Let us turn again to God's Word
in the chapter that we read, Genesis 49. And I'll read again
the blessing of Judah, verse 8, following 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
down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp. From
the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he couched
as a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up? 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. Binding his fold unto the vine,
and as his colt unto the choice vine, he washed his garments
in wine. and his clothes in the blood
of grapes, his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth
white with milk. Here then we see how Jacob is
blessing all of his sons. 1. Jacob called unto his sons
and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which
shall befall you in the last days. 2. Gather yourselves together,
and hear ye sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father. So the address is each by turn. And then we're told at verse
28, the blessings rather all these are the twelve
tribes of Israel and this is it that their father spake unto
them and blessed them. Everyone according to his blessing
he blessed them. Now I'm very much aware that
we did actually consider something of the blessing that is pronounced
in particular upon Judah in this passage that I've read only last
September we were looking at a part of this blessing but I
was drawn to it again as we come together once more in this proper
manner to worship God and I want to concentrate this morning really
upon what we have at the end of verse 10 the gathering to
Shiloh the gathering to Shiloh 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. We have not
gathered in this corporate fashion now for several weeks in fact
I was checking this morning I think it's 16 weeks that's four lunar
months since we were able to gather together and worship God
as we ought according to what we read in His Holy Word. We
do believe in the gathered church. I'm sure you're aware that the
word that we have in the New Testament that is translated
in our authorised version as the word church is that Greek
word that was used for the political assembly in ancient Greece. It means an assembly or a congregation. That would be a very proper rendering
of the word and of course in his version Tyndale did translate
the word as congregation. And the word is derived from
a verb that literally means to call out the congregation then
is a people have been called out and we believe that it is
God who calls out a people to himself the efficacious grace
of God the effectual work of the Spirit in the soul of a sinner,
calling sinners out from this fallen world, and they are gathered
together then in local churches. And in a sense we have to recognize
that over these weeks we have been in some way unchurched,
unable to gather, we thank God, He does mingle his judgments
with his mercies. We've still been able to see
one another's faces. We've been able to worship after
a fashion by means of modern technology through the internet. But what we come to now is that
true worship of God once again and our gathering. Our gathering
today is the fulfillment of what we have in this text, until Shiloh
come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Before we come to the text, I
do want to deal, as is my usual wont, with the context, and to
say something with regards to the historical significance of
what we have here. and the blessings that the dying
Jacob who became Israel pronounces upon his sons. And I've said
before that in many ways the blessings are related to the
names that are given to these sons. And we see it quite strikingly
in a number of cases here. For example, in verse 19 where
we read of Gad. Gad, a troop shall overcome him
but he shall overcome at the last. And the very name Gad means
a troop. If we go back to chapter 30 where
we have the record of the birth of so many of these sons there
in chapter 30 and verses 10 and 11. we read of Gad's birth. Zilpah, Leah's maid, bear Jacob
a son. And Leah said, A troop cometh,
and she called his name Gad. And then again here at verse
21 we read of Naphtali. Naphtali is a hindlet loose,
he giveth goodly words, he's the blessing. But this name Natholai
literally means wrestlings. And again, going back to that
30th chapter, here is a son that was born to Rachel's maid Bilhah,
as she conceived and bear Jacob a second son. And Rachel said,
with great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister. All remember
the sisters Leah and Rachel. that Leah was favoured with children
whilst Rachel initially was barren Rachel says at the birth of this
son born to her mate with great wrestlings have I wrestled with
my sister and have prevailed and she called his name Naphtali
and then also one of the significant blessings here of course is that
that is pronounced upon Joseph from verse 22 following we read
of Joseph and Joseph literally means adding this is the child
that was in due time born onto Rachel. Going there in verse
22 of chapter 30 God remembered Rachel and God hearkened to her
and opened her womb and she conceived and bear a son and said God have
taken away my reproach and she called his name Joseph and said
the Lord shall add to me another son she called his name Addings
in the prospect, the hope that assurance really that she would
yet bear another son and so it was she bore Benjamin of course
whom she called Benoni meaning the son of my sorrow but Jacob
changed that name to Benjamin the son of my right hand. But how significant these names
are, and not surprisingly, so also with the name of Judah.
