message Shiloh. Shiloh. And this is Jacob's prophecy
with regard to Judah. We considered a couple of weeks
ago his prophecy with regard to Reuben, and last week we considered
what he had to say with regard to Simeon and Levi, and now we're
going to consider what he says with regard to this son, Judah. Now let me remind you, Judah's
the one who came up with the idea to sell Joseph. Judah is
Well, we have the infamous story of him in Genesis 38 with his
daughter-in-law. And yet when Jacob makes this
prophecy with regard to Judah, I mean, he was rough on Reuben,
wasn't he? He was rough on Simeon. Nothing good is said about any
of them. But oh, the glowing terms he
speaks with concerning Judah. As a matter of fact, Judah now
takes the center stage of all the boys. And actually, this
prophecy with regard to Judah is more glorifying to him than
the one with regard to Joseph. Judah is now the favorite. Why? Well, we know This actually
is a prophecy concerning Judah's descendant 1600 years later,
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is all a prophecy with regard
to the Lord Jesus Christ. You will remember that Christ
is called in Revelation chapter five, the Lion of the tribe of
Judah. Well, that's where this comes
from. This prophecy Jacob gives with regard to Judah. And we read beginning in verse eight. Judah, thou art he whom God's
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. What's the mightiest animal? A lion. Judah is the lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, thou art
gone up. He stooped down, he cast as a
lion, as an old lion. Who shall rouse him? The scepter
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet until Shiloh come. Now, like I said, this is the
only time Christ is called Shiloh. Where'd Jacob get this name?
God gave it to him, Shiloh. Now I've looked at all the sources
I can as to what that name means, and everybody that I've read
and heard have said pretty much the same thing about this title,
Shiloh. Number one, it means sent. Aren't you glad Christ is the
sent one of God? The Father sent the Son not to
condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him that
sent me. Oh, what a blessing that the
father sent the son to save sinners for the glory of his name. Shiloh
means sent. Another meaning of Shiloh is
the son. The son. He's the son of Mary. He's the
son of man. He's the son of God, equal with
the father. We could spend so much time talking
about the eternal sonship of Jesus Christ. He's the son. Shiloh
means the one to whom it belongs. I love that. Everything belongs
to him. You belong to him whether you
know it or not. I belong to Him. Everybody outside of this room
belongs to Him. The sheep belong to Him. The goats are His goats
too. He's Lord of the dead and of
the living. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. The one to whom it belongs. Doesn't
all the glory belong to Him? Doesn't all the praise belong
to Him in your salvation? in your salvation, does he get
all the glory? Yes, he does. Every believer
sees themselves as a trophy of his grace. And Shiloh is taken
from the root word, shalom, peace, peace. He is our peace. He made peace. I love that scripture
in Colossians 1, 20, and having made peace. through the blood
of the cross. Because of the peace He made,
God is at peace with me. He's completely satisfied with
me. He's not looking for anything
else. And I'm at peace because He is my peace. What a name, Shiloh. Now verse 8, Judah's name means
praise, and the word praise here is always used of the praise
and worship of God. It's never used in any other
way. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren
shall praise. This book has been about Joseph's
brethren bowing down to him. How many times did that happen?
Joseph's brethren bowing down to him. But here we see Judah
as the object of praise over and above Joseph. Because this
is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. Judah is the object of
worship and what infinite reasons we have to praise him. And that's
what we're doing now. We're here to praise the Lord
Jesus Christ, to worship him, to honor him, to be in awe of
him, to hear his voice in the preaching of the gospel. Judah,
thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Thy hand, verse eight, shall
be in the neck of thine enemies. Now, first, don't miss this. Jesus Christ does have what he
would call enemies. Enemies. Who are his enemies? All who do not love his sovereign
rule. It's that simple. All who do
not love him. All who do not believe the gospel. Every unbeliever. Now, is he
enemies with them? Well, yeah, yeah. But it's because they're enemies
with him. Every unbeliever, if it were
in their power, would put him out of business and take his
spot on the throne. They are his enemies. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. Thankfully, it's not in their
power. Now, I want you to think about
this. He'll put his hand on the neck of his enemies, his enemies,
those who hate him, those who oppose him. This is a battle
they can't win. No one can stand before the glorious
Son of God. He's going to put his hand on
the neck of his enemies. Now, when people hear of the
Lord Jesus Christ, if you would ask most people, are you an enemy
to Christ? Well, no, I'm not his enemy. I'm his friend. I love him. I
think highly of it. Problem is, that's their idea
of Christ. A Christ whose will is always
done, that Christ makes a man. A Christ who saved the elect,
that makes me a man. That's not fair. That's not fair. A Christ who's absolutely sovereign
and the first cause behind everything, and I mean everything. Everything,
whatever it is, he's the first cause behind it. That makes men
mad. We don't like this Christ. I don't believe that. I don't
believe him. Well, he's the one with whom
you have to do. And his hand is on the neck of his enemies.
