"And Shiloh is coming to Natick on Sunday evening, April 30, at six p.m. At least a couple of representatives of Camp Shiloh in New Jersey will be coming---coming to share something of the plans, the work and the future of the Christian Camp that ministers to many children of the Mid-Atlantic inner cities. Representatives of Camp Shiloh will be speaking at the Brookline congregation on Sunday morning and here in the evening."

The above is a quotation from the bulletin of Church of Christ, 324 N. Main St., Natick, Mass., April 26, 1972. There is nothing personal in this article as I have never met anyone from the Natick church. I have received their bulletin for some time. It has often contained items that were of a liberal nature but this seems to be the extreme example of their liberal attitude towards the scriptures. I almost said blasphemy.

The quotation from Genesis 49:10 "until Shiloh come" is given the following exegesis by various commentaries.

A. Clark, Vol. 1, p. 269: "Judah shall continue a distinct tribe till the Messiah shall come."

Pulpit Comm. Vol. 1, p. 526: "Believing Shiloh to be the name of a person, the majority of commentators both Jewish and Christian and ancient as well as modern agree that the Messiah is the person referred to, and understand Jacob as fore-announcing that the time of his appearance would not be till the staff of regal power had dropped from the hand of Judah."

Hippolytus, A.D. 170-236, (quoted from Ante Nicene Fathers, Vol. 5, Pg. 206): "Now the blessed Jacob speaks to the following effect in his benedictions, testifying prophetically of our Lord and Saviour . . . a ruler shall not depart from Judah, nor a leader from between his thighs, until be come for whom it is reserved; and he shall be the expectation of the nations."

We could fill pages with such quotations but we feel we have established the meaning of the verse. It seems that it has been left to the modern day distorter to garble such prophetic statements which should be held in the greatest of respect by the lover of Gods word. Whether it is done in ignorance, jest, or carnality, the effect can be conducive of no good to the cause of Christ.

With such an attitude toward God and his word we understand more clearly the actions of some of our liberal brethren. We doubt very much that Shiloh came to Natick, Mass., April 30. If he ever does, it may well be to fulfill Revelation 2:5: "Remember therefore whence thou are fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent."

TRUTH MAGAZINE, XVI: 43, p. 13
September 7, 1972