What was the Real Significance of the Coronation of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie the 1st 86 years ago
By Karl Phillpotts Naphtali graphics by bro Adam Simeon
1
Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour
Yeshua The Messiah Jesus the Christ Saviour of the
World who has revealed Himself to us through the person-
ality (or instrumentality ) of His Imperial Majesty Emperor
Haile Selassie1 King of Kings Lion of
Judah Elect of God
Greetings through the Twelve Tribes of Israel once scat-
tered and now founded in the island of Jamaica by our be-
loved Prophet Brother Gad
Greetings through the Orthodox Faith which is not one of
writs and rites but a function of the heart acquired
through a mystical incorporation of unity in One in plain
words to be born again
Greetings also through the Royal family of Ethiopia rep-
resented in the person of His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Zara Yacob Asfa Wossen
I give thanks to the Most High the Eternal I Am Who was Who is and Who is to come for
His mercies in allowing me the privilege of health strength and guidance to be able to sub-
mit my thoughts about the significance of the Coronation of His Imperial Majesty Emperor
Haile Selassie 1st Give thanks that another door has been opened to Glorify and Magnify the
Lord Most High and speak the truth the Word as written from which Faith is derived
I thought deeply and prayed that The Most High guide my thoughts on such an important
topic especially as it relates to the 85th year of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation I even took
the opportunity to look up the Thesaurus definition of what seemed to be a simple word sig-
nificance as words are so deep and important Definitions for the word significance that
came up were implications meaning consequences importance and impact
I will first focus on the latter Thesaurus definition of significance impact
The Impact
The news of the Coronation of Ras Tafari Makonnen on November 2nd 1930 with the name
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 (properly translated as name given means Instrument of
the Power of the Trinity ) King of Kings of Ethiopia Lion of Judah Elect of God kindled an in-
describable energy of Messianic expectation amongst our early foreparents of the era and has
never ceased to generate the growth of a movement surrounding the event
2
The Holy Bible and its Scriptures became more relevant and
real to a people experiencing over 400 years of earthly social
political and economic oppression as the Biblical children of
Israel did Just try for a moment to imagine a time when
almost all Africans and their descendants in the Diaspora
with the exception of Ethiopia were under colonial rule Then
suddenly an African king being crowned with titles which
could be interpreted to have Messianic significance To make
it more impacting it involved a widely publicized coronation
ceremony with the precise blueprint reminiscent of the cere-
mony accorded to King David and His Royal House an Ethio-
pian king recognized and identified with the tribe of Judah
the tribe associated with the Davidic Covenant and the 225th
descendant of a union of King Solomon of Jerusalem and the
Queen of Sheba of Ethiopia
Present at this Coronation 86 years ago were representatives from many nations includ-
ing the same colonial powers that had our people and countries elsewhere in bondage They
were there supposedly paying homage to an African king with roots that stretched back over
3000 years into Biblical History The Duke of Gloucester the son of King George of Great
Britain was present and restored to His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 a scepter that
was taken away from Ethiopia years before On this golden scepter was written ldquoEthiopia
shall stretch forth her hands unto Godrdquo (Psalms 68 vs 31)
Instantly a connection to the Messianic prophecies in the Bible and its message of national
liberation and redemption became connected with 20 Century circumstances in the theology
and lives of many of our foreparents They had heard or read about the Coronation and a few
had witnessed this spectacular event It was an event that impacted their spiritual aware-
ness their hopes as well as their aspirations Now the circumstances of the African Holo-
caust dispersion and bondage not merely resembled that of Israel but this Coronation event
confirmed and affirmed an identity of our people with the lost dispersed tribes of Israel as
recorded in the Holy Bible
The Roman and Greek versions of Christianity preached by White missionaries offering
freedom in death and somewhere off the earth was shaken at its very foundation The Origi-
nal Gospel of the early followers of Jesus began to be restored in the minds and hearts of a
people in bondage The real message of a Kingdom to be restored and established on the
earth not in the sky or after death became clear The hope that the ldquomeek would inherit the
earthrdquo instead was rekindled Our foreparents had read in the Book of Daniel that the God of
Heaven promised to set up here on earth a Kingdom that would break (ie subdue and
overthrow) the Satanic Babylonish Governments and system that controlled the world
Godrsquos Covenant with King David in Psalms 87 and 2 Samuel Chapter 7 appeared to be
manifesting itself before their very eyes in the 20th Century in the Coronation of Ras Tafari 3
Ethiopians Historians Theologians Pastors Bible scholars and the
average person have not began to seriously consider or imagine
what this event meant to a people longing for an end to oppression
and restoration to their ancestral homeland This event has kindled
a flame and zeal among our elders and even today among our
youths as never witnessed amongst indigenous religions in our is-
land or the African Diaspora and amazingly today among many oth-
er races and nationalities
The Consequence
The most widely referred to chapter and verses in the Bible that correlated with this Coronation
and thus impacted the Rastafarian movement were cited in the Book of Revelation Chapter 5 Vs
1-5
Here John recorded in this book his being caught up in a heavenly vision and revelation from Je-
sus Christ ldquowhich God gave Him to show his servants which must shortly come to passhelliprdquo Rev11
Revelation 5 Vs 1-5
Then I saw in the right hand of him who open the
scroll 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the
earth could open the scroll or even look inside it 4I wept
and wept because no one was found who was worthy to
open the scroll or look inside 5Then one of the elders
said to me Do not weep See the Lion of the tribe of Ju-
dah the Root of David has triumphed He is able to
open the scroll and its seven seals
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and his prede-
cessor Emperor Menelik 2nd had always used the Lion Of Judah
symbol as their official seal and Royal Standard of their Kingdom
herein mentioned This was in keeping with their Biblical Judaic
Christian tradition inherited directly from their ancestors from
Jerusalem to Ethiopia The anointing and crowning kings of the
Royal House of King David was always a ceremony foreshadowing
the return of the Messiah Jesus and memorializing Godrsquos Cove-
nant with King David
The founding fathers of the Rastafari movement interpreted
this Coronation ceremony as the actual coming of the Messianic
King from the lineage of King David the one who would rescue them the lost tribes of Israel
from captivity and restore them to the land of our foreparents and establish the Millennium
Kingdom
Joseph Hibbert
4
However the numerous issues that the coming of The Messiah is prophesied to re-
solve have persisted in our world even to a greater extent than ever before in hu-
man history The ever increasing human misery poverty oppression injustice bro-
ken families murders deaths and wars in over 60 areas of the globe have after
these 86 years shaken these Messianic expectations and rendered them very much
premature and inaccurate The unchanged state of the world and its ripening in
evil has so much shattered these premature messianic hopes and interpretations to
the extent that any honest Rastafari seeker of truth and scholar of the Bible must
re-examine and revisit these Scriptures with fear and trembling
The dispersion and exile is still with us Babylon and its evil forces are still very
much in charge and most telling to the contradiction of prophecy His Imperial
Majesty Haile Selassie 1st has departed from the current scene of world affairs
These realities all being contrary to prophecies concerning the appearing of the
Messianic Kingdom Age of peace righteousness justice and prosperity which in-
volves the resurrection of the righteous Saints the transformation or translation
of the living Saints and the bounding of Satan the deceiver and accuser Satan has
not yet been bound yet for the thousand years (in fact being more loose than ever
before) as should have been in the predicted Millennium reign of Christ on earth
The Implications Such a longing and desire of mankind for relief and redemption from oppression is
legitimate However desires have often lead us to premature expectations and the
seeking of signs hastening and even usurping the timing and will of our Infinite
Creator This is nothing new in the history of Messianic movements
The Disciples had hoped that their Master Jesus would overthrow Rome with all
his demonstrated power When he informed Peter that He would first be betrayed
by the elders and the high priest and handed over to the Romans to suffer be cruci-
fied and then rise on the third day Peter rebuked Jesus protesting that this would
never happen Jesus had to rebuke his atti-
tude as one encouraged by Satan to have
things according to manrsquos will and timing
instead of submitting to Gods Sovereign will
and timing ldquoGet hence behind me Satan
You prefer the things of men (meaning
manrsquos way) rather than the things ( perfect
Sovereign will) of God hellipAnyone wishing to
be my disciple must first deny himself (his
personal desires) and take up his cross daily
and follow merdquo said Jesus to him
(parenthesis mine)
Also previously during the reign of King
David many of his subjects saw him David
being the Lordrsquos anointed as the one to establish the Messianic Kingdom in their
day Peter years later after Jesusrsquo crucifixion resurrection and ascension matured
now in the Faith and having divine understanding had to stand up and consul Is-
rael on that premature expectation He enlightened his fellow brethren that these
Messianic promises that David heard from God was but a prophetic vision about
some future occurrence concerning one of his descendants as you may also read
for yourself prayerfully in Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 Vs 22-39 5
22 ldquoFellow Israelites listen to this Jesus of Nazareth was a man ac-credited by God to you by miracles wonders and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know This man was handed over to you by Godrsquos deliberate plan and foreknowledge and you with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross but God raised him from the dead freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him David said about him ldquolsquoI saw the Lord always before me Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices my body also will rest in hope because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead you will not let your holy one see decay You have made known to me the paths of life you will fill me with joy in your pres-encersquo ldquoFellow Israelites I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne Seeing what was to come he spoke of the resurrec-tion of the Messiah that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead nor did his body see decay God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of it Exalted to the right hand of God he has re-ceived from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear For David did not ascend to heaven and yet he said ldquolsquoThe Lord said to my Lord ldquoSit at my right hand 5 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feetrdquo ldquoTherefore let all Israel be assured of this God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Messiahrdquo 37 When the people heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles ldquoBrothers what shall we dordquo Peter replied ldquoRepent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit The prom-ise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the Lord our God will callrdquo 40 With many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them ldquoSave yourselves from this cor-rupt generationrdquo Those who accepted his message were baptized and about three thousand were added to their number that day
The Apostle Peter then informed Israel then and we are informed today that the
Heavens must retain Him Jesus UNTIL the time of the Restoration of all the
things spoken of by the prophets 17 ldquoNow fellow Israelites I know that you acted in ignorance as did your leaders But this is how God ful-filled what he had foretold through all the prophets saying that his Messiah would suffer Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out that times of refreshing may come from the Lord 20 and that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed for youmdasheven Jesus 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything as he promised long ago through his holy prophets 22 For Moses said lsquoThe Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own peo-ple you must listen to everything he tells you Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people ldquoIndeed beginning with Samuel all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers He said to Abraham lsquoThrough your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed26 When God raised up his servant he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked waysrdquo (Acts 4Vs 17-26)
This now leads my readers and most importantly my Rastafari brethren to ponder this revo-
lutionary confession and testimony on the significance of this magnificent 20th Century
event reconnection us to Biblical History through an Ethiopian King of the Davidic and Sol-
omonic House of Judah The following questions must then be asked of my position ldquoWhat
then is the real significance or rather importance of this prestigious event Was it then a
simple ceremonial African cultural event without begging a meaning or adding any signifi-
cance to it
6
The Real Meaning of the Coronation revealed
I propose that the answer to the real significance or importance of this historical event to us
can be found in Godrsquos saving grace (ie unmerited favour) towards us a despised and down-
trodden people God like in the times of bondage in Egypt heard the cry of our people and
saw their affliction and visited us
I am convinced that God in His grace towards us preserved a seed of the Royal House of
David as a light and in Ethiopia the most ancient Christian nation on earth This was an
act of His Grace towards us leading us eventually and progressively to the true Christian
faith through accepting the Bible and Jesus as Master
and Saviour of the World The significance or im-
portance of the Coronation does not lie merely in
its pomp or the prestige and pride it gave us to see
an African King being crowned in a free African
nation Rather the answer to the importance lies
in the activity of Godrsquos anointed Holy Spirit as
manifested in the lives character and instrumen-
tality of the Emperor and Empress who were
Crowned If our Rastafari Brethren and Sisters truth-
fully study the life and teachings of His Imperial Majesty
Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and Empress Mennen they
will see clearly that from their earliest age right up
through their Coronation and their latter years they were devout followers of Jesus Christ
and the teachings of the Holy Bible They never failed either in example or words to encour-
age us to follow devotedly its teachings As Haile Selassie 1st said
ldquo hellip All through my youth I had been taught to appreciate the Bible and my love for
it increases with the passage of timerdquoAll through my difficulties I have found the
Bible a cause for infinite comfortrdquo
To illustrate my point some more let us look honestly at this quote which I have found to be
the key message of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1He
has advised us in the spirit of wisdom of his forbearers
hellipToday man sees all his hopes and aspirations crum-
bling before him He is perplexed and knows not where
he is drifting But he must realize that the Bible is his
refuge and the rallying point of all humanity In it man
will find the solution for his present difficulties and
guidance for his future action and unless he accepts
with clear conscience the Bible and its great message
he cannot hope for salvation For my part I Glory in the
Bible
7
When by the Grace of God I repented prayed and accepted with a clear con-
science the Holy Bible and its message as directed by the Coronate King Emperor
Haile Selassie1 then God removed a vail from before mine eyes I then went and
looked again at Revelation Chapter 5 It was really then the eyes of my under-
standing was opened to the fact that we had left off something of crucial im-
portance to the understanding of Godrsquos revelation We had either failed or been
somewhat diverted from reading the other 5 verses vs 6-10 of the Book of Revela-
tion Chapter 5 We had therefore taken verses 1-5 out of context to meet our urgent
desire for immediate redemption from prevailing social economic and political cir-
cumstances To our own detriment we had ignored the passage which revealed the
One who redeemed mankind from his own sinful nature the real enemy of man-
kind
I then became aware that Our hopes and aspirations were based on a ldquohalf-truthrdquo This ex-
plosive admission of a student of the Bible and also His Imperial Majesty was profoundly
brought out when I examined with a clear conscience the following 5 verses Please recall
that revelation 5 vs 1-5 records John hearing the angel telling him to not to weep as the Lion
of Judah had prevailed to take the sealed scroll from the hand of Him who sat upon the