And what it says next in verse eight is thy father's children.
Who are they? The elect. I and the children
thou has given me. The elect. Thy father's children
shall bow down before thee. And I, you know, there's nothing
more thrilling when the Lord enables you in heart to bow down
before him. To see him as so awesome and
glorious and everything about him is perfect and right and
just and holy and true. And your only response is bow
down, bow down. That's what all of his children
do. That's what all of his father's children do. They bow down before
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 9. Judah is a lion's whelp. The king of the beasts, the lion.
Judah is a lion's whelp, a young lion, a young lion with all his
energy. From the prey, my son, thou art
gone up. Now, from the prey, we Get this
picture of our Lord ripping apart his enemies as a lion rips apart
its prey. That's the picture given to us.
The Lord rips up his enemies as a lion rips up his prey. He
destroyed sin. I love that passage of scripture
from 1 Corinthians 15. Oh, death, where's thy sting?
He ripped up death. He ripped up sin. He ripped up
Satan as a mighty lion, the lion of the tribe of Judah. From the
prey, you've gone up. Notice the language, from the
prey, from your victory, from your almighty power and your
victory on the cross when you vanquished all your enemies,
when you put away sin. What have you done? The resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lift up your head, ye gates.
Lift him up, ye everlasting doors. And the King of glory shall come
in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of hosts, mighty in
battle. He's gone up from the prey. He stooped down. What's that
talking about? The stoop of the Lord Jesus Christ. What is stoop? when he took upon
a human body. He whom the heavens could not
contain took upon the limitations of the flesh, and he still has
them. There's a man in glory. What
a stoop! He did this willingly. And you think of the stoop of
the cross when he willingly was made sin, when he took my sins
and my sorrows and made them his very own. He bore the burden
to Calvary and suffered and died alone. What a stoop! He went
from the glory of heaven to crying out, my God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? He stooped down, he couched as
a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up. Now this
word couch, have you ever looked on nature, or maybe last time
I was at the zoo, I was looking at the lions, I loved looking
at them, and they were just laying there, and they'd stretch their
bodies out, they didn't have a worry in the world. They weren't
afraid of me. They weren't afraid of anybody.
They had no worries. These lions stretching themselves
out. Who's gonna rouse him? He's in
absolute, complete control as the lion of the tribe of Judah. Who's gonna rouse him? Verse
10, the scepter. That represents his royal rule. His sovereignty. Thy throne,
O God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Oh, to think of the scepter of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah. It's because the Lord's coming
out of him. Nor a lawgiver from between his feet. Now that's
unusual language. The lawgiver between his feet. You know, the law's not over
him. He has no law. He has no one he answers to but
himself. As glorious as the law is, guess
where it's at? Between his feet. What a glorious
person the Lord Jesus Christ is. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah. That's his absolute sovereign
rule. Now, remember what This means, that means everything
that takes place is the will of Jesus Christ taking place. You know, somebody says, how
can he let this happen? How can he let that happen? I
don't know, but it's good if he did it. And whatever he does
is good. He brings good out of evil. You
say, well, how could this happen? How could that happen? I don't
need to know. I trust his character. I just
trust him. Whatever he does is right and
glorious and holy and good. The scepter shall not depart
from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come. The sent one. The one to whom it belongs. The
one who is our peace. Now remember, You could summarize
the old Testament with this simple statement. I know this is not
overly simplistic. It's so glorious. It's somebody's
coming. That's the message of the old
Testament. Somebody's coming. And here he is the lion of the
tribe of Judah, Shiloh. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be. We gather together right now
to hear him, don't we? And oh, I think of that last gathering
that we're gonna read of in a few moments in Revelation chapter
five with 10,000 times 10,000, that's 100 million. And I know
that's figurative language, but there are gonna be a lot of people
in heaven. Can you imagine the sound of that choir? To him shall the gathering of
the people be, verse 11, binding his foal unto the vine, And his
ass is cold unto the choice vine. And this could be prophetic of
him entering Jerusalem on a donkey and him being the vine. I am
the vine. You are the branches. Um, this
could speak. Let's go on reading. Um, He washed
his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes. This could be talking about him
treading the wine press of God's wrath alone. But the choice vine,
notice he says in verse 11, he tied his ass's cold under the
choice vine. This speaks of the prosperity
of his kingdom, the choice vine. You know, everything the Lord
