Judah “Praise”

Name of pedigree, separate from character, has no weight in the records of heaven. Because Reuben failed to cultivate a character worthy of the first-born, – the one entitled to both the temporal and the spiritual birth-right, – his blessing was taken from him, and given to others who had developed characters worthy of them.

Joseph, who had become a noted business manager, was given the double portion of his father’s inheritance, -the temporal birth-right; but it required more than ability to control great wealth to be entitled to the spiritual birthright, and to become the progenitor of the Messiah.

The records state that Judah, the fourth son, “prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the Chief Ruler.” (1 Chron. 5:2) Jacob, upon his deathbed, pronounced the prophetical words: “The Scepter 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.” Gen. 49:10. How did Judah prevail above his brethren, and thus inherit the spiritual birthright? This is a subject worthy of careful study by every one who desires a part in the great spiritual birthright by which we today may become heirs of the eternal inheritance. We have no record of Judah’s ever prevailing over his brethren by force of arms. But a careful study of the lives of the twelve sons of Jacob reveals the fact that Judah was a leader. When he offered to stand as surety for Benjamin, Jacob consented to let Benjamin go into Egypt, although Reuben’s offer had been refused. When Jacob and his family arrived in Egypt, Jacob “sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen.” (Gen. 43: 8-13; 42: 37, 38)

When the sons of Jacob were in great perplexity because the ruler of Egypt demanded Benjamin as a hostage, it was Judah who pleaded their cause so earnestly that Joseph threw off his disguise, and made himself known unto his brethren. (Gen. 44: 14-34; 45: 1-3)

By strict integrity to principle, Judah had won the confidence of his father and his brethren. The whole story is told in the blessing pronounced over Judah by his aged father, just before his death: “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow before thee.” (Gen. 49: 8)

His brethren bowed down before Joseph, but the circumstances were different. Joseph’s wealth and position, acquired in a foreign land, gave him the pre-eminence; but Judah won the respect of his brethren in the every-day contact of the home life. This confidence was not born in a moment; but day-by-day his strict integrity won their respect, until of their own free will, not from force of circumstances, they praised him and bowed down before him. A life of conflict and victory over the selfish tendencies of his own heart is bound up in the words, “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise”.

It is worthy of note that Judah prevailed under the same circumstances in which Reuben failed. It was not sin committed against the public that debarred Reuben from the privileges of the first-born; he proved himself untrue in the home life. (1 Chron. 5: 1). He had no regard for the honor of his own family. His father and his brethren could not trust him in their private life. In the same home, surrounded by the same temptations and environments, “Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the Chief Ruler.” (1 Chron. 5: 2)

Twelve thousand of the one hundred and forty four thousand will enter the holy city under the name of Judah, Rev. 7: 5 -persons who, in times of perplexity, have been recognized by their brethren as trusted leaders.

“Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up; he stooped down, he crouched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?” (Gen. 49:9). In these words Jacob gives the impression that it would be as easy to conquer a lion as to overcome one with the character of Judah; that it would be as safe to rouse an old lion as to contend with one who stood fast in his integrity to God.

Judah’s is a character we may well covet, –that firmness that will not surrender our Christian integrity, but will know of a surety that the Lord is with us when we are assailed by Satan and all his hosts. Matt. 7: 24-25

Judah is mentioned more often in the Scriptures than any other of the twelve patriarchs, except Joseph. Of the five sons of Judah, two died childless; but from the three remaining sons, came the strongest tribe in all Israel.

At Sinai the children of Judah numbered 74,600. They evidently had a very small part, if any in the apostasy at Shittim, where Simeon’s numbers were greatly reduced; for Judah numbered 76,500 as they left Shittim to enter the Promised Land.

The tribe of Judah occupied a position among the other tribes similar to that which their progenitor held in his father’s family. They were entrusted with the care of the priesthood. The nine cities occupied by the family of Aaron, the priests, were all within the territory of Judah and Simeon. (Joshua 21: 9-16). The remainder of the forty-eight cities occupied by the Levites were scattered throughout the other tribes.

Judah was an independent tribe. After the death of Saul, they did not wait for others to acknowledge David as king, but crowned him king of Judah, and David reigned over them seven and one-half years before he was crowned king over all Israel. 2 Sam. 2: 4, 11.

After the death of Solomon, Judah and Benjamin remained true to the seed of David, and formed the kingdom of Judah. This kingdom retained their own land about 142 years after the kingdom of Israel was carried captive into Assyria. 2Kings 17: 6; 2 Chron. 39: 17-20.

Zedekiah, king of Judah, was given the last opportunity of saving the holy city from falling into the hands of the heathen, Jer. 38: 17-20, but he failed, and Judah, the kingly tribe was carried captive into Babylon.

The Scepter never fully departed from Judah until Shiloh came. Herod, the last king who reigned over the Jews, died a few years after the birth of Christ. In his first will Herod appointed Antipas as his successor; but his last will named Archelaus, but afterward revolted. Archelaus and Antipas both went to Rome to present their claims before Caesar. Caesar confirmed neither, but sent Archelaus back to Judea as ethnarch, Matt. 2: 19-22, with the promise of the crown if he proved worthy of it. Thus the land was “forsaken of both her kings” during the childhood of Christ, as prophesied by Isaiah. Isa. 7:14-16.

The tribe of Judah furnished a galaxy of names noted in sacred history. No other tribe furnished the world with so many mighty men of God. At the head of the list is the one incomparable name, –Jesus of Nazareth, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

Caleb’s great faith and courage had been an inspiration to men of all ages. In the prime of life his faith was strong. When other men saw only the giants of difficulties in the way of entering the land, he said: “We are well able to overcome it.” Num. 13: 30. At the age of eighty-five, in the strength of God, he drove the enemies from the strong-hold of Hebron. Joshua 14: 6-15; 15: 13-15.

David has been honored above all earthy kings in being taken as a type of Christ, and inspiration calls the Saviour “the Son of David.” Matt. 21:9. Judah furnished a number of other kings who, surrounded by all the temptations of the court life, stood true to God.

After captivity, when for a time it seemed as if the Israel of God were almost obliterated from earth, four young men of Judah, true to the lion-like character of their tribe, risked their lives rather than defile themselves with the royal dainties, Prov. 23: 1-3, from the table of the king of Babylon. Dan. 1: 8.

A few years later three of these men stood fearlessly before the king of Babylon, saying, “Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods.” Dan. 3: 18. In fulfillment of the promise made over one hundred years before, Isa. 43: 2, the Lord walked with those three sons of Judah through the fiery furnace, and they came forth unhurt. Dan. 2: 24-27. And Daniel, true to the integrity of his tribe, faced hungry lions rather than have any interruption in his communion with God. Dan. 6: 7-10, 16-22.

May the Lord Help us to become more and more like the Lion of Judah. Next time we’ll study about Nephtali.
AMEN.

Oscar Oveido