Because Judah literally means praise. This is that child that
was born to Leah, not in chapter 30, in the previous chapter,
chapter 29. And what do we read there? At the end of that chapter, Aaliyah conceived again and bear
a son and she said now will I praise the Lord now will I praise the
Lord therefore she called his name Judah and left bearing and
so the significance of the names the importance really of names
is so striking as we read through the word of God time and again
there's something to be drawn from the names that are given
to various individuals. Now Judah is the one that we're
considering this morning and we know that Judah was very much
the princely tribe. When we think of the establishment
of the kingdom in Israel initially it's all the Benjamites but then
it is David really, David of the tribe of Judah and Judah
therefore becomes the princely tribe and look at the language
that we have in 1 Chronicles chapter 28 David really here making his preparations, as it were,
for the building of the Temple of the Lord. David was not to
be the man who would build that temple, it would be built by
his son Solomon. And that's very significant.
Look at what we're told in 1 Chronicles 28 verse 2. Then David the king stood up
upon his feet and said, Hear my brethren and my people. As
for me, I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the
ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our
God, and had made ready for the building. But God said unto me,
Thou shalt not build a house for my name, because thou hast
been a man of war, and hast shed blood. albeit the Lord God of
Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king
over Israel forever. He hath chosen Judah to be the
ruler, and of the house of Judah the house of my father. And among
the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel. And of all my sons, for the Lord
hath given me many sons, he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit
upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. And
he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house
and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will
be his father, and so forth." The significant thing is, many
things here, very significant, but clearly David declares how
God has chosen Judah to be the ruler. Judah is the princely
tribe. And what do we read here in this
blessing? Verse 8, Thy father's children
shall bow down before thee, says Jacob to Judah. Thy father's
children shall bow down before thee." And then verse 10, "...the
scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between
his feet." This is very much seen to be that princely tribe. Judah is also very much a fighting
tribe. Verse 8 again, "...thy hand shall
be in the neck of thine enemies." And verse 9, Judah is a lion's
whelp from the pride. My son, thou art gone up. He
stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion, who shall
rouse him up? Likened, you see, to that king
of all the beasts, the lion. This is the tribe of Judah. And when they come into the possession
of the Promised Land after the death of Joshua, there at the
beginning of the book of Judges. We read these words, After the
death of Joshua he came to pass that the children of Israel asked
the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites
first to fight against them? And the Lord said, Judah shall
go up. Behold, I have delivered the
land into his hand. And David is of that particular
tribe. David is of the tribe of Judah. And what do we read? We're told
in Scripture, the Lord would not destroy Judah for David his
servant's sake. If we know anything of the history,
we've mentioned these things in times past. What happens after
the division of the kingdom, there's the northern kingdom
of Israel with its capital in Samaria, the ten tribes rebelling
against the house of David. and the little kingdom of Judah
together with Benjamin in the south and those ten tribes in
the north are all scattered overrun by the Assyrians under Sennacherib
they are scattered and lost. Now Judah is also judged preserved
from the awful assault by the Assyrians but in time come the
Babylonians on the Nebuchadnezzar and Judah is also taken away
into exile. They languished there in Babylon
for 70 years. They're in captivity but God
restores them. The Lord would not destroy Judah
for David his servant's sake. Judah is that great fighting
tribe. And David was a warlike king. He was a man of blood. And now, David acknowledges where
his strength comes from. He acknowledges that it is the
Lord his God who is with him in all these things. Look at
the language that we have David speaking in the Psalms in Psalm
18. And there at verse 32, It is God that girdeth me with
strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hind feet,
and setteth me upon my high places. He teacheth my hands to war,
so that a barrel of steel is broken by mine arms. And then
verse 37, I have pursued mine enemies and overtaken them. Neither did I turn again till
they were consumed. I have wounded them that they
were not able to rise. They have fallen under my feet. For thou hast girded me with
strength unto the battle. Thou hast subdued unto me those
that rose up against me. Thou hast also given me the necks
of mine enemies that I might destroy them that hate me. This
is the language of David, this great this great warrior king
again in the 144th Psalm. Blessed be the Lord my strength
which teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight. And
so this tribe is blessed here by their father Jacob as he speaks
to his son Judah. They are to be that tribe that
will rule in Israel and would be a tribe that would produce
great warrior-like men and amongst them significantly King David
himself. Well, that's all I really want
to say with regards to what we see in the Old Testament as this
blessing is worked out in the sovereign providence of God.
