Concerning Judah, Jacob prophesied: “Judah, your brothers will praise you; / Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; / Your father’s sons will bow down before you” (Gen. 49:8). This means that Judah’s brothers would praise him and worship him for his victory. From among Jacob’s twelve sons, Christ came out of Judah. Because Christ came out of Judah, He belongs to Judah. In Revelation 5:5 Christ is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Therefore, in prophesying about his son Judah, Jacob was actually prophesying that Christ would be praised, that His hand would be placed on the neck of His enemies, and that His brothers would bow down before Him.
Genesis 49:9 says, “Judah is a young lion; / From the prey, my son, you have gone up. / He couches, he stretches out like a lion, / And like a lioness.” When a lion goes after prey, he descends from his dwelling place in the mountain. While he waits to seize his prey, he crouches. After he has taken his prey, he brings it up the mountain with him. Thus, the phrase from the prey, my son, you have gone up means that the lion has gone up the mountain to devour his prey. After eating the prey, the lion no longer crouches. Instead, he couches; that is, he lies down. This indicates that after swallowing his prey, he is satisfied and lies down to rest.
When Christ was waiting for His prey, He was a young lion crouching. After seizing His prey, He brought His captives to the heavens. This is according to Ephesians 4:8, which says, “Having ascended to the height, He led captive those taken captive.” This train of captives was Christ’s prey. After enjoying the prey He captured, Christ is satisfied and is now resting on the throne in the heavens.
Genesis 49:10 says, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, / Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, / Until Shiloh comes, / And to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” The scepter denotes the scepter of the kingship, or the kingdom. Psalm 45:6 says, “The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.” The scepter, a symbol of the kingdom, refers to the kingly authority of Christ. Thus, the scepter in Genesis 49:10 refers to Christ’s kingdom, Christ’s kingship. The scepter never departing from Judah means that the kingship will never depart from Christ.
Hebrew poetry is written in pairs. Hence, “the ruler’s staff” in Genesis 49:10 is synonymous with “the scepter.” Undoubtedly, the ruler here is Christ. The Hebrew word translated “ruler” in this verse means “lawgiver.” Christ is the One who gives the law, for He has the staff and the scepter.
This verse says that the ruler’s staff will not depart from “between his feet.” The phrase between his feet is a poetic term denoting seed or posterity. Thus, it refers to Judah’s descendants. This means that the tribe of Judah will always have kings. According to 1 Chronicles 5:2 Judah has the kingship, and rulers come out of his posterity.
This authority will continue until Shiloh comes. The word Shiloh means “peace bringer.” Most Bible teachers agree that Shiloh refers to Christ in His second coming. When Christ comes the second time, He will come as the Prince of peace, as the One who brings peace. At that time, the whole earth will be filled with peace.
Genesis 49:10 also says, “To Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” The peoples are the nations. At the second coming of Christ, all the nations will submit to Him and obey Him. Isaiah 2:2-3 and 11:10 indicate that from the beginning of the millennium, at the Lord’s second coming, all the nations will obey Christ. They will come to Him to receive God’s instructions.
Genesis 49:11 speaks of “binding his foal to the vine, / And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, / He washes his garment in wine, / And his robe in the blood of grapes.” In the Bible a donkey signifies a person who labors very hard, especially in the matter of transportation. Even the Lord Jesus rode upon a donkey into the city of Jerusalem (Matt. 21:5, 7). Although a donkey is usually used for labor in travel, the donkey in Genesis 49:11 is not laboring; it is bound to the vine. This signifies that labor was over, that the destination had been reached, and that rest had begun. Any donkey used for long journeys would certainly enjoy being bound to a fruitful vine full of vegetation.
Verse 11 also speaks of wine, which is the produce of the vine and signifies the riches of the harvest. The second part of verse 11 says, “He washes his garment in wine, / And his robe in the blood of grapes.” This indicates that there is an abundance of wine such that people not only drink it but can even wash their clothes in it. This truly shows the end of labor and the beginning of rest in the enjoyment of the riches. When the donkeys can enjoy rest, it is no longer a time for sowing seed but a time for reaping the harvest. Thus, this verse is a poetic description of the millennium, the coming age of the thousand years. In this coming age labor will cease, and instead of labor there will be rest. There will be the rich enjoyment of an abundant harvest.
Verse 12 says, “Dark are his eyes with wine, / And white are his teeth with milk.” Along with the wine, there is milk. The source of wine is the vineyards, and the source of milk is the sheepfolds spoken of in verse 14. Milk signifies the nourishment of life that satisfies us. The calcium contained in milk produces healthy white teeth. When the millennium comes and the donkeys are bound and labor is over, the produce of the rich harvest will be so adequate that people will have eyes that are red with wine and teeth that are strong and white.