Jacob Blesses His Children

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. Genesis 49:8-12

Steps: 11, 12

Before Jacob dies he wants to bless his children. In Genesis 49 he goes through each son and tells them about their spiritual experience, now and in the future. The most beautiful of all of these statements is the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah in the blessing on Judah. Judah is the tribe through which the Messiah would come and this blessing is also a prophecy stating that there will be a leader of Judah on the throne all the way to the time of the coming of the Messiah. When there is no longer a king of Judah ruling over Israel then Messiah would have come.

Prayer for Today: God help us to receive Your counsel on us and not run from You. Help us to receive Your gifts, including that of truth, and help us not to press forward on our own. Help us to rest in Your care, Your foreknowledge, and Your willingness to watch over us.