Gen. 49:8-12
In Gen. 49 Moses records the prophecy of
Jacob, telling his sons, “what shall befall you in the last days” (v1). Of interest is that two sons, Judah and
Joseph, share the role of the firstborn, and neither one is the actual
firstborn (Reuben, cf. v4). Judah becomes
the leader of the family while Joseph receives the double portion. In terms of the Messiah/Savior, our attention
is on Judah.
Judah means “praise,” and he is the praise of
his brothers. This was true in the story
of Joseph earlier in Genesis, and it would be true in the future when the scepter
would rest in Judah. The other tribes “shall
bow down” (v8) and the people of Israel would obey the King who would come from
Judah (v10).
The prophecy speaks of the ascendency of
Judah. At the time Jacob uttered these
words Joseph was ascendent as he was a major ruler of Egypt and had been used
of God to make provision for the family.
Joshua, who replaced Moses and led Israel into the Promised Land, was
from Ephraim. The early capitol of
Israel was Shiloh which was in the tribe of Ephraim. But, as Psalm 78 explains, God took His
blessing from Ephraim and instead chose David (from Bethlehem in Judah) and Jerusalem
as the location of the temple and palace.
Judah is said to be a feared “lion,” the
feared king of beasts. From that, Jacob
makes a clear reference to a future king: the scepter shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet. Again, Jacob refers this to the “last days.” In v10 he says, “until Shiloh comes.” The word “Shiloh” is in the family of words
for “peace” (shalom). It is
doubtful that Jacob is referring to the city of Shiloh that would be
significant for awhile in Israel, although it is possible that the city got
that name from this passage. More likely
Jacob is saying that this future King will rule in the time of peace and
prosperity described in v11-12.
The initial fulfillment of this is bound up in
the stories of Ruth (she is from Bethlehem and gives birth to ancestors of
David, Ruth 4:13-22), David and the covenant God made with him to have a Son forever
on the throne (2 Sa. 7:12-17). The genealogy
of Matt. 1 establishes that Jesus of Nazareth is that Son, Son of David (Rom.
1:1-4), and “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David (Rev. 4:5). As Jesus is also the LORD from heaven, the
Son of God, He is both “a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch … out of his
roots” as well as “a Root of Jesse” (Isa. 11:1,10).
The ultimate fulfillment of this prophecy comes
in the Messianic Kingdom, the Millennium described often in the Old Testament
as a time of peace, righteousness and prosperity, and the time following the return
of Christ (Rev. 20:1-6).
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