Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 5 Lesson 49
This week in Sunday school, we’re looking at the prophetic blessings Jacob announces over his twelve sons and over Joseph’s sons. What special blessings did Jacob announce over Ephraim and Judah? How are these blessings fulfilled in later biblical history, especially in the Messiah? And how should fulfilled biblical prophecy cause us to respond to God?
Our main texts for this lesson are Genesis 48:1-22 and 49:1-28.
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all right thank you oh good morning Calvary welcome back to Sunday school good to see you all again about that daylight savings time one extra hour oh no I feel a little bit better this morning so hopefully you came to church on time we now come to the end of the book of Genesis but we’re not to the end of the book of Moses remember the first five books of the Bible called the Torah by the Jews they originally fitted together as one book they were written to be composed as one book by Moses tour was only later divided into five books for the sake of convenience because the Torah scroll can get pretty big still the end of Genesis marks an important transition point within the Torah no longer are we going to be hearing these are the generations of in reference to the patriarchs rather we’re gonna start hearing about the people of Israel and their experience as a nation but before we fully make that transition we’re gonna look one more time at the book of Genesis and we’re gonna consider the prophetic blessings uttered by Jacob over his sons and that’s the title of our class today Israel’s blessing referring to Jacob let’s pray and then we’ll get going our gracious God as we look at more of your wonderful Word today I pray that you would make yourself more evident to us that we would see more of your glory and we’d be changed by it Lord transform your people by the teaching of your word today encourage instruct correct all the things that you design your word to do by the Spirit and then use me to do it in Jesus name Amen like to start off today’s class with a question why are fulfilled prophecies in the Bible significant what do you think so it shows the faithfulness of God very good what else you see a prophecy uttered in one section it’s fulfilled in another why is that why does that matter right it shows God’s power and Dominion his authority he brings these things to pass what else okay also even more individually God has control over the actions of men what about the Word of God what does it show us about the Bible Yeah right it’s a true reliable word and we can even say ultimately that it is a divine word if it’s not normal for anybody to be able to prophesy about the future but this book features that again and again and those prophecies come to pass and this is because this is a divine word this is a God breathed word and this is what this is these are all things that we see as a result of fulfilled prophecy and there aren’t the only things that show us that but they are one of the things and truly there are many fulfilled prophecies recorded in the Bible and what are most remarkable are the prophecies that are altered in one book and then centuries later a different author writing a different book he records the fulfillment of that prophecy this is a powerful powerful testimony to God’s authority and to the authority of God’s Word but what’s really astonishing is that some people can look at the fulfilled prophecies of the Bible and actually come to the opposite conclusions of the things they’ve just said if you’ve ever heard of something called higher criticism or historical criticism those terms are references to field of biblical scholarship where people try to take modern scientific ideas and modern scientific methods and use them to analyze the Bible these historical critics these biblical scholars who are so admired in the elite academies of the world they take a look at the dirt at the fulfilled prophecies all the different fulfilled prophecies of the Bible and they conclude that these fulfilled prophecies actually prove that the Bible is man-made and ultimately not to be trusted now you would you’d be it would be normal for you to ask how can that be how can fulfilled prophecies actually make you disbelieve the Bible and that’s a great question can anyone guess why historical critics have such problems with fulfilled Biblical prophecy that’s right they don’t think anybody can know in the future and so if there are these different prophecies in the Bible that are fulfilled they say it’s too accurate it’s too accurate I mean I think it’s kind of silly but it’s like they say the prophecies are too accurate to be real they had to have been made up after the fact by people just trying to make the Jewish religion look good now I think the answer that you just gave me what I was very insightful because you’d see there’s actually something driving that conclusion these so-called scholars with their so-called science they heap up speculations they grasp at straws of historical evidence so that they can make these different assertions about prophecies and about the books in which these prophecies appear they say oh they’re written much later than the book themselves claimed and they weren’t written by those same authors at the books claim but what is driving this conclusion what is driving this conclusion that no they’re too accurate to actually be real right so it’s a you about God allô view or no view there’s the assumption that God doesn’t exist or if he does exist he does not intervene so personally in history and that this word that we have from him is not our this this word is not a divine word these are assumptions that are driving their thinking made at the outset and they affect the interpretation of what’s in the Bible these are naturalistic evolutionary assumptions there’s a prejudice against religion and against the bar against Christianity and ultimately this comes from what Romans calls a desire to suppress the truth in unrighteousness because Bible is clear we all know God creation makes clear God’s invisible attributes so that Romans 1 says we all know him but we suppress that truth in unrighteousness even scholars do this this by the way is why one’s presuppositions are so important when it comes to setting and data we see the same thing when it comes to archaeological evidence fossil evidence pieces of evidence from history or even in science ones assumptions one’s worldview even on the most fundamental issues of is there a god and is he the God of the Bible they will dramatically affect your interpretation of the date at you encounter even things like fulfill prophecy in the Bible now we as Christians we start with the right assumptions we start with the correct presuppositions the only ones that truly make sense of this woman and that is there is a creator a Creator God he is the God of the Bible and he has perfectly revealed himself in the Bible so we can appreciate the many fulfilled prophecies in the scripture and we even show them to others and say look your worldview cannot account for these things not adequately now today’s lesson is all about fulfilled prophecies in Genesis we’re gonna focus on three passages three sections of property and we’re going to see how those prophecies end up being fulfilled or recorded as fulfilled later in scripture as I say these prophecies cannot be accounted for an anti biblical worldview they show that Yahweh is in fact that’s one of the phrases we speak about Bible when it comes to prophecy God says something like when you see these things come to pass which I have spoken then you will know that I am and that’s what we’re gonna see today now for the passage we look at we’re not going to do detailed observations like we normally do but I will point out to you some of the details that are particularly relevant for what we want to look at today let’s start with Genesis 48 we state your Bibles and open to Genesis chapter 48 this is pretty close to where we were last time a Genesis 48 the whole family of Israel is now in Egypt and living in the land of goshen but Jacob is now 147 years old and he’s about to die before he dies he calls Joseph to be him and he asked Joseph to bring Joseph two sons Joseph’s firstborn a NASA and Joseph second-born Ephraim when Joseph arrives Jacob declares that Jacob will count Joseph two sons as if they were Jacobs own and he will give them inherit an inheritance among Joseph’s brothers so in essence Jacob is giving a double portion of inheritance to Joseph one for each of his son and by the way where was Joseph in the birth order of Jacob’s sons try he’s second-to-last second youngest not the youngest he was the youngest at one point but now he’s second youngest now let’s start reading from verse 8 down to verse 22 at this chapter and noticed prophecy appears so here’s a verse 8 when Israel saw Joseph’s sons he said who are these Joseph said to his father these are my sons whom God has given me here so he said bring them to me please I may bless them at the eyes visual were so dim from age that he could not see then Joseph brought them closer and he kissed them and embraced them as you said to Joseph I never expected to see your face and behold God has let me see your children as well and Joseph took them from his knees and bowed with his face to the ground Joseph took them both Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right brought them close to him but Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim who was the younger and his left hand on manassas head crossing his hands although Manasseh was the first one he blessed Joseph and said a God before whom my father’s to him and Isaac Walt God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day the angel who has redeemed me from all evil bless the lads and may my name live on in them and the names of my father’s Abraham and Isaac and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ethan’s head it displeased him and he grasped his father’s hand to remove it from me Femmes head to Manasses head Joseph said to his father not so my father for this one is the first point place your right hand on his head but his father refused said I know my son I know he also will become a people and he also will be great however his younger brother shall be greater than he and his descendants shall become a multitude of Nations he blessed in that day saying by you Israel will pronounce blessing saying may God make you like ephraim and manasseh thus he put ephraim before Manasseh then as you’ll say to Joseph behold I’m about to die but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your father’s I give you one portion more than your brothers which I took from the hand of the amorite with my sword and my bow alright well notice here that both Ephraim and Manasseh are blessed by Jacob what’s the surprise that Jacob throws into this blessing that’s right it Jacob gives Ephraim the greater blessing over Manasseh and this is surprising because Manasseh is the firstborn Ephraim is the younger and Josie even tries to correct his father about this but notice Joseph confirms that the switch is no mistake says in verse 19 Manasseh will be great but the younger brother Liam will be even greater what does this pronouncement of the supremacy of the younger remind you of that’s right jacob’s own experience he was the younger and yet was prophesied of him that the older would serve the younger and that played out to some extent already in Jacob’s life Esau what’s under Jacob now Jacob is declaring these prophecies over Ephraim an acid somewhere between 1850 and 1880 and we would might want to ask did these prophecies actually come to pass did even become the greater of the two sons of Joseph and indeed effets indid though the fulfillment would be centuries before we could see it come to pass see both Ephraim and Manasseh later settled as tribes in the land of