We're more concerned to understand the spiritual significance And
what we have here, of course, ultimately is a prophecy that
centers in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you know the clue is found in the very opening verses of
the chapter. Look at what it says here. Jacob
called unto his sons and said, Gather yourselves together that
I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. It is that which shall befall
you in the last days. Now what are the last days that
are spoken of time and again throughout the Old Testament
Scriptures? What are the last days? That is the Gospel Day.
That is what we know as the ends of the world. And Paul reminds
us there in writing in 1 Corinthians 10-11 He's speaking of the Old
Testament, in particular he's speaking of the days of Moses. Moses, of course, the human author
of the book of Genesis. Paul says, now all these things
happened unto them for ensamples, and they're written for a admonition
upon whom the ends of the world are come. The last days, the
ends of the world, Paul tells us quite clearly then that the
reference is to the days of the Gospel. Those things that would
pertain after the appearance of Shiloh. Until Shiloh come, and unto him
shall the gathering of the people be. And now we see the Lord Jesus
Christ here in so much of this prophetic word concerning Judah. Verse 9 in particular, Judah
is a lion's whelp from the pride. My son thou art gone up, he stooped
down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rouse
him up? Three times we have mentioned
then of the lion, the lion's whelp, couching as a lion, reference
to an old lion three times. Judah is likened to a lion. When
we come to the New Testament, and what do we read in the very
last book? There in Revelation 5, Behold the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the roots of David. One of those names, those many
names given to the Lord Jesus, He is that one who is the Lion
of the tribe of Judah. or 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. Well, I want us to consider something
then of this gathering to Shiloh. And three things now concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. To say something with regards
to His person. and then to speak of his work,
and finally his worship. First of all we begin with the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here he bears the name of
Shiloh, until Shiloh come. Now Shiloh is from the same root
as Shalom. which is the normal manner of
greeting amongst the Hebrews. Shalom, peace. So Shiloh has
the same idea, it's peace. And here we read of the coming
of Shiloh. And so he comes. When the fullness
of the time was come, God sends forth his son, made of a woman,
made under the law for this man. this man that is sent by God
in the fullness of the time the Lord Jesus Christ Micah says
this man shall be the peace in his very person because he is
not only a man he is also that one who is God he is the God
man that is the wonder of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ
never a man like this man Again, think of the language
of Isaiah, the familiar words there in chapter 9 and verse
6. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government
shall be upon his shoulder. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. He is that one who is the Prince
of Peace. And those words that we were
reading just now in 1st Chronicles 28, where we see Judah as the
princely tribe, and David is speaking, the man who would build
the temple, but he was not to build the temple, that was to
be the work of his son Solomon. And Solomon, of course, is such
a remarkable type of Christ. Solomon means peace also. And
he builds a temple, just as Christ builds his church. Oh, it's the
Lord Jesus Christ in him, and in his person. Oh, we see him
as that one who reconciles sinners to God. He is that one who stands,
as it were, between heaven and earth, or this world that lies
in the wicked one. And there is God in the highest
heavens, that holy, that happy place which is heaven. or remember
the words of Job when he cries out in the agonies of his soul
neither is there any days man betwixt us that might lay his
hand upon us both he wants one to stand as it were between himself
and his God who can stand between well there is one who can the
mediator that one who is the God man oh he is God and yet
he is man And He is Shiloh. He brings together a holy heaven
and a sinful earth. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is
that One who is the mediator of the New Covenant. Again, the language of prophecy
in Zechariah. Zechariah 6.13, the Council of
Peace it says, "...shall be between them both." What is that Council
of Peace? It is that covenant that was
entered into by the Father and the Son together with the Holy
Spirit. That eternal covenant of grace,
the covenant of peace. God's purpose whereby those who
were in their very natures alienated from him, enemies by wicked works,
yet reconciled. And reconciled in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. or the scepter, it says, shall
not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come. It is Christ who is that King
who holds the scepter. Christ who is that lawgiver.
