The First Reading of Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent (Genesis 49:2, 8-10) is about Jacob giving his blessing to Judah, one of his twelve sons. If you have wondered why we read this narrative for Advent, you can find an answer in the Gospel Reading (Matthew 1:1-17), which is Jesus’ genealogy. Tracing Jesus’ ancestors from his earthly father, Joseph, you find that Jesus is linked to Judah, our of Jacob’s twelve sons (Matthew 1:2-16).
Jacob is a grandson of Abraham (Matthew 1:1-2) and had twelve sons not only from his wives, Leah and Rachel, but from his wives’ maids, Bilhah and Zilpah (Genesis 29:31-30:24; 35:16-26). Jacob was certainly blessed with many children, and it upheld the unfolding God’s covenant with Abraham to bless his lineage with many children (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:5; 17:5-8; 22:17-18). The sons of Jacob are Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.
As Jacob was about to die, he called all of his twelve sons, saying, “Gather around, that I may tell you what is to happen to you in days to come. Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob, listen to Israel,, your father”(Genesis 49:1-2). And Jacob blessed all of his sons one by one, from the oldest, Ruben, to the youngest, Benjamin (Genesis 49:3-27).
To Judah, Jacob said:
You, Judah, shall your brothers praise - your hand on the neck of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow down to you. Judah is a lion’s cub, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches, lies down like a lion, like a lioness-who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and he receives the people’s obedience. He tethers his donkey to the vine, his donkey’s foal to the choicest stem. In wine he washes his garments, his robe in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk (Genesis 49:8-12).
Though Ruben is the oldest son, Jacob gave Judah his blessing as if he were the oldest son, saying that all of his brothers shall praise him (Genesis 49:8). Jacob did not give Ruben his blessing as his first-born son because he slept with Bilhah, Rachel’s maid (Genesis 35:22). But Judah has his share of scandal. Not only that he married to a Canaanite woman but also had intercourse with his daughter-in-law, Tammer (Genesis 38:1-23). And out of his illegitimate intimacy with Tammer, Perez, was born (Genesis 38:24-29), and he is on the lineage of Jesus (Matthew 1:3-16).
It is rather puzzling to think why Jacob gave the most favorable blessing to Judah, as Jacob could have cursed him for his wickedness.
It was Judah who proposed to sell Joseph, rather than killing this annoying young half-brother, because simply letting Joseph die will not profit the rest of Jacob’s sons but they could make money for themselves by selling him (Genesis 37:23-28). However, Judah took courage to volunteer to be the spokesperson of his brothers and Jacob to Joseph, leading to reconcile with him in Egypt, where he was sold by his half-brothers (Genesis 43:1-45:28). Though he was not the oldest son, it was Judah who spoke up for significant matters, selling Joseph instead of letting him die, and speaking up to Joseph on behalf of the family of Jacob. It was through the dialogue between Judah and Joseph, the family of Jacob was reunited. This makes Judah stand out, and this may be a reason why Jacob gave a distinct blessing to him.
Furthermore, it seems that Jacob foresaw the coming of the Messiah (Christ) through Judah’s branch of his lineage, which is of Abraham, for seeing him as a lion’s cub (Genesis 49:9), because Christ is, indeed, the lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). And it is fitting that Judah is associated with a lion to connect with Christ, who is the lion of the tribe of Judah, because lion is considered to be the king of all animals, to parallel to the fact that Christ is the King of kings (Revelation 17:14; 19:16).
Jacob also blessed Judah with authority, saying, “The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and he receives the people’s obedience”(Genesis 49:10). This certainly reflects Judah’s leadership role among Jacob’s sons, especially in resulting in reconciliation with Joseph and the family reunification.
Judah’s authority was first made evident through David’s kingship, who was of the tribe of Judah. All the twelve tribes, descendants of Jacob’s sons, swore their absolute loyalty to David when he became king of Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-5).
“The scepter” is ultimately the Christ’s authority from heaven (i.e. Psalm 45:7; Hebrews 1:8; Revelation 12:5), and it’s prototype is with Judah until “tribute”, the Christ, comes to Judah. In this context, the scepter may be referred to the old covenant. And upon Christ (tribute)’s arrival in Judah, his scepter becomes the new covenant. This is why God preserved the line of Judah (southern kingdom), though Israel (northern kingdom) perished.
The fact that the incarnated Christ, Jesus, was born in Bethlehem, the birth town of David, (Luke 2:1-7) fulfilled this prophetic blessing of Jacob on Judah on the coming of tribute (Christ) to Judah.
Donkeys and vines indicate the prosperity of Judah. Rather than the geographical Judah, the abundance of Judah point to the New Jerusalem of the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:1-22:5).
Jacob also foresaw Christ in Judah for his robe in the blood of grapes (Genesis 49:12), because Christ’s robe is dipped in blood for being the victorious King (Revelation 19:13).
Yes, we clearly see Christ in Jacob’s prophetic blessing on Judah, with all things about him considered.
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