Canaan along with the other descendants of Jacob but iam really begins to stand out after the divided Kingdom period and I want you to see this take your Bibles and go to first Kings chapter 11 first Kings 11 we’re actually gonna be moving all around the Bible today so get ready for that first Kings 11 this chapter describes the unraveling of Solomon’s great Kingdom and the rise of a certain man Jeroboam the son of Nebat God had told Jeroboam through the prophet Elijah that Jeroboam was going to become king over 10 of the tribes or tending to have tribes of Israel they would be taken away from Solomon’s descendent but notice from what tribe is Jeroboam first Kings 11 verse 26 says then Jeroboam the son of Nebat and ephraim might of Zara de Solomon servant whose mother’s name was Ururoa a widow also rebelled against the king so where’s Jeroboam from he’s from Ephraim and this by the way is about 900 years after Jacob’s prophecy this is around nine-30 BC or so and notice also where Jeroboam sets up his capital city turn to the next chapter first Kings 1225 once the northern tribes break away notice where Jeroboam sets up verse 25 then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there and he went out from there and built penny well now Shechem already existed it was in the ancestral lands of Ephraim but that’s where he decided to build his capital where to make his fortified city so we’re seeing more along the lines of what Jacob had prophesied now it’s true jeroboams house doesn’t remain as rulers over this northern kingdom this split away kingdom and even the capital does not remain at Shechem but as the dynasty moves around from house to house in the northern kingdom it still does not move very far from what Jeroboam established the other two capitals Tirzah and then Samaria they’re not far from Shechem and they’re not far from Ephraim’s ancestral lands it it appears that Ephraim retains prominence and leadership among the northern tribes throughout the divided Kingdom period in fact we can definitely see that over time Efram does dominate and it becomes very pronounced because when we get to the ladder profits we start seeing the term ephraim being used as a synonym for the northern kingdom in order to Kingdom sometimes called Israel and sometimes it’s called simply Ephraim and I want you to see this to turn to Isaiah chapter 7 I say a 7 we’re moving all the way through the Old Testament Isaiah 7 in this chapter we have King Ahaz of Judah learning that Syria a kingdom called Arum and Israel are going to gang up and they’re gonna attack you to the kingdom but God tells King Ahaz through the prophet Isaiah not a fret not to fret about this coming invasion because God’s going to bring their invasion to nothing but listen to the way Isaiah declares this message in Isaiah 7 verses 5 to 9 Isaiah 7 starting verse 5 Isaiah speaking because Arum with ephraim and the son of ram Alaia has planned evil against you saying let us go up against judah and terrorize it and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of to deal as king in the midst of it thus says the Lord Yahweh it shall not stand nor shall it come to pass for the head of Arum is Damascus and the head of Damascus is resin now within another 65 years ephraim will be shattered so that it is no longer a people and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of RAM Alya if you will not believe you surely shall not last did you see how Isaiah refers to the northern kingdom this is now eleven hundred years or so after Jacob’s prophecy and Isaiah is calling the northern kingdom the ten and a half tribes of Israel he’s calling them Ephraim see do you think Ephraim has come prominent has become great among the descendants of Israel and we can see this again and again through the latter parts of the Old Testament I’ll just mention to you another verse hosea if you look at the book jose he’s constantly referring to the northern kingdom as ephraim how isaiah 5 3 says I know ephraim and israel is not hidden from me for now ephraim you have played the harlot israel has defiled itself but one other one i do want to show you to look at yourself go to the Book of Ezekiel Ezekiel 37 so after as a Jeremiah and lamentation to get Ezekiel but I think it’s interesting about this reference to eat cream is that it is future is eschatological in Ezekiel 37 notice what the Prophet says regarding the future be for you if you go 37 vs.
15 down to p2 says the word of Yahweh came to me again came again to me saying and you son of man take for yourself one stick and bite on it for Judah and for the sons of Israel his companions then pick another stick and write on it for Joseph the stick of Ephraim all the house of Israel and his companions then join them for yourself one to another into one stick you that they may become one in your hand well the sons of your people speak to you saying we not to clip what’s what you mean by ease say to them thus says the Lord Yahweh behold I will take the stick of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel his companions and I’ll put them with it with the stick of Judah to make them one stick and they will be one in my hand the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes say to them thus says the Lord Yahweh behold I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel and one King will be king for all of them and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms now I think that’s pretty cool I could give you more examples of the holy feom concept but I think you’re getting the point by now if um indeed does become prominent among the sons of jacob and it’s so so much so that the northern tribes just eventually be called are eventually just called ephraim essentially we just have all the tribes boiled down into two in total of Israel we have Judah and we have Ephraim but how could Jacob have known this how could he have known this all the way back in 1800 BC or how could Moses have known it when he writes