Genesis 49:8-12
[8] Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. [9] Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? [10] The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. [11] Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. [12] His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
Before Jacob died, he went through and prophesied over each and every one of his sons. Starting with Reuben and ending with Benjamin. Now, when Jacob gets to Judah, he prophesied that the scepter would never depart from him. What I find interesting about this, is that the word translated as scepter is actually the word rod. The same Hebrew word given to the Son of God in Psalms 2. The same rod used to comfort the sheep of the Shepherd in Psalms 23. The same rod used to rule the nations in Psalms 21.
Jacob’s prophecy for Judah wasn’t just to be the ruler, but that God Himself would come down from Heaven, in the likeness of men, through his (Judah’s) lineage. Jacob prophesied something profound that day, even if Judah (or his brothers for that matter) didn’t fully grasp it at the time.
God has a plan and prophecy for each and every one of us. We may not know exactly what it is, but we know it is good. Because the plans He has for us are good. Plans not to harm us but to give us a hope and a future. Judah would’ve never dreamed that God Himself would be born from his lineage and likeness, but God had a bigger plan for him and his lineage. You may not think God has a great plan for you, but He does. His plans for you are achievable. They’re set before us, but it’s up to us to seek them out and follow them.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Find Your Plan.