint’

Read again God’s commission to His prophet: “See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:10).

Jeremiah focused on the first part of this commission during the four decades when he warned the kings of Judah that God would severely correct the Jews and destroy their kingdom. He was actually there to witness that prophecy fulfilled. Then he undertook the second part of this commission in his final years, when he escorted Princess Tephi to Ireland and built up the kingdom of Ireland.

“I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms,” God said. What sort of authority did Jeremiah possess in Ireland? hArtacáin’s poem gives us a major clue.

In the original Gaelic, this poem calls Jeremiah an “érlam.” According to the Royal Irish Academy’s Dictionary of the Irish Language, an érlam is a “patron saint” or a “founder (of a church or monastery).” Jeremiah did found some kind of institution.

Other Irish records tell us of a famous school founded in this same general time period: the Mur Ollamhan.

Most historians describe this as a school for doctors, lawyers, judges, professors, priests and other educated leaders. They credit its founding to an Irish king named Ollav Fodhla, or Ollam Fola. There are important indications, though, that the founder of this school was not a king.

The word ollav was used in Ireland to denote a sage or priest. Gaelic society gave the chief ollav a social status equal to a high king. The two offices were similar to those of king and high priest in ancient Israel. The king enforced the law, but the high priest took the lead in educating the people.

“The Ollav Fola of Irish history was the chief and first, and founder of the Order of Ollams, in Ireland,” wrote F. R. A. Glover. “This was an order, not of kings, but of priests or sages …. This Ollav Fola founded also a College of Ollams at Tara; or as the Hebrews would say, ‘a School of the Prophets’; but not ‘a College of Kings’” (op cit).

Given these facts, Glover argued that the “Ollav Fola” responsible for this accomplishment was the Prophet Jeremiah. He had good cause for making this case.

According to Frederick Haberman in Tracing Our Ancestors, ollav comes from the Hebrew olam indicating possession of “hidden knowledge.” God reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). The Hebrew olam is also used throughout the Old Testament to denote eternity.

With the establishment of an “order of ollavs,” this title applied to many sages in Irish history. The most significant of these “ollavs” clearly would have been Jeremiah, the chief ollav of Ireland. This is why hArtacáin called him an “érlam”—a patron saint or a church founder.

Fola is sometimes used as a poetic or literary name for Ireland. In Celtic it means revealed. Both Glover and historian W. M. H. Milner believed it was actually an alternate pronunciation of the Hebrew word pala, which means wonderful or miraculous.

As the chief ollav of Ireland, Jeremiah would have been called Ollav Fola, Hebrew for wonderful teacher.

King Eochaid

Many other historians, however, attribute the accomplishments of “Ollav Fola” to a king who lived around 150 years earlier.

Around 714 b.c., the Irish crowned King Eochaid mac Fíachu Fínscothach as high king. Eochaid was from the line of King Herremon’s brother Ir, whose symbol was the blue lion. He was widely regarded as one of Ireland’s most virtuous kings.

The Annals of the Four Masters was compiled between 1632 and 1636 by four of Ireland’s greatest historians. They wrote that Eochaid “was the first king by whom the Feis Teamhrach [or Teamhair] was established,” a famous parliamentary assembly. They wrote that Eochaid used Tara as a powerful seat of government and education.

These historians actually call Eochaid by the title Ollamh Fodhla, or Ollav Fola. The Four Masters wrote, “Eochaid was the first name of Ollamh Fodhla; and he was called Ollamh (Fodhla) because he had been first a learned Ollamh, and afterwards king of (Fodhla, i.e. of) Ireland.”

I believe this is an error. Based on what I know of Jeremiah’s commission, I firmly believe that later annalists confused many of Jeremiah’s accomplishments with those of King Eochaid.

The School of the Prophets

The Irish annals supply three major details about Ollav Fola: He reigned 40 years, he founded the School of the Prophets, and he established the Feis of Tara. Genealogies show that the 40-year reign is clearly referring to King Eochaid. But the other two elements are the work of the Prophet Jeremiah.

