LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB #87 : BENJAMIN #9

written by Pastor Christopher Choo

Lesson 3588

LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JACOB #87

JACOB'S PROPHECIES ABOUT THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL #22

BENJAMIN #9

THE MINISTERIAL PARTNERSHIP OF BENJAMIN AND JUDAH

The working relationship between Judah and Benjamin was even more evident after King Solomon died.

During the reign of Solomon's son and heir,  the nation of Israel was split into two separate kingdoms.

According to the prophet Ahijah in 1 Kings 11: 35-36, God will give the first king of the Kingdom of Northern Israel ten tribes. 

But Solomon's son will retain two tribes: Judah and Benjamin.

" I will give one tribe   to his son ( Solomon's ) so that David My servant may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put My Name."

This stupendous but overlooked prophecy has been variously translated and fulfilled.

1. One such interpretation says that " David will always have God's Light in the Temple at Jerusalem, which was in the territory of Benjamin as the Light never went out in the Temple".

2. An outstanding prophetic fulfilment was that Judah and Benjamin were the two notable tribes that came back to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple after 70 years of their Babylonian Captivity.

3. A much later fulfillment followed -  the remnant tribes of Judah and Benjamin returned to Israel and begat the modern Jews. In fact, the tribe of Benjamin will be subsumed into the tribe of Judah becoming one ethnic entity from which the Jews derived their name as people of Judah.

What is the lesson for us today?

What God has mandated in prophecy will always be fulfilled in God's perfect timing no matter what man may propose otherwise.

He will preserve a faithful remnant - both Judah and Benjamin - to fulfil His plan and purposes for the ages.

Can we count ourselves as a faithful remnant in the Endtimes?

Will we like the remnant tribe of Judah and Benjamin put the establishment of God's Kingdom on earth as the first priority in our lives?