does is prosperous. He shall not fail. nor be discouraged. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand." Whatever he does is prosperous. Don't
ever think of Jesus Christ in any way as his will not being
done. He's prosperous. He's victorious
in all that he does. He washed his garments in wine
and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes shall be
red with wine. Now you know that's not talking
about alcohol intoxication, but he was intoxicated with doing
his father's will. He said, my meat and my drink
is to do the will of him that sent me. And his teeth shall
be white with milk. That speaks of the whiteness
of the work that he made for us, that is white garments, the
Lord Jesus Christ. What a beautiful prophecy, but
what I'd like to do now is go into Revelation chapter five. This is the only other time this
is quoted, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Just a couple of comments
on the book of Revelation. Revelation was the last book
written. And when this book was written
by John, the church was going through terrible persecution. Every day, your life was at stake. There were people hunting out
Christians, killing them, and so many were tortured or murdered. They had all their goods confiscated.
They had all, I mean, they suffered. They suffered. And John is writing
a letter, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, and here is the main
theme. Christ has won. You may be going
through a hard time now, but Christ has won. And you've won in Him. There's really nothing to worry
about. That is the theme of Revelation. Christ has won. It's the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Now in the book of Revelation
there are seven visions that John has. Some say eight, I say
seven. Seven visions and those visions
are repeated at different times and they're given from a different
point of view. It's just these seven visions
recirculated in the book of Revelation. I think it's interesting that
when he begins, he begins with the last vision. The vision of the lion of the
tribe of Judah taking the book. And it begins with, he's one. You may be going through things
now, but he's one. Now he gives the letters to the
seven churches in the first three chapters, and then this last
vision begins in chapter four. And after this, I'm going to
read chapter four without making much comment. And after this,
I looked and behold, a door was opened in heaven. And the first
voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with
me, which said, come up hither and I will show thee things which
must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the
spirit and behold, a throne was set in heaven and one sat on
the throne. And he that sat was to look upon
like a jasper and a sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round
about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about
the throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats I saw
the four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and
they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne
proceeded lightnings and thunders and voices. And there were seven
lamps of the fire burning before the throne, which are the seven
spirits of God. Seven being the number of perfection.
One, there's not seven different spirits of God, they're one.
Seven being the number of perfection. And before the throne, there
was a sea of glass. like unto a crystal in the midst
of the throne, round about the throne were four beasts full
of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like
unto a lion, the second beast like unto a calf, the third beast
had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying
eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about
him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day
and night saying, holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which
was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory
and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth
forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before
Him that sat on the throne." That's representative of the
twelve patriarchs, the twelve apostles, the church in the Old
Testament, the church in the New Testament, all believers. The four and 20 elders fell down
before him that sat on the throne and worshiped him that liveth
forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for
thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are
and were created. That's God's purpose, for all
things, for the pleasure of his Son. And I saw in this vision,
John is telling us, and I saw in the right hand of him that
sat on the throne a book written front side and back side, within
and without. You couldn't add anything to
it. It was completely full. There wasn't any room for additions.
And it was sealed with seven seals. Now this book is the same
book spoken of in Psalm 40 when the Lord said in the volume of
the book, it's written of me. I delight to do thy will, O God. Now this is before the scripture
was ever written. This is the book of the decrees of God. Everything that was, is, and
will be. I've declared the decree. Don't you love that language?
God decrees. And there's no change to his
decrees. You see, everything is written in that book. Nothing
can be added. Nothing can be taken away. Here's
God's decree. He's actually got one decree.
Thou art my son. And every decree comes from that
one decree. God's purpose to glorify His
Son. And all the blessings that come
from His glorious decrees. Listen, this is good. The decrees
of God. You know, God really is God.
