We now have a plausible explanation as to how God’s promise of the scepter being retained by Judah was fulfilled—through the line of Zerah. Judah’s Zarhite heirs, through Trojan and Milesian descent, would reign over the nations of Europe—particularly over Israel in the British Isles, as the high kingly line of Ireland would eventually be transferred to Scotland and later to England.

Yet this still does not answer the question of how God would fulfill the specific promises to David, who was descended from Perez, does it? But if we think carefully on the matter, we can see that it really does. For remember Jeremiah and his company? At last mention, we wondered where he would go next with the king’s daughters, yet knew that he was to transfer the throne of Judah to Israel.

In one sense there were many options as to where to go since the bulk of the northern 10 tribes were now scattered from east of the Caspian Sea all the way into eastern Europe, pressing westward—while a sizeable vanguard of Israel had already colonized western Europe. Yet for a God who foretold the future—and would reveal it to his servants the prophets, including Jeremiah (see Amos 3:8)—there was really only one place to go. Of course, this assertion requires some explanation.

It was earlier shown from Scripture that the birthright promises of national greatness went to the sons of the patriarch Joseph—Ephraim and Manasseh. Our booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy proves that Manasseh is now America and that Ephraim today is the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and those of British descent in other former British colonies. The heyday of Ephraim’s national greatness came during the British Empire—as mentioned earlier, the largest empire in the history of the world.

David’s descendants, as we’ve seen, were to rule over Israel and become the "highest of the kings of the earth" (Psalm 89:27). God further said of David’s dynasty, "I will set his hand [or authority] also in the sea" (Psalm 89:25). This is very much like the unofficial anthem of the British people: "When Britain first at Heaven’s command, arose from out of the azure main; this was the charter of the land, and guardian angels sang this strain: Rule, Britannia. Britannia, rule the waves . . ." Indeed, no nation has ruled the sea—nor the land for that matter—as has Great Britain. Clearly, the monarchy of David must be one and the same with the monarchy of Britain.

Following the primary line of descent of the British throne back to the time of Jeremiah leads us to Ireland. God, of course, knew that the Irish royal line of Jeremiah’s day would eventually become the British monarchy. Logically, then, that is where He would have directed the steps of Jeremiah with at least one of Zedekiah’s daughters in tow—to marry her into the royal line of Zerah and thereby perpetuate the throne of David.