throne and open it However when he opened his eyes and looked this is what he saw
6Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain standing in the center of the
throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders He had seven horns and
seven eyes which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth 7He came
and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne 8And when he
had taken it the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb Each one had a
harp and they were hold-
ing golden bowls full of
incense which are the
prayers of the saints 9And
they sang a new song
You are worthy to take
the scroll and to open its
seals
because you were slain
and with your blood you
purchased men for God
from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and na-
tion
10You have made them to
be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth
8
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon
thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand They encircled the throne and the
living creatures and the elders 12In a loud voice they
sang
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise ( emphasis color red
mine)
Now I must ask this question of my brethren and sis-
ters Who is this Lamb that was slain that with his
blood purchased men for God from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and nation and who went and took
the book from the hand of Him that sat on the throne
Is the Lamb seen by John also the one announced as
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Why then is the Lion of Judah symbol in the Ethiopian
triune red gold and green flag seen carrying a cross over its shoulders
Who really is this slain Lamb redeeming atoning conquering through his death
and resurrection and found worthy to receive the title deed to judge and rule the
heavens and finally the earth in the Age to come
Who is this one now being retained in the Heavens UNTIL ldquo the restoration of all
things spoken of by the prophets since the earth beganrdquo
I confess that it is no other than Jesus Yeshua Iye-
sus or in any language referencing Him
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st himself said 56
years ago
ldquo I know I am saved not by anything that is of char-
acter or work of the human heart but by the blood of
Jesus alonerdquo (see African Challenge Magazine Nov 1960 30th
Coronation Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 of
Ethiopia)
Note for future reference that this statement by Haile Se-
lassie1st is the essence and summation of the Christian
Faith in just a few words
So what then about His Imperial Majesty being crowned
with these titles This is an obvious question arising from
this earthshaking confession to my brothers and sisters
9
My inspired answer to all is this Firstly
these titles are associated with the
throne and the Royal House of Judah
from a blessing of Jacob thousands of
years ago Judah your brothers will
praise you your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies your fathers
sons will bow down to you You are a
lions cub O Judah you return from
the prey my son Like a lion he
crouches and lies down like a lion-
essmdashwho dares to rouse him 10 The
scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers staff from between his feet un-
til he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his (Until my
emphasis) (NIV) I used the New International Version quote here as it breaks down the
meaning of Shiloh as ldquoto whom it belongsrdquo
Thus any descendant of the House of Judah who is Anointed or Christ-end King is allowed
to bear represent and be custodian or standard bearer of the lion cub messianic title as
a shadow or reminder of He who is to come
These Kings (descendants preserved in Ethiopia) fulfill a vision of King Solomon
the night he lay with the Queen of Sheba (as recorded in the Ethiopia Geez histo-
ry of ldquoThe Glory of the Kings or ldquoKebra Negastrdquo ) which was interpreted by the High
Priest Zadok These descendants were to be that natural cohabited seed that de-
parted to Ethiopia in the womb of Sheba This however did not annul or neither
did it replace the promise made in Genesis of the noncohabited ldquoseed of the wom-
anrdquo that would ldquocrush the head of the serpentrdquo fulfilled by the planting into the
womb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem by the Most High God
Himself His only begotten Son Jesus He was not born by the
will of man but by the will of God This fact was also brought
out in the record of the Kebra Negast concerning King Solo-
monrsquos vision that the spiritual seed was sent to Jerusalem via
the womb of Mary and a natural cohabited seed through the
Queen of Sheba to Ethiopia This extension of knowledge in
the Kebra Negast has helped to unlock this 85 year old Coro-
nation door to proper understanding (I must note here that this
lsquooverstandingrsquo was also made clear to me through the Grace of God by
His Holy Spirit working through the prophet Bro Gad founder of the
12 Tribes of Israel and explained also through the chief professor of
Ethiopian religious history Alika Ayeleu Tamru a physically blind
priest)
10
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour
Yeshua The Messiah Jesus the Christ Saviour of the
World who has revealed Himself to us through the person-
ality (or instrumentality ) of His Imperial Majesty Emperor
Haile Selassie1 King of Kings Lion of
Judah Elect of God
Greetings through the Twelve Tribes of Israel once scat-
tered and now founded in the island of Jamaica by our be-
loved Prophet Brother Gad
Greetings through the Orthodox Faith which is not one of
writs and rites but a function of the heart acquired
through a mystical incorporation of unity in One in plain
words to be born again
Greetings also through the Royal family of Ethiopia rep-
resented in the person of His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Zara Yacob Asfa Wossen
I give thanks to the Most High the Eternal I Am Who was Who is and Who is to come for
His mercies in allowing me the privilege of health strength and guidance to be able to sub-
mit my thoughts about the significance of the Coronation of His Imperial Majesty Emperor
Haile Selassie 1st Give thanks that another door has been opened to Glorify and Magnify the
Lord Most High and speak the truth the Word as written from which Faith is derived
I thought deeply and prayed that The Most High guide my thoughts on such an important
topic especially as it relates to the 85th year of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation I even took
the opportunity to look up the Thesaurus definition of what seemed to be a simple word sig-
nificance as words are so deep and important Definitions for the word significance that
came up were implications meaning consequences importance and impact
I will first focus on the latter Thesaurus definition of significance impact
The Impact
The news of the Coronation of Ras Tafari Makonnen on November 2nd 1930 with the name
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 (properly translated as name given means Instrument of
the Power of the Trinity ) King of Kings of Ethiopia Lion of Judah Elect of God kindled an in-
describable energy of Messianic expectation amongst our early foreparents of the era and has
never ceased to generate the growth of a movement surrounding the event
2
The Holy Bible and its Scriptures became more relevant and
real to a people experiencing over 400 years of earthly social
political and economic oppression as the Biblical children of
Israel did Just try for a moment to imagine a time when
almost all Africans and their descendants in the Diaspora
with the exception of Ethiopia were under colonial rule Then
suddenly an African king being crowned with titles which
could be interpreted to have Messianic significance To make
it more impacting it involved a widely publicized coronation
ceremony with the precise blueprint reminiscent of the cere-
mony accorded to King David and His Royal House an Ethio-
pian king recognized and identified with the tribe of Judah
the tribe associated with the Davidic Covenant and the 225th
descendant of a union of King Solomon of Jerusalem and the
Queen of Sheba of Ethiopia
Present at this Coronation 86 years ago were representatives from many nations includ-
ing the same colonial powers that had our people and countries elsewhere in bondage They
were there supposedly paying homage to an African king with roots that stretched back over
3000 years into Biblical History The Duke of Gloucester the son of King George of Great
Britain was present and restored to His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 a scepter that
was taken away from Ethiopia years before On this golden scepter was written ldquoEthiopia
shall stretch forth her hands unto Godrdquo (Psalms 68 vs 31)
Instantly a connection to the Messianic prophecies in the Bible and its message of national
liberation and redemption became connected with 20 Century circumstances in the theology
and lives of many of our foreparents They had heard or read about the Coronation and a few
had witnessed this spectacular event It was an event that impacted their spiritual aware-
ness their hopes as well as their aspirations Now the circumstances of the African Holo-
caust dispersion and bondage not merely resembled that of Israel but this Coronation event
confirmed and affirmed an identity of our people with the lost dispersed tribes of Israel as
recorded in the Holy Bible
The Roman and Greek versions of Christianity preached by White missionaries offering
freedom in death and somewhere off the earth was shaken at its very foundation The Origi-
nal Gospel of the early followers of Jesus began to be restored in the minds and hearts of a
people in bondage The real message of a Kingdom to be restored and established on the
earth not in the sky or after death became clear The hope that the ldquomeek would inherit the
earthrdquo instead was rekindled Our foreparents had read in the Book of Daniel that the God of
Heaven promised to set up here on earth a Kingdom that would break (ie subdue and
overthrow) the Satanic Babylonish Governments and system that controlled the world
Godrsquos Covenant with King David in Psalms 87 and 2 Samuel Chapter 7 appeared to be
manifesting itself before their very eyes in the 20th Century in the Coronation of Ras Tafari 3
Ethiopians Historians Theologians Pastors Bible scholars and the
average person have not began to seriously consider or imagine
what this event meant to a people longing for an end to oppression
and restoration to their ancestral homeland This event has kindled
a flame and zeal among our elders and even today among our
youths as never witnessed amongst indigenous religions in our is-
land or the African Diaspora and amazingly today among many oth-
er races and nationalities
The Consequence
The most widely referred to chapter and verses in the Bible that correlated with this Coronation
and thus impacted the Rastafarian movement were cited in the Book of Revelation Chapter 5 Vs
1-5
Here John recorded in this book his being caught up in a heavenly vision and revelation from Je-
sus Christ ldquowhich God gave Him to show his servants which must shortly come to passhelliprdquo Rev11
Revelation 5 Vs 1-5
Then I saw in the right hand of him who open the
scroll 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the
earth could open the scroll or even look inside it 4I wept
and wept because no one was found who was worthy to
open the scroll or look inside 5Then one of the elders
said to me Do not weep See the Lion of the tribe of Ju-
dah the Root of David has triumphed He is able to
open the scroll and its seven seals
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and his prede-
cessor Emperor Menelik 2nd had always used the Lion Of Judah
symbol as their official seal and Royal Standard of their Kingdom
herein mentioned This was in keeping with their Biblical Judaic
Christian tradition inherited directly from their ancestors from
Jerusalem to Ethiopia The anointing and crowning kings of the
Royal House of King David was always a ceremony foreshadowing
the return of the Messiah Jesus and memorializing Godrsquos Cove-
nant with King David
The founding fathers of the Rastafari movement interpreted
this Coronation ceremony as the actual coming of the Messianic
King from the lineage of King David the one who would rescue them the lost tribes of Israel
from captivity and restore them to the land of our foreparents and establish the Millennium
Kingdom
Joseph Hibbert
4
However the numerous issues that the coming of The Messiah is prophesied to re-
solve have persisted in our world even to a greater extent than ever before in hu-
man history The ever increasing human misery poverty oppression injustice bro-
ken families murders deaths and wars in over 60 areas of the globe have after
these 86 years shaken these Messianic expectations and rendered them very much
premature and inaccurate The unchanged state of the world and its ripening in
evil has so much shattered these premature messianic hopes and interpretations to
the extent that any honest Rastafari seeker of truth and scholar of the Bible must
re-examine and revisit these Scriptures with fear and trembling
The dispersion and exile is still with us Babylon and its evil forces are still very
much in charge and most telling to the contradiction of prophecy His Imperial
Majesty Haile Selassie 1st has departed from the current scene of world affairs
These realities all being contrary to prophecies concerning the appearing of the
Messianic Kingdom Age of peace righteousness justice and prosperity which in-
volves the resurrection of the righteous Saints the transformation or translation
of the living Saints and the bounding of Satan the deceiver and accuser Satan has
not yet been bound yet for the thousand years (in fact being more loose than ever
before) as should have been in the predicted Millennium reign of Christ on earth
The Implications Such a longing and desire of mankind for relief and redemption from oppression is
legitimate However desires have often lead us to premature expectations and the
seeking of signs hastening and even usurping the timing and will of our Infinite
Creator This is nothing new in the history of Messianic movements
The Disciples had hoped that their Master Jesus would overthrow Rome with all
his demonstrated power When he informed Peter that He would first be betrayed
by the elders and the high priest and handed over to the Romans to suffer be cruci-
fied and then rise on the third day Peter rebuked Jesus protesting that this would
never happen Jesus had to rebuke his atti-
tude as one encouraged by Satan to have
things according to manrsquos will and timing
instead of submitting to Gods Sovereign will
and timing ldquoGet hence behind me Satan
You prefer the things of men (meaning
manrsquos way) rather than the things ( perfect
Sovereign will) of God hellipAnyone wishing to
be my disciple must first deny himself (his
personal desires) and take up his cross daily
and follow merdquo said Jesus to him
(parenthesis mine)
Also previously during the reign of King
David many of his subjects saw him David
being the Lordrsquos anointed as the one to establish the Messianic Kingdom in their
day Peter years later after Jesusrsquo crucifixion resurrection and ascension matured
now in the Faith and having divine understanding had to stand up and consul Is-
rael on that premature expectation He enlightened his fellow brethren that these
Messianic promises that David heard from God was but a prophetic vision about
some future occurrence concerning one of his descendants as you may also read
for yourself prayerfully in Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 Vs 22-39 5
22 ldquoFellow Israelites listen to this Jesus of Nazareth was a man ac-credited by God to you by miracles wonders and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know This man was handed over to you by Godrsquos deliberate plan and foreknowledge and you with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross but God raised him from the dead freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him David said about him ldquolsquoI saw the Lord always before me Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices my body also will rest in hope because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead you will not let your holy one see decay You have made known to me the paths of life you will fill me with joy in your pres-encersquo ldquoFellow Israelites I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne Seeing what was to come he spoke of the resurrec-tion of the Messiah that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead nor did his body see decay God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of it Exalted to the right hand of God he has re-ceived from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear For David did not ascend to heaven and yet he said ldquolsquoThe Lord said to my Lord ldquoSit at my right hand 5 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feetrdquo ldquoTherefore let all Israel be assured of this God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Messiahrdquo 37 When the people heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles ldquoBrothers what shall we dordquo Peter replied ldquoRepent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit The prom-ise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the Lord our God will callrdquo 40 With many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them ldquoSave yourselves from this cor-rupt generationrdquo Those who accepted his message were baptized and about three thousand were added to their number that day
The Apostle Peter then informed Israel then and we are informed today that the
Heavens must retain Him Jesus UNTIL the time of the Restoration of all the
