Christmas
Prophesied Through Judah
“Now
Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his
ministry. He was the son, so
it was thought, of Joseph, the
son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the
son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos,
the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath,
the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,
the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of
Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melki, the son of Addi, the son of
Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of
Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of
Simeon, the son of Judah, the
son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the
son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the
son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of
Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son
of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of
Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of
Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of
Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of
Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son
of Adam, the son of God.”
Luke 3:23-38 (NIV)
Luke 3:23-38 (NIV)
"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”. Genesis 49:10 (NIV)
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs
and the obedience of the nations is his”. Genesis 49:10 (NIV)
Luke traces Jesus’ family tree all the way back to God and he does so through Judah one of the 12 Sons of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. It is noteworthy that in the last days of his Jacob pronounced a blessing on each of his twelve sons. After addressing Reuben, Simeon and Levi, he blesses his son Judah by telling him that he will be praised by his brothers, that he will triumph over enemies, that he will be like a lion (Notice Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia is a Lion), that the ruler’s staff will be his, and that the obedience of the nations will be his.
“The Obedience of the nations”?
Fascinating
isn’t it? Jesus’s lineage
went right through Judah. Judah
became the name of Israel’s southern Kingdom, the place where Jesus was born.
Neither Matthew nor Luke could help but see and then record that Jesus’
coming to earth, dying and rising again was in no sense a “plan B” of God,
rather it was part of “plan A” all along.
The “ruler’s staff” was taken away from the nation of Judah when it
was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
Yet the Gospels proclaim that Jesus is currently ruling not just Israel
but the nations.
No,
the obedience of the nations is not yet his.
We are in an as of yet unfinished story.
But it will be finished when the King returns to complete his powerful
renewal of all things (Acts 3:21)
For
more:
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