around 1440 5 BC these things were fulfilled centuries later how could they have known this it’s not that they were good prognosticators it was that God was speaking through them this is because it’s like we said in the beginning God is sovereign and God declares what will come to pass before it happens now many of these prophecies are we do see their prophecy about a few prominence being fulfilled but this one in Ezekiel has yet to be fulfilled we’ve not yet seen all the tribes united under one king in it but that will be fulfilled one day but this is just one prophecy let’s now go back to Genesis Genesis 49 where we look at an even more important section of officee Genesis 49 before dying Jacob doesn’t just blessed Manasseh and Ephraim but also all his own sons alike Isaac before him Jacobs blessing his final blessing is also a prophecy of what is to come let’s read that prophecy in Genesis 49 verses 1 to 28 so most of the chapter you follow along with me starting in verse 1 then Jacob summoned his sons and said assemble yourselves and I may tell you what may befall you in the days to come gather together in here o sons of Jacob and listen to Israel your father Reuben you are my firstborn my might in the beginning of my strength preeminence and dignity and preeminent and power uncontrolled as water you shall not have preeminence because you went up to your father’s bed and you defiled it went up to my couch Simeon Levi our brothers their swords our implements of violence but my soul not enter into their counsel let not my glory be united with their assembly because in their anger they slew men and in their self will they lamed oxen cursed be their anger for it is fierce and their wrath for it is cruel I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel Judah your brother shall praise you your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies your father’s son 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 comes and to him shall be the obedience of the people’s he ties his fall to the vine and his donkeys Colts at the choice vine he washes his garments in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes his eyes are dull from why and his teeth white from milk Zebulon will dwell at the seashore he shall be a haven for ships and his flank shall be toward Sidon it’s a car there’s a strong donkey lying down between the sheep folds when he saw that a resting place was good and that the land was pleasant he bowed his shoulder to bear burdens and became a slave at forced-labor Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel Dan shall be a serpent in the way a horned snake in the path that bites the horses heels so that his rider falls backward for your salvation I wait o Yahweh as for God Raiders shall raid him but he will raid at their heels as for Asher his food shall be rich he will yield royal dainty’s NAFTA Li is a doe let loose it gives beautiful words Joseph is a fruitful bough a fruitful bough by spring its branches run over a wall the archers bitterly attacked him and shot at him and harassed him but his bow remained firm and his arms were agile from the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob from there is the shepherd stone Israel from the God of your father who helps you and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of heaven above blessings of the deep that lies beneath blessings of the breasts and of the womb the blessings of your father has surpassed the blessings of my ancestors up to the utmost bound the everlasting Hills may they be on the head of Joseph and on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers Benjamin is a ravenous wolf in the morning he devours the prey and in the evening he divides the spoil all these are the twelve tribes of Israel and this is what their father said to them he blessed them he blessed them every one with the blessing appropriate to him I will stop there there are many intriguing parts to this prophecy this long blessing prophecy but notice that the blessings are kind of negative especially those pronounced on Reuben Simeon and Levi why these negative words well it’s because of the evil deeds that the sons did we saw these a little bit earlier in Genesis nevertheless notice that these funds are not discarded by Jacob they are still going to generally inherit with their brothers even though they will not have preeminence but who which two sons are blessed the most here Judah and Joseph you didn’t Joseph now we’ve already seen and said a fair amount about blessings on Joseph and his sons obviously that Remus eyes let’s now focus on the words said to Judah verses 8 to 12 we called that Judah was not the youngest nor the oldest he was the fourth son born by Leah to Jacob called and Judah also was involved in some pretty serious sin himself he committed immorality with his daughter-in-law and he also led his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery now it’s true as we saw Judah did change he did offer himself to be enslaved instead of Benjamin when Joseph was threatening that still Judas record not exactly spotless yet look at the blessings spoken to Judah and to his descendants at verses 8 to 9 Judah is promised preeminence praise and power among his brothers verse 9 specifically says that you don’t be dangerous like a lion to judah’s enemies skip verse 10 for a second verses 11 to 12 Judah is promised abundant success bunin prosperity will have so much prosperity in grape cultivation for instance he can let his donkeys just chomp on any grape vines as much as they want Judah has got so much wide he’s washing his clothes in it he’s full of won and full of milk and both of those would have been two items that represented luxury those days and then there’s first 10 it says a scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet who uses a scepter or a ruling staff royalty King that’s right so what must didn’t eat that the scepter is now not parked from jute we’re talking about a kingdom he’ll