The sons of your father will prostrate themselves to you. A lion cub Judah is. From the prey, my son, you will certainly go up. He bowed down, he stretched himself out like a lion and, like a lion, who dares rouse him? The scepter will not turn aside from Judah, neither the commander’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to him the obedience of the people will belong. Tying his full-grown ass to a vine and the descendant of his own she-ass to a choice vine, he will certainly wash his clothing in wine and his garment in the blood of grapes. Dark red are his eyes from wine, and the whiteness of his teeth is from milk.”—Gen. 49:8-12.

56. What did Judah’s name mean, and how did Jacob give it an application to Judah, at the same time showing a contrast between his brothers and his enemies?

⁵⁶ As Leah praised or lauded Jehovah for the birth of this her fourth son, she called his name Judah, which means “Lauded; [Object of] Laudation.” (Gen. 29:35) Jacob let the name stand, and on his deathbed he gave it an application also to its bearer, Judah. His eleven brothers would laud him both for his qualities and for the service that he would render to the nation. Of course, his enemies would not laud him, at least not willingly, for his hand would be on the back of their necks. In war he would gain the victory and would put his enemies to flight or put them down in subjection.

57, 58. (a) In what way were Judah’s brothers to prostrate themselves to him, and why? (b) How, even down to conquering the land of Canaan, was leadership shown to be reserved for the tribe of Judah?

⁵⁷ As to how his brothers would laud him, this would be not just by word of mouth but also by how they conducted themselves toward him. His eleven brothers were all the sons of his father, but only five besides himself were the sons of his mother Leah. Not to Reuben the firstborn, but to Judah, his brothers were to prostrate themselves. This meant that his brothers would recognize him as their superior, their ruler. At that particular time he and his brothers bowed down to Joseph as Pharaoh’s prime minister over Egypt, where they were then living. But as regards the internal affairs of the twelve tribes of Israel, the brothers, including Joseph, were to prostrate themselves to Judah. This, of course, was speaking for the tribe of Judah, and foretold that the ruler to whom the nation would prostrate itself would be from Judah.

⁵⁸ Later on 1 Chronicles 5:2 stated the matter nicely, saying: “For Judah himself proved to be superior among his brothers, and the one for leader was from him; but the right as first-born was Joseph’s.” In harmony with this, when Jehovah God delivered the twelve tribes of Israel from Egypt, where they became enslaved after Joseph’s death, it was the tribe of Judah that led in the march through the wilderness to the Promised Land of Canaan. (Num. 2:3; 10:12-14) When twelve spies were sent ahead into the Promised Land to look it over and return with a report, it was Judah that produced Caleb, one of the two faithful spies who survived to reenter the Promised Land. This Caleb took an active hand in subduing that part of the land allotted to the tribe of Judah. (Num. 13:6, 30; 14:6-10, 38; Josh. 15:13-20; 14:6-14) When the picking of lots took place for apportioning out the conquered land, Judah was given the first allotment. (Josh. 15:1) In the conquering of the land to take possession of it Jehovah God designated the tribe of Judah to take the lead. (Judg. 1:1-8) At that time the chieftain of the tribe of Judah was Salma, who became great-great-grandfather to David. (1 Chron. 2:10, 11; Ruth 4:20-22; Matt. 1:5, 6) In the Promised Land Judah’s territory lay on the full length of the western shore of the Dead Sea and extended westward to the Mediterranean Sea.

59. How did the tribe of Judah prove to be like a lion cub?

⁵⁹ So the tribe of Judah was like a lion among the beasts of the forest. (Mic. 5:8) With all fitness the patriarch Jacob could say: “A lion cub Judah is.” The tribe of Judah provided the permanent dynasty or family of kings for the nation of Israel. David became the head of this dynasty of kings, because Jehovah God made with him a covenant for an everlasting kingship in his family. At first the tribe of Judah may have been like a lion cub, when King Saul of the tribe of Benjamin ruled all Israel, and David, the giant killer, became an officer in King Saul’s army. But God decided against continuing the kingship over Israel in the family of Saul because of Saul’s willful disobedience; and so in 1070 B.C.E., after King Ish-bosheth the son of Saul died, all twelve tribes of Israel made David of the tribe of Judah their king.

60, 61. (a) How did David live up to the name of his tribe, and what relation did he have with Jesus Christ? (b) On what must we readers wait for a further examination of Jacob’s prophecy?

⁶⁰ Thus on a grand scale Jacob’s prophecy was fulfilled, that Judah’s brothers would laud him and would prostrate themselves to him. (2 Sam. 4:5 to 5:5) For the most part, David, whom the tribe of Judah provided as the national leader, behaved himself in a laudable way. He became a prophetic type of the coming King to whom the united obedience of all the people would belong, as foretold by Jacob. In fact, David became the illustrious ancestor of that foretold One, Jesus Christ; and from King David Jesus Christ inherited the right to rulership over Israel.—Luke 1:26-33.

⁶¹ However, for a further examination of Jacob’s prophecy concerning this One to whom the obedience of all the people belongs we must wait for the publication of the article “Fellow Rulers with the ‘Lion of the Tribe of Judah.’”

(See the issue of The Watchtower as of July 1, 1962.)

Churches “Self-centered”

In the book Saints on Main Street, Peter Day, editor of Living Church magazine, states that the typical neighborhood church is “self-centered.” He says clergymen concentrate on “church work” rather than “the work of the church” in the outside world. Maintaining that many churches give little thought to serving others, he writes: “This is a great period of prosperity in the life of the parishes. Most of them are growing according to every index of success. Their membership is on the rise, the Sunday School is bursting at the seams, old debts are being paid off, new ones are easily floated for ambitious new building projects, men and women are active in parish groups, financial contributions are increasing, and people are praying, studying and working harder than ever before. There is, however, a curiously introverted quality about the entire enterprise. Typically, the parish measures its progress not according to the norms of its service to community and world, but according to the norms of its own size and financial strength. Similarly, it measures the usefulness of its members not by their service to mankind but by their service to the parish itself.”