Have you ever read the incredible little prophecy in Genesis 49:8-12? Its surprising prediction of part of the gospel story may not be so familiar to you. It contains one of the earliest forecasts of Jesus\u2019 life-giving work on the cross:<\/p>\n
\u201cJudah, you\u00a0are he\u00a0whom your brothers shall praise; your hand\u00a0shall be\u00a0on the neck of your enemies; your father\u2019s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion\u2019s whelp [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 [Messiah] comes; and to Him\u00a0shall be\u00a0the obedience of the people. Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey\u2019s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes\u00a0are\u00a0darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Genesis 49, Jacob blesses his sons before he dies. Judah will be highly praised and take the prominent place among the tribes of Israel (v. 8). He is likened to a lion (v. 9). Judah will be the ruling tribe until Shiloh comes (v. 10). Both Jewish and Christian theologians believe Shiloh is the Messiah and, indeed, a ruling Messiah whom people obey. He will ride a donkey and a donkey\u2019s colt just before He washes His clothes in wine and the blood of grapes (v. 11).<\/p>\n
With this in mind, it\u2019s interesting what we read about Jesus in Matthew 21:1, 2. He mysteriously arranges two donkeys for His entry into Jerusalem, just before the crowds welcome Him as king and His clothes are covered in blood at the cross. We also know that Jesus was from the tribe of Judah and called the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).<\/p>\n
Further, as the prophecy foretold, Judah was indeed the prominent tribe in Israel up until the time Jesus lived. Could it be that Genesis 49:11\u2019s mention of washing His clothes in wine and the blood of grapes was a poetic way of prophesying that the Messiah would die a bloody death? I am certain it is.<\/p>\n
This early prophecy, most impressively made before Judah and his brothers were established as tribes in Israel, is perhaps not as well known as the prophecy of the two donkeys in Zechariah 9:9:<\/p>\n
\u201cRejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He\u00a0is\u00a0just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Critics may try to downplay the splendor of this prophecy, quoted in Matthew 21:5, by suggesting anyone could have arranged two donkeys and claimed to be Messiah. However, only someone special could have generated the type of response Jesus did while riding a donkey into Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Matthew 21 describes what is known as the triumphal entry. Everything in this chapter cries out King Jesus, the one whom people shall obey. The red carpet, so to speak, is rolled out before Jesus as He rides the donkey and the multitudes spread their clothes and palm branches on the road in front of Him. This is reminiscent of Solomon, the son of King David, riding on David\u2019s mule as he was assuming the throne as king of Israel. The crowds back then cried out, \u201cLong live King Solomon!\u201d (1 Kings 1:38-40). Now the crowds cry out to King Jesus, \u201cHosanna to the Son of David!\u201d In the parallel account in his Gospel, Luke records them crying out, \u201cBlessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!\u201d (19:38).<\/p>\n
By His actions, Jesus also shows His royal authority by driving out the unrighteous dealers from His Father\u2019s house (Matthew 21:12-14). He demonstrates Messianic power by healing the blind and the lame there. Even the children declare Him to be the Son of David. Everything cries out, King! <\/em>By the way of the cross to His death, Jesus would be on His way to being raised up (resurrected) to sit on David\u2019s throne, exalted to the right hand of God (Acts 2:30-33).<\/p>\n Jacob\u2019s gospel prophecy in Genesis 49 is also special because it tells us of a great ruler who humbles Himself as a servant because of His great love for us. He not only sits lowly on a donkey, but much more than that, humbles Himself to die a bloody death on our behalf. He didn\u2019t deserve this death, because He was so pure \u2014 as white as snow (perhaps a fulfillment of Genesis 49:12 \u2013 \u201chis teeth [being] whiter than milk\u201d).<\/em><\/p>\n This kind of humble and committed Messiah, who walked among us and died for us, is one we can love and fully trust because He understands our weakness and pain and all the hard things we experience. Hebrews 4:15 puts it well: \u201cFor we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all\u00a0points\u00a0tempted as\u00a0we are, yet\u00a0without sin.\u201d<\/p>\n Because Jesus understands us and died for us, the apostle John gave this beautiful prophecy at the other end of the Bible:<\/p>\n \u201cAnd God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away\u201d (Revelation 21:4).<\/p>\n From Genesis to Revelation, from Jacob\u2019s prophecy to John\u2019s, you can trust the promises of our Father, who inspired their words. I pray they give you strength for life and true hope for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever read the incredible little prophecy in Genesis 49:8-12? Its surprising prediction of part of the gospel story may not be so familiar to you. It contains one of the earliest forecasts of Jesus\u2019 life-giving work on the cross: \u201cJudah, you\u00a0are he\u00a0whom your brothers shall praise; your hand\u00a0shall be\u00a0on the neck of your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":321,"featured_media":28365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,2051],"tags":[131,2253,867,2252],"yoast_head":"\nTrusting the Father<\/h2>\n