get to the eternal pyre in just a second but he’s saying there’s gonna be a king from Judah and then when that King arises there’s not going to be any other king the scepter shall not depart from Judah no one’s gonna supplant that King kingship will continually belong to Judah but what if this phrase until Shiloh comes this phrase has perplexed interpreters for a long time because it could be read a number of different ways in Hebrew if you have a Study Bible it’s probably a little note around that word in that verse this phrase could mean and this is the way it appears most literally until Shiloh comes or it could mean until he comes to Shiloh in Shiloh is a particular place it could also be read until tribute comes to him or until he comes to whom it belongs it either being tribute or it could be the scepter or the authority of the kingship because that’s what’s most that’s what’s most directly mentioned in context now intriguingly the most ancient translations of this Hebrew text what we call diversions so this to be translations into Greek or translations into Latin of this text from the Hebrew most ancient translations translate this verse would the sense until he comes to whom it belongs because we don’t have a lot of other evidence to go off if that seems to be the best way to take this phrase it’s preferred by most conservative scholars today it appears even to have been prominent in the understanding of the Jews up until Jesus’s time they understood this phrase to mean until he comes to whom it belongs so that’s the way I’m gonna take it that’s the way I think we should all take it so in the whole context what this verse is saying is the kingship will appear in Judah it will not depart from Judah until the one to whom the kingship belongs arrives and to him to that one shall be the obedience of the peoples now whoever this one is this coming one must be really important right and let’s now ask the question that we did with the first prophecy passage do we see these prophecies said to Judah come to pass and yes we do and these prophecies spoken to Judah they already intersect with or they intersect with some prophecies that we’ve already seen in Genesis just remind you genesis 3:15 the curse on the serpent and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel that Genesis 22:18 spoken to Abraham in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed because you have obeyed my voice so we’ve already been hearing about this special seed people been looking for the arrival of this special seed a special descendant in the future and now we hear that something about Judah and Judah seed a special one from Judah even a great and final king in Judah but think about the kingship of the people of Israel when God first establishes a king for his people from which tribe is that king it’s not Judah it’s Benjamin yes Saul the first king was from Benjamin actually the second saw that we’ve seen that was also from Benjamin but the one who was king of Israel he’s from Benjamin but he was not God’s true choice as a king for Israel he it really was the people’s choice he was the one that the people would have wanted and so God granted them their request but when God raises up his chosen King from which tribe is that king I’m Juden David David was a bethlehem mind from the clan of Judah and David is first anointed by Samuel and he served Saul for a number of years but when Saul dies David is made King known over all Israel initially just over Judah but eventually all Israel makes David King God establishes day it’s rule and David because he loves God he wants to build a house a temple forgot but notice what God says response to David turn to 2nd Samuel chapter 7 David is this righteous King this descendant of Judah in 2nd Samuel 7 we’re going to read it from verse 11 down to verse 16 here’s da just yesterday through through the Prophet Nathan middle verse 11 the Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you but your dates are complete and you lie down with your fathers I will raise up your descendant that is your seed after you will come forth from you and I will establish his king you shall build a house for my name I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever will be a father to him he will be a son to me when he commits iniquity I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men but my loving kindness shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul whom I root removed from before you your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever your throne shall be established forever wow those are some incredible promises do to be hearing as a king or even just as a person God says I’m gonna take from this one righteous king from the line of Judah in the line of David and I’m going to bring about a see a line of descent it will continue and it will possess the throne of the people of Israel forever David seed is foretold as being the one that will build the house of God by the way this passage this promise is often called a defeated covenant so these are amazing promises given to David but did the line of Judah and did the line of David continue as kings well they did for as long as the kingdom of Judah lasted Solomon was David’s direct descendant he ruled over a kingdom of prosperity in Israel they had never been known before and had never been seen since and he did build the Great Temple of God the house of God in Jerusalem but the kingdom under Solomon did not last it was divided when Solomon’s son came to power as we already saw Israel / Ephraim was at the kingdom in the north with the ten and a half tribes and then Judah was the kingdom in the south now poignant Lee though there were various kings in the north the royal dynasty in the south never changed it was always descendants of Judah and more specifically descendants of David but then God brought the southern kingdom to an end he carried Judah into exile between 605 BC and 586 BC multiple waves in exile and then