Revelation 22:12, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
- It is our work here on earth and not our name determines whether we are worthy to enter into life.
1 Chronicles 5:2, “...prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the Chief Ruler.” So, who is the Chief Ruler? Its Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. He is to come to earth in human flesh from the tribe of Judah.
Genesis 49:10, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.”
Genesis 49:8, “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; they father’s children shall bow down before thee.”
- By strict integrity and principle, Judah won the confidence of his father Jacob and his brethren.
- He cultivated strict integrity every day and that is how he won their respect, until of their own free will, and not by force of any circumstance, they praised him and bowed down before him.
- Strict integrity under perplexity is what Judah is.
Genesis 49:9, “Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?”
- It means that it would be as easy to conquer a lion as to overcome a person who has the character of Judah; and that it would be as safe to rouse an old lion as to contend with a person who stood fast in his integrity with God.
2 Samuel 2: 4, 11, “And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul… And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.”
Noted characters from the tribe of Judah:
1. David - has been honored above all earthly kings as being taken as a type of Christ
2. Solomon - very well known as a very wise man
3. Christ of Nazareth - the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Revelation 5:5
4. Caleb - one of the twelve spies to Canaan - Numbers 15:30, “We are well able to overcome it.”
5. Daniel and his 3 friends who were taken captive to Babylon
Isaiah 42:3, “… when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
- Temptation is not sin.
- Let us not bring Christ down to our level but we have to reach His level of perfection.