January 19 - Evening
"The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his."
- Genesis 49:10
- Genesis 49:10
The Scepter of Judah and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah
The “scepter” is a symbol for a monarchy and refers, of course, to the ruling tribe of this great nation that was promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Judah’s descendants will be the line of royalty in Judah. The “ruler’s staff” is a symbol of authority. This promise will be fulfilled in a limited sense by David, a descendent of Judah, around 1000 BC. But, this promise is reaffirmed to David in 2 Samuel 7:8-16 and Psalm 89:33-37 of a time that was yet future. It speaks of a day when a man from the line of Judah comes through the genealogy of David to rule and reign over the nations. This man is the one this prophecy is waiting for when it says,
“until he to whom it belongs shall come” (a difficult portion of Hebrew Scripture to translate).
When this man does arrive in the history of the world the obedience of the nations will be his. In other words, the nations will follow and obey him. He is the one leading the nation of Abraham (and, all the nations) into the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant.
This promise was suspended, but not revoked, around 590 by both Jeremiah and Ezekiel when the royal line of David completely rebelled. After the great king Josiah died in 609 BC, the four kings that followed were sinful and worthless. The crown was removed from the line of David (or, Judah) around 590 by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. This ended the line of the kings of Judah from that time (586 BC) until now. Jeremiah spoke for the Lord in 598 when Jehoachin, Josiah’s grandson, and the son of Jehoiakim, was rebuked:
“As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. I will deliver you into the hands of those who want to kill you, those you fear—Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Babylonians. I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. You will never come back to the land you long to return to.
O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says:
‘Record this man as if childless,
a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring will prosper,
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule anymore in Judah.’ ” – Jeremiah 22:24-30
The suspension of the royal tribe of Judah will continue until this verse is fulfilled:
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low. A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it.’ ” – Ezekiel 21:26-27
So, we wait until the crown is restored to the line of Judah. At that time the great King will lead the nations in obedience, and thus, into the blessing of Abraham. And, at that time all the nations will serve this great descendent of Judah and “son of David.” Some refer to him as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
Biblos (Gr) - Book (Eng) - biblos is a Greek word that means "a roll," "a scroll," or "a written book." Biblos is an Egyptian word for the inner cellular substance of the papyrus plant that was hammered together into flat sheets to make a form of paper. This portion of the plant, the biblos, was used to make the writing material that was rolled into scrolls, and eventually, these pages were sewn together to make codex (early books) which were also called biblos. The Christians scriptures were sewn together to form a biblos, which became the English word Bible.
Do I operate as a Christian on emotion only?
Do I seek wisdom and knowledge?
I will live with a passion for the things of God, but only a passion that is based in truth and not mere emotion and feelings.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
Recharged mind and soul to reengage life
Church
Workers
Nation
Poor
World
Positive influence of the church increases
Someone to Quote
"The overriding reason for accepting the divine inspiration and authority of Scripture is plain loyalty to Jesus Christ!"
- Jon Stott
Something to Ponder
When it is said the Bible is inerrant or that it is always true, this includes all normal means of communication including:
• Rounding off of numbers
• Approximations
• Slightly differing accounts of an event by different eyewitnesses
• General and accepted language of appearance used to described things as they appear to be
• Free quotations
• Rounding off of numbers
• Approximations
• Slightly differing accounts of an event by different eyewitnesses
• General and accepted language of appearance used to described things as they appear to be
• Free quotations
Here’s a Fact
In Acts 18:2 Luke writes that Priscilla and Aquila had moved into Corinth before Paul arrived:
"Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome."
Suetonius and others confirm this event and date Emperor Claudius' (41-54 AD) expulsion of Jews from Rome at 49 AD. (Access the works of Suetonius)
"Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome."
Suetonius and others confirm this event and date Emperor Claudius' (41-54 AD) expulsion of Jews from Rome at 49 AD. (Access the works of Suetonius)
Proverb
"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way."