there was no king in Judah so wait didn’t God promised that davidseaton would reign on the throne forever didn’t Jacob prophesied that the kingship the scepter would not depart from Judah if God’s prophecy fail when Judah was no longer a kingdom well no because there was another to come the ultimate seed the true king wants whom the sceptre belonged and to see this let’s go to the New Testament Matthew chapter 1 I know many of you have already knowing where I was going with this but Matthew chapter 1 when did you see this ourselves Matthew 1 is one of the places we see a genealogy of Jesus record of his birth inheritance if you notice right in verse 1 after you want chapter 1 who are highlighted as forefathers of Jesus we have David and we have Abraham remember both of these had specific promises given to them about a coming seed and Judah would of course be included among them the most conservative commentators conclude that Matthew gives us a record of Joseph’s genealogy this will not be the biological descent of Jesus but it would be the dissent for which it would gain the legal right to kingship the legal rights rule over the people of Israel according to David’s throne but what about Mary’s line we see that there is the proper inheritance Joseph slide but about Mary’s line turn over to Luke chapter 3 this is where operators believe we see the genealogy of Mary or Jesus genealogy Mary Luke 3 the genealogy appears in verses 23 to 38 we won’t read through that but if just glance at verses 31 verses 33 and 34 again notice what 4b key names appear we have David verse 31 yam Duda verse 3 leave Abraham in verse 34 and if you go all the way back to verse 38 we also have Adam Adam and Eve so both Joseph and Mary they had these key lineages that are part of the Steve Abraham Haman Judah and David and these lineages culminate in Jesus and why is Jesus is the promised seed he’s the seed of the woman used the seed of Abraham he is the seed of Judah he is the seed of David he was the god man who came to the earth in flesh to deliver his people and establish the Davidic Kingdom pull over the earth but was Jesus established as king over the people of Israel it was not he was rejected he came bringing a kingdom he came announcing a kingdom he came being proclaimed as king he was projected he was rejected by his own people but this was part of God’s divine plan this was part of bringing about an even more important thing for God’s people which is the salvation of their souls deliverance from a wrath of God and the curse of sin Jesus needed to live die and rise again in order to be the savior of sinners but does this mean that the prophecies about the kingship that we’ve already looked at that they were just aggregated Donham least because Jesus is coming again as the ultimate seed of Abraham of Judah of David he is coming again and he will establish his kingdom and that Kingdom will be unending this is why the prophecies given to Judah and David can speak about it speak in terms of forever turn to the book of Revelation revelation chapter 5 we’ve got all through the Bible today Genesis to Revelation I’m Revelation chapter 5 and specifically verses 4 & 5 the Apostle John sees a vision declaring that Jesus is the only one who has the right to open the seals of God’s final judgments on the earth look at how John describes this in Revelation 5 verses 4 and 5 John says then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into me one of the elders said to me stop weeping behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah the root of David has overcome so as to open the book and it’s seven seals you see the language from the ancient prophecies that we’ve already looked at being reflected here describing Jesus that’s because he is the one that they looked forward to and now look at revelation 19 revelation 19 actually describes Jesus return to the earth as the conquering king this of course is not including the rapture this would be after the years of tribulation on the earth but here’s how Jesus physical descent to the earth as punker is described in Revelation 19:11 2:16 John says and I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and Hugh sattanna is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and wages war his eyes are flame of fire and on his head are many diadem’s he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself he is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God and the armies which are in heaven clothed with fine linen white and clean were following him on white horses from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may strike down the nation’s and he will rule them with a rod of iron and he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty on his robe on his thigh he has a name written king of kings and Lord of lords well just stop reading there so here is the ruler that Jacob foretold all those centuries ago the sceptre belongs to him and it shall never depart to him shall be the obedience of the peoples to him every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord this passage of Revelation declares that the enemies of Messiah the enemies of God they will all be destroyed all the servants of Messiah his people they will be with him they will reign with him forever which is what you will do if you are in Christ how these are majestic truths but how could Jacob known about them how could he have known about David or the Davidic kings of Judah or Jesus how could Jacob have made a prophecy eighteen hundred years before Jesus was born how could he prophesy about an unending kingship that we have not even seen yet today but we’ve seen confirmed the scriptures it’s been already three thousand years since Jacob uttered those prophesies how could he have known there was no lucky guess it was no after-the-fact penning of a prophecy jacob spoke by the Spirit of God and this is because God’s plan has been set for the universe from the beginning brother the sisters this