The Law anticipates a coming King of Israel.
The word poorly translated, “tribute”, in our text is the Hebrew word, “Shiloh.” This word is a contraction of the relative pronoun, asher, (“which” or “who”) and a prepositional phrase, loh (“to him”). Literally, it could be translated, “which to him,” or, from the Hebrew idiom, “him whose it is.” When He comes, for whom the scepter and Kingdom have been prepared, the dynasty begun with David will cease to be passed down among the tribes of Judah. Rather, “Shiloh,” will rule until He brings about the obedience of all the peoples, until all His enemies are placed under His feet and all His faithful people have been gathered unto Him (v. 8; cf. Ps. 110). He will wield the scepter of uprightness as He advances His rule on earth unto the meekness, goodness, truth, and righteousness of God (Ps. 45.6).
Shiloh will be like a lion. Note how Jacob uses all the names for a lion to describe the tribe of Judah – a lion, a lioness, and a lion cub. The Lion of the tribe of Judah is the King, not merely of the forest, but of the earth. He comes on a donkey’s colt (v. 11) with his garments stained with the color of blood. He has wine in His eyes and purity in His mouth (v. 12), and to Him, to Shiloh, will be the obedience of all the peoples of the earth.
The guidelines for a king to rule over Israel, set forth in Deuteronomy 17, provide a temporal foreshadowing of the coming Shiloh. His rule will be according to God’s Law (as understood in its entire revelational setting), and His purpose will be, not to aggrandize Himself, but to serve His people for the sake of the promises God has for them. The Law points forward to a coming King, the King of Nations. Only in His hand, according to His Word, can we truly understand, obey, and teach the Law of God unto the fullness of God’s blessings (2 Pet. 1.4; Matt. 5.17-19).
T. M. Moore
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