📖 “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 peoples.”
Genesis 49:10
Genesis was written by Moses around 1446–1406 B.C., during the time of the Exodus. It is the first book of the Bible—a story revealed directly from God to Moses.
Think about this: while God was carrying out His plan to deliver His people—Israel—from the hands of the Egyptians, He had already set in motion His greater plan to deliver all humanity. In this verse, God promises that from the tribe of Judah, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, the royal line would never be removed.
To human eyes, this might seem impossible. Israel no longer rules as a kingdom, it was scattered for centuries, and even today faces constant attacks from its enemies. But this promise goes far beyond earthly kingdoms.
Jesus Christ—who was crowned with glory after His death and resurrection, yet who has existed from the very beginning and will reign forever—is biblically known as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Here, more than 1,500 years before His coming, Moses wrote by divine revelation that the scepter would never depart from Judah, and that “Shiloh”—a prophetic title for the Messiah—would come, and that all nations would gather to Him.
What wisdom, what hope God’s Word gives us! In that time, even Israel did not fully understand these promises. Later, the apostles—who knew the Son of God personally—began to see their meaning. And today, these promises are even more meaningful for us who have been made children of God through Jesus Christ, just as Scripture says, by believing in Him.
Our hope is real—just as real as the historical evidence that Jesus lived, died, and rose again—yet even more real through the faith that the Holy Spirit has placed in us as God’s children. He is our Savior, the One whose scepter will never be taken away—the Lion of Judah who fights for us, who rescued us from eternal death, transferred us into the Kingdom of His Father, and gave us an inheritance that is incorruptible and untouched by time or human weakness.
I know how deep this truth is.
Today I want you to understand that the gift born in a manger was already existing before His birth—He is God Himself in the flesh, foretold since Genesis. From generation to generation, for more than 2,000 years, the prophets spoke of Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. And it is this same Jesus whose birth we celebrate at Christmas—which literally means “nativity” or “birth.”
He is our living hope, the King who reigns with justice, and the One in whom we can place our complete trust.
So today, let this devotional leave you with a renewed sense of Christ’s greatness. Meditate on this truth, and rejoice in the hope that goes far beyond our present circumstances. Our eyes must never be fixed on governments or human leaders who will inevitably fail us. Our eyes must always remain on the One whose Kingdom will never be shaken, and who came to bring us true freedom out of His great love.