And when he stretches forth that scepter or does he not remind
us of the the preaching of the everlasting gospel, that gospel
that is to go out to the ends of the earth. The idols shall
wait for his law. He is that one who is the lawgiver.
Ah, the law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. This is not that law that proceeds
from Sinai, that law that is condemning Now that law that
only brings death into the soul of the sinner because the man
is brought to see that he is utterly undone, no salvation
there. No, there is a law that proceeds
from Zion. And see how it's spoken of in
the opening chapter, or rather the second chapter, the second
chapter in the book of the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 2, verse 3, Many people
shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out
of Zion shall go forth the law, and the words of the Lord from
Jerusalem and he shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke
many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks nations shall not lift
up sword against nation neither shall they learn war anymore
this is that law you see that does not proceed from Mount Sinai
but from Mount Zion. Out of Zion shall go forth the
law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. This is that
gospel then of the grace of God or that message of salvation
on earth peace, goodwill towards men sang the angels when they
appeared to the shepherds there at Bethlehem. The preaching of the gospel,
it's that that centers in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember his own ministry,
and we call sinners to himself. Come unto me all ye that labour
and are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you, learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.
And you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light, he says. Oh, unto him, unto him shall
the gathering of the people be. Who is this one who is spoken
of as him? Oh, we are to contemplate the
wonder of the person. the person of our Lord Jesus
Christ he's a blessed thing for us to contemplate and to think
of all that he is, he is God he is really God and yet he is
man, he is truly man and yet he is but one person he is God-man
but then also we must think of that work because that work is
the way whereby he reconciles the sinner unto God having made
peace through the blood of His cross. By Him, says Paul, to
reconcile all things unto Himself. Oh, He makes peace by that great
sin-atoning sacrifice. And we have it here, verse 9,
From the prey, my son, thou art gone up. We read of the pride taken from
the mighty and the lawful captive delivered. The lawful captive
delivered. Those who are a pride. When God deals with these people,
what does He do? He makes them to realize that they are captives.
They are lawful captives. They are debtors to the Lord
of God. Thought we sought to say something, was it just last
week, on those words in Galatians 3.23, before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up, to the faith that should afterward
be delivered. Fearful thing is it not to be
in that prison, that prison of the law, held to pray as it were. feeling the condemning power
of the Lord of God. That's the ministration of the
Law. There's no salvation there. But there is deliverance, and
there's deliverance in and through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here in His love, not that we love God, but that He loved us
and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. What does that
mean, Christ the propitiation? Well, He has borne the wrath
of God. All we were, if we're Christ, we're those who knew
what it was to be that lawful captive, owing a great debt to the Lord
of Gods, a prey to all his condemning powers. But the Lord Jesus Christ
has borne all that punishment, all that wrath of God. He is
the propitiation for our sins, says John. this is what the Lord
Jesus Christ has done, He has not just suffered at the hands
of men or He has suffered very much at the hands of God Himself
as the great sin bearer and as He has wrought a great deliverance
from all the condemnation of the Lord of God so He also delivers
from all the accusations all the temptations, all the devices
of Satan, that great adversary of sorts. Paul speaks about Christ
delivers out of the snare of the devil all who are taken captive
by him at his will. All the multitudes are taken
captive by him at his will. The world lies in the wicked
one. But you see there is one mightier. There is the Lord Jesus
Christ who is able to sigh, and to sigh to the Ottomans. Having
spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them in His cross. That is the great work of our
Lord Jesus Christ. What a word is that! You know
there are some who are so fearful of the prospect of death. Not
a pleasant thing, is it, to contemplate death. We die alone. no one else
dies with us, there's a time for each of us, a time to be
born, a time to die. And our God, you see, is so aware
of those who are fearful. What a word is that in Hebrews
2.14. Concerning Christ he has destroyed
him that had the power of death and delivered them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subjects to bondage. That's the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He delivers his people from all
their fears. And God's people are such a fearful
people. That's why there's so many fear
nots in Holy Scripture. We are fearful. Often our hearts
begin to fail us because of fears. Ah, but we're to look to this
one, we're to gather to this one. unto Him shall the gathering
of the people be. He is able to deliver. He has
delivered. He does deliver. He will yet
deliver. Isn't that what Paul says here
in the opening chapter of 2nd Corinthians? What deliverances
we can know in our Lord Jesus Christ. And how it has cost Him. Oh, and it cost Him so dearly. What are we to understand by
these The verse is at the end of this blessing of Judah. Verse 11, Binding his foal unto
the vine, And his asses caught unto the choice vine, He washed
his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes,
His eyes shall be red with wine, His teeth white with milk. Does
it not speak to us of that bloody death that the Lord Jesus Christ
must die? when he bears that punishment
that was due to all those that the Father had given to him.
