If took 640 years

 

Genesis 49:8-12

If I was Judah, and I’m standing there with my brothers, it is clear that the first three brothers have struck out, the blessing they had hoped for has turned into a curse.  I might have said dad, I have a headache, and I’ll see you later, much later.  Each brother had looked forward to his dad’s blessing, and up to this point, it has not gone well.   But this is the way Jacob begins with Judah, “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you.  Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son you have gone up.  He stooped down; he crouched as a lioness; who dares rouse him?”  (Genesis 49:8-9)

As Judah stands with his brothers, it becomes clear that Judah has been given the leadership among the tribes and his brothers would look to him as the protector of his people.  Joseph got the double inheritance of the first-born but Judah was given the responsibility of the first-born.  Judah has been chosen by God and revealed to Jacob/Israel, as the one from whom the seed or offspring the promised one would come.  Verse 10, “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.”

Once more, if I was Judah, I’m telling the wife and kids about this great honor.  I’m also a little amazed when I come out of the house and my brothers are not bowing down to me, but it is 640 years before the “scepter” of leadership comes to the tribe of Judah in the person of King David.  From that time on Judah was the dominant tribe and in those 640 years you have leader like Moses from Levi, Joshua from Ephraim, Gideon from Manasseh, and the list goes on all the way to Saul from Benjamin.  The promises of God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that through their “Seed – Offspring” would come the promised Messiah, the one who would fulfill this promise; “shall all families of the earth be blessed.”  Hebrews 1:8, gives us a clear understanding; “But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.”   

His scepter or staff will be righteousness, and it would be correct to state that anyone who comes to Him will be blessed.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice