Law Matters: The Law and Kingdom of God (1)

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” Genesis 49.10 (ESV margin)

The book of Genesis establishes the historical, spiritual, and cultural context for the calling of Israel as a people unto God. As such, it serves as prologue and preparation for the giving of God’s Law. It is of great significance, therefore, that the book of Genesis ends with this promise of a coming Kingdom, established through a dynasty descending from Judah, and culminating in One yet to come, for Whom that Kingdom shall have been prepared.

Jacob prophesied of a kingdom that would come through the people of Israel, to be presided over by descendants of Judah, and extending the rule of Israel to “the peoples” of the world. Israel was to become a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” to the Lord, his “treasured possession among all peoples” (Ex. 19.5, 6). As Israel had been from the beginning set apart unto God by promises and holy obligations, so we should expect the coming kingdom to reflect this character with even more definition than had been provided to this point, given that the relatively small tribal group had, by Exodus 1, become a large and complex nation. The Law would provide that definition, and the coming of Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God (which we will consider next week) would bring the prophesy of Jacob to fuller realization.

Thus, the giving of the Law in Exodus-Deuteronomy does not negate the promises given to the fathers, as Paul explained (Gal. 3.17, 18). Rather, the Law continues sketching the outline of the divine economy which God was preparing even in Jacob’s day.

A kingdom implies rule, and the rule of God’s kingdom is by a scepter of uprightness (Ps. 45.6), wielded by “Shiloh”, or “Him Whose it is.” In the Law of God the promised Kingdom is being prepared for a coming One Who brings the Davidic dynasty to an end because He ascends the throne of David, to order and establish it, and to increase its extent, from the day of His ascension forward and forever (Is. 9.6, 7). The kings of Israel were to rule God’s people according to the commandments, statutes, and precepts of God’s Law (Deut. 17.14-20). The ascension and enthronement of Jesus Christ mark the end of the dynasty of kings descended from Judah and the beginning of an eternal and ever-increasing reign, which carries the economy of love outlined in God’s Law to the nations of the world (Pss. 45, 47, 110) through the medium of the Gospel and the Spirit and Word of God.

Genesis ends by promising a Kingdom. Exodus-Deuteronomy outline the spiritual and moral character of that coming Kingdom according to the Law in in all its parts. The Law character of the coming Kingdom is such that love for God and neighbor are the defining attributes. The full realization of the promise of the Kingdom and the character of the Law awaits the coming of Shiloh and the completion of His work. Thus we who are the heirs of that Kingdom should expect its Law, given and fulfilled by our King, to have a commanding place in the economy to which we have come in Jesus.

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