is because the Bible is true it is the Word of God God foretold what would happen beforehand so that as it happens when it happened you and I might see might believe in Jesus Christ who is the line of the tribe of Judah who is the Lamb of God who is the promised seed of David of Judah and of Abraham and even of the woman as spoken in the garden he is the bringer of the kingdom the bringer of the prosperity bringer of the blessing that jacob foretold yes solomon had a blessed and prosperous kingdoms but it’s nothing like what will be with the one to whom the kingship belongs that is coming all the scripture is united in showing us the fulfillment of these prophecies now we’ve seen two great passage or prophecy we’ve seen their fulfillment as we look through the rest of Scripture but now i want us to briefly look at one more it’s the somewhat anticlimactic you can’t really get greater than genesis 49 and what’s prophesied about judah but this is good for us to know before we go on to the book of exodus turn to genesis 15 active genesis genesis 15 we’ve already looked at this passage a while ago Jacob and Joseph before they died in Genesis 49 250 they tell their sons their descendants that the people visual will one day leave Egypt and go back to Canaan what’s gonna happen to them in the meantime while they’re in Egypt well God has already revealed that that’s why I wanted to go back to Genesis 15 we saw this prophecy previously given to Abraham when Abraham was having that covenant ratification ceremony with God look what it says in verses 13 verses 13 to in Genesis 15 God said to Abram know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in the land that has not theirs well they’ll be enslaved and oppressed for hundred years but I will also judge the nation whom they will serve and afterward they will come out with many possessions as for you you shall go to your fathers in peace you’ll be buried at a good old age and in the fourth generation they will return here the iniquity of the MRI is not yet complete so here again we see something quite significant 400 years before it happens roughly God tells Abraham that his seed we strangers oppressed in a foreign land for about 400 years but God has the result of this oppression already sent he says in the end God will judge their oppressors the Israelites will come out of that place of oppression with many possessions and then they will return to the land of Canaan when the time is right when the iniquity of the amorite s’ that is the inhabitants of the land of canaan has been completed and they are ready for judgment now this prophecy has not come to pass by the time we get the end of the book of Genesis I think it’s on its way next time well we begin to explore the book of Exodus we will see oh yeah it is coming to pass why is this because God knows the end from the beginning he is the sovereign pot we’ll see just how all those things are fulfilled as we move through and study the book of Exodus now as we wipe down our lesson today just pose a few questions for you to think about first two that are more interpretational in nature and then to application first why did God choose to so greatly blessed shoot why bless Judas seed when Judah clearly was not perfect what do you think yeah it was his choice Bob are you gonna sting yeah in the end that’s really all we can say God shows it it please God he is the right to do what he wants it’s really gonna hear from God later God has mercy on whom he has mercy Judah didn’t deserve this his see didn’t deserve this but God graciously granted it it’s not like you didn’t necessarily earned it I mean he did did turn around and in terms of his behavior and his devotion to God but was he really more worthy than his other brothers I wouldn’t say so but God saw fit to be gracious to Judah ROI were you also gonna say something that’s right yeah they’re great observation way this is really consistent with what God those throughout the Bible he’s always choosing people according to his own grace not because these people deserve it and sometimes say Oh whenever you chose him because he was righteous well who gave him that righteousness who gave him that faith God did so ultimately didn’t come down to anyone’s righteousness or human effort it was just the grace of God and we see that to juda and we’re gonna keep seeing that throughout the scriptures and we see that in our own lives right why did God choose you for blessing why did God choose you to be an inheritor of salvation if you are in Christ it’s just His grace he granted you repentance he granted you thing because he’s a good god now here’s another question many of God’s prophecies take a long time to come to pass there some of them even look like for a time that they’ve failed so based on the fulfillments that we’ve seen in the Bible and that we’ve seen confirmed in the Bible what can we learn about the promises and prophecies that have not yet come to pass or that remain unfulfilled in our lives are they gonna happen yeah keep waiting on the Lord keep trusting the Lord because they will come I’m reminded of the words to Habakkuk right though it tarries wait for it my righteous one shall live by faith God also told it back I’m doing a work in your days that you wouldn’t believe it if you were if you were told the fact that God prophesies things and then they come to pass even over many a long delay what seems like delay to our minds it should remind us that as we’re as we wait for the promises of God even things that are small and personal to us like God I just I need your provision for this next week to be able to get through the work that I have to do or to succeed against this temptation or to do whatever God will bring that to pass at the appropriate time in his right way but also those things in a more grand Jesus are you really coming back are you really coming to snatch away your church we’re waiting we don’t see it God says it’s coming don’t um don’t doubt don’t give up