Church of God News

Coronation chair with Stone of Scone in Westminster Abby c. 1880
(Wikipedia)

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Last year, the BBC reported the following:

The disputed history of the Coronation Stone

6 March 2023

On 6 May 2023, Charles III will be crowned on the sacred Stone of Scone – an ancient symbol of Scottish sovereignty whose history is mired in controversy and legend.

Westminster Abbey is one of the most famous religious buildings in the world and one of London’s key tourist sites. Built by King Edward I (Edward the Confessor) in 1040, it has been the site of royal coronations since 1066. … visitors are paying particular attention to the Coronation Chair, the seat on which English monarchs have been crowned since 1308. …

This was designed by Edward I to house the Coronation Stone, a sacred rock with mysterious origins that he brought from Scotland in 1296.

The platform is currently empty – but before the coronation on 6 May, the stone will be brought from Edinburgh Castle (where it’s housed alongside the Scottish Crown Jewels) to the Abbey when Charles III is crowned king of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Coronation Stone – also known as the Stone of Scone or Stone of Destiny – is an ancient symbol of Scottish sovereignty with links to Ireland and Spain, stolen by the English and even associated with biblical lore. …

According to legend, it was the same stone used by the biblical figure Jacob (the father of the Israelites) as a pillow in Bethel when he dreamed of a ladder reaching to heaven. From here, one of Jacob’s sons is said to have taken it to Egypt, from where it travelled to Spain and later to Ireland when the Spanish king’s son, Simon Brech, invaded the island in 700 BCE.

There it was placed on the sacred Hill of Tara near Skryne in County Meath and named the Lia Fail …

“There are a number of Lia Fail in ancient Irish history,” said Dr David Hume, an Ulster Scots historian, journalist and broadcaster. “In 496 CE, a stone was in the possession of King Fergus Mór mac Eirc who ruled Dalriada, a kingdom that spanned the Irish Sea and incorporated parts of Western Scotland.”

According to Hume, the story goes that Fergus took the Lia Fail stone from Ireland to Scotland when he moved his royal seat to Dunnadd in Argyll in 498 CE. However, it’s uncertain just how much of the story is true. The main evidence for it is in the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 CE, signed by the Scottish nobles in an appeal to the Pope to recognise Scottish independence, which mentions an “honour” passing through the Mediterranean Sea and coming from Israel.

Whatever the truth, we know that the stone was taken to Scone Abbey in Perthshire after Kenneth I – who united the Scots and Pictish kingdoms and is known as the first King of Scotland – moved his capital from Western Scotland to Scone in around 840 CE. This “Stone of Destiny” was used for centuries in the coronation ceremonies of Scottish monarchs.

But following his victory at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296, England’s King Edward I marched north, seized the stone from Scone Abbey and had it fitted into the base of a specially crafted wooden Coronation Chair on which English – and later British – monarchs have been crowned inside London’s Westminster Abbey ever since.

However, even this history remains disputed. …

“When the Stone was returned to Scotland in 1996, the process of removing it from the chair required great care to ensure both were protected throughout,” explained Kathy Richmond, head of Collections & Applied Conservation at Historic Environment Scotland. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230305-the-disputed-history-of-the-coronation-stone

In 1993, my wife Joyce and I saw the stone in the coronation chair, essentially  like it looked in the photo at the beginning of this post. Since it was moved to Scotland in 1996, we saw the coronation chair without the stone when we visited Westminster Abby again in 2019.

That said, the chair and stone were used for the coronation of King Charles III.

The old Radio Church of God published the following about the stone:

In Westminster Abbey is an intriguing stone, steel gray in color, mixed with red veins, twenty-two inches long, thirteen inches broad and eleven inches deep. Attached to each end is a worn iron ring by which the stone may be carried. This rock is not beautiful, yet it is more important than all the crown jewels! On it Elizabeth II was crowned.

For centuries the kings of Scotland — the ancestors of the present British royal family — were crowned upon it. Upon this stone the ancient Irish kings of this same royal family were also crowned, even as far back as five and one-half centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ.

What is the true significance of this rock? Where did it come from?

