Skip to main content

14. Judah, Evoker of Praise


Genesis 29:35 & 49:8-12
Key verse: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is His. He will tether His donkey to a vine, His colt to the choicest branch; He will wash His garments in wine, His robes in the blood of grapes.”
Genesis 49:10-11

With this blessing of Israel, on his fourth son, Judah, Judah has now been chosen, out of all his brothers, to become the forefather of the Messiah.  When Judah was born, Leah, his mother, finally turned her focus toward praising God.  With the first three sons, Reuben, Simeon and Levi, she had hoped to gain favor with her husband, Jacob.  With Judah, however, she said, "This time I will praise the Lord." (Genesis 29:35)  How fitting for the forefather of the Messiah to be one who evokes praise.

As Judah grew, he made many bad choices.  God, however, continued to work with him, as He had Jacob, to mold him into a leader of the family that Israel could depend upon in his old age.  Judah started out as an immoral character like his brothers, but he also eventually moved some distance away from his family and grew into a person that could be trusted as the family spokesman when they traveled to Egypt. (See Genesis 38.)

The scepter will not depart from Judah until it is held by a man on a donkey, who washes his robe in the blood of wine.  How rich the symbolism is here of Christ!  How sad that many of Jesus’ own generation did not see Him for who and what He truly is.  In fact, when Jerusalem finally fell, for the last time, forty years after the resurrection of Christ, many of the learned men went into mourning because, they believed that God's prophesy, this prophesy, had not been fulfilled.  They just wouldn't see the true fulfillment for who He was.

 Yes, we are still on the right path.  The next generation has received the blessing.  Jesus will not only be a son of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, but more specifically, a son of Judah.  How painfully slowly the foundation is being laid, but how firm and secure it is for all of us.  Prophets and bards (poets) would keep the promise alive through their words of encouragement to believe, Messiah is coming!

Prayer: Lord, as we trace out the prophetic clues to Messiah, it is amazing that anyone could miss it. Even the men on the road to Emmaus were amazed. Their hearts burned within them as Jesus pointed out these clues and they could finally see how it all came together in Jesus. But even then, they didn't know it was Jesus showing them, until he broke the bread at their table. Thank you Father, for revealing it to us, piece by piece of Scripture, but fully formed in our hearts already because of your Holy Spirit within. Thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. 

Hymn: "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 27 Save the Glaze for the Bunny

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips of an evil heart. A malicious man disguises himself with his lips. But in his heart, he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it. If a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him. ~Proverbs 26:23-28 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

July 16 Thick Skinned Love

Whoever covers over an offence promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. ~Proverbs 17:9 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ~Matthew 18:15  The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ~1 Peter 4:7-8  Being offended seems to be the battle cry of the day. Instead of freedom of speech, everyone has the right not to be offended. If one is offended, then one has the right to exact vengeance on the offender because, of course, the offender KNEW that he or she was being offensive and just didn’t care. Is that how you see much of society behaving today?  There seems to be all of this offending and finger pointing that just keeps growing and growing. Nothing is being resolved, just more blame that grows louder a...
Post a Comment
Read more

211. The Sons of Thunder's Request

Matthew 20:20-28 , Mark 10:35-45 , Key verse: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:43B-44 In our readings for yesterday, in which Jesus outlined what was about to happen to Him, for His disciples, the passage in Luke ends: "The disciples did not understand any of this. It's meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about." ( Luke 18:34 ) Now, we see just how truly clueless they were. Jesus had laid out a plan before them of pain and suffering and death and now James and John are focused on a promotion. The disconnect is so obvious. It's really not important to know whether James and john came up with this request on their own or if their mother put them up to it. The request was made and James and John thought that they could handle the responsibility that would come with it. What is that saying, "Fools rush in where angels fe...
Post a Comment
Read more