Read with Me
Genesis 49:8-12 (HCSB)
Judah, your brothers will praise you.
Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
Judah is a young lion —
my son, you return from the kill.
He crouches; he lies down like a lion
or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
The scepter will not depart from Judah
or the staff from between his feet
until He whose right it is comes
and the obedience of the peoples belongs to Him.
He ties his donkey to a vine,
and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine.
He washes his clothes in wine
and his robes in the blood of grapes.
His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth are whiter than milk.
Listen with Me
Now that the eldest three sons of Jacob have been eliminated from receiving the promise, he comes to his fourth-born son, Judah. Even though Judah had a somewhat checkered past, he had nothing in him that his father saw as disqualifying. In fact, his offer of himself as a hostage in Benjamin’s place in Pharaoh’s prison (Genesis 44:18-34), a report of which had doubtlessly reached Jacob, showed that he did indeed possess a more noble character than his brothers.
As previously noted, the birthright, the double portion of the estate had already been passed to Joseph through Jacob adopting his two sons, thus granting him a double share in the Promised Land. But Judah did receive the blessing and the promise. It would be through his line that both the kings of Israel and the Messiah would come.
In the time before the coming of the Messiah, the descendants of Judah would hold the throne in trust as the kings of all Israel. This is prefigured by Jacob’s prophecy that all Judah’s brothers would bow to him, as well as by the image of the scepter, the traditional symbol of kingship.
This prophecy would take nearly two thousand years to be fulfilled completely. First would be more than 400 years of slavery in Egypt. This would be followed by around 500 years between the start of the Exodus and the start of David’s reign. And even though only David and Solomon would rule over a unified Israel, the line of Judah through David would retain the throne of the southern kingdom of Judah throughout the period of the divided kingdom.
Finally, around a thousand years after king David’s time, in the days of Herod the great, the Messiah, Jesus, was born. Jesus was a direct descendant of Judah and David on both his mother’s side (Luke 3:23-33) as well as on his foster-father’s side (Matthew 1:2-16), thus fulfilling this prophecy to the letter.
Pray with Me
Father it is amazing to me that You not only see (and actually orchestrate) the future, but how You can so clearly communicate that future to those who stay close to You and who keep our ears open and tuned to Your voice. Help me, Lord, to always listen carefully every day, so that I can hear Your voice clearly. And then help me to speak and write Your words flawlessly, so that others can know and understand Your good will. Amen.