No 3B (4)

(Genesis 49:10)

“The sceptre 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.” As we have seen before in other studies, this verse is the key to understanding God’s plan of redemption for mankind. But is this verse in sync with secular history? The word “Shiloh” here is a reference to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ who, as we have also seen, is a descendant of David of the tribe of Judah. So what happened to Israel after He came? The “sceptre” in this verse refers to the royalty of Judah and the “lawgiver” is a reference to the Jewish priesthood. Secular history tells us that the emperor Titus and his army plundered Israel in 70 AD and destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem. His army murdered hundreds of thousands of Jews and ransacked the whole countryside. Israel’s royalty along with its priesthood was completely destroyed a little more than forty years after Jesus ascended to heaven.

I once purchased a book in the Jewish sector of Miami entitled “You Take Jesus, I’ll Take God”. The author of this book attempted to explain, in a Jewish context, certain Old Testament passages that Christians use to evangelize Jews. Of course, the above verse was one of his favorites; he spent several pages in his book trying to shift the emphasis of the prophecy of the Messiah Jesus Christ to regular Jewish history. He wrote this book you see, because the Jews are still waiting for the Messiah and any reference to Jesus as Messiah is attacked ferociously. When He returns, they will finally recognize Him for who He is; for us it will be His Second Coming, for them it will be His first coming.