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. – Genesis 49:10
Many important prophecies related to the Messiah concern Him descending from Judah, Jesse, and David. As the generations passed, the view of the Redeemer promised by God became clearer and clearer. Following the promise given to Eve that a son would be born to bruise or crush the head of the serpent that had beguiled her, Abraham was promised that in him all the people of the world would be blessed, and he and Sara were promised a son despite their old age. Abraham’s faith was later tested to the extreme when God commanded him to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice, but the Lord stayed Abraham’s hand raised with a knife and provided a ram for the sacrifice. Thus we see in Isaac the first foreshadowing of the sacrifice fulfilled in the Messiah. Isaac’s two son’s Jacob and Esau are both men of worldly passions, but God’s providence guided Jacob to become the father of the twelve tribes of Israel including Judah through who we get King David and eventually Jesus Christ, the King of Kings.
Some might be tempted to disregard the Old Testament and its record lineages and laws, wars and worrisome sins. Dearly beloved, please do not do so. The rich catalog of promises, foreshadowing events and people, as well as the history of God’s deliverance again and again along with the successes and many failures of His people teach us that God is faithful. He will make everything right through His lawgiver, Jesus Christ in due time. “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south” (Psalm 107:1-3).