Israel’s Prophecy for Judah

Israel’s Prophecy for Judah

Genesis 49: “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.
⁹ 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?
¹⁰ 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.
¹¹ 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.
¹² His eyes are darker than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.

 

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Judah went along with the original plan to kill his brother Joseph. But when the caravan of slave traders appeared, he was the one who suggested selling Joseph into slavery versus killing him. Later Judah volunteered to become a slave to save Benjamin.

 

My Observations:

• Israel prophesied the lineage of JESUS through Judah.
• JESUS is referred to as the Lion of Judah.
• JESUS will bring Shiloh, or peace through HIS bloodstained garments.

 

Through Judah came King David. Through David, JESUS was ultimately born. Imagine being filled with so much jealousy, that you would go along with a plot to murder someone. That’s where Judah was. BUT GOD intervened and provided an alternative that Judah voiced.

 

This does not make Judah look any better than his brothers. GOD chose Judah to provide the sinless human. A sinful lineage would produce a sinless human. Judah’s siblings would bow down to JESUS just as Israel prophesied.

 

Challenge

• Why does GOD tell Moses about the prophesy of JESUS through Israel’s words about Judah?
• Do you think your life is all about you?
• How does your life fit in helping GOD tell people about the imminent return of JESUS?