Ancient Irish annals prove the rock — which they called “Lia fail” meaning stone of destiny — did not originate in Ireland, but came by way of Spain from the East. It was brought by a white-haired old man — a prophet — who also brought a daughter of an Eastern king.

Through her marriage to the king of Ireland, she not only continued her father’s throne but also became the ancestor of a dynasty which has continued to Elizabeth II. …

Yes, on the throne of England reigns a daughter of David, a descendant of King Zedekiah’s daughter whom Jeremiah the prophet took to Ireland together with the stone of destiny. From the marriage of that young princess has descended a dynasty that has ruled Ireland, Scotland and England for over 2500 years! And all of them have been crowned over the some of destiny, Jacob’s pillow stone. (Why is the stone under the royal chair in Westminster Abbey in London called “Jacob’s Pillow Stone?” Plain Truth, July 1959)

The late evangelist Dr. Herman Hoeh (while in the Radio Church of God) wrote the following:

According to this Masonic tradition, a Prince Eochaid of Ireland came to Jerusalem several years before 585. He was present during the siege. This Eochaid (meaning Knight) was none other than Oilioll Olchaoin, the son of Siorna Saoghlach mac Dian called the Heremon. Eochaid was blood royal of the Milesian Zarah line. After the fall of Jerusalem he married Zedekiah’s daughter, named in the Masonic tradition Tea Tephi, of the Pharez line. They fled in 585 with Jeremiah and Baruch to Egypt.

The last Biblical record places them in Egypt. Masonic tradition, however, traces their journey to Ireland. Irish histories relate the arrival of a royal party in 569 B.C. (See “The Irish Prince and the Hebrew Prophet”, New York, 1896, pages 137-145). The arrivals included Prince Eochaid, his wife Tea Tephi, their son and a prophet called Ollamh Fodhla and his scribe Baruch. When they reached Tara, Eochaid was proclaimed king since his father had just died. A description from the Masonic tradition reads: “Jeremiah had joined the hands of the prince and princess over the sacred stone (lia fail) … and commanded the blessing of Israel’s God to rest upon the throne of David.” (“The Irish Prince and the Hebrew Prophet”, page 139). …

In 1296 Edward I of England declared himself king of Scotland and removed the coronation stone — Lia Fail — from Scone to Westminster. (Hoeh H. Compendium of World History. Ambassador College Thesis, 1967)

Now, Charles has officially succeeded his mother–and was coronated over that stone.

Here is some information in a book I have written tilted Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America?:

Stone of Destiny

As far as the “stone of destiny” goes, my wife and I saw what reportedly is it back in 1993 when it was in the coronation throne in Westminster Abby. It was not there the last time we visited Westminster Abby (2019) as it is now stored in Scotland.

According to legend, it was the coronation stone used by the kings of Judah and some think it originally was Jacob’s. Jacob had used a pillar stone as a pillow, then anointed it with oil, and said he it would be “God’s house” (Genesis 28:18-22).

If that stone ended up in the first Temple under the Holy of Holies as some Jews claim,[i] then it was not the coronation stone of scripture as that was not out in public view (cf. Leviticus 16:1-19; Hebrews 9:7-8).

During the time of that temple, the Bible points to coronations being done at/on a pillar stone that was in public, so that would not be at the Holy of Holies:

¹² … put upon him the crown and the insignia; and  they made him king, and anointed him; and… ¹⁴ … behold, the king stood on the platform, as the manner was … (2 Kings 11:12,14, Jewish Publication Society)

¹² … put the crown on him, and gave him the Testimony; they made him king and anointed him, and … ¹⁴ … there was the king standing by a pillar according to custom; (2 Kings 11:12,14, NKJV)

During the time of Jeremiah, King Josiah of Judah made a solemn covenant at what looks to be this very same stone (2 Kings 23:3).