things spoken of by the prophets 17 ldquoNow fellow Israelites I know that you acted in ignorance as did your leaders But this is how God ful-filled what he had foretold through all the prophets saying that his Messiah would suffer Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out that times of refreshing may come from the Lord 20 and that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed for youmdasheven Jesus 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything as he promised long ago through his holy prophets 22 For Moses said lsquoThe Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own peo-ple you must listen to everything he tells you Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people ldquoIndeed beginning with Samuel all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers He said to Abraham lsquoThrough your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed26 When God raised up his servant he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked waysrdquo (Acts 4Vs 17-26)
This now leads my readers and most importantly my Rastafari brethren to ponder this revo-
lutionary confession and testimony on the significance of this magnificent 20th Century
event reconnection us to Biblical History through an Ethiopian King of the Davidic and Sol-
omonic House of Judah The following questions must then be asked of my position ldquoWhat
then is the real significance or rather importance of this prestigious event Was it then a
simple ceremonial African cultural event without begging a meaning or adding any signifi-
cance to it
6
The Real Meaning of the Coronation revealed
I propose that the answer to the real significance or importance of this historical event to us
can be found in Godrsquos saving grace (ie unmerited favour) towards us a despised and down-
trodden people God like in the times of bondage in Egypt heard the cry of our people and
saw their affliction and visited us
I am convinced that God in His grace towards us preserved a seed of the Royal House of
David as a light and in Ethiopia the most ancient Christian nation on earth This was an
act of His Grace towards us leading us eventually and progressively to the true Christian
faith through accepting the Bible and Jesus as Master
and Saviour of the World The significance or im-
portance of the Coronation does not lie merely in
its pomp or the prestige and pride it gave us to see
an African King being crowned in a free African
nation Rather the answer to the importance lies
in the activity of Godrsquos anointed Holy Spirit as
manifested in the lives character and instrumen-
tality of the Emperor and Empress who were
Crowned If our Rastafari Brethren and Sisters truth-
fully study the life and teachings of His Imperial Majesty
Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and Empress Mennen they
will see clearly that from their earliest age right up
through their Coronation and their latter years they were devout followers of Jesus Christ
and the teachings of the Holy Bible They never failed either in example or words to encour-
age us to follow devotedly its teachings As Haile Selassie 1st said
ldquo hellip All through my youth I had been taught to appreciate the Bible and my love for
it increases with the passage of timerdquoAll through my difficulties I have found the
Bible a cause for infinite comfortrdquo
To illustrate my point some more let us look honestly at this quote which I have found to be
the key message of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1He
has advised us in the spirit of wisdom of his forbearers
hellipToday man sees all his hopes and aspirations crum-
bling before him He is perplexed and knows not where
he is drifting But he must realize that the Bible is his
refuge and the rallying point of all humanity In it man
will find the solution for his present difficulties and
guidance for his future action and unless he accepts
with clear conscience the Bible and its great message
he cannot hope for salvation For my part I Glory in the
Bible
7
When by the Grace of God I repented prayed and accepted with a clear con-
science the Holy Bible and its message as directed by the Coronate King Emperor
Haile Selassie1 then God removed a vail from before mine eyes I then went and
looked again at Revelation Chapter 5 It was really then the eyes of my under-
standing was opened to the fact that we had left off something of crucial im-
portance to the understanding of Godrsquos revelation We had either failed or been
somewhat diverted from reading the other 5 verses vs 6-10 of the Book of Revela-
tion Chapter 5 We had therefore taken verses 1-5 out of context to meet our urgent
desire for immediate redemption from prevailing social economic and political cir-
cumstances To our own detriment we had ignored the passage which revealed the
One who redeemed mankind from his own sinful nature the real enemy of man-
kind
I then became aware that Our hopes and aspirations were based on a ldquohalf-truthrdquo This ex-
plosive admission of a student of the Bible and also His Imperial Majesty was profoundly
brought out when I examined with a clear conscience the following 5 verses Please recall
that revelation 5 vs 1-5 records John hearing the angel telling him to not to weep as the Lion
of Judah had prevailed to take the sealed scroll from the hand of Him who sat upon the
throne and open it However when he opened his eyes and looked this is what he saw
6Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain standing in the center of the
throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders He had seven horns and
seven eyes which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth 7He came
and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne 8And when he
had taken it the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb Each one had a
harp and they were hold-
ing golden bowls full of
incense which are the
prayers of the saints 9And
they sang a new song
You are worthy to take
the scroll and to open its
seals
because you were slain
and with your blood you
purchased men for God
from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and na-
tion
10You have made them to
be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth
8
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon
thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand They encircled the throne and the
living creatures and the elders 12In a loud voice they
sang
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise ( emphasis color red
mine)
Now I must ask this question of my brethren and sis-
ters Who is this Lamb that was slain that with his
blood purchased men for God from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and nation and who went and took
the book from the hand of Him that sat on the throne
Is the Lamb seen by John also the one announced as
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Why then is the Lion of Judah symbol in the Ethiopian
triune red gold and green flag seen carrying a cross over its shoulders
Who really is this slain Lamb redeeming atoning conquering through his death
and resurrection and found worthy to receive the title deed to judge and rule the
heavens and finally the earth in the Age to come
Who is this one now being retained in the Heavens UNTIL ldquo the restoration of all
things spoken of by the prophets since the earth beganrdquo
I confess that it is no other than Jesus Yeshua Iye-
sus or in any language referencing Him
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st himself said 56
years ago
ldquo I know I am saved not by anything that is of char-
acter or work of the human heart but by the blood of
Jesus alonerdquo (see African Challenge Magazine Nov 1960 30th
Coronation Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 of
Ethiopia)
Note for future reference that this statement by Haile Se-
lassie1st is the essence and summation of the Christian
Faith in just a few words
So what then about His Imperial Majesty being crowned
with these titles This is an obvious question arising from
this earthshaking confession to my brothers and sisters
9
My inspired answer to all is this Firstly
these titles are associated with the
throne and the Royal House of Judah
from a blessing of Jacob thousands of
years ago Judah your brothers will
praise you your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies your fathers
sons will bow down to you You are a
lions cub O Judah you return from
the prey my son Like a lion he
crouches and lies down like a lion-
essmdashwho dares to rouse him 10 The
scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers staff from between his feet un-
til he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his (Until my
emphasis) (NIV) I used the New International Version quote here as it breaks down the
meaning of Shiloh as ldquoto whom it belongsrdquo
Thus any descendant of the House of Judah who is Anointed or Christ-end King is allowed
to bear represent and be custodian or standard bearer of the lion cub messianic title as
a shadow or reminder of He who is to come
These Kings (descendants preserved in Ethiopia) fulfill a vision of King Solomon
the night he lay with the Queen of Sheba (as recorded in the Ethiopia Geez histo-
ry of ldquoThe Glory of the Kings or ldquoKebra Negastrdquo ) which was interpreted by the High
Priest Zadok These descendants were to be that natural cohabited seed that de-
parted to Ethiopia in the womb of Sheba This however did not annul or neither
did it replace the promise made in Genesis of the noncohabited ldquoseed of the wom-
anrdquo that would ldquocrush the head of the serpentrdquo fulfilled by the planting into the
womb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem by the Most High God
Himself His only begotten Son Jesus He was not born by the
will of man but by the will of God This fact was also brought
out in the record of the Kebra Negast concerning King Solo-
monrsquos vision that the spiritual seed was sent to Jerusalem via
the womb of Mary and a natural cohabited seed through the
Queen of Sheba to Ethiopia This extension of knowledge in
the Kebra Negast has helped to unlock this 85 year old Coro-
nation door to proper understanding (I must note here that this
lsquooverstandingrsquo was also made clear to me through the Grace of God by
His Holy Spirit working through the prophet Bro Gad founder of the
12 Tribes of Israel and explained also through the chief professor of
Ethiopian religious history Alika Ayeleu Tamru a physically blind
priest)
10
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
The Holy Bible and its Scriptures became more relevant and
real to a people experiencing over 400 years of earthly social
political and economic oppression as the Biblical children of
Israel did Just try for a moment to imagine a time when
almost all Africans and their descendants in the Diaspora
with the exception of Ethiopia were under colonial rule Then
suddenly an African king being crowned with titles which
could be interpreted to have Messianic significance To make
it more impacting it involved a widely publicized coronation
ceremony with the precise blueprint reminiscent of the cere-
mony accorded to King David and His Royal House an Ethio-
pian king recognized and identified with the tribe of Judah
the tribe associated with the Davidic Covenant and the 225th
descendant of a union of King Solomon of Jerusalem and the
Queen of Sheba of Ethiopia
Present at this Coronation 86 years ago were representatives from many nations includ-
ing the same colonial powers that had our people and countries elsewhere in bondage They
were there supposedly paying homage to an African king with roots that stretched back over
3000 years into Biblical History The Duke of Gloucester the son of King George of Great
Britain was present and restored to His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 a scepter that
was taken away from Ethiopia years before On this golden scepter was written ldquoEthiopia
shall stretch forth her hands unto Godrdquo (Psalms 68 vs 31)
Instantly a connection to the Messianic prophecies in the Bible and its message of national
liberation and redemption became connected with 20 Century circumstances in the theology
and lives of many of our foreparents They had heard or read about the Coronation and a few
had witnessed this spectacular event It was an event that impacted their spiritual aware-
ness their hopes as well as their aspirations Now the circumstances of the African Holo-
caust dispersion and bondage not merely resembled that of Israel but this Coronation event
confirmed and affirmed an identity of our people with the lost dispersed tribes of Israel as
recorded in the Holy Bible
The Roman and Greek versions of Christianity preached by White missionaries offering
freedom in death and somewhere off the earth was shaken at its very foundation The Origi-
nal Gospel of the early followers of Jesus began to be restored in the minds and hearts of a
people in bondage The real message of a Kingdom to be restored and established on the
earth not in the sky or after death became clear The hope that the ldquomeek would inherit the
earthrdquo instead was rekindled Our foreparents had read in the Book of Daniel that the God of
Heaven promised to set up here on earth a Kingdom that would break (ie subdue and
overthrow) the Satanic Babylonish Governments and system that controlled the world
Godrsquos Covenant with King David in Psalms 87 and 2 Samuel Chapter 7 appeared to be
manifesting itself before their very eyes in the 20th Century in the Coronation of Ras Tafari 3
Ethiopians Historians Theologians Pastors Bible scholars and the
average person have not began to seriously consider or imagine
what this event meant to a people longing for an end to oppression
and restoration to their ancestral homeland This event has kindled
a flame and zeal among our elders and even today among our
youths as never witnessed amongst indigenous religions in our is-
land or the African Diaspora and amazingly today among many oth-
er races and nationalities
The Consequence
The most widely referred to chapter and verses in the Bible that correlated with this Coronation
and thus impacted the Rastafarian movement were cited in the Book of Revelation Chapter 5 Vs
1-5
Here John recorded in this book his being caught up in a heavenly vision and revelation from Je-
sus Christ ldquowhich God gave Him to show his servants which must shortly come to passhelliprdquo Rev11
Revelation 5 Vs 1-5
Then I saw in the right hand of him who open the
scroll 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the
earth could open the scroll or even look inside it 4I wept
and wept because no one was found who was worthy to
open the scroll or look inside 5Then one of the elders
said to me Do not weep See the Lion of the tribe of Ju-
dah the Root of David has triumphed He is able to
open the scroll and its seven seals
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and his prede-
cessor Emperor Menelik 2nd had always used the Lion Of Judah
symbol as their official seal and Royal Standard of their Kingdom
herein mentioned This was in keeping with their Biblical Judaic
Christian tradition inherited directly from their ancestors from
Jerusalem to Ethiopia The anointing and crowning kings of the
Royal House of King David was always a ceremony foreshadowing
the return of the Messiah Jesus and memorializing Godrsquos Cove-
nant with King David
The founding fathers of the Rastafari movement interpreted
this Coronation ceremony as the actual coming of the Messianic
King from the lineage of King David the one who would rescue them the lost tribes of Israel
from captivity and restore them to the land of our foreparents and establish the Millennium
Kingdom
Joseph Hibbert
4
However the numerous issues that the coming of The Messiah is prophesied to re-
solve have persisted in our world even to a greater extent than ever before in hu-
man history The ever increasing human misery poverty oppression injustice bro-
ken families murders deaths and wars in over 60 areas of the globe have after
these 86 years shaken these Messianic expectations and rendered them very much
premature and inaccurate The unchanged state of the world and its ripening in
evil has so much shattered these premature messianic hopes and interpretations to
the extent that any honest Rastafari seeker of truth and scholar of the Bible must
re-examine and revisit these Scriptures with fear and trembling
The dispersion and exile is still with us Babylon and its evil forces are still very
much in charge and most telling to the contradiction of prophecy His Imperial
Majesty Haile Selassie 1st has departed from the current scene of world affairs
These realities all being contrary to prophecies concerning the appearing of the
Messianic Kingdom Age of peace righteousness justice and prosperity which in-
volves the resurrection of the righteous Saints the transformation or translation
of the living Saints and the bounding of Satan the deceiver and accuser Satan has
not yet been bound yet for the thousand years (in fact being more loose than ever
before) as should have been in the predicted Millennium reign of Christ on earth
The Implications Such a longing and desire of mankind for relief and redemption from oppression is
legitimate However desires have often lead us to premature expectations and the
seeking of signs hastening and even usurping the timing and will of our Infinite
Creator This is nothing new in the history of Messianic movements
The Disciples had hoped that their Master Jesus would overthrow Rome with all
his demonstrated power When he informed Peter that He would first be betrayed
by the elders and the high priest and handed over to the Romans to suffer be cruci-
fied and then rise on the third day Peter rebuked Jesus protesting that this would
never happen Jesus had to rebuke his atti-
tude as one encouraged by Satan to have
things according to manrsquos will and timing
instead of submitting to Gods Sovereign will
and timing ldquoGet hence behind me Satan
You prefer the things of men (meaning
manrsquos way) rather than the things ( perfect
Sovereign will) of God hellipAnyone wishing to
be my disciple must first deny himself (his
personal desires) and take up his cross daily
and follow merdquo said Jesus to him
(parenthesis mine)
Also previously during the reign of King
David many of his subjects saw him David
being the Lordrsquos anointed as the one to establish the Messianic Kingdom in their
day Peter years later after Jesusrsquo crucifixion resurrection and ascension matured
now in the Faith and having divine understanding had to stand up and consul Is-
rael on that premature expectation He enlightened his fellow brethren that these
Messianic promises that David heard from God was but a prophetic vision about
some future occurrence concerning one of his descendants as you may also read
for yourself prayerfully in Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 Vs 22-39 5
22 ldquoFellow Israelites listen to this Jesus of Nazareth was a man ac-credited by God to you by miracles wonders and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know This man was handed over to you by Godrsquos deliberate plan and foreknowledge and you with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross but God raised him from the dead freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him David said about him ldquolsquoI saw the Lord always before me Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices my body also will rest in hope because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead you will not let your holy one see decay You have made known to me the paths of life you will fill me with joy in your pres-encersquo ldquoFellow Israelites I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne Seeing what was to come he spoke of the resurrec-tion of the Messiah that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead nor did his body see decay God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of it Exalted to the right hand of God he has re-ceived from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear For David did not ascend to heaven and yet he said ldquolsquoThe Lord said to my Lord ldquoSit at my right hand 5 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feetrdquo ldquoTherefore let all Israel be assured of this God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Messiahrdquo 37 When the people heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles ldquoBrothers what shall we dordquo Peter replied ldquoRepent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit The prom-ise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the Lord our God will callrdquo 40 With many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them ldquoSave yourselves from this cor-rupt generationrdquo Those who accepted his message were baptized and about three thousand were added to their number that day
The Apostle Peter then informed Israel then and we are informed today that the
Heavens must retain Him Jesus UNTIL the time of the Restoration of all the
things spoken of by the prophets 17 ldquoNow fellow Israelites I know that you acted in ignorance as did your leaders But this is how God ful-filled what he had foretold through all the prophets saying that his Messiah would suffer Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out that times of refreshing may come from the Lord 20 and that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed for youmdasheven Jesus 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything as he promised long ago through his holy prophets 22 For Moses said lsquoThe Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own peo-ple you must listen to everything he tells you Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people ldquoIndeed beginning with Samuel all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers He said to Abraham lsquoThrough your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed26 When God raised up his servant he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked waysrdquo (Acts 4Vs 17-26)
This now leads my readers and most importantly my Rastafari brethren to ponder this revo-
lutionary confession and testimony on the significance of this magnificent 20th Century
event reconnection us to Biblical History through an Ethiopian King of the Davidic and Sol-
omonic House of Judah The following questions must then be asked of my position ldquoWhat
then is the real significance or rather importance of this prestigious event Was it then a
simple ceremonial African cultural event without begging a meaning or adding any signifi-
cance to it
6
The Real Meaning of the Coronation revealed
I propose that the answer to the real significance or importance of this historical event to us
can be found in Godrsquos saving grace (ie unmerited favour) towards us a despised and down-
trodden people God like in the times of bondage in Egypt heard the cry of our people and
saw their affliction and visited us
I am convinced that God in His grace towards us preserved a seed of the Royal House of
David as a light and in Ethiopia the most ancient Christian nation on earth This was an
act of His Grace towards us leading us eventually and progressively to the true Christian
faith through accepting the Bible and Jesus as Master
and Saviour of the World The significance or im-
portance of the Coronation does not lie merely in
its pomp or the prestige and pride it gave us to see
an African King being crowned in a free African
nation Rather the answer to the importance lies
in the activity of Godrsquos anointed Holy Spirit as
manifested in the lives character and instrumen-
tality of the Emperor and Empress who were
Crowned If our Rastafari Brethren and Sisters truth-
fully study the life and teachings of His Imperial Majesty
Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and Empress Mennen they
will see clearly that from their earliest age right up
through their Coronation and their latter years they were devout followers of Jesus Christ
and the teachings of the Holy Bible They never failed either in example or words to encour-
age us to follow devotedly its teachings As Haile Selassie 1st said
ldquo hellip All through my youth I had been taught to appreciate the Bible and my love for
it increases with the passage of timerdquoAll through my difficulties I have found the
Bible a cause for infinite comfortrdquo
To illustrate my point some more let us look honestly at this quote which I have found to be
the key message of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1He
has advised us in the spirit of wisdom of his forbearers
hellipToday man sees all his hopes and aspirations crum-
bling before him He is perplexed and knows not where
he is drifting But he must realize that the Bible is his
refuge and the rallying point of all humanity In it man
will find the solution for his present difficulties and
guidance for his future action and unless he accepts
with clear conscience the Bible and its great message
he cannot hope for salvation For my part I Glory in the
Bible
7
When by the Grace of God I repented prayed and accepted with a clear con-
science the Holy Bible and its message as directed by the Coronate King Emperor
Haile Selassie1 then God removed a vail from before mine eyes I then went and
looked again at Revelation Chapter 5 It was really then the eyes of my under-
standing was opened to the fact that we had left off something of crucial im-
portance to the understanding of Godrsquos revelation We had either failed or been
somewhat diverted from reading the other 5 verses vs 6-10 of the Book of Revela-
tion Chapter 5 We had therefore taken verses 1-5 out of context to meet our urgent
desire for immediate redemption from prevailing social economic and political cir-
cumstances To our own detriment we had ignored the passage which revealed the
One who redeemed mankind from his own sinful nature the real enemy of man-
kind
I then became aware that Our hopes and aspirations were based on a ldquohalf-truthrdquo This ex-
plosive admission of a student of the Bible and also His Imperial Majesty was profoundly
brought out when I examined with a clear conscience the following 5 verses Please recall
that revelation 5 vs 1-5 records John hearing the angel telling him to not to weep as the Lion
of Judah had prevailed to take the sealed scroll from the hand of Him who sat upon the
throne and open it However when he opened his eyes and looked this is what he saw
6Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain standing in the center of the
throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders He had seven horns and
seven eyes which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth 7He came
and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne 8And when he
had taken it the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb Each one had a
harp and they were hold-
ing golden bowls full of
incense which are the
prayers of the saints 9And
they sang a new song
You are worthy to take
the scroll and to open its
seals
because you were slain
and with your blood you
purchased men for God
from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and na-
tion
10You have made them to
be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth
8
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon
thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand They encircled the throne and the
living creatures and the elders 12In a loud voice they
sang
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise ( emphasis color red
mine)
Now I must ask this question of my brethren and sis-
ters Who is this Lamb that was slain that with his
blood purchased men for God from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and nation and who went and took
the book from the hand of Him that sat on the throne
Is the Lamb seen by John also the one announced as
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Why then is the Lion of Judah symbol in the Ethiopian
triune red gold and green flag seen carrying a cross over its shoulders
Who really is this slain Lamb redeeming atoning conquering through his death
and resurrection and found worthy to receive the title deed to judge and rule the
heavens and finally the earth in the Age to come
Who is this one now being retained in the Heavens UNTIL ldquo the restoration of all
things spoken of by the prophets since the earth beganrdquo
I confess that it is no other than Jesus Yeshua Iye-
sus or in any language referencing Him
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st himself said 56
years ago
ldquo I know I am saved not by anything that is of char-
acter or work of the human heart but by the blood of
Jesus alonerdquo (see African Challenge Magazine Nov 1960 30th
Coronation Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 of
Ethiopia)
Note for future reference that this statement by Haile Se-
lassie1st is the essence and summation of the Christian
Faith in just a few words
So what then about His Imperial Majesty being crowned
with these titles This is an obvious question arising from
this earthshaking confession to my brothers and sisters
9
My inspired answer to all is this Firstly
these titles are associated with the
throne and the Royal House of Judah
from a blessing of Jacob thousands of
years ago Judah your brothers will
praise you your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies your fathers
sons will bow down to you You are a
lions cub O Judah you return from
the prey my son Like a lion he
crouches and lies down like a lion-
essmdashwho dares to rouse him 10 The
scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers staff from between his feet un-
til he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his (Until my
emphasis) (NIV) I used the New International Version quote here as it breaks down the
meaning of Shiloh as ldquoto whom it belongsrdquo
Thus any descendant of the House of Judah who is Anointed or Christ-end King is allowed
to bear represent and be custodian or standard bearer of the lion cub messianic title as
a shadow or reminder of He who is to come
These Kings (descendants preserved in Ethiopia) fulfill a vision of King Solomon
the night he lay with the Queen of Sheba (as recorded in the Ethiopia Geez histo-
ry of ldquoThe Glory of the Kings or ldquoKebra Negastrdquo ) which was interpreted by the High
Priest Zadok These descendants were to be that natural cohabited seed that de-
parted to Ethiopia in the womb of Sheba This however did not annul or neither
did it replace the promise made in Genesis of the noncohabited ldquoseed of the wom-
anrdquo that would ldquocrush the head of the serpentrdquo fulfilled by the planting into the
womb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem by the Most High God
Himself His only begotten Son Jesus He was not born by the
will of man but by the will of God This fact was also brought
out in the record of the Kebra Negast concerning King Solo-
monrsquos vision that the spiritual seed was sent to Jerusalem via
the womb of Mary and a natural cohabited seed through the
Queen of Sheba to Ethiopia This extension of knowledge in
the Kebra Negast has helped to unlock this 85 year old Coro-
nation door to proper understanding (I must note here that this
lsquooverstandingrsquo was also made clear to me through the Grace of God by
His Holy Spirit working through the prophet Bro Gad founder of the
12 Tribes of Israel and explained also through the chief professor of
Ethiopian religious history Alika Ayeleu Tamru a physically blind
priest)
10
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
Ethiopians Historians Theologians Pastors Bible scholars and the
average person have not began to seriously consider or imagine
what this event meant to a people longing for an end to oppression
and restoration to their ancestral homeland This event has kindled
a flame and zeal among our elders and even today among our
youths as never witnessed amongst indigenous religions in our is-
land or the African Diaspora and amazingly today among many oth-
er races and nationalities
The Consequence
The most widely referred to chapter and verses in the Bible that correlated with this Coronation
and thus impacted the Rastafarian movement were cited in the Book of Revelation Chapter 5 Vs
1-5
Here John recorded in this book his being caught up in a heavenly vision and revelation from Je-
sus Christ ldquowhich God gave Him to show his servants which must shortly come to passhelliprdquo Rev11
Revelation 5 Vs 1-5
Then I saw in the right hand of him who open the
scroll 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the
earth could open the scroll or even look inside it 4I wept
and wept because no one was found who was worthy to
open the scroll or look inside 5Then one of the elders
said to me Do not weep See the Lion of the tribe of Ju-
dah the Root of David has triumphed He is able to
open the scroll and its seven seals
His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and his prede-
cessor Emperor Menelik 2nd had always used the Lion Of Judah
symbol as their official seal and Royal Standard of their Kingdom
herein mentioned This was in keeping with their Biblical Judaic
Christian tradition inherited directly from their ancestors from
Jerusalem to Ethiopia The anointing and crowning kings of the
Royal House of King David was always a ceremony foreshadowing
the return of the Messiah Jesus and memorializing Godrsquos Cove-
nant with King David
The founding fathers of the Rastafari movement interpreted
this Coronation ceremony as the actual coming of the Messianic
King from the lineage of King David the one who would rescue them the lost tribes of Israel
from captivity and restore them to the land of our foreparents and establish the Millennium
Kingdom
Joseph Hibbert
4
However the numerous issues that the coming of The Messiah is prophesied to re-
solve have persisted in our world even to a greater extent than ever before in hu-
man history The ever increasing human misery poverty oppression injustice bro-
ken families murders deaths and wars in over 60 areas of the globe have after
these 86 years shaken these Messianic expectations and rendered them very much
premature and inaccurate The unchanged state of the world and its ripening in
evil has so much shattered these premature messianic hopes and interpretations to
the extent that any honest Rastafari seeker of truth and scholar of the Bible must
re-examine and revisit these Scriptures with fear and trembling
The dispersion and exile is still with us Babylon and its evil forces are still very
much in charge and most telling to the contradiction of prophecy His Imperial
Majesty Haile Selassie 1st has departed from the current scene of world affairs
These realities all being contrary to prophecies concerning the appearing of the
Messianic Kingdom Age of peace righteousness justice and prosperity which in-
volves the resurrection of the righteous Saints the transformation or translation
of the living Saints and the bounding of Satan the deceiver and accuser Satan has
not yet been bound yet for the thousand years (in fact being more loose than ever
before) as should have been in the predicted Millennium reign of Christ on earth
The Implications Such a longing and desire of mankind for relief and redemption from oppression is
legitimate However desires have often lead us to premature expectations and the
seeking of signs hastening and even usurping the timing and will of our Infinite
Creator This is nothing new in the history of Messianic movements
The Disciples had hoped that their Master Jesus would overthrow Rome with all
his demonstrated power When he informed Peter that He would first be betrayed
by the elders and the high priest and handed over to the Romans to suffer be cruci-
fied and then rise on the third day Peter rebuked Jesus protesting that this would
never happen Jesus had to rebuke his atti-
tude as one encouraged by Satan to have
things according to manrsquos will and timing
instead of submitting to Gods Sovereign will
and timing ldquoGet hence behind me Satan
You prefer the things of men (meaning
manrsquos way) rather than the things ( perfect
Sovereign will) of God hellipAnyone wishing to
be my disciple must first deny himself (his
personal desires) and take up his cross daily
and follow merdquo said Jesus to him
(parenthesis mine)
Also previously during the reign of King
David many of his subjects saw him David
being the Lordrsquos anointed as the one to establish the Messianic Kingdom in their
day Peter years later after Jesusrsquo crucifixion resurrection and ascension matured
now in the Faith and having divine understanding had to stand up and consul Is-
rael on that premature expectation He enlightened his fellow brethren that these
Messianic promises that David heard from God was but a prophetic vision about
some future occurrence concerning one of his descendants as you may also read
for yourself prayerfully in Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 Vs 22-39 5
