THIS IS THE FOURTH IN A SERIES OF MONTHLY TEACHING LETTERS. If you have not received any of my previous letters (#1, #2, and #3) please send $2.00 for each back issue you would like to have. If you really have a desire to learn the Scripture’s deepest hidden truths, you will not want to miss any of these back issues. I also want to take the time to thank all of the people who are helping to support this ministry!
Now Continuing The Topic:
JUST WHO IS THIS PATRIARCH, JUDAH? (Part 4)
In the first three issues, we learned much about Judah’s personal life. Judah had a very complex entangled and complicated life. There are few who have ever really mastered the subject of Judah and some of the statements by different commentators about his life and tribe (especially his relation with Tamar) are spurious and totally out of order. With this issue, we are going to turn from Judah’s personal life and direct our attention to his descendants, the Tribe of Judah. If you thought Judah’s personal life was complicated in the previous studies, you haven’t seen anything yet! From Judah we get the highest and most wonderful of blessings, and at the same time, a terrible and vexing curse.
JUDAH BECOMES BOTH A BLESSING AND A CURSE
Like the old saying, we have good news and we have bad news. Let’s take up the good news first. To do this we will have to go to the 49th chapter of Genesis where Jacob, just before he dies, prophesies the destinies of each of the tribes of his family. For Judah, Jacob prophesied this, Genesis 49:8-12: