The Lion of Judah
Notes
Transcript
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.
Men make Horrible Kings
Just consider who this promise was being made to. Judah wasn’t great.
He suggested a profit motive in getting rid of Joseph (Genesis 37:26).
He did not deal faithfully with his daughter-in-law Tamar (Genesis 38:26),
He had sex with her as a prostitute (Genesis 38:18).
He would but he would show good character when he interceded and offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin (Genesis 44:18-34).
Overall, this blessing is an example of the richness of God’s grace to the undeserving.
But this isn’t a promise about Judah Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise: this is a promise to Judah’s greatest descendant: Jesus Christ.
I want to make a distinction here at this point. This is a promise passage not a prophecy passage. I know that this seems a small distinction, but consider what was said by Ryrie about this Subject.
The concept of Christ as King may be surveyed around five words:
Promised
“The dying patriarch was speaking of his own son Judah; but while speaking of Judah he had a special eye to our Lord, who sprang from the tribe of Judah. Everything therefore which he says of Judah, the type, he means with regard to our greater Judah, the antitype, our Lord Jesus Christ” - Spurgeon
“The dying patriarch was speaking of his own son Judah; but while speaking of Judah he had a special eye to our Lord, who sprang from the tribe of Judah. Everything therefore which he says of Judah, the type, he means with regard to our greater Judah, the antitype, our Lord Jesus Christ” - Spurgeon
I. The essential promise: The King is coming.
Each of these refer to the ruling position Judah will have among his brethren. He inherited the leadership aspect of the firstborn’s inheritance. This leadership position among his brothers meant that the eventual kings of Israel would come from Judah and that the Messiah – God’s ultimate leader – would eventually come from the tribe of Judah.
Understand that this promise was made in a time when the King’s responsibilities were:
A king had legislative rights
The king set the terms of law. What was right and wrong. What would get honored and what would get punished.
A king had executive rights
A king set about the structure that secured it getting done. The disciples worried about who would sit on the right hand of Jesus that is to say who would be given the honor of carrying out the Kings plans.
A king had judicial rights
A king was judge jury and executioners. They undoubtedly had other judges in the kingdom but they served at the pleasure of the king. They were meant to judge on what the kind determined right and wrong.
Illustrate: We have a similar system in America today it is just good for us to remember that our King is the Constitution. Therefore the judge doesn’t make a decision based on the good of the people but the character of the Constitution.
A king had economic rights
He has the right to determine the expenses of the kingdom. He had the right to tax the citizenry to have the money necessary to run the kingdom.
A king had military rights
The king was so intwined with the nation that he was the one to set who they would fight as well as the strategy by which they fight.
II. The essential Identity: He is the Lion.
Judah is a Lion’s pup. I love the imagary of the lion. you can see him as a mighty force of course this is not how Judah is portrayed he is a lions cub.
In Revelation 5:5, Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
So we know that Jesus in heaven is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. We know that he is the greatest of Kings. worthy of Praise.
For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,
Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
(Note: once again we see a load of responsibilites all placed on the king.
But consider when we find the lion. He is a pup. He is a child. This Christmas that is what we are celebrating that is that Jesus came to us as a Lion but hardly the lion that Israel wanted because he didn’t come ready to topple Rome. He came as a lion’s cub present with all of the power and rights but not yet acting on them.
Which leads us to the great question of when.
III. The Essential Timeline: Present but not yet.
The image from the text is
Whelp
Humbled
Ready
Up to Work
“Who shall rouse him up?” great question. Who is in control of the time when Jesus will strike.
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
In other words Jesus is the lion of Judah and he sits on a throne today but there is coming a day that is controlled by the Father when that lion will get “roused up”.
of this event our text says...
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.
The king of Israel will always come from the tribe of Judah “until Shiloh come.”
Until Shiloh comes: The leadership prophecy took some 640 years to fulfill in part with the reign of David, first of Judah’s dynasty of kings. The prophecy took some 1600 years to completely fulfill in Jesus. Jesus is referred to as Shiloh, the name meaning, He whose right it is or to Whom it belongs and a title anciently understood to speak of the Messiah.
CIT: The Promised King comes with Promises of his own.
BTW let me say word of how the Israelites missed their King.
When Judah fell to Rome the rabbis considered it a disaster of unfulfilled Scripture. Seemingly, the last vestige of the scepter had passed from Judah, and they did not see the Messiah. Reportedly, rabbis walked the streets of Jerusalem and said,
“Woe unto us, for the scepter has been taken away from Judah, and Shiloh has not come.” D. Guzik
Yet God’s word had not been broken.
The promised King has come and he will come...
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:
The foal tied to a vine is an image of the glory of Christ’s Kingdom. And the Millenial Reign will be Glorious.
But do not forget that this Kingdom was purchased in his own Blood.
So consider the rights of the Lion of Judah.
He has legislative rights
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
He has executive rights
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
He has judicial rights
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
He has economic rights
I can hear somone saying. “Jesus doesnt care about money. But i remind you that the rich young ruler was commanded to sell all that he had and was denied because he couldnt part with its control.
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
He has military rights
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
we are given our marching orders...
To the fulfillment of the promise...
King James Version Chapter 49
And unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
This kingdom is being built right now.
The question I have is have you given him the right he deserves. Our king deserves the rights due the Promised made to him..