22 ldquoFellow Israelites listen to this Jesus of Nazareth was a man ac-credited by God to you by miracles wonders and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know This man was handed over to you by Godrsquos deliberate plan and foreknowledge and you with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross but God raised him from the dead freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him David said about him ldquolsquoI saw the Lord always before me Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices my body also will rest in hope because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead you will not let your holy one see decay You have made known to me the paths of life you will fill me with joy in your pres-encersquo ldquoFellow Israelites I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne Seeing what was to come he spoke of the resurrec-tion of the Messiah that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead nor did his body see decay God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of it Exalted to the right hand of God he has re-ceived from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear For David did not ascend to heaven and yet he said ldquolsquoThe Lord said to my Lord ldquoSit at my right hand 5 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feetrdquo ldquoTherefore let all Israel be assured of this God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Messiahrdquo 37 When the people heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles ldquoBrothers what shall we dordquo Peter replied ldquoRepent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit The prom-ise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the Lord our God will callrdquo 40 With many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them ldquoSave yourselves from this cor-rupt generationrdquo Those who accepted his message were baptized and about three thousand were added to their number that day
The Apostle Peter then informed Israel then and we are informed today that the
Heavens must retain Him Jesus UNTIL the time of the Restoration of all the
things spoken of by the prophets 17 ldquoNow fellow Israelites I know that you acted in ignorance as did your leaders But this is how God ful-filled what he had foretold through all the prophets saying that his Messiah would suffer Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out that times of refreshing may come from the Lord 20 and that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed for youmdasheven Jesus 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything as he promised long ago through his holy prophets 22 For Moses said lsquoThe Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own peo-ple you must listen to everything he tells you Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people ldquoIndeed beginning with Samuel all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers He said to Abraham lsquoThrough your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed26 When God raised up his servant he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked waysrdquo (Acts 4Vs 17-26)
This now leads my readers and most importantly my Rastafari brethren to ponder this revo-
lutionary confession and testimony on the significance of this magnificent 20th Century
event reconnection us to Biblical History through an Ethiopian King of the Davidic and Sol-
omonic House of Judah The following questions must then be asked of my position ldquoWhat
then is the real significance or rather importance of this prestigious event Was it then a
simple ceremonial African cultural event without begging a meaning or adding any signifi-
cance to it
6
The Real Meaning of the Coronation revealed
I propose that the answer to the real significance or importance of this historical event to us
can be found in Godrsquos saving grace (ie unmerited favour) towards us a despised and down-
trodden people God like in the times of bondage in Egypt heard the cry of our people and
saw their affliction and visited us
I am convinced that God in His grace towards us preserved a seed of the Royal House of
David as a light and in Ethiopia the most ancient Christian nation on earth This was an
act of His Grace towards us leading us eventually and progressively to the true Christian
faith through accepting the Bible and Jesus as Master
and Saviour of the World The significance or im-
portance of the Coronation does not lie merely in
its pomp or the prestige and pride it gave us to see
an African King being crowned in a free African
nation Rather the answer to the importance lies
in the activity of Godrsquos anointed Holy Spirit as
manifested in the lives character and instrumen-
tality of the Emperor and Empress who were
Crowned If our Rastafari Brethren and Sisters truth-
fully study the life and teachings of His Imperial Majesty
Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and Empress Mennen they
will see clearly that from their earliest age right up
through their Coronation and their latter years they were devout followers of Jesus Christ
and the teachings of the Holy Bible They never failed either in example or words to encour-
age us to follow devotedly its teachings As Haile Selassie 1st said
ldquo hellip All through my youth I had been taught to appreciate the Bible and my love for
it increases with the passage of timerdquoAll through my difficulties I have found the
Bible a cause for infinite comfortrdquo
To illustrate my point some more let us look honestly at this quote which I have found to be
the key message of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1He
has advised us in the spirit of wisdom of his forbearers
hellipToday man sees all his hopes and aspirations crum-
bling before him He is perplexed and knows not where
he is drifting But he must realize that the Bible is his
refuge and the rallying point of all humanity In it man
will find the solution for his present difficulties and
guidance for his future action and unless he accepts
with clear conscience the Bible and its great message
he cannot hope for salvation For my part I Glory in the
Bible
7
When by the Grace of God I repented prayed and accepted with a clear con-
science the Holy Bible and its message as directed by the Coronate King Emperor
Haile Selassie1 then God removed a vail from before mine eyes I then went and
looked again at Revelation Chapter 5 It was really then the eyes of my under-
standing was opened to the fact that we had left off something of crucial im-
portance to the understanding of Godrsquos revelation We had either failed or been
somewhat diverted from reading the other 5 verses vs 6-10 of the Book of Revela-
tion Chapter 5 We had therefore taken verses 1-5 out of context to meet our urgent
desire for immediate redemption from prevailing social economic and political cir-
cumstances To our own detriment we had ignored the passage which revealed the
One who redeemed mankind from his own sinful nature the real enemy of man-
kind
I then became aware that Our hopes and aspirations were based on a ldquohalf-truthrdquo This ex-
plosive admission of a student of the Bible and also His Imperial Majesty was profoundly
brought out when I examined with a clear conscience the following 5 verses Please recall
that revelation 5 vs 1-5 records John hearing the angel telling him to not to weep as the Lion
of Judah had prevailed to take the sealed scroll from the hand of Him who sat upon the
throne and open it However when he opened his eyes and looked this is what he saw
6Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain standing in the center of the
throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders He had seven horns and
seven eyes which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth 7He came
and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne 8And when he
had taken it the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb Each one had a
harp and they were hold-
ing golden bowls full of
incense which are the
prayers of the saints 9And
they sang a new song
You are worthy to take
the scroll and to open its
seals
because you were slain
and with your blood you
purchased men for God
from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and na-
tion
10You have made them to
be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth
8
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon
thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand They encircled the throne and the
living creatures and the elders 12In a loud voice they
sang
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise ( emphasis color red
mine)
Now I must ask this question of my brethren and sis-
ters Who is this Lamb that was slain that with his
blood purchased men for God from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and nation and who went and took
the book from the hand of Him that sat on the throne
Is the Lamb seen by John also the one announced as
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Why then is the Lion of Judah symbol in the Ethiopian
triune red gold and green flag seen carrying a cross over its shoulders
Who really is this slain Lamb redeeming atoning conquering through his death
and resurrection and found worthy to receive the title deed to judge and rule the
heavens and finally the earth in the Age to come
Who is this one now being retained in the Heavens UNTIL ldquo the restoration of all
things spoken of by the prophets since the earth beganrdquo
I confess that it is no other than Jesus Yeshua Iye-
sus or in any language referencing Him
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st himself said 56
years ago
ldquo I know I am saved not by anything that is of char-
acter or work of the human heart but by the blood of
Jesus alonerdquo (see African Challenge Magazine Nov 1960 30th
Coronation Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 of
Ethiopia)
Note for future reference that this statement by Haile Se-
lassie1st is the essence and summation of the Christian
Faith in just a few words
So what then about His Imperial Majesty being crowned
with these titles This is an obvious question arising from
this earthshaking confession to my brothers and sisters
9
My inspired answer to all is this Firstly
these titles are associated with the
throne and the Royal House of Judah
from a blessing of Jacob thousands of
years ago Judah your brothers will
praise you your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies your fathers
sons will bow down to you You are a
lions cub O Judah you return from
the prey my son Like a lion he
crouches and lies down like a lion-
essmdashwho dares to rouse him 10 The
scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers staff from between his feet un-
til he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his (Until my
emphasis) (NIV) I used the New International Version quote here as it breaks down the
meaning of Shiloh as ldquoto whom it belongsrdquo
Thus any descendant of the House of Judah who is Anointed or Christ-end King is allowed
to bear represent and be custodian or standard bearer of the lion cub messianic title as
a shadow or reminder of He who is to come
These Kings (descendants preserved in Ethiopia) fulfill a vision of King Solomon
the night he lay with the Queen of Sheba (as recorded in the Ethiopia Geez histo-
ry of ldquoThe Glory of the Kings or ldquoKebra Negastrdquo ) which was interpreted by the High
Priest Zadok These descendants were to be that natural cohabited seed that de-
parted to Ethiopia in the womb of Sheba This however did not annul or neither
did it replace the promise made in Genesis of the noncohabited ldquoseed of the wom-
anrdquo that would ldquocrush the head of the serpentrdquo fulfilled by the planting into the
womb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem by the Most High God
Himself His only begotten Son Jesus He was not born by the
will of man but by the will of God This fact was also brought
out in the record of the Kebra Negast concerning King Solo-
monrsquos vision that the spiritual seed was sent to Jerusalem via
the womb of Mary and a natural cohabited seed through the
Queen of Sheba to Ethiopia This extension of knowledge in
the Kebra Negast has helped to unlock this 85 year old Coro-
nation door to proper understanding (I must note here that this
lsquooverstandingrsquo was also made clear to me through the Grace of God by
His Holy Spirit working through the prophet Bro Gad founder of the
12 Tribes of Israel and explained also through the chief professor of
Ethiopian religious history Alika Ayeleu Tamru a physically blind
priest)
10
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
However the numerous issues that the coming of The Messiah is prophesied to re-
solve have persisted in our world even to a greater extent than ever before in hu-
man history The ever increasing human misery poverty oppression injustice bro-
ken families murders deaths and wars in over 60 areas of the globe have after
these 86 years shaken these Messianic expectations and rendered them very much
premature and inaccurate The unchanged state of the world and its ripening in
evil has so much shattered these premature messianic hopes and interpretations to
the extent that any honest Rastafari seeker of truth and scholar of the Bible must
re-examine and revisit these Scriptures with fear and trembling
The dispersion and exile is still with us Babylon and its evil forces are still very
much in charge and most telling to the contradiction of prophecy His Imperial
Majesty Haile Selassie 1st has departed from the current scene of world affairs
These realities all being contrary to prophecies concerning the appearing of the
Messianic Kingdom Age of peace righteousness justice and prosperity which in-
volves the resurrection of the righteous Saints the transformation or translation
of the living Saints and the bounding of Satan the deceiver and accuser Satan has
not yet been bound yet for the thousand years (in fact being more loose than ever
before) as should have been in the predicted Millennium reign of Christ on earth
The Implications Such a longing and desire of mankind for relief and redemption from oppression is
legitimate However desires have often lead us to premature expectations and the
seeking of signs hastening and even usurping the timing and will of our Infinite
Creator This is nothing new in the history of Messianic movements
The Disciples had hoped that their Master Jesus would overthrow Rome with all
his demonstrated power When he informed Peter that He would first be betrayed
by the elders and the high priest and handed over to the Romans to suffer be cruci-
fied and then rise on the third day Peter rebuked Jesus protesting that this would
never happen Jesus had to rebuke his atti-
tude as one encouraged by Satan to have
things according to manrsquos will and timing
instead of submitting to Gods Sovereign will
and timing ldquoGet hence behind me Satan
You prefer the things of men (meaning
manrsquos way) rather than the things ( perfect
Sovereign will) of God hellipAnyone wishing to
be my disciple must first deny himself (his
personal desires) and take up his cross daily
and follow merdquo said Jesus to him
(parenthesis mine)
Also previously during the reign of King
David many of his subjects saw him David
being the Lordrsquos anointed as the one to establish the Messianic Kingdom in their
day Peter years later after Jesusrsquo crucifixion resurrection and ascension matured
now in the Faith and having divine understanding had to stand up and consul Is-
rael on that premature expectation He enlightened his fellow brethren that these
Messianic promises that David heard from God was but a prophetic vision about
some future occurrence concerning one of his descendants as you may also read
for yourself prayerfully in Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 Vs 22-39 5
22 ldquoFellow Israelites listen to this Jesus of Nazareth was a man ac-credited by God to you by miracles wonders and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know This man was handed over to you by Godrsquos deliberate plan and foreknowledge and you with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross but God raised him from the dead freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him David said about him ldquolsquoI saw the Lord always before me Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices my body also will rest in hope because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead you will not let your holy one see decay You have made known to me the paths of life you will fill me with joy in your pres-encersquo ldquoFellow Israelites I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne Seeing what was to come he spoke of the resurrec-tion of the Messiah that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead nor did his body see decay God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of it Exalted to the right hand of God he has re-ceived from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear For David did not ascend to heaven and yet he said ldquolsquoThe Lord said to my Lord ldquoSit at my right hand 5 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feetrdquo ldquoTherefore let all Israel be assured of this God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Messiahrdquo 37 When the people heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles ldquoBrothers what shall we dordquo Peter replied ldquoRepent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit The prom-ise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the Lord our God will callrdquo 40 With many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them ldquoSave yourselves from this cor-rupt generationrdquo Those who accepted his message were baptized and about three thousand were added to their number that day
The Apostle Peter then informed Israel then and we are informed today that the
Heavens must retain Him Jesus UNTIL the time of the Restoration of all the
