The Last Days and the Blessing of Judah

by

Philip du Nard

As we noted in our discussion on Ephraim and Manasseh, the tribal blessings prophetically rendered by Jacob on his deathbed in Gen. 49 were to be primarily realized in "the last days.". This undoubtedly includes the very similar prophecy given by Moses in Deuteronomy 33.

The fulfillments of the blessings of some of the other tribes are not as obvious as those pertaining to Joseph so we cannot be as certain of making a positive identification. Nonetheless, they are intriguing to ponder and they serve to show that even within the framework of the Israel people, there was to be a certain God given distinctiveness that would characterize the various tribes as they developed nationallly. They would be the same yet different. One theory, for example, sets forth how that some of the various ancient peoples who came together to form the French nation was the bringing together of different groups of Reubenites and that France very likely constitutes in part, anyway, the main body of the tribe of Reuben.

As to how all this came to be, using clues from archeology and ancient historical references, whole books have been written putting the pieces of the puzzle together to the extent that that is possible, tracing the migrations of the Israel peoples either from the lands of their captivity, or directly from Israel in precaptivity days as the result of voluntary emigration.. In general, ancient peoples such as a branch of the Scythians, and the Cimmerians, who formed the basis for the Germanic and Celtic tribes of later times and developed into the nations of northern and western Europe have been traced historically back to the general area where Israel was held captive by the Assyrians.

Where they eventually settled in Europe are the lands that later were impacted the most by the Protestant Reformation which was a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit with major historical implications that were national in scope. This, too, is a mark of Israel as the promise to Israel recorded in Isaiah 44:3says, I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring...

As Israel was to be sifted among the nations, ( see Amos 9:9 ) there are undoubtedly pockets of Israelites in the nations peripheral to these lands but not to the same degree.





The Blessing of Judah

Rather than discuss the various blessings of the minor tribes, let us turn our attention to what was said regarding the tribe of Judah, the other leading tribe besides those pertaining to Joseph.

In Genesis 49:8-12, Jacob says, "Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.  Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 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]. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk."

In Deuteronomy 33:7, Moses says, "33:7  And this [is the blessing] of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help [to him] from his enemies."

Let's consider the first verse of Jacob's prophecy first: "Judah, thou [art he] whom they brethren shall praise...thy father's children shall bow down before thee." Isn't that interesting? We might wonder what was going through Joseph's mind upon hearing these words. We are familiar with the dreams that Joseph had early in life in which the brethren were to bow to him and now we have Jacob saying they will bow to Judah instead. In the preceding chapter Jacob had told Joseph privately, "In thee shall Israel bless, sayng, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh,"indicating that the descendants of Joseph are the ones that the rest of Israel would look up to as having been especially blessed of God and now here Jacob is publicly saying Judah is the one whom the brothers will praise. So they were both to be leaders in their own ways but, humans being what they are, carnal and sinful, might these words have been seized upon by later generations thus sowing the seeds of the great rivalry and enmity that often existed between the Joseph faction and the Judah faction which ultimately led to two separate kingdoms, the remaining tribes being drawn in their loyalty to either the Joseph kingdom of Israel or the Judah kingdom?

Focusing on the words, "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]", it is not immediately clear from this passage alone what the antecedent to the pronoun is, that is, to whom shall the gathering of the people be, to Judah, or Shiloh? Shiloh in this instance is generally regarded as a reference to the Messiah, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christ will reign as king, it makes sense that it is to Him that the people will be gathered. See 2 Thess. 2:1 in this regard. Also, the prayer in the blessing of Moses upon Judah is that God bring Judah "unto his people" rather than the other way around as we might expect if the people were to be gathered to Judah instead of Shiloh, or Christ. Of course, the Messianic line is traced through Judah.

The way this has generally been interpreted is that Judah would continue to exist as a political entity until Christ came the first time and then when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem scattering Jewry subsequent to Christ's first advent, the time had expired for the continuation of this promise.

But there are problems with this view: It shows a lack of understanding of what is meant by the term, scepter; it ignores the scriptural time frame in which the promise was to hold sway; and, it demonstrates a failure to appreciate and grasp the enduring nature of the comfort it was intended to convey.

The very term scepter, carries with it the concept of power, authority, and sovereignty, If we limit our attention to the remnant of Judah that was reestablished in and around a rebuilt Jerusalem under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah after the Babylonian captivity and which existed for several hundred years before Christ was born, we will not see much power or sovereignty here. For most of this period, the little nation of Judea was ruled over by one heathen power after another: the Babylonians, the Medo-Persians, the Greeks and Romans.

We gain some insight into the actual significance of the blessing of Judah when we read I Chronicles 5:2 which states, "For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's..." The significance of Judah having the scepter is that the chief ruler was to come from him and, thank God, is not a reference to the Judean province of various heathen kings.

Secondly, remember Jacob was telling his sons what would befall them in the last days. Remember also that, scripturally, this is referring to the period of time between the first and second comings of Christ and so this promise was meant to be a comfort in this time period. By contrast, the traditional interpretation says, in effect, that Judah had the scepter but lost it just as the last days were beginning.

Lastly,the Judean nation existed to provide the environment into which Christ was to be born and there was no more reason for it to exist after that. But is there any understanding at all as to why Judah having the scepter is tied in with the coming of Christ? Is it not that when Christ comes, He will assume the scepter thus relieving Judah of the necessity of providing the chief ruler? Did Christ assume this responsibility at His first coming? No He did not. He will certainly assume and manifest it at His second.

Thus, the blessed assurance and comfort that we should extract from this precious promise is that no matter how bleak and hopeless things may look, no matter how severely God may chasten His people, that, "come hell or high water" as they say, somewhere on this planet Judah is holding the scepter and reigning over at least a portion of Israel in a manifestation of sovereignty and will continue to do so until Christ returns in power and great glory to assume that function. Is this not praiseworthy? Every Sunday school child knows that because of God's promise to Noah, no matter what else may happen,the world will not again be inundated by a flood. Ought not they to know God's unchanging promise to Judah as well?

There are other facets to the blessing of Judah which we have not yet covered but this matter of the scepter requires further examination and discussion