Throughout the Bible, over and again God’s servants institutionalized formal education. This is evident in the work of Samuel, Elijah, Elisha and in the New Testament. In our modern day, God inspired Herbert W. Armstrong to found schools and colleges, and the Philadelphia Church of God has done the same. In planting David’s throne in Ireland, Jeremiah sought to build a holistic godly culture through education. Surely he established schools. The fact that the only explicit mention of Jeremiah in the annals calls him a patron saint or founder of a church is surely a consequence of his founding the School of the Prophets.

This school was located at Tara. “The Hill of Tara is large, verdant, level at the top, extremely beautiful, and though not very high commands extensive and most magnificent prospects over the great and fertile plans of Meath” (John O’Hart, Irish Pedigrees, Vol. 2). Glover described events there, where all the dignitaries and learned men were headquartered. There was a whirlwind of activity. They had a grand house—maybe something like Armstrong Auditorium today—where they gathered and held wonderful conventions (more about these later in this chapter). If you visit Tara today, you can still see some remains of this wonderful chapter of antiquity. Tara is celebrated in Irish history.

These gatherings at Tara were established in the days of Gede the Herremon and Tea, along with many other godly practices. Four and a half centuries later, Jeremiah built on this foundation, raising the ruins and making them greater than ever. He brought more clarity and detail to the truths that had been taught under Gede. He fostered a greater culture and an emphasis on law and government rooted in the legacy of King David. He also encouraged musical activities and dancing that trace back to Judah’s great king, who loved music and dance.

One example of this is Ireland’s connection to the harp. Like the lion emblem, the harp is an Irish symbol whose origins trace back to Israel and its fame achieved under King David. The psalms frequently mention musical instruments, including the harp, being a part of godly worship. In bringing a harp to Ireland, Jeremiah sought to build the Davidic culture based on the music brought by the Jews who had settled there during David’s reign. The harp was a national symbol of the Hebrews, and it became the national symbol of Ireland. Even today, it appears on royal emblems throughout the British Isles.

Ireland’s musical skill gained fame that has endured through the ages. In 1581, Vincenzo Galilei, father of the famous Galileo Galilei, wrote about the Irish harp: “This most ancient instrument was brought to us from Ireland where such are most excellently worked and in great number; the inhabitants of the said island have made this their art during the many centuries they have lived there and, moreover, it is a special undertaking of the kingdom; and they paint and engrave it in their public and private buildings and on their hill; stating as their reason for doing so that they have descended from the royal prophet David” (Dialogue of Ancient Music).

To this day, Ireland has a residue of the culture that Jeremiah encouraged. It has the most wonderful singers, dancers and performers. Whether or not they realize it, their art contains many elements established by King David.

The World’s Greatest Education

Consider the educational impact Jeremiah had on Ireland and the impact this had on the world.

The Annals of Clonmacnoise, translated into English in 1627 but written in Gaelic much earlier (and now, sadly, lost), stated that Ollav Fola “was so well learned and so much given to the favor of learning that he built a fair palace at Tara only for the learned sort of this realm to dwell in, at his own peculiar cost and charges.” It took at least 12 years of study to become an Irish ollav, so it is abundantly clear that the Irish valued education.

How far-reaching were the effects of Jeremiah’s emphasis on education? We cannot know for sure, but history shows that Ireland was known for its educational excellence for many centuries that followed.

“The early literary history of Ireland stands out in proud distinction from that of any other country in Europe,” Michael Doheny wrote in “Memoir of Dr. Keating.” Doheny quoted eighth-century British historian Bede, who asserted that long before his time, “such was the fame of the Irish schools, that when a person of note was missed from Great Britain or the Continent, it was concluded, as a matter of course, that he had ‘gone to Ireland in search of learning.’” Ireland truly realized the value of great teachers. They were held in the highest esteem, treated like royalty.