Various ones have asserted that the coronation stone was brought to Ireland by Jeremiah and ended up in Scotland.[ii] Fergus, son of Erc, is claimed to have taken it from Ireland and brought it to Scotland.[iii] Some others claim that the true stone was actually kept in Ireland and a substitute was what was sent to Britain (but if so, no one seems know where it is). Some others say that King Edward took the wrong stone and there is one hidden in Scotland, but it has not been publicly revealed if that was the case. [iv]

The stone that currently is in Scotland, that King Edward I had taken from Scotland and brought to Westminster Abby in the late 1200s, is made from red sandstone, but does not look red at all. Some say it originated from Scone, Scotland and not from the Middle East—if so, then one or more of the transfer legends are in error. The reports that a stone was taken from Ireland to Scotland contradicts the Scottish origin of the stone, as others have noted.[v] Hence, the Scottish origin of the stone may not be a fact like some have asserted.[vi]

It may be of interest to note that there is red sandstone in Haran, where Jacob’s pillar stone originated, as well as many other places in the Middle East, including Petra. So, it may be possible that the stone in Scotland could have come from Jeremiah, but that is not dogma as we have not scientifically examined the stone ourselves to attempt to determine its original location.

However, it should be pointed out that the phallic stone currently at the Lia Fail on the Hill of Tara was not brought by Jeremiah. Legend says Tea Tephi removed an original phallic stone which was part of pagan worship.[vii] After the Stone of Destiny went to Britain or otherwise left the Hill of Tara, a phallic stone was put back there and is there now.[viii]

That is consistent with reports that there were two different origins of the Lia Fail. One is that Tuatha de Danann brought it from Germany and it is an ancient pagan symbol, and the other is that a Milesian leader brought it over from Spain.[ix] Since Tea Tephi reportedly came to Ireland via Spain,[x] that could explain both stones (and there could be more than two).

The following from the 19^th century mentions Jeremiah and the stone:

We have seen a late work on prophecy gravely affirming that the Prophet Jeremiah died in Ireland, having been forced hither by the wandering sons of Ephraim. One of the few unquestionable facts connected with early Irish history, is the intercourse between Ireland and the Phoenicians, through Spain. The Israelitish settlers, according to the tradition, carried with them Jacob’s pillow or pillar, known as the Lia Fail or Stone of Destiny, which secured a perpetual monarchy to the people so happy as to possess it. This stone, at the crowning of the first king of the Scots in Scotland, was borrowed ….[xi]

The above legend is interesting as it looks to tie Ephraim in with the British Isles, and affirms the idea that Jeremiah also came to the isles. In the 43^rd chapter of Jeremiah, Jeremiah is shown to be with the “king’s daughters” (Jeremiah 43:1-6), but nothing like the pillar stone is mentioned with them.

That said, King Charles is expected to be coronated on a throne that will contain the ‘Stone of Scone.’[xii]

[i] Vilnay Z. Legends of Jerusalem Volume 1. Jewish Publication Society, 1973, pp. 9-10

[ii] E.g. Plain Truth Staff. The Bible Answers Short Questions From Our Readers. Plain Truth Magazine July 1959; The Christian remembrancer; or, The Churchman’s Biblical, ecclesiastical & literary miscellany. 1864, p. 2

[iii] Poole WH. Anglo-Israel Or, The Saxon Race, Proved to be the Lost Tribes of Israel. W. Briggs, 1889, p. 501

[iv] Cartwright M. Stone of Scone. World History Encyclopedia, 2018.

[v] Ibid; Johnson B. The Stone of Destiny. Hiatoric UK, viewed 03/06/23.

[vi] Enfield L. The disputed history of the Coronation Stone. BBC, March 6, 2023

[vii] Yarrow S. The Legend of Teia Tephi, Queen of Ireland. http://www.pocketoz.com.au/colours/covenant_tephi.html accessed 08/12/22

[viii] Joyce PW. The Wonders of Ireland and Other Papers on Irish Subjects, Longmans, Green, and Company, 1911, p. 70

[ix] Petrie, pp. 161-162

[x] Petrie, p. 130

[xi] The Christian remembrancer; or, The Churchman’s Biblical, ecclesiastical & literary miscellany. 1864, p. 2

[xii] Enfield L. The disputed history of the Coronation Stone. BBC, March 6, 2023

Related to ties that the British royalty has to the ancient Davidic throne of Israel, the Continuing Church of God put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

Here is a link to our video: Lia Fail and the British Monarchy.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 6th, 2024 at 12:01 am and is filed under Old Testament History, Prophecy.

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