Honey From The Rock

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Honey From The Rock
Psalm 81:16

"Sweet Stuff From God's Word"

A daily Bible study with Victor Knowles
Copyright 2007

TRIBE OF JUDAH

This entry was posted on 12-16-2009 and is filed under MESSIANIC PROPHECY.

Star of Hope #7 in "Stars of Hope in the Old Testament Sky."

"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" (Genesis 49:10 CSB). Some translations have "until Shiloh comes." Shiloh may be another term for Messiah.

Jacob was blessed with twelve sons and each one of them became the leader of a different tribe of the new Jewish nation. In this prophecy we find God eliminating eleven-twelfths of the lineage of Jacob! It is truly amazing to see how God continues to narrow down these prophecies. They are like a large funnel with a wide mouth and a narrow tip. God is very specific here - it will be the tribe of Judah from whom Messiah will come, and no other. The "scepter" of course represents divine leadership, and the "staff" symbolizes that it will be a servant form of leadership (i.e., the Good Shepherd). "To Him shall be the obedience of the people" (Amplified New Testament).

We are not surprised, therefore, to read in Matthew and Luke's account that Jesus descended from Judah (see Luke 3:23, 33 & Matt. 1:2). But there is another passage I would like you to consider. "For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests" (Heb. 7:14 ESV). In the book of Revelation Jesus is called "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5:5). But the line of Judah could have ended almost before it began. Do you remember when Joseph put the sack of silver in his brothers' sacks of grain? They discovered it when they returned home. Simeon was being held hostage. The deal was that Benjamin was to be brought back to him or there would be no more grain. The famine drove them back. Judah told his aged father that he would bear the blame. Perhaps he meant that he would forfeit his life in order to spare the others. Joseph could have had Judah executed on the spot, and that would have ended the lineage of Judah. No Judah? No Messiah! And we would all still be in our sins.

Hymn: "You're the Lion of Judah, the Lamb that was slain, You ascended to heaven and ever more will reign; At the end of the age when the earth You reclaim, You will gather the nations before You, And the eyes of all men will be fixed on the Lamb Who was crucified, For with wisdom and mercy and justice You'll reign At Your Father's side."