Title: JUDAH’S DISTINCTION—GOD’S DESIGN

Focus: Judah would bring forth the Christ—which is reason for praise from all God’s people.

Function: To encourage the people to welcome the Christ and bow before him in praise.

Texts: Genesis 29:35; 49:1,2,8-12

(Revelation 5:5ff)

Chuck Colson was the right hand of President Richard Nixon. Mr. Colson committed political crimes for which he received a prison sentence. At that time, Chuck Colson was a man of disrepute. But God laid his grip on Mr. Colson; the Spirit of God brought about conversion in Chuck Colson’s heart. He began a powerful prison ministry in the name of Christ. And ever since Chuck Colson became a man of God, his stature and reputation became one of distinction.

Gripped by God when in disrepute, Chuck Colson rose in distinction and has brought praise to God. It happened to Chuck Colson; it also happened in some way to Judah, the fourth-born son of Jacob and Leah. God can also use you and me—especially when we turn to God in repentance and faith.

Let’s be clear on this: when we encounter Judah standing by the deathbed of his father, Jacob, we do not see the same Judah who sold Joseph or who cheated on Tamar, his daughter-in-law. You see, Tamar’s sense of wit and justice was a turning point in Judah’s life.

After his confession that Tamar was more righteous than he, Judah turned around and began to pay attention to the house and God of his father Jacob. Judah’s disrepute gradually turned into Judah’s distinction; God’s grip on Judah was part of God’s design for Judah.

For example, when you read the story of Judah and his brothers’ encounter and dealings with Joseph, the prince of Egypt, you discover that Judah has taken on a leadership role. He assumes responsibility for the family of Jacob; he begins to exert moral strength and character.

Consider this, for example: when Joseph demanded that his brothers would bring with them Jacob’s beloved youngest son Benjamin, Judah promised his father Jacob to be a pledge for the life of Benjamin. Judah said to Jacob: (Gen. 43:8) “I myself will guarantee his safety; you can hold me personally responsible for him, if I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you. I will bear the blame before you all my life.” Jacob relinquished and let his son Benjamin go with Judah and his brothers to Joseph.

Then, the story goes on, and we notice that Joseph demanded that Benjamin should be kept in Egypt as a slave because they found the Prince’s cup in Benjamin’s sack of grain. It was then that Judah stood up and offered his life for Benjamin.

And that was the defining moment in the house of Jacob. For Joseph broke down and revealed himself as their brother. Judah’s act of leadership led to father Jacob receiving back his son Joseph (from the dead, so to speak), and the entire future of Jacob’s house was secured. God worked out his covenant promise to the house of Jacob, and Judah was the catalyst that broke open the gates of praise—praise by Joseph, praise by Jacob, and down through the ages praise by all God’s people.

Leah named her fourth-born son, Judah, which means “Praise,” or the “one who causes praise or brings forth praise.” When in disrepute, Judah was not living up to his name. But when God’s grip was on Judah, God turned him around, and Judah became a man, a tribe that would bring forth much praise.

At his deathbed, Jacob remembers Judah’s turn around and leadership; and inspired by God’s Spirit, and led by God’s design, Jacob foresees with the eyes of faith that Judah would become the object of praise, and would bring forth the Messiah, who would and will receive eternal praise from all God’s people.

Listen to Jacob’s words—words that describe Judah’s distinction: First we learn of Judah’s strength; “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.” Then we learn of Judah’s prowess: “You are a lion’s cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness-who dares to rouse him?”

Then we learn of Judah’s royal stature. “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whither than milk.”

Jacob’s dying words of blessing to Judah are pregnant with things to come: the rise of Judah’s offspring in the land of Canaan; the vitality of Judah’s tribe among all the other tribes of Jacob’s house; the stature of its kings, such as David and Solomon; and—Oh glory of glory!--the coming of the Messiah, the Savior of Israel and the world.

Do you see how Judah lived up and is living up to his name? Let me show you a picture from the book of Revelation, chapter 5. There we see the risen, exalted Lord Jesus Christ revealed as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And this Lamb of God is from the tribe of Judah. Listen: “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.” This Jesus holds the key that unlocks the salvation of God’s people and of all creation. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

As such, all God’s people bring their praise to Jesus; and as such Judah is the one who is the instrument of praise in the hands of God. All the heavenly creatures sing a new song; all the creatures on earth and under the earth cry out to Jesus in praise and they sing:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be PRAISE (Judah) and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

And all God’s people say: Amen!