It reminds us really of the language in Isaiah 63. Who is this? It cometh from Eden. We dye garments
from Bosra this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in
the greatness of his strength. I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to say, wherefore art thou read in thine apparel? than
thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine fountain. I have
trod on the winepress alone, and of the people there was none
with me. For I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them
in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments,
and I will stain all my raiment." Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ and
His great work, His obedience, His obedience unto death, even
the death of the cross. in that death of the Lord Jesus
Christ and only there can we find the forgiveness of our sins
or do we recognize that? that he has borne that punishment
that was the desert of all those that were given to him in that
eternal covenant in that covenant of peace or what tremendous conflict he experienced
in the outworking of that covenant of peace. Shiloh then, the person of Christ,
the work of Christ, and then finally this morning to say something
with regards to the worship of Christ. Isn't that what we gather
to do to worship this God? Remember the significance of
the name, Judah. verse 8, Judah thou art he whom
thy brethren shall praise why he was called by his mother
Leah praise that's the meaning of his name praise and unto him
is one who is of the tribe of Judah unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. What is the gathered church?
What is it that we come together for today? We come together primarily,
surely, to worship. We come together to worship our
God. To that end He has called His
people out of the world that we might show forth His prizes. We're a kingdom of priests. Look at what Peter says there,
1 Peter 2, 9. To show forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Well, that's
what we come to do. We gather together in this fashion,
this simple form of worship. That's what we're about. And
the Lord promises, where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Oh, it's the Lord
Jesus Christ who's in the midst. As we're gathered in His name.
All our worship, all our worship centers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Centers in His person. Centers
in His work. And what do we experience through
Him? We come to understand something
of all the glories that belong unto our God, the Triune God.
Because through Him, through the Lord Jesus Christ, we have
access by one's spirit unto the Father, says Paul. That's the
Trinity. That's the Trinity, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. Through Christ we have access
by one Spirit onto the Father. Or we look to Christ as that
one who is not only a mediator from God to us, but a mediator
from us to God. It's through Him that we approach,
it's that name of Christ that we invoke in all our prayers.
And we need to know constantly that ministry of the Holy Spirit
as we come together in this fashion, Sabbath by Sabbath. There was
John, exiles, cut off you see. On church we might say. He couldn't
gather with the saints of God for worship. Ah, but thank God
he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. and he sees the glorified Christ.
Oh, that we as we come together might know what it is to be in
the Spirit on this day, the Lord's day, and to worship our God in
spirit and in truth. But it all centers in Christ.
What can we do without Him? Think of those words of Isaac
Watts, till God in human flesh I see, my thoughts no comfort
find. the holy, just and sacred three
are terrors to my mind all but God in Christ God in Christ and
that's our great favour, our great blessing
today here is the blessing of Judah might it be our blessing
the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from
between his feet until Shiloh cometh And unto him shall the
gathering of the people burn, or that each and every one of
you might be truly gathered, gathered unto our Lord Jesus
Christ. May the Lord bless his word to
us.