Advent 1 2025: Gen. 49:8-12
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Prayer: Father, I ask for a great blessing on this message, and so a particularly potent blessing on this people. I ask for strong and thriving marriages as a result of strong and courageous men, strong and virtuous women, and I ask that the many children in our midst would grow up never knowing a day without You, that they may stand in the gates with us and speak with our enemies with great authority and power, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen
Introduction
As we begin this Advent season preparing for Christmas, the plan is to look at five Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ.
This week we look at Jacob’s blessing of his son Judah (sometime around 1600 B.C.), foretelling that God would raise up kings in the tribe of Judah, until all people have been gathered before One particular King of Judah.
The Text: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen. 49:8-12).
Summary of the Text
Jacob was 147 years old (Gen. 47:28) when he called his sons together saying, “Gather yourselves together that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days” (Gen. 49:1). And it says that what he spoke were blessings: “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them” (Gen. 49:28).
Judah’s blessing includes a promise of prominence among the tribes as well as might with enemies (Gen. 49:8). This is pictured as Judah being a lion, from young lion’s welp to an old, mature lion (Gen. 49:9). And the central promise is that the scepter will not depart from Judah “until Shiloh come” and the gathering of the people (Gen. 49:10). Jacob’s blessing of Judah’s greatness culminates with the images of a royal colt, grape vines and wine, and teeth as white as milk (Gen. 49:11-12). The image of garments washed in wine is usually taken to indicate a great abundance of wine (as in wealth and prosperity, e.g. dyed clothing), but the “blood of grapes” may also suggest a great judgment: “I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment” (Is. 63:3, cf. Rev. 14:20, 19:15).
Tracing the Theme
The Bible is one great story, but it is a great story with many details. And this prophecy is one of the great themes worth tracing. About 200 years later (around 1400 B.C.), Moses preached a series of messages that became the book of Deuteronomy and included in that were instructions for a king (Dt. 17:14-20). And just before Moses died and Joshua began leading Israel into Canaan, the corrupt prophet Balaam prophesied against Moab: “I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth” (Num. 24:17). This “star” ought to remind us of God’s original promise to Abraham (Gen. 15, 17).
While Saul of the tribe of Benjamin was initially chosen as Israel’s first king, after Saul was rejected for his disobedience, David was chosen from the tribe of Judah (Ruth 4:18-22). This comes up several times in the Psalms: “Judah is my scepter” (Ps. 60:7, 108:8); “But [He] chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which He loved… He chose David also His servant…” (Ps. 78:68, 70). Remember that Mount Zion was the city of David (2 Sam. 5:7), which is where David also constructed His temporary tabernacle in preparation for Solomon building the temple. So “Zion” takes on a close association with the Davidic dynasty. For example: “The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies” (Ps. 110:2).
So when Jerusalem was in steep decline and then finally conquered by Babylon in 586 B.C., the prophets foretold a restoration of the Davidic dynasty: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots… And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious” (Is. 11:1, 10). Likewise: “But thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Mic. 5:2). Zechariah (post-exile) urged the “daughter of Zion” to rejoice because a king is coming whose dominion shall be from the river to the ends of the earth (Zech. 9:9-10). Likewise, Haggai prophesied that Zerubbabel would bear God’s signet ring (Hag. 2:21-23).
The Fulfillment of all the Promises
So when Matthew opens some 400 years later with the genealogy of Joseph, tracing his lineage back from Abraham through David and Jeconiah (the last king of Judah) and Zerubbabel, there is something about it that should make your heart sing. Luke has a slightly different genealogy because he is tracing Mary’s bloodline to demonstrate the same point: Jesus is the son of David of the tribe of Judah.
The angel told Mary this explicitly: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Lk. 1:32-33). And following His death and resurrection, Jesus is hailed as “The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David” (Rev. 5:5). He is the one “who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron” (Rev. 12:5) and “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Rev. 19:15). His clothes are still stained the wine of God’s judgement and joy.
Conclusion
The line “until Shiloh come” has been debated for centuries. Some take it to be referring literally to Shiloh where the tabernacle was pitched in Canaan until the time of the first kings. Since “Shiloh” is related to the word for “peace,” some take it to mean something like “until peace comes.” Others take it to mean “until it comes to whom it belongs” (cf. similar Hebrew in Ez. 21:27). And still others interpret the Hebrew to mean “until tribute is brought to him.” And it’s possible that the Holy Spirit had some or all of these meanings in mind, pointing to the Kingdom of the Messiah.
The bottom line is that God kept His promises to His often erring, faithless people for over 6,000 years – since Adam and Eve left the garden. He is the Lord of history, and no amount of sin, rebellion, or plotting can stop His plan. God is sovereign, but you have choices to make. History is an epic story: what kind of character are you? Have you been a complainer? Have you been a bitter wife, a harsh husband, a disobedient son or daughter? One of the great glories of seeing history as a story is that repentance is possible – change is possible because God is our Author, because God loves the plot twists of grace and mercy. Judah himself had conspired against his brother Josephy, but he came to beg Joseph to spare Benjamin and offered to stand in the place of his little brother (Gen. 44:33).
The Lion of Judah has come, the scepter has risen, and He reigns over heaven and earth until every knee bows. As the great hymn says, “He rules the world with truth and grace…” But back up a couple verses: “No more let sins and sorrows grow// Nor thorns infest the ground// He comes to make His blessings flow// Far as the curse is found.” He rules the world, but it is His glory to rule the world particularly through blessing. In the beginning, God created the world through His Spoken Word – through speaking and blessing. And even after sin and ruin entered the world, He used the power of blessing to turn back the darkness. Think about that old, blind man (147) speaking blessings over his sons.
Blessings are faith in action. Blessings are prayers with specific purpose. So this is the final charge: speak blessings. We often say blessings for our food (which is good), but say blessings over your wife, your kids, your grandkids (when my kids were young, I would say, “The Lord bless you and keep you, and make you a mighty man// wise and beautiful woman, and may you fight giants/dragons, and sin // and may your children and grand children rise up and call you blessed.” Say blessings over your parents and neighbors; even say blessings over your enemies.
Why? Because fundamentally that is what God has done with you. When you were lost and hateful, God spoke blessing over you.
Prayer: Father, I once more ask for the blessing of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the blessing of the Scepter of Judah to rest upon this people, multiplying their labors, their tears, their fruitfulness 30, 60, and 100 fold, particularly in this season, so that they might see their children’s children and possess the gates of their enemies, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray…
Photo by Mariana B. on Unsplash
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