The Leanage and Position of Jesus Christ: From the Tribe of Judah

Having seen the personality of the Promised Seed and “a sceptre” given to the Patriarchs, it is important to consider the Lord’s description of the sceptre which would come only from the tribe of Judah as the seed of Jacob. This implies that henceforth the line of Jacob will be the main focus from which Christ will be revealed. Gen. 49:10 tells us the lineage of the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. This prophecy was pronounced by Jacob to his son Judah before all his children towards the end of his career. This is the blessing of the father to his sons.

One may ask, why must it be Judah? The reason is because the first three children of Jacob had failed and brought shame to his father. Traditionally, this blessing was supposed to be given to Reuben, his first born, as a double blessing but he defiled his father’s bed (Gen. 35:22). The second and third sons of Jacob had also failed and were unworthy to receive this blessing. Thus the blessing was passed to the fourth son of Jacob, Judah, who was a worthy son before the Lord (Gen. 34:25-29). Despite the wickedness of Judah in defiling his daughter-in-law (Gen. 38:13-26), God still chose him to be in the lineage through which the Messiah would come.

Gen. 49:10 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.” This verse tells us that Judah will be superior among his brethren. In fact, before Jacob pronounced this prophecy, Gen. 49:8 tells us that his brethren will praise Judah because “the sceptre shall not depart from Judah.” The sceptre here means “the tribal identity” because “every tribe of Israel has its own rod or staff as an ensign of authority upon which was inscribed the name of the tribe.” In other words, the tribe of Judah will be superior in the history of Israel.

Another key word that needs to be considered is the word “Shiloh.” During the time of the Patriarch, there was no place or name called “Shiloh.” The word “Shiloh” appears in the Bible as what the name of a place in Josh. 18:1, after the Israelites were in the Promised Land. Thus, ‘what is this Shiloh’? In order to understand this word, see also Eze. 21:27. In the Hebrew Bible these two verses come from the same root words “until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs.” The context of this passage shows prophet Ezekiel was referring to the coming Messiah. Therefore, based on this analogy, Shiloh is the name given by God to Jacob as an identity of the Messiah.

In conclusion, the meaning of Gen. 49:10 is “the tribe of Judah will not cease to exist as a people, and Judah will have a government of its own until the Messiah appears on the scene.” For this reason, there is no doubt that the passage is a messianic prediction that the Messiah will be from the tribe of Judah. The writer of the gospel according to Luke, clearly identified that Judah was in the lineage of Christ (Luke 3:33). There will be the greatest King from the tribe of Judah. He will not rule only the nation of Israel but the whole world when He comes back to this earth in His second coming and all the promises given to Abraham will be fulfilled in the Millennial kingdom. In that time, Christ will be the King of kings and Lord of lords and “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11).