The education at these institutions was preeminent in every way. The Saxon Bishop Aldhelm wrote that English students flocked to the Irish schools, which were “of unspeakable excellence.” Ireland, “synonymous with learning,” he wrote, “literally blazed like the stars of the firmament with the glory of her scholars.” Some historians, even the Four Masters, say Irish education was the best in Europe, which means it was probably the best in the world. Was that because it was founded on God’s education?

“It mattered not whence they came or whither they were bent. The college hall and college hospitality were open to all comers,” Doheny wrote. The schools flourished and were nationalized. And it spread far beyond Ireland: “France, Spain, Italy and Germany either opened and endowed colleges or allowed them to be founded on their territories by Irish princes for the Irish ecclesiastical student …” (ibid).

John Healy wrote that “when [Saint Patrick] landed on our shores [in a.d. 432], he did not, as is sometimes ignorantly asserted, find the Irish tribes utterly savage and barbarous. He found an organized pagan priesthood, which had a learning and philosophy of its own, similar to that of Gaul and Britain, when those countries were conquered by the Romans. He found the customary laws of the tribes reduced to a definite legal system, and administered by a body of Brehons, or judges, who had been specially trained for that office; and he also found that the annals of the nation were carefully preserved, and that the territories, rights and privileges of the sub-kings were definitely ascertained and faithfully recorded in a great national register. The leading men of the tribes were certainly acquainted … with the letters, if not with the language, used in Britain and in Gaul by the Romans” (Ireland’s Ancient Schools and Scholars).

This “organized pagan priesthood” had adulterated the truth Jeremiah brought to them with Celtic polytheism. But they still taught more truth than the other pagan nations of Europe because of the school founded by a true prophet of God.

A Feast for the Law

One important practice Jeremiah emphasized in Ireland was the observance of God’s annual festivals, which God commanded ancient Israel to keep (Leviticus 23). One of these was the Feast of Tabernacles, a seven-day festival held every autumn in which the Israelites built temporary dwellings (verses 39-43).

This autumnal feast pictures the time in the future when the government of God is established all over the Earth. (You can read about this in our free booklet Pagan Holidays—or God’s Holy Days—Which?) The Israelites were commanded to read aloud the book of the law every seven years at the Feast (Deuteronomy 31:9-12). The Feast provides an annual opportunity to review the fundamental lesson of Psalm 119: They who walk in the law are happy (verse 1).

The Feast of Tabernacles was an opportunity for Jeremiah to bring in people from all over Ireland to see for themselves what God was accomplishing in Tara and to explain to them that God’s law made it all possible.

What is interesting is that Irish annals say that Ollav Fola established an annual seven-day parliamentary assembly, where laws were discussed and enacted, called the Feis of Tara. Irish historian P. W. Joyce wrote that feis “literally means a feast or celebration, cognate with Latin festum and English feast.” Modern scholars believe this feast was kept in a temporary dwelling, a wooden banquet hall specially built each year at Tara and then burned down.

A seven-day feast, held each autumn in a temporary dwelling and centered around questions of law and governance: The parallels with the Feast of Tabernacles are unmistakable!

However, the annals also say that the Feis of Tara was held in early November and that its timing centered around the annual pagan Druid festival Samhain, honoring the Irish god of death. (Roman Catholics later appropriated this as All Saints Day.) This practice had been around for hundreds of years before Jeremiah arrived.

When Jeremiah was chief ollav of Ireland, he would have ended the pagan Samhain celebrations and commanded that the Feast of Tabernacles be observed. It appears that the God-ordained Feast of Tabernacles that Jeremiah commanded was later incorrectly attributed by Irish annalists to King Eochaid and was the origin of what was later described as, and what later became, a weeklong gathering of secular lawmakers. I am confident it was God’s prophet who originated the “Feis of Tara” and that it was later changed and perverted.^[1]

Jeremiah’s efforts to teach the nation to venerate God’s laws certainly left a lasting impression. John Lynch, a 17th-century historian, said this man “distinguished himself by an exquisite talent for government; he infused health into the Irish commonwealth by excellent laws and customs” (Cambrensis Eversus). A footnote in Owen Connellan’s 1846 English translation of Annals of the Four Masters states: “Ollav Fola is celebrated in ancient history as a sage and a legislator, eminent for learning, wisdom and excellent institutions; and his historic fame has been recognized by placing his medallion in basso-relievo with those of Moses, and other great legislators, on the interior of the dome in the Four Courts in Dublin.” The Irish put this man right up with Moses! And his work was built on a foundation of law.

An Example to the World

Jeremiah left an example for the whole world to see and emulate. This is what God had been trying to get ancient Israel to do: to be an example to the world of how to live in harmony, prosperity, beauty and excitement based on God’s law and government. This connects mankind to his Creator! What a witness Jeremiah left us—a wonderful example to see and be inspired by.

The Protestant Reformation wiped out much of this Irish education. Yet the education and the throne moved to Scotland, then to England. With it came the banner of the lion of Judah. Why? Because the rulers of Ireland, then Scotland, then England were ruling from the throne of David. The education and the royal dynasty traced back to King David!

The lion and the stone of destiny pointed Ireland, Britain, Europe and the world to Israel, to the God of Israel, to the God of the Bible!

Jeremiah brought God’s law and government to Ireland. He had the law, and God gave him tremendous authority in the land. He established a college where people were taught to live by every word of God. He taught history, including the history of David’s throne. That inspired a flourishing godly culture where they danced, sang and played musical instruments.

What Jeremiah accomplished in Ireland was astounding. He built the greatest education Europe has ever known! That is impressive. What happened there was about God’s law and government ruling this world. It was a foreshadowing of the imminent millennial rule of Jesus Christ. God enabled this man to move in and bring to life a picture of the World Tomorrow—what it will be like, how education will function, how the king and queen will act, and all these laws necessary to lead a nation.

Jeremiah commanded the people of Ireland to take care of their young people, educate them, and build the family structure as much as possible. Families saw to it that their children were instructed in a particular skill or vocation and raised families of their own. It was a system that produced excellent results. In The History of Ireland, Irish historian Thomas Moore wrote about the “hereditary system” in which families trained their children in a profession. In a footnote, Moore quoted Charles Rollin: “By this means … men became more able and expert in employments which they had always been trained up to from their infancy; and every man adding his own experience to that of his ancestors was more capable of rising to perfection in his particular art.” We see this in God’s Church: As young people are directed by their parents, they carry on with the family tradition and serve God’s Work. In a strong, structured family, life gets better and better all the time! The children are more successful and more educated. Those are wonderful fruits. God is educating His young people to rule the world!

Jeremiah was building the God Family Empire, and he was able to replicate what David had accomplished in Israel and Jerusalem. That was quite an opportunity for this man who had suffered so much for God. Surely it was the highlight of his life! How God blessed his endeavors in Ireland.

What happened in Ireland is a beautiful picture of the future! That is the illustrious future of the throne of David! We can tell people the story, and sing about it, and prove that it is certain to happen!

The Psalter of Tara

The descendants of Ailill the Herremon and Tephi ruled over a united Ireland for many generations after Jeremiah’s death. But in the days of King Eochu the Victorious, “the princedom of Ulaid was sundered from Temair [or Tara],” wrote R. A. S. Macalister; the Hill of Tara ceased to be the center of high kingship until the days of King Cormac mac Airt.

Centuries later, beginning around a.d. 226, King Cormac led a political and cultural renaissance in Tara. Roderick O’Flaherty wrote on the authority of an old poem found in the Book of Shane Mor O’Dugan that Cormac founded three schools at Tara: one for teaching the art of war, the second for the study of history, and the third a school of law. He also authored a book of moral precepts titled The Teachings of the Kingdom (Teagusc na Riogh) and a book of history called The Psalter of Tara. Yet John Healy noted that it is safer to say The Psalter of Tara was compiled under Cormac’s direction from much older source material.