it’s coming I fulfilled all those other words that I gave will I not fulfill these by the way I believe this is the proper application of Isaiah 55 you know that famous text God sends out his word doesn’t come back to him void that’s talking about what God declares what God announces what do you prophesized I’m not gonna prophesy something and not bring it to pass God says when I say it’s gonna happen it’s gonna happen because when I declare II it doesn’t come back to me void so think about the things that you are looking forward to seeing God fulfilling they will come to pass in God’s way in God’s time according to his promises other things he hasn’t promised well those might not happen God may decide to do something different but we can trust that what he promises will come to pass in his right way and timing so now here are some questions for you just to think about on your own God’s plans for the universe are clearly way bigger than any one of you any one of us and yet they have involved you in a very gracious way so how should you respond to God and now here’s another question how sure are you that God exists that his word is true and that Jesus is coming again we’ve looked at something today that’s remarkable amazing amazing testimony that God’s Word is really divine and that it is true and then you can trust that God is who he declares himself to be but do you really need more evidence do you still not believe is it a problem due to lack of evidence evidence or is it that your mind needs to be changed fundamentally you need to start with the fear of the Lord rather than the wisdom of men you know I heard something really interesting from one of my professors here at seminary he was talking about the nature of doubt I mean doubt is something we all experience as Christians right we’ve all experienced it but what is down you say oh it’s not believing the promises of God well that’s true but there’s another way of looking at it the way he described it my professor you said doubt is really just a failure to put on the mind of Christ what it is is that you’re thinking according to the false wisdom of the world rather than the true wisdom of God it’s almost like you put yourself into a dream world a world that doesn’t actually exist the gold world that God is not sovereign that God is not the foundation of truth and when you start thinking according to that dream world you start to get anxious you start to get frustrated because really you’re thinking according to ignorance the solution to down as presents in the scriptures is not really alright here’s more evidence for you to believe though God does grant that many times the solution to doubt is actually repentance it’s the renewal of one’s mind it’s the changing of one’s mind to say wait I need to get back to reality I need to think of things as they actually are the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom it is also the beginning of knowledge if I’m going to think rightly I have to start with now I don’t know if you ever thought to yourself well you know there are a lot of religions out there maybe maybe I’m just thinking that Christianity is true because that’s the way I grew up that line of thinking is already failing to put on the mind of Christ because as we were talking about the beginning of today’s lesson those presuppositions that come from the scriptures that God is real and that his word is true that he’s revealed himself to us that he’s the creator that is the foundation of reality if you think according to any other way you will be misleading yourself that must be true and it is true that’s why the Bible says we all know that God is real so what we need to do as believers is that we need to be constantly putting on the mind of Christ again say ah I’ve been I’ve been thinking according to ignorant again I’ve been thinking according to the futility of mine of the people of the world I need to get back to reality I need to be renewed in my mind of course that comes through the word that comes through fellowship that comes through sitting under the teaching of God’s teachers I need to be thinking according to what’s actually real and when we do that we’re not given to doubt where instead confident and joyful in the Lord that looks like that’s about all the time we have today so if you have a question or comment about what you’ve heard definitely email me next week is the review day for unit 5 the review receives differently in the different levels of the classes but for the adult class what we’re going to do is we’re going to watch and discuss a video talks about some of the historical and archaeological corroboration of what the Bible records and Joseph’s experience in Egypt look forward to talking about that with you next time let’s close in prayer our Lord God we we see once again that you are true your word is true you are sovereign you are powerful all things during your hand all of history’s in your hand we’ve seen how you’ve declared things that have already taken place you declared them beforehand but we know God there are things yet future that have not yet taking up taking place and yet you have declared them and you will bring them to pass because you are God so God where we do start to doubt where we start not to think according to your wisdom we put a cross we put away the only true and right mode of thinking afraid she bring us back give us the mind of Christ and refresh us according to your wisdom wash us so that we think rightly Lord because you are true you’ve never given a reason for us to doubt you but you will grow us in faith so God as we as we go to that growth process and we sometimes fail but I pray that we would learn that we would put off the old way that we would progress we can’t do this apart from your strength apart from your spirit apart from your grace all things are really by your grace and we thank you for that God we pray that you would accomplish him and she’s this name Amen all right thank you everyone