Genesis 49:8: ‘Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.’

DAILY READING — Matthew 26:26-46; Deuteronomy 1-2; Job 4

When the ancient kingdom of Israel was established around the 11th century BCE, most of its rulers, including David and Solomon, came from this tribe. In ancient Israel, the tribe of Judah was very important because it was the tribe of the monarchy, or rulership under one royal leader. And even Jesus Himself comes from this tribe. Judah was a dorminant tribe in Israel. The words ”Judaism” is often used to describe the Israelites’ religion and also the Lion of Judah is used as a Jewish symbol.

The Lion of Judah was originally the symbol of the tribe of Judah, but in 1950 it was included in the Emblem of Jerusalem, because Jerusalem was the ancient capital of Judah. The association between Judah and the lion is traced to the blessing given by Jacob to Judah in Genesis 49:9.

Genesis 49:8-9 says, ‘Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?’

Jesus Himself is known as The Lion of the tribe of Judah.  In Him resides the power, boldness and courage associated with this tribe. It is God’s will that we as believers also operate in the dimension of power and dominion Jesus operated in while on earth. And we gain access to this lion nature in Christ  through feeding on The Word. As we are one with Him, we begin to manifest the lion nature found in Him, and just as Christ is fearless, we also become fearless.  And as Jesus operated in the realm of unlimited possibilities, so we also live above human limitations. As He is the Lion of Judah, we also operate as spiritual lions, and kings of our domain. By His nature in us, we rule in our environment and exercise dominion over life’s challenges.

Judah means praise. For us to manifest the lion nature of Christ and rule in our environment, we must engage the power of praise.  Judah is the tribe of those who carry the Presence of God through high praises.  No wonder both King David and Jesus hail from this tribe of high praisers.

Praise guarantees God’s Presence. He inhabits the praises of His people. And as we praise God at this end of the year, thanking Him for all He has done for us, the lion nature in us will manifest to cause us to dominate our environment. God will surely perfect all that concerns us. He will arise on our behalf, and establish our dominion in every area in Jesus Name.

PRAYER: Lord, grant me the grace to feed on Your Word so as to grow in the knowledge of my true identity in Christ. Enable me also to constantly praise You, so that the lion nature in me can manifest to enable me dominate my world in Jesus’ Name.

QUOTE

Faith is more than just believing, it is acting upon The Word that you believe. WORDBITE 222.