Owen Connellan’s footnote in his 1846 translation of The Annals of Ireland includes this statement: “The ancient records and chronicles of the kingdom were ordered to be written and carefully preserved at Tara by Ollav Fola, and these formed the basis of the ancient history of Ireland, called The Psalter of Tara, which was brought to complete accuracy in the reign of the monarch Cormac, in the third century ….”

This suggests that King Cormac preserved this famous psalter using records left to him by Ollav Fola. Connellan supposed this was done by the king people call Ollav Fola. But I strongly believe it originated not with King Eochaid—but with Jeremiah. And Jeremiah didn’t write it, he compiled it. What was he compiling?

This book originated with God’s prophet. These historians say that later authors added royal genealogies and chronologies. Connellan said this carefully preserved book formed the basis of the ancient Irish history. Famous poets like Cuan O’Lochain, chief ollav of Ireland from 1008 to 1024, wrote that this psalter contained the chronologies of the ancient Irish kings as well as the boundaries of each province from Tara Hill. Sadly, this book was lost at some point in the Middle Ages and has never been discovered.

Whatever became of The Psalter of Tara after Jeremiah’s day, I am certain that if Jeremiah himself included any history, that was not the focus. The history of Ireland is secondary to the prophecy and spiritual understanding Jeremiah would have imparted.

Just consider its title: The Psalter of Tara. Why that title?

There are two words there we need to think about: Psalter and Tara. Psalter just means “psalms” or “a version of the book of Psalms.” Webster’s first definition is “The book of Psalms”; the second is even better: “a collection of psalms.” This strongly indicates the substance of Jeremiah’s book. And “collection” would suggest it didn’t include all the psalms but a subset of them.

Why mention Tara? Well, when Jeremiah uprooted the throne of David from Jerusalem and planted it in Ireland, he did so specifically in Tara, the capital of Ireland at that time. Everything Jeremiah established there revolved around David and that throne. He had the stone of destiny there. Also, the law was established at Tara; it emanated from that area.

So the focus of Jeremiah’s book for Tara has everything to do with David! That whole area emphasizes Jeremiah’s commission.

I believe the title is self-explanatory: The most logical conclusion is that the book centered specifically on the psalms of King David.

Such a book would have been well received on this musical island, especially with the culture Jeremiah was bringing.

As far as we know, this psalter was the only book Jeremiah produced in Ireland, so it must have been important—the most important book he could have thought to bring to them.

I believe God has revealed that this book had to do with psalms—specifically, David’s psalms.

The Context of Jeremiah’s Commission

Why would Jeremiah write a book about the psalms of David?

Look once more at the commission in Jeremiah 1:10. Jeremiah had to uproot David’s throne from Jerusalem and plant it in Ireland. I also believe a big part of Jeremiah’s commission was to compile The Psalter of Tara.

The passage continues, “And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north” (verse 13). This applies specifically to this end time: This is about the message coming from David’s throne today regarding a terrible danger emerging from the north. That danger is the king of the north—a resurrected Holy Roman Empire! (verses 14-15). This European church-state alliance is forming right now—and it is a huge boiling pot about to spill over onto three end-time nations of Israel: America, Britain and the Jewish state!

Even the people of Ireland have historically experienced the evils of that empire. Glover wrote that in the 15th century, when Henry viii became king of Ireland, the Irish were grateful. Why? “They were no less glad than the English to be rid of the unseemly intrusions of the bishop of Rome ….” They had begun to recognize what that church is all about. In Revelation 17, it is depicted prophetically as a whorish woman riding the beast of the Roman Empire! That church is Satan’s number one tool! And God commissions His Church to expose it before the whole world.

In Jeremiah 1:16, God judges His lukewarm saints in this end time, the Laodiceans, for forsaking Him and turning their back on this commission. They rejected the law of God and the government of God, which David loved so much! How could so many people scorn and forsake God in this end time? Because human nature hates the law and government of God (Romans 8:7). We must do the opposite.

“Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them” (Jeremiah 1:17). This is God’s command to His people. He says, Don’t be dismayed at their faces. They are going to show a lot of anger and say terrible things about you, but you go right ahead! And if we don’t do what God says, He will confound us! That means He will break us in pieces! This is exactly what has happened to the rebellious Laodiceans.