things spoken of by the prophets 17 ldquoNow fellow Israelites I know that you acted in ignorance as did your leaders But this is how God ful-filled what he had foretold through all the prophets saying that his Messiah would suffer Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out that times of refreshing may come from the Lord 20 and that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed for youmdasheven Jesus 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything as he promised long ago through his holy prophets 22 For Moses said lsquoThe Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own peo-ple you must listen to everything he tells you Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people ldquoIndeed beginning with Samuel all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers He said to Abraham lsquoThrough your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed26 When God raised up his servant he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked waysrdquo (Acts 4Vs 17-26)
This now leads my readers and most importantly my Rastafari brethren to ponder this revo-
lutionary confession and testimony on the significance of this magnificent 20th Century
event reconnection us to Biblical History through an Ethiopian King of the Davidic and Sol-
omonic House of Judah The following questions must then be asked of my position ldquoWhat
then is the real significance or rather importance of this prestigious event Was it then a
simple ceremonial African cultural event without begging a meaning or adding any signifi-
cance to it
6
The Real Meaning of the Coronation revealed
I propose that the answer to the real significance or importance of this historical event to us
can be found in Godrsquos saving grace (ie unmerited favour) towards us a despised and down-
trodden people God like in the times of bondage in Egypt heard the cry of our people and
saw their affliction and visited us
I am convinced that God in His grace towards us preserved a seed of the Royal House of
David as a light and in Ethiopia the most ancient Christian nation on earth This was an
act of His Grace towards us leading us eventually and progressively to the true Christian
faith through accepting the Bible and Jesus as Master
and Saviour of the World The significance or im-
portance of the Coronation does not lie merely in
its pomp or the prestige and pride it gave us to see
an African King being crowned in a free African
nation Rather the answer to the importance lies
in the activity of Godrsquos anointed Holy Spirit as
manifested in the lives character and instrumen-
tality of the Emperor and Empress who were
Crowned If our Rastafari Brethren and Sisters truth-
fully study the life and teachings of His Imperial Majesty
Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and Empress Mennen they
will see clearly that from their earliest age right up
through their Coronation and their latter years they were devout followers of Jesus Christ
and the teachings of the Holy Bible They never failed either in example or words to encour-
age us to follow devotedly its teachings As Haile Selassie 1st said
ldquo hellip All through my youth I had been taught to appreciate the Bible and my love for
it increases with the passage of timerdquoAll through my difficulties I have found the
Bible a cause for infinite comfortrdquo
To illustrate my point some more let us look honestly at this quote which I have found to be
the key message of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1He
has advised us in the spirit of wisdom of his forbearers
hellipToday man sees all his hopes and aspirations crum-
bling before him He is perplexed and knows not where
he is drifting But he must realize that the Bible is his
refuge and the rallying point of all humanity In it man
will find the solution for his present difficulties and
guidance for his future action and unless he accepts
with clear conscience the Bible and its great message
he cannot hope for salvation For my part I Glory in the
Bible
7
When by the Grace of God I repented prayed and accepted with a clear con-
science the Holy Bible and its message as directed by the Coronate King Emperor
Haile Selassie1 then God removed a vail from before mine eyes I then went and
looked again at Revelation Chapter 5 It was really then the eyes of my under-
standing was opened to the fact that we had left off something of crucial im-
portance to the understanding of Godrsquos revelation We had either failed or been
somewhat diverted from reading the other 5 verses vs 6-10 of the Book of Revela-
tion Chapter 5 We had therefore taken verses 1-5 out of context to meet our urgent
desire for immediate redemption from prevailing social economic and political cir-
cumstances To our own detriment we had ignored the passage which revealed the
One who redeemed mankind from his own sinful nature the real enemy of man-
kind
I then became aware that Our hopes and aspirations were based on a ldquohalf-truthrdquo This ex-
plosive admission of a student of the Bible and also His Imperial Majesty was profoundly
brought out when I examined with a clear conscience the following 5 verses Please recall
that revelation 5 vs 1-5 records John hearing the angel telling him to not to weep as the Lion
of Judah had prevailed to take the sealed scroll from the hand of Him who sat upon the
throne and open it However when he opened his eyes and looked this is what he saw
6Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain standing in the center of the
throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders He had seven horns and
seven eyes which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth 7He came
and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne 8And when he
had taken it the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb Each one had a
harp and they were hold-
ing golden bowls full of
incense which are the
prayers of the saints 9And
they sang a new song
You are worthy to take
the scroll and to open its
seals
because you were slain
and with your blood you
purchased men for God
from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and na-
tion
10You have made them to
be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth
8
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon
thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand They encircled the throne and the
living creatures and the elders 12In a loud voice they
sang
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise ( emphasis color red
mine)
Now I must ask this question of my brethren and sis-
ters Who is this Lamb that was slain that with his
blood purchased men for God from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and nation and who went and took
the book from the hand of Him that sat on the throne
Is the Lamb seen by John also the one announced as
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Why then is the Lion of Judah symbol in the Ethiopian
triune red gold and green flag seen carrying a cross over its shoulders
Who really is this slain Lamb redeeming atoning conquering through his death
and resurrection and found worthy to receive the title deed to judge and rule the
heavens and finally the earth in the Age to come
Who is this one now being retained in the Heavens UNTIL ldquo the restoration of all
things spoken of by the prophets since the earth beganrdquo
I confess that it is no other than Jesus Yeshua Iye-
sus or in any language referencing Him
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st himself said 56
years ago
ldquo I know I am saved not by anything that is of char-
acter or work of the human heart but by the blood of
Jesus alonerdquo (see African Challenge Magazine Nov 1960 30th
Coronation Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 of
Ethiopia)
Note for future reference that this statement by Haile Se-
lassie1st is the essence and summation of the Christian
Faith in just a few words
So what then about His Imperial Majesty being crowned
with these titles This is an obvious question arising from
this earthshaking confession to my brothers and sisters
9
My inspired answer to all is this Firstly
these titles are associated with the
throne and the Royal House of Judah
from a blessing of Jacob thousands of
years ago Judah your brothers will
praise you your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies your fathers
sons will bow down to you You are a
lions cub O Judah you return from
the prey my son Like a lion he
crouches and lies down like a lion-
essmdashwho dares to rouse him 10 The
scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers staff from between his feet un-
til he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his (Until my
emphasis) (NIV) I used the New International Version quote here as it breaks down the
meaning of Shiloh as ldquoto whom it belongsrdquo
Thus any descendant of the House of Judah who is Anointed or Christ-end King is allowed
to bear represent and be custodian or standard bearer of the lion cub messianic title as
a shadow or reminder of He who is to come
These Kings (descendants preserved in Ethiopia) fulfill a vision of King Solomon
the night he lay with the Queen of Sheba (as recorded in the Ethiopia Geez histo-
ry of ldquoThe Glory of the Kings or ldquoKebra Negastrdquo ) which was interpreted by the High
Priest Zadok These descendants were to be that natural cohabited seed that de-
parted to Ethiopia in the womb of Sheba This however did not annul or neither
did it replace the promise made in Genesis of the noncohabited ldquoseed of the wom-
anrdquo that would ldquocrush the head of the serpentrdquo fulfilled by the planting into the
womb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem by the Most High God
Himself His only begotten Son Jesus He was not born by the
will of man but by the will of God This fact was also brought
out in the record of the Kebra Negast concerning King Solo-
monrsquos vision that the spiritual seed was sent to Jerusalem via
the womb of Mary and a natural cohabited seed through the
Queen of Sheba to Ethiopia This extension of knowledge in
the Kebra Negast has helped to unlock this 85 year old Coro-
nation door to proper understanding (I must note here that this
lsquooverstandingrsquo was also made clear to me through the Grace of God by
His Holy Spirit working through the prophet Bro Gad founder of the
12 Tribes of Israel and explained also through the chief professor of
Ethiopian religious history Alika Ayeleu Tamru a physically blind
priest)
10
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
22 ldquoFellow Israelites listen to this Jesus of Nazareth was a man ac-credited by God to you by miracles wonders and signs which God did among you through him as you yourselves know This man was handed over to you by Godrsquos deliberate plan and foreknowledge and you with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross but God raised him from the dead freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him David said about him ldquolsquoI saw the Lord always before me Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices my body also will rest in hope because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead you will not let your holy one see decay You have made known to me the paths of life you will fill me with joy in your pres-encersquo ldquoFellow Israelites I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne Seeing what was to come he spoke of the resurrec-tion of the Messiah that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead nor did his body see decay God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of it Exalted to the right hand of God he has re-ceived from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear For David did not ascend to heaven and yet he said ldquolsquoThe Lord said to my Lord ldquoSit at my right hand 5 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feetrdquo ldquoTherefore let all Israel be assured of this God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Messiahrdquo 37 When the people heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles ldquoBrothers what shall we dordquo Peter replied ldquoRepent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit The prom-ise is for you and your children and for all who are far off for all whom the Lord our God will callrdquo 40 With many other words he warned them and he pleaded with them ldquoSave yourselves from this cor-rupt generationrdquo Those who accepted his message were baptized and about three thousand were added to their number that day
The Apostle Peter then informed Israel then and we are informed today that the
Heavens must retain Him Jesus UNTIL the time of the Restoration of all the
things spoken of by the prophets 17 ldquoNow fellow Israelites I know that you acted in ignorance as did your leaders But this is how God ful-filled what he had foretold through all the prophets saying that his Messiah would suffer Repent then and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out that times of refreshing may come from the Lord 20 and that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed for youmdasheven Jesus 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything as he promised long ago through his holy prophets 22 For Moses said lsquoThe Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own peo-ple you must listen to everything he tells you Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people ldquoIndeed beginning with Samuel all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days 25 And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers He said to Abraham lsquoThrough your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed26 When God raised up his servant he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked waysrdquo (Acts 4Vs 17-26)
This now leads my readers and most importantly my Rastafari brethren to ponder this revo-
lutionary confession and testimony on the significance of this magnificent 20th Century
event reconnection us to Biblical History through an Ethiopian King of the Davidic and Sol-
omonic House of Judah The following questions must then be asked of my position ldquoWhat
then is the real significance or rather importance of this prestigious event Was it then a
simple ceremonial African cultural event without begging a meaning or adding any signifi-
cance to it
6
The Real Meaning of the Coronation revealed
I propose that the answer to the real significance or importance of this historical event to us
can be found in Godrsquos saving grace (ie unmerited favour) towards us a despised and down-
trodden people God like in the times of bondage in Egypt heard the cry of our people and
saw their affliction and visited us
I am convinced that God in His grace towards us preserved a seed of the Royal House of
David as a light and in Ethiopia the most ancient Christian nation on earth This was an
act of His Grace towards us leading us eventually and progressively to the true Christian
faith through accepting the Bible and Jesus as Master
and Saviour of the World The significance or im-
portance of the Coronation does not lie merely in
its pomp or the prestige and pride it gave us to see
an African King being crowned in a free African
nation Rather the answer to the importance lies
in the activity of Godrsquos anointed Holy Spirit as
manifested in the lives character and instrumen-
tality of the Emperor and Empress who were
Crowned If our Rastafari Brethren and Sisters truth-
fully study the life and teachings of His Imperial Majesty
Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and Empress Mennen they
will see clearly that from their earliest age right up
through their Coronation and their latter years they were devout followers of Jesus Christ
and the teachings of the Holy Bible They never failed either in example or words to encour-
age us to follow devotedly its teachings As Haile Selassie 1st said
ldquo hellip All through my youth I had been taught to appreciate the Bible and my love for
it increases with the passage of timerdquoAll through my difficulties I have found the
Bible a cause for infinite comfortrdquo
To illustrate my point some more let us look honestly at this quote which I have found to be
the key message of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1He
has advised us in the spirit of wisdom of his forbearers
hellipToday man sees all his hopes and aspirations crum-
bling before him He is perplexed and knows not where
he is drifting But he must realize that the Bible is his
refuge and the rallying point of all humanity In it man
will find the solution for his present difficulties and
guidance for his future action and unless he accepts
with clear conscience the Bible and its great message
he cannot hope for salvation For my part I Glory in the
Bible
7
When by the Grace of God I repented prayed and accepted with a clear con-
science the Holy Bible and its message as directed by the Coronate King Emperor
Haile Selassie1 then God removed a vail from before mine eyes I then went and
looked again at Revelation Chapter 5 It was really then the eyes of my under-
standing was opened to the fact that we had left off something of crucial im-
portance to the understanding of Godrsquos revelation We had either failed or been
somewhat diverted from reading the other 5 verses vs 6-10 of the Book of Revela-
tion Chapter 5 We had therefore taken verses 1-5 out of context to meet our urgent
desire for immediate redemption from prevailing social economic and political cir-
cumstances To our own detriment we had ignored the passage which revealed the
One who redeemed mankind from his own sinful nature the real enemy of man-
kind
I then became aware that Our hopes and aspirations were based on a ldquohalf-truthrdquo This ex-
plosive admission of a student of the Bible and also His Imperial Majesty was profoundly
brought out when I examined with a clear conscience the following 5 verses Please recall
that revelation 5 vs 1-5 records John hearing the angel telling him to not to weep as the Lion
of Judah had prevailed to take the sealed scroll from the hand of Him who sat upon the
throne and open it However when he opened his eyes and looked this is what he saw
6Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain standing in the center of the
throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders He had seven horns and
seven eyes which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth 7He came
and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne 8And when he
