200357.ser
“Jesus, the One Who Will Reign Forever”
CLBC November 30, 2003 a.m.
Subject: Jesus, Kingdom of
Theme: His Kingdom Announced
Passage: Genesis 49: 8 - 10
A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing.
She came to one little girl who was working diligently, and asked what the drawing was. The girl
replied, "I’m drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks
like." Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a
minute."
And that’s the story of Christmas. Throughout all the centuries, many people believed in
God, but they didn’t really know what God was like and then Jesus was born, and in Jesus, we
learned what God was like.
We have been taking a refresher course about the birth of Jesus by looking back into the
first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, to see previews of His coming to earth. From
Genesis 3:15, we saw the conflict between Christ and Satan, and learned about Jesus, the One
who will win the Victory. From Genesis 22: 18 we caught a glimpse of the sacrifice of Christ,
and learned about Jesus, the One who will bless all Nations.
And now, today I want you to look at Genesis 49: 10 as we learn about Jesus, the One
Who Will Reign Forever.”
To set the stage, I invite you to come back in time with me to ancient Egypt, to a bedroom
where an old man has gathered his 12 sons around him to talk to them before he dies. The old
man is Jacob and his 12 sons are called the children of Israel. As they gather around his bed, he
begins to speak to each one of them from the oldest to the youngest, and he comments about each
of them in turn.
Firs, he speaks to Reuben, his firstborn. Now, normally, the firstborn would receive the
largest portion of his father’s goods and he would also receive the birthright which meant that he
would be responsible for the rest of the family. But Reuben had committed a sin of passion, and
Jacob announced that he was disqualified for leadership.
Then Jacob spoke to his next two sons, Simeon and Levi, and told them that they to were
disqualified for leadership because of their sin of anger and cruelty.
After that he came to his son Judah, and now we see an entirely different picture. Genesis
49: 8 “ Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of
your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub; from
the prey my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who
shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”
Now, let’s see if we can break this down into simple bite sized pieces that so we can
understand this prophecy.
1. Judah will be the leader of the 12 tribes.
2. He will be a strong leader winning great victories. In the animal world he is pictured as a
lion, the king of the beasts.
3. The tribe of Judah will continue to be the ruling tribe into the far distant future. From
this tribe will come a line of Kings who will rule in Israel. In fact, they will continue to be the
dominant tribe until someone called Shiloh arrives on the scene, and this one called Shiloh will
gather all peoples to Himself.
Now all of this came true.
1. Judah will be the leader of the 12 tribes.
Judah did become the leader of the twelve tribes.
a. When the children of Israel were traveling through the wilderness from Egypt to Canaan, this
was pictured by the organization of the tribes. In order for that huge multitude of people to move
from place to place organization was absolutely essential, and so God set forth the picture of how
they were to camp. The tabernacle was to be in the middle with 3 tribes on the east, 3 tribes on
the south, 3 tribes on the west, and 3 tribes on the north (Show slide). You can read about this in
Numbers chapter 2 and chapter 10.
2. He will be a strong leader winning great victories. In the animal world he is pictured as a
lion, the king of the beasts.
Then when they were to move out, they went in order, first the tribes on the east, then the
south, then the west and last, the tribes on the north side. Every tribe had its own banner and so as
they went the trumpets were blowing and the flags were flying.
Can you guess which tribe led the way? That’s right the very first tribe, leading all the
others was the tribe of Judah. And do you know what picture was on their flag or banner? Right
again. The flag of Judah had a large golden Lion, because the lion was the sign of the tribe of
Judah.
Again, when Israel chose a king, do you remember who they chose? Now, at first they
chose Saul from the tribe of Benjamin, but he didn’t last long and he mad a mess of things. But
then under God’s direction they chose David. Do you remember what tribe David came from?
That’s right David came from the tribe of Judah. Truly, King David won great victories over all
his enemies, so that when His son Solomon came to the throne, Solomon was a man of peace
controlling the whol territory from the Sinai desert right through to the Euphrates river.
3. The tribe of Judah will continue to be the ruling tribe into the far distant future.
From this tribe came the line of Kings who ruled Israel. All the kings from that time on
came from his family right up to the time when the nation was taken into captivity in Babylon. But
when they came back from captivity, it was once again, the tribe of Judah which gave leadership
to the nation, right down to the time when Jesus was born. Now according to Jacob’s prophecy,
the tribe of Judah would continue to be the dominant tribe until someone called Shiloh arrives on
the scene, and this one called Shiloh will gather all peoples to Himself.
Now who was this Shiloh of whom Jacob prophesied?
The word Shiloh comes from a word that you still hear today. Have you ever heard the
word “Shallom”? The word Shallom means peace.
The word Shiloh means peace, quiet, and probably means, The one who brings peace. It
was accepted as one of the names of the Messiah.
Now, let’s go back and gather up these pieces. Jacob told Judah that he would be the
leader of the tribes, that the rulers of the tribes would come from him; that his tribe would have
the characteristics of the lion, the king of beasts, and that his tribe would hold the power until
Shiloh came and to Him would the gathering of the people be.
Did it come true? Absolutely. The tribe of Judah held power until Jesus was born of Mary,
and in fact until after Jesus had been crucified and risen again from the dead.
Do you know what tribe Jesus came from? Right again. Both Matthew and Luke trace
Jesus heritage back to King David, of the tribe of Judah.
Not until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. did the tribe of Judah lose its power
because the nation was scattered throughout the world.
But did the prophecy end there? No, because Jesus Christ is the Shiloh who was to come.
He is the One who made peace between God and man, by His own shed blood.
He is the one who ascended back to the throne of God, and to whom “all authority is
given in heaven and in earth.” Matt. 28:20
He is the one who gives peace to the troubled heart through the forgiveness of sins, and
the cleansing of our souls.
He is the one who sent the disciples into all the world to preach the gospel. He is the One
whom people from all nations have come to worship and to praise.
He is the One before Whom we bow today in humble adoration and submission.
And when we see heaven opened in the Book of Revelation, we see the call go out
throughout all the earth for one who was worthy to open the scroll. When no one could be found
worthy to open the book, we are told, “Do not weep, for behold the lion of the tribe of Judah
has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. And I looked and behold in the
midst of the throne stood a Lamb, as though it had been slain.” Rev. 5:5,6
Here is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Here is the One who will reign forever.
An atheist was taking a walk through the woods. "What majestic trees! What powerful
rivers! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river he heard
a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7 foot grizzly charge towards
him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear
was closing in on him. He looked over his shoulder again and the bear was even closer. His heart
was pumping frantically and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He
rolled over to pick himself up but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left
paw and raising his right paw to strike him.
At that instant the Atheist cried out: "Oh my God!" Time stopped. The bear froze. The
forest was silent.
As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky: "You deny my
existence for all of these years, teach others I don’t exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic
accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a
believer?"
The atheist looked directly into the light, "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask
You to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps, could you make the BEAR a Christian?" "Very
well," said the voice. The light went out. And the sounds of the forest resumed. And then the
bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together and bowed his head and spoke, "Lord,
Bless this food which I am about to receive and for which I am truly thankful."
Oh, dear ones, don’t leave it until a crisis comes or until death stares you in the face to
decide to turn to Jesus. Come to Him now. Receive Him now. Believe in Him now. and then you
will have the glorious privilige of living in eternity with Him Who shall reign forever! Amen
