No Boasting Allowed 

Genesis 49 

Joseph, lesson 38 

This chapter contains the final words of Jacob before he breathes his last breath. Under the inspiration of God, he prophecies the future of each son. Examining each son’s prophecy is well beyond the scope of my devotional writing. So, let’s focus on the most important son, Judah. 

Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who dares rouse him up. 

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh (Messiah) comes. And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 

From Judah will come the kings of Israel and from Judah will come the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus, the Messiah. Consequently, the descendants of his brothers, the other tribes of Israel, will all bow down to the kings of Judah and ultimately, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Judah is the son that is chosen to continue the patriarchal role of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the leader of the nation of Israel. 

Here’s my key take way; 

Judah was chosen by God, not by man! 

Judah would not have been Jacob’s choice. He was not one of Jacob’s favored sons, like Joseph and Benjamin. Judah was a key instigator of the selling of Joseph into slavery. Judah disgraced his family (detailed in Genesis 38) by running away to a foreign land and marrying a foreign woman, which led to the evil of what took place with his daughter-in-law, Tamar. 

Bottom-line, Judah was a mess and was not the favored son. His only credentials were that he was chosen by God. Period. This reminds me of I Corinthians 1.26ff: 

For consider your calling brethren that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are… 

so that no man may boast before God. But by HIS doing you are in Christ Jesus…Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. 

Judah will to be honored, blessed and prosperous despite his sin and failings. Why? Because He was chosen by God to be the heir of the future Messiah. He is in the line of Christ. We are on the other side, under the New Covenant of Jesus. We will be honored, blessed and prosperous (fulfilled fully in heaven), despite our sin and failings. Why? Because we are chosen by God to be an heir of the past work of the Messiah. We are in the line of Christ! 

As in all the Bible, this is the story of GRACE! Grace upon grace. This closing is from the devotional The Valley of Vision. 

Every morning I vow to love thee more fervently, 

To serve Thee more sincerely, 

To be more devoted in my life, 

To be wholly thine; 

Yet, I soon stumble, backslide and have to confess my weakness, misery and sin. 

But I bless Thee that the finished work of Jesus needs no addition from my doings, 

That His sacrifice is sufficient satisfaction of my sins. 

Amen!