And everything that happens only happens according to His decree. But this book, it was sealed
with seven seals. Verse two. And I saw a strong
angel. I was thinking, I reckon any
angel's a strong angel, isn't it? I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? And no man. In heaven, nor on
earth, neither under the earth was able to open the book, neither
to look thereof." Abraham, are you worthy to open
the book, the father of the faithful? No. David, the man after God's own
heart, Are you worthy to open the book? No. Moses, the man God used to give
the law, are you worthy to open this book? He puts his head down
and says, no. Isaiah, that great prophet, can
you open the book? No, I'm not worthy. Well, what about Peter? Paul, the great apostle, the
chief apostle. No. What about John? No. No man was found worthy. I can't help but put this in,
because I remember hearing Henry Mahan preach on this, and I remember
this statement. What about you, Pope? He didn't even know there was
one. No man. No man was found worthy
to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I went much,
because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book,
neither to look thereon. No one could open up to cause
these glorious decrees to come to pass. And one of the elders
saith unto me, weep not, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah,
The root of David hath prevailed to open the book and to loose
the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and remember he's
looking for a lion at this time. He's looking for a lion. And
I beheld and low in the midst of the throne of the four beasts
in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain. Now listen, Jesus Christ, I say
this, I hope, with fearfulness, with astonishment, Jesus Christ
still bears the scars of His death. He didn't see a lamb with
wool and horns. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ
with all the scars of His death, living. You see, The death of Christ and the resurrection
of Christ is the glory of God. And he sees this lamb as it had
been slain. Now look at the language. And
I beheld a low in the midst of the throne of the four beasts
in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain in heaven. I will not remember even what
it's like to be a sinner. And I'll look at the scars on
the lamb, and I'll know that the only reason I'm there is
him, the lamb slain. Having seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth unto the earth.
Now the horns talks about this lamb being all powerful. Horn
always represents power. You are a lamb. The lamb of God
is all powerful. He's omnipotent. The seven eyes,
he's all-knowing. He's all-knowing. He's all-wise. What a lamb. Now here is one
of my favorite verses of scripture, verse seven. And he came and
took the book. He didn't ask for it. As equal
to the father, he came and took the book. out of the right hand of him
that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book,
the four beasts and the four and 20 elders fell down before
the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full
of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sung
a new song. Now this is so important. The
gospel is always new. I've already got that, I already
know that, and you don't know it at all. The gospel is always
new. It always comes as news. It comes as good news, and here's
why it comes as good news. The gospel is for sinners. evil people. People who deserve
to be cut off and sent to hell. The gospel comes as good news
to them. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Of whom, Paul said, not I was
the chief, but I am the chief. They sang a new song. Say, thou
art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, and
here's where his worthiness consists, for thou was slain. You know,
the death of Christ is so glorious. He who is life died. Why did he die? For redemption. Thou was slain. and has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, people,
and nation. Now, don't miss that. Doesn't
say anything about him making redemption available. It says
he has redeemed us by his blood, a people out of every kindred,
tribe, tongue, and nation, and has made us unto our God, kings
and priests." Now, that's the power of the blood. You know
what you are? You're a king and you're a priest. That describes
every believer without exception. Now, that's the power of His
blood, what He made us. He made us kings and priests,
unto our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth
And I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round about
the throne and the beasts and the elders. And the number of
them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands and thousands. Can you imagine the power of
this chorus? What a number. There's going to be a lot of
people in heaven. Aren't you glad? There's gonna
be a lot of people. Somebody said, I thought the
Lord said straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads
to life and few there be that find it. That's true too. That's
just the truth. But there's gonna be a lot of
people in heaven. 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands
and thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that
was slain. You know, don't forget this.
In eternity past, what was the subject of heaven? The lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. In eternity future, what is the
subject? The lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Worthy is the lamb that was slain
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and
honor, and glory, and blessing, and every creature which is in
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as
are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying,
blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth
upon the throne, and unto the lamb. Forever and ever. And the four beasts said, amen. And the four and 20 elders fell
down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever. Lord, we're so thankful. for the worthiness of the lamb. We're so thankful that he was
worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof and open
the storehouses of your grace to sinners. We're so thankful
that he was able to come into your very presence and take the
book. And Lord, we would be as these
in heaven. We would bow down before thee
and worship and praise. Lord, how we thank you for he
who came from Judah. How we thank you for Shiloh.
How we thank you for the lion of the tribe of Judah. How we
thank you that the law is between his feet. how we thank you for
his excellency and his glory. Lord, give each one of us the
grace to believe on and rest in him. In his name we pray,
amen.