LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB #68 : JUDAH
written by: Pastor Christopher Choo
Lesson 3569
LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB #68
JACOB'S PROPHECIES ABOUT THE TWELVES TRIBES OF ISRAEL #3
JUDAH
GENESIS 49:8-12
Judah: The scepter shall not depart from Judah.
“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
Judah is a lion’s whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washed his garments in wine,
And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
a. Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise: Judah wasn’t a completely exemplary character. He suggested a profit motive in getting rid of Joseph (Genesis 37:26). He did not deal faithfully with his daughter-in-law Tamar (Genesis 38:26), and he had sex with her as a prostitute (Genesis 38:18).
But he showed good character when he interceded and offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin (Genesis 44:18-34).
Overall, this blessing is an example of the richness of God’s grace to the undeserving.
In a powerful way, this prophecy over Judah is a description of Judah’s greatest descendant: Jesus Christ. “The dying patriarch was speaking of his own son Judah; but while speaking of Judah he had a special eye to our Lord, who sprang from the tribe of Judah. Everything therefore which he says of Judah, the type, he means with regard to our greater Judah, the antitype, our Lord Jesus Christ” (Spurgeon).
b. You are he whom your brothers shall praise…as a lion…the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet…to Him shall be the obedience of the people: Each of these refer to the ruling position Judah will have among his brethren.
He inherited the leadership aspect of the firstborn’s inheritance. This leadership position among his brothers meant that the eventual kings of Israel would come from Judah and that the Messiah – God’s ultimate leader – would eventually come from the tribe of Judah.
In Revelation 5:5, Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
“The firstborn normally had two rights. First, he became the leader of the family, the new patriarch. Second, he was entitled to a double share of the inheritance, receiving twice as much as any of the other brothers.” (Boice)
c. Until Shiloh comes: The leadership prophecy took some 640 years to fulfill in part with the reign of David, first of Judah’s dynasty of kings. The prophecy took some 1600 years to completely be fulfilled in Jesus.
Jesus is referred to as Shiloh, the name meaning, He whose right it is or to Whom it belongs and a title anciently understood to speak of the Messiah.
From David until the Herods, a prince of Judah was head over Israel (even Daniel in captivity). The promise was that Israel would keep this scepter until
Shiloh comes.
Even under their foreign masters during this period, Israel had a limited right to self-rule, until A.D. 7. At that time, under Herod and the Romans, their right to capital punishment – a small but remaining element of their self-governance – was taken away.
At the time, the rabbis considered it a disaster of unfulfilled Scripture. Seemingly, the last vestige of the scepter had passed from Judah, and they did not see the Messiah.
Reportedly, rabbis walked the streets of Jerusalem and said, “Woe unto us, for the scepter, has been taken away from Judah, and Shiloh has not come.”
Yet God’s word had not been broken.
Certainly, Jesus was alive then. Perhaps this was the very year He was 12 years old and discussed God’s Word in the temple with the scholars of His day. Perhaps He impressed them with His understanding of this very issue.
d. Binding his donkey to the vine: This blessing also contained a description of Judah’s material abundance (the vine… the choice vine). For Judah’s territorial allotment was a great wine-growing area - thanks to God's blessing.
Today's lesson teaches us that God's purposes are never aborted by an imperfect and sinful leader like Judah.
From his kingly line will come to David and Jesus as notable examples of the kingly title
" The Lion of Judah".
Although the tribe of Judah is often associated with a "people of praise", it did not mean they were to be mere participants of occasional praise. Instead, they were called to be praising God constantly just as Paul enjoined us to pray unceasingly.
For David instituted 24 hours' worship sessions in the Tabernacle of David in Jerusalem which was the temporary makeshift house of the Ark of the Covenant when David brought it back to the holy city. Such worship before the Ark - without a veil of separation - brought God's presence down to their nation day and night.
And what was the end result?
During that short and glorious period - before Solomon built his magnificent temple - the borders of Israel enlarged as never before in partial fulfilment of God's prophecy to Abraham that He had given him and his descendants the land from the Euphrates to the Nile as their inheritance in Him.
This showed the potential of Judah if only his tribe would live up to its name of a people of praise.
But the Son of David has come and He will return again to perfect our praise unto the Lord as we will join the worshippers in heaven in that magnificent worship service described in the Book of Revelation 4:1 -11.
