THE PEOPLE IN THE BEGINNING: JUDAH

Judah was the fourth son of Jacob, born to Leah, the lesser-loved wife (Genesis 29:35). He wasn’t the first-born. He wasn’t daddy’s favorite. He was just one of the twelve.

Joseph was the eleventh son, born to Rachel, the love of Jacob’s life (Genesis 30:24).

When the older ten brothers decided to kill Joseph (Genesis 37:18), it was Judah who proposed selling him to Ishmaelite traders. Think about that… for a few pieces of silver, Judah sold his own brother into bondage. 

The next time Judah appears on the pages of Scripture, he hires the services of a prostitute. The prostitute is actually his daughter-in-law, Tamar (Genesis 38). In an amazing twist and turn of grace, Tamar ends up in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:3).

The eventual product of a sinful union between Judah and his daughter-in-law, was the Messiah, Christ Jesus! Amazing!

As Judah reappears again in Scripture, the man who had once sold his brother into slavery, ransoms his own life as security for his youngest brother (Genesis 43:8-9). Judah was obviously a man who had faced his failures, and allowed God to transform his life.

As Judah makes his final curtain-call in the book of Genesis, he stands at his daddy’s bedside. Jacob had a blessing for each of his sons, but to Judah he said, “Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the kill. He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him” (Genesis 49:8–10).

The great, great, great … grandson of Judah is Jesus, “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah” (Revelation 5:5).

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).