Peoples will gather to Shiloh.

by Alejandro Roque Glez.

“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise: your hand shall be in the neck of your enemies; your father's children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, you are gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the people be.”

(Genesis 49:8-11)

In the year 2255 of Creation, Jacob prophesies to his son Judah that he would become head and mayoral among his people (1 Chron 5:2), and the children of his father––brothers––will also bow down before him (v.8).

To see this in real perspective we refer primarily to 198 years later when the tribe of Judah was the bigger––among their brothers––counting seventy-four thousand six hundred men all set, armed and ready for war (Nm 1:27).

Once erected the Tabernacle of Yahweh in the desert (Nm 7:1)––being anointed and sanctified with all its vessels and altar––the tribe of Judah was the first to offer its offerings for the dedication of the altar (Nm 7:10-12). When the tribe enters Canaan around 2500 since Creation then as a tribe it occupies the largest geographical territory (Jos 9:9), occurring at the same time that by God’s command they would be those taking the lead in fightings for the coming years (Jdgs 1:1-2, 4; 20:18).

When Jacob––filled with the Holy Spirit––prophesies his children that through Judah would come a savior and messiah when saying: “until Shiloh come; and to him shall the gathering of the people be;” he was pointing to Christ, the Divine Son, the promised Messiah who was to come into this world through the tribe of Judah, according to the flesh, as it happened 1800 years later, counting from the time when Jacob blessed his son Judah, and when in the land of Bethlehem the virgin Mary gave birth to the baby Jesus, Redeemer of mankind (Lk 2:10-14).

Christ Jesus––Shiloh––who “washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes” (v.11); symbolizes according to words of the patriarch Jacob: the one who eternally washed the peoples and nations, forever tearing their sins in Calvary’s Cross through his personal sacrifice.

This was the highlight of this prophecy, but we must not forget that 1000 years BC––around 800 years after Jacob foretold to his children––it was the tribe of Judah, under king David, the one consolidating the kingdom of Israel, engendering in turn his son Solomon in Jerusalem, also among the tribe of Judah, where by God’s command he was in charge of the building and raising up the Temple of the Most High; a site symbolizing the Almighty’s presence dwelling in the midst of all the Hebrew people’s tribes and the world.

The Temple had been as well the place where every day was only allowed the sacrificial lamb which pointed to Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God (Rev 5:1-13). All this happened in the same tribe of Judah, which in turn has given the Jewish name for the children of Israel through the centuries regardless of who comes from or what tribe they belong; thus showing its tribal primacy. The Temple of God again will soon be rebuilt as prophesied by the prophet Ezekiel not merely inspired, but as seeing it with his own eyes,when taken in visions from heaven while he was told: “Son of man, behold with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I shall show you; for to the intent that I might show them to you are you brought here:declare all that you see” (Ez 40:1-4, 43:1-2).

At the end of his prophecy Jacob goes ahead at least 3765 years later––end of the world as we know it today––when he foretells announcing that “he will gather the people” (v.10). To him––Shiloh Jesus Christ––raising up, gathering, uniting all Christians from all peoples and nations of the world to himself, delivering them that eternal salvation promised by his Holy Father; workmanship close to take place when soon he shall install his Millenarian Kingdom and be seen a Second time before the astonished eyes of all inhabitants on the planet, in sublime glory and power: the Son of God, coming from heaven himself (Rev 1:7-8). Read also about the Millennial Kingdom in the author’s book entitled ‘Revelation of St. John. Interpretation of the Book.’

(What will life be on our planet once the Lord fulfills the promise of his coming? If interested you can read it in the form of a literary narrative recreated in the author's book entitled: 'The King Victorino').

[This and other Old Testament prophecies are explicatively compiled in the author's book entitled: 'Prophecies in the Pentateuch;' in print and digital edition]

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