“For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land” (verse 18). We are certain to have trouble in Israel and Judah and other places, but if we remain loyal to God, we will prevail. “And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee” (verse 19).

Jeremiah had an immensely challenging commission. You can see why he strengthened himself to fulfill his duty by deeply studying David. And when he arrived in Ireland, he felt the most important subject he could focus on was the psalms of David.

2 Chronicles 29:30 shows that King Hezekiah had access to the psalms of David and Asaph (and, by extension, so did Ezra, the author of Chronicles). This means that Jeremiah certainly did too.

Again, the name Fola in Celtic means revealing or a revealer. Jeremiah had a lot to reveal to the people of Ireland about God. He ended up with enormous influence over the country, a situation most unique outside of Jerusalem. And The Psalter of Tara was all about David and his throne. I am certain that many were inspired by Jeremiah’s collection. That book included some history of Ireland, and we want to know about that. We want to be educated; God is eager to educate us in every way you can imagine. But Jeremiah wrote about more than Irish history. He focused on David’s psalms that reveal a personal history of David. Surely that was his main message to the Irish people. He wanted to help people better understand what his commission was all about and all that David did. Jeremiah produced only one book there, and he wanted it to be about the psalter, or the psalms, related to Tara, which is at the heart of the throne of David.

The Fall of Tara

Sadly, after Jeremiah died, things broke down. King Cormac mac Airt temporarily restored Tara to greatness over six centuries after Jeremiah. But then came the Roman Catholic Church. This was just after the stone had been transferred to western Scotland in the early 500s a.d.

Joseph Wild wrote in The Lost Ten Tribes: “[A]nd more, they then set to work to destroy even the old and famous capital city of Tara. In 565, Saint Ruadhán, along with a posse of bishops and chiefs of the south of Ireland, cursed the city, so that neither king nor queen might ever rule or reign therein again. They forced the government, monarchy and people to abandon the place. From thence Tara was deserted, and the harp sounded no more through Tara’s halls. The city thus cursed crumbled to ruins and remains to this day buried, awaiting a glorious resurrection.” That is a good summation of the history.

What a shame! Historian Thomas Moore was also a poet, and he wrote this about the fall of Tara:

The harp that once through Tara’s halls
The soul of music shed,
Now hangs as mute on Tara’s walls,
As if that soul were fled.
So sleeps the pride of former days,
So glory’s thrill is o’er,
And hearts, that once beat high for praise,
Now feel that pulse no more.

No more to chiefs and ladies bright
The harp of Tara swells;
The chord alone, that breaks at night,
Its tale of ruin tells.
Thus Freedom now so seldom wakes,
The only throb she gives,
Is when some heart indignant breaks,
To show that still she lives.

Over time, much of Jeremiah’s legacy was perverted. The feis was moved to revolve around Halloween instead of the biblically commanded time. The godly rejoicing commanded in the Bible was replaced with perverted, sensual celebrations. Over time, too few valued the traditions they had been given.

God said He would build up David’s throne to all generations, and I believe He did that mostly through Jeremiah. Yet sadly, Jeremiah has been almost completely written out of Irish history by medieval annals. They are more interested in promoting Saint Patrick than in promoting the patriarchal saint who taught the law at Tara!

Muirchertach mac Ercae, high king of Ireland, definitely did not value the stone of destiny. In fact, at his Great-uncle Fergus the Great’s request, he sent it to Scotland in a.d. 513. A high king still ruled from Tara until a.d. 565—and then a high king no longer reigned there. Later, after the days of Máel Sechnaill mac Domnail (a.d. 980–1002), the high kingship of Ireland passed to Brian Boru of Munster.

From the time the stone was moved, the throne of David ceased to be in Ireland—and the Catholic monks worked to blot out Jeremiah’s legacy.

The stone of destiny remained in Scotland from a.d. 513 to 1296, when King Edward i of England moved it to Westminster Abbey.

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, the dean of Westminster from 1864 to 1881, recognized the significance of the stone of destiny: “It is the one primeval monument which binds together the whole empire.” That stone, which Jeremiah transported to Ireland, held the great British Empire together! But eventually, they let it go.

Until 1884, the 46th year of Queen Victoria’s reign, the coronation stone bore a plate identifying it as the lia-fail (stone of destiny) from Irish history. But members of Parliament from Ireland complained, stating the true lia-fail was a phallic stone on Tara Hill. Thereafter, the plate was changed to refer to the stone’s Scottish origins while omitting any connection to Ireland. The plate was removed entirely sometime in the late 1950s, and Queen Elizabeth ii sent the stone back to Scotland in 1996. So it seems that neither England nor Ireland value the stone of destiny any longer. And even the Scots still think of it only as the stone of Scone.

Britain had received a promise from God about a throne and a stone, but it ignored it. So God corrected the nation, and the British royal family is no longer sitting on David’s throne.

Now that throne is in God’s true Church. We are stewards of the new stone of destiny and the new throne of David. (For an explanation, request a free copy of The New Throne of David.) What a magnificent blessing! David’s throne will last forever, and that is what that stone represents. That stone is going to bind the whole world empire. And we have it! You can prove that.

Glover wrote that the stone of destiny is “the index to mankind.” That is right! It opens the door to all mankind—ultimately, to everybody who has ever lived. Soon they will know about this stone and about the throne of David. They will be taught the law and the government of God. God will write it on their minds and in their hearts; it will be the way they think. The whole world will be thinking that way! It will bring everybody together.

What a blessing to have “the index to mankind.” That is more than a link to Tara—it is a link to the cosmos! Isaiah 9:7 says the government of God and the peace it produces will never end. If you want real peace, the only way you will find it is in the law and the government.

The Spirit of David

No wonder God is immersing us in this subject. Surely The Psalter of Tara is directed more to God’s people today than to anyone else. Because we have the new throne of David, the book probably is more helpful to us than it was even to Jeremiah. Studying these psalms teaches us about the attitude and the spirit of David. When you possess David’s throne, you really need the spirit of David! We are about to sit on the throne of David and help Christ rule! I am sure these psalms will play a key role in that.

God has focused His people today on King David very much the way Jeremiah did anciently, especially when he brought David’s throne to Ireland. He established an active spirit there, with social activities, entertainment and other wonderful cultural activities that we are building more and more in this Church. We can learn so much from Jeremiah and from that history. If you are God’s Family, you want to get together—in a balanced way—and really be active in a way that pleases God!

We are striving to build a godly, Davidic culture, grounded in the law of God and celebrating the presence of God. We emphasize uplifting, godly music and dancing. We want to do everything at the highest level we can achieve whenever God gives us the opportunity, and all to His glory. Ultimately, we are interested in far more than the performing arts.

God has opened the door for our Celtic Throne production to perform in first-class theaters for audiences all over America. This presentation traces the story of The United States and Britain in Prophecy and highlights King David’s influence in these Israelite nations over 3,000 years and on into the World Tomorrow. Through Celtic Throne, God’s Church today really is getting into the spirit of David. It is one of several examples demonstrating how much we want to emulate the beautiful attitude and spirit of David!

You also see that spirit in the generous offerings from all of God’s people to build Armstrong Auditorium, a house for God! That was a love offering from the people of God in the spirit of David. God opens up so many blessings to us if we have David’s attitude and are excited about it.

We are in the final days of preparation for the arrival of that future utopian world. The Second Coming is upon us! God is preparing us to share that throne with the other firstfruits and teach the world about Him and about those great men of God—especially David, who will rule over all Israel!

Are we preparing so we are ready to teach when we sit on that throne very shortly? God is giving us a deeper understanding so we will be better qualified when we assume that throne! We are here to rule the world, and this world desperately needs godly rulers! God wants rulers who will stop the madness of today’s world forever and who will approach God the way David did!

Continue Reading: Part Two: The Psalms of David