- Proverbs 19:2
- Proverbs 19:2
Coach’s Corner
There is power in obedience and great freedom in living righteously.
Job 14
New International Version (NIV)
14
“Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.
2
They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
3
Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment?
4
Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
5
A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
6
So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.
7
“At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.
8
Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,
9
yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
10
But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
11
As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
12
so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
13
“If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me!
14
If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.
15
You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16
Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
17
My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.
18
“But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place,
19
as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy a person’s hope.
20
You overpower them once for all, and they are gone; you change their countenance and send them away.
21
If their children are honored, they do not know it; if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.
22
They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves.”
New International Version (NIV)
14
“Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.
2
They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
3
Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment?
4
Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
5
A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.
6
So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.
7
“At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.
8
Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil,
9
yet at the scent of water it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant.
10
But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last and is no more.
11
As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
12
so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.
13
“If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me!
14
If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come.
15
You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16
Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.
17
My offenses will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.
18
“But as a mountain erodes and crumbles and as a rock is moved from its place,
19
as water wears away stones and torrents wash away the soil, so you destroy a person’s hope.
20
You overpower them once for all, and they are gone; you change their countenance and send them away.
21
If their children are honored, they do not know it; if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.
22
They feel but the pain of their own bodies and mourn only for themselves.”
Genesis 24
New International Version (NIV)
Isaac and Rebekah
24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”
6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.
12 Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” 25 And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”
26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 27 saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. 30 As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. 31 “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”
32 So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. 33 Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.”
“Then tell us,” Laban said.
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. 37 And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, 38 but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’
39 “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’
40 “He replied, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. 41 You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’
42 “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. 43 See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” 44 and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
47 “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’
“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’
“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, 48 and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there.
When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”
55 But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.”
56 But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”
57 Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” 58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”
“I will go,” she said.
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.”
61 Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
New International Version (NIV)
Isaac and Rebekah
24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 He said to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. 3 I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 4 but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the country you came from?”
6 “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said. 7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who brought me out of my father’s household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to come back with you, then you will be released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant left, taking with him ten of his master’s camels loaded with all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. 11 He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.
12 Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14 May it be that when I say to a young woman, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’—let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
15 Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milkah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16 The woman was very beautiful, a virgin; no man had ever slept with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar and came up again.
17 The servant hurried to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
18 “Drink, my lord,” she said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19 After she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have had enough to drink.” 20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. 21 Without saying a word, the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.
22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels. 23 Then he asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milkah bore to Nahor.” 25 And she added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, as well as room for you to spend the night.”
26 Then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord, 27 saying, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he hurried out to the man at the spring. 30 As soon as he had seen the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and had heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her, he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring. 31 “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord,” he said. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”
32 So the man went to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and fodder were brought for the camels, and water for him and his men to wash their feet. 33 Then food was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say.”
“Then tell us,” Laban said.
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. 37 And my master made me swear an oath, and said, ‘You must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, 38 but go to my father’s family and to my own clan, and get a wife for my son.’
39 “Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’
40 “He replied, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked faithfully, will send his angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you can get a wife for my son from my own clan and from my father’s family. 41 You will be released from my oath if, when you go to my clan, they refuse to give her to you—then you will be released from my oath.’
42 “When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. 43 See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” 44 and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
46 “She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
47 “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’
“She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milkah bore to him.’
“Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, 48 and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn.”
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. 51 Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has directed.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord. 53 Then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother. 54 Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there.
When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”
55 But her brother and her mother replied, “Let the young woman remain with us ten days or so; then you may go.”
56 But he said to them, “Do not detain me, now that the Lord has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master.”
57 Then they said, “Let’s call the young woman and ask her about it.” 58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”
“I will go,” she said.
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“Our sister, may you increase to thousands upon thousands; may your offspring possess the cities of their enemies.”
61 Then Rebekah and her attendants got ready and mounted the camels and went back with the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63 He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
66 Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. 67 Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.