The Coming One

 It is always great to have a special guest coming to visit. I look forward to when Thanksgiving and Christmas come around and my family members travel for a nice visit. It is wonderful to have good friends come for a special meal or just a time together. It brings a sense of anticipation, as we look forward to these times and the ones who are coming to be with us. The Lord wants us to live in that same excitement and expectation every day.

Jacob gave a special blessing to each of his sons before his death. He told them what was going to happen to them in the future, too. Some of the blessings were better than others based on the character of his sons. Judah got a very special blessing. (Genesis 49:10) The told Judah that the scepter would not depart from his family, nor the ruler's staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor. The family of Judah was the family of the kings and one very special king.

Isn't this verse amazing for its prophecy? Here we see God announcing the first and second coming of Jesus all in one verse. This prophecy was given about 1,500 years before Jesus came into this world as the baby in the manger. He came as a descendant of King David, and He came to reign as Lord forever. Yes, His first mission was to pay for our sins on the cross and rise again for our salvation, but He did that as Lord of all. They should have been expecting His coming with this and so many other prophecies in the Old Testament, but many people failed to see that Jesus was the Messiah and trust Him 

Now, we are waiting for Him to come as King and reign on the earth for 1,000 years. The Rapture of the church is part of that second coming, and it could happen at any moment. This verse announced that would happen 3,500 years ago. We need to be ready by trusting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Just like this verse says He will be the One whom all nations honor. Some will go to heaven with Him forever, and some will depart for Hell, but every knee will bow to Him and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Philippians 2:9-11)

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Genesis 50 and Exodus 1-2.