had taken it the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb Each one had a
harp and they were hold-
ing golden bowls full of
incense which are the
prayers of the saints 9And
they sang a new song
You are worthy to take
the scroll and to open its
seals
because you were slain
and with your blood you
purchased men for God
from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and na-
tion
10You have made them to
be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth
8
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon
thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand They encircled the throne and the
living creatures and the elders 12In a loud voice they
sang
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise ( emphasis color red
mine)
Now I must ask this question of my brethren and sis-
ters Who is this Lamb that was slain that with his
blood purchased men for God from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and nation and who went and took
the book from the hand of Him that sat on the throne
Is the Lamb seen by John also the one announced as
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Why then is the Lion of Judah symbol in the Ethiopian
triune red gold and green flag seen carrying a cross over its shoulders
Who really is this slain Lamb redeeming atoning conquering through his death
and resurrection and found worthy to receive the title deed to judge and rule the
heavens and finally the earth in the Age to come
Who is this one now being retained in the Heavens UNTIL ldquo the restoration of all
things spoken of by the prophets since the earth beganrdquo
I confess that it is no other than Jesus Yeshua Iye-
sus or in any language referencing Him
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st himself said 56
years ago
ldquo I know I am saved not by anything that is of char-
acter or work of the human heart but by the blood of
Jesus alonerdquo (see African Challenge Magazine Nov 1960 30th
Coronation Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 of
Ethiopia)
Note for future reference that this statement by Haile Se-
lassie1st is the essence and summation of the Christian
Faith in just a few words
So what then about His Imperial Majesty being crowned
with these titles This is an obvious question arising from
this earthshaking confession to my brothers and sisters
9
My inspired answer to all is this Firstly
these titles are associated with the
throne and the Royal House of Judah
from a blessing of Jacob thousands of
years ago Judah your brothers will
praise you your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies your fathers
sons will bow down to you You are a
lions cub O Judah you return from
the prey my son Like a lion he
crouches and lies down like a lion-
essmdashwho dares to rouse him 10 The
scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers staff from between his feet un-
til he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his (Until my
emphasis) (NIV) I used the New International Version quote here as it breaks down the
meaning of Shiloh as ldquoto whom it belongsrdquo
Thus any descendant of the House of Judah who is Anointed or Christ-end King is allowed
to bear represent and be custodian or standard bearer of the lion cub messianic title as
a shadow or reminder of He who is to come
These Kings (descendants preserved in Ethiopia) fulfill a vision of King Solomon
the night he lay with the Queen of Sheba (as recorded in the Ethiopia Geez histo-
ry of ldquoThe Glory of the Kings or ldquoKebra Negastrdquo ) which was interpreted by the High
Priest Zadok These descendants were to be that natural cohabited seed that de-
parted to Ethiopia in the womb of Sheba This however did not annul or neither
did it replace the promise made in Genesis of the noncohabited ldquoseed of the wom-
anrdquo that would ldquocrush the head of the serpentrdquo fulfilled by the planting into the
womb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem by the Most High God
Himself His only begotten Son Jesus He was not born by the
will of man but by the will of God This fact was also brought
out in the record of the Kebra Negast concerning King Solo-
monrsquos vision that the spiritual seed was sent to Jerusalem via
the womb of Mary and a natural cohabited seed through the
Queen of Sheba to Ethiopia This extension of knowledge in
the Kebra Negast has helped to unlock this 85 year old Coro-
nation door to proper understanding (I must note here that this
lsquooverstandingrsquo was also made clear to me through the Grace of God by
His Holy Spirit working through the prophet Bro Gad founder of the
12 Tribes of Israel and explained also through the chief professor of
Ethiopian religious history Alika Ayeleu Tamru a physically blind
priest)
10
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
The Real Meaning of the Coronation revealed
I propose that the answer to the real significance or importance of this historical event to us
can be found in Godrsquos saving grace (ie unmerited favour) towards us a despised and down-
trodden people God like in the times of bondage in Egypt heard the cry of our people and
saw their affliction and visited us
I am convinced that God in His grace towards us preserved a seed of the Royal House of
David as a light and in Ethiopia the most ancient Christian nation on earth This was an
act of His Grace towards us leading us eventually and progressively to the true Christian
faith through accepting the Bible and Jesus as Master
and Saviour of the World The significance or im-
portance of the Coronation does not lie merely in
its pomp or the prestige and pride it gave us to see
an African King being crowned in a free African
nation Rather the answer to the importance lies
in the activity of Godrsquos anointed Holy Spirit as
manifested in the lives character and instrumen-
tality of the Emperor and Empress who were
Crowned If our Rastafari Brethren and Sisters truth-
fully study the life and teachings of His Imperial Majesty
Emperor Haile Selassie 1st and Empress Mennen they
will see clearly that from their earliest age right up
through their Coronation and their latter years they were devout followers of Jesus Christ
and the teachings of the Holy Bible They never failed either in example or words to encour-
age us to follow devotedly its teachings As Haile Selassie 1st said
ldquo hellip All through my youth I had been taught to appreciate the Bible and my love for
it increases with the passage of timerdquoAll through my difficulties I have found the
Bible a cause for infinite comfortrdquo
To illustrate my point some more let us look honestly at this quote which I have found to be
the key message of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1He
has advised us in the spirit of wisdom of his forbearers
hellipToday man sees all his hopes and aspirations crum-
bling before him He is perplexed and knows not where
he is drifting But he must realize that the Bible is his
refuge and the rallying point of all humanity In it man
will find the solution for his present difficulties and
guidance for his future action and unless he accepts
with clear conscience the Bible and its great message
he cannot hope for salvation For my part I Glory in the
Bible
7
When by the Grace of God I repented prayed and accepted with a clear con-
science the Holy Bible and its message as directed by the Coronate King Emperor
Haile Selassie1 then God removed a vail from before mine eyes I then went and
looked again at Revelation Chapter 5 It was really then the eyes of my under-
standing was opened to the fact that we had left off something of crucial im-
portance to the understanding of Godrsquos revelation We had either failed or been
somewhat diverted from reading the other 5 verses vs 6-10 of the Book of Revela-
tion Chapter 5 We had therefore taken verses 1-5 out of context to meet our urgent
desire for immediate redemption from prevailing social economic and political cir-
cumstances To our own detriment we had ignored the passage which revealed the
One who redeemed mankind from his own sinful nature the real enemy of man-
kind
I then became aware that Our hopes and aspirations were based on a ldquohalf-truthrdquo This ex-
plosive admission of a student of the Bible and also His Imperial Majesty was profoundly
brought out when I examined with a clear conscience the following 5 verses Please recall
that revelation 5 vs 1-5 records John hearing the angel telling him to not to weep as the Lion
of Judah had prevailed to take the sealed scroll from the hand of Him who sat upon the
throne and open it However when he opened his eyes and looked this is what he saw
6Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain standing in the center of the
throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders He had seven horns and
seven eyes which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth 7He came
and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne 8And when he
had taken it the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb Each one had a
harp and they were hold-
ing golden bowls full of
incense which are the
prayers of the saints 9And
they sang a new song
You are worthy to take
the scroll and to open its
seals
because you were slain
and with your blood you
purchased men for God
from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and na-
tion
10You have made them to
be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth
8
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon
thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand They encircled the throne and the
living creatures and the elders 12In a loud voice they
sang
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise ( emphasis color red
mine)
Now I must ask this question of my brethren and sis-
ters Who is this Lamb that was slain that with his
blood purchased men for God from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and nation and who went and took
the book from the hand of Him that sat on the throne
Is the Lamb seen by John also the one announced as
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Why then is the Lion of Judah symbol in the Ethiopian
triune red gold and green flag seen carrying a cross over its shoulders
Who really is this slain Lamb redeeming atoning conquering through his death
and resurrection and found worthy to receive the title deed to judge and rule the
heavens and finally the earth in the Age to come
Who is this one now being retained in the Heavens UNTIL ldquo the restoration of all
things spoken of by the prophets since the earth beganrdquo
I confess that it is no other than Jesus Yeshua Iye-
sus or in any language referencing Him
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st himself said 56
years ago
ldquo I know I am saved not by anything that is of char-
acter or work of the human heart but by the blood of
Jesus alonerdquo (see African Challenge Magazine Nov 1960 30th
Coronation Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 of
Ethiopia)
Note for future reference that this statement by Haile Se-
lassie1st is the essence and summation of the Christian
Faith in just a few words
So what then about His Imperial Majesty being crowned
with these titles This is an obvious question arising from
this earthshaking confession to my brothers and sisters
9
My inspired answer to all is this Firstly
these titles are associated with the
throne and the Royal House of Judah
from a blessing of Jacob thousands of
years ago Judah your brothers will
praise you your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies your fathers
sons will bow down to you You are a
lions cub O Judah you return from
the prey my son Like a lion he
crouches and lies down like a lion-
essmdashwho dares to rouse him 10 The
scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers staff from between his feet un-
til he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his (Until my
emphasis) (NIV) I used the New International Version quote here as it breaks down the
meaning of Shiloh as ldquoto whom it belongsrdquo
Thus any descendant of the House of Judah who is Anointed or Christ-end King is allowed
to bear represent and be custodian or standard bearer of the lion cub messianic title as
a shadow or reminder of He who is to come
These Kings (descendants preserved in Ethiopia) fulfill a vision of King Solomon
the night he lay with the Queen of Sheba (as recorded in the Ethiopia Geez histo-
ry of ldquoThe Glory of the Kings or ldquoKebra Negastrdquo ) which was interpreted by the High
Priest Zadok These descendants were to be that natural cohabited seed that de-
parted to Ethiopia in the womb of Sheba This however did not annul or neither
did it replace the promise made in Genesis of the noncohabited ldquoseed of the wom-
anrdquo that would ldquocrush the head of the serpentrdquo fulfilled by the planting into the
womb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem by the Most High God
Himself His only begotten Son Jesus He was not born by the
will of man but by the will of God This fact was also brought
out in the record of the Kebra Negast concerning King Solo-
monrsquos vision that the spiritual seed was sent to Jerusalem via
the womb of Mary and a natural cohabited seed through the
Queen of Sheba to Ethiopia This extension of knowledge in
the Kebra Negast has helped to unlock this 85 year old Coro-
nation door to proper understanding (I must note here that this
lsquooverstandingrsquo was also made clear to me through the Grace of God by
His Holy Spirit working through the prophet Bro Gad founder of the
12 Tribes of Israel and explained also through the chief professor of
Ethiopian religious history Alika Ayeleu Tamru a physically blind
priest)
10
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
When by the Grace of God I repented prayed and accepted with a clear con-
science the Holy Bible and its message as directed by the Coronate King Emperor
Haile Selassie1 then God removed a vail from before mine eyes I then went and
looked again at Revelation Chapter 5 It was really then the eyes of my under-
standing was opened to the fact that we had left off something of crucial im-
portance to the understanding of Godrsquos revelation We had either failed or been
somewhat diverted from reading the other 5 verses vs 6-10 of the Book of Revela-
tion Chapter 5 We had therefore taken verses 1-5 out of context to meet our urgent
desire for immediate redemption from prevailing social economic and political cir-
cumstances To our own detriment we had ignored the passage which revealed the
One who redeemed mankind from his own sinful nature the real enemy of man-
kind
I then became aware that Our hopes and aspirations were based on a ldquohalf-truthrdquo This ex-
plosive admission of a student of the Bible and also His Imperial Majesty was profoundly
brought out when I examined with a clear conscience the following 5 verses Please recall
that revelation 5 vs 1-5 records John hearing the angel telling him to not to weep as the Lion
of Judah had prevailed to take the sealed scroll from the hand of Him who sat upon the
throne and open it However when he opened his eyes and looked this is what he saw
6Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain standing in the center of the
throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders He had seven horns and
seven eyes which are the seven spirits[a] of God sent out into all the earth 7He came
and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne 8And when he
had taken it the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the
Lamb Each one had a
harp and they were hold-
ing golden bowls full of
incense which are the
prayers of the saints 9And
they sang a new song
You are worthy to take
the scroll and to open its
seals
because you were slain
and with your blood you
purchased men for God
from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and na-
tion
10You have made them to
be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth
8
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon
thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand They encircled the throne and the
living creatures and the elders 12In a loud voice they
sang
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise ( emphasis color red
mine)
Now I must ask this question of my brethren and sis-
ters Who is this Lamb that was slain that with his
blood purchased men for God from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and nation and who went and took
the book from the hand of Him that sat on the throne
Is the Lamb seen by John also the one announced as
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Why then is the Lion of Judah symbol in the Ethiopian
triune red gold and green flag seen carrying a cross over its shoulders
Who really is this slain Lamb redeeming atoning conquering through his death
and resurrection and found worthy to receive the title deed to judge and rule the
heavens and finally the earth in the Age to come
Who is this one now being retained in the Heavens UNTIL ldquo the restoration of all
things spoken of by the prophets since the earth beganrdquo
I confess that it is no other than Jesus Yeshua Iye-
sus or in any language referencing Him
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st himself said 56
years ago
ldquo I know I am saved not by anything that is of char-
acter or work of the human heart but by the blood of
Jesus alonerdquo (see African Challenge Magazine Nov 1960 30th
Coronation Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 of
Ethiopia)
Note for future reference that this statement by Haile Se-
lassie1st is the essence and summation of the Christian
Faith in just a few words
So what then about His Imperial Majesty being crowned
with these titles This is an obvious question arising from
this earthshaking confession to my brothers and sisters
9
My inspired answer to all is this Firstly
these titles are associated with the
throne and the Royal House of Judah
from a blessing of Jacob thousands of
years ago Judah your brothers will
praise you your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies your fathers
sons will bow down to you You are a
lions cub O Judah you return from
the prey my son Like a lion he
crouches and lies down like a lion-
essmdashwho dares to rouse him 10 The
scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers staff from between his feet un-
til he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his (Until my
emphasis) (NIV) I used the New International Version quote here as it breaks down the
meaning of Shiloh as ldquoto whom it belongsrdquo
Thus any descendant of the House of Judah who is Anointed or Christ-end King is allowed
to bear represent and be custodian or standard bearer of the lion cub messianic title as
a shadow or reminder of He who is to come
These Kings (descendants preserved in Ethiopia) fulfill a vision of King Solomon
the night he lay with the Queen of Sheba (as recorded in the Ethiopia Geez histo-
ry of ldquoThe Glory of the Kings or ldquoKebra Negastrdquo ) which was interpreted by the High
Priest Zadok These descendants were to be that natural cohabited seed that de-
parted to Ethiopia in the womb of Sheba This however did not annul or neither
did it replace the promise made in Genesis of the noncohabited ldquoseed of the wom-
anrdquo that would ldquocrush the head of the serpentrdquo fulfilled by the planting into the
womb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem by the Most High God
Himself His only begotten Son Jesus He was not born by the
will of man but by the will of God This fact was also brought
out in the record of the Kebra Negast concerning King Solo-
monrsquos vision that the spiritual seed was sent to Jerusalem via
the womb of Mary and a natural cohabited seed through the
Queen of Sheba to Ethiopia This extension of knowledge in
the Kebra Negast has helped to unlock this 85 year old Coro-
nation door to proper understanding (I must note here that this
lsquooverstandingrsquo was also made clear to me through the Grace of God by
His Holy Spirit working through the prophet Bro Gad founder of the
12 Tribes of Israel and explained also through the chief professor of
Ethiopian religious history Alika Ayeleu Tamru a physically blind
priest)
10
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon
thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand They encircled the throne and the
living creatures and the elders 12In a loud voice they
sang
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise ( emphasis color red
mine)
Now I must ask this question of my brethren and sis-
ters Who is this Lamb that was slain that with his
blood purchased men for God from every tribe and lan-
guage and people and nation and who went and took
the book from the hand of Him that sat on the throne
Is the Lamb seen by John also the one announced as
the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
Why then is the Lion of Judah symbol in the Ethiopian
triune red gold and green flag seen carrying a cross over its shoulders
Who really is this slain Lamb redeeming atoning conquering through his death
and resurrection and found worthy to receive the title deed to judge and rule the
heavens and finally the earth in the Age to come
Who is this one now being retained in the Heavens UNTIL ldquo the restoration of all
things spoken of by the prophets since the earth beganrdquo
I confess that it is no other than Jesus Yeshua Iye-
sus or in any language referencing Him
His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie 1st himself said 56
years ago
ldquo I know I am saved not by anything that is of char-
acter or work of the human heart but by the blood of
Jesus alonerdquo (see African Challenge Magazine Nov 1960 30th
Coronation Anniversary of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie1 of
Ethiopia)
Note for future reference that this statement by Haile Se-
lassie1st is the essence and summation of the Christian
Faith in just a few words
So what then about His Imperial Majesty being crowned
with these titles This is an obvious question arising from
this earthshaking confession to my brothers and sisters
9
My inspired answer to all is this Firstly
these titles are associated with the
throne and the Royal House of Judah
from a blessing of Jacob thousands of
years ago Judah your brothers will
praise you your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies your fathers
sons will bow down to you You are a
lions cub O Judah you return from
the prey my son Like a lion he
crouches and lies down like a lion-
essmdashwho dares to rouse him 10 The
scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers staff from between his feet un-
til he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his (Until my
emphasis) (NIV) I used the New International Version quote here as it breaks down the
meaning of Shiloh as ldquoto whom it belongsrdquo
Thus any descendant of the House of Judah who is Anointed or Christ-end King is allowed
to bear represent and be custodian or standard bearer of the lion cub messianic title as
a shadow or reminder of He who is to come
These Kings (descendants preserved in Ethiopia) fulfill a vision of King Solomon
the night he lay with the Queen of Sheba (as recorded in the Ethiopia Geez histo-
ry of ldquoThe Glory of the Kings or ldquoKebra Negastrdquo ) which was interpreted by the High
Priest Zadok These descendants were to be that natural cohabited seed that de-
parted to Ethiopia in the womb of Sheba This however did not annul or neither
did it replace the promise made in Genesis of the noncohabited ldquoseed of the wom-
anrdquo that would ldquocrush the head of the serpentrdquo fulfilled by the planting into the
womb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem by the Most High God
Himself His only begotten Son Jesus He was not born by the
will of man but by the will of God This fact was also brought
out in the record of the Kebra Negast concerning King Solo-
monrsquos vision that the spiritual seed was sent to Jerusalem via
the womb of Mary and a natural cohabited seed through the
Queen of Sheba to Ethiopia This extension of knowledge in
the Kebra Negast has helped to unlock this 85 year old Coro-
nation door to proper understanding (I must note here that this
lsquooverstandingrsquo was also made clear to me through the Grace of God by
His Holy Spirit working through the prophet Bro Gad founder of the
12 Tribes of Israel and explained also through the chief professor of
Ethiopian religious history Alika Ayeleu Tamru a physically blind
priest)
10
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
My inspired answer to all is this Firstly
these titles are associated with the
throne and the Royal House of Judah
from a blessing of Jacob thousands of
years ago Judah your brothers will
praise you your hand will be on the
neck of your enemies your fathers
sons will bow down to you You are a
lions cub O Judah you return from
the prey my son Like a lion he
crouches and lies down like a lion-
essmdashwho dares to rouse him 10 The
scepter will not depart from Judah nor the rulers staff from between his feet un-
til he comes to whom it belongs [c] and the obedience of the nations is his (Until my
emphasis) (NIV) I used the New International Version quote here as it breaks down the
meaning of Shiloh as ldquoto whom it belongsrdquo
Thus any descendant of the House of Judah who is Anointed or Christ-end King is allowed
to bear represent and be custodian or standard bearer of the lion cub messianic title as
a shadow or reminder of He who is to come
These Kings (descendants preserved in Ethiopia) fulfill a vision of King Solomon
the night he lay with the Queen of Sheba (as recorded in the Ethiopia Geez histo-
ry of ldquoThe Glory of the Kings or ldquoKebra Negastrdquo ) which was interpreted by the High
Priest Zadok These descendants were to be that natural cohabited seed that de-
parted to Ethiopia in the womb of Sheba This however did not annul or neither
did it replace the promise made in Genesis of the noncohabited ldquoseed of the wom-
anrdquo that would ldquocrush the head of the serpentrdquo fulfilled by the planting into the
womb of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem by the Most High God
Himself His only begotten Son Jesus He was not born by the
will of man but by the will of God This fact was also brought
out in the record of the Kebra Negast concerning King Solo-
monrsquos vision that the spiritual seed was sent to Jerusalem via
the womb of Mary and a natural cohabited seed through the
Queen of Sheba to Ethiopia This extension of knowledge in
the Kebra Negast has helped to unlock this 85 year old Coro-
nation door to proper understanding (I must note here that this
lsquooverstandingrsquo was also made clear to me through the Grace of God by
His Holy Spirit working through the prophet Bro Gad founder of the
12 Tribes of Israel and explained also through the chief professor of
Ethiopian religious history Alika Ayeleu Tamru a physically blind
priest)
10
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
The Kings of Judah born of natural fathers and mothers hold the rulerrsquos staff and
this Divine right to rule made by a ldquocovenant of saltrdquo (2nd Chronicles 13 Vs 5) This
was the covenant that the coronation ceremony recalled to a neglected history and
enlightened us that Ethiopia and the Royal Family were a legitimate offspring and
living testimony to this eternal promise That representational right and guardian-
ship of the throne of David would not depart from them Until He comes to whom it
belongs ie Shiloh or The Master Messiah Jesus This promise confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (St Luke Chapter1 Vs 31-33) that it is He that head
that was crowned with thorns will be the one who would overcome death and
would save His people from their Sin by His spotless life faith obedience and inno-
cent blood the one who would be Great and it is He who will be finally given the
throne of His Father David on which he will sit and reign for a thousand years at a
coming unspecified date This will not be a temporary transient occurrence or rule
for 43 years Hallelujah
It is my earnest prayer that the Coronationrsquos Biblical titles that His Majesty was crowned
with will to the contrary of what has been misrepresented and misinterpreted bring us a
people who were in darkness into the light of life It is my prayer to the Most High that
through His amazing Grace and love in Christ Jesus that His Majesty chosen by Yahweh as
the Elect of God (not of himself) will eventually bring us into the
knowledge of the true ldquoLight of the Worldrdquo As one of our Rastafari-
an patriarchs the Hon Mortimo Planno had so eloquently and right-
ly put it after returning from an eye opening mission to the ldquorealrdquo
Ethiopia in 1961 ldquoRasta you gwine see you Church and deny it
like Peetardquo
It is by the preservation of the Davidic throne in the person of His
Imperial Majesty with these titles that we have been resurrected
into this marvelous light leading us back to the real historic Jesus of
Nazareth the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World
Jesus Yeshua is the man through whom God will Judge the World
He is the Son whom the Father has set down at His right hand
UNTIL he has put all enemies under His feet
Lastly but not the least we who claim affinity to Ethiopia must look carefully and prayerfully
into the mystery and purpose of Jesus Christ The concept of a suffering Messiah proph-
esied in Isaiah 53 Vs 4-12 has always baffled the Scribes of Judah and students of
the Bible Even to us such a Messiah a suffering and crucified Lamb of God in-
stead of the picture of a conquering Lion Messiah seemed less desirable Isaiah 53
describes him as the rejected Messiah We were also directed to this chapter by His Imperial
Majesty in His speech on the Bible when he said
11
Planno
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
ldquohellipno doubt you have all read how
Phillip baptized the Ethiopian Offi-
cial He is the first Ethiopian on rec-
ord to have followed Christ and
from that time onwards the word of
God has continued to grow in the
hearts of all Ethiopiansrdquo
This meeting of the Ethiopian and Phil-
lip is recorded in Acts of the Apostles as
the Ethiopian read from Isiah 53 Easy-to
-Read Version (ERV)
ldquoWho really believed what we heard
Who saw in it the Lordrsquos great power[a]
2 He was always close to the Lord He grew up like a young plant like a root growing in dry ground There
was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked nothing we could see that would cause us to
like him 3 People made fun of him and even his friends left him He was a man who suffered a lot of pain
and sickness We treated him like someone of no importance like someone people will not even look at
but turn away from in disgust
4 The fact is it was our suffering he took on himself he bore our pain But we thought that God was punish-
ing him that God was beating him for something he did 5 But he was being punished for what we did He
was crushed because of our guilt He took the punishment we deserved and this brought us peace We
were healed because of his pain 6 We had all wandered away like sheep We had gone our own way And
yet the Lord put all our guilt on him
7 He was treated badly but he never protested He said nothing like a lamb being led away to be killed He
was like a sheep that makes no sound as its wool is being cut off He never opened his mouth to defend
himself 8 He was taken away by force and judged unfairly The people of his time did not even notice that
he was killed[b] But he was put to death[c] for the sins of his[d] people 9 He had done no wrong to anyone He
had never even told a lie But he was buried among the wicked His tomb was with the rich
10 But the Lord was pleased with this humble servant who suffered such pain[e] Even after giving himself as
an offering for sin he will see his descendants and enjoy a long life He will succeed in doing what the Lord
wanted 11 After his suffering he will see the light[f] and he will be satisfied with what he experienced
The Lord says ldquoMy servant who always does what is right will make his people right with me he will take
away their sins 12 For this reason I will treat him as one of my great people I will give him the rewards of
one who wins in battle and he will share them with his powerful ones I will do this because he gave his life
for the people He was considered a criminal but the truth is he carried away the sins of many Now he will
stand before me and speak for those who have sinnedrdquo
12
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
13
The Ethiopian official was also baffled as he read these passages as he journeyed from Jeru-
salem where he had been to worship This was believed to be approximately three months af-
ter the crucifixion of our Messiah The Angel of the Most High ordered Phillip the evangelist
as recorded in the Book of Acts Chapter 8 Vs 26-36 to go on the Gaza road where he met an
Ethiopian official returning from Jerusalem where he had been to worship The Ethiopian
was reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah the prophet The Holy Spirit lead Philip to join the
Ethiopian and to ask if he understood what he was reading as he presumably was baffled by
what he read in the passage in Isaiah This is the very passage that the Jews and even many
Rastafari brothers and sisters have not reconciled in our hearts even to this very day The
Ethiopian replied Acts 8 Vs 31-34
31How can I he said unless someone explains it to me So he invited Philip to
come up and sit with him 32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent
so he did not open his mouth 33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice
Who can speak of his descendants For his life was taken from the earth[e]
34The eunuch asked Philip Tell me please who is the prophet talking about him-
self or someone else 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and
told him the good news about Jesus
The coming on the scene of a man born on the 1st of November has
done wonders to bridge the Gap in the understanding of the im-
portance of His Imperial Majestyrsquos Coronation This is the coming on
the scene of The Prophet Gad Vernon Carrington who founded the
Twelve Tribes of Israel in Kingston Jamaica He encouraged us to read
the Bible from Genesis to Revelation a chapter a day and we would
find truth for ourselves He told the brethren that there was no other
name given whereby we must be saved but by the
name of Jesus Christ and enshrined it in our official
greeting He pointed always to the words of His Maj-
esty as it pertains to the Bible and Jesus Christ
In concluding the significance of the Coronation to
all has been elaborated upon The Most High has
anointed His Imperial Majesty ldquoInstrument of The
Power of the Trinityrdquo the 225 descendant of the
House of King Solomon as His Elect in restoring us
to accepting the Faith of Abraham and the eternal
truth that there is but One God and One mediator
between man and God the man Jesus Christ
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon
14
His Imperial Majesty bore the titles of
Defender of the Faith and leader of the
most ancient Christian nation In re-
searching His utterances he always stat-
ed that He followed Jesus Christ and en-
couraged us to do the same We will
never find salvation and peace until we
repent and every knee bow and confess
Jesus as he did as Lord and Saviour
In honor of Their Imperial Majesties
86thh Coronation Anniversary I conclude
with his words and significant advice to
all who seek to follow his example
hellipThe love shown in Christ by our
God to mankind should constrain
all of us who are followers and disci-
ples of Christ to do all in our power
to see to it that the Message of salva-
tion is carried to those of our fellows
for whom Christ Our Saviour was
sacrificed but have not had the bene-
fit of hearing the good news
hellipTherefore O Christians let us
arise and with the spiritual zeal
and earnestness which character-
ized the Apostles and early Chris-
tians let us labour to lead our
brothers and sisters to Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Who only can give life in its full-
est sense
All Glory Honour Power Praise Wisdom Riches and Strength be to the Most
High who rides upon the heavens by His name JAH (Psalm 68Vs4 ) Amen
Your Co- worker in Christ Jesus
Karl Phillpotts Naphtali
First Edition November 2012
Second Edition November 2014
Third Edition November 2015
Graphics and photos supplied by bro Adam Simeon