to “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah”, the Lord Jesus Christ. We must turn first to the Song of Solomon, chapter 1 and verse 14 where we are told of the vineyards of En- ge-di. Through Joshua 15:62 we learn that En-ge-di was one of the chief cit ies of Judah. II Chronicles 26:9, 10, speaks of the vinedressers of Carmel and Joshua 15, verses 21 and 55 point out that Mount Carmel and the district of Carmel, which were southward to ward Edom, were included in the por tion of Judah’s inheritance in the land, geographically. Now all of this makes clear the fact that this was a country of vineyards and that wine was probably more plen tiful than water — which fact we want to remember. Also, this has reference to the Tribe of Judah and ties in to an understanding of Genesis 49:11, 12. However, we must make this com plete by comparing Isaiah 63:1-3, with the Genesis passage to which we have just referred. In Isaiah we read, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine appar el, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?” The washing of His garments in wine, of course, has a greater reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. One thing we must understand, and that is, that the abundance of wine caused it to enter into the ordinary things of life. Now wine speaks of joy and the joy of the Lord is epitomized in this matter of the vine. So may His joy permeate the everyday things of our living. Would to God that we could drink fuller and deeper of this spiritual wine of God’s joy so that this thing would radiate from our very eyes. We are told in Nehemiah 8:10 — “. . . that the joy of the Lord is your strength.” “The Bible Institu te Hour” PHOENIX 9.00 A M . Daily, KHEP, 1280 kc. 8
Judah (continued) age, but Judah with her tribes in the South was still in the land when the Lord Jesus Christ made His appear ance. It is to be noted further that Jacob declared of Judah that a lawgiver should not depart from this tribe until Shiloh come. There is the striking fact that after Shiloh had come, the legal authority vested in this particular tribe of Judah, disappeared as is evident from John 18:31, “Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him ac cording to your law. The Jews there fore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death.” That was a remarkable admission on their part — that they were no longer their own governors but were under the dom ination of the Roman government, a foreign power! Caiaphas, the high priest, said in effect, “You, the Roman Governor, alone can pass the sentence of death on Jesus of Nazareth.” So it was that by this admission Genesis’ 49:10 came to its fulfillment. Thus the absence of the sceptre, or rod of au thority, and of the iawgiver, blazoned the fact that the Christ out of the Tribe of Judah must already have come! Then, will you kindly notice Gene sis 49:11, 12 — “. . . unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” This ex pression looks forward to Christ’s sec ond coming as also do the words that follow: “Binding his foal (colt) unto the vine, and his ass’s 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.” Dr. Pink holds that the reference here seems to be a double one: first, to the Tribe of Judah and in the second place to the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that to be absolutely true, for Pales tine, Judah’s portion of the land that flowed .with milk and honey, was the vine-growing district of the south. Now let us tie together some verses from the Word of God and we shall capture the picture as it runs from the Sardius stone on the breastplate, through Judah and the Tribe of Judah,
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