Recreating destiny through love - Pt 1

Judah is the only child among the twelve that the father blessed with kingship. You would have thought that the sceptre would have stayed with Joseph as he was already a ruler. But let us go back and see what Jacob said about Judah when he was blessing his children.

Genesis 49:8-12 (GW)

8 “Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. Your father's sons will bow down to you. 9 Judah, you are a lion cub. You have come back from the kill, my son. He lies down and rests like a lion. He is like a lioness. Who dares to disturb him? 10 A scepter will never depart from Judah nor a ruler's staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes and the people obey him. 11 He will tie his donkey to a grapevine, his colt to the best vine. He will wash his clothes in wine, his garments in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine. His teeth are whiter than milk’

Before we can understand why Judah received this blessing let us go back to Genesis 37:20-26 when Joseph was sold.

Now the bible said that all the brothers hated Joseph and they all planned to kill him including Judah.  Reuben was the only one who had the desire to save his brother.  But Judah said that instead of killing Joseph they should sell him into slavery . So the brothers all agreed minus Reuben and sold Joseph.  I sometimes wonder why Reuben who wanted to save his brother and the first born didn’t receive that kind of blessing that Judah did.

But when I read Genesis 44:20-28 I finally understood. Judah had many sins; he sold his brother, refused to give his son to Tamar his daughter in law to keep the family line alive, he had sex with his daughter in law and got her pregnant.  And to top it off, he had double standards, he was willing to have Tamar killed for adultery when he didn’t know the prostitute he visited was his own daughter in law. But in spite of Judah’s sins, he made a crucial decision that saved not just him, but his line.  It was because of that one defining moment in his life that caused his destiny change.

 Joseph trapped Benjamin for theft, and decided to keep Benjamin with him.  Why Joseph did what he did beats me, but what I learnt from it is that every opportunity is a chance to redefine a person’s destiny if we make the right choices.

Joseph insisted on keeping Benjamin, and the brothers pleaded for mercy, but none of them were willing to let the love of a family/neighbour move them to sacrifice.  Judah may not have seen the opportunity but he was moved my compassion and that compassion